It’s a new year, and for some of us, that means another year working somewhere we’d rather not be working.
No one understands that more than Retsuko. The star of Aggretsuko (or Aggressive Retsuko in the original Japanese title). Retsuko is a cute, friendly red panda who works a boring office job. She’s a Sanrio character like Hello Kitty, who graced every pre-teen girl’s pencilcase at one point, but the similarities end there.
Retsuko is 25, single, and perpetually frustrated by irritating co-workers, overly demanding superiors, and her lack of love life. Her only outlet? Singing death metal karaoke.
I don’t have the pipes for death metal karaoke, but apart from that, I identify with Retsuko on a spiritual level. I think Aggretsuko is the perfect show for millennials working those decent-paying but passionless office jobs. Get ready for the new year with five life lessons I’ve taken away from the show.
Your problems probably aren’t that bad
Your boss might be bad, but he’s probably not a literal pig. Probably. And you probably have never been caught complaining about your boss on TV.
There are probably even moments when you actually don’t mind your job. What I’m saying is that Retsuko hates her job and her life far more than you could possibly hate your job and life. Count it as a win.
Have a support system
No matter how terrible Retsuko’s life is, at least she has a support system. There’s Fenneko the fennec fox, who is always around to offer dry commentary, but also to encourage Retsuko to be herself.
There’s also Gori the gorilla and Washimi the secretary bird, two women high up in the company who end up becoming Retsuko’s friends, confidants and mentors.
No matter how crap your job is, you can deal with it if you have good people.
It is okay to not be living your dreams and/or your best life
We get told to follow our dreams and do what makes us happy, but sometimes you don’t quite know what you want yet, or you don’t have the money to quit your job and chase your dreams.
In the words of Retsuko, “I know money doesn’t buy happiness, but it buys everything else, so I need it, okay?!”
Like Retsuko’s couch-surfing, free-spirited friend Puko says to Retsuko: “Some of us dance through life, and it looks like we’re always living the dream. But it’s thanks to folks like you that we can hit the snooze button.”
One day I hope to be Puko, but for now, I’m okay with being Retsuko.
Don’t give up on the dream
The start of the year is a pretty great time to assess, or reassess. If you’re not happy, maybe it’s time to do something about it.
Don’t put on a mask to keep relationships, try to find some meaning in your work, and figure out what makes you happy. Like Retsuko says, you just have to keep moving forward.
And if all else fails, have a good coping mechanism
Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be death metal karaoke. You could always take up knitting, or perhaps throwing axes. Or maybe even just watching Aggretsuko on Netflix.
