With the abundance of shows on Netflix, it may have been easy to miss Aggretsuko, an innocuous looking cartoon from Hello Kitty’s company Sanrio about an innocuous looking red panda. But much like the show's protagonist, Retsuko, the short-but-sweet series packs a shocking amount of bite.

What begins as the simple joy of seeing an sweet, cuddly animal suddenly fly into heavy-metal singing rage (the show's title is the main character's name combined with the word aggression) builds over the course of the first season to a surprisingly nuanced exploration of life’s disappointments, shifting corporate culture, modern romance, and female friendship.

In her safe haven, the karaoke bar, the viewer joins in catharsis with Retsuko as she screams, eyes glowing, the Japanese symbol for rage appearing on her forehead. Here, she performs wonderfully satisfying heavy metal numbers that tackle such topics shitty bosses, judgement from others, and rage that demands to be choked on.

RELATED: Sanrio Introduces Aggretsuko, the Raging Red Panda Office Stiff

As Retsuko sings/screams at a point of identity revelation later in the series “Metal is my soul.” Despite the comedic dichotomy, it’s not entirely unrelatable. The demeanor and image we feel obligated to project in the face of disappointing life circumstances, and the frustration, anger we may only allow ourselves to express in the privacy of an empty karaoke bar.

Aggretsuko is a rare gem. It's deep but light, funny and emotional, endearing and adorable. It offers something for everyone. While an anime about Hello Kitty animals may not sound highbrow, Aggretsuko somehow resonates with anyone whose life’s reality has circumvented their expectations.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Aggretsuko%20Vs.%20Corporate%20Culture']

The main stage Retsuko’s battle for self-expression plays out on is her job. She works in the accounting department of a large marketing firm filled with the worst possible group coworker stereotypes. There’s the hippo who literally sniffs out gossip, the reptilian manager who’s so casually sadistic she keeps an impossible-to-open jar of food on hand just to relish in underlings’ struggle to break the seal. Then there’s Mr. Ton, the ultimate big bad of boss tropes -- misogynistic, work-avoiding, slave-driving.

On the surface, Retsuko is the perfectly submissive employee. She acquiesces to Mr. Ton’s sexist requirement that she bring him tea and clean his desk, she quietly suffers every preposterous exchange with her coworkers, and she survives by sneaking into the bathroom to scream out a verse or two. Though Retsuko’s work woes are especially extreme, the reality is everyone at the office is suffocated by the eternal, daily grind.

Things take a major upswing though when Retsuko winds up in a yoga class with Washimi and Gori, “two professional women at the top of their game. Or, Ton’s worst nightmare” as Retsuko and her colleagues describe them.

The three eventually overcome their different working classes (with the help of their muscle-bound, third-eye seeing kangaroo yoga instructor) and form a wonderfully encouraging bond. Gori wears her emotions on her sleeve, but remains a strong, competent presence in and out of the office. Washimi is much more cool and collected, dulling out advice to Retsuko, Gori, and even her boss all the same. Washimi eventually brings up Ton’s toxic behavior to her boss- the president of their company, and when he stammers out excuses not to confront it, Washimi doesn’t hesitate to crack his desk in half with her stiletto-clad, yoga-empowered foot.

The show paints an interesting picture of how the culture of Retsuko’s office is particularly stifling for its female employees. Gori and Washimi’s initial presentation as having it all together as they walk past Retsuko and her friends is immediately shattered- as soon as they round the corner, Gori falls over, complaining that their “baddest bitch in the room walk” is killing her back. Instead of deciding that they needn’t keep up any physical appearance at the workplace given their merit, Washimi offers Gori the number to her chiropractor.  Tsunoda, a doe-eyed fawn, literally fawns over Ton to make things easier for herself. Meanwhile Retsuko, prone to playing it safe, suffers the worst of Ton’s abuse. “I friggin' hate women… No, I friggin' hate women like you,” Ton growls at a particularly tense moment.

I don't know why Sanrio made a nuanced feminist Office Space for the 21st century, but I'm sure glad that they did.

In Episode 7, the proverbial tea kettle comes to a boil with an epic karaoke battle between Ton and Retsuko. Ton spits some sick verses about Retsuko’s doormat existence and her potential alcoholism (“Your sad little life’s got no rhythm or rhyme, I bet that’s why you get drunk all the time.”), while Retsuko lets her true metal soul out and blows Ton and the entire office away with a righteous rendition of “Shitty Boss”.

Before passing out in defeat, Ton offers a disturbing prophecy. “You think you won? 20 years from now, You’re gonna look in the mirror, and the chick staring back at ya -- she’s the one they’ll be calling ‘shitty boss’”

It isn’t addressed for the rest of the season, but one wonders whether Aggretsuko will eventually tackle the Dark Knight-ian concept of societal ills eventually turning us into our own worst nightmares.

Page 3: [valnet-url-page page=3 paginated=0 text='Aggretsuko%20Vs.%20Modern%20Love']

In the final three episodes, the show focuses on a story line where Retsuko falls for a colleague from another department who's so absent-minded, he’s dubbed “Space Cadet”.

Resasuke is a perfectly blank slate. The only red panda we ever see other than Retsuko, his mouth is permanently agape, his eyes a never-changing absent-minded stare. After getting incredibly drunk at a singles party, Retsuko literally begins to imagine a more interesting, sparkly-eyed face on the blank expression of Resasuke. (Think Handsome Squidward with anime eyes.) Soon, a polite gesture or two later, Retsuko falls into a literal rose-colored filter of love.

The narrative shift at first seems like a deviation; up until this point, everything has been about Retsuko’s response to her demeaning job -- even her previous quest to get married. But the seeming departure ultimately connects with the show’s theme of unfulfillment.

Personified perfectly by uncomfortable heels that keep hurting her foot on each of their dates, Retsuko eventually cannot ignore that Resasuke doesn’t see the real her, the way she hasn’t been seeing the real him. She awakes from her dream, and at the end of it, she sees Gori and Washimi waiting for her on the other side of the karaoke room.

Authenticity As The Ultimate Antidote

In this lies Aggretsuko’s true power. It does not merely mock or take down social problems, but gives pure, unadulterated hope in embracing your true self in the face of them.

Nearly every character is given at least one crucial moment that makes them more empathetic, if not always defensible. Ton- the greatest example of injustice in the show is also the greatest example of this depth. While Ton’s back to calling her calendar after their rap battle (because her days are numbered), a shift has happened in their dynamic. He tells her she needs to stop fudging her numbers in life- giving out more than she’s taking in. Retsuko is moved and tells him he’s a good person. “I’m just a bastard who’s willing to give it to you straight,” Ton surmises.

Even Retsuko’s space cadet boyfriend gets a brief, gutting moment of illumination, lest we forget even the limited-run characters in our own lives have their own protagonist-level life.

Retsuko’s raging is never not hilarious, but it’s self-expression in its rawest form. That Gori and Washimi are not only unfazed but dance along in support when Retsuko first sings in front of them shows the purity of their support. The show presents an uplifting image of female friendship in their dynamic, characterized by acceptance.

By the end of the season, Retsuko has grown in her identity, at work, and in love. As Retsuko says, “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that life doesn’t always go the way you expect… But you keep moving forward. Because when you do- you’re already a little stronger than yesterday.” And also, "CHOKE ON MY RAGE."