I’m not gonna lie, when I saw Aggretsuko get a 4th season, the cynic in me thought this was too much of a good thing. Season 3 was already a satisfying conclusion to Retsuko’s arc, and anything more would just be Western producers--in this case Netflix--milking a show into oblivion. I especially dreaded the idea of Retuko taking a step backward in her life just so they can prolong her story (as many other shows have done). After completing the 4th season, I guess I was kind of right? Retsuko doesn’t change that much throughout the 4th season because the show is no longer about her growth as a person. It seems strange, but even though her name’s still in the title, Retsuko isn’t really the main character anymore: Haida is.

Now I thought the beginning of the season was downright silly. At the end of the 3rd season, I thought the Retsuko x Haida couple was a forgone conclusion, so watching a dumb romcom couched in high-school misunderstandings was beyond insipid. Haida was literally one step away from her doorstep, but he was too much of a pussy to take it. Yes, the show acknowledges how stupid this is, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. Seriously, it was hard for me to tolerate an indecisive soyboy Haida with a self-esteem as thin as paper not being able to ask out his crush he’s been pining over for half a decade. I realized later on that this was a necessary setup to fully examine Haida as a character, so the second half improved a lot for me.

This season comes with a new antagonist: the company's new president (I forgot his name). While the first season explored the abuse of power rampant in a corporation, this season explores the more underground corruption plaguing it. Not only is he quick to criticize the outdated tradition of his seniors, but he’s also so obsessed with efficiency to the point of treating employees more like machines than actual humans. Haida, being the most efficient member of the department, becomes the new head of accounting. Haida is highly impressionable and is unsure of himself, so he desperately seeks outward validation. And now that he finally does get validation, it corrupts him. He’s now willing to do ethically questionable things just to protect that meager validation, and in the process, becomes more closed-off than ever before. Ultimately, confidence should come from within, not from someone else, and this season kinda delivers on that message--though the ending did feel a bit rushed.

Aggretsuko remains as thoughtful as ever, but as far as I’m concerned, I didn’t need a 4th season. The fact that Retsuko was sidelined for most of it makes me feel like the writers were grasping at straws, figuring out how to prolong the story without ruining what they’ve built up. If you’re watching just to revisit this eccentric cast, you’ll have a good time. For me, Haida isn’t nearly as likable as Retsuko, so I had a hard time getting invested. Anywho, it says "Retsuko will return" after the credits of episode 10, so what do I know? I'm probably gonna watch it anyway since it's so short and digestible.

Thanks for reading!