Comic Review: Aggretsuko #3

Overview:

This month’s issue sees the introduction of a new character: Karen, who has come from the company’s sister office in Canada. Because the Japanese office has underperformed, she is in charge of making suggestions to put them up to speed.

Our Take:

Karen does this by suggesting a lot of micro-changes around the office, mostly environmental stuff. Some of the things she suggests, such as updating outdated software, comes from a good place, but the practicality of it tends to get lost along the way. It is important for the systems to be updated, especially if they end up being incompatible, but that would as Haida points out, result in a lot of overtime and training. At the same time, Japanese companies tend to be resistant to change about technology sometimes (some still use fax machines). Karen is committed to her job and trying to better the workplace, even if it steps on people’s toes.

What she gets most irritated by is Ton, and Ton’s demands for Retsuko to bring him tea throughout the day. She is cheerful for most other suggestions, but she recognizes the power abuse when she sees it, and asks Retsuko why she doesn’t stand up for herself. Karen is willing to stand up on Retsuko’s behalf, but Retsuko herself is much less willing to do so. Karen may leave and go back home, but Retsuko is trapped, and would have to suffer the consequences of her boss’ actions.

Beneath the exterior, it shows that Karen has good motivations for why she is so gung-ho about office reform– because she’d gone through something similar herself. Ton rubs her the wrong way because her old boss was power-hungry, and that ended up in a harassment lawsuit. She and her coworkers were able to get a new boss and enact some change, and she wants to spread that power around. She may be pushy, but her heart’s in the right place, and with some changes, she might be able to really help others. Also, she’s a singer for a metal band! It turns out that Karen and Retsuko aren’t that different after all.

This one ends well– not just with mutual stress relief via death metal, but with things actually changing. Karen realizes that her direct approach isn’t always helpful, and decides to be more mindful in the future. Retsuko herself finds some resolve to call Ton, but in the future, when she is in a more secure position. Karen and Retsuko had their issues, but their parting is one that ends in friendship and solidarity… and shared appreciation of death metal.