Aggretsuko Season 4 Wasn't Great 

They started to date so suddenly that when there was this cute montage of them on dates I really thought it would be played as Haida’s imagination. And also because they barely spoke it didn’t feel like they dated at all, for me it just seemed as they probably started to hang out with less awkwardness and just were taking it slow, but wow, they actually dated

Haida really got the worst treatment this season. After dragging out him and Retsuko finally pursuing a relationship they barely interact. The tone switch in his character when he became the head of the department felt too rushed, and the cooking the books storyline felt like character assassination.

When Haida just wanted to arm wrestle everybody, it was just so... weird? Also Aggretsuko randomly showing up out of the blue and magically pushed the Director and Haida out of a WINDOW by just yelling?? Like wat. I laughed so hard

my main problem with how the whole problem was solved was that washimi was completely uninvolved somehow. Like she's the evil boss's secretary. She's the one with access to all the important info yet all we see her do is tell a witty one-liner at the end with the boss in the hospital. Even ignoring the fact that throwing your boss out a window is no solution to anything (especially since the old boss was going to miraculously come back anyways which makes all the "effort" pointless), there's just no point to the climax at all. Nobody learned anything except the boss learning that Retsuko is kinda crazy.

I really liked the new director as a character up until the end, it seemed like he legitimately cared about the employees, knew what he was doing, and was only antagonistic because he's in the position that requires him to make the hard decisions of downsizing. He honestly felt like one of the best representations of the businessman archetype I've seen, but they throw away all of that away in favor of him actually being an asshole that just wants people to obey I guess, and then returning the company back to exactly the way it was. I'm mad enough already with how they turned this really good character in a grey area of being forced to make sacrifices into a plain villain, and I'm gonna be pissed if they just have the company continue on without any problems with the old incompetent CEO in charge again, therefore implying that he was wrong about EVERYTHING and was just going on some sort of power trip.

I honestly thought the last scene where she screamed them through the window was for some laughs. I was waiting on them to switch to the actual scene, even though the arm wrestling wasn't any better. Retsuko and Haida's relationship was sooo annoying to me, i really did not support them getting together, everything about it was just so off

When it ended, I was left really confused about what happened. Honestly surprised Haida and Retsuko were still 'dating' by the end after their complete lack of chemistry. Well, that, and Haida pulling the cliche 'I did it all for you!' when I would've thought he'd know better. Writers really dragged him through the mud by the end, he didn't deserve that weird character flip. Season was kinda whack.

her not dumping haida was so weird, she’s dumped other people she liked more for less

Has the show ever explained the reason behind Himuro encouraging falsified accounts? The whole thing was super confusing to me, Himuro was a younger worker who genuinely cares about the company's future. I love the bits where he wants to modernize the old company, it feels real. Disappointed with how everyone got back together at the end, it lowkey shows that 'change is bad!', even though layoffs are extremely common and tbh would prefer the big decisions made in the show to keep its consequences.

I agree that Ton's arc was the strongest storyline in this season, but there is one thing that did bother me. I didn't like how after Ton was hired by Retsuko, he immediately fell into the same character dynamic he had when he was still her boss. Complaining about how incompetent Retsuko was as a boss and getting her to do tasks for him (like getting the humidifier). While I get that it is consistent with his character to act bossy, they really shouldn't have that dynamic anymore, since Retsuko is now his boss. And considering how Ton's behaviour really affected Retsuko negatively in earlier seasons, to see her being belittled again was disheartening. I would have appreciated if Ton's behaviour had been toned down, still his surly self but not demeaning Retsuko. Or including a scene of Retsuko directly standing up to Ton, and making it clear quickly that he can't treat her like he used to anymore.

I also didn't like how Haida was suddenly a criminal? It felt super out of character for him, even if he was doing it for Retsuko. When he became the boss, I was expecting the drama to be that Retsuko was dating the boss, not cooking the books. It just felt wrong. The cherry on top of this garbage pile was Haida leaving the company at the end.

As someone who has been going through a company "restructuring" the last few months and seeing coworkers "resign" left and right. Those elements of the season and the middle portion of this season really hit me. There were elements I absolutely loved this season. But I agree completely on the will they/won't they between aggretsuko and haida being painfully drawn out in the first few episodes. To the fact I was now fine with them not getting together. I also couldn't understand why they continued to lie to one another throughout the season and for a stretch of episodes I found aggretsuko to be unlikable as a character. I have hopes for season 5 and I still immensely enjoy the show. I just felt as though season 4 was the first "mixed bag" season for me.

The following character dynamics that they nailed this season: - Haida and Tadano - Retsuko and Manaka - Ton and Tsubone - Fenneko & Tsunoda - Haida and Himuro - Himuro and Washimi I personally liked the scene when Kabae made it *her* choice to leave the company and Anai was heartbroken about it (I *really* felt his pain there since she was the only one to help him cope with being an adult). Not going to lie, it left me crying because I’ve always liked Kabae (whenever Aggretsuko has a Good to Evil video, she better get the gold medal of good). Aside from Haida quitting, I wish they stop forcing the ‘return to status quo’ ending.

I haven't watched the video yet, but when I was watching the seasons I was very underwhelmed. I'm surprised they didn't talk about Agretsuko's trauma more. They only seemed to use it as a one off joke

I can't get over how absolutely BIZARRE the last episode is. Like before all the music and crazy sequences have usually been metaphors or just not really happening, but the fact that Retsuko actually just breathed fire at them and really knocked them out the building is completely BONKERS. This season was just wild.

Also for a show called “aggretsuko” we got a staggering deficit in retsuko this season. Like this season was probably good for haida’s character development, but retsuko was almost reduced to side character because of it. She did next to nothing this season and what she did do we see nothing of it. It’s just weird to me how they sidelined their main character

The problem with Haida and Resukto’s relationship is that the writers for some reason refuse to do any meaningful character interaction with them besides the whole “will they, won’t they” drama that they keep dragging and then they become openly antagonistic to each other and it’s like… why are we even here now? Why I am rooting for this? And it’s not like they can’t make them work, you just have to write them well and give them some meaningful interaction and get them passed this point and not show it in a 1 minute montage and then never address again in favor of them being antagonistic to each other. It’s just a very confusingly written romance solely because of the writers and not because of the characters themselves. It was realistic up until this point in S4 where I was just over it because the writers, ironically, refuse to to take the next step with them in favor of “compelling drama”

Kabaes part was amzing and anais reacon seeing him allmost back slide seeing her cow workers pick up her extra shifts and work as shes being asked to leave was amzing and it made my cry

Really didn't like that they practically forced Haida and Retsuko together

Excellent video. Agreed with everything.. Some of my thoughts on this season: Why in the actual heck did Retsuko decide to hide her youtube channel blowing up and helping out Ton from Haida?? Literally they are dating and can't talk about stuff like that? She made herself seem so suspicious for no reason, and with her history of hiding her true self from her friends LIKE ALL THE TIME, of course Haida is like wtf is going on. Tadano says have more faith in her, but I'm like...why?? I don't think she's particularly earned alot of trust. And for Haida...what a mishandling of a character in my opinion. When he gets noticed for coding and making things faster at work, he continues to do so and says he just wants to help everyone keep their jobs by doing so. Then in the Karyoke room later he says he was only doing everything for Retsuko. You know, the SUS GF. It would've been so more compelling to me if they really drove it home that he cared about everyone and just wanted to help everyone, but instead it just becomes selfish. 3.) How in the heck does my lazy boi Tadano beat Haida in arm wrestling. There is no way my boi goes to the gym and Haida was hittin it every day. And I say this as a huge Tadano fan, honestly that was weird to me. I loved seeing him come back, kinda wish he could do more besides just help people but oh well, that's the least of this seasons worries. And as if to throw away Haida's character arc even more than they already did, they have Retsuko come in and kill steal on new president, taking the last little hope of catharsis out of Haidas arc. He doesn't even really do anything in the end...why was it ever even a plot line to begin with. To create some drama for their "relationship?" Yeesh. I can't beleive how much I disliked both Haida and Retsuko in this season. And just what even was that scene... just why lol. I liked the potential big villain type vibe the new president gave off but in the end, was he too just there for the Haida/Retsuko drama? Shame. Ton had the most compelling narrative in the middle and I cried and it was great for sure.

Hida deserved to be the boss of the accounting department it would of been good to see him finally achieve instead they had to get him demoted

What’s disappointing is the relationship of Retsuko and Haida, at first I thought “it’s realistic that they have problems in their relationship” but _What relationship?_ we barely see them together as a happy couple, we waited 3 seasons to see this and they gave us a super random scene of the two of them together, that at first seemed like some fantasy and no the actual reality. And then basically nothing more than the “distancing” of something we never got the chance to feel together. The relationship she had with Tadano actually felt real, and he got a better development in only one season. He even seemed like a better character in this season too, he actually made Haida look bad as a boyfriend if you ask me. Tadano has been a better boyfriend and even a friend

Wait….Haida and Retsuko were supposed to be an actual couple after that date scene?? It really felt like they just had a date and then never really solidified their relationship after. That makes it…so much worse than what I thought lol.

One of my biggest issues was why did they stay together at the end?? The first half of the season kinda showed why they don't work well together, we had like 1 episode of them together, and then the rest of the season was the 2 of them literally going being eachother's backs and lying to one another. Ending the season with acknowledging that the 2 of them don't work well together romantically would've at least given us something. My other main gripe with the season was the overall message. Now I'm not the type of person who needs the author to beat me over the head with their intentions, but you do kinda gotta make a decision and stick with it. S2 and S3 both had themes about Retsuko's desires and purpose in life, but for S4...what was it?? Like we do get some background on why character's like Ton act the way they do, but I feel like the show almost tries too hard to justify Ton's prior actions. There's a scene where Ton is now working for Retsuko and he's calling out somethings like Retsuko yelling at him or not having a humidier and it felt kinda off? Like I couldn't tell if the show was being serious and saying that Retsuko was a bad boss or if Ton was being a hypocrite. And then theres the whole thing with Haida making several improvements to the accounting department which help with efficiency but by the end of the season hes gone and Ton is back, are things just gonna go back to the way they were before? Haida and the new boss did have some legitimate points and did make a lot of improvements to the work place (which is why it was so frustrating to see the random fraud storyling show up for no reason), but by the end of the season the new boss goes overboard and their work is kinda made useless. There's a middle ground between making jobs easier and cutting out unnecessary steps/positions, while also reiterating that every team member is valuable, but I don't feel like the season did a good enough job at doing so and instead leans more towards the latter. Aggretsuko always felt like it had good takeaway messages from every season but this one missed the mark.

Honestly the whole criminal heist shit was so outta nowhere I wish they dropped it entirely. I really enjoyed the first half but after that it became so random. It also lost the relatablity of the cast. I'm not going to pretend being part of a idol group is relatable but that was retsko really pushing for her side gig to be her main income. In season 4 she does this with no effort and doesn't even care about her RU-vid career. Now Haida has always been a lil dorkey and wimpy but this season was too exgagersted aswell. He was wimpy but he still was a man and showed that he cared for people as seen in him saving retsko at the end of season 3. In this season he has no real reason to wimp out but I'll let it slide, what's out of character is how once they are dating he barley acknowledges her. This season was just all over the place and became a fantasy anime instead of the realistic adult show about work and adult life we loved

I feel Season 4 was just filler. As most notable story advancements were reset at the end. I did like seeing how Ton handled sr mgmt under pressure, but then Haida in the same dynamic gets handled by mgmt. But in the end not much happened. Not bad, but not as great as the previous seasons. Like it was playing with some personal moments that we already knew and how folks are not perfect and have more to them, but in the end narrative didn't drive the story too far.

Yeah Season 4 had a lot of problems, that said Ton and Kabai’s spotlights in the season saved it from being bad for me. I’m still excited for season 5 and have hope for it as you can clearly see they still care about the stories and characters, they just need to cram a lot less into one season.

I LOATHED the ending of Season 3, and after seeing the trailer for this one, I'm not surprised that Season 4 pooped in the punch bowl. There was no way you could ever build anything good from that foundation. You know why their relationship was reduced to a cliche montage? Because that's all that was EVER there between them. Fans latched onto Haida because they found the whole Unrequited Crush thing relatable, something that they resolved in the Xmas special. But other than that, Haida and Retsuko NEVER had any real development or chemistry together; Retsuko was always doing her own thing while Haida was always doing the Shy Anime Boi shit from afar, that becoming his SOLE characteristic for these past two seasons. So yeah, of course it feels weird when they're trying to make this ship happen when there's zero foundation for it. And it's all the more annoying that it's taken over the whole damn show. Again, the S4 trailer was unbelievable, they really said "fuck Retsuko, Haida is the Fan Favorite™ and new main character!" Yeesh, and this show had so much potential...

I feel like it is much more than that honestly. Haida's arc this season has been only hinted before, but never addressed: his inferiority complex. There has been multiple scenes in the previous three seasons where it is apparent that he has an unhealthy habit of comparing himself to others, much to his detriment ("What does he have that I don't..."). The whole trying to spark a relationship with Retsuko beyond friendship for instance, in prior instances if Haida wasn't being nervous, they do exhibit chemistry, but when a serious opportunity does present itself, he ends up thinking he has nothing to offer, so he ends up trying too hard not to mess it up, that he royally fucks up (law of self-prophecy yes?) He is also very prone at seeking validation from others, another weakness of someone who has inferiority complex. Part of the reason why he tried with Inui was because she noticed him, but ultimately he cannot work on getting noticed alone. Which is why it failed, he was only forcing himself to like Inui out of convenience, because she liked him back. This is the foundation by which the writers built his working relationship with Himuro, to the point that he got manipulated into a sweet trap by him then coerced into engineering a window washing scheme after getting caged by Himuro when all he wanted to do was secure the job of the rest of the office by being close to Himuro, after what happened to Kabae and Ton. The subtle shift from him feeling that he had the reins to having those same reins become a leash around his neck ground through what is left of his psyche, that all he had left was desperation to see himself on equal ground with Retsuko ("I did it for you."). I didn't like this season either, but mostly because it is _too_ personal. I, too, know the feeling of flying too close to the sun after an initial spark of confidence, especially when pursuing a relationship. Perhaps it was just my lack of experience, but I also went through the same feelings of inferiority after finding out the actual standing of my partner back then and it resulting in me going too ham in trying to make my image seem better. The final confrontation itself felt all too familiar, with what Haida said almost matched what I said, and the subsequent response of "you're better than this" were the exact words I heard. It's been roughly 10 years since then, but somehow this season opening old wounds both left me in awe and feeling a little bitter. I would ask myself that if this was the planned plot for romance, how often does this happen in real life, and if it only doesn't get much attention because of "modern society" (which reasoning I shall never comprehend) as I often read in comments especially about Haida. But if anything, I hope she didn't feel the same pain as I did, cause as far as I'm concerned, we never had a proper break up, we just grew apart, in due to how I felt so distant to her.

You pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. Especially the bit about Haida and Retsuko lol (6:09). Nearly verbatim my reaction. Haida had been my favourite character for the first three season, but this season really soured me towards him. I think a large part of the frustration is that it felt like they took all the development he went through in the last season - and blasted it out the window (lol). The way his arc ended in s3 felt meaningful, like a step in the right direction. He finally learned to be a bit more open about his feelings, to finally step up and take initiative. To be a little bit braver. But suddenly we're back to square one - or not just square one, if anything it felt like he regressed even further. Overall I felt very much the same way as you about the season - well, except for one little thing: Anai. I see what you're saying, but he was honestly one of this season's highlights for me. His emotional reaction to the whole Kabae situation felt very real to me and I loved seeing that side of him (not to mention that it was really touching to see what she meant to him and how much he cared). It felt very much in keeping with his character. He's always been, let's say not very good at keeping his emotions under control. He started out an anxious, insecure mess, he'd blow up unreasonably over the tiniest percieved threat; gradualy, he managed to settle and find his place within the company, build some confidence in himself and trust in others - which Kabae played a huge part in. So seeing him now, openly showing such genuine emotion and vulnerability, in a non-toxic way, felt like serious growth. He still has these minor fits of rage, mind you, which I honestly love because it makes him still feel like the same character, but they're no longer really destructive. Idk, it all felt very believable to me. Despite the tragically little screentime he got, I enjoyed every second of it. Seeing him so much healthier and happier and having good relationships in the office is so satisfying to watch for some reason, and I love how he's seemingly slowly becoming a part of the main gang. I honestly hope we see more of him in future seasons. I think apart from the RetsukoxHaida stuff, the first half of the season was good. The Ton stuff was great; I have to say, that's one aspect I think the season tackled pretty well - the ruthless and impersonal, anonymous nature of the uniform Japanese corporate society, and the existential dread of being just another nameless face in the crowd, somebody completely expendable, wholly unremarkable, worthless. I think that was the main underlying theme (even if the season devolved into a huge convoluted mess by the end) and tied very much not only into Haida's arc, but also into that bit with Anai you criticized. I think the dread of what was going on was very very serious and real to the characters. From what I know, finding a secure and well-paying job after getting layed off tends to be super difficult in Japan. Basically everyone is expendable. Not to mention many people tie their job and ability to provide to their self-worth. Let's not forget Anai was in the process of getting a place for himself and his girlfriend and potentially getting married... Losing a job would likely make all that impossible. So his reaction didn't seem too over-the-top to me at all. Sorry for such a massive tangent lol. Love your content. Take care!

This is definitely a season where your own personal experience will greatly affect your view of the show. If you've never had to deal with layoffs or had to struggle between your professional life and family you'll definitely be missing out this season. Also I felt the relationship between retsuko and haida terrible. They are definitely saving that for another season...

Even worse, the whole "her RU-vid channel is blowing up" situation doesn't really make sense to me. I thought she was over getting famous after last season's stalker incident, but nope, she immediately started uploading (with her face in the videos!) and didn't have any hesitancies in regard to the potentially dangerous position it could put her in.

The problem isnt that I find haida too antagonistic but everyone around him in the story literally became antagonist to him. He literally finally gets some from of success in his life and every turns on him and pushes him away lmao.

Spoilers I wish they fleshed out ton a bit more, seeing him essentially be stuck and the 90s and seeing his midlife crisis were really interesting. His redemption also felt superficial since it seems like he hasn't changed his attitude towards retsuko even after she gave him a job, which I thought wasn't gonna work if it took place in real life. I know old habits die hard but he could at least try. There's also that weird feeling I have that nothing essentially changes at work after the entire season, which is weird to me. Maybe I'm missing the point of the season but that's what's stood out specifically.

Out of all the downfalls in anime, I didn't expect to see Aggretsuko sinking so low. Just seemed like one of those series who's staff knew what they were doing enough to not screw it up so horribly.

I hated how frustrating they made it for Haida to be so wishy-washy in the beginning. Haida dragged the whole ship down and in a really funny irony, he had better chemistry with tadano and the new guy

This honestly just made me like Tedano more. Like he is just always helping Retsuko no matter what even this season. This just made me like him more.

Honestly, I was hoping the focus on this season would be on Haida realizing Retsuko just wasn't the right girl for him and that he and Fenneko might develop a romantic relationship after they realized they were actually the better couple or , at least, Inui and Haida would end up together. I wasn't expecting Haida to get his character assassinated and for them to just turn this season into a bloody trainwreck.

i was looking forward to it so much but it's just so disappointing. they created this whole thing of everyone losing their jobs but then in the last episode none of it mattered and it turned into a happy ending sort of thing :(

I totally agree with all of your points. I always treasured the realness of the office work place and relatability in nearly every character of the show. Season 2 portrayed that the best and is till now my favourite season of Aggretsuko. Handas and Retsukos “ will they won’t they” struggle felt extremely empty. This kind of struggle has been there all the time since season 1, then they finally take the step and suddenly it’s all thrown out of the window. It felt like all of that happened only to make the whole trust issue thing more dramatic. I also didn’t like how Tons situation was handled. I was so happy that he got more characterisation since he is always been a complex character. It was sweet of Retsuko to hire him considering their complicated relationship but ultimately the whole message was “money can solve anything”. The problem in Tons situation wasn’t money though. It was him standing up for his team which wasn’t tolerated by the people higher in the hierarchy and ended up with him getting oppressed. It’s a clear criticism of how the modern job culture teaches you to act like a robot, shut up and go with the flow. It’s a clear criticism of the situation in Japan where people can’t get hired and will therefore be suppressed till they quit themselves. Money won’t solve any of that. The situation with the new president kinda started everything this season but with the way it took and how it concluded it just felt so pointless. So if I don’t like the leadership of my chef I should just kick him out of the window? Nice, I’ll try that next time. Thanks for the great video and for sharing your thoughts. Glad I’m not the only one that felt very displeased with this season

This season lacked more Gori I miss Gori, she was one of my favorite characters along Washimi

One of my biggest problem with the season was with the way Haida was handled. Though I did really love the whole anxiety and not feeling worth enough plot, I hated how they actually kinda turned him into a bad guy we wanted to root against. Haida doing shady things and hiding those shady things seemed out of character to me. I really hope the next season redeems Haida because I'm a big fan of him, and I was really disappointed with the way he was treated this season. Also like you said, the pacing was all over the place. It needed a lot more time to sort everything out and the end was quite a mess. With all that being said I still enjoyed this season a lot because I love the show and the characters so much. Side note; I would love to see Fenneko get a story arc next season.

Haida made me a little sick to my stomach this season, like how is he so unsure of himself and in need of approval and attention, he was so insecure it was pathetic. HE HAD IT ALL, he had the girl, the promotion, the recognition…like why would you need to do all that other stuff and then have the AUDACITY of blaming Retsuko and pull a “I DiD iT fOr YoU”. I hope they don’t get back together, she IS too good for him, he confirmed his fear through his own actions

I’m so happy someone said it. I binged the season the day it came out, and I immediately went to Reddit to see if anyone else had complaints about the newest season. Literally only positive reviews. I actually, for the first time, felt like I was being gaslit with everyone thinking this season was somehow better than season 3. FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT.

Something did feel off to me when I watched it, like something was missing and just didn't give me the same satisfaction as the other seasons did

I still found it very entertaining, even if it overall had more problems and a weird ass ending, but it's hard making anime so a few dips in quality in some seasons is respected, I am looking forward to what the writers do in the next season since I think they can make up for this season in their next try

I enjoyed season 4 and a few things stood out to me as a bit weird but overall I still adore this show I liked Tomes arc and enjoyed seeing all the callbacks to old seasons and they made me hate this new antagonist with a burning passion Even if I end up being in a small group of people liking this season I’ll still look forward to the next instalment in this series I’m in way too deep now

I didn't even perceive Haida and Retsuko as dating because it wasn't brought up at all after that😭 Retsuko said she wants to get to know Haida better before cutting to the montage scene,so I thought it was just them hanging out again in order to gradually warm up to each other (especially after arguing) before actually dating. What I want for season 5; actually addresses their dating life (the goals,their struggles together and actual scenes as couples), somehow I want to see Washimi and Himuro more, give Fenneko more depth. For 4 season,all we see is Fenneko being the wingman. I wanna see something about her for once. How she feels being friends with someone she sets up with, her own dating life, etc.

I still enjoyed this season a lot. But I agree it was not as strong as the previous season’s. Resuko and Haida’s relationship through this was frustrating and didn’t go anywhere interesting. Oh yeah and the entire heist ark just seemed to come out of nowhere. Felt weird like it was not supposed to be part of the show originally but they had to come up with a way to end the season.

They ruined my boy Haida

I think Haida's withdrawal from talking to Retsuko at the first 5 episodes was what made this season into what it was, if that little Haida arc happened in like 2 episodes, or not happen at all (Retsuko and Haida relationship being a thing since ep1) it would not have only opened the season a lot better but would have also given the pacing a lot more room the breathe in.

my biggest gripe with this season was how BORING it was. especially compared to the season before it which i found so exciting and fun, this was sooo dull. and i was looking forward to this season lots too, but i kept falling asleep at each episode.

This whole season felt kinda fanfic-y tbh. Been thinking the same about it since season 2 actually. Something just feels really off. I'm one of those annoying fans who discovered the series way back when the shorts were still airing like, twice a month, and I honestly thought the basic formula was just enough to make it work for a season or maybe two before it got old, just, a light comedy told in short bouts about the woes of a japanese office worker. But then they threw the whole "relatable" factor out the window giving Retsuko these high stakes love interests, and side gigs and melodrama and then it ended with her almost getting shanked on the street and almost killing two men with an hyper beam... I dunno. Is just not the Restsuko that I got hooked on. It looks like it from the outside, but I know damn well is not anymore. Thank you, Netflix...

it really bugs me when they write female characters that will do some shady s*** but it's never fully addressed or apologized on. Okay like haida cooking the books is kinda messed up because they both work at the same job and if he continue to lie about doing it I could see that putting strain on the relationship. At the same time retsuko was spending time with her ex-boyfriend behind her current boyfriend's back. Admittedly for good reason but there was no reason not to be upfront about it unless she felt it was a little inappropriate as well. A part of me thought maybe it's just because she's the main character. ( like Zack Morris in Saved by the Bell. Note* someone who frequently does terrible things but it's ignored because he's the likable main character.) but it seems like half of the season was less about two different characters doing shady things with good intentions and more about one character overcompensating for his insecurities while the other characters and girlfriend judge him for it and the other that glosses over her own wrongdoing.

As a fan of multiple shows, you can really tell this season just has a feel for fan-service with your ship being canon and then fighting (fanfics do this all the time and shows) and a spy arc, which is painful.

Season 4 is disappointing, but not bad. I was still able to binge it, which is quite a feat. I like the thematic shift. The first two/three seasons were about characters in their mid to late twenties, old enough to be adults, but still not really there in terms of their lives/accomplishments. So looking at the other side, the perspective of people who are slowly starting to fade away, was refreshing. But pacing was weird and they basically themselves into a corner and weren't able to get out.

Haida kind of turned into a jerk this season and i hated that. it was established in season three that that’s the one thing he isn’t, him randomly trying to arm wrestle Tadano made me cringe so badly, i really liked their friendship in season three, and he just screwed it up i feel

I think I honestly would’ve preferred if they’d never dated at all. It was clear that Retsuko and Haida couldn’t communicate with one another very well, but I hate that the show kind of pushed the blame onto Haida more and tried to urge him to change, when he didn’t really need to. When Retsuko got upset with Haida and told him that “he didn’t even know who she was,” it frustrated me because he never got the chance. He invited her to hang out and she declined, and on multiple occasions, Retsuko would only give him attention or ask for him when it was to her benefit. You can’t expect people to get to know you when you’re not willing to open up. It also makes me sad seeing how well Inui and Haida got along, but it didn’t work out. I think they would’ve made a really nice couple. I’m hoping season 5 gives Haida some redemption.

I hate how her 'friends" in season 5 force her to do something she really didn't want to do . They kidnap her and continue to do so after she told them no and the guy to leave her alone because he wants to use her for his political gain and her band friends use her to gain popularity for their band its disgusting.

I expected a lot for S4. I wanted Haida and Retsuko to start dating but not this rushed. They built it up so much from S1 - S3 that I feel like we deserved a “grand scene” where they realized their feelings for one another or at least acknowledged it But nooo, Haida ended up becoming out of character and started to be corrupted. This was the last thing I expected for S4. They completely ignored Haida and Retsuko dating. So many characters were excited. So many characters were pushing them together. But I feel like them being together didn’t result to anything

The thing that bugs me about the youtube channel taking off defeats the conflict in prior seasons where she wanted a new job or to ‘live her dream’. If she can afford an employee doesnt that mean she can afford to do this without a job?

Is hard for me to say it, but Ton's character arc was masterfully done, and funnily it added to my frustration with the whole season, because in past seasons I really loved to hate him, and now the show is making me feel some sort of sympathy for him. There was something that would helped me truly come around on Ton's character arc and that was him working at the convenience store, that would have forced him to open his eyes to the world outside the office, but the main plot made him go back to it, scrapping any true character development for him

Imma just point out the one thing I don't like about the latter half of Season 4 was how Retsuko was acting in the relationship. Where she just works on her youtube career and for whatever reason tells Haida nothing and even acts secretive about it. Like what the hell? Has she forgotten the dude plays guitar? He could help with that but nope, just keep the guy in the dark. And it was because of that secrecy Haida's pride was wounded cause his now girlfriend can't trust him enough to tell him something as simple as youtube career, driving him to work harder to earn her respect, resulting in him performing illegal acts, which Restsuko has the nerve to reprimand him for it. Oh and let's not forget she threw him out the window when he was trying to solve his own problem too. Retsuko was clearly the worst person in this relationship, but Haida is narratively framed as the bad guy here cause "He's doing something illegal" that's all.

really minor issue i had that isn’t a big deal. Why didn’t Haida stop Tsunoda from getting close lmao, Retsuko barely even had a reaction either (Talking about the part where tsunoda keeps getting close to Haida and fenneko took a picture of tsunoda hugging his arm to Retsuko)

Yeah, this was easily the worst season of the whole show IMO. They really did the entire sub-plot with Retsuko and Haida dirty, the pacing of events was atrocious, there were countless plot threads that felt like they went nowhere, and the tone was all over the place. Despite how good the supporting cast was, it all just felt like the show was stripped of everything that made it special and got reduced to a sappy soap opera.

I was so confused by the character motivations this season that I straight up thought Haida was cooking the books to make sure noone else got fired, and that it would be this big reveal and everyone would feel shitty for treating him like shit... but that didn't happen? Which made it feel super disconnected from the great themes set up in the beginning with ton and kabai that were completely abandoned. And in the end, none of it mattered because nothing changed. And there were so many plot threads that just... didn't add up to anything. Retsuko hanging out with her ex and lying to haida felt like it was a big deal but wasn't built upon. The whole youtube thing felt like it was going to be its own arc, nothing. the fact that she quite being an idol yet is now making a career on youtube, and then ran into her old manager? I was so /sure/ that would have some conflict. nothing. I felt so lost by the end that I straight up didn't care how it ended.

Thanks for laying it all out. This season left me really wanting to like it but feeling dissatisfied about everything but Ton, much like you. It take felt like seasons 1-3 are one show and Season 4 is just a big collage of Aggretsuko characters and themes with no particular arc or throughline,

I did enjoy the review. I enjoyed season 4, But that was with kabae and Ton story for the most part. I also felt baffle by the sudden retsuko and haida relationship being together, I honestly couldn't tell if they were dating or not. I thought of this being the weakest season out of the others. Now hope to see what season 5 will be like.

A trend I've noticed is that the fourth season of a lot of otherwise great shows are usually mediocre compared to previous seasons. Probably just a coincidence, but it's an interesting observation.

It was interesting to see that Retsuko and Manaka just chill like normal people after S3 after how much Manaka was kind of an ass to her for awhile. Feel like she has more character to her we get to see.

I think the best part of the season was Ton. When he told the CEO that he wouldn't fire anyone out of principle. All I could think of was, how ballsy he was. It took guts to so clearly defy someone on top of the food chain. Him being isolated because of his most moral action was a hard hitter for me. I've been dealing with something similar in my personal life, and it's soul crushing. Being put into a place where the people you've grown close to cannot know you're struggling.

I’m glad someone finally made a video on the 4th season cause I couldn’t tell whether I wasn’t focusing enough, or if the show was just bad. It’s a real shame to see Aggretsuko at such a low point especially considering how good the first 3 seasons were…

That last scene where Retsuko lazer beamed them out the window, I was so confused. I too thought it was some sort of like "dream" scene thingy. Like seriously what actually happened during that??? xD

5:49 The sexual tension between Retsuko and Haida never plays out and I think that's why I disliked it so much. It just made Haida become a stupid jerk, thinking that he was doing his actions for Retsuko, and not actually listening to his friends. I was shipping Haida and Retsuko before this season, but they flipped Haida's character on it's head, and that was the downfall in my opinion

Awesome video, was totally waiting for somebody to hopefully make a commentary that verbalised my feelings about it; especially the last few episodes. I personally think the worst part of this season was the negative effect it had on both the character of Haida and Retsuko, for example I think they were trying to characterise Haida more by showing his insecurities but they pushed it too far a few times and instead just made him seem really immature. Which is especially sad since end of season 3 made Haida seem to be a lot more level headed compared to season 1 and 2. I like some of the themes this season touched upon, but they made Haida and Retsuko (the clear focus of this season) way too uncomfortable to watch. Also despite what I said about Haida, I feel like Retsuko's lack of compassion or consideration towards Haida at parts and how the series expects you to be in her corner for it felt off to me. Like you said, they didn't have solid evidence to pin cooking the books on Haida so to me it felt even borderline mean spirited how they took him down. Overall I think season 4 is a real step backwards compared to the other seasons, and Aggretsuko feels like it lost some of the built-up charm this season.

The ending felt like being slammed into a brick wall. The new CEO stepped down and the old CEO is back! and Ton is back! and Kabae is back! And Retsuko is sill single! Everything is back to normal, minus Haida. A reset of the status quo would be a cool idea, if it was handled well. I like the idea that all these exciting things happen to Retsuko but then she still has to go back to her office job. But in this season it just felt like a cop out ending

I mean I overall enjoyed the season. Maybe I just took it too slow? Watching two episodes a day. But all the things mentioned in the video worked for me on their own ways. Like most of the season was focused on Haida and kept him consistent throughout, spineless, and an idiot(which they say rather overtly). He finally gets what he wants in a relationship but since Retsuko did it he failed to grow as a person, and with the new found confidence the new manager scoops in and inflated his ego, showing us more that he’s an idiot and he knows it needing outside affirmation to feel good, he’s selfish failing to realize he’s ignoring Retsuko by pouring himself into his work. And he’d been shown in past seasons loving programming and technology already. I felt the end of the season was showing us that his excuses weren’t just excuses, he really didn’t feel like he was good enough for Retsuko and rather than work on that with her he took the traditional route of success he felt most people would. It all made sense to me looking at him as a rich spoiled kid with no expectations on him, everyone spends the season putting him down and talking about how dumb he is or how he has no drive or determination to be better which makes sense when he doesn’t enjoy what he does, doesn’t have anyone who expects anything from him, and has no reason to fear failure cause no one expects anything anyways and he’s financially stable enough it won’t be the end of his life. For him to desire to break that mold and push himself too far on his first try at being anything other than the face in the crowd he sees himself as made sense. Tho I will agree the heist, everyone getting their jobs back, throwing people out the windows etc. we’re pretty odd but I could go all day analyzing Hyda this season

I honestly feel like season 4 was just a bad fever dream we all had.

Hey, don’t think I don’t hear that Tezuka Rin theme playing in the background. Fantastic video as always. It’s always a pleasure to see a new upload of yours when visiting your channel.

The stuff with Ton and Kabae were heavy! I appreciate how Japanese art has the balls to criticize the country’s work culture. However, no one really offers a solution (not solely an Aggrestuko issue), and kind of leaves you feeling kind of depressed.

Something that bugs the hell out of me, that Himuro basically took advantage of Retsuko and Fenneko and no one really talks about it. He got them both drunk so he could wrangle something that he could use against their coworkers.

To be fair, with Retsuko’s youtube channel thing, she is primarily a music channel, so she probably doesn’t need to upload as often once she already has a fanbase. A lot of music channels will upload a bunch of songs at once and then let their channel sit dormant for a while. People are gonna come back to listen to old songs, and probably would be pretty hyped about new merch and the prospect of new songs. It reminds me of a comment on Viziepop’s channel about how Addict has more views than the Hazbin Hotel pilot. And like yeah, of course. It’s a song. More people are gonna come back to listen to it.

I stopped shipping Restuko and Haida way before S4. I've lost complete interest in that idea by S2 or S3 (can't recall exactly when). I felt Retsuko doesn't know what she wants. When dating other characters, not once in that time had she even thought of a romantic relationship with Haida (I could be wrong, it's been quite a while since I watched pre-season 4). The Haida/Retsuko relationship buildup dragged out for way too long, and by that point it just felt like her dating Haida was a situation of "sure, I guess we could try this out". Once Retsuko's character is fully developed, and she truly finds herself, she could do perfectly well independently (while still having her friends, of course). As for Haida, I feel he was Retsuko-smitten for way too long. He and Inui (whom I actually shipped) could have been such a decent couple. I absolutely love the show and its characters, this was just my 2 cents on this matter in particular.

In my opinion the only good parts of the season were the "heists" seeing Retsuko in a little spy outfit propelling down from the ceiling TWICE was hilarious. Rest of the season made my blood boil. Retsuko was pretty much victim blamed into thinking she needed to save her boss and he wasn't even grateful for the job she gave him!! So infuriating!! I also feel like they ruined Haida and the relationship between him and Retsuko did not make sense at all whatsoever. All Haida cared about was winning Retsuko over in the first three seasons.. and as soon as he does he suddenly cares more about impressing the new boss? I don't buy it. And I don't buy his insecurity being cuz she was a idol, he was super fascinated by that aspect of her in the last season.

This season did not do the characters i was interested in well, the Ton and Kabai’s story arc was beautiful though, however Himuro’s character was flipped and for what I really started to like Himuro, how he thinks while having Washimi interact with him was a great set up for a good dynamic, even though his methods were harsh, they were understandable, modern and it did really felt like he cared for the company’s well being I was hoping that his perspective was built on more as well as his dynamic with Washimi but then he turns into a dickwad actually willing to commit fraud and putting Haida on the job with knowing risks that would crack the company, like what? why? that wasn’t his character at all? Then Ton turned back to his asshole way of playing the victim when he started working for Retsuko, I felt like they could’ve done a really good scene with him thanking her And Haida, oh my god, the dragged out love story wimp plot, the arm wrestling, getting jealous of Tadano and the weird villian flip

If I had to make a sort of graph to represent this season, it would start out as a relatively steady waving line, that would then just crash into a really high wall that was them starting to actually date and then continue in a scribbly explosion of a line that then kind of crashes into yet another wall that is also them dating but at the end and also the wall is way shorter because it kinda feels a lot more random and forgettable. Idk. It felt like a wild rollercoaster basically

Season 4 to me was just......Boring. It felt like No one actually had an progression. It felt like a whole season where people just ended up worst off.

I literally thought that retsuko & Haidas date was like a dream or daydream or something in the show it didn't feel real.

Yeah, if they made season 4 have a somber tone like with Ton’s section of the story, that would’ve been pretty interesting. They did show how the characters were feeling about the layoffs and all that, but maybe that should’ve been the focus this season? Maybe the season would’ve been better if they focused on one thing instead of two. Edit: LOL that description you made for the finale episode is hilarious

It needed more Tadano

I liked the Haida and Retsuko stuff at the beginning. It’s something that I related to not knowing when to take the next step

My main issue with Season 4 was the ending. Haida leaving makes sense, but the old CEO coming back doesn't. The inciting incident was the company going down the tube, leading to Himuro coming in and downsizing to keep the company afloat. Using Haida to cook the books. So did the financial troubles the company was in that led to Himuro coming along...Did they just go away?

It was a good look into Japanese work culture about saving face and the depression that goes with knowing you are expendable in a company you care about. The stuff with Ton is fantastic and he really has developed into a great character. Haida's insecurities really showcase his low self-esteem which is a main conflict in their relationship. But yes, the window thing was a bit world breaking.

When I watched this season, I had to do a double take with the last couple of episodes because I had forgoten how it even ended, let alone what happened. The entire season was so forgetable, and nothing really changed. Really sad tbh.

Agreed you summed up it very shortly but accurate, hope season 5 deliver better But honestly this season lowered my expections for whats coming next big time

I was not feeling optimistic about this season when I learned Haida would play a large part. I was already seeing cracks in his character during season 3 which sort of killed my interest in the romance between him and Retsuko. Season 4 still managed to disappoint me with him in ways I never expected. It was so ridiculously drawn out how they convinced their entire audience Haida and Retsuko are a bad match, only to do a 180 and make things work out, and then...one small montage and they barely interact aside from conflicts?? I just have no words.

Another Hiding In Public video!! As soon as I grab a snack I'm watching this.

Man I was screaming at the screen to Haida to just ditch them and move on with his life, him leaving the company was a great move, but staying with Retsuko was a terrible one, more by the fact that not only they have no chemistry, SHE ALMOST KILLED HIM (oh yeah but got comically saved, even tho idk why almost killing both boss and Haida solved the situation), bruh when I saw Inui I had a light of hope of him just giving it a chance and see that maybe opportunities are better in other places, but then everything went downhill with a ridiculous amount of dramatization and exaggerated scenes that didn't made sense and make this show look frustrating and disappointing with a on quote "good ending". Man I'm done.

I always thought the charm and major selling point of Aggretsuko was its relatability. To me this series was at its strongest when it was addressing the struggles of work/life balance as a fully grown adult who's no longer seeing their independence through rose-coloured glasses. When it started flying off the rails with idol careers and office computer heists, I feel like the show kind of forgot what it was initially trying to do and leaned too hard into soap opera tropes and straight-up insanity like the whole arm-wrestle-to-glass-explosion scene. Who can even relate to this stuff anymore?? Why am I just torturing myself by sitting through Retsuko and Haida somehow managing to will-they-won't-they into cosmic levels of meaningless hyperbole instead of communicating like two proper adults??? I get that being honest is not easy but god DAMN was I going bald watching them. I'm glad I'm not the only one!

I just finished Season 4 myself, and I think it was pretty nice myself! It was a very interesting season giving an arc to Ton and making you feel for him, although I can agree with most people, it is weird he gets an arc like that after the abuse he puts Retsuko through. I can vouch for one thing with him being that he leveled with Retsuko a while ago in Season 2, so I take his development this season with a grain of salt. I really enjoyed the recurring characters, like Tadano and Inui, who helped support some of the characters like Retsuko and Haida respectively. I can agree the relationship between Restuko and Haida is played on really long; I personally wanted them together, but I can get that the dynamic becomes annoying after a lot of back and forth. Himuro was a compelling character as well, giving Haida some development negatively and positively. Overall, I can say it was an interesting season, and it's been a while since watching the older seasons. I'm sure I can analyze things a bit better in the long run, but that's what I gotta say about Season 4! I really enjoyed the video, and understand some of your criticisms too, you did wonderful work on the video! Hope to see your Persona 4 Golden series soon enough, and keep up the good work! Also being my second time commenting, haha