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I know you’re all probably tired of hearing me rail against the evils of capitalism at this point, but sometimes it is worth mentioning now and then. The exploitative nature of our economic system has influenced everyone’s view of the world to some extent, so artists often discuss it in their work even if they don’t come out and say it directly. Which is how we get two anime – one about an adorable red panda created by the company that Hello Kitty built working in an office and one about a demon-eating dude made out of chainsaws – that are about the exact same thing.

That’s right. Today I’ll be positing to you that Aggretsuko and Chainsaw Man are two anime that explore the grim nature of capitalism and how it exploits young people around the world.

I can already hear some comments being typed furiously, but I promise I’m going somewhere with this. See, Aggretsuko is an adorable show about a red panda working in the accounting department of a giant corporation who sings death metal in her spare time. Meanwhile, Chainsaw Man is about a guy who fights devils thanks to having the heart of an adorable devil in his chest and chainsaws growing out of his hands and face. I can see why you’d think they were miles apart, but you’d be wrong.

Aggretsuko isn't The Office

Aggretsuko isn’t just a bunch of anthropomorphic animals doing office work; it is one of the best-written satires of modern employment in the history of animation. It explores workplace relationships in Japan, from the supportive to the toxic. Retsuko deals with the unreasonable expectations placed on young people to perform in all areas of their lives – pressures that are often more intense for young women. There are multiple storylines dedicated to Retsuko's struggle to escape from the cycle of capitalism through marriage, promotion, and side hustles, none of which are true solutions to Retsuko’s problems, which is that capitalism has made it nearly impossible for her to achieve her dreams. Her relationships become broken. Promotions become worse than the alternative. Side hustles sap the joy from what she loved to do. The message is clear; there is no escape from capitalism.

Though it takes a significantly less adorable and more bloody route, Chainsaw Man explores the brutality of capitalism in a far more explicit way. At the start of the anime, Denji has been broken by the debt left to him by his father. He eats garbage. He has sold an eye and a testicle. He works a dangerous job as a demon hunter for scraps. So, when he is given even the smallest luxury, he views it as salvation. In reality, Makima is using his desperation to escape poverty as a way to control him, keeping Denji just comfortable enough to not rebel against her and the system in place – even though both are using him for their own gains.

Both shows approach the subject of capitalism from different places and with different goals, but both look at how those with money and power exploit those without it. Retsuko is constantly berated by her boss, especially in season one, who, in turn, is pressured to fire his staff to increase profits. Denji has such low expectations for his life that he allows others to make every decision for him so long as he gets a hot bath and a warm meal. Both anime look at the corporate world and make escaping it the ultimate goal for their main characters.

How to live in a capitalist society, according to Chainsaw Man and Aggretsuko

We even see how both Retsuko and Denji process their places in the world. For Retsuko, it is about finding a healthy outlet for her frustrations, such as singing death metal karaoke and posting videos online about it. Denji becomes obsessed with sex and treats it as the ultimate reward for a job well done. One of these is significantly healthier than the other, but both serve the same purpose – helping the main character to function in a capitalistic society that isn’t giving them what they need. They have their basic needs taken care of but struggle to find meaning in the day-to-day. Work, even when it is fulfilling, can’t be everything you have in your life.

I’m not saying that you should watch Aggretsuko if you enjoyed Chainsaw Man or vice versa. There is significantly less (but still a non-zero amount of) puke in Retsuko’s story than in Denji and we never see her eviscerate a bat demon, for example. But both shows tackle the imbalance of power that capitalism thrives on in their own way and show characters trying to find meaning in a world not designed to give it. In their unique ways, Denji and Retsuko are every young person who has grown up with all the signs of late-stage capitalism swirling around them, trying to achieve that elusive work-life balance we all hear so much about. 

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