I must admit, this episode was a bit tough to watch not because it hits home to my personal experiences, but it shows how much an insufferable a-hole Kukuru’s boss is. We might know the reason why.
From the start, Kukuru’s boss has been an irredeemable and insufferable a-hole. I mean, if a manager treated their employees by calling them names, giving little to no training and piling on the work, they will receive high turnover. Yes, this is what I call a hostile work environment, which shows especially in this episode. I must admit that I really want to punch her boss literally by how poorly he treats her.
One can say he is basically setting Kukuru up to fail, especially since it’s a job she is not qualified for nor has the passion for. Still, the endless name-calling (plankton) and forcing her to address him, “yes sir” doesn’t help. The boss doesn’t realize that Tingaara isn’t the military academy where he can treat his workers like crap. It’s an aquarium for God’s sake! Workers have dignity too and they can simply walk out and find a better job.
My previous jobs, despite having some ups didn’t work out since my boss didn’t provide adequate amount of training to successfully carry out an assignment. They basically set me up to fail and of course it took three years to find a better job, which I am currently in, which is way better. This experience is not too surprising since some people experienced this before, especially with bosses like Kukuru’s.
I understand that people need to work to earn a living, but it shouldn’t be at the detriment of one’s well-being, self-esteem, and mental health. Therefore, we are hearing about people quitting their jobs on the news. Besides pay, some may don’t like their bosses since they may act like a-holes like Kukuru’s boss and create a hostile work environment. There are always other businesses that treat their employees better. This is the reason some businesses complain about worker shortages when they treat their workers poorly. This also reflects poorly on the business too.
Either way, There are some signs that her boss is not particularly liked. Not to mention, the aquarium attendant’s boss, who is usually chill doesn’t seem to like him either.
I must admit that that the bottle nose dolphin calf that Kukuru saw is basically the place she is in right now. The dolphin calf’s mother passed away as it aimlessly tries to find a way back to its pod.
In a way, Kukuru is in the same situation as the dolphin. She is stuck in a job that she doesn’t like, but in a place, she has a passion for. Moreover, she had to skip out on checking on the dolphin, meeting Airi, and even seeing Gama Gama demolished. As a result, she sacrificed so much for a job that she doesn’t even enjoy. Not to mention, the presentation she gives was a disaster mostly due to her inexperience and now, her boss expects her to do it over. I don’t see how this makes a difference since he is giving little to no guidance.
There is the saying that “hard work doesn’t always pay off.” This holds true for the fact that Kukuru’s a-hole boss expects too much when she is a trainee. The right way to go about this is to have someone mentor her and show how things are done. That way, he or she will learn how to do their job and not have their work end in disaster.
Apparently, they aren’t and there is one reason why, it’s because of her grandfather since he apparently has big plans for her and asks the owner to put her in the position she doesn’t like and have her boss treat her like crap. It makes you wonder why he decides to demolish Gama Gama. Yes, possibly to put another aquarium there with the expectation of Kukuru running it.
To me, this reminds me of Tiger Parenting, and it doesn’t really work as they might develop mental issues. You can’t force a child to become successful by treating them like crap. They need to find their own push and something to aspire to become. Sure, it’s okay to give them guidance and encourage them to achieve excellence while not sacrificing their passion and dignity. But being strict and punishing them harshly for poor results is not the way to do it. After all, life is more than just being successful.
Of course, we are seeing a consequence of her grandfather taking the Tiger Parenting approach a bit too much. Kukuru’s mental state is at an all-time low and she pretty much lost her passion of the thing she likes the most. There is of course the fear that Kukuru might just quit on them and go find another aquarium to work for out of their grasp. Either way, it’s soul-searching time for Kukuru just like the dolphin. Hopefully she finds a way out of this with Fuuka helping her out. I also hope the boss receives some type of retribution from this as it’s obvious that he is the a-hole.
In short, f Kukuru’s a-hole boss!
Yes, this episode was basically a showcase on how much of an ass her boss can be. In all these episodes I have never seen an emotion that he even resembles a smile. Always moody, always distant, not interacting with team members and only capable of insulting people. What does he even do on that laptop of his?!
Not really seeing the merit in this sink or swim means type of training. A little guidance with hints and encouragement would go a long way. I suppose, anger aside this episode was just trolling us into getting madder and making us sympathise for Kukuru.
Well with us hitting the final stretch I am left a little clueless on how this one ends. A rebuilt Gama Gama with Kukuru/Fuuka at the helm is the dream scenario but will that really happen? I have my doubts but would love it if it came to pass.
Kukuru’s boss is just a poor manager and really bad at his job. It’s his job not to supervise his staff, but also have someone mentor her instead of piling on with work. I still wonder what is the motive of having the boss treating Kukuru as crap as her grandfather apparently up to something to see Kukuru put in the marketing department instead of something that she is naturally good at. But it’s obvious that Kukuru doesn’t have much focus since she perhaps don’t want to be near her a-hole boss, but I hope she will bounce back.
Aside the terrible director’s management, I think it is a kind of karma for Kukuru, because she had a similar behavior when she was Gama Gama director with Fuuka, but Fuuka even without training she had some maturity to face the situation and her problems, but Kukuru for the first time has to find a solution for herself.
About trainings, in this case apparently she hadbto have some experience about it because she directed temporally an aquarium. The difference is that she was living an illusion and now she is facing real life.
Fair enough, but to be fair, Kukuru was a teenager that is still in high school and was 17. Nobody is going to be mature at 17 yet alone 18 years old. Even if she has some experience, training is still necessary as different employers are going to do their jobs differently and there are going to know everything, even after one earns a degree. One can’t just pile on work on inexperienced people, especially with less than one year of job experience to do the job fully. If Kukuru had a few years of experience in marketing or related field, it will be a different story. Still, I have to defend Kukuru and the manager is in the wrong, especially with his name calling, which normally won’t be tolerated in a real work place since it’s workplace bullying and creating a hostile work environment.