I just finished watching Aggretsuko, and I liked it overall, though it certainly has its strengths and weaknesses. All in all it's above average, but it is incredibly safe.
The whole gimmick with the show is that the cute red panda girl screams death metal as a stress relief mechanism at her medial office job, and it's actually consistently the least appealing aspect of the show in my opinion. The death metal comes out of nowhere, and the dubbing is clear as day as It's basically Nathan Explosion every time he does her screaming. It seems almost like it's going for a stylistic suck in this aspect, but it doesn't suck enough to loop back around to be hysterical like 12 Oz. Mouse as it's contradicted by it's clean, albeit simple art style. Fortunately these gags don't make up too much of any given episode. I wonder if this idea came to be with the popularity of Babymetal, a band which mixes death metal with J-Pop, often with humorous effect at the juxtaposition of abrasive instrumentals and cute vocals and pretty girl singers.
The art style is probably my favorite aspect of the show. It may be simple, but it certainly gets the job done, and the characters' simplistic designs add to their cuteness appeal. There's a large variety in the characters, and it's kind of funny to see such child-friendly designs engaging in an adult comedy.
It's nearly impossible for me to watch this show without drawing comparisons to countless others that have come before it that display its shortcomings. Aggretsuko is never as deep as Bojack Horseman, as beautiful as Zootopia, as edgy as Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, as weird as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, or as funny as The Office. What results is a show that does every aspect of an animated comedy decently, but hardly feels as original an idea as it seems to think it is, and never excels at any one thing.
The plot, if one could so much as call it that, is horrifically simple to the point of being mind-numbing. Even as far as dumb comedies go, not a whole lot of development happens in this show throughout the first season, whereas 12 Oz. Mouse, despite deliberately trying to be terrible in every aspect, managed a lot more story despite constantly wasting its own limited time on a regular basis. Unlike 12 Oz. Mouse, there's no depth or anything additional to take away from the characters besides what is shown on screen, and it's rare that I notice such a lack of nuance in shows like these nowadays.
That being said, I would certainly recommend this series to most interested in animated series. At 15 minutes per episode, it certainly doesn't overstay its welcome. I would have wanted more out of it, but it's cute and charming enough to pull above mediocrity. As a whole I'd rate it well above Panty & Stocking as it's very consistent, but that show's best episodes blow this one's out of the water.
The whole gimmick with the show is that the cute red panda girl screams death metal as a stress relief mechanism at her medial office job, and it's actually consistently the least appealing aspect of the show in my opinion. The death metal comes out of nowhere, and the dubbing is clear as day as It's basically Nathan Explosion every time he does her screaming. It seems almost like it's going for a stylistic suck in this aspect, but it doesn't suck enough to loop back around to be hysterical like 12 Oz. Mouse as it's contradicted by it's clean, albeit simple art style. Fortunately these gags don't make up too much of any given episode. I wonder if this idea came to be with the popularity of Babymetal, a band which mixes death metal with J-Pop, often with humorous effect at the juxtaposition of abrasive instrumentals and cute vocals and pretty girl singers.
The art style is probably my favorite aspect of the show. It may be simple, but it certainly gets the job done, and the characters' simplistic designs add to their cuteness appeal. There's a large variety in the characters, and it's kind of funny to see such child-friendly designs engaging in an adult comedy.
It's nearly impossible for me to watch this show without drawing comparisons to countless others that have come before it that display its shortcomings. Aggretsuko is never as deep as Bojack Horseman, as beautiful as Zootopia, as edgy as Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, as weird as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, or as funny as The Office. What results is a show that does every aspect of an animated comedy decently, but hardly feels as original an idea as it seems to think it is, and never excels at any one thing.
The plot, if one could so much as call it that, is horrifically simple to the point of being mind-numbing. Even as far as dumb comedies go, not a whole lot of development happens in this show throughout the first season, whereas 12 Oz. Mouse, despite deliberately trying to be terrible in every aspect, managed a lot more story despite constantly wasting its own limited time on a regular basis. Unlike 12 Oz. Mouse, there's no depth or anything additional to take away from the characters besides what is shown on screen, and it's rare that I notice such a lack of nuance in shows like these nowadays.
That being said, I would certainly recommend this series to most interested in animated series. At 15 minutes per episode, it certainly doesn't overstay its welcome. I would have wanted more out of it, but it's cute and charming enough to pull above mediocrity. As a whole I'd rate it well above Panty & Stocking as it's very consistent, but that show's best episodes blow this one's out of the water.