History Characters / AggressiveRetsuko

'''Note that many tropes currently speak within the context of the Creator/{{Netflix}} series. As such, some tropes that apply to the [[Creator/TokyoBroadcastingSystem TBS]] series might seem oddly applied, since some characters have changed personalities in between series.'''

[[foldercontrol]]

!Retsuko and Her Friends
[[folder:Retsuko]]
!!!'''Normal!Restsuko is Voiced by''': Kaolip (Japanese), Creator/EricaMendez (English), Desiree Gonzalez (Latin American Spanish)
!!!'''Metal!Retsuko is voiced by''': Rarecho (Japanese), Jamison Boaz (English)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/retsu.png]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Retsuko's metal face]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thumb_aggretsuko_netflix_trailer_3.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
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->'''N!Retsuko:''' There are thousands of girls who work in offices just like me. But this girl has a secret up her sleeve and a mic in her purse.

->'''M!Retsuko:''' ''CHOKE ON MY RAGE!!!''

The [[ProtagonistTitle title character.]] A hard-working and well mannered red panda who works a normal desk job as an accountant. However, she grows sick of her job and her coworkers at points, leading her to vent her frustrations into singing Death Metal.
----
* AdultFear: Being stuck on a SoulCrushingDeskJob and have all your passion for it sucked out and turned into frustration because your bosses abuse you like a slave and often make you do their work, it's often one of the biggest fears of people getting out of college and exactly the situation Retsuko finds herself in.
* AffectionateNickname: During her relationship with Tadano, he would nickname her "Recchan" ("Retsy" in the English dub).
* {{Angrish}}: In the Japanese version, Retsuko's [[MetalScream Metal Screams]] sound a lot more like angry and incoherent screaming than it does like intelligible Japanese, such that her songs often have lyrics on-screen to make out what she's saying. {{Downplayed}} in the English dub, where her screamed lyrics are more intelligible.
* BadLiar: Retsuko is too sweet and honest to be a good liar, which is part of why she struggles to hide her real feelings at work. (And her secret hobbies, like death metal karaoke and yoga.)
* BerserkerTears: Essentially what happens when she sings, as she cries out the frustrations of her job and personal life.
* BettyAndVeronica: At the end of the first season, she is the Archie to Resasuke's cold and aloof Veronica and Haida's sweet and caring Betty.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Though many times she is pushed into depression, pushing further than that makes her ''explode''. Said moments are forgotten by several circumstances (like drinking too much alcohol and suffering a hangover the next day).
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Downplayed and subverted. Outwardly, Retsuko is a sweet, kindhearted woman who is endlessly patient with everyone and willing to face humiliation and pain for the sake of the office. In reality, Retsuko is a sweet, kindhearted woman who fully gets how annoying and selfish most of her coworkers are and is desperately trying to find some way to escape her job and find a happy life ''somewhere else.'' Her Metal self goes into her [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech actual opinions]] on her workers and boss ''at length.''
** That said, [[CharacterDevelopment it takes her a while to realize]] how selfish ''she'' can be (albeit in a different way).
* BosssUnfavoriteEmployee: Director Ton regularly singles out Retsuko for special abuse, because she managed to get him reported to his boss.
* ButtMonkey: Things rarely go her way: she's at the bottom of the pecking order, singled out by Ton and Tsubone to do extra work, lives a pretty lonely life and she's an ExtremeDoormat to boot, making her an easy target for peer pressure. Not to say, most of her attempt to improve her relationship with her bosses end up making things worse for her.
* CallBack: In the first episode, she says "I'll count to 10 and then I'll be a model citizen" because she doesn't want to go to work. [[spoiler: On a date with Resasuke, she runs to the restroom and says "I'll count to 10 and then I'll be a happy girlfriend."]]
* CannotConveySarcasm: She can understand it, but Retsuko is notably the only character the series that never quite goes full DeadpanSnarker. Mostly because she has her metal jams and because she's way too [[HonestyIsTheBestPolicy upfront]] about things, even when she tries to snark about it.
* CatharticScream: Most of her karaoke outings are this: ranting about her problems at the top of her lungs.
* TheChewToy: {{Zigzagged|Trope}}. Sometimes, her suffering is so ludicrous it oscillates between [[PlayedForLaughs chuckles]] and [[PlayedForDrama heartbreak]].
* CharacterDevelopment:
** She starts off the series either indifferent or annoyed with most of her coworkers, save Haida and Fenneko, but as [[HiddenDepths she learns more about them]] such as [[ThePollyanna Tsunoda]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Ton]], and [[TeamMom Kabae]], she grows to slowly respect them. Doesn't stop her from still being annoyed with them, though.
** Most of her goal of the first season in wanting to marry so she can quit her job and even become a housewife. Come Season Two, she finds a guy so rich who actively encourages her to quit her job to be with him, [[spoiler: but ultimately breaks up with him despite how much they like each other because he doesn't want to get married or have kids, something Retsuko realizes she really does want.]]
* ChristmasCake: At the start of the first episode she makes a point to tell the audience that she's 25 and single. She starts making an effort to correct that a few episodes in, though not for the usual reasons.
** This is what drives much of the plot of the second season, as her mother begins to remind her that it's about time she got married and started a family, and begins to set her up on dates. Retsuko ends the season realizing that [[spoiler: she does want to get married and start a family, and ends up breaking with her boyfriend because he doesn't believe in marriage.]]
* TheCutie: She's adorably polite, very friendly and tries to do right for most of the people she meets, even those who hate her guts.
* DudeMagnet: Has a total of four men be interested in her. They include the following: Haida, Resasuke, Shirota, and Tadano.
* ExtremeDoormat: As stated by her friends, she's too focused on upholding people's expectations of her. Made even worse when many guess correctly she buys stuff from stores because she doesn't want to feel like she didn't get anything or it would make the workers feel bad.
-->'''Metal!Retsuko:''' ''TEAM PLAYERS LOSE!!!''
* FacialMarkings:
** When Retsuko goes into metal mode, she develops facial markings reminiscent of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpse_paint corpse paint]], in addition to a forehead marking in the shape of the kanji character for "rage".
** By default, she has the white facial markings that red pandas typically have, though the dots above her eyes serve as her eyebrows. The dots change shape to look like little horns when she is enraged.
* FieryRedhead: Well she is a Red Panda with quite a temper. Although, she only lets loose in private or when ''really'' pushed.
* GoldDigger:
** Not a mean one, a rather sympathetic one, at that, but she yearns to become a housewife, as a way to quit her job. She decides that the only way this could happen is if she starts hunting for a rich man to date, after Haida tells her that if they married, he'd like for her to keep working (both because he doesn't make enough to sustain both of them and that they could support each other at work).
** [[spoiler:Subverted in season 2. When her relationship with wealthy tech mogul Tadano becomes steady, he tries to convince her to quit her job so he can support them both, and then she'll have time to find something she's truly passionate about, making all of these wants she had in season 1 possible. However, it turns out he isn't interested in marriage or having children. This leads to Retsuko breaking up with him, because she's realized that she genuinely wants to get married in order to have a family and not just as a way to escape from her job.]]
* HairTriggerTemper: She's a lot more prone to her raging outbursts in the TBS shorts. Just failing to pull a price tag off a vase is enough to send her into Metal mode.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: A "tiny girl" with Fenneko in their friendship with Haida; the hyena's a full head taller than Retsuko. Retsuko's interests in season 2, Shirota and Tadano, are also notably taller than her, though that's connected to Retsuko herself being pretty short.
* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Retsuko, being a BadLiar, tends to get herself in trouble by revealing details to things she's pretending not to know. Like when Fenneko asks if she was the anonymous girl who went off about her boss and company on a reality TV show and Retsuko protests she's never even been to the place it was filmed, even though Fenneko never said where it was filmed. Or assuring Ton that the [=CEO=] of their company should go easy on him [[spoiler:because she was the one who complained]] even though Ton never said the ''[=CEO=]'' talked to him.
* InSeriesNickname: Starting from episode 3, Ton starts calling her "Calendar"[[note]]"Short-timer" in the original Japanese version. The English version settles on "Calender" because as Ton puts it, her days are numbered[[/note]] after seeing her unprofessional comments on TV and confirming with the network manager that she was looking at websites on how to quit her job while at work.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Washimi and Gori, who are implied to be at least a decade or two older than her. Despite the age differences, they're all close friends.
* InterspeciesRomance:
** Averted with Resasuke, as he was also a red panda.
** Played straight with Shirato (polar bear) and Tadano (donkey). The former who was a marriage candidate and the latter was her boyfriend for a time.
** Possibly with Haida, a spotted Hyena. Although for now, it's merely ShipTease.
* JadedWashout: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. She hasn't become mean or anything, but 5 years have done their job of sucking Retsuko's hopes and dreams about her job to the point where she continuously flirts with skipping it.
* LadySwearsALot: She is normally quite polite, but both because she's in full CatharticScream mode when she freestyles and because it's in the genre, Metal Retsuko gets sweary.
* TheLoad: During her relationship with Resasuke, she's so bad at her job that Ton makes her sit out during a deadline when they were missing three people, knowing she'd just cause more trouble.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: After she starts dating Resasuke, her infatuation with him makes her rather incompetent at her job and she's unwilling to realize that said relationship isn't going to last.
* LovingAShadow: [[spoiler: At the end of season one, she realizes she isn't really in love with Resasuke, and the image she has of a perfect prince isn't how he is in reality.]]
* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler: The season finale implies she is interested in Haida and would welcome the idea of going out with him, but the viewer is never shown or told the status of their relationship after what is possibly Haida's confession.]] The ChristmasEpisode reveals [[spoiler: she let him down by saying she wanted to be JustFriends, which puts Haida in ''heavy'' depression.]]
* MeaningfulName: Retsuko's name is written with two characters meaning "Rage Child", which naturally refers to all the pent-up anger she has inside of her. The "rage" kanji that appears on her forehead whenever she's in death metal mode is the same one that's part of her name.
** Also a pun on her species name: in Japanese, "''ressaa'' panda", and the name "Ritsuko".
* MetalScream: ''Oh, boy howdy!''
* NiceGirl: And as people around her notice, ''way too'' nice for her own good.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: During her date with Resasuke, she sings a song in her head; however, it's a happy, soft and upbeat melody, not at all like her usual self. In fact, during the whole relationship, she starts being completely upbeat at all times, but becomes increasingly incompetent at work, this is so notable, even her mean bosses take notice of it and are lightly worried about it.
* RageBreakingPoint: What causes her passion for Death Metal is no other than that being the best way to deal with stress when she reaches this. She goes to a secluded place and freestyles until she calms down and goes back.
* RealityEnsues: Reality seems to love hammering itself down upon Retsuko’s hopes and dreams.
** Following your dreams of self-employment and quitting your job is all well and good but not if it means sacrificing your stability for a business that may or may not take off and can’t reliably pay the bills until then.
** It is also a good idea not to use your company’s internet, which they track, to complain about said company and visit sites about how to quit your job. They won’t like it, especially when the company invested a lot of money into your training.
** Ratting out your boss’ power abuse and sexual discrimination to the higher-ups may work in the short term but when your boss figures out you’re the one who snitched, all you’ve done is paint a bigger target on yourself.
** Getting married and becoming a full time housewife doesn’t lead to a HappilyEverAfter. Being a housewife has its own problems and should never be seen as a way out of your current situation.
* RuleOfSymbolism:
** When she makes something to drink in the office's stove is always with a fuming kettle, the fuming and the loud sound of whistling is usually meant to represent that, behind her happy facade, she's fuming inside and ready to burst.
** The shoes Retsuko wears while dating Resasuke and wearing her "happy girlfriend" mask. They’re nicer than the shoes she normally wears, but they cause her pain. She finally takes them off during her karaoke session with Resasuke and goes back to her usual shoes after breaking up with him.
* SingingVoiceDissonance: Whenever she sings death metal, her voice is a lot harsher and more guttural than her regular speaking voice.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: All of her possible love interests made an impression on Retsuko because of their positive personality traits.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Her many hopeful attempts to ditch her job end up backfiring ''horribly'' because the universe doesn't like her that much to begin with. [[spoiler: About the only things she actually gains that she enjoys are the fact she's got some powerful yet comprehensive friends in Washimi and Gori, and that there's the big implication she starts dating Haida at the end of the season (though the ChristmasEpisode goes on to reveal she turned him down)]].
* SuperStrength: Invoked. After several yoga classes, she's the only one in the whole company who can open one of Tsubone's [[ImpossiblePickleJar jars of preserves]] without failing or suffering massive injuries. And in one of the TBS shorts she shattered a phone screen with one finger by hitting a like button too hard when she was mad at Tsunoda.
* SupremeChef: That or [[OneNoteCook one note.]] One of the shorts has her curry winning over ''all'' her co-workers at a barbecue, even Ton, the pitmaster. This trait doesn't carry over to the Netflix series, where her attempt to make Yakisoba noodles for an event is a disaster.
* SurvivalMantra: "I'll count to 10 and then I'll be X". Used at work and [[spoiler: when dating Resasuke starts hurting her.]]
* VocalDissonance: Retsuko's voices changes to a very harsh male voice when she sings DeathMetal.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Haida. They have a lot of ShipTease with one another but he's the one with confirmed romantic feelings while Retsuko states that she prefers to be JustFriends, but it's still left up in the air.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Washimi and Gori]]
!!!'''Washimi is voiced by''': Komegumi Koiwasaki (Japanese), Creator/TaraPlatt (English), America Torres (Latin American Spanish)
!!!'''Gori is voiced by''': Maki Tsuruta (Japanese), Creator/GinaBowes (English), Martha Ramirez (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/washgori.png]]
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->'''Gori:''' Not gonna lie, our “baddest bitch in the room” walk is murder on my back.\\
'''Washimi:''' Be strong, we can't show any weakness at work.

A duo of women who are considered extremely successful in their company. Gori is a Gorilla and supervisor on marketing and Washimi the secretarybird is the president's secretary.

They become close friends with Retsuko after they all start doing the same yoga class and often offer her advice.

Known as Eaglette and Ape Admin in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
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!!Both
* TheAce:
** Washimi is effortlessly on top of everything, all the time, and everyone admires and looks up to her, as well as seeming to have her life more together than Gori outside the office. She also has the [=CEO=] wrapped around her finger. This all appears to come naturally to her.
** Gori subverts this. She does a very good impression of a woman who has her shit together at work, but she's actually quite insecure and sensitive underneath her well-practiced work façade. This is how she's able to bond so easily with Retsuko once they finally managed to get past their difference in rank.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: They're decent people, but if you work at their company and you've been causing trouble, they have the power to get you in trouble (or at least, Washimi does).
* CoolBigSis: They're both older than Retsuko, but are very supportive of her.
* FatAndSkinny: Gori and Washimi respectively form this duo.
* HiddenDepths: Their act to be very imposing at work makes many look up to them, though outside of work they're like any other person, except better put together (at least Washimi keeps her cool better than Gori). In fact, it's an EstablishingCharacterMoment when they do their walk and stop away from others just so Gori can complain and Washimi reminds her to keep looking strong.
* HighHeelPower: Their heels are known to everyone in the building, and everybody knows that these two mean business.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Retsuko, since it's implied that they're at least a decade or two older than her. Despite the age differences, they're all close friends.
* {{Leitmotif}}: A beat-heavy electro song (which sounds similar to the intro of "Hot Stuff") appears often as they walk down the hallways.
* MeaningfulName: Gori is pretty obvious, but Washimi's name literally means "eagle beauty". Secretary birds are called ''hebikuiwashi'' ("snake-eater eagles") in Japanese.
* NiceGirl: Despite the professional and aloof front they present at work, both of them are very pleasant and friendly people.
* NotSoAboveItAll: They're both really well put-together at work, but both of them have certain insecurities of their own, which helps their friendship with Retsuko outside of work. Gori's insecurities are more apparent than Washimi's but the latter is implied to be better at hiding them if necessary.
* PowerWalk: Their trademark at work, and one of the things that makes them so imposing: Gori even refers to it as their "baddest bitch in the room walk". Gori also mentions that walking like that is murder on her back.
* RedOniBlueOni: Gori is the passionate and extroverted red oni to Washimi's calm and serene blue oni.
* SecretKeeper: They are aware and keep a secret about Retsuko's love for death metal as her way to cope with stress and frustration. They actually start accompanying her to the Karaoke and even try to learn how to sing it.
* ThoseTwoGuys: The duo is very close and almost always acts together, both in their workplace and practicing yoga.

!!Washimi
* AwfulWeddedLife: She had a bad marriage which only lasted a few months that Gori didn't even know about. It's because of this that Washimi [[spoiler:discourages both Retsuko and Gori from the idea of ever getting married, as she finds it to be a baseless aspiration that people have but won't truly make them happy.]]
* BeautyMark: Washimi has one under her left eye, adding to her mature image.
* BerserkButton: If you’re the [=CEO=], Washimi’s buttons are “Do not use company funds for your stupid ideas and personal hobbies” and more seriously “Do not ignore power abuse and sexual discrimination in the workplace”. Push either of these buttons and she will use her powerful legs to destroy something.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Washimi is a nice woman off work but she is quick to destroy anything with her strong legs when angered that the [=CEO=] is terrified of her and does whatever she asks.
* BrokenBird: [[spoiler: In season 2 her failed marriage is implied to be why she's so much better put together than Gori is; she focuses almost entirely on her career and doesn't tolerate shit from anyone regardless of their station. It's also implied to be the reason she doesn't go along with Gori and Retsuko's more wacky antics; she knows they won't pan out. Poking at this though turns out to be one of her berserk buttons, enough so that she broke her friendship with Gori over it. As of the end of the season the two of them formed a "truce" to help Retsuko but never formally made up.]]
* EyesAlwaysShut: Washimi's eyes are almost always closed, giving her a perpetually calm and serene expression. She has never opened them in the Netflix series, though has done a few times in the TBS series.
* FrozenFace:
** In one of the shorts, Retsuko gets enraged that Washimi doesn't change her facial expression when they are taking pictures of themselves making funny faces, thinking that Washimi is acting like she is better than them, until Washimi explains that [[FurryReminder she doesn't have facial muscles.]]
** When on the road trip in the Netflix Series, Washimi's barely shows any emotion leading to Retsuko thinking she might not be enjoying it. Gori then points out that Washimi's tail is wagging, which means she's excited. Given that Gori states "the body never lies" implies that Washimi in the series is capable of showing more emotion, but chooses not to so she can preserve her stoic appearance.
* FurryReminder: Much like an actual secretarybird, Washimi has very strong legs, which are shown by her capacity to destroy things by kicking them. She also can't make facial expressions because she is a bird.
* HyperCompetentSidekick: Gori's influence is a bit unknown to the audience, but Washimi clearly runs the [=CEO=] of the company ragged, making the most important decisions and (literally) putting her foot down (on the desk) when he acts out of order.
* InnocentBlueEyes: She looks absolutely adorable on the rare occasions when she does open her eyes, which are large and blue.
* KickChick: {{Pun}} intended. But seriously, Washimi has some powerful legs, and it's her primary form of intimidation.
* PunnyName: As mentioned above, the Japanese word for secretary bird is ''hebikuiwashi''. And she's also a secretary. [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Secretary bird]].
* RageBreakingPoint: When the CEO tried to brush off Ton's abuse of power, Washimi broke his desk in rage.
* SeldomSeenSpecies: Can you name the last time you saw a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretarybird secretarybird]] in a notable work?
* ShipperOnDeck: She shows evidence of this in the Christmas special, leaving Retsuko (and taking Gori with her) when they run into Haida.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Washimi is rather formal and reserved, even outside of work, but she's just as nice a person as Gori.
* TruthInTelevision: Washimi's powerful kicks aren't just for comedic effect, but are the secretary bird's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQWIzS_zkrM actual hunting method.]]
* VisualPun: Washimi is a secretarybird. Take a guess as to what her job is.

!!Gori
* {{Adorkable}}: When outside of work and not putting up her "baddest bitch in the room" front, Gori is a sweet and enthusiastic woman who bungles her introduction to Retsuko, forcing Washimi to tag in.
* AmazonianBeauty: Gori, a big muscular gorilla woman who flexes for Retsuko at a yoga class.
* BigBeautifulWoman: She's large and muscular, but that doesn't stop her from attracting a guy (that she later broke up with, but that's not the point).
* CutenessProximity: Gori, when she sees Retsuko at the same yoga class, can barely contain her glee at the opportunity to befriend her.
* GonkyFemme: She wears a pink dress and necklace and can be rather {{Adorkable}}, and she also happens to be a large, muscular gorilla.
* InVinoVeritas: Gori tries to invoke this at karaoke by putting in Retsuko's request for oolong tea as an oolong cocktail.
* MrsRobinson: She freely admits to Retsuko in season 2 that she attends dating services to meet young men.
* PunnyName: The Japanese word for gorilla is simply "''gorira''".
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Gori is always hungry for quiche.
* WideEyedIdealist: Washimi points out that Gori tends to dream big, which always ends badly because they rarely pan out. This is in contrast to Washimi's more grounded nature and why Gori tends to be the one with any zany schemes (and more prone to dramatic breakdowns).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fenneko]]
!!!'''Voiced by''': Rina Inoue (Japanese), Katelyn Gault (English), Vanessa Olea (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/firefox_2018_04_25_21_54_38.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.]]

->''"Call us girls again, I dare you."''

Retsuko's best friend at work and a computer wizard. While the fennec fox seems cold at first with both her monotone voice and cold attitude, she generally cares for her friends and will do whatever she can to make sure they're happy.

Known as Zelda in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
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* AbhorrentAdmirer: In the TBS shorts, Yagyuu/"Buffalo Boss", a good 30 years her senior, takes an interest in her and tries to arrange an office party as an excuse to talk to her. She doesn't bite.
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange:
** A small one. In the shorts, Fenneko would sometimes join in Retsuko's songs. In the Netflix series, Fenneko's as oblivious as anyone else, to the point that, after getting drunk and remembering one of Retsuko's Death Metal moments, Retsuko knocks her out so she doesn't remember.
** Fenneko's description of a "frenemy" of Retsuko (see below) may actually qualify in the original TBS shorts, where she's sometimes as indecisive and inept as the rest of the coworkers and has her own quirks that confound Retsuko. Here, Fenneko's at least working hard enough to never get into trouble and is definitely one of Retsuko's TrueCompanions at work.
* {{Adorkable}}: Usually [[InvertedTrope inverted]], but it's kind of hard to deny just how lovably adorable she acts whenever she gets drunk. She's also kind of a sweetheart to Retsuko; the only time Fenneko's ever mad at her is when she thinks she's turning into a social-media freak like Tsunoda, and even then it clears up quickly.
* AloofAlly: She's one of Retsuko's closest friends, but you probably wouldn't be able to tell that instantly considering her deadpan tone and rather trollish antics.
* ArchEnemy: Despises Tsunoda due to her kissing up to Ton in order to get out of work, to a point where she follows her just so she can keep a constant eye on everything she's doing at all times.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis:
** Was able to effectively figure out that Retsuko hadn't been spending time with her and Haida because she had been attending yoga classes, but did so by piecing it all together from online pictures on social media without any kind of natural assistance.
** In the Christmas special, she also manages to figure out from a picture Retsuko posts on Instagram that Retsuko is ''not'' actually out on a date at a fancy restaurant, and that she just staged the photo to make it look like she was. She manages to figure this out from observing several small details in the photo.
* BreakoutCharacter: Of the original series, which is why she became such a major one for the Netflix series.
* CatSmile: Her default expression, and it's rather fitting with her status as TheGadfly.
* CunningLikeAFox: She is a fennec fox, and like a fox, she is very intelligent and a bit of a trickster.
* DeadpanSnarker: She responds to almost everything with monotonous but sharp wit.
* DefrostingIceQueen: As the series goes on, she proves to be much more interested in both Retsuko and Haida's happiness than she showed earlier.
* ExplainExplainOhCrap: She mocked Retsuko's routine of 'work, home, phone, sleep', proudly flaunting her hobby as Instagram stalker-slash-sleuth. Which Retsuko pointed out as...
-->'''Retsuko:''' So, in other words...\\
'''Fenneko:''' Work, home, phone, sleep.\\
'''Retsuko:''' You see?\\
'''Fenneko:''' ...WE'RE THE SAME!!!
* FailedASpotCheck: At the singles mixer, she believes that Retsuko isn't taking an interest and has therefore been successfully "protected" from the guys because she was messing around with her phone all evening. In truth, Retsuko was texting Resasuke. (To be fair, Fenneko was also quite inebriated and distracted.)
* TheGadfly: Described as one by Haida, when she laughs at his expense.
-->'''Haida:''' God, you're such a {{troll}}!
* GoodIsNotNice: She's one of the main protagonists and usually has good intentions, but she is still a snarky {{Troll}}.
** [[WordOfGod Sanrio's own website]] says Retsuko thinks Fenneko is a "frenemy" who talks about her behind her back. The same site says "she's nowhere near as bad as Retsuko believes", and her intentions are probably all genuine so far as Retsuko is concerned.
* GoKartingWithBowser: Despite her dislike of Tsunoda, she joins her and Retsuko for a singles mixer. Though her original motive was to keep Retsuko from falling for one of the guys so she stays available for Haida.
* GossipyHens: She could get along with Kabae just well, especially after pointing out the impossibility of Retsuko having dinner 900 kilometres away in one night.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: The "tiny girl" with Retsuko in their friendship with Haida; the hyena's probably twice as tall as Fenneko.
* {{Hypocrite}}: She accuses Retsuko of becoming one of "them" who are obssessed with social media after seeing her and Tsunoda together in a picture Tsunoda uploaded to social media. This is in spite of the fact that Fenneko is on social media all the time and stalks people using it (which is how she found out Retsuko was doing yoga.)[[labelnote:Then again...]] Fenneko's never actually seen posting, just following others to gain ammunition or information.[[/labelnote]]
* TheLancer: Retsuko's best friend and frequent confidant, who occasionally backs her up on drums during her enraged singing in the TBS shorts. She's not as aware of Retsuko's hobbies in the Netflix version, but she still is this for Retsuko at work, with workstations next to each other, frequently taking lunch together, and Fenneko being one of Retsuko's more understanding coworkers.
* MeaningfulName: The first part of her name describes her species--a ''fennec'' fox. The "ko" suffix makes the name feminine in the original Japanese, which makes Fenneko literally a "fox girl" or "fox child". By [[LuckyTranslation sheer coincidence]], Fenneko sounds the same as the Spanish name of her species, "feneco".
** Her name in the fansubs, Zelda, is a corruption of "zerda", as in ''Vulpes zerda'', the Latin name of the fennec.
* NotSoAboveItAll:
** While she looked down on mixers when Tsunoda forced her to go, the second Resasuke's friend calls her cute, she admits mixers are better than she thought.
** She's not above laughing at Retsuko being roasted by Ton during the latter's rap solo. Although at the time Fenneko was completely shitfaced.
* NotSoStoic: There are certain things that will cause her to lose her cool. Such as Retsuko hanging out with her SitcomArchNemesis Tsunoda.
* OhCrap: Two.
** Fenneko deduces Retsuko is going to yoga from a pic on social media. When Retsuko effortlessly pulls off one of Tsubone's lids, she reacts with a visible "O_O" face and the Japanese "oro!?" ("what!?"). It also forces her to rethink her entire deduction process because Retsuko might be stronger than she suspects yoga to make her.
** Fenneko tries to hide Retsuko's involvement with Resasuke after the mixer from Haida. When Haida finds out on his own - through Retsuko's interest in Resasuke's favorite [[TrademarkFavoriteFood canned coffee]] - and asks Fenneko about it, Fenneko does a visible SpitTake and apologizes for not explaining it to him earlier. Notable because it's the ''only'' time in the series she's cowed, gaining noticeable BlushStickers and even trying ''not'' to look at Haida.
* SeriousBusiness: A side effect of her dedication to looking out for Retsuko is that sometimes she'll go a bit nuts over, for example, Retsuko starting to use Instagram.
-->'''Fenneko:''' INSTAGRAM IS EATING HER SOUL!\\
'''Haida:''' [[MediumAwareness They're not gonna like this episode, huh?]]
* SherlockScan: A veritable expert: she uses both social media and her own logical deductions to figure things out, deducing that Tsunoda's trying to attract a guy based on a change in her meticulous posting order, and correctly ascertaining that Retsuko has started doing yoga from a smattering of clues and a photo that Retsuko's in the background of.
-->'''Haida:''' Okay, you're freaking me out. I hope I never piss you off.\\
'''Fenneko:''' If you do, just stay away from social media. ''(wine sip)''
** She does this again in the Christmas special, when she quickly deduces that Retsuko is ''not'' out in town with a date, merely from looking at her Instagram pictures. Said sequence goes so far as to include a shot of her in [[IconicOutfit a deerstalker and pipe]].
* ShipTease: With [[TheBigGuy Manumaru]] at the singles party.
* ShipperOnDeck: She is cheering for Haida to end up with Retsuko, and has helped them more than once, including going to a single's meeting just to make sure Retsuko wouldn't be with anyone and often pushing Haida into action.
* SignatureLaugh: A very [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1hDdWea5KY flat and deadpan]] "hahahahahahahaha", typically at others' expense. This is the case across all dubs, as well.
* SitcomArchNemesis: To Tsunoda.
* TheSmartGirl: One of the smartest characters in the series and easily the most intelligent of the main characters.
* StalkerWithoutACrush: To everyone. She keeps tracks on her friends and hate follows Tsunoda on social media.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: She has an icy exterior but she cares deeply for her friends.
* TheStoic: She hardly shows any emotion aside from her perpetual CatSmile, but she has some NotSoStoic moments, especially when she gets drunk or faces Tsunoda.
* ThoseTwoGuys: One half of this with Haida in the early half of the season, though the usual pattern breaks the more she gets involved in Retsuko's love life.
* {{Troll}}: Intentionally messes with Haida for little to no reason. He even calls her one during the series.
* VegetarianCarnivore: She's a Fennec, which are omnivores and primarily eats protein. But in the TBS short, she said she doesn't like meat.
* WomenAreWiser: Played with, as she's easily one of the more intelligent members of the cast but has her own quirks and foibles, especially regarding social media. She's definitely more level-headed than Haida, though, who tends to fly into panic at the slightest provocation.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Haida]]
!!!'''Voiced by''': Shingo Katou (Japanese), Creator/BenDiskin (English), Julio Bernal (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/haida.png]]
%% [[caption-width-right:330:some caption text]]

->''"I don't envy you girls one bit."''

In the TBS series, Haida is a spotted hyena and is a chick magnet who uses his looks to attract his female co-workers into doing his work for him.

In the Netflix web series, however, Haida is a close friend to Retsuko and Fenneko. He tends to be paranoid about a lot of things and is easily flustered, especially over Retsuko, whom he also has feelings for.

Known as Heinrich in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
----
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In the Netflix series, he isn't coasting on his looks and doesn't have his playboy tendencies, rather, he has a devoted crush on Retsuko and is a very nice, close friend to the main two characters.
* {{Adorkable}}: He's generally pretty awkward, but his friendliness and sense of humor make it endearing. When he's around Retsuko, his crush on her causes it to turn UpToEleven.
* AdultFear: Although it's ultimately not as dramatic as it sounds, Fenneko raises the possibility of Retsuko eventually killing herself from the stress of her workplace, to which Haida reacts with utter terror and runs off in search of her.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Haida's one-on-one with Retsuko in the hospital starts this way, but he changes it to a realization that he was LovingAShadow, and that he would instead like to really get to know her.
-->'''Haida:''' It's just, I know you way better than that guy ever could. Five years now, right? So, how did I lose to him? Heh, that's what I wanted to say. But the truth is, I ''don't'' know you. The Retsuko I know is the idealized one in my head.
* AscendedExtra: He becomes a major character in the Netflix series, gaining much more screen time.
** Nears BreakoutCharacter levels in the Christmas Special, as it's more focused on what he's up to after the events of Season 1's ending.
* BerserkButton: A simple one, but still problematic: Anyone dating Retsuko, whom he has an ''enormous'' crush on. A rare instance of it leading to ''seething anger'' that consumes him the further it goes instead of an immediate switch. Also often - and to his own detriment - leads to INeedAFreakingDrink.
* BreakoutCharacter: The main relationship of the show is Retsuko dealing with Ton, or making friends with Washimi and Gori. Haida's easily one of the more popular characters alongside the memetic Fenneko, despite only appearing for a fraction of every episode, based on his sweet personality.
* ButtMonkey: He becomes a wreck whenever his relationship (or lack thereof) with Retsuko is brought up, which Fenneko likes to exploit. That's not the only way life likes to kick him around; just the most prominent.
* CannotSpitItOut: He just can't, for the life of him, confess to Retsuko. [[spoiler: She points this out in the last episode, saying that she can't go out with him unless he asks her properly.]]
* CatchYourDeathOfCold: Haida gets pneumonia after his DespairEventHorizon, leaving him out of commission for the budget deadline.
* CharacterDevelopment: By Season 2, Haida still likes Retsuko but is able to be her friend and help her out without getting clingy or flustered. [[spoiler:Has a minor CharacterRegression when he finds out she's dating Tadano, though he's still learned from last time; calls Fenneko during his GreyRainOfDepression before getting sick, tries to confront Tadano rather than stew in his jealousy like last time ([[PaperTiger only to chicken out and get his autograph instead]]), and gets enlisted by Gori and Washimi to stage a breakup for Retsuko's own good, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy which he clearly takes no pleasure in]].]]
* CrazyJealousGuy: Verges into this over the second half of Season 1 and ''especially'' the ChristmasSpecial, as he becomes increasingly flustered over his crush on Retsuko, jealous of her dating Resaske, and upset over her [[spoiler:turning him down]]. Fenneko calls him out on it in the ChristmasSpecial, speculating that Retsuko might have [[spoiler:turned him down]] because he's too clingy. Thankfully, he gets over it by Season 2.
* CuteLittleFangs: He has a pronounced underbite, which results in three little fangs sticking out from the bottom of his mouth. [[WordOfGod According to the website,]] he's sensitive about his jaw and interrupts people who say "cr-" words, so they don't say "crooked"--this might only apply to the TBS version.
* DeadpanSnarker: Second to Fenneko in the snarky department. If she's not saying it, chances are Haida is covering it.
* EntitledToHaveYou: Refreshingly averted. While Haida has known Retsuko for years and feels very jealous of her feelings for Resasuke, he acknowledges that it's his own fault for not asking her out while he had the chance, and is very happy for her. [[spoiler:When he finally confesses to Retsuko, though, he admits that he'd convinced himself that ''he'' should be the one dating her since he knew the real her, [[LovingAShadow but now realizes that's ridiculous and he doesn't really know her well at all]], but would like to get to know her better.]]
** Averted again [[spoiler: during season 2. While Haida wants to punch Tadano, he says it's not because he's dating Retsuko, but because he worries that she'll get hurt. And considering there are tons of nasty comments on the internet about Retsuko when the article of her relationship with Tadano released, his fears are not unfounded.]]
* {{Fanboy}}: Of tech mogul Tadano. [[spoiler:Then it falls into BrokenPedestal once Haida learns he's dating Retsuko, to the point Haida wants to punch the guy silly.]]
* GoneHorriblyWrong: When he can't take more any of Anai's threats to Retsuko, he decides to take matters into his own hands by confronting Anai about it, since Anai is at least willing to listen to Haida. This only causes Anai to ''target Haida as well.''
* GossipEvolution: Retsuko's little lie about not being able to poop for a very long while (while she was actually hiding the fact she was going to quit her job) was passed around so much that the lie got heavily altered by the time it reached Haida, who freaked out believing she ''gave birth'' (which didn't help him especially because of the crush he has for her).
* GreenEyedMonster:
** Despite his niceness, he becomes more and more jealous of Retsuko and Resasuke's relationship.
** [[spoiler:It happens again when Retsuko's dates with Tadano are revealed on social media. To add insult to injury, by the time Fenneko called and tried to make sure Haida wouldn't walk out at night during rain while drunk again, he had already sprawled himself on the sidewalk.]]
* HeinousHyena: Subverted. While Hyenas are usually mean-spirited or insane in fiction, Haida is sweet, kind, and {{Adorkable}}. He's quite possibly the most outright friendly hyena character ever to appear in fiction.
* HiddenDepths: A brief scene in the first season shows that at least he seems to have a thing for playing bass guitar when off-work and dresses like a punk. This is further explored in the ChristmasSpecial, where his go-to party bar is PunkRock themed.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Hyenas are bigger than red pandas and fennec foxes, so appropriately Haida is much taller than Retsuko and Fenneko.
* InformedAttractiveness: Apparently can attract most females to do his work for him in the TBS series. This is only touched upon in the Netflix series at the department drinking party, with Tsubone and Kabae practically begging him to sit next to them [[UnwantedHarem to his dismay]].
* InterspeciesRomance: He (a spotted Hyena) has a nice amount of ShipTease with Retsuko (a red panda), especially since it's confirmed he has romantic feelings for her.
* {{Irony}}: Haida is a fan of PunkRock, a genre where expressing confidence and swagger plays a central part, but he has severe problems opening up to the woman he likes about his feelings for her.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Alcohol is a major thing that he uses to cope with his stress and anxiety, seen in both the main series and the ChristmasSpecial.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: While he can get flustered, clingy, and jealous in love, at the end of the day he greatly cares about Retsuko and wants her to be happy even if it's not with him, [[INeedAFreakingDrink even if it]] [[GreyRainOfDepression eats him up inside]].
* LoveEpiphany: While he's been good friends with Retsuko for years and often worries about her, it isn't until Retsuko asks what would happen if they hypothetically got married that he becomes aware of his feelings for her.
* LovingAShadow: [[spoiler: At the end of season one, he admits that he might not really know Retsuko as much as he thinks he does, though, rather than that pushing him away from her, he decides he wants to get to know her better.]]
* LuminescentBlush: Even more prone to that than Retsuko... and mostly when dealing with Retsuko (or drunk).
* MaybeEverAfter: ZigZagged. [[spoiler:The season finale implies Retsuko is interested in Haida, and would welcome the idea of going out with him. Their actual discussion is never seen, and in the Christmas Special, we see she's only interested in being JustFriends at that point. However, at the end of the episode, after Haida walked Retsuko to the train station, Haida gives a fist-pump when her train pulls out, suggesting the time may have come for them to explore more. Just like the end of Episode 10, [[NoodleIncident we don't know for sure]]. Season 2 reveals that they're still not together.]]
* MediumAwareness: Develops this for a gag in the ChristmasSpecial.
-->'''Fenneko:''' [[LargeHam INSTAGRAM IS EATING HER SOUL!]]\\
'''Haida:''' They are not gonna like this episode, huh?
* MoodSwinger: Moreso than most other characters. A few scenes have him go from normal to panic to normal then angered then back to panicked.
* NervousWreck: Partly due to CannotSpitItOut, Haida gets panicked at the drop of a hat with anything dealing with Retsuko. This is sometimes exploited by Fenneko, who invokes these situations to get him to confess to her... then later has to reign him in so he doesn't go overboard.
* NiceGuy: He's supportive of Retsuko even when she's in a relationship with Resasuke. [[spoiler: Till it slowly breaks him just thinking about it]].
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:Calls Anai out on bullying Retsuko, only to become his next target.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Normally a NiceGuy, when Haida confirms with Fenneko that Retsuko is dating Resasuke, he takes Fenneko hiding it in his usual stride, then mournfully states he wants to ''punch Resasuke'' for beating him to Retsuko.
* PaperTiger: He's a tall [[HeinousHyena hyena]] who [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver wears black and red]] and loves {{punk rock}}, and tries to act edgy and tough sometimes, but he's a sweet, harmless NiceGuy. To the point that when he tries to get [[spoiler:Anai]] to leave Retsuko alone he just becomes his next target, and after psyching himself up to punch [[spoiler: Tadano]] he ends up [[spoiler: asking for an autograph instead.]] [[DeadpanSnarker Fenneko]], naturally, loves mocking him over this.
-->'''Haida:''' It's tough for those of us guys who refuse to kiss butt...\\
'''Fenneko:''' You kiss up all the time!
* PromotedToLoveInterest: Haida wasn't that close to Retsuko in the original shorts, but in the Netflix series, he develops feelings for Retsuko. [[spoiler: Episode 10 and the Christmas Special contain much ShipTease to that effect.]]
* PunnyName: Haida is a pormanteau of the Japanese surname "Kaida" with the Japanese spelling of his species "hyena"[[note]]as ハイエナ/"''hai''ena"[[/note]]
* RealityEnsues:
** His walk through a GrayRainOfDepression at the last episode of season one results in him getting pneumonia, since he fell on the floor and laid there in the cold rain, rather than seeking shelter or warming himself up.
** The "Metal Christmas" special reveals he got shot down after asking Retsuko out in Episode 10 for two reasons. Firstly, Fenneko wonders if he's too clingy and wonders if that caused Retsuko to turn him down. Secondly, Retsuko just got out of a bad breakup and his enthusiastic proposition, while sweet, was probably too much after going through that recently.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Averted. His workplace clothes, dress clothing, and his punk outfit have a black and red pattern, yet Haida is a sweetheart.
* SeldomSeenSpecies: How many times have you seen a hyena outside of Lion King or Dungeons and Dragons related media? Not a lot.
* ThoseTwoGuys: One half of this with Fenneko in the early half of the season, though the usual pattern breaks the more the series goes on and the more he falls for Retsuko.
* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: It's already odd for a Sanrio character to have pupils in general, but even odder is that under panic (which happens a lot), his [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dbhsh5jW0AIBFf5.jpg pupils dialate and show off hazel iris]].
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Retsuko. They have a lot of ShipTease with one another but he's the one with confirmed romantic feelings while Retsuko states that she prefers to be JustFriends, but it's still left up in the air.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Puko]]
!!!'''Voiced by''': Rina Inoue (Japanese), Creator/AllegraClark (English), Cecilia Guerrero (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pukoport.png]]

Retsuko's childhood friend who manages to make it out there without being tied to a job.
----
* BourgeoisBohemian: Played with. She has the carefree attitude, flitting from job to job without a care or a fixed address, and the interest in small business...but on the other hand, she's also solidly pro-economic stability and the establishment, ultimately recognizing that while she could never do it, responsible people are important, too.
* TheBusCameBack: She only appeared for a couple of episodes early on in season one, but reappears in the ChristmasEpisode as well as a few more episodes in the second season.
* ChildhoodFriends: Has known Retsuko since they were younger, and they get along pretty well.
* HopeSpot: She presents Retsuko a business opportunity with a shop selling imported goods. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, later on, Puko reveals she wouldn't be able to afford to pay rent for a building and will be shipping stuff out from her home. She states that while they might be able to have a physical shop eventually, it won't be happening anytime soon, dashing Retsuko's hopes of leaving for a new job.]]
* ReformedButNotTamed: Season 2 shows how her business is going. [[spoiler:While she enjoys it and is much more hard-working and responsible than before, she's still pretty laid-back, lets her employees flake on her whenever they feel like it, and gets kicked out of her office space because she didn't realize rent was a ''monthly'' thing, but laughs and shrugs it off like usual.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Its Puko's return to Tokyo that makes Retsuko realize she doesn't just hate her job, she hates the direction of her ''life'', and kick offs her attempts to find a way out.
[[/folder]]

!! Retsuko's Family
[[folder:Retsuko's Mother]]
!!!'''Voiced by''': Maki Tsuruta (Japanese), Kaitlyn Robrock (English), Adriana Casas (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aggretsukoretsukosmom.png]]


Retsuko's well-meaning, but very pushy and overbearing mother.
----
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Her introduction to the audience has her send a picture of [[AgeInappropriateDress a childish-looking dress with frills and ribbons all over it]] to Retsuko, saying that she'd look great in it, revealing that she already bought it and had it shipped to Retsuko's apartment, and ''then'' forcing Retsuko to wear the dress so she can take a photo of Retsuko in it. The photo in question later turns out to be part of her plans to matchmake Retsuko against her will.
* TheGenerationGap: Most of her arguments rely on AppealToTradition (especially as it applies to Japanese society) especially as it applies to marriage with several lectures that are all too familiar to Millenials.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** She fervently matchmakes her own daughter against her will, and yet she comments to herself she married Retsuko's father because she followed her heart and didn't need some stinking matchmaking to do it for her.
** She tells Retsuko to make sure to lock her door so someone doesn't break into her apartment, only to break into Retsuko's apartment herself to clean it since she made a copy of Retsuko's key without telling her.
* HypocriteHasAPoint: While she is hypocritical regarding her love life, it turns out that she's fully right in what Retsuko wants, giving her the confidence to realize she does want to find a romantic partner. One could say that her matchmaking was to try and give her daughter the push she needed in the first place.
* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Apart from looking similar, it turns out that Retsuko gets her spontaneous bouts of rage from her mother, but without the kanji for rage and the heavy metal.
* MyBelovedSmother: A constant pain of stress and embarrassment on her daughter. It's so bad she visits Retsuko's apartment without warning her prior (she has a copy of her key without telling Retsuko).
* PetTheDog: She's surprisingly supportive of Retsuko getting her driver's license and even offers to chip in some money for the lessons. Her stated reason for this may also count: Retsuko's father is having some health issues and Retsuko having her license would make it easier for him to get to his appointments.
* TechnologicallyBlindElders: Averted. She's apparently skilled enough with image editing software that she doctors Shirota's photo to make him look significantly more attractive than he is in real life, thus making Retsuko more willing to meet him.
* UnnamedParent: She's Retsuko's mother, and she's never given an actual name.
[[/folder]]

!!Retsuko's Romantic Partners and Dates
[[folder:Resasuke]]
!!!'''Voiced By''': Shingo Katou (Japanese), Creator/MaxMittelman (English), Oscar Rangel (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/resauke.png]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Resasuke's {{Bishōnen}} face]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bushodin.png[[/labelnote]]]]

In both series, Resauke is a red panda who's a love interest for Retsuko. However, in the TBS series, he doesn't talk and is only seen from afar.

The Netflix series expands on this, with him gaining an actual voice and small story arc. He's described as plain-faced and a bit of a loner.

Known as Lester in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
----
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Unintentionally, due to being InnocentlyInsensitive and ObliviousToHints. Apart from asking Retsuko out and planning their first date (on his friend's coaching), often Retsuko feels she has to put in all the work to keep their relationship afloat while hiding how increasingly dissatisfied she feels, which wears her out. Her boss, Ton, even explicitly states in accounting terms that she's giving more than she's getting. [[spoiler:This is what causes her to end things.]]
* AmbiguousDisorder: He's clearly not exactly built for socialization, being described as a loner and shown to be ObliviousToHints. He also doesn't show very much emotion through his facial expressions or his voice.
* BeautyMark: Has one just under his nose, but in Retsuko's fantasized version of him it's a more typical example of the trope where it's under his left eye instead.
* BrainlessBeauty: Well, the latter's only in Retsuko's besotted eyes. To everyone else, he is TheGenericGuy, if not outright TheNondescript.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: By implication. Given all his issues, some of which are shown to cause actual trouble for the company, he must be ''really'' good at some aspect of Sales.
* CaringGardener: A scene in episode ten reveals he actually takes care of a lot of exotic plants, from cacti to ficuses.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: It is made clear that he mentally spends ''a lot'' of time in his own little world. So much so that he is referred to as an "out of pocket prince" by his friends and coworkers -- a reference to his habit of accidentally putting his expense reports through the wash, forcing him to pay for them himself because they're too illegible for accounting to process. [[note]] [[{{Woolseyism}} The dubs refer to him as different things, however. For example, the English dubs refer to him as a "space cadet" since he spaces out.]] [[/note]] He also admits to being late because he was daydreaming on the train and therefore missed his stop, with the implication that is far from the first time it has happened.
* EmotionlessBoy: It's not known if this is due to his shy nature or an AmbiguousDisorder, but he tends to stay completely blank-faced and monotone almost all the time.
* DullSurprise: Pretty much the only expression on his face is a blank, vacant stare, with his mouth hanging slightly open.
* {{Foil}}: To Retsuko. Their names are similar and they're the same species, but they're opposite genders and their emotions are the complete opposite of each other.
* TheGenericGuy: InUniverse. The only thing about him everyone really seem to notice is how plain and forgettable he looks, and it is often remarked on how his extremely mild-mannered behavior doesn't leave much of an impression.
* HiddenDepths: He grows a lot of plants in his small apartment, and seems to care a lot for them.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: [[spoiler:Due to his lack of awareness and personality, he's a rather bad boyfriend without meaning to be. Retsuko even states the reason she has trouble breaking up with him is she knows he's a good guy.]]
* JabbaTableManners: Shown once that when he eats spaghetti, it ends up splattering his face.
* NiceGuy: Despite his social deficiencies, Resauke isn't a bad guy at heart. The whole reason that Retsuko initially falls for him is because he shows concern for her well-being after she drinks too much.
* NotGoodWithPeople: He is impressively talented when it come to taking care of plants, but his social skills are somewhat lacking to say the least. [[spoiler:He doesn't just misread situations, he outright misses them, as seen on his date with Retsuko.]]
* ObliviousToHints: He's completely incapable of understanding indirect communication. When Retsuko points out they've been walking a lot and asks if he wants to eat, instead of realizing she's tired and wants to take a break, he just says he's not tired and keeps walking with her. [[spoiler:It's eventually made clear that this is one reason why he and Retsuko are ultimately incompatible with one another; Resasuke is never able to pick up on any hints Retsuko gives him that she's being worn down by their outings, and Retsuko is unwilling to confront him about it directly.]]
* PunnyName: Red Pandas are also known as "Lesser Pandas" (especially in Japan). Lesser = ''ressaa'' (レッサー), plus the name Sasuke, so you get Resasuke. And the fansubs renamed him "Lester".
* PutOnABus: Doesn't appear at all in Season 2.
* SuddenlyVoiced: Resasuke is able to speak full sentences (or at least says a few words) while he was silent in the TBS shorts.
* TheQuietOne: Even when he speaks, he talks at a very low volume. During the mixer both him and Retsuko are attending, he has to communicate with her via text because she simply cannot hear him over the conversations of the other four people at the table.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Canned Coffee. He even drinks it at a mixer. It's so heavily associated with him that others think of him when looking at coffee drinks.
* TheVoiceless: Resasuke never spoke in the original shorts.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Both Washimi and Gori honestly can't see why Retsuko loves the guy so much. [[spoiler:Retsuko eventually comes to the same conclusion after realizing that she's been LovingAShadow.]]
* YesMan: He easily agrees with others' requests to do anything, even if it means going out with Retsuko. [[spoiler:This ends up running Retsuko ragged as her many outings with him take a toll on her, as shown by her growing injuries on her legs]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Shirota]]
!!!'''Voice by''': Voiced by Chiharu Sasa (Japanese), Creator/DaveBMitchell (English), Hector Estrada (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aggretsukoshirota.png]]

--->"Be honest, when you first saw me, were you disappointed?"

A friendly polar bear who is set up on an arranged date with Retsuko.
----
* {{Adorkable}}: He's a big guy who's a bit older than Retsuko, but he looks just as awkward and flustered as she does when they're left alone together.
* BearyFriendly: He's a polar bear who's genuinely a nice dude.
* BigBeautifulMan: Shirota has a thick midsection, due to a mix of being a BigEater (according to his mom) and his time playing rugby, which is only part of his cute and huggable appeal.
* InterspeciesRomance: Downplayed, as it's a one-time arranged date. But he's a polar bear while Retsuko is a red panda.
* LovableJock: Shirota's mother reveals he's a former rugby player, and despite his somewhat intimidating stature he's nothing but polite and sweet.
* MeaningfulName: The "Shiro" (白) in Shirota means "White," the color of his fur.
* MinorFlawMajorBreakup: Discussed between Retsuko and her mom. [[spoiler:Retsuko knows he's a great guy who'll make her happy, but she's still unsure of what she wants and tries to nitpick minor flaws as an excuse not to see him, which her mother calls her out on, but can't talk her out of. Retsuko later kicks herself for [[TheOneThatGotAway letting him get away]].]]
-->'''Retsuko's Mom:''' The sock thing is an easy fix, dear.
* NiceGuy: He's so nice that, as Retsuko's mother points out, [[spoiler: Retsuko actively has to make up reasons as to why she doesn't want to keep seeing him:]]
-->'''Retsuko:''' There is tons wrong with him! He was wearing white socks with a suit! And he had one of those Velcro wallets straight out of the 90s! He had a way-too-friendly personality, and a cute smile to go with it! He's down-to-earth and has a good job and I'd bet he'd be really nice to me if we got married!
* SmallRoleBigImpact: He's there for one scene and one flashback. However, he's such a genuinely nice guy and Retsuko hits it off so well with him that it causes her to rethink ''how'' she's pursuing romantic attachment, [[spoiler: particularly when it's discovered he's moved on when she tries to call him again.]]
* TheOneThatGotAway: Despite her reservations about arranged dating and being put off by the realization that her mother clearly used Photoshop on his photo to make him look more attractive, Retsuko seems to genuinely hit it off with Shirota. [[spoiler: Even when she's explaining to her mother why she doesn't want to see him anymore, it seems more like she's trying to convince herself that it would be a bad idea. This, unfortunately, bites Retsuko hard when she expresses interest in trying to reach out to him again in Episode 6, only to learn he's going steady with another woman.]]
* RomanticFalseLead: Retsuko and Shirota's date goes surprisingly well [[spoiler: which makes it surprising when Retsuko decides to stop seeing him one episode later. Unlike the case with Tadano, Retsuko doesn't actually seem to find any flaw with Shirota that makes her want to stop pursuing him- it's her own fear and hesitation that leads to her breaking off their relationship before it goes anywhere.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tadano]]
!!!'''Voice By''': Chiharu Sasa (Japaneese), Creator/GriffinBurns (English), Carlo Vázquez (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aggretsukotadano.png]]

A slacker donkey who secretly is a huge tech mogul.
----
* TheAce: He's a slacker, but the revelation that he's a tech mogul should give one the idea, with a touch of very charismatic attitude.
* AnimalStereotypes: {{Averted}}. He's a donkey that is easy going and polite. [[spoiler:Actually DoubleSubverted: even though he and Retsuko share a genuine bond, he won't change his feelings on marriage and family, because he's stubborn as a mule.]]
* BrilliantButLazy: A strange example. He can't be bothered to learn how to drive a car...because he flies his own personal jet. According to him, driving a car means having to follow rules, while flying doesn't need him to look any ways and follow any rules. Also to note, he's ''made a super AI that could revolutionize the world''.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: In a sense. He slacks around, but is a genius and wants to change the world. He also feels that people shouldn't waste their time and such focusing on dead-end jobs and wants to legit change the world for the better, thinking far more than one can see.
* CreepyBlueEyes: Whenever he starts talking about his outlook on life or work, his blue irises get noticeably bigger. It's not so much that he's creepy, just that talking about his personal passions and beliefs can make him come off really pushy when he gets like this.
* DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler:Unfortunately. Tadano doesn't think he's one for marriage or kids, something Retsuko wants. As a result, the two (from the looks of it at the end of "Wonderful Life") split off on friendly terms, although still heartbroken from their split]].
* {{Foil}}:
** [[spoiler: To Resasuke. Both of them end up being Retsuko's love interests by the end of their respective season, but the difference is how they go about it. Whereas Resasuke barely notices Retsuko's needs, Tadano could give her the world, something that she had wanted out of Resasuke. The ''problem'', then, is that the one thing he can't give Retsuko is his hand in marriage]].
** [[spoiler:To Haida. Tadano is a tech genius, gets to know Retsuko on a personal level, is clearly reciprocating her affections and is pretty calm]] even if [[spoiler: he gets turned down in the end]]. [[spoiler:Haida, on the other hand, isn't that much of a tech genius himself, hardly ever has the courage to know much about Retsuko, his relationship remains a messy one-sided love, and he is very quick to panic and [[INeedAFreakingDrink get drunk]] whenever Retsuko loves someone else other than him]].
* HairColorDissonance: The show usually leans very accurate in the colors of its characters so presumably Tadano's lilac and blue fur are supposed to be a stand-in for grey.
* InterspeciesRomance: He's a donkey while Retsuko is a red panda.
* {{Irony}}:
** In Season 1, Retsuko was ''desperate'' to marry a rich guy just so she could quit her job. She falls for Tadano despite believing him to be an unemployed slacker. [[spoiler: After she learns he's rich, he encourages her to quit her job so he can support her. However, by this point Retsuko realizes she wants to MarryForLove (and [[BabiesEverAfter have kids]]) whether or not she quits her job. Since marriage is the one thing he can't give her, they break up.]]
** Post-capitalism really isn't what one would expect to find from a wealthy young tech mogul.
* ItsAllAboutMe:
** ''Very'' subtle, but he eventually tries to convince her to quit her job so she can spend all her time with him. [[spoiler:He also refuses to budge on the "marriage and kids" front, even though it's what she wants, betraying that even though he's a genuinely nice and cares about her, he wants a relationship on his own terms, with Retsuko at his beck and call but being unwilling to compromise to make her happy.]]
** He's so focused on giving people the freedom to do what they want that he doesn't consider that he's destroying what they want. [[spoiler: He acknowledges that his AI would destroy jobs but argues that it gives people the freedom to pursue other, less mundane things. He never considered that people might simply ''enjoy'' their mundane jobs. Similarly, the examples he gives Retsuko about what freedom for her means are things ''he'' has accomplished, and never asks what freedom means for her. This is foreshadowed when Retsuko is trying to teach him how to check his blindspot; he doesn't consider it necessary despite the very real danger of him hitting a passing motorcyclist because it's pointless for him.]]
* NiceGuy: He genuinely is a well spoken, friendly, and ''very'' caring, especially of Retsuko. [[spoiler: Sadly though, he's ultimately so focused on his very idealized worldview that, even though he genuinely loves Retsuko, he's unable to provide her with what she ''really'' wants.]]
* TheSlacker: Retsuko and the receptionist at the driving school both think he's just this, not realizing his HiddenDepths.
* RomanticFalseLead: [[spoiler: Despite Retsuko loving him, Tadano doesn't see any point in marriage or kids. He'd rather have Retsuko with him and practically give her everything she wants, except those two things, of course. It should be noted however that he ''does'' love Retsuko, but he doesn't find the idea of marriage and kids something he'd be into.]]
* SecretlyWealthy: Somehow, some people don't even know he's a tech mogul.
* StubbornMule: DoubleSubverted. He initially doesn't seem to have any of the stereotypical traits donkeys and mules usually have in media. [[spoiler: But what ultimately ends his relationship with Retsuko is his stubborn refusal to get married to her.]]
[[/folder]]

! Carrier Man Trading Co., Ltd.
!! Accounting Department
[[folder:Ton]]
!!!Voice By: Sota Aori (Japanese), Josh Petersdorf (English), Osvaldo Trejo (Latin American Spanish)
[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/director_ton_aggretsuko_831.jpg]]

->"''We deserve a vacation!''"

The head of the accounting department, Ton is a Pig and a notorious chauvinist who terrorizes his employees and picks on Retsuko in general.

Known as Hog Honcho in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
----
* TheAce: While he's normally quite lazy, whenever he actually does get to work, he quickly proves himself to have earned his spot as the boss, being more than capable of not only keeping up with his employees, but actually surpassing them, without using ''any'' technology. That's pretty impressive.
* AdaptationalJerkass: Sure, he was no NiceGuy in the original series, but the Netflix series makes him out to be far worse than he ever was originally.
* BigBad: The closest there is to a main antagonist in this series. Not so much in season two, where he TookALevelInKindness.
* BrilliantButLazy: He spends most of his time in the office practicing his golf swings and dumping work on his employees, but if there's a deadline coming up, he'll cancel his plans and work faster than everyone else in his division with an abacus whereas his coworkers are using computers, and even correcting said employees using a computer.
* BrutalHonesty: He prides himself on telling it "like it is". This him enables to, at times, [[CruelToBeKind hand out geniunely useful advice, even if he is very blunt about it]].
** [[spoiler:This disposition allows him to give Retsuko some advice on her relationship with Resasuke which is actually both pretty perceptive and helpful, namely that it clearly isn't working out.]]
** [[spoiler: In Season 2, when Retsuko is torn about Tadano not wanting marriage, Ton tells her that while marriage just for the sake of marriage is a terrible choice, Retsuko shouldn't just abandon something she genuinely always wanted just to satisfy what Tadano wants.]]
* TheChainOfHarm: He laments that his bosses would treat him the way he treats his employees and that times are changing when he actually gets reprimanded for it.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ton is a horrible boss and hates Retsuko, but he refuses to [[spoiler:expose her relationship with Tadano]] because he sees that as being too low for him. The expression on his face when [[spoiler:he discovers the article about Retsuko and Tadano]] can best be described as uncomfortable, if not worried.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: In season 2, it's revealed that Ton has a wife and twin daughters. He admits that they drive him crazy, but he loves them.
* EyesAlwaysShut: His pupil is never shown and perhaps it's BlackBeadEyes stretched horizontally, giving this impression. The times he actually opens his eyes are always GlowingEyesOfDoom.
* FatBastard: He's rather overweight due to being a pig, and is very much a MeanBoss towards his employees. [[spoiler:Episode 10, however, implies he does have a good heart somewhere beneath the surface...]]
* FreudianExcuse: His old bosses treated him terribly and unloaded their work on him while they lazed away and when he rose up the ranks, he does the same to his own workers. He warns that one day, Retsuko will do the same when she becomes the boss.
* GoodWithNumbers: While he is lazy, the man can work numbers as if they're his first language.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Just like how he is to Retsuko, he too had a boss that he loathed. But when in the end, he had to adapt to the office culture, ultimately becoming the boss himself. Ton believes that this will happen to Retsuko as well in the end.
* HiddenDepths:
** At the office party, Ton reveals he can rap, showing a preference for hip-hop music. [[spoiler:He also gives a pretty good speech about relationships using accounting terms to Retsuko towards the end of Season 1, helping her out of her funk over her relationship.]]
** Mr. Ton is actually a great accountant, being able to work faster with an abacus than his colleagues can work with a computer. As with the FreudianExcuse example above, he is worried that his brand of management style will no longer be acceptable which is TruthInTelevision.[[note]]There's a few [[ThePeterPrinciple theories]] of [[TheDilbertPrinciple thought]] for this. Managers promoted through the ranks can be promoted if they are the most competent or if they are the least competent. The former occurs because bosses think that if they are good at their job than they should move up the ladder. The latter occurs because bosses want to get them in a position where they won't hurt the work flow. Managers should have an idea as to how their subordinates do their job, but may be better managers than they are with the work or they can be the opposite, being good with the work but bad managers. Ton seems to be an example of ThePeterPrinciple having been very good at his job. However, when he wants to, he can subvert the principle easily and only acts that way because it was the way he was treated. This is also why more companies are hiring people straight into management spots. These kinds of managers would normally be better in normal situations whereas mangers promoted due to competence would be better during crunch time. This is because managers promoted for being competent would be able to cover down when things get hectic, something Mr. Ton excels at. This is probably why the CEO was unwilling to fire Ton outright when he was told about how he treats Retsuko which would show a [[HiddenDepths surprising amount of forethought on his part.]][[/note]]
** Say what you will about Ton, but he's more cunning and perceptive than he lets on. When he was (lightly) lectured by the CEO for his behavior, the first thing he did was pretend to be nice so that he could narrow down the list of people who ratted him out. Based on how Retsuko reacted while giving him tea, he correctly assumed it was her. Furthermore, even though Retsuko had never mentioned being in a relationship to him, he was quick to catch on that she was having trouble with Resasuke.
** The website mentions that he likes to take the younger employees barhopping every night, which is a pretty friendly gesture.
* HopelessWithTech: Despite working at a company where computers are used by practically everybody, he states himself that he's bad with technology. He doesn't even know basic computer terminology, like how he says "clink" instead of "click". He uses an abacus to calculate figures instead, and he's surprisingly good with it.
* IgnoredEpiphany: At the office party, he genuinely seems to catch onto the fact that he can't treat his underlings the way that he was once treated in their shoes... Only to fly off the handle when he realizes Retsuko had something to do with his being reprimanded in the first place. Even beyond that, he was so hung over that the following morning he didn't remember anything about that night anyway. Possibly subverted, as in the Japanese dub, in the final episode he says "Sorry, I know you don't like long lectures by your ''[[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay shitty boss.]]''", implying that he does remember Retsuko's outburst calling him out as a shitty boss, but he's willing to bury the hatchet.
* JerkassHasAPoint:
** When Retsuko ends up with a television interview in which she badmouths Ton and continuously spends working hours on websites related to quitting her job, Ton has every reason to chew her out and was well within his rights to fire her on the spot. Not only does doing that on TV[[note]]even with her face blurred out, it was clearly her[[/note]] hurt the company and its image, she's also wasting her time, not being productive, and being very unprofessional. However, as always, Ton takes his jerkassery just a little bit too far by giving her a demeaning nickname and constantly demanding that she get him tea which is also [[{{Hypocrite}} unprofessional.]]
** He may be a MeanBoss in general, but his orders could still be understandable when he's actually the most competent and experienced worker around with only an abacus, while his employees are, in a way, somehow lazier than ''he'' is when they've been using modern technology.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** The season one finale had him stop being mean-spirited for once and [[spoiler:give Retsuko the truthfully sad advice that she should have balance with her love life with Resasuke, or else it would break her]]. He then tries to deny he has a good heart after saying that.
** In Season 2, [[spoiler:when he finds out Retsuko is dating Tadano, an important company client, he has the good graces to pretend he doesn't know her during the golf game, agrees not to rat out her relationship as he "[[EvenEvilHasStandards doesn't play that dirty]]," and seems genuinely worried about her (and, in his own roundabout way, tries to warn her) when he sees the paparazzi stalking and taking pictures of her and Tadano.]]
** In general, he's still an asshole in season 2, but is no longer actively making Retsuko's life miserable (though he still does so unknowingly). It's implied part of the reason is that he assigned Retsuko, Haida, and Fenneko to train Anai, the newest member of the team, and they're finally getting a taste of what it feels like to be in his position. In particular, he congratulates (and laughs at) Retsuko for her receiving her first formal complaint, seeing it as a rite of passage.
* LargeHam: No pun intended. In the 10th episode when it comes to crunch time, he freaks out because they are down 3 workers with Retsuko acting really spacey due to being love struck (so technically down four people). This freaks Komiya in turn who asks if they are still on for golf the next day. Ton slams down the phone he's holding and proclaims that "golf is canceled... ''FOREVER!''"
* {{Leitmotif}}: Some of his more jerk-ish moments are punctuated by an ominous-sounding hip-hop beat, which comes full-circle in his rap battle against Retsuko.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: While he is pretty bad towards Retsuko, apparently his boss was just as bad, if not possibly even worse than he ever is.
* MeanBoss: Picks on Retsuko and is a general menace to everyone under him.
* MeaningfulName: An obese pig named "Ton", which is one possible reading of the kanji for "pig".
* NotSoDifferent: He's mentioned several times that when he was in Retsuko's position his superiors treated him like crap too, in fact to a much worse degree than he does to his subordinates because it was easier to get away with it back in 1987. At the office party he also reveals that he's a pretty competant rapper, implying that his coping strategy back then was to go to karaoke bars and vent his spleen, just like Retsuko does now.
* OfficeGolf: Often seen practicing his golf swings during work.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** When the [=CEO=] (forced by Washimi) hesitantly warns him about his behavior to female workers, he puts up a cheerful attitude meant to horrify everyone. It ''works'' so well even his most trusted coworkers don't want to be around him. Sadly for Retsuko, StatusQuoIsGod and he manages to avoid being fired (though she did get back at him while they were drunk).
** In season 2, he looks genuinely concerned for Retsuko when he sees the paparazi and the resulting article. [[spoiler: Sure enough, it eventually leads to Retsuko disappearing for 3 days and coming in to resign. And unlike in Season 1, he specifically drags Retsuko aside to give her a real heart to heart, even refusing her resignation even though he still calls her Short-timer.]]
* PetTheDog:
** In the first and second season finales, he gives Retsuko genuinely good relationship advice.
** When Retsuko apologized to him after [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech the office party incident]], he said that he didn't remember what happened last night. It's left ambiguous whether he really doesn't remember or if he's letting it drop, but considering he no longer looks for the one who ratted him out, it might be the latter.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He makes a lot of sexist remarks.
--> "Incompetent women are such a pain in the ass. But better than competent women, am I right?"
* ProfessionalButtkisser: If the [=CEO=] asks him to kiss up to a prospective client in a game of golf, he'll lay it on ''real'' thick.
* RealityEnsues: Ton abused his power and discriminated against a female worker and when news reached the top (and was pushed to confront by said female worker’s friend who was the [=CEO’s=] secretary), Ton had to have a private meeting with the [=CEO=] about his management. While he wasn’t fired, he was given a warning and told to try and be nicer to his staff.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: When Ton's eyes give off a menacing red glow, it's a sign that Retsuko's life is gonna start sucking a little bit more.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: During a drinking party, after getting drunk, he launches into a brutal diss track counting all the ways that Retsuko sucks. She fights back and is able to knock him out, but the next day, everyone forgets what she did on account of having a nasty hangover.
* ResignationsNotAccepted: [[spoiler:When Retsuko tries to quit her job near the end of Season 2 after a long unexplained absence from work, something Ton supposedly always wanted, he refuses to let her quit, since he knows her absence and resignation were both Tadano's idea and he's not going to let her lose herself in another relationship.]]
* SmarterThanYouLook: Despite Retsuko not telling anyone about her relationship with Resasuke except for Gori and Washimi, he correctly figures out that her deteriorating work quality and strange behavior is due to her unhappiness with her situation. And he also realizes this despite not being a social media sleuth like Fenneko or even being in her inner circle of friends.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: His daughters look like shorter versions of him with braids and wearing SailorFuku. [[LarynxDissonance They even sound exactly like him!]]
* TookALevelInKindness: In Season 2. He still runs the accounting department like a tyrant but is overall much nicer to Retsuko than he was in the first season. He shows concern for her when he notices paparazzi taking pictures of her with [[spoiler: Tadano]], and even offers some genuine advice to her about marriage and family and tries to talk her out of [[spoiler: quitting her job because of Tadano]], showing that he not only really values her as a worker but also ''knows'' that won't really make her happy.
* TheUnsmile: When he tries to act nicer and happier in the office. The whole staff is creeped out by it.
* VisibleOdor: According to the website, he keeps a case of antiperspirant and deodorant in his desk. It doesn't seem to help overmuch.
* VisualPun: He's a literal chauvinistic pig.
* WeWantOurJerkBack: When Ton tries to be nicer and happier around the office, it comes off as creepy and the staff abhor him more than ever.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tsunoda]]
!!!'''Voiced by''': Rina Inoue (Japanese), Creator/GinaBowes (English), Gabriela Ortiz (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tsunoda.png]]

->"''You don't have to lie, because I don't really care either way.''"

A soft-spoken gazelle accountant who puts up an optimistic front when in truth she tries to kiss up and annoy others for her amusement.

Known as Giselle in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
----------
* AdaptationalJerkass: Downplayed. The shorts make it ambiguous whether she's intentionally manipulating others or if she's just too self-absorbed to notice how she's annoying other people. The Netflix show makes it clear she knows ''exactly'' what her actions led to and doesn't care.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Though, the reason she ''does'' use this tactic, mostly for Ton, is that by saying exactly what he wants to hear, he ends up being less grumpier and thus doesn't take his anger out on everyone else. In other words, even though he gets what he wants, everyone else still wins.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Is bad-mouthed frequently by all of her co-workers due to her kissing up to Ton so much, to a point where at one point she admits to knowing well just how much most of the staff doesn't like her.
* AntiHero: None of the main characters like her very much, but she does have technically good intentions since she tries to make work days go faster by making Ton happy. She does end up causing quite a few issues for them in the series though.
* BlushStickers: She has permanent ones, adding to her adorable appearance.
* TheCorrupter: A not very serious example, but she encourages Retsuko's new found Instagram addiction in the Christmas special. Naturally, this makes Fenneko furious.
* CustomUniform: Tsunoda doesn't wear the standard office lady attire that Retsuko, Fenneko, etc. wear. She is always seen at the office in a black skirt and pink blouse with a ruffled collar.
* DemotedToExtra: Doesn't get as much screen time in the second season compared to her more active roles in the first season and the Christmas special.
* TheFakeCutie: Uses her sweet voice and feigns naivete to annoy or control others, including her boss.
* {{Foil}}: To Fenneko. They both have [[TheGadfly Gadfly]] tendencies, and they both pretend to like each other even though they can't stand one another.
* TheGadfly: Arguablly a bigger one than Fenneko, since Tsunoda's teasing can even make [[TheStoic her]] skin crawl.
* GoldDigger: Tends to go out with older, richer, more successful guys. When she hears Retsuko is dating Tadano, she wants tips on how to land a rich guy. When she realizes she won't get an answer, she loses interest and goes back to social media.
* NecessarilyEvil: She's actually not that bad of a person, but her constant sucking up to upper management makes her very disliked by her peers. Tsunoda is actually fully aware of this but doesn't care, as she genuinely believes her actions are in everyone's best interests, and to a certain extent, she's right.
* ThePollyanna: Tsunoda is always seen smiling and is the most optimistic of the characters.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: It's a front to avoid Ton's wrath and to control him. She tries to pass this tactic of as an advantage to keep him from being a bigger pain in the butt for everyone else.
* PunnyName: "Tsuno" (角) is the kanji for "horn", obviously referring to the two little horns she has due to being a gazelle. The fansubs renamed her as "Giselle".
* PuppyDogEyes: She always has these, complete with little sparkles in them. They add to her image as TheFakeCutie and most likely help her to manipulate people.
* SelfieFiend: Tsunoda is an obsessive Instagram user; as noted by Fenneko, her posts tend to follow a pattern of "selfie, dessert, latte art" and a thigh pic every thirteen days without fail. The comics show she even does this while sick and she takes a selfie with Komiya after he catches the flu from her.
* SheepInSheepsClothing: Downplayed. She immediately comes off as a suck-up and manipulator pretending to be ThePollyanna, and over time she turns out to be...ThePollyanna, and her manipulations are an attempt to maintain harmony in the office.
* SitcomArchnemesis: To Fenneko, who can't stand the girl and is easily driven up the wall when Tsunoda is around, though Tsunoda couldn't care less.
* UnknownRival: Subverted. She knows Fenneko hates her. She just doesn't care.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kabae]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Yuki Takahashi (Japanese), Misty Lee (English), Doris Vargas (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kabae_aggretsuko_147.jpg]]

A Hippopotamus lady who is very much into gossip. She is a working mother with three children.

Known as Hippatricia in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
-------
* AscendedExtra: Gets a lot more characterization in Season 2.
* CharacterTics: Kabae has a habit of wiggling her ears, particularly when she's excited. This seems to be based on the behavior of real hippos.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: While she comes off as a ditzy blabermouth, she's actually one of the best workers in the accounting department.
* DisappointedInYou: [[spoiler: Silently convinces Anai to help out at the Family Festival by looking at him with sad admonishment.]]
* EveryoneHasStandards: As much as Kabae loves gossip, she says she would never intentionally spread rumors that would hurt other people.
* GenkiGirl: She zooms about whenever she's on the screen.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: PlayedForLaughs; whenever she thinks she's come across a particularly juicy bit of gossip, her eyes turn green and start glowing.
* GoodParents: When she's seen with her family in ''United Front'', you can tell she has the perfect balance of a fair but nurturing mother.
* GossipEvolution: The one time she tried to guess why Retsuko was so happy about (thinking of quitting her job), the lie she got - Retsuko finally being able to poop - was so heavily altered by the time it reached Haida's ears, he heard she ''gave birth''.
* GossipyHens: Or hippopotamuses. She loves to gossip and is always eager to learn the latest rumors, though she would never spread rumors that hurt people.
* HappilyMarried: She and her husband have a very stable, loving marriage.
* HiddenDepths: She may seem like an annoying blabbermouth at first glance, but it turns out she's actually a very wise, insightful, nurturing wife and mother-of-three. Also, while she chats around the office a lot, she ''always'' gets her work done on time (something many ''single'' accountants struggle with at times), and is able to juggle having a full-time job and take caring of her husband and three children without a complaint in the world. [[spoiler: It's due to all of these traits that she's the only one who's able to befriend Anai and mentor him on how to actually do his job without provoking his wrath.]]
* InnocentlyInsensitive: She's very chatty and can cause problems for others due to her gossip. However, she doesn't spread rumors to hurt people and actively does try to be as friendly as she possibly can be towards her friends.
** An example from the TBS shorts: While Retsuko is trying to recover from a heavy cold at home, Kabae shows up uninvited and proceeds to [[UnwantedAssistance help]] Retsuko with her chores. Loudly, while (unintentionally) dragging Retsuko out of bed multiple times and insisting that she rest. At the end of the short, we see that Kabae has cooked a decent dinner for Retsuko, which she [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone morosely enjoys]].
** In Season Two of the Netflix series, Kabae turns out to be a really supportive coworker to those who can stomach her blabber mouthing, to the point where [[spoiler: she's the only one able to mentor Anai without incurring his wrath.]]
* KarmaHoudini: She's back at the office just fine after that whole espionage thing blows over.
* MoralityPet: [[spoiler: She brings out the best in Anai.]]
* NiceGirl: Retsuko notes that she's not a bad person, just annoying, and from what we see she cares a lot about her friends, and their--*ahem*--health.
* NoIndoorVoice: When she has gossip to share, ''everyone'' knows.
* NoodleIncident: Exactly ''what'' was she even spying on to be incarcerated?
* PunnyName: Her name is a pormanteau of "kaba" (Japanese for "hippo") and the Japanese name "Kanae".
* OppositesAttract: She's a very gossipy GenkiGirl while her husband is a quiet, genial NiceGuy. They're very HappilyMarried.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: The reason she fell in love with her future husband? She was able to be her talkative self around him.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: She insists to Retsuko when she returns to work that she was definitely away on vacation and not due to the espionage thing.
* TookALevelInKindness: She's always meant well, but her gossiping naturally did more harm than good. In Season 2 she's given more positive characterization, and it's thanks to her motherly nature that she's the only one in the office who can speak to Anai without him twisting her words into something malicious. She ultimately succeeds in getting him to shape up and learn how to do his job.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tsubone]]
!!!'''Voiced by''': Rina Inoue (Japanese), Debra Cardona (English) , Karla Vega (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tsubone_aggretsuko_286.jpg]]

A komodo dragon who is a senior member of the accounting staff and a menace to those under her. She takes great joy in picking on Retsuko and dumping her work on her while trying to get one of her jars open.

Known as Scatherine in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
----
* TheDragon: A somewhat literal example to Ton.
* HoistByHerOwnPetard: She makes her coworkers try to open her preserves jars and gets some sick joy out of watching them fail. One day when she decides to do it herself, she fractures her own wrist.
* ImpossiblePickleJar: She makes coworkers try to open her preserves for what seems like nothing but naked sadism. Retsuko surprises everyone by opening a jar effortlessly, after a few yoga classes with the protein guy admittedly.
* {{Jerkass}}: She's a pretty nasty piece of work.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Downplayed. She's still a sadist who gets her kicks at watching people fail and break their wrists on her preserves jars. On the other hand, she's the first of Retsuko's bosses to realize something is wrong with her and ask her if she is actually alright. It's implied she stopped dumping as much work on Retsuko until after she broke up with her boyfriend. In the Christmas Special its shown that she does care for her family too and has a Christmas gift that she wants to give to her nephew/niece in person when she sees them on New Years. She's still a complete tool but there's some kindness in her black little heart of jerk.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: After saddling Retsuko with some extra work, she seems to realize that Retsuko is overworked and tells her that she's recently taken up jogging; at first she felt like it was impossible, but the more she did it, the easier it became. Though this seems like she's actually opening up to and sympathizing with Retsuko, she immediately undermines it by telling Retsuko that the more work she does, the stronger she'll get, making it clear that this is just an excuse to dump more work on her.
* MaliciousMonitorLizard: She's a mean, sometimes downright sadistic senior secretary.
* ObliviousToTheirOwnDescription: When she hears Retsuko is assigned to mentor the new college graduate in Season 2, she warns her not to be too hard on him, as you hear so often about cruel older office women taking their furstrations out on younger workers. Retsuko snarks that she can't imagine what that must look like.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When the sadistic, bitchy Tsubone actually shows genuine ''concern'' for Retsuko, you know her situation [[spoiler:with Resasuke]] is taking a serious toll on her.
* PetTheDog: [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes Even she has loved ones]] as shown by her getting a gift for her niece/nephew in the Christmas special.
* PunnyName: Her name (坪=tsubo, 根=ne) is a homophone for 局 (tsubone), a slang for bitchy senior female employees.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: She's the only reptile in the department and is very mean and creepy. She often sticks her forked tongue out menacingly.
* {{Sadist}}: She seems to take deliberate pleasure in punishing people and watching them struggle to achieve the goals she sets for them, reacting with both shock and apparent disappointment with Retsuko easily opens a stubborn jar for her. Lampshaded by Fenneko and Haida:
-->'''Fenneko:''' I think she gets off on failure.
-->'''Haida:''' Honestly, I wouldn't put it past her...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Komiya]]
!!!Sota Arai (Japanese), Creator/ToddHaberkorn (English), and Hugo Núñez (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/komiya_aggretsuko_847.jpg]]

A meerkat and Ton's underling. A doormat to the extreme, Komiya follows Ton's every whim.

Known as Amir in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
----
* AdaptationalJerkass: While he certainly wasn't that nice in the original series, here he's Ton's right hand man and is constantly kissing up to him, usually avoiding work in the process while insulting everyone else on Ton's behalf.
* AllThereInTheManual: His [[https://horseiuchi.wordpress.com/aggressive-retsuko-character-bios/ official bio]] informs he always gives powerpoint presentations in Edit Mode.
* AlwaysCamp: Very overdramatic and always playing the most minor of things up as if it matters far more than anything else, and he never stops doing that throughout the entire series.
* CoDragons: With Tsubone for Ton.
* DemotedToExtra: Since Ton is less of a bully in season 2 his chief yes man doesn't have much of a role.
* EvilIsHammy: One of the more recurring antagonists of the series, and is always hamming things up to a ludicrous extent.
* ExtremeDoormat: Even worse at it than Retsuko.
* LargeHam: He spends a fair bit of his time crying in angrish with his mouth wide open and his head shaking back and forth uncontrollably. He is somehow able to do work like this.
* NoIndoorVoice: Just ''try'' to find a scene in the series that he isn't screaming in.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Even more eagerly than Tsunoda, because of his desire to climb the corporate ladder.
* PunnyName:
** Komiya is a real name, but the "miya" part sounds similar to ''"'''mīa'''kyatto"'' (meerkat).
** Likewise, fansubs had given him the name "Amir", as in "a meerkat".
* SleepsWithBothEyesOpen: At a workplace party, when people are drunk and seemingly passed out, he can be seen to the left sleeping with his eyes partially open. Though it isn't mentioned why he does this, Komiya could possibly have "nocturnal lagophthalamos," which is a sleep disorder that causes one to sleep with their eyes open.
* WickedWeasel: Well, actually a mongoose, but he fits the stereotype both physically and in his behavior, being a deceitful guy with a knack for underhanded tactics and mainly only being able to pose threat in the fact that he has Ton's ear.
* YesMan: Whatever Ton says, Komiya is quick to agree with.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ookami]]

->Voiced by Sota Arai (Japanese), Creator/LucienDodge (English), Ferso Velázquez (Latin American Spanish)

A maned wolf who works at the same company.

Known as Wolfgang in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
----
* ADayInTheLimelight: While he still doesn't do much during it, he gets a lot more screentime during episode seven of season one than he had gotten in previous episodes.
* ADogNamedDog: His name means "wolf" in Japanese.
* FlatCharacter: Doesn't have a lot going for, besides being a generic guy.
* TheGenericGuy: His personality hasn't really been expanded upon past him just sort of...Being there.
* HiddenDepths: He has admiration for Kabae for being able to juggle being a good mother to her three kids and always finishing her work on time.
* NiceGuy: Shown to be an overall friendly guy.
* SeldomSeenSpecies: He's a maned wolf, which are rarely seen in fiction.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anai]]
!!!'''Voiced by''': Sota Arai (Japanese), Creator/BillyKametz (English), Armando Zuñiga (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aggretsukoanai.png]]

A Japanese Badger who recently came out of college.

Known as Doug in the fansubs for the TBS shorts.
----
* AdaptationalJerkass: In the TBS shorts, Anai is a nervous new employee with an annoying habit of asking way too many questions due to his nervousness. His personality was significantly changed for the Netflix series, where he smiles a lot more and keeps his anxiety hidden at first. [[spoiler:Then it is revealed that he is bonafide JerkAss as well as a BitchInSheepsClothing who spams his co-workers with furious e-mails if they so much as ''try'' to criticize him in any way and bullies Retsuko so severely that she ''breaks down crying'' at the mere prospect of having to work with him.]]
* BadOlBadger: He's a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_badger Japanese badger]], and while on the surface he appears to be enthusiastic and eager to learn (if a little nervous), [[spoiler:he's actually incredibly aggressive due to his insecurities about being able to handle a real job and bombards people with scathing texts and e-mails whenever he feels threatened]].
* BeneathTheMask: When first hired, he acts super friendly, enthusiastic, and eager to learn. [[spoiler:Deep down, he's terrified of having to grow up and work in a real job, so he twists ''every'' correction or request into accusations of "workplace bullying" for his bosses and coworkers, threatening to report them to upper management unless they back off and let him putz around all day.]]
* BerserkButton: Any criticism or request, no matter how gentle or minor, triggers a SanitySlippage.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Maintains a friendly facade around the office [[spoiler:while secretly bullying Retsuko within an inch of her sanity to get her to stop trying to mentor him.]] He even has the audacity to [[spoiler:go out for drinks with Retsuko's friends ''while'' bombarding her with threatening texts and emails.]]
* {{Blackmail}}: [[spoiler:Twists every correction or request into blackmail material to report to upper management for "workplace bullying" ... At least until Kabae's motherly tutoring helps snap him out of it.]]
* CantTakeCriticism: To put it lightly, [[BerserkButton he really]] [[SanitySlippage can't]].
* ComplimentBackfire: In one episodes of the TBS shorts, he tries to defend Retsuko from Ton's verbal abuse, but does so by praising her in ways that are actually insulting.
* CreepyShadowedUndereyes: Whenever he shows his more sinister side, his eyes become bloodshot with dark bags under them.
* DefrostingIceKing: [[spoiler: Kabae is the only one who understands that he's still only a kid fresh out of school and, thanks to her motherly instinct, is able to actually get him to listen to her and become willing to learn how to be a decent employee. He soon stops being a thorn on everyone's side.]]
* TheDreaded: Once his threats to Retsuko hit a boiling point, no one - not even [[spoiler:''Tsunoda'' and ''Director Ton'']] - can hope to break him. [[spoiler:Only Kabae's motherly attitude is enough to defrost him, much to the relief of everyone at work.]]
* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler: He torments Retsuko with his incessant emails about her "workplace bullying", which he eventually starts doing to ''everyone'' in the office, to the point that they're all so scared of getting reported by him that they'd rather let him have his way instead of actually doing his damn job. He does eventually have a ChangeOfHeart and seems to have calmed down for good, but nobody seems to hold his past insane behavior against him.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: [[spoiler: He berates Retsuko for a non-work-related phone call during office hours (even though the call was unsolicited from her mother), yet Retsuko points out that he sends her non-work-related texts and emails during office hours, ''and'' wastes huge portions of the day "checking his emails." He also tries to justify his refusal to cooperate with the festival because he's being paid to be an ''accountant'', even though he refuses to learn how to do his job and spends most of his time at work lazing about.]]
* InnocentlyInsensitive: While he does mellow down considerably after his CharacterDevelopment, he's still prone to making insensitive and tactless remarks, such as flat out saying that Retsuko must look ugly in her driver's license if she's so unwilling to show it to him and Haida.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Twisted any innocuous comment about him into blackmail material to avoid doing work, harassed Retsuko through angry text messages and even aggressively cornered her in a dark supply room. He is not punished for any of these actions and only became a nicer person due to Kabae's positive reinforcement.]]
* {{Keet}}: He's ''incredibly'' enthusiastic about his new job. [[spoiler: Turns out to be an appearance he puts on to hide his ''massive'' insecurities about joining the workforce, and it quickly falls apart once he starts to feel threatened by his co-workers who are simply trying to help him. Once he has everyone scared of him reporting them to upper management, he doesn't even try to pretend like he cares anymore.]]
* {{Leitmotif}}: Two, in fact. His [[spoiler: text messages and MadnessMantra]] are usually accompanied by a very unnerving tune to emphasize [[spoiler: just how much of a psycho he really is.]] Once he finally [[spoiler: snaps out of it and decides to help Retsuko out in the family festival]], he cooks to an EDM remix of his leitmotif and even breaks into song similarly to Retsuko.
* LoopholeAbuse: He knows the company policy backwards and forwards, which he uses to [[spoiler:get away with lazing about at work, and if anyone tries to call him out on it he twists the company's policies around to make it seem like ''they're'' engaging in inappropriate workplace behavior, whether toward him or in general. He also refuses to help out coworkers by explaining it's not ''technically'' part of his job.]]
* MadnessMantra: [[spoiler:At one point, he's seen frantically typing a threatening e-mail on his phone while saying "Don't mess with me" over and over with a psychotic look on his face.]]
* MeaningfulName: The first kanji in his name (穴) means "hole"; in Japan, badgers are known as "anaguma", which literally means "hole bear".
* NeverMyFault: Even the ''tiniest'' criticism (no matter how gentle) sends him spiraling into a SanitySlippage MadnessMantra [[spoiler:in which he bombards the poor critic with incessant emails asserting that he feels ''he'' didn't do anything wrong, and they're just unfairly bullying him, and threatens to report them to upper management until they leave him alone.]]
* NightmareFace: When he loses his cool, his eyes either roll back into his head like a zombie or suddenly become extremely bloodshot with [[CreepyShadowedUndereyes dark bags underneath]].
* NotDistractedByTheSexy: [[spoiler:Not even Tsunoda's flirting can move him to actually do his work.]]
* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: [[spoiler: In his [[StronglyWordedLetter strongly worded emails]], Anai has a nasty habit of twisting any perceived criticism of his workplace conduct as microaggressions against him.]]
* PsychopathicManChild: He's terrified of working a full time adult job now that he's out of college, and cannot take any sort of criticism, [[spoiler: terrorizing anyone who dares give him feedback on his work with threatening messages till they give in and let him laze around during work. This is complimented by the plethora of [[NightmareFace Nightmare Faces]] he drops while typing said messages, many of which make him seem criminally insane]].
* SanitySlippage: His overly optimistic behavior [[spoiler: is the result of him ''fearing'' how to work in a real life job, and as a result he comes across as an unhinged person who can quickly descend to adhering to rules his superiors (in this case Retsuko) don't follow, which prompts him to fall into manic episodes of threatening his superiors with text messages for ''any'' sort of misbehavior they may have done/said to him.]]
* SeldomSeenSpecies: He is a Japanese badger. While badgers may be pretty well known, the Japanese badger is pretty obscure compared to the European badger or honey badger. Even in Japanese media the Japanese badger is seldom seen.
* ShadowArchetype: Anai's role in season 2 was to put a dark-spin on the struggles Retsuko herself faced in the first season. While Retsuko is a sympathetic AudienceSurrogate, being a 20-something overwhelmed by her stressful job and poor work/life balance, Anai is a more [[ThisLoserIsYou cynical portrayal of the same type of demographic]]. Anai, compared to Retsuko, is a LazyBum and overly sensitive to any type of criticism he receives and looks for any opportunity to [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad call out his co-workers.]] [[spoiler: On top of this, he keeps himself calm when cooking Yakisoba by channeling his stress into a high-speed rap, much like Retsuko channels her stress into heavy metal karaoke.]]
* TheSlacker: [[spoiler: Once he succeeds at getting everyone in the office to fear him, he slacks off on any actual work given to him and just hangs out at the office reading emails]].
* StronglyWordedLetter: [[spoiler:His preferred method of confrontation is to send anyone who upsets him a hostile email, describing the exact time, date and wording of his grievance and demanding that they respond in writing rather than confront him personally.]]
* SupremeChef: Kid can't answer a phone right, but he can cook a mean yakisoba!
* {{Tsundere}}: His real self is implied to be this, as whenever he receives a genuine compliment he slowly looks away while blushing.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: Sort of. [[spoiler:Any time a coworker or boss tries to train him to do his job, or ask him to do a task, he twists their words around to make it seem like they're bullying and demeaning him, and threatens to report them to upper management to get them to back off and let him slack off at work. Kabae's motherly encouragement helps him grow out of it.]]
[[/folder]]

!!Other Members of the Company
[[folder:Manumaru]]
!!!'''Voiced by''': Sota Arai (Japanese), Creator/RogerCraigSmith (English), Geno Sánchez (Latin American Spanish)

A pallas cat who works with Resasuke in the Sales department.
----
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's a little aggressive in how he talks to people, but he's actually a NiceGuy who's trying to help out his friend, Resasuke, with his dates.
* LovableJock: Looks very strong due to his species and notable size, but he's always trying to actively help Resasuke with his dates with Retsuko.
* OppositesAttract: To Fenneko. The series doesn't even try to hide the fact the two of them enjoy each other's company (while drunk).
* PutOnABus: Doesn't appear at all in Season 2.
* SatelliteCharacter: He pretty much exists to make sure Resasuke goes together with Retsuko so that the guy takes the chance to date her. He's also implied to be the reason Fenneko's distracted too much (inebriated + enjoying Manumaru's attention) to notice Retsuko's texting Resasuke at the mixer.
[[/folder]]

!Other Characters
[[folder:The Yoga Instructor]]
!!!'''Voiced by''':Sota Arai (Japanese), Creator/PatrickSeitz (English), Vanessa Olea (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dbzoj38vwaabql.jpg]]

->"''Protein!''"

The instructor of a yoga class that Retsuko, Washimi, and Gori take together. They had travelled to India and learned the secrets of yoga before opening a studio back in Japan. Their name is unknown because the only word ever says by them is "Protein" ...That's it.

%%Note to editors: please use gender-neutral pronouns (they, their, them), as the Yoga Instructor is a different gender depending on the dub/ series.%%
----
* TheBigGuy: The strongest and one of the largest characters presented in the series so far.
* DumbMuscle: Initially comes across as this, until their HiddenDepths were revealed.
* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: Intense yoga and meditation allow her to access the knowledge of the universe. Specifically: [[spoiler:the number of the karaoke song Retsuko loves to sing]], its significance, and mentally reach across space and time to telepathically impart this knowledge to Gori.
* GenderLift: In the Netflix series, both Japanese and English, the Yoga Instructor is referred to in masculine pronouns.
* HiddenDepths: They seems like DumbMuscle, who obsesses over protein and bulking up, but is actually very insightful and wise.
* LadyLooksLikeADude: In the TBS shorts, even though they look and sounds like a [[TestosteronePoisoning testosterone-logged]] male, and even has an Adam's apple, She is revealed to be a woman. Retsuko doesn't realize this until Gori mentions that everyone in the gym is a woman.
* NiceGirl: They're running a yoga class just to help out her students with their stress and so they grow stronger, for seemingly no reason other than being passionate about it and that they wants to help them out.
** In the Netflix series, they has zero reason to help Washimi and Gori get Retsuko to open up. Yet they do, upon merely seeing Washimi and Gori attempt to ask Retsuko to hang out for dinner and Retsuko declining, and is able to figure out the situation without actually hearing any of it.
* NoNameGiven: At least not that we know of, so far...
* OneWordVocabulary: "PROTEIN!"
* TricksterMentor: Though only because of their own limited vocabulary. They figure out that Washimi and Gori want to befriend Retsuko but the latter is too shy, and that the answer to helping Retsuko relax is [[spoiler:getting her to open up about her love of death metal karaoke]]. The Yoga Instructor telepathically gives Gori a mysterious number, [[spoiler:the number to type in Retsuko's favourite karaoke song]] but, being unable to explain, they have to figure out its significance.
* UnsettlingGenderReveal: In the TBS shorts, Retsuko is disturbed when she finds out that the instructor is female. She and her friends in the Yoga class are scared that they will also turn into overly masculine body builders.
[[/folder]]

!ONI Press Comic

[[folder:Karen]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/karen_8.png]]

A goose from Carrier Man's Canadian branch who visits as a "productivity advisor" after her department beats Japan on employee satisfaction scores. Naturally, [[ButtMonkey Retsuko]] is charged with handling her.
----
* AdultFear: [[spoiler: When she tells Retsuko how her old boss would say inappropriate things towards women and treat them like trash until one day he went too far. She trails off before she outwardly says what he did, but we as the audience can only assume the worst!]]
* ArmorPiercingResponse:
-->'''Karen''': You can't let him take advantage of your good nature like that. Tell him off! Who cares if he gets mad?\\
'''Retsuko''': I do.\\
'''Karen''': But why?\\
'''Retsuko''': Because, unlike you, I have to stay here and suffer the consequences.
* ASharedSuffering: [[spoiler: Similar to Retsuko, she too suffered under a MeanBoss until she was eventually able to get him fired. It's one of the reasons why she wants to help revamp the workplaces of the other company offices.]]
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:Dislikes with passion [[StayInTheKitchen chauvinistic]], [[MeanBoss rude]] [[BadBoss bosses]] like Ton due to personal experience with a boss who went too far.]]
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Besides [[MotorMouth her million give-or-take suggestions]], Karen advocates a healthier workplace environment (like hers) which makes her clash and call out Ton on Retsuko's behalf as she sees him overworking her with tasks not related to her job (e.g. bringing him tea). [[spoiler: Later in the kitchenette, Karen (rightfully) puts the blame for the office's low scores on Ton's handling and argues how not speaking up about it makes no one any favors. Retsuko concedes her point ''and'' reminds her how Karen can complain as a visitor while she is a full-time employee and her handler who will suffer the consequences of any of her guest's actions.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: Spends most of Issue #3 writing helpful yet irrelevant suggestions in sticky notes and making multiple cultural faux-pas that get Retsuko in trouble. [[spoiler: Midway, she has a JerkassRealization when Retsuko sadly reminds her how much her actions have affected her. Afterward, Karen humbly apologizes.]]
* CanadaEh: One of the best employees in the Canada branch and has the chipper attitude to back it up.
* CultureClash: Due to her outgoing personality. Not only does Karen miss the common "reverence" salute when introducing herself to Retsuko, she frequently invades others' personal space and glues sticky notes with random, off-the-cuff suggestions that distract everyone, ''slowing down productivity''.
* CrossCulturalKerfuffle: During a lunch outing, Karen freaks out when the waitress serves her ramen with mushrooms (as she didn't know they were included and neither Retsuko, Haida or Fenneko told her) and causes a scene when she asks to speak with the manager...and then backtracks when Haida reminds her she didn't say "no mushrooms". (Although since she didn't know they were included, why would she?) Result: a horrified waitress and three embarrassed regulars.
-->'''Retsuko''': Just eat your damn noodles.
* DramaQueen: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Karen is overly enthusiastic, fusses over any detail she finds "wrong" and "in need of solving" (personal space be damned!) and has very poor tact when interacting with people. [[spoiler: However, she's willing to pull back when gone too far and all in all means well.]]
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Credit where's due, she is the first brave enough to guide Ton on where to shove it.
* HiddenDepths: She comes off as overly-optimistic and pushy about how she views the workplace should work, but [[spoiler: the reason she does so is because she doesn't want others to suffer under a terrible boss like she did. There's also the fact that she's the lead vocalist of an indie metal band.]]
* IronicName: "Karen" isn't a name commonly associated with someone who [[spoiler: knows what's like to work under a tyrant.]]
* {{Keet}}: Overly peppy and cheerful, much to the annoyance of Retsuko and her colleagues.
* MetalScream: [[spoiler: Joins Retsuko in a round of metal karaoke to vent about shitty bosses in the workplace. Karen then reveals she's in a metal band of her own.]]
* NiceGirl: Despite being a send-up of the "Karen" stereotype, she's generally a lot nicer and quickly understands her mistake after yelling at a waitress over a misunderstanding (though she still asks to have her order redone).
* UnfortunateNames: "Karen" is slang for a middle class, white, woman who uses her privileged position to bully people (especially people in the service industry) into submission or otherwise get people who displease her in trouble (most stereotypically, calling law enforcement on people of color).
%%*FatalFlaw
%%*{{Foil}}
%%*InnocentlyInsensitive
%%*OddFriendship
[[/folder]]
----