All About Japan

Introducing Sanrio's Newest Character

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Sanrio’s latest creation looks destined to hit very close to home with a lot of people. Her name is Aggretsuko and she’s a 25-year-old red panda (usually called a “lesser panda” in Japan) who works in an office and is growing increasingly disillusioned with what should be the best years of her life.

Aggretsuko must deal with being at the bottom rung of her organization and getting much of the grunt work shoveled onto her. Here we are also introduced to her cute but spiritually crippled colleagues like Director Gorilla, Secretary Washimi and an as-of-yet unnamed hippo who spits food when she talks and likes to show pictures of her nephew.

When the burdens of a workaday life at a faceless corporation—gradually robbing Aggretsuko of her youth—become too much to bear, the kanji for “rage” appears on her forehead. In Japanese, her name is Aggressive Retsuko where the kanji for “Retsuko” mean “rage-child.”

Afterward, she goes home feeling a little refreshed and prepares for the next day of work optimistically remembering that line from her favorite non-copyright-infringing film Left with the Wind: “Tomorrow is a new day.”

Having only been released a few days ago, Aggretsuko is already generating a lot of buzz, even in the U.S. It appears that her plight is resonating with a lot of people, but we’ll know just how much of an impact she is making when the next Sanrio Ranking rolls around.

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