Review of Aggretsuko (ONA) 3rd Season

Season 3 of Aggretsuko is finally here and that also means its finally gone. I enjoyed the first season a bit more than I thought and the finale of it really helped. Season 2 was overall slightly better having some even stronger moments in the series and this season continues the trend of being the best season yet and also having some crazy moments too! (SPOILERS) Story: 8 This season is a lot different compared to the previous two; instead of mainly focusing on Retusko suffering with her office job and trying to find love we get to see her work and sing in an idol group.It's very strange seeing the series take such a major turn like this but at the same time it's a new way to experience Retusko suffering and trying to deal with her problems in life. While this is going on, Haida get a lot more to do in this season. A new character, Inui, gets introduced and is trying to get together with Haida.
It's been two years since I've seen the first season and a year since the second but from memory I don't believe there was really any focus on characters besides Retsuko. Having Haida spend time and develop as a character with Inui is an entirely new B plot in this season and this idea sort of represents this season overall; it feels fresh and polished...mostly.
Yeah I really enjoyed a lot of the story here but there's the ending which is really bizarre and confusing, in fact I actually had to look up what happened which I shouldn't have to do. Just like the previous seasons, this season's finale or last few episodes are the best in the season and even series. Haida has to choose whether or not he wants to give up on Retsuko and go for Inui meanwhile Retsuko has to decide if she wants to become an idol full time. It's pretty obvious how it turns out but I still wanted to see Haida and Inui get together and have Retsuko be happy living as an idol, but of course that's not what happens. I'd expect Haida to choose to continue his chances with Retsuko and have the season end like the others similarly but he sort of confuses to her and judging from the last scene it appears as if they are together??? A lot of fans are confused by this cliffhanger if you could call it that. This is either a very rushed ending and not a great one at that, or it's a painful cliffhanger as we wait to see what happens next between the two in the next season which isn't even confirmed yet.
Overall, the ending is weird but only time will tell how I feel about it judging by if we get another season or not.

Art: 7

The art isn't necessarily impressive per say but it's still not bad at all. I really like the simplistic art style and I think its fits the series very well. Character designs are simple and clean, backgrounds are nice, really no complaints here.

Sound: 7

Similarly to sound, I don't have much to say here; the English dub is above average, the background music is typically good, the OP is fun, etc.

Characters: 7.5

Some side characters from previous seasons don't get too much screen tie here but I don't really mind that. Here we get to see a lot of great moments from both Retsuko and Haida as well as the new characters introduced. Retsuko is able to embrace her metal self in front of others, and Haida questions and doubts himself for a majority of the season wondering what to do with his love life. Inui might be my new favorite character in the series and the idol group are also nice additions.

Enjoyment: 7.5

This season was fun just like the last two as I've been saying and the last few episodes are a big reason of that. This time I feel that the season overall is more solid despite the last few episodes still being the best. The episodes are only 15 minutes long besides the last and honestly I wish these were normal length episodes. The series has always been on the short side being only 15 minutes long and only 10 episodes per season. I binged this all in one sitting which is pretty easy considering its a bit less than 2.5 hours.
This only shows how much I want to see more of this series small little series and see what happens next. This season had some balls to the walls moments, I jumped out of my seat a few times and of course cringed during some of the Haida scenes.

Overall: 7.5

This is the best (and hopefully not last) season of Aggretsuko! It might be only a bit better than the last one but that's nothing to complain about. This season is fresh and filled with new and interesting ideas that haven't really been in the series before.
All I can say is that waiting for the hopefully coming and confirmed season 4 is going to be rough with that ending we got so let's all be excited and patient!