Happy Sugar Life

An anime that delves deep into the question of love. What is love? In the anime, a young girl named Satou Matsuzaka has a habit of sleeping with one boy after another to find what this feeling of "love" is like but she never feels anything for them, no matter who she goes out with. She always left with the same pondering question of love. When one day, she met a little girl, a sweet and innocent young child. Shio Kōbe. This encounter changes Satou. She has finally found something she could feel. Love.

She tells others that she lives with her aunt when she secretly ... lives in an apartment with Shio. Despite the show's title and appearance, it is a psychological horror anime that features a seemingly innocent girl with disturbing secrets. Satou will do anything to protect her beloved Shio, she would do anything to protect this feeling of love, no matter what it takes, no matter the cost. Even if it means resorting to desperate measures to ensure that their "happy sugar life" remains intact.

"Happy Sugar Life" weaves a tale of intrigue with its blend of beauty and darkness, but falls short of reaching its full potential, earning a modest 6/10 rating in my books.

The anime starts off with a striking protagonist, Satou Matsuzaka, whose beauty and innocence captivate the audience. However, as the story unfolds, it takes a turn into the macabre, revealing a darker side to her character. While the initial setup is promising, the plot becomes somewhat predictable as it progresses, missing the mark on delivering truly unexpected twists.

The animation and artwork are undoubtedly stunning, especially in capturing the stark contrast between the vibrant, colorful world ... and the sinister undertones. Nonetheless, this visual splendor alone cannot compensate for the shortcomings in the storyline.

Though the show attempts to delve into the complexities of human emotions, it doesn't quite hit the mark in offering profound insights. The character development is decent, but there's a certain lack of depth that prevents a more profound connection with the cast.

While "Happy Sugar Life" may have its share of thought-provoking moments, it lacks the ability to fully grip the viewer's emotions or stimulate introspection. Additionally, the exploration of morality and human complexity feels somewhat superficial, leaving much to be desired in terms of intellectual engagement.

In conclusion, "Happy Sugar Life" presents an intriguing premise, but struggles to capitalize on its potential. Despite its beautiful visuals and moments of contemplation, it falls short in delivering a truly impactful narrative. If you're a fan of dark themes and captivating artwork, this anime might still be worth a watch. However, for those seeking a more profound and emotionally resonant experience, "Happy Sugar Life" might not hit the mark.

Happy Sugar Life flirts with two core audiences that it fails to deliver to.

The first audience is those looking for a dark, mature story about irredeemably flawed characters being punished for their sins. Happy Sugar Life sets itself up as though it may be that kind of story, but it doesn't have the teeth to commit, nor does it actually condemn the main characters.

The second audience is those looking for a cute, twisted romance between a yandere lolicon and the object of her affection. Happy Sugar Life doesn't seem at first, to court this audience genuinely, but if you keep watching, you'll probably come to ... the same conclusion as I have: This is the true core of the story, but it fails in execution.

Happy Sugar Life is a really, really poorly told love story. It is the story of Satou, a high-schooler in search of the meaning of love, and Shio, the little girl who teaches it to her. It's the story of two girls, victims of their own unique abuse, with deeply concerning ideas of what a relationship is. And, despite their traumas and their complexes and their immaturity, their relationship IS somehow perfect. There is no apparent condemnation of their age gap, and the major structure and climactic dialogue all compound the message at the core of their relationship: Their love is the only thing in their lives that matters. Without it, they are empty people, and no amount of connecting with other people or going to therapy can fix them. The only hope they have is each other.

The love story between Satou and Shio, (which, I stress, is what the writing clearly treats as Important and Good) is interrupted, strained, and broken up by poorly-realized adult themes and juvenile edge-for-the-sake-of-edge. Child predators, rapists, and stalkers roam every corner of Satou's city, for the express purpose of interrupting her life with Shio, and providing "fair game" for her manipulative and murderous tendencies. But, and this bears repeating, the story is not really ABOUT these darker things. They are simply plastered on top of the obvious focal point - the romance - for the sake of introducing conflict and appearing mature and morally complex.

The views of human nature expressed by Happy Sugar Life are bleak and immature, as is the eventual ending. The writers believe that people can be broken, and not fixed, and simultaneously that there are no emotions worth living for besides full-hearted devotion to your love. There are no characters with pure intentions except for Shio, and, if you take the side that the writers take, Satou as well.

(PLOT SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH)

You see, the major, important twist of the story is, ultimately, that Satou is "innocent." Not that she never does terrible things, but that all of these things are, ultimately, justified. They are all self-defense, for the sake of protecting Shio, or done to people who "deserve" it by the metrics applied by the writers. Satou is not a serial killer, nor is she a kidnapper. She is a child, backed into a corner, who does what she has to for the sake of the one thing in the world that is considered Good and Pure. The ultimate climax, and the unwinding of the plot, hinges on Satou being driven to finally kill someone who doesn't "deserve" it like the others do.

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TL;DR:

Before you decide to watch Happy Sugar Life, ask yourself why:
- If you want a mature story about Bad People receiving their Divine Punishment, you should find another anime.
- If you want a twisted love story about a yandere lolicon being driven to her limit, stop watching after episode 11. It makes a much better ending, and you can fill in the gaps however you wish. Episode 12 will only ruin what little Happy Sugar Life has going for it.

In the end, Happy Sugar Life is a deeply flawed and poorly executed idea, with no courage to stand by its morals and an immature desire to play at "tragedy" without meaning.