Satou Matsuzaka is a beautiful high schooler who has a reputation for being permissive with men. However, a chance encounter with a young girl named Shio Koube makes Satou realize that this is her first and only true feeling of love.
Telling others that she lives with her aunt, Satou secretly shares an apartment with Shio. Despite her innocent appearance, Satou is willing to do anything to protect her beloved, resorting to desperate measures to ensure that their "happy sugar life" remains intact.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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MozillaFennekin
It’s only stupid if it doesn’t work. Nowadays, the shows I fight to defend are highly misunderstood because their appeal is too specific, causing the general audience to flaunt their standards around like they’re supposed to mean anything. Past examples include Mahou Shoujo Site, Jashin-chan Dropkick and Hand Shakers. Yet, Happy Sugar Life is a different sort of… thing, whose plot setup is about as logically sound as riding a lawnmower during a hurricane, seemingly leaving not but a select, niche appeal for the sickos like me. A high school girl is basically holding a little girl hostage in a populated apartment complex; she hidesthis among her normal daily life of going to school and working part-time jobs. You know, like all teenagers do. If this is your first time reading the synopsis, then you’re probably asking a lot of questions like “Huh?” or “What?” because the basic rules and structure of society suggest that this shouldn’t even be possible. And for me, knowing that much is what made this story interesting--HOW these characters are living such lives, and what will happen when it inevitably shatters. Because there’s just no way it won’t--and the very first scene of the anime suggests that it very much will.
Happy Sugar Life makes use of its own flaws. The sugar-coated scenes of the main characters in their unnatural habitat are not just for show; they’re presented as a true illusion from reality. The conflict is all the outsiders learning more about their lives and trying to tear it down, a plot that snowballs as the situation becomes more and more complicated. A situation known as “reality”.
What’s more, is that the aforementioned little girl doesn’t even seem to be a real character. Shio Koube lives and breathes, but her actual personality is baffling. She’s constantly happy and cheery and trying to do the best she can to help her caretaker. She doesn’t question the life she lives or the outside world she’s prevented from seeing. She is simply “a daughteru”: the ideal child anyone would want to have--no, scratch that. Megumin and Chtholly are daughterus to me, but that’s because they actually seem like real characters, because real characters have flaws. Shio Koube does not. Shio Koube is not a real character, nor a daughteru--she is a pet. A Shia pet, if you will. She exists to be cute and fluffy; you feed her and play with her a bit, and if you can do those two things, then she’s not gonna be a bother to you outside of the occasional natural fuck-up. That’s cool and all, but that’s not how a human child actually acts.
But what’s smart about the anime is that it actually addresses this. Shio’s personality is the result of past trauma that’s she’s forgotten; and as she learns more and more about herself, it starts to crack a little. By the end of the series, Shio outright states that she’s meant to be more than a living object used to draw mental security from, practically breaking the fourth wall by stating she’s a real character who has a functional and realistic train of thought that accurately feeds into her personality.
In other words, Happy Sugar Life was only pretending to be retarded.
Because, with the way it handles its plot by addressing its flaws and nailing its appeal with few problems, I can’t help but think that Happy Sugar Life is actually pretty clever. As dumb and over-the-top it may seem, it was in full control of itself and did what it set out to do.
Suffering, violence, trauma and psychosis. Of course an anime called “Happy Sugar Life” would be about anything but. Characters have very specific, intricately detailed mental issues, so much so that I can’t guarantee the anime doesn’t take place in some sort of high-tech asylum that simulates society as therapy for its patients. The way they’re presented are interesting on their own for what they are, but the main character herself acts in a surprisingly grounded manner.
In the first episode, she verbally beats down her employer over a payroll cut, explaining how she was fully aware of the manager’s schemes but played along for the sake of being nice, only to still be punished. She completely dismantles this person mentally and challenges her, but her tone of voice is what sells the scene. She doesn’t scream or shout, the soundtrack is dark but sparse with details, and the visual direction is simple but effective. It’s not dynamic, over-acted, or over-the-top. This scene could’ve easily been a screaming match between two idiots, but… that would just be silly and unnecessary. Quiet words speak louder than loud words. That’s totally how the saying goes.
Satou Matsuzaka, aka “Holy Shit Is That A Motherfucking Mirai Nikki Reference???” is fully in control of herself, able to function like a normal person in most circumstances. And by “control”, I mean she seems to be keeping a deeper anger pent up within her, choosing not to do any more than what’s necessary. It’s a contrast from the manager in episode one, who fights back with shouting and more body language, among other characters that I’ll get into later. The stability of Definitely Not Yuno’s mental condition is part of the snowballing conflict--as her Title of The Anime becomes harder and harder to keep, her psyche decays, and as her psyche decays, she becomes more and more dangerous.
Basically, if you know what the fuck a yandere is, you know what’s up.
Watching Pink Yandere fall further into despair as the story progressed, as well as her drastic shifts in attitude, are a blast to watch. Hana Kanazawa delivers one of the best performances in her incredibly prolific career, at times sounding completely unrecognizable to me. She’s not just using her Akane Tsunemori serious drama voice, she’s speaking in a tone FAR lower than almost every anime she’s been cast in. And, as a huge fan of Mirai Nikki, you bet your ass I loved episode 11 when she tied her hair back to look exactly like Yuno. Praise be.
The other characters in the series are in various stages of sanity, for better or for worse. The most notable is Satou’s Aunt, who hoardes trash and lets weirdos beat the shit out of her for pleasure. You know, like all loving aunts do. But, like Satou, she’s fully in control of her actions. Rather, this is a matter of one being so deluded of themselves that they believe their behavior to be healthy. AILF (aunt i’d like to fuck) even convinces herself to have a fulfilling role within society, accepting hostility and fucking it out of them. She is indeed quite over-the-top, but the long dialogues she provides make her believable enough to be enjoyable.
And then there’s the lolicon guy… oh boy. This fuckin’ guy. As a result of things happening that cause him to distrust adults, he becomes so fully attached to Shio that he takes passionate inhalations of her missing poster flyers. THIS is the over-the-top character that you’d expect to see from a full edgelord show, and really, your opinion of him just depends on how much you’re into that kinda stuff. To me, this character is no more than a punchline--more like a punching bag, actually, given all the shit he goes through. A full display of maximum disparity and lack of self-control, his actions are so cartoonish and ridiculous that all he ends up doing in the series is suffering. A lot. He’s just a dumping ground for all the negative consequences brought on by the other characters. Overall, not a character to be taken seriously; he stands at the border between Happy Sugar Life being a completely serious drama and a goofy, edgy comedy. I like the mixture of both worlds.
But the crowning jewel of this anime are some of the more psychologically-based scenes. For as weird and silly as the anime can be, there are scenes of actual genius scattered throughout--most notably, the first half of episode eight. It explores the backstory of Satou’s and Shio’s apartment through the eyes of its former resident. All of it is in first-person view with no music, and the resident never speaks. Instead, their moments of “dialogue” are replaced with a glitchy audio clip over a fluctuating black line. The pauses before these clips make noise and their varying intensity fill in the blanks of Satou’s conversations perfectly. It’s a tremendously well-done scene that I would recommend to anyone, even if you haven't seen the rest of the anime.
Sound manipulation is a motif in this series; characters’ voices will become static-y and distorted in key moments to intensify their dark expressions. Several different visual tricks are used for similar reasons--glowing eyes, static, reflections, scratchy lines, lighting, shadows, tactful shot compositions and other things are all deployed for the show’s depraved, depressing and dark moods without overdoing any of them. Meanwhile, happier moments are shown with sparkles, bubbles, clouds and bright, poppy colors; so corny that they’re almost vomit-inducing, and I mean that in the best way possible. Happy Sugar Life doesn’t necessarily excel with animation, set pieces or character designs, but the various tricks it uses to communicate its feelings are excellent.
Similarly, the soundtrack doesn’t particularly stand out, but the sound design is quite good, I’ll say again. Rising violins, static, vocal manipulation and prestigious voice acting get the job more than done. The OP is one of my favorites of the entire year, using a song perfectly toned to this anime with its siren-like guitar riffs and optimistic, upbeat tone, shifting in and out of muttered, paranoid passages. Bizarre, photographed objects float about in the background; a Shio-like angel flies over shadowy figures of the characters, and various trappings by glass jars and thorns lay over Satou as the video glitches with inconsistent timing. It’s easy to see what’s going on in the OP based on a few episodes of the show itself, but it’s communicated in so many incredible ways that the OP never got skipped. The ED is good… for an ED, that is, which is to say not much, but the animation of Satou and Shio is cute, and the song itself is quite touching.
If you’ve read my reviews before, you know that I’m completely and 100% serious in all of my reviews, and I never make any jokes whatsoever, so when I say this is a 9/10 anime, I mean that it should be watched by all eyes, no matter what.
Now, if you’ve ACTUALLY read my reviews before, you’d know I like to play around, that I don’t really care about ratings, that I’m not all that interested in seeing a fully-serious, masterfully-crafted story. But with its combination of surprise turnarounds, smart directing and just the right amount of silliness, I’d truly say that Happy Sugar Life is a quality anime; not just by my standards, but for drama and psychological anime as a whole. Indeed, it is not perfect--some people will be unhappy with some of the characters or not be willing to see how the anime fixes itself down the line. In fact, I myself have room to complain about the teacher not having any real exploration to his character, as well as some scenes that simply would not happen in the real world, such as Satou's Aunt seducing the police officer, as good as it was. A lot of it is conveniently written. The characters aren’t particularly deep and more idealized than realized. But, overall, Happy Sugar Life is FUN. It is an exciting series that takes little time to light its first match, and once it gets going it doesn’t let up until it has burned everything down.
I dearly recommend this anime to anyone who’s into not just edgy comedies, but anyone who’s interested in a kinda wacky psychological drama that even manages to unnerve you a little bit. Perhaps it is not the most effective at what it is, but it is, nonetheless, effective.
Story - 8/10
Art - 8/10
Sound - 8/10
Characters - 7/10
Enjoyment - 9/10
Yandere - 10/10
Overall - 9/10
Favorite episode - 8
Favorite character - Satou. Or her Aunt. Depends on how I’m feeling or how horny I am I guess. Pretend I didn’t type that out.
Recommendation level - Medium-high
SingleH
For as long as I’ve been watching anime, there has always been a considerable amount of the community who can find so much entertainment in shows which are “so bad, they’re good.” Whether it be the ostentatiously pandering fan service of shows like Eromanga Sensei, the immeasurably trite and gaudily derivative plot of shows like In Another World With My Smartphone, or the hysterically edgy situations in shows like Magical Girl Site, the community always seems to find something to enjoy in shows that are simply, undeniably, and blatantly trash. But as the saying goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, and it lookslike I’ve found my treasure in the trash that is Happy Sugar Life.
First and foremost, let me be clear with you this exact brand of trash was thrown aside just so a degenerate with the exact perversions as myself could crawl by and fish it out of the muddy gutter. If you aren’t messed up in the head in the exact same manner as I am, then you should stay as far away from this embarrassing train wreck of an anime as you possibly can, so I’ll just cut to the chase. If you don’t like yuri romance, age-gap romance, moe girls, lolis, or Stockholm Syndrome fetishism, then take your leave immediately for your own sanity’s good. This show is abjectly terrible, so just save yourself while you still can. But if you are into that shit, then let’s dive in.
Happy Sugar Life is in the “horror comedy” genre of anime, anime which are technically horror thrillers, but anime which are so bombastically bad at being provocative they just become funny. Everyone and everything is comically over-the-top edgy for no reason. There’s murder, rape, extramarital affairs, any overused bullet point on the edge checklist gets checked. Everything looks ugly as sin, the animation is god awful, the character designs are beyond basic, the OST is either boring or actively unfitting, the cinematography is almost exclusively flat-panning shots with 70% of every episode being still frames, and I could honestly keep going because this is a bottom-of-the-barrel production from a nobody studio and staff which looks and runs terrifically bad.
That said, the main character is a cute yandere girl with pink hair, buns, and is somehow voiced by Kana Hanazawa who is in love with an elementary school loli with whom she shares a home, bath, and bed. I am fucking sold. This show may as well be perfect. Watching this week by week was hysterical. The show is worst of the worst, but I got to be reminded there is a real show, actually being made in real life, which features a yuri age-gap romance about a psychotic sex-craved schoolgirl who murders and blackmails anyone who threatens to interrupt her life living with a loli she literally kidnaped and locked in her apartment. I don’t need to elaborate on the concept because only one single thing of note happened throughout the entire show, and I don’t think just because there’s a decent five minute scene at the end of episode nine you should go and watch the whole show, because the remaining two hundred and fifty nine minutes were pure garbage. Any mature person who happens to come across this review can see this show is nothing but mindless self indulgence, so if it sounds like something you can indulge in like I did, give it a watch.
That’s it. Done. Ten out of ten, would watch again.
Thank you for reading. I know my other reviews are more serious than this, but this show was just far too much for me to handle sober and with a straight face.
RuanSwanepoel
Happy Sugar Life (HSL) is a psychological horror about normal people being pushed to their limits. Throughout this show, contrasts are stressed and found in every way possible as I will be discussing throughout this review. Art 8/10: One of HSL's best attributes. Studio Ezόla has opted for a pretty basic art style for this Anime. The surroundings or backgrounds are simple, but never feels fake or takes away from the original style, so no points deducted from that. This is the best example of where you can see contrasts being used. In happy or cheerful scenes, the colors used are extremely bright and sparkly. The colorscale also shifts more to red to give that "alive" and "warm" feeling. And on certain scenes the art turns extremely dark. The entire scene gets washed in a blue like hue to give of this "dead" and "cold" feeling. HSL also uses the "eyes are the windows to the soul" saying to its fullest. In some scenes, the eyes of the characters change drastically to reflect their inner struggles. Subtle things like the eyes giving of a burning sensation when the characters are engulfed in anger is a nice touch and is sometimes pretty hard to see unless you look carefully.
There is almost never really on-screen violence in the Anime. The Anime uses visual hints as well accompanying sound effects to make you visualize those scenes for yourself. Which is what makes this Anime a truly psychological Anime.
Sound 8/10: The Opening explores this contrasts theme a bit more. The OP begins with an innocent voice and a happy sounding tone. The Opening then switches to a more deep tone and the singer (Akari Nanawo) sings in a more intimidating tone.
The Ending has an overall calm tone to help with pressure release and the end of the episode.
The OST is subtle but effective, builds tension when it must and sets the overall tone for the scene when needed. In some stages the lack of an OST is also used to give a false sense of security to the viewer before taking you by surprise.
The special insert song used in its respective episode was used to support the visual metaphor of the arc as well as support the feelings of the character the arc focuses on.
Characters 9/10: The characters are all introduced as normal people. On the surface they all look trustworthy. All the characters are in respectable positions and are in some cases even idolized, but then their insanity meter gets turned up to 11 if they are pushed overboard. Contrasts are once again used here, down to the names of our two main characters, Satou (sugar) and Shio (salt). On the topic of names. The names of the characters all have a meaning to what they provided or represents in the Anime. If you are done watching the Anime I would recommend searching the meaning of their names. The characters feel real in the sense that they all have the inner struggles that we as humans are fighting everyday. The only part where this subtracts from realism is the fact that so many characters snap around the main character.
Story 9/10: The story is pretty dark. Themes are explored which is not really that common in some Anime. Which once again brings it back to the contrasts. All of the characters are looking for their "Happy Sugar Life." Yet they don't see that by searching for this happiness they keep on leaving despair and once they find this “ideal” life, they are confused as to why they are not happy. The story intentionally makes you empathize with the main character. Which I would say is hard to do as if you take the character out and place them in the real world, this member would be hated. The story does a great job in making you root and care for a really repulsive being. The pacing is not something to complain about. Not too fast and not too slow. The ending was a bit abrupt and for many was a bit distasteful.
Enjoyment 10/10: Why I liked it: The use of all the above discussed means to tell a pretty dark story was something I enjoyed a lot. The overall usage of contrasts was also something that I liked a lot. Studio Ezόla did a pretty fine job in their first Anime and I am looking forward to more of their work if they are to pursue more titles in the future. I have since then bought the Manga for this and the adaptation done by the Studio was pretty good. The ending was also fully original as the Manga stopped around episode 11.
Why You might not like it:
The story is not a Happy Sugar Life. It is a psychological horror that keeps you asking "Is this really OK?", "Are we the baddies?" and "Why am I rooting for this person?" Even though there is never really that much on-screen violence. The Anime keep hinting towards what happened and the means in which this violence occurred. The ending was for some a bit distasteful. The story is about a relationship between a child and a high-school student. I think those are the main reasons you would not like this Anime. I would also not recommend this as a first Anime for someone just starting out, unless they like Horror or similar shows to this.
Overall 9/10: I was really impressed by this Anime. With a totally new Studio and a director which has only directed a few Anime in the past, my expectations for HSL was pretty low. But as the story progressed I could see the effort the director and the animators put in to make this first project a huge success in my opinion.
Stark700
Once upon a time, there was a girl who didn’t know what love really is. She seemingly had no goals in life with a rootless understanding about love. Sleeping with guys and not truly knowing what her life is about, she didn’t know if there was a place to belong. Wondering around the end of abyss of life and not knowing who she can really be with. Then, a child appeared. An innocent child with a face full of life and sugar. Is this a chance to truly discover love? Is it a chance to live a happy sugar life? As a show that combines elementsof psychological horror, suspense, and thriller, Happy Sugar Life looked deceptive at first glance. Now I admit, I’m a bit of a sucker when it comes to shows where we have an anti-hero protagonist. I mean, the first episode speak for itself once you realize Matsuzaka Satou’s personality. She is essentially living a double life – one that is of a normal girl and other being overly obsessive of Shio Kobe. This devotion to Shio is so strong that she is willing to kill others to “protect” her from harm. In Satou's mind, being with Shio equates to happiness.
Despite the complex nature of the plot, the setup of the story is actually very simple. We got Satou who pretty much takes Shio as a partner and isolates her in a place where she feels is safe. It’s an apartment that looks normal on the inside and outside until you realize there may be something much darker going on behind the scenes. The first few episodes is rather cryptic about Satou’s actions including parts where she takes questionable content in and out of the house. Meanwhile, there’s definitely character chemistry going on between Satou and Shio. The duo shares an innocent love chemistry and ritual-like marriage ceremonies on a frequent basis. On most parts, the show seems fluffy during those segments while masking the suspenseful thriller storytelling. Throughout the series, we discover just how far from normal Satou actually is. The show also makes it clear that she will go to any length to protect Shio even if it means murder. Anyone who is familiar with the term ‘yandere’ will easily dedicate her character as such. In essence, Satou is a complex character who sees her idea of love in a twisted way. Regardless of consequences, she will do anything to protect that love. This puts Shio on the opposite end of the spectrum as she is an innocent child. Despite that, she seems to adore Satou and always values their relationship. It’s the sort of child behavior you’d expect from this show.
The more I watched Happy Sugar Life, the more I realized how this show depicts human behavior in some of the worst ways possible. Characters such as Taiyou displays borderline pedophile behavior towards Shio. Others such as Daichi and Satou’s aunt also demonstrate their psychological tendencies in several episodes. With the exception of Shio, only one other character came to my mind who I can say is normal. Her name would be Shouko Hida but I wouldn’t get attached to her easily. In fact, try to refrain from getting attached to most of the characters in this series because their real personalities are incredibly disturbing. Another reason is that some characters will not make it alive. I’m not going to mention it as it’s spoiler but let’s just say that death isn’t uncommon in the story.
As the majority of the series adheres to psychological horror, it’s hard to really root for any single character. The characters Satou deals with are often evil as she is with some being even more twisted. However, I think some of her past can be sympathetic. Satou wasn’t born with evil intentions but events shaped her to become what she is now. The past explores her character in depth and there’s even one episode that explains how Satou ends up where she is now. Narratives in this series is incredibly important as it fishes out a character’s personality to the fullest. Satou is the primary example of this as we see a journey to understanding love in her words. There’s also a character named Asahi Koube in the show with a deep desire to reunite with Shio as a family. But unlike Satou, he doesn’t go to measures such as killing to achieve his happiness. It’s a bit sugarcoated but he is more of a hero than Satou will ever be.
By the time you reach the conclusion of the first episode, I think it’ll become obvious whether or not it’s worth following this anime. Are you the type that love suspenseful horror? Do you favor a story with twisted inhumane characters? Do you want to see if characters such as Satou or Shio really find love in each other in the end? If these are some of the questions in mind, then definitely give this anime a shot. Otherwise, it’s going to be a sluggish ride as every episode builds more and more into the suspense. I personally find this anime unique in the sense that it isn’t truly deceptive yet always makes me anticipate on what to expect next. The character cast wants you to hate them and they succeed without jeopardizing the plot. And to me, that’s a feat that I admire.
Like the title suggests, Happy Sugar Life has a sugary and sweet coloring to its animation style. Studio Ezo’la (one that I never heard of before until this series) bought out its ideas to fullest. It’s vibrant and full of life during moments when we see happiness. Then, there are those dark eerie scenes that brings out the horror of the story. It’s often moody especially in Satou’s apartment where questionable content lies in the dark. As you should expect, this show contains violence that includes murder. The TV version seems to have tone it down a bit as some of the graphic content is done behind the scenes rather than shown directly on screen. Satou is the main culprit of this but there are some other characters that commit sinful deeds. Oh and be prepared for some uncomfortable scenes from the main cast. Taiyou is a guy that I deeply regret watching for his pedophilic tendencies. Good God, erase him from the show. Other character expressions in the series are disturbing to watch such as with Satou’s red predatory eyes or her aunt’s mentally unstable behavior. The light in the dark tunnel is Shio as she brings in sugar, spice, and everything nice.
If you want psychology in this series, you need the characters to be convincing. Thanks to the modern talent of Kana Hanazawa, that is achieved. She’s known for a variety of heroine roles and to play a yandere in this series truly bought out her talent to full. Misaki Kuno is also able to step into the shoes of a child to portray her character’s innocence. The theme songs contain an upbeat mood that contrasts with the tone of the show. It’s very playful and bubbly while the ED theme contains a more melodramatic feeling.
Happy Sugar Life tells the tale of love that isn’t the typical romantic story you’re familiar with. Instead, it crafts psychological horror with a cast of degenerate characters. There are some that you’ll find to be abominations of our society. Yet, this series is far from an abomination. It’s a psychological horror done right with a clear set of intentions at its heart and soul.
illuminatibg
What is the cost of love and happiness? Before you start watching this masterpiece, you should be warned, you would be seriously disturbed. Like this anime will touch your soul and put a lot of dark stuff inside. I have no idea why all previous reviews gave so low scores. It is like people watching "Chernobyl" (a series for the largest tragedy in atomic energy known to man) and expect it to be fun? It is not fun, neither is this anime, but gosh it is so GOOD! Art & Music: 9 Story & Characters: 10 The first thing I must point is the professionalism this anime is implemented.The topics it focuses on are not only domestic violence, murder, but also pedophilia, sexual harassment, kidnapping, etc. Using my experience in anime, I would say there is plenty of points where unnecessary sexualism (i.e. fanservice) could be inserted, completely destroying the seriousness of the topics, but luckily the staff members did not do that. (I did not read the manga, though so no idea if it is told with the same seriousness as anime).
The second thing to point is that while it is SERIOUSLY DISTURBING, the scenes of violence and sexual harassment are conveniently moved as a side point. This disturbing events in this anime are told in a way that the viewer should understand what's happening without everything being explicitly graphic.
And now to the story and characters. No character in this anime is normal. And by not being normal, do not expect someone that just stands out. For example, the main protagonist Satou (female) is in love with a little girl, and ready to (and actually do it) kill in order to protect their love. Her craziness is in counter-position of her love for Shio. But where does craziness comes from. From the first episode we can see how one of the main characters develops fear of older woman which causes his pedophilia, due to being victim of rape by his female manager. And here is where this anime present this as disturbing and not enjoyable. Even for a male, a rape by older woman can really break your mind and soul. The craziness is not something your are born with (not always at least), but something that you can get from other crazy people.
And so we have a story which involves a series of victims domestic abuse, violence, sexual harassment, child abandoning, etc. Each of this twists the mind of the characters pushing them to do stuff, we (the normal people) find SERIOUSLY DISTURBING. But this is where the story becomes beautiful. All this crazy people search for is LOVE - the innocent love they were denied from their parents who beat them or the innocent love that is torn away by a slutty woman. And the desire for love can have CONSEQUENCES, a dark and disturbing consequences. While you watch how the events unfolds, if you have any heart, you cannot help but vouch for Satou and Shio to discover happiness away from all other victims.
As you go through this 12 episodes introduction of the dark world of people with unhappy families and how they individually discover happiness, one of the best and most beautiful thing you can see is the ending. You know this story would not have happy ending, but at least it would be beautiful, and yet you feel this bitter taste in your mouth. It shows what happy sugar life Satou and Shio would have if the events did not end tragically. At this point, for the first time I shed tears for serial killer female pedophile.
So how can you enjoy such an anime? Well, it depends whether you are a normal person, or you are under the influence of some seriously disturbing event in your past. In case you are a normal person experience some love issues, this anime could be a wake up call telling you "you know nothing about love issues". If you are not normal... (sorry)... I hope this anime gives you a glimpse of hope and happiness.
In conclusion, watching this reminds you that bad things can happen in the world. And for some, the bad things happen in their own homes. This anime reminds us for all those taboo subjects we are aware of, but we do not speak about.
P.S. The OP really cuts it for this anime. While it is nothing special, it completely resonate with the anime. The song is super cute, until suddenly become just a mumble-jumble of world in a voice that reflects the craziness perfectly. Then it returns being a cute song again.
concerned2
-THIS IS MY FIRST EVER REVIEW ON AN ANIME SO I APOLOGIZE IF THIS REVIEW ISN'T ENOUGH TO CONVINCE YOU TO WATCH THIS MASTERPIECE.- My Intro I have been a fan of psychological animes and mangas because it feels so unique when you watch this kind of genre. Happy Sugar Life is one of the best psychological anime that I have seen, I have never felt this best feeling since Mirai Nikki (This one's a pretty badass psychological anime too, recommended 10/10). STORY It's plot is pretty much the same with yandere animes (killing for the person you love, have different personalities, become merciless and be a beautiful andcute yandere character with a twisted mind) .
The story is so good it will make you cry, of satisfaction of course, it ended beautifully and it has some mindfck scenes which will give you goosebumps for the whole 12 episodes.
It's decent and beautiful. :)
10/10
ART
The art style is cute as heck but turns demonic in the next second, it's pretty good and has a cute slice of (throat) life feels on it.
It's good.
9/10
CHARACTERS
Jesus! The characters bro, they are so damn unpredictable!
Don't let their looks and personality fool you because it will change in a mere second.
First, we have a pervert.
Second, we have a lolicon.
Third, we have a bisexual.
Fourth, we have a dangerous MILF.
Fifth, we have a depressed emo.
Damn, HSL has it all!
8/10
OVERALL
Please, just watch you will know immediately on what I'm trying to say here, just watch and enjoy it! It is WORTH IT!
Recommended 10/10
My Outro
Thanks for reading this poor review of mine, I know it does not suit your needs on an anime review but I tried my best for this at least.
Thank you very much.
Wheedies
This show provided everything I want in anime: social commentary and metaphysical/ philosophical questions. Many reviews look at it at face value, when it should be analyzed for what its trying to say. Nearly all the characters in the story are phycologicly scarred and 'twisted', which turns some people off, most of them are not seen after their introduction and are presented in a morally open way. Such characters are shown to have a multitude of faces, and their role in the narrative primarily comes down to the idea that more people than you know have had a painful past and that more people have morallyinappropriate hobbies than it would seem at first glance. The characters presented, in the end, serve as a reflection of societies hypocrisy (as the show says itself multiple times).
While many classify Shio Kobe as a 'loli' she is in the story just a child; there are no sexual urges or relations to her in the story. It might be perceived that Mitsuboshi has some, but its not made evident as what is said is that he wants Shio to 'purify' him (after getting sexually abused by an older woman) and thus just wishes to regain his innocence (just in a overzealous perverse fashion), and by experiencing her innocence regain his.
As hinted at the show makes no moral claims on the characters or actions and presents them in an open, if not inviting, way. This presentation leaves more room for analysis on the shows primary thesis : what is love; and how these actions reflect love.
Analysis aside the juxtaposition used from one scene to another is done fantastically and scene transitions are creative and add to the work and animation. The art and animation completely convey emotions and tone intended for each scene with everything feeling well thought out. The character drawings do feel outdated by modern standards, but isnt overly evident with the animation and color usage.
I would not classify this in the horror genre like others have but more in suspense, slice of life, thriller, romance.
Agent_Redacted
A psychological anime is good if it can make the watcher feel unorthodox. A horror anime is good if it can make the watcher feel scared and afraid. This anime qualifies the two spots nicely and perfectly like putting a pencil lid into your mechanical pencil. Story : 9/10 Two girls, stay together, supernatural, illegal and scary stuffs happens. Psychological plot, great story development. Makes me get goosebumps and/or afraid in all episodes. Respect. Art : 9/10 Good art, good quality, nice.Sound : 8/10
Catchy, Cute(scary) opening, satisfactory background musics, effects, etc..
Problem : Shio's sound is kind of annoying sometimes.
Character : 10/10
Cute characters, some characters emotions defy their looks. Truly psychological. 10/10.
Enjoyment : 9/10
I enjoyed(?) this anime a lot. Made me felt blank at the end, but that is to be expected. And I expected to feel this ever since I began the anime anyways.
Overall : 9/10
Fun, I guess? Yep. I love this, got heart attack in every episode. How could I dislike this? There's also Yuri. But somewhat made it felt WRONG. Oh well, my mind is messed up right now. So I'm off to rest.
OminousWrex
I've left the world of anime for a long time because I became bored with anime presenting me nothing new or revolutionary in terms of their storytelling. It was hard to find a story that offers a unique perspective about life or about anything at all, just a horde of formulaic entertainment that's "good enough" to keep you... entertained. And "good enough" was just not good enough for me. I wanted exceptional. Welcome to exceptional. Plot: 9 Happy Sugar Life is an anti-romance story that really digs its nails deep into the more taboo meanings of love and what it means to different individuals. The premise would turnoff most people satisfied with a "normal" story: "A high school girl, Satou Matsuzaka, has fallen in love with a young girl named Shio Koube. She struggles to overcome numerous obstacles that threaten to take that love away." Psychotic yanderes with a twisted form of love is nothing new, but what Happy Sugar Life does differently is by really sticking with its main theme of unconventional love and explore how this (usually) superficial thing called "love" can truly mean a lot of different things to everybody.
To explain what I mean, the forms of love explored in this anime are as follows:
1. Love for a small child
2. Love for young boys
3. Parental love
4. Brotherly love
5. Masochism
6. Self-love
Satou isn't the only psycho in this anime as there are so many other individuals here with their own pursuit of love. And while some of these are forms of lust as opposed to the so-called "true love", people in real life often confuse the two anyway so why shouldn't anime characters? However, while the series spends a sufficient amount of time explore individual characters, the main focus here is still Satou and her journey to discover what it truly means to love another person. And therefore, it's a good time to talk about...
Characters: 9
Satou starts out before the story with her heart feeling empty. It wasn't 'till she discovers Shio through a chance encounter that she felt meaning in her life as she began devoting herself to ensuring Shio's safety and happiness in their little castle of glass (a cosy little apartment). As she works hard for the sake of her newfound love, Satou comes across different individuals trying to push their own ideals of love onto her in various ways, intruding in her happy sugar life with Shio. But surprisingly enough, there's really not much in the way of violence in how Satou deals with her problems (in most of the episodes anyway). Unlike a true yandere like Yuno from Mirai Nikki, Satou is a far more calm and collected girl who comes up with more civilized forms of strategies to remove people from her life. She also properly reflects on her own ideals and even questions whether if her "love" is the right kind. So altogether, not that unrealistic of a character to be fair.
But what ultimately keeps the show going is the other characters that also had their perspectives shown to us, along with why they felt like their form of love is justified. Usually, in an anime with a shocking premise like this, it can all too often go downhill in pacing after the first shock-factor episode (Promised Neverland), but Happy Sugar Life keeps the audience engaged using a "psycho of the week" formula, allowing you to journey with Satou together in exploring love and all its meaning.
And in case you feel that these "lovers" are way too weird for your taste, there's even a normal girl in the mix here. Satou's best friend at work, Shouko, is the straight man in all this craziness, trying to do her best to be the best kind of friend Satou could have. She's loyal, compassionate, and not insane, so it helps to balance out the story and also helps the audience to connect with an anchor of normality. She's one of my favourite characters in the story, and possibly also the most tragic one by the end.
In spite of being a clean squeaky clean girl, Shouko and a number of other characters are written realistically flawed instead of being an ideal stereotype. Morally right or wrong, there is always ambiguity in their personal ideals to be found, thus further fleshing them out into very interesting individuals. Even Satou, whom I was close to hating after she crossed a line in a later episode, I found myself understanding her and Shio's perspective, along with why they are so firmly rooted in their beliefs (abnormal or not) and fighting so hard for them, no matter what it takes.
Enjoyment: 8
I'd be lying if I didn't admit that even an anime like this has gotten me bored at a few points in the story when it came close to being reduced to yet another conventional thriller. Thankfully, the anime manages to throw new and unexpected surprises that not only serve to shock (which would be shallow on its own), but also add new layers to the characters and subverting your expectations about them. For the parts of the story that try to show what a sweet life Satou and Shio have made for each other, I encourage you to be patient and experience those moments as you would experience a joyous moment with your loved one; those do pay off by the end and resonate the kind of strong and deep bond Satou and Shio share with each other.
At the end of the day, go into this anime with an open mind and forget about your sense of normality for 12 episodes. Then come tell me what you think of Satou and Shio's perspectives and whether if you feel those two lost souls are justified! I would love to hear from you.
Edit:
I noticed a lot of errors in this review, and after seeing the support the community has given through the 60+ "Helpful" feedback, I've decided to rewrite this piece for better clarity. Thanks for the support!
PineappleJim
So where to start? Happy Sugar Life (HSL) fails as a psychological horror. That is fine. Don't go in thinking this is going to be a psychological horror, instead look at this more as a mystery drama. It's not a standard "Problem = Mystery" style mystery, but instead it's got that sort of Another style mystery where you have a problem, but then the interest is figuring out who the characters are, what's happened leading up to here, etc. It's a drama because everything is a drama. Drama is that blanket term for "things happen, they're not neccesarily fighting, they're not always romance, they're not always [Blank], but they aresometimes".
This Anime is about our main protagonist Satou, and our macguffin/second-protagonist Shio. By some means our MP has found Shio and is currently living with her despite the fact that she is an actively sought-after missing person. Satou's main drive then obviously is keeping her as a missing person while they have a romantic relationship.
Yes, The lesbian pedophile has a girl locked in her appartment, but the girl doesn't seem to mind.
That's literally as much plot as I can go into without spoiling this, so let's talk actual meat and potatoes.
This is a modern-day japan with normal life, but populated entirely by morally wrong people. Everyone's hiding something, everyone's an asshole. Our macguffin, in one way or another, seems to bring these assholes together and, as they do, they end up having confrontations. All the while you're going to be fed crumbs of information into the actual story, either through flashback, literal digging, or just someone's psychotic episode that leads to them no longer repressing some memories.
All these crumbs of plot start filling in the blanks for the mystery, but then just add more questions ontop of that and bring in more morally questionable situations for you to judge. All up until a breaking point where the current story kicks into high-gear and the mystery is essentially finished so you can wrap up the series and characters that you've spent the past episodes learning about and either loving or hating all with the final drama.
Yeah, I'm vague. That review is boring. Just watch this anime, as much shit as it sounds like I've given it, it's amazing. You're going into an anime where the writers dive into a psychopathic main protagonist and I know how much we all love those when they're not written as high-school vampire scene girls. You're not force-fed psychology 101, you're not shown a murder then beaten over the head with how wrong it is. You're just shown a bunch of relatable human characters who're pushed past relatable at times because you don't want to relate to their fucked psychology.
And just ignore these dudes who watched 3 episodes and started screaming "IT'S EDGY, WHY IS THERE A LOLI, THIS IS GROSS, I'M OFFENDED" because they wanted to voice their opinions on an unfinished anime they decided to immediately wall themselves away from. Watch it and make your own call. It's not like we don't all sit around for 6-12 hours straight binging whole anime series on the weekends anyways.
evemetalchick
When I first heard about this anime and what was going on in it, I was skeptical about it seeming to be good for horror; I mean you got a yandere and a child. But once you get to episode 5 and you start learning about Shio, you learn all those layers they built into this child and how she's more than just an innocent and caring child. Satou has a lot to her as well, not being a teen who kidnapped a child cause they love them sexually, but a true love for this girl who brought her happiness when she never received anyto begin with; but I do wish they would delve into more of both her past with her aunt and her love for Shio.
The supporting characters are very interesting as well, from Hida and Taiyo to Sumire and even Shio's mother; but they do need more of a backstory, so maybe some OVAs for the characters will do some justice.
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to watch horror but want minimal amounts of blood and murder since this is more on the mental and emotional aspect rather than gore. This is obviously not for those who aren't able to fully understand the true story behind this anime and explore the many layers past a teen and child romance.
Even though the ending was very conclusive and overall perfect, I wouldn't mind a second season; maybe with different characters in this similar dilemma, like maybe men where the younger of the two murders to protect his lover.
I overall highly praise this anime and recommend this to newcomers looking for a "little blood as possible" horror anime.
Fulmi
I've been watching anime for some time, and this is the first time I felt like writing a review of a series. I will try to avoid spoilers as much as I can. STORY: Outstanding Of all animes I watched, this one must have one of the more unique plots I have seen. I would go as far as saying this is a "high art anime". The first chapters introduce Satou's life, a hardworking girl who is in "love". Her koibito is Shio, a kid that she apparently kidnapped and locked in her apartment. That's all I will say about the plot, read the synopsis if you wantmore info.
This show is a roller coaster, with lots of thrillers, twists, lies, and a some horror scenes. I think Ezόla (HSL is the first anime of the studio) did a very good job pacing and keeping consistency, I have only found very small plot holes at the end. It mixes very well unrealistic actions with very realistic behaviors (confusing huh? I never experienced this before). In some instances the most "normal" guy will look the weirdest. I also liked how they treated stuff like domestic violence, work harassment and male rape.
ART: Outstanding
Typical art style that you would find in a slice of life show, round faces, big round eyes, lots of blur, etc. I think this makes a horror show "darker". Overall I think this show's color palettes are very well chosen and beautiful. The cute and happy scenes looked very vibrant and heartwarming, where the creepy scenes were dark with glowing yandere eyes. I also love the faces in this anime, in fact I have a folder with 35 screencaps of face expressions (this is the first time I screenshot while watching anime).
SOUND: Great
Loved OP and ED. Also random Bleach OST. HanaKana, Kikuko Inoue.
CHARACTER: Outstanding
I will just say that I missed shows with good character development. This show does it greatly. Every character feels alive, has its own issues, pasts, and evolution through the series.
Loved MC's personality, I usually don't watch yandere shows, but her character felt very credible (? can't find the exact word). She keeps thinking rationally most of the time, and has real affection for his close friends (sadly they don't). She also doesn't go berserk randomly (killing is her very last option). Much more enjoyable than, for instance, Yuno.
I ended up writing a lot, ups. Overall this was a very refreshing show (I was tired of cliches and forced plots). Binge watched it in one sit, while usually I don't watch anime this way.
The ending was perfect, I would have liked another one (crowbar should have fallen, stapid ring), but it's the most appropriate for the show.
Nearly perfect score for me, 9-10. I wouldn't recommend this to "everyone", I'm sure most people would hate Happy Sugar Life and feel uncomfortable watching it (violence, harassment, rape, murder, kidnapping, lolicons, etc.). And that's fine, this show is very special (hence the "high art anime").
WharGhol
Happy Sugar Life is an amazing story. The story is intriguing from episode one and continue's to up the intensity after each episode. I haven't seen anything else like Happy Sugar Life, it's a truly unique thrill ride. This emotional roller coaster will take you to unexpected places. The music conveys so much feeling and ultimately really helps tell the story. The shocking themes may seem off putting at first glance but you really have to see it all before you can accurately pass judgement. With surprises at every turn this Psychological Horror is best in class and contender for one of thebest Anime's of all time. Happy Sugar Life has story that rivals that of even William Shakespeare. It is a unique masterpiece.
AbnerA
Happy Sugar Life is a psychological horror starring Satou Matsuzaka as our main heroine. It is revealed early in the first episode that she lives with Shio Koube, who Satou considers to be her "special someone". Satou did horrible things to live with Shio, and as you might have read already on MAL's synopsis, Satou will do everything in her capabilities to protect her life with Shio, her Happy Sugar Life. Of course, Satou and Shio are not the only characters here. This anime is one to watch if you want to see a lot of psychologically scarred characters. A theme going on in the animeis about 'love' and the characters' different 'love'. The story is centered on Satou and Shio's relationship with what Satou believes is pure love. The atmosphere usually changes back and forth between Satou's sugar life and all the bitterness of the outside world. Scenes showing the sugar part of Satou's life will mostly be when she is alongside Shio. The bitterness is from characters that threaten Satou's status quo. Satou prefers to not interact with anyone else, but that is not possible. She has to work to support her life, keeping facades in school and her workplace. This leads to her feeling bitter when other characters are intrusive with their 'love'. Examples of this are when Satou started getting trouble from the likes of her manager and her teacher early in the show.
Happy Sugar Life handles their characters very well. Most of the important characters are introduced early in the show, leaving time to explore them and for character development. There are only a few characters who feels like 'disposable characters'. Most characters are also screwed up in the head, almost everyone has some trauma or psychological disorder. This leads to interesting interactions between the characters, or rather psychos. With each characters comes different interactions, with Satou taking different approaches to keep them away from her relationship with Shio. Furthermore, every character does get their own bit of spotlight, showing their motives, their past, or how they got traumatized.
The story relies heavily on mystery and suspense. Feelings of unease can be felt during the calmer parts of the show. Satou's expressions are not always clear, leaving you wondering on what she might do. You are left not knowing most of the truth, and it keeps making you curious about what will happen next. When you thought you know what was going on, the anime revealed a different answer, and you are back in the mystery. Even during the 'sugar' scenes, just not knowing what is brewing without you knowing is enough to keep the suspense going. The music (or lack of) supports the atmosphere really well. All that said, some situations are so weird and absurd, you might feel disgust or get a chuckle out of it.
Overall, Happy Sugar Life is an anime filled with mentally scarred characters, with Satou and Shio in the middle bringing these characters inevitably bumping with each other. Happy Sugar Life uses its characters well without freely disposing them. It also does a good job delivering suspense. Scenes switch around 'sugar' and 'bitter' parts, with the suspense still intact. On the bad side, at times, it feels like the anime is just dragging out the mystery, and the situations might seem too unrealistic.
lolicubed
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 tothe 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.
CodeBlazeFate
Happy Sugar Life is a tragedy. I mean this in both literary and quality terms. Despite how interestingly and enticingly crafted this tragic tale is, and how effectively some of its presentation is, this show has one fatal flaw: overemphasis. One wouldn’t think that this is so catastrophic, but Happy Sugar Life proves why “show, don’t tell” is a thing. There are two forms of this devastating lingering. The first one is the monologuing. This is what damages Satou as a character and drags this anime down and out beyond belief. Her personality is interesting, almost as if you put a mary sue and a yanderein a blender and watched them eat away at each other in the process of having an overprotective pedo lesbian try to keep her image and ideal life intact. It’s hard to care when the majority of her screen time is spent in her headspace, as she monologues about damn near everything. Regardless of what anyone thinks of this tragic hero on a moral level, it’s easy to see how this can feel grating and unnecessary. These scenes of her expositing her thoughts on any given situation can go on for minutes on end when almost every single time, her expressions alone are enough to tell us next to, if not everything she is thinking and feeling.
Shrinking it all down to a sentence or two maximum to clarify something or truly encapsulate a scene for her, and letting the visuals do the rest would have been far more rewarding. It would have truly taken advantage of the imaginatively disturbing directing and presentation, both making Satou a far more interesting lead to follow, and making several scenes to be far more impactful and dramatic. It would have also kept a myriad of scenes from dragging out to more than double the length they needed to convey everything properly. Keep in mind that this applies to several scenes from several characters later on as well. You could cut down entire episodes worth of monologuing and probably improved the pacing dramatically, both in terms of an episode structure and scene-by-scene basis. The worst part of all is that the show understands this to an extent, with some of the most critical and stylistic scenes in the latter half of the show truly showcasing how powerful this approach can be.
The second devastating, drawn-out form of overemphasis is a more gratuitous, self-indulgent kind. It’s what destroys practically everyone else in this show. It’s no secret that the vast majority of the characters in this show are damaged, mostly reprehensible people. You can show that off while keeping the audience engaged and disturbed in a proper way. This show takes the worst approach possible with this. Whenever a character is established doing something fucked up, we linger on them licking something, drooling, and/or panting after sniffing something for extended periods of time or interacting with their target in some way. At that point, it’s more tiresome than creepy, and more aggravating than repulsive. It’s even worse when the show constantly reminds you of this with small moments and scenes that add nothing and could be cut out entirely. It’s bad enough that the progression of certain characters’ descent into pedophilic or stalker-like madness is utterly nonsensical, but when that becomes their defining trait, and when the show just lingers on about it, it becomes a nightmare to sit through for the worst reasons imaginable.
To really paint a picture of how bad this can get, a male police officer is sexually assaulted for minutes on end, with several characters watching, and it takes his partner so long to intervene. On top of that, all they do is leave, rather than arrest the perpetrator or do anything for committing a crime of sexual assault on an on-duty police officer. It’s beyond wild how bad the gaps in logic are, and how much this show just wants to linger on the more disturbing elements for its own self-indulgent, narrative and character-damaging purposes. I’m not sure if any of this was the fault of the material, the director/screenwriter, or both.
It’s a pity, really. Outside of all of this, there’s an interesting, enticing tragedy at play, with some truly potent moments, both sweet and sour. The reveals are paced out well and tend to be brutal. The core narrative is theoretically engaging without too many glaring issues in terms of logic or consistency. On the audiovisual side, the visuals by newcomer studio Ezόla can be incredibly imaginative, even if their background and CGI endeavors are sometimes distracting and needless. The disconcerting feel the directing and imagery go for is a sight to behold. The music is generally good at bolstering emotional scenes with their own melancholic and beautiful tunes. The ED theme -"SWEET HURT" by ReoNa- deserves special mention in that regard. If the show just showed more restraint and used its artistic flair to more consistently tell its story properly, I genuinely believe this would have been one of the better shows I’ve seen all year. Alas, the sweet that interested me was a tad too bitter.
KANLen09
This anime scared the shit out of me like how Mahou Shoujo Site was, but thankfully it didn't try to be as edgy AF, but im my opinion, Happy Sugar Life is at heart a psychological horror yet decent drama-based show that I'm actually quite contented (and secretly excited...?) to see what mysteries and miseries does this series put us through the overall setting. Happy Sugar Life follows its aforementioned manga adaptation (which is fully caught up at the time of this review), and shows us the "love" of a broken high school girl (Matsuzaka Satou) and her victim of a broken yet naive understanding, ShioKoube. The title of the show is very misleading (just like Asobi Asobase, only more darker and sinister), but it creates a good context for all of the characters who are broken and/or blind-sided in many ways:
Matsuzaka Satou, the pink-haired Yandere, voiced by the goddess Hana Kanazawa (and damn does she ever do a great job defining Satou's character). Spoilt out of love in her own family, which consists of her brain-washed of a wreck aunt, Satou has been mislead growing up, and asking about the concoction of love, to which her aunt shows her that love is everything of pleasure and desires, if she so wishes. And to that, her own experience of messing around and sleeping with boys serve as the catalyst of "Do I really want to keep this love?", and to that, her own heart is like a sweet, sweet jar, the happiness-filled jar that was once full is shattered into pieces, and in order to retain her love, she'll stop at nothing to make sure that she sees this towards the end.
The Koube family, of Shio and Asahi. Ah...the family conflict, someone gets drunk and accuses the significant other of upbringing the children in a bad way. Both characters have suffered under the demise of their wrecking ball of a father, so much so that the only link holding them both is their mum, to which her sanity could not be contained further, and Shio was kicked out of the house, abandoned by her mum. It was then and there that Satou found her and their Happy Sugar Life starts from there, maintaining the love jar and filling with sweet memories, while naïve that Satou didn't kidnap nor harm her in the process, and strives to protect Satou in her weakest. The brother however, is kinda of a bad brother, as both him and Shio part ways to help their mum survive, and now he's back to take her home, with the realism that Satou "kidnapped" her for her own pleasure. A hidden character always that doesn't stand out, he is left to fend for himself.
Satou's workmate and close friend, Taiyou Mitsuboshi the pedophile and Shouko Hida, the friend who promises of kept secrets and wants the best for everyone. For Taiyou himself, I don't really need to explain his character because it is what it is: his madly-deeply driven forbidden love for children that he's pretty much a psychopath and a lunatic at that, often taken advantage of in precarious situations. Shouko on the other hand, is pretty much a barebones character who often plays the best-close friend troupe, always concerning for others and helping them in need. If you haven't been paying close attention much, she is the ONLY sane character out of everyone, until her demise in Satou's vicious hands calls out her presence to save those still in the trap of trauma.
Don't think for a millisecond that you're watching this show just to shit trash on it, its characters will turn you upside down to the point of misconception and stunning acting.
Newcomer studio Ezo'la's art and animation really was off-putting to say the least, but for the balance between the real world and the various horror scenes that enclosed the vibes from the manga, it was a pretty good adaptation overall. For once, there were a lot of things going for it, such as the art degradation towards the comic feel (such as the static screens of horror) and the psychological aspect which plays a big part into making this series feel like reality that hits us in the face when we least expected it. The unique feel for the new studio just blew my mind at how the staff directorials punch in what is arguably the best part of the show: the unsteady visuals.
The music is also another area that best explicits the foreshadowing of the series to come. Many scenes with the horror vibes are actually used at the correct moments of storytelling in time, and not just for show. Just like Asobi Asobase (yet again, musically), the OST was a definite surprise for me as both the OP and ED nailed at whatever exposition the series storyline has going for it. Not to mention that the ED presents ReoNa's debut single, and its heart-warming tonality makes it the perfect ending IMO (and one of the best EDs of the season).
Happy Sugar Life, we knew ye, we kinda understand ye. Horror is very subjective, that pertains to your own tastes of how you see it. As for personal takeaway, the real world complications exemplify the need for all of us to have the sense of the "Happy Sugar Life" jar in our hearts, even when bogged down by trauma. It's the same with trying to understand someone's life and what they have went through that culminates the core hypocrisy of all men, and this series did that for me.
So unless you have an affinity of finding out what your Happy Sugar Life is, watch this show to find out (and it's a recommendation too), ONLY if you're a sane person. (And yes, I'm definitely still sane after this).
topnotbacon
Happy Sugar Life is one of the greatest psychological horror shows anime has to offer. Trauma, lack of mentorship, and the pursuit of love push the characters to perform direly, leading to a beautifully executed tragedy ripe with emotion; and plenty of violence. Plotwise, it's quite intentionally disconcerting, which one could consider "edgy," but, even as characters act in the most obviously morally corrupt manner, the tone comes across as more unsettling than anything. The ending is satisfactory-- Studio Ezόla doesn't hide the plot's tragic tendencies, especially with the opening scene. While true horror is a rarity in anime, more than enough happensto categorize this show as such.
This show is best watched blindly, and binged. I imagine it would have been quite frustrating trying to watch this week by week. There was a lot for me to digest watching this so the rest of the review may contain light spoilers. If you're desperate enough to look for horror in the anime department, it's unlikely you'll be disappointed.
As a horror, Happy Sugar Life delivers best in the psychological department. Each episode carries increasing suspense as characters are introduced and begin to interact with one another. Tensions build while the viewer awaits an inevitably violent outcome, served every few episodes. Some scenes also work very well as jump scares, intentional or not. The only gripe with this is, this anime being flagged with a "gore" tag and all, even the most violent scenes seem to lack a gory gut punch.
The plot is slow moving, and utilizes an abundance of flash backs to deliver key character exposition. Slow moving not in a running in place kind of way, or in a K-on fluffy slice of life kind of way, but in a steamroller or trash compactor kind of way. This is where an important mystery aspect of the show comes in to play. The objective of every scene, and one of this show's greatest strengths is that every scene has an objective, is to add a piece to the puzzle of the story for the viewers. Flashbacks, while plentiful, are intensely emotional and answer important "why" questions pertaining to the character's current situations. Some purposefully offer justification for characters' actions, while others purposefully do the opposite.
In general, all of the characters are, by design, flawed beyond repair and ultimately doomed to their tragic fate. There isn't much character growth, some character withering, but for the most part the focus is exposition; simply revealing more details to the viewer. Each character clearly affects others and adds to the attempted justification of Matsuzaka's actions. However a specific character comes to mind; the teacher; that felt like it wasn't used to its full potential. He becomes so vital to not just the plot and suspense of Matsuzaka's secret, but also plays the role of an an important anti-mentor to Matsuzaka herself, that it feels wasteful to suddenly drop him half way through the series, only to suddenly show one more scene of him in the ending as a cameo style "remember this guy?".
By "justification" I'm simply referring to answering the "why" portion of the character's actions, which pertains for the most part to Matsuzaka and the other main children in the story. Since there were very few characters in this series, any actions they take are impactful, both inside and outside the fourth wall.
Themes of love and mentorship, or perhaps more the misrepresentation or lack thereof, are also quite obvious and prominent.
What is love? ......... don't hurt me, no more.
Studio Ezόla weaponizes a fatally cute and somewhat simple art style, at least by today's standards, to accentuate the show's already disturbing tone. The animation is not particularly sophisticated; a lot of still frames and some shotty background CGI are used, but generally it doesn't hurt the viewing experience, especially since there aren't any action scenes. The musical score is quite good, and the opening and ending songs fit well. The creepiness of Matsuzaka is, in my opinion, the greatest part of this anime, the build up of her influences and circumstances to the final ending scene of episode 12 really carries the show's atmosphere. She's not crazy in a Gasai Yuno type of way, she's a monster of unfortunate circumstance and possibly some genetic mental illness.
The less-than-ideal rating, I believe, can understandably be mostly attributed to all of the messed up things that happen, and the intentionally terrible characters. Imaginably it would be difficult for most people to say that they enjoyed the experience of watching this show. The execution is great, so try to immerse yourself in the intent of the direction.
Generally it seems horror shows aren't exceptionally well directed, so to me this one stood out. It's not the gore fest of Another, or the moral desperation elicitation of Shiki, nor does it have the elaborate mystery of Higurashi. Emotionally distressing, uncomfortable, and suspenseful before wiping the floor with an eerie ending that might have come off as bittersweet in another anime.
seiros
This will be my first and last review on this godforsaken site. This review will contain spoilers (obviously) but it doesn't matter because you shouldn't fucking waste your time with this. I don't know how many drugs the directors or producers were on when they approved of this flaming piece of shit garbage but as soon as I finished Happy Sugar Life it just... spoke volumes. First, let's start with the story. If you don't know how I feel about it already, IT'S SHIT. They introduce us to a lovely view of an apartment complex on fire, panning to the main characters which consists ofa cute pink-haired girl, looks like she goes to high school or something, y' know, the typical. And a goddamn, I don't know how to explain this while dancing around it so I'll say it outright, A FUCKING TODDLER. Pink haired bitch spouts some bullshit over how she doesn't know what love is, who cares and then this 8-year-old girl she was holding pushes her off the burning building and end of the epilogue. Transition and you're thrown into presumably the past before someone commits arson and you're holding a child. This highschooler, Satou, being asked out by some background character. Obviously, she rejects him cause she's better than anyone else, obviously, she's the main character how could she ever be near those peasants. She’s called down by a friend and or coworker (you don’t know by that point) and she heads to work with her. Same bullshit about love comes up again, this friend asks why she rejects everyone they come in contact with and she responds with “because she already have a ‘love’ at home” which in your mind you’re just like “Oh man! Hope it isn’t that toddler she was holding earlier haha! (spoilers: it is)”. Dumb work montage. Whatever. She heads home and she is just tackled by this child. At first, you gather context clues. Earlier she stated that she was living with her aunt, maybe she’s her little cousin? Which rules out completely because uh hello where’s the aunt??? Maybe, This is a very tragic story where something bad happened and that’s her child? No, couldn’t be because she would have probably mentioned it by now, right? Before you think “Oh little sister!”, This show doesn’t waste any time in showing them kiss. Now you know what this is. Something that will definitely get you in jail. A. Goddamn. Eight. Year. Old. Kissing. A. Highschooler. They’re not related in any way. I tried denying it since I saw them kiss. It only got worse from there. What makes it worse is that they kissed. While reciting wedding vows. What the fuck. Anyway. The rest of the episode is her being treated badly by this boss of hers because she wants to work for this kid, she snaps whatever, get this guy she was working with out of this boss’s closet because she was definitely doing illegal stuff to him and apparently scares her enough to fuck off and give her money. I don’t remember very well going on top of my head so I’ll just talk about what else I remember. This goes on for like 2 episodes. She goes home. Commits an actual crime by being in love with a fucking child. Goes to school. She finds out her teacher obsessed with her. Somehow scares him enough for him to do her bidding because she’s so intimidating and she’s doing this for her child lover. Shit like that. The usual. Find out she murdered someone or just multiple people? Like it was supposed to phase the viewer. Wow! I’m sorry I’m just gonna break character and say what the fuck why do people like this anime. Why is it rated to highly. It’s so fucking bad. What the fuck. So predictable in every way. And very fucking disgusting lol. Anyway. I’ve only grown tired writing this out. The same coworker Satou saved turns out to be a fucking pedo as well and Is in love with this toddler too because she helped him get out of this traumatizing state he was in since he was basically assaulted by his boss. He only found out about her because Shio, the toddler, has an older brother who is looking for her. For some reason, he just didn’t go to the police to report her missing because fuck adults I guess. The “fuck adults” mindset is a big thing in this story, by the way. It’s almost like the author was projecting so hard that he wanted to kidnap and diddle kids so bad that he just hated adults since they were, I don’t know, adults. Uh, the coworker Satou has was actually her best friend? The friend she’s been with for a long time who she tells everything to but suddenly stopped when she “got a boyfriend” aka kidnap a child. Her name is Shouko. She’s actually one of the normal characters of this story. She gets worried, tries to talk to Satou, Satou says fuck you and basically walks away. They show that Shio and her brother Asahi were actually abused by their father. Shio and her mother run away while they left Asahi behind. The mother only came back to actually kill the father so Asahi could come back to her and Shio. But when Asahi does come by, His mother informs him that she, filled with grief, left Shio in an alley because she was a bad mom. Yeah. That’s the situation put bluntly. All you need to know after that is Satou killed a guy for a spare apartment, made her teacher burn the body parts, Satou’s aunt is weird. She didn’t abuse Satou at all. She was just very… weird. She had a kink of just getting beaten, I guess. Satou just turned out like that because she was just so obsessed with love and she found love by kidnapping a little girl. Normal stuff! By the end, Shouko finds out about Satou hiding this missing girl since she was helping out Asahi. Asahi and Shouko had a forced romance cause why not ya know. Satou has one of her breakdowns and basically kills Shouko. Then she “marries” Shio. At first, Shio started remembering how she got there and actually yelled at Satou for using her for her sick fantasies but then she suddenly reverses that character development and she wants to be with Satou for all eternity. Dictionary would call that Stockholm Syndrome but why should I say anything. Satou confesses that she killed someone to Shio and Shio is just okay with it? I already stated that this author is using this as an outlet to just say “HEY! I WANT TO FUCK KIDS!” but clearly he or she doesn’t know how kids act in general. They should, I dunno, seek medical help. I am so tired of this shit. Continuing, Satou tells her aunt she also killed someone and the aunt is very supportive and helps Satou out. In the montage, (yes there’s one of those here for whatever reason) and this is just a personal pet peeve, Satou is clearly shown to be disgusted by her Aunt when it was completely unjustified when she is literally helping her get out of where they live and run off with this kidnapped child? At least be more appreciative, cunt. I really hate Satou Matsuzaka. Back to the story, Asahi finds out where Shio is because his lover who he doesn’t know was killed took a picture of Shio and Satou just hugging outside and sent it to him. Which is why she was killed. Uh, Satou and Shio try to get out, Asahi is there, They run back to the elevator. Satou’s aunt starts committing arson for her niece and burns up the whole row where Satou and Shio were living. That’s right, ARSON. But you probably aren’t surprised, this shit is already fucked. Shio and Satou head to the top of the apartment complex, But Asahi followed them so, fuck you. They argue, Asahi holds back since Satou makes him think He’s hurting his little sister. Shio herself just tells him to fuck off. He gets sad, tries to get her again by convincing her that her mom and he loves her and she needs her family more than anything. She considers it, but Satou books it with her. Asahi is left with just a damaged lung since he was in smoke the whole time, the fire is getting on top. Satou and Shio decide to kill themselves, while falling, Satou says “ill see you in the afterlife” and uses herself as a pillow to save Shio. Honestly. I wanted the ending to be like "My mother abandoned me so I'LL ABANDON YOU TOO (PUSH)" from Shio finally realizing what this is. and I really wanted it to happen. But what Satou did worked, I guess, kinda. It shows the news covering what happened. Satou and Shouko were found dead. Satou’s aunt was arrested for arson. Satou’s teacher was arrested. Her coworker that was left traumatized was, left traumatized again. Asahi was shown carrying flowers to the hospital, Shio in the hospital bed, She tells him to fuck off and that she doesn’t want love cause she has already experienced it while she holds Satou’s ring and bow.
The end! Wonderful ending huh? This was so pathetic. What I’m trying to say is, don’t watch this. It isn’t good. It shouldn’t be compared to other psychological horror anime. Wasn’t even scary. This was a 12-year-old from Deviantart wet dream who’s into shipping creepypasta characters. Plus a little pedophile sprinkled in. The story was horrendous. Characters average. Sound average. Although, I liked the opening. The only good thing about this is the opening. The art of the opening is very good. That’s the only positive thing I can say about this. Don’t watch this. Please. I beg of you. Whoever enjoyed this, seek help.
