I want to address the many amazing releases this year, especially in the category of Netflix originals, in time to recap for summer viewing.

At the beginning of the New Year, I talked about the German show “Dark,” which blew me away.

If you have been on social media  recently, you may have seen people talking about a show that looks like it came out of a Hello Kitty commercial.

“Aggretsuko” is an animated Netflix original about a character named Retsuko from the same company as Hello Kitty – so, already you know the show is going to be cute.

Retsuko is maybe a fox? Or a red panda? I don’t know what animal she is supposed to be, but every character in the show is some sort of creature.

She works as an accountant in an office building and hates her job – she is annoyed by her co-workers, bullied by her boss and has to do everyone’s work for them.

She is quiet and not confrontational, so to de-stress after work, she goes to a karaoke bar and sings along to metal music.

If you’ve ever been in a situation where you are not happy where you are in life with your job or career, Retsuko will probably be a very relatable character for you.

Warning: the next part of this review might include spoilers. However, “Aggretsuko” is only ten episodes long, and each episode is about 15 minutes – so it’s a quick watch!

In the beginning, Retsuko wants to change her job. One of her friends, who’s a cat, tells Retsuko about her small-business plan. Retsuko daydreams about the great opportunity and escaping from her accounting job, but it isn’t a stable option. In the end, she declines the offer.

After some drunken confrontations with her pig boss, she becomes the laughing stock of the office. Even after filing formal complaints, nothing changes.

She moves her focus to something else: becoming a housewife.

Through yoga and meeting new friends from work, a bird and a gorilla, she gains confidence and becomes more outgoing.

Retsuko ends up seeing another fox-red-panda person from another department, but they eventually break up.

At the end of the series, Retsuko is still working in accounting and a co-worker takes romantic interest. The season ends abruptly, so there’s no explanation of what happened after that.

Honestly, I don’t know why,  but I cried twice while watching “Aggretsuko,” Retsuko just goes through so much and keeps getting the short end of the stick.

For an animated Sanrio show, it gets a little frustrating and sad. All of Retsuko’s goals seem to fall flat, and she has to keep working at her awful office job.

I am praying that there is a season two to give the audience closure on Retsuko’s relationship and hopefully give her some sort of happy ending. I think there’s a good chance that Netflix will renew it due to its popularity with viewers, at least, I hope there’s a good chance.

I sincerely recommend this show. It’s really good.

After watching “Aggretsuko,” I did not know what to start watching. There are many new series that look interesting.

Right now, the most enticing thing looks like “The Rain,” which is a Netflix original about a brutal virus that wipes out most of Scandinavia’s population and two siblings who are seeking safety and answers.

It sounds post-apocalyptic. I dig post-apocalyptic.

I’ll definitely be spending my summer watching a lot of new things on Netflix since I’m free from the stress of finals! I hope you  make time for yourselves this summer to binge-watch some shows while there’s still time.