Fans of Sanrio’s death metal-loving office lady Retsuko will soon have something good to rage about. Our relatable red panda is getting her own comic series! For those unaware of the joy of Aggretsuko, the series first began as a series of shorts for TBS Japan, in which a mild-mannered red panda, Retsuko, deals with a stressful work environment, and then goes out to a karaoke bar in the evenings to sing death metal to blow off steam. Totaling 100 shorts from April 2016 to March 2018, the series was then expanded upon thanks to Netflix, which premiered the revamped Aggretsuko series in April 2018. From there, the series’ popularity skyrocketed, not only thanks to the series’ high relatability with fans, but also the cute art style and the varied cast of characters. Now, Retsuko, her friends, and coworkers can be found on phone cases, bags, office supplies, and even toilet paper.
The comic series will be written by Daniel Barnes, with art from D.J. Kirkland and published by Oni Press. Barnes and Kirkland promise to deliver even more relateable rage-filled moments with this new series:
“What makes Aggretsuko soooo amazing is that it’s extremely relatable,” said Barnes in a statement. “We’ve all had to deal with the existential nightmares of the workforce, and we’ve all had really, really bad bosses. I never thought I’d be able to identify with a red panda that loves death metal so much! I’m super stoked to join Retsuko and her co-workers in all their workplace misadventures!”
“Growing up, I’ve loved so many of the Sanrio characters like Badtz Maru and Pochacco. But after meeting Retsuko, she has definitely taken the crown,” added Kirkland. “I’ve worked my fair share of desk jobs in my adult life and being able to bring these personal experiences to Aggretsuko’s world is going to be a lot of fun! Daniel and I have some fun stuff planned.”
Aggretsuko #1 will be available on February 5th, 2020. As for season 3 of the Netflix series, while the new season has been confirmed as ‘Coming Soon’ by Netflix since August, no official release dates or season overviews have been released just yet.
Source: Newsarama
Featured Image via Oni Press
