History Anime / Aggretsuko

* CrackIsCheaper: Season 3 starts with Retsuko having gotten addicted to a VR Boyfriend dating sim and spending almost her entire savings on the game's microtransactions. Fenneko mocks her for this, then promptly gets [[NotSoAboveItAll just as addicted when she tries it herself]]. In season 5, Haida spends '''300k yen''' just to get one rare item in an MMORPG.

** Haida in season 3 is asked ''why'' he likes Retsuko so much. He can't say, only that he does.

* TheGenericGuy: Even after Resasuke becomes a major character, this is still his personality, which ''does'' factor into the plot. Surprisingly, this even extends into his bishonen face, which is about as stereotypical as you can get.

* RuderAndCruderr: For the first four seasons, swears were usually reserved for Ton, Retsuko' metal voice, and occasional infrequent comments by other characters. Season 5 kicks the swearing up a notch, and has ''almost everyone'' curse at some point, [[ObligatorySwearing including out of mild frustration and even just in regular conversations]].

* BadassArmFold: Retsuko does this pose in the opening for season 1 of the Netflix series.
* BatmanGambit: Haida pulls off a sweet one in the season 3 finale to snap Retsuko out of her [[spoiler:funk and return to work before she's fired for how many days that she's missed. He goes to her parent's house where she's holed up in her childhood room and takes her to the karaoke bar. A traumatized Retsuko tells him that he can't just tell her things will get better like that she's still scared and it reminds her of the stalker insulting her for five minutes while she couldn't get away. Haida says that he knows Retsuko isn't scared normally...and proceeds to insult her via a rock song, asking her if this is what she wants, to be scared for the rest of her life. Retsuko is fired up to return the insults, complete with a death metal rant about all the ways that Haida sucks. When she's done, she realizes that she ''does'' feel better, and like her old self again. Haida gives her a SmileOfApproval, showing it was his intention all along to get her angry. Cue her returning to work, and smiling when she sees Haida. Anger really is her strength]]. 

* MusicalWorldHypotheses: Mainly uses the All In Their Heads hypothesis. In the majority of episodes of the TBS series, Retsuko's songs are only happening in her head; other characters do not react to her singing, since the songs express the things that she wants to say but can't. In the Netflix series, it uses the Diegetic or Maestro Cast hypothesis more often, as it more frequently shows Retsuko actually going to Karaoke or somewhere else private to sing her rage songs. Although the lyrics of Retsuko's songs are improvised, she usually is using the same music to sing with, so it is more believable.

* OnlyOneName: Almost every named character is only known by one name, whether it's [[FirstNameBasis their given name]] or [[LastNameBasis their family name]]. Strangely the only character whose full name is known is Natsuko Yokosawa, a minor character in the shorts and only a background character in the series.

** Retsuko's face changes to look similar to [[Music/{{KISS}} Gene Simmons]] when she is enraged, with similar black marking around her eyes, and an OverlyLongTongue.

** Season 3: Balancing your hobbies and side venues with your real world obligations. Overspending on your hobbies will only make things harder for you. On the other hand, there's nothing wrong if it makes you a little more money on the side, you need to seriously consider the reality of leaving your steady, well-paying if soul crushing job for your side gig.

* ObligatorySwearing: The series has characters swear on occasion, it's usually reserved for Ton, Retsuko' death voice, and occasional infrequent comments by other characters. Season 5 kicks this up a notch, and has almost ''everyone'' curse at some point in the series, either out of mild frustration, or just in regular conversation, something that almost never happened in prior series'.

** There's Retsuko herself, who presents herself as a demure office worker but in reality represses ''lots'' of anger from people assuming that they can shift their responsibilities onto her without consequence. And in a less personal example, she's talented at singing death metal.

** Even minor comic-relief characters are subject to this. [[GossipyHens Kabae]], for example, is absent for much of the final episode of series 1, on account of being arrested for espionage, of all things (the show never specifies much else about it). In series 2, [[spoiler:her motherly side, paired with her ability to deal with her three unruly children, allow her to calm Anai down, after even big bad boss Ton had cowered when confronted by him. In addition, her gossipy nature turned out to be ''extremely useful'' in digging up info about Retsuko's weird date with Tadano, on par with Fenneko's sleuthing ability.]]
** Resasuke could be interpreted as a deconstruction of this trope. Out of the main cast, he's the character who (unwittingly) presents his inner self the most outwardly …and is regarded as an eccentric BlackSheep by the office for it. But despite being good-natured, he's self-centered to a fault, [[spoiler:which is part of what ultimately ends his relationship with Retsuko.]] On the other side of the coin, he also [[spoiler:appreciates and enjoys Retsuko's death metal singing when she finally reveals her penchant for it to him, rather than regarding it as unusual.]]

* IntoxicationEnsues: In episode eight Retsuko loses track of how many beers she drank and gets very drunk, causing her to start seeing Resasuke as much more handsome than he actually is and also throw up.

* PassingTheTorch: Near the beginning of the series, Gori and Washimi bring Retsuko to a karaoke booth so she can vent her feelings. In the fifth season Retsuko brings Shikabane to a booth so she can do the same.

* PointyHairedBoss: The elephant CEO wastes the company's money on ridiculous projects and get pushed around by the much more competent Washimi.

* QuarterHourShort: Each episode makes its point - however bleak - in fifteen minutes.

* RuleOfSymbolism:
** At the end of Season 1, Retsuko is in front of a steaming kettle as she has a smile on her face. Symbolizing despite her smile on the outside she is actually steaming mad.
** The End of Season 2 shows Tadano flying one direction whereas Retsuko is driving the other, symbolizing they are going different ways.
* SettingUpdate: While the original shorts seldom referred to where exactly the work took place, this series very firmly establishes it in a few particular areas of Tokyo.

* ShipTease: Haida is hinted to have a thing for Retsuko. He panicked when he thought she might be pregnant, blushed when Retsuko enthusiastically thanked him for optimizing her laptop, and cried into his beer (multiple times) to Fenneko when she wouldn't hang out with them, asking Fenneko if she thought Retsuko might have a boyfriend. [[spoiler:This is proven correct. So much that the poor guy spends most of the last episode utterly depressed Retsuko does infact have a boyfriend. But he does finally confesses his feelings to her at the end ''(but is turned down)''. The Christmas Special then zig-zags it all over the place, going from JustFriends to MaybeEverAfter.]]

* StatusQuoIsGod: A notable thing of the show is despite Retsuko's growth as a character, her life nevertheless still is the same: working in accounting, dealing with crappy workers, and releasing her frustration in death metal. Any changes in Retsuko and company lives' that seem too good to be true? You will be more surprised if they actually stick in the long term. Season 1 and 2 showed this, however there are exceptions:

** Season 4 played this straight but gave it a WhamLine: [[spoiler:The former CEO returns, allowing Ton and Kaebe to return to their jobs]] but [[spoiler:Haida ''quits his job in the company'']] due to his involvement in [[spoiler:Himuro's fraud scheme]].

[[folder:Both Series]]

[[folder:Netflix series: A-L]]

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Season 5 reveals that, despite all that's happened over the series, including a Christmas special, less than a year has passed since the beginning as Retsuko is still 25.

!!Tropes:

* AnimalStereotypes: Kabae is a hyperactive and very annoying female hippo. She is also a huge gossip, and hippos have big mouths. Ton is a fat sexist pig who is literally a pig. Tsunoda is a Doe-eyed Gazelle. Tsubone is a [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent mean, creepy komodo dragon]]. Fenneko the fennec fox is [[CunningLikeAFox intelligent and a bit of a trickster]]. Although some characters do not fit the stereotype such as Haida, who is a spotted hyena, but doesn't have any of the traits associated with hyenas. The CEO is an elephant who isn't very smart. The main character, Retsuko, is meant to be a subversion of her stereotype. She is a very cute animal, but she is hiding a lot of anger and a very noncute hobby.

* CatharticScream: Retsuko blows off steam by singing metal. When the stresses of her job get too much to handle, she'll escape to the women's room to scream and unwind.

* MrsRobinson: Tsubone(late middle age at best) all but flirts with Ookami in one of the shorts, and eagerly saves a seat for Haida at a party in the series. They don't reciprocate.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Unlike other Sanrio character franchises such as ''Franchise/HelloKitty'' and [[Anime/OnegaiMyMelody My Melody]], who both focus on the positive side of life and love cheering people up, ''Aggretsuko'' focuses more on the cynical side of life, since most of the characters are rude or irritating to the titular protagonist. However the series is not too cynical since it does have its own cute moments as a reminder that this is still a Sanrio creation.

[[folder:Original TBS shorts]]

[[folder:Netflix series]]

* ThreeAmigos: Retsuko, Fenneko, and Haida are a straight example (albeit in the context of 20-somethings in office jobs rather than the usual school setting; but this fits in with the theme of them not quite considering themselves adults yet), with Retsuko being the everyman hero, Fenneko as the best friend sidekick, and Haida as the opposite gender best friend [[spoiler:and LoveInterest]].

* CatchPhrase: Most episodes end with Retsuko saying "Ashita mo ganbare saan" which can be translated as "I will do my best tomorrow". The fansubs usually translate it as "Gotta get reddy for the next day!" or something similar.

** When Resasuke's first introduced, one of his friends describes him as a potted plant. In the final episode, he can be seen returning home [[spoiler: after his breakup with Retsuko]] and greeting an entire apartment full of them with an "I'm home".
** In Season 3, Retsuko admits to spending money to try and win a physical CD in her VR boyfriend game; Fenneko chides her by asking if she even owns a CD player any more. In episode 6, she brings up the same point when the band manager [[spoiler: wants to print physical copies of their single]], and he promptly suggests exactly the same marketing strategy Retsuko was suckered in by.

* CensorBox: Used to cover Retsuko's eyes in Series 2 when an article is released about her and Tadano [[spoiler: possibly dating]]. Like last time she was censored to "conceal" her identity in Series 1, almost everyone that knows her ''immediately'' recognises her due to the even lazier job the photographer did at concealing Retsuko's identity.

* ChekhovsBoomerang: Resasuke's love of canned coffee just starts out as a case of TrademarkFavoriteFood. It's a signal to Haida that Retsuko might be interested in him when he sees her get it one time in the breakroom vending machines. [[spoiler:When Retsuko is with Resasuke - though he doesn't know how bad the relationship is going - just seeing an empty coffee can is enough to make Haida angry, causing him to kick the can in spite and fall over. This leads to him getting pneumonia laying in the rain, which both takes him out of work the next day and gives Retsuko long enough to break up with Resasuke.]]

* DemotedToExtra: Several minor characters at Retsuko's job who had speaking roles in the original shorts are demoted to background characters. One example is Yagyuu (Buffalo Boss in the subs), one of Retsuko's superiors. Though he does get a larger role in Season 4 [[spoiler: when he's promoted to Ton's position after Ton is ReassignedToAntarctica]].

* DiscretionShot: Haida's confession to Retsuko at the end of season 1 isn't shown on screen. The aftermath is shown in the Christmas Special, and Retsuko [[spoiler: turns him down]].

** Washimi is seen as the strongest and most stoic woman in the entire company, and backs it up by intimidating her own boss from doing stupid things. However she can be just as prone to shenanigans like the rest of them, especially when around Gori. Gori even notes that she wiggles her tail uncontrollably whenever she's really happy, but only her closest friends know this. [[spoiler: It turns out that she was married before, and divorced a scant 4 months later. This is actually why she has a more pessimistic view of love and marriage than Gori.]]

** Resasuke could be interpreted as a deconstruction of this trope. Out of the main cast, he's the character who (unwittingly) presents his inner self the most outwardly …and is regarded as an eccentric BlackSheep by the office for it. But despite being good-natured, he's self-centered to a fault, [[spoiler:which is part of what ultimately ends his relationship with Retsuko.]] On the other side of the coin, he also [[spoiler: appreciates and enjoys Retsuko's death metal singing when she finally reveals her penchant for it to him, rather than regarding it as unusual.]]

** Tadano appears on the surface as a lazy drop out college kid when we see him take his driving test (and fail multiple times), but he's actually [[spoiler: an entrepreneur who not only can fly a plane on his own, but also has seemingly infinite amounts of money at hand. He is also reliant on the [=AI=] he programmed himself, which, among other things, drives for him.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Director Ton mostly cares about Retsuko's usefulness to the company, but he does give sage advice when reminding Retsuko that [[spoiler: love, like accounting, only works when there's an even balance between how much you give versus how much you get.]]
* KissMeImVirtual: Seiya, the Virtual Reality unicorn that Retsuko and [[spoiler: Fenneko]] briefly falls in love with.

* LeaveTheTwoLovebirdsAlone: Near the end of the Christmas special, [[spoiler: Washimi has to drag Gori away to get her to give Haida and Retsuko some time to work out their feelings for one another.]]
* LoonyFan: One stalks Retsuko after she becomes a member of [=OTMGirls=] in the belief that Retsuko is ruining the group's image. [[spoiler: He later tires to kill her with a box cutter before being stopped by Haida]].
* LoveConfession: [[spoiler: Haida, in the hospital, to Retsuko, though it [[DiscretionShot isn't directly shown on screen]].]]

* MythArc: The finales of the first two seasons have Retsuko say: ''"Time for the truth about Retsuko!"''. They hammer down her CharacterDevelopment throughout the given season. Not only does she realize what she ''really'' wants in life, but also to stop lying to herself. [[spoiler: In the first season she insisted on being Resasuke's girlfriend to her own detriment, and in the second season she parroted Tadano's belief that marriage is unimportant.]]
* NightmareSequence: [[spoiler: After Retsuko is unconscious after an attempted murder, we get a short sequence which takes place inside Retsuko's head. We see Manaka, Maggy, and Hidarin shaking hands for fans of OTM Girls then suddenly shows them sitting on chairs while wearing straitjackets. Eventually the audience suddenly turn into the stalker that attempted to kill Retsuko.]]

** [[spoiler:Tadano]] is implied to be one as well for Haida and Retsuko. [[spoiler: He apparently tampered with the dating app Gori was making which was based on his ENI-O system, so he must have the means to alter the code for it.]]

** Despite [[spoiler: leaving [=OTMGirls=] to go back to her normal life]], Retsuko is shown to finally [[spoiler: begin her relationship with Haida]], unlike [[spoiler: the events of the Christmas special where she turns him down]].
** Season 4 played this straight but gave it a WhamLine: [[spoiler: The former CEO returns, allowing Ton and Kaebe to return to their jobs]] but [[spoiler: Haida ''quits his job in the company'']] due to his involvement in [[spoiler:Himuro's fraud scheme]].

* StepfordSmiler: Retsuko is usually seen smiling, even while clearly irritated by how she gets treated by her boss and other co-workers at her job. [[spoiler: Her joy with being in a relationship with Resasuke gradually becomes this as well, when it's taking a toll on her but she tries to pretend to herself that everything's fine.]]

* SurprisinglyCreepyMoment: Some episodes of the second season have some surprisingly creepy and ominous moments compared to Season 1 and the TBS shorts, such as Retsuko beginning to panic when she hears about a robber breaking into her house and [[spoiler: Anai aggressively texting Retsuko and Haida and upsetting Tsunoda and Ton]]. However, one moment that sticks out the most [[spoiler: is the slideshow where Retsuko is shown a picture of a cracked windshield with blood and a deceased driver.]] Season three is even worse, [[spoiler: [[LoonyFan since a stalker]] of the girl group [=OTMGirls=] attempted to murder Retsuko.]]

--> [[spoiler: "I wanna tell you all about my vacation which was a vacation and definitely not a cover for espionage!"]]

** Season 3's first episode has Retsuko overspending on virtual clothes via {{Microtransactions}} in a dating VR game, to which Fenneko likens it to addiction after she does [[SherlockScan her usual sleuthing.]] Considering her prior addiction to Instagram, as well as [[spoiler: her depression after falling out of love with Tadano]], it makes her the prime candidate to show just how ruthless {{Microtransactions}} can be in games, and can ruin a persons' life if they are suffering from depression, or just have a problem spending addiction.

* ThreeAmigos: Retsuko, Fenneko, and Haida are a straight example (albeit in the context of 20-somethings in office jobs rather than the usual school setting; but this fits in with the theme of them not quite considering themselves adults yet), with Retsuko being the everyman hero, Fenneko as the best friend sidekick, and Haida as the opposite gender best friend[[spoiler: and LoveInterest]].
* ThematicThemeTune: Jingle Bells for the "Metal Christmas" special. Instead of the standard metal of the normal show, however, it's a punk cover, fitting considering Haida - who wears punk-rock clothing and is even shown playing guitar in the opening - essentially moves to the secondary main POV spot for the episode's premise.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks[[invoked]]: A very dark InUniverse version in Season 3, when a longtime fan of the [=OTMGirls=] band hates Retsuko's inclusion and the band's shift towards death metal, to the degree that he [[spoiler: stalks, harasses, and tries to ''murder'' Retsuko for "ruining" the band]].

* {{Unicorn}}: Seiya, the virtual boyfriend Retsuko [[spoiler: and Fenneko]] becomes obsessed with in Season 3, is a unicorn. Since the majority of the cast are real-life animals, this emphasizes how he's nothing but an imaginary plaything that Retsuko keeps sinking her money into.

** A more downplayed version with Yagyu, Ton's replacement in Season 4 when he [[spoiler: resigns after being ReassignedToAntarctica]]. While Ton was a huge jerk, even Restuko has to admit he never gave Kabae trouble over needing to take her kid to the doctor the way Yagyu does, and that might not be a good trade-off.

** [[spoiler: When Tadano takes Retsuko out for ramen, he flies her to Hokkaido and back in the same night. Retsuko, shocked by it all, thinks it was all a dream until she sees the receipt (which stated it was in Hokkaido). Unlike last time she wasn't drunk, but implied to have just blanked out after Tadano started spouting his world philosophy.]]
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: When Retsuko starts gushing about how cool Resasuke is, Gori and Washimi do not see anything cool about him.
-->'''Washimi:''' Is... It me or does his head look like a slightly toasted marshmallow?
-->'''Gori:''' Yes thank you! I was thinking the exact same thing!

* WhiteCollarCrime: A main part in Season 4 where [[spoiler: Haida gets manipulated by Himuro into illegally changing the numbers of the company to raise company profits and make them look good in front of the shareholders.]]

''Aggretsuko'', fully known in Japanese as ''Aggressive Retsuko'', is an anime by Creator/{{Sanrio}} based upon the characters created by ''Yeti''. It stars the beleaguered office worker, Retsuko, a 25-year-old single red panda, who seems cute and submissive on the outside, but is secretly ''seething'' with SuppressedRage at her stressful work in an accounting department and annoying coworkers and bosses. How does she deal with it, you ask? By singing DeathMetal about her irritation, of course! After 5 years of working the daily grind, her relationships with her various co-workers are starting to shift, and slowly begin to open up in ways that can change her life for the better...or for the worse.

** By Season 4, Ton has practically undergone a HeelFaceTurn, refusing to fire Retsuko when Himuro orders him to fire people and later helps Retsuko expose the accounting fraud.

* CrackIsCheaper: Season 3 starts with Retsuko having gotten addicted to a VR Boyfriend dating sim and spending almost her entire savings on the game's microtransactions. Fenneko mocks her for this, then promptly gets [[NotSoAboveItAll just as addicted when she tries it herself]].

** More generally, in the TBS shorts, a lot of Retsuko's rage comes from dealing rude, insensitive, or simply clueless coworkers. In the Neflix series, most of her coworkers are less annoying, so that more focus can be given to her frustration with Ton.

* ItsAllAboutMe: In keeping with the concepts of BeneathTheMask and HiddenDepths being core themes of the show, self-centeredness (including selfishness in general) is a recurring flaw many characters share. In both season finales, Retsuko is forced to [[spoiler:end romantic relationships she's in]] because [[spoiler:her partners]] are unable to see past their own worldviews and take her feelings into account.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Ton's sexism and abuse of power. Fenneko notes that this kind of behavior isn't legal anymore, but Haida notes that all Ton has to do is humbly apologize for being "too forceful" and then make things worse for whoever brought the complaint. [[spoiler: This is exactly what happens later when Washimi forces the [=CEO=] to bring Ton in. Ton is genuinely fearful for his job, apologizes, and then puts on a (terrifying) happy face around the office. But when he realizes that the complaint originated with Retsuko, he retaliates by humiliating her in front of the whole office at a drinking party. Fortunately, nearly everyone is too hung over to remember what happened.]]
*** It also comes back as a ChekhovsBoomerang in season 4. The [[spoiler:new CEO finds out about the allegations after making a drunk Retsuko and Fenneko even more sloshed while treating them to dinner]]. Himuro is definitely [[spoiler:cold and doesn't see employees as people, but he's able to force Ton to transfer departments on the grounds of harassment because he has proof about misconduct on the job and makes a legitimate point that Ton can't act his way and expect he is above the consequences. In fact, his promoting Haida to the Head of Accounting makes more sense because Haida can take a leadership position ''and'' work under pressure without taking it out on the other employees]].
** Relationships require maintenance and communication on ''both'' sides in order for the relationship to succeed. A relationship that's all give and no take isn't one that can last in the long run. [[spoiler: Resasuke's inability to understand how he's wearing Retsuko down is what ultimately destroys the relationship.]]
** As much as you may hate your job and want to quit for a new one, make sure have an actual job lined up instead of the vague promise of one (and in a business that's just starting out at that) before you do things like complain about your crappy boss on live television, talk back to your superiors, or use your company's computer to complain about it online, otherwise the same people you complained about can make your life even harder.
** As Retsuko's mother tells her, while trying to make some matchmaking, the men she shows her aren't just pieces of sushi in a conveyor belt that she gets to pick or turn down, they also get a say in it. Retsuko realizes this when she is turned down by one of those men, [[spoiler:and when she says she might want to get in touch with Shirota again, she learns he's already seeing someone else.]]
** Haida in season one has a HeroicBSOD when Retsuko starts a relationship with Resasuke. He admits that it was his fault for not taking the leap and asking her first, saying they need to talk in the first season finale. Should be a happy ending for them both? Far from it; the Christmas special confirms that Retsuko wasn't ready for another relationship after her breakup and turned him down, while they remained friends.
** Retsuko ends her relationship with Resasuke when she realizes she cares about their relationship much more than he does and that she was looking at him through rose-colored glasses from day one. Her relationship with Tadano, however, ''is'' a genuinely happy and healthy one until [[spoiler:Retsuko learns Tadano has no interest in getting married or having children, whereas she does. Unfortunately, relationships won't always end because they were unhealthy, or because one party was blatantly at fault. Sometimes they need to end because the couple's life choices and goals are incompatible. It breaks both of their hearts, but Retsuko and Tadano break up because happy though they were, neither are willing to give up on what they want for the other.]]
** The idol arc goes this way, sadly. Normally a plot about the main character becoming an IdolSinger in a Japanese anime is wish fulfillment and makes the character happy. In fact, Retsuko starts buying into this narrative when the group starts to do well saying that she's fulfilling her dream and making new friends. Ton gives her a reality check: she got ''blackmailed'' into becoming the lead singer over having to pay fender bender damage, and he can tell that she would have rather stayed behind the scenes as was the initial agreement rather than upstage the girls when he hears the full story. He also tells her that he knows Death Metal is a private pleasure for her, and bringing a passion out can have consequences when you expose what you love to strangers. From a financial perspective, the manager won't let her go if she becomes too profitable and may use interest rates on the loan to keep her trapped in the agreement. It has to be a choice, not an obligation, if she wants to sing. [[spoiler:Sure enough, when Retsuko is given the choice, she realizes she prefers her mundane, safe accounting job because no one tries to murder you for getting the reports wrong]].
** The [[spoiler: season 3 finale has the [=OTMGirls=] fan who stalks Retsuko and goes after her with a box cutter and behaves in a way that is startlingly like real-life stalkers. There's also how Retsuko's trauma over the incident sends her into hiding for a good amount of time afterwards.]]
** [[spoiler: The OTM Girls stalker posted pictures of Retsuko walking into her apartment online. That, plus the aforementioned attempt on her life, results in her having to lease out her apartment and live with her parents indefinitely. And Season 4 shows that she's moved out of her apartment to a new one ''and'' even taken self defense training after the incident.]]
** The election plot towards the end of season 5 sees a lot of logistical concerns become headaches, such as finding exactly the right location to run where perfect timing - a borderline-untouchable candidate retiring - is the only way Retsuko can put up a fight, the prohibitive expensiveness of putting down a deposit to run, and that funding from a down on its luck political party is often lacking, resulting in the generosity of others being vital for Retsuko's name to even get on the ballot. [[spoiler:When the election day actually comes, Jiro crushes Retsuko by a landslide; even with her voter base coming out in massive droves and doing better than anyone ever expected, a better-connected legacy candidate in a regionally dominant political party who has plenty of charisma of his own is going to get more votes than an utter political rookie and late entrant, especially on a level as important as the National Diet. Still, this trope applies for Jiro's victory as well; new blood igniting the passions of a voterbase means that a majority party ''can't'' just rest on its laurels and hope to win. It’s heavily implied that it was ultimately his last-minute willingness to defy his father’s stay-the-course attitude and demand a policy change as bold as a maximum age limit for representatives that swung things back in his favor. In short, even "bulletproof" politicians need to take opposition candidates' chances seriously and campaign accordingly.]]

* FootFocus: Used often as a scene transition when any given character is walking down the hall. Becomes something of a plot point when [[RuleOfSymbolism Retsuko starts dating Resasuke]].

* BloodierAndGorier: By Sanrio standards, the second and third seasons of the Netflix series could be considered one of the company's bloodiest works. While the company [[BloodlessCarnage rarely shows any depictions of blood in any of their works]],[[note]] Besides being shown briefly in one episode of ''Onegai My Melody''[[/note]]. blood is shown twice in the second season. [[spoiler:The first is when Retsuko gets a bloody nose when she falls on her face while searching for Anai. The second is at a driving school, where Retsuko is taking a class so she can get her driver's license. One class lecture has her being taught about driver safety, and one of the slides in the slideshow features a possibly deceased bird complete with a bloody smashed windshield. Retsuko leaves the class in shock and feels nauseated.]] As for Season 3, [[spoiler:Retsuko almost gets killed by a stalker, we see blood splattered on her scarf and Haida's hand.]]

* RealityEnsues: The Season 5 finale: [[spoiler:Retsuko loses the election by a landslide because it turned out the people who showed up at her last rally were mostly made up of people that weren't even from the prefecture she was running for, and the people who ''actually' are from there weren't elegible to vote (the same kind of people she was rallying for, even).]]