When
I finished the 100 episodes of the original Japanese run, I had no idea the 10
episodes of the Netflix reboot were already out. I thought there would be a
long wait before they found a new venue for their charming little shorts, and
was very surprised when I saw the promos for the Netflix version, marketed at
the west.
On
the surface, this reboot is more of the same. The designs are the same, the
voice cast is the same, even the animator/director, who also supplies the metal
growls, is the same. The animation is a little different, slightly more crisp
and careful but actually to my eye rather less fluid and a little
cheaper-looking. But with the format change to full episodes rather than little
skits and a more overarching story, there’s actually quite a lot that’s
different.
Perhaps
surprisingly given that there’s a lot more time to develop these things,
Retsuko’s working life is much less complex. This is the biggest change I
disliked: in the original show, Retsuko is a very normal, very identifiable cog
in the wheel. She works too hard and is taken advantage of, but there’s a
feeling that a lot of others in her huge company (and in Japan Inc.) are in the
same boat. She even gets a kouhai, a junior worker who answers to her, though
he’s a bit useless and brings his own problems. In this new series, she’s right
at the bottom. The chihuahua kohai and the random seal pup she teaches to use
spreadsheets have been cut. The hierarchy is much starker and it often seems
like it’s only Retsuko who is picked on, overworked and forced into too much
overtime. Her only Kohai now seems to be Tsunoda the gazelle, who has figured out how to get treated better than Retsuko
does. For me, that actually makes her seem less universal and less likeable,
because if she’s the exceptional case there should be a way for her to get back
to the norm. If everyone’s in the same boat, it’s more hopeless but more
understandable.
Most
of the cast is shaken up a bit. Fenneko has become a closer friend for Retsuko
with impressive powers of deduction, though she’s introduced as pretty
two-faced. Tsunoda gets some scenes where her cold, calculating inner self gets
made clearer. Washimi and Gori are no longer regular coworkers who are a little
glamorous but will hang around in your house way too long when you want them to
go home, but instead are very senior workers who are a great transformative influence
on Retsuko, encouraging her to take risks and embrace her true self. The pig
boss is now no longer one of several roughly equal authority figures but the absolute
unquestioned section manager with only the CEO to answer to – the Buffalo boss
character who has a creepy crush on Retsuko barely appears as a random yes-man.
The Meerkat is similarly altered to a total yes-man rather than just another
annoying co-worker. That said, the pig boss has a bit of an interesting
development here, essentially embodying the old guard in Japanese offices,
mostly a deeply offensive chauvinist until he’s brought into line, then finally
and grudgingly offering Retsuko some profound life lessons. Other characters
have their roles greatly reduced or cut altogether, like the annoying Hippo co-worker
Kabae, the spacey axolotl and the highfalutin cat. On the other hand, another
cat, an old childhood friend, appears to give Retsuko a dream of something
different from her regular job in a little character arc that really gets the
audience on her side.
The
biggest and most positive change, though, is to Haida-kun the hyena. He was
barely relevant in the original series, doing things like arranging office
parties and fixing Retsuko’s stuff (at length), but here he is a close friend to Retsuko who has a crush on her. His
character arc is so sweet, having a crush on her, watching her get interested
in the spaced-out Resasuke (given a character of sorts here but mostly being
portrayed as totally unable to understand others’ feelings), going through some
bad times but eventually working things out. He’s not a complicated character
but he actually becomes the real heart of the show and by far its biggest point
of improvement.
It’s
also quite nice that here, Retsuko’s singing remains literal. Not an inner
expression only Retsuko can take part in (with Fenneko occasionally on guitar).
Now, each time she lets loose it really happens, usually in the karaoke bar or
the office toilets, but sometimes in places like the office drinking party. It’s
quite nice to have it more grounded.
There’s
a lot that people who only watch this version will miss, including most of the
funniest and sweetest moments. It’s a pity not to have the times Retsuko starts
getting angry but realises she shouldn’t, or funny gags based on the actual
nature of the animals like when they complain about Washimi not making a silly
face only for her to say she doesn’t have the facial muscles for it. On the
other hand, there’s also a lot here you don’t get in the shorts. I would
absolutely recommend anyone who enjoys one watch the other, and I know I
binge-watched both versions almost all at once, and thoroughly enjoyed the
experience. So if there’s more Retsuko to come, sign me up!
Oh,
and I just want to say that the ‘Protein’ kangaroo reminds me of the bra skit from The World of Golden Eggs, and that
always makes me giggle.
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