Hello Nerd Lighters! We are finally at the end! Here is the last review for Aggretsuko Season 3. I hope you have enjoy watching this season like I have and if you missed any episode reviews, you can catch up with the links below. Let’s get started!
Episode Recap
This episode begins with Retsuko meeting with OTM and the aftermath of her encounter with the unhinged fan. She brightly acknowledges that you’re going to have hater fans, but there are so many other fans that are cheering her on. When she goes to the bathroom Manaka recounts what happened with the unhinged fan and says there’s no way she’s okay.
At work, Haida tries to decide between Inui and Retsuko. Fenneko lets him know that if he wants to be happy then he should pick Inui. Hyoudo gets the longtime fans, now OTM security, to look up information on the fan who harrasssed Retsuko. One of the guys notes that the patch on his jacket is from 2018 was a limited edition proving he is a fan from the old days. The guys continue to say that some of the old avid fans disagree with the new death voice approach the group has taken. Because of this some fans may have started to resent Retsuko.
The unhinged fan/emblem man buys a box cutter. Hyoudo thinks the unhinged fan is the same person running the fake OTM site. Manaka says to not worry as they will be there to protect her. Hyoudou says he will pick her up from work. The unhinged fan takes pictures of her as she goes to her office the next day. In the evening Manaka sees the photos on the site and warns Retusko that the emblem man now knows where she works. She asks her to wait inside, but Retsuko tells her that she will be fine while continuing to leave her office. Manaka says the pictures should be taken as a warnings and asks if there are any suspicious people around . Retusko disagrees claiming that she’s being cautious and there aren’t any suspicious people around her. At that moment, she turns and sees the unhinged fan lunging toward her with the box cutter.
Haida gets there in the nick of time pinning down the unhinged fan. He screams for help and sees Retusko is unconscious. Inui comes to call an ambulance and tells Haida not to move her as she may have hit her head when she fell. With tears in his eyes he mentions the blood, and Inui states calmly that it’s probably his when he stopped the crazy fan. Haida sighs with relief and thanks Inui.
She notes how Haida took action when he needed to. She apologizes and says it’s not the time to be thinking of this right now, but it was a result of him thinking through it carefully. Haida says he wasn’t thinking. He however says if he did really think about it he would have chose her. At hearing this she frowns, but ultimately accepts his statement and leaves.
In a dream, Retusko wakes up in a bed on a stage, listening to all of the negative comments about her. Then she sees the unhinged fan asking her where’s her thank you. She recounts her attacker and the attack. She determines that there is no place where she belongs, and she is tired of it. Then she dreams memories with her mom and people telling her how good of a girl she is and how diligent she is. Next in the accounting office, Retusko is still not there. Haida and Fenneko find out from Washimi and Gori that Retsuko has gone back to her parent’s house and is holed up there. They predict she might be leaving her apartment as well. They continue saying that although her attacker was caught, she doesn’t feel like there’s a single safe place for her. She’s on temporary leave, but she may resign or be let go.
They all go to a café and Haida says that he chose Retsuko and turned down Inui. Fenneko and Gori are disappointed because he went against their suggestions. Washimi notes that he is indecisive. They all want Retsuko to come back, but there’s noting they can do. She needs to time to heal from the emotional trauma. He says that he doesn’t think Retsuko is that weak. Gori chastises him for his comment while Washimi reiterates that Retsuko needs a place where she feels safe and doesn’t have to worry. “Can you do give her that?” The women determine that he can’t so Gori uses this opportunity to have Haida find a new love with her app. She continues to market her app while inputting Haida’s information. They are shocked to see that Haida is Retsuko’s destined lover with a 100% match.
With this new information, Haida goes to her parent’s house to take her to her karaoke place. He tells Retsuko that Gori and Washimi say it’s up to him to get her to come back. He asks her to come back, and she says no. She expresses she’s still scared, that it’s not just that guy but different things. Haida mentions that she’s strong but she screams that she’s not. He only sees this because he wants her to be. She tells him to stop pushing what he wants on her and calls it another form of abuse. She continues saying that he doesn’t know her and him forcing his feelings on her is putting her in a tough spot. Haida says what are feelings if you can’t force them on someone.
He chooses a song and sings in his death voice. He asks her what does she want to do? She says she doesn’t know, that some people just don’t know. Then asks him what does he want. He tells her I want to be your safe harbor, and asks her to put her faith in him.
Her rage comes and she sings that what he thought was wrong. That it’s not that simple. The world turned their back on her and punched her. Haida interrupts her, grabs her hand and says “Then let’s punch back!” Next the OTM girls plus Retsuko are performing at Rockfest. Director Ton’s girls are excited and Komiya cries, wondering aloud why Retsuko is quitting the group to return back to work. She finally pays Hyoudo back so she can have a clean break. Manaka says goodbye in her own way. Gori and Tadano talk about the OTM performance and she asks if he tampered with her app. Specifically about Haida an Retsuko matching score. Then we hear Retsuko’s ending monologue about counting to ten to become whatever you want. It ends with Haida meeting her in the hallway and asking if she’s eaten.
Reaction/Review
I KNEW THAT DUDE WAS GOING TO TRY SOMETHING!!! You guys, when he bought that box cutter!! I was already like no no no no no! And the attacks her with so many people around. Like dude was so not stable. Before I keep talking about the episode, let me just put a little bit of advice/wisdom/whatever you want to call it. It’s fine to really be into a character, movie, show, actor, singers etc. But you have to be aware of what’s reality and what’s not reality. It’s okay to be apart of a fandom and really connecting with a character. However when you start to feel as though you are owed something, that’s when you’re treading into a false reality. Take an idol group for instance, you might love their music and buy their CDs, but let’s not forget all the work they’ve put into making their music an experience. As the phrase goes” You won’t with me shootin’ in the gym” so don’t expect to have certain liberties.
In the case of Retsuko and this unhinged fan, he’s pouring all of his rage and arrogance in the wrong place. Even if he didn’t like the new change of their music, he should’ve realized that adding Retsuko was a group decision. I mean we know that it was really Hyoudo’s decision, but at the same time the other girls agreed to it. So that means if something happened to Retsuko, then the OTM girls would ultimately be harmed. He obviously doesn’t care about the group that much, if he’s willing to damage it. He was blinded by his own self-righteous rhetoric. I don’t want to spend too much time on him, so let’s move along.
It was no surprise that Haida was struggling, but it almost didn’t even make sense that he would have followed Retsuko out of the office. It looked like he was clearly waiting for someone, that I can only assume is Inui. But man aren’t we glad Haida was there. He was so distraught when he saw her lying on the ground. It sucks that Inui had to find out in the way that she did, but at least she could see for herself how dedicated Haida is to Retsuko. She wasn’t so petty that she couldn’t call for help so that was good. I really liked how this episode showed Retsuko dealing with her trauma. And although some may not agree with me, but I liked what Haida said when he was trying to get her to come back. It may sound weird, but I really like the entire conversation Haida and Retsuko had in karaoke. It took a lot of courage for Haida to show up the way that he did. He finally did something about his feelings and put himself out there while also calling Retsuko out too. But at the same time, I liked that Retsuko stood her ground even while she was still processing her feelings.
I loved that Haida was like “you can yell at me and scream at me all you want, and I’ll still be here”. I think the important takeaway from their meeting was that Haida wanted Retsuko to know, that she could be real with him, about everything. And he met her where she was and encourage her to punch the world back. I just really enjoyed that entire scene and the growth between the both of them! *Chef’s kiss!* I also liked how Retsuko decided to leave the group. I think ultimately she had a lot of pressure on herself that took away from her enjoyment of being an idol. I look forward to the next season so we can see what actually happens with her and Haida. I also would like to say that there are some more pairings in the office that I think would be nice together, but that’s for a different post.
We’ve come to the end! I hope you guys enjoyed this review series with Season 3 of Aggretsuko! Let me know in the comments what anime I should do next! Love y’all, peace!
