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This Week in Anime - Aggretsuko's Second Season is Less Fiery than the First


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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4660
PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:14 pm Reply with quote
Anai made for a bit of an awkward viewing for me. I can't say that he is completely wrong to decline to help out with things that were outside of his job, especially since everyone hated the idea of losing their weekend to it, but didn't dare say anything to the boss who proposed it. In that regard, he was just doing what nobody else had the guts to do. On the flip side, he flew off the handle at simply being told it wasn't cool to dump everything on Restuko. Even if he has some points, it's hard to sympathize with him when he expresses it in the form of an effort to trap people in a harassment complaint.
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ickybott555



Joined: 27 Jan 2010
Posts: 41
PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:21 pm Reply with quote
I like how this season gave character development for Ton and Kabae. It allowed the audience to humanize them a bit. I also thought it was hilarious when Anai gave Ton a taste of his medicine. The drop about Washimi was an interesting perspective (but I wouldn't spoil it). What felt annoying and really relatable was Retsuko's relationship with her mother. Even with the differences in culture, the helicopter mom still shines.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1946
PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:30 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
When he casually throws out that marriage and family are outdated concepts with no value, we know this isn't exactly true, because their absence from his life is important enough to leave Retsuko over them. If those things were really as meaningless to him as he says, then he should have no problem putting his ego aside to give them to the person he loves, but that's a compromise he isn't willing to make.


What would have been the compromise in this situation? Marry a little and have half a kid?! Of course "meaningless" meant that he didn't want any of that, i don't think we were supposed to interpret it any other way...

Overall this season was pretty underwhelming. All i want now is that Goro & Washimi spinoff.
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Spastic Minnow
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Joined: 02 May 2006
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Location: Gainesville, FL
PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:49 pm Reply with quote
IF they are "meaningless" to him- it shouldn't matter if he is married and HAS a family, because it's what SHE wants.
I guess it could be a translation issue. Maybe he really was saying something more like marriage and family are antithetical to modern society. If that is his real belief it is a valid reason to break up. Meaningless means he shouldn't care. Antithetical means he can't compromise.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1946
PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 2:03 pm Reply with quote
Spastic Minnow wrote:
IF they are "meaningless" to him- it shouldn't matter if he is married and HAS a family, because it's what SHE wants.


Yeah, that sure sounds like a match made in heaven.

Look, i don't plan on discussing semantics and perhaps it would be possible to compromise about marriage but you definitely shouldn't have kids if that's "meaningless" to you...
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jenthehen



Joined: 23 Dec 2008
Posts: 835
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 2:29 pm Reply with quote
I never got the sense that Retsuko wanted to get married and have kids because it's "normal" - at the beginning of this season she's very resistant to it and not ready despite all her mom's pressure. Talking to Kabae and seeing how well she fits in with and loves her family and how much meaning it gives her really pushed Retsuko to realize that she DOES want to get married and have kids, but, like Kabae wants to find the RIGHT guy not just ANY guy (Kabae's whole message was that she tried to change herself to get married and that didn't work!)

I actually love how Kabae is treated in the second season - no longer just a gossiping annoying "mom" but a fully fleshed out character who really influences and has the back of our heroine.

As for Anai, I think he was supposed to be the stereotypical "Millennial Snowflake" which I can see people not liking at all, but there ARE people with similar personality problems out there.
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Sheleigha



Joined: 09 May 2008
Posts: 1674
PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 3:07 pm Reply with quote
I was surprised how much Anai changed in this series. In the original shorts, he was the eager go-getter, but without the passive aggressiveness. More like he was groomed to be an office drone originally. I do like that they gave him more personality, but I do wish that someone had a little chat with him, since it felt unnatural with how everyone become friends with him so quickly (and him dropping the whole complaint in writing bit).
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Spastic Minnow
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Joined: 02 May 2006
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:02 pm Reply with quote
Merida wrote:
Spastic Minnow wrote:
IF they are "meaningless" to him- it shouldn't matter if he is married and HAS a family, because it's what SHE wants.


Yeah, that sure sounds like a match made in heaven.

Look, i don't plan on discussing semantics and perhaps it would be possible to compromise about marriage but you definitely shouldn't have kids if that's "meaningless" to you...


Not really arguing, just explaining what the difference might be. I agree, not a good basis for a relationship.
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TdFern 87



Joined: 03 Jun 2017
Posts: 258
PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:35 pm Reply with quote
Yeah this season was not the best. It didn't have the same amount of kick as the first but I was happy to see more Retsuko since she is so adorable to see and speak. However they could have done better with the Mom character since she was just...annoying. Her "freak out nagging face" is much more nightmare fuel than Anai's freaked out snowflake face.
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BaronViolet



Joined: 27 May 2018
Posts: 250
PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 2:05 am Reply with quote
I know Retsuko going punk rock was her best trait in S1, but the point of S2 was to see her grow and change. You do not want a stagnant character who dies not grow and change over time do you?
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15579
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 6:28 am Reply with quote
Rather than simply say millennial snowflake, Anai had other traits that makes me think of along the lines of a troll, who feels powerful behind the screen of a computer/phone. The real trouble they had with him, that even defeated Ton, was that in ways he was not all wrong, while at the same time he was inflexible and in ways has his own kind of harassment that, too far of not a team player. If Retsuko learned in the first season to stand up a bit for herself against higher ups, isn't it kind of logical for it to go the other way?

And what do people have against being "normal"? Normal as it is depends on the person, and it was seeing the power that someone like Kabae has, that Retsuko wants in on a bit of that. I think that it is misinformed to think that Retsuko actually hates her job. She hates the office politics, but she is a naturally hard worker, who is good at her job in the accounting department, and gets the attention of her boss. I still stand by my older idea that as behind in the times and how he harasses her with his sexist side, I think that Ton actually respects her, and is tough on her because he thinks after him she would be the best bet to have things work. As much as he has acted in ways that he should not, he seems to be one of the people that understand her well and give her the right push. Telling Retsuko that she should be herself and not just follow the needs of the guy she is dating, whether playing the good girlfriend for Resasuke, or ungrounded free thinker with Tadano. She rages over troubled work, but she also works hard and tries to get everything to turn out right.
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luisedgarf



Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 670
Location: Guadalajara, Mexico
PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 6:27 pm Reply with quote
I don't know you guys, but Tadano tickles me off in a bad way, since he is likely a parody of young businessmen like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla's Elon Musk, who tries to promote their inventions as something good for the world, completely ignoring the consequences their inventions could had on people, not having an adult or legal authority which could put a leash on them, and having next to zero empathy as long they could get famous, rich or both.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15579
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 9:32 pm Reply with quote
luisedgarf wrote:
and having next to zero empathy as long they could get famous, rich or both.


That did not seem like Tadano at all. Nothing in his character pointed that he was after wealth and fame, since he did not flaunt them, He may have traveled across Japan for dinner, but the restaurant itself was small time, having desert from a convenience store that Retsuko just happened to find out about his fame. He seemed genuine about wanting to change the world, although him not fully understanding how it may impact in the short run could be a fact, Retsuko even brings things up like questioning him if he could even possibly simply hire everyone his technology put out of work for almost no purpose.
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ConnormonCat



Joined: 30 Mar 2016
Posts: 57
PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 9:35 pm Reply with quote
I entirely disagree.


Passivetsuko is a great name for a show.
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luisedgarf



Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 670
Location: Guadalajara, Mexico
PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 12:14 pm Reply with quote
DuskyPredator wrote:
luisedgarf wrote:
and having next to zero empathy as long they could get famous, rich or both.


That did not seem like Tadano at all. Nothing in his character pointed that he was after wealth and fame, since he did not flaunt them, He may have traveled across Japan for dinner, but the restaurant itself was small time, having desert from a convenience store that Retsuko just happened to find out about his fame. He seemed genuine about wanting to change the world, although him not fully understanding how it may impact in the short run could be a fact, Retsuko even brings things up like questioning him if he could even possibly simply hire everyone his technology put out of work for almost no purpose.


OK, maybe I exaggerated a bit, but the point about Tadano being a parody of such people still stands. Also, keep in mind, from a Japanese, or even Asian point of view, a person like Tadano could had being seen as a misguided person with no idea how the real life works. Thinking he could solve the problems of the world with the help of technology is a really pipe dream a best, and let's not forget, in real life, many countries of the world, especially the EU, wants to have a leash on AI research, as they don't want both suffer with the same problems they have with the regular internet and having to deal with a rogue AI, Skynet-style.
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