Aggretsuko: Out of Office #1

More Comics
Aggretsuko: Out of Office #1
By Hervé St-Louis
October 11, 2021 - 22:53

Oni Press
Writer(s): Brenda Hickey
Artist(s): Brenda Hickey
Letterer(s): Crank!
Cover Artist(s): Brenda Hickey; Andrew Kolb
$3.99

Retsuko agrees to help a friend take care of her uncle and aunt’s mountain-based inn for a week during their week-long holiday. While Retsuko claims to the world that she has nothing better to do this week and will just stay home and relax, her job at the inn is anything but peaceful. Retsuko’s friends want to find out what she’s keeping from them, but she has more important matters to take care of. She must keep the inn clean enough and filled with positive energy to keep the spirit of the mountain away. Will Retsuko make it?

This comic is an adaptation of the popular animé series but produced by Westerners. I had no clue what to expect and was charmed with the antics of the ISFJ worker bee that gets abused by everyone else While I love the series and had fun reading it and discovering its world, I was put off by the English dialogue which felt out of place even though the comic was produced by Westerners, and not mangaka artists. It seemed a bit too wordy for the quick bytes and fast paced jokes. Still, being immersed in this world was not difficult at all.

Brenda Hickey captures the artwork and style of the cartoon series well enough. The characters are dynamic even though their design is abstract and limited in movement. The facial expression, I should correct, are anything but limited in movement. The colours are bright and although not a reader of the genre, I was able to quickly focus on the story and not the designs. It’s a fun comic to read.

I did not know what to expect jumping in and I am not regretting doing so.

Rating: 8.5/10