Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Happy Sugar Life
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Shiflan
 Posts: 418 |
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Regarding Satou's aunt, I think there was a bit of change of character for her too. Until episode 11 she seemed to me like she was simply a masochist who was happy to have a variety of men have their way with her, but there was no reason for us viewers to characterize her beyond that. Her raping Mitsuboshi seemed a bit inconsistent with how she was portrayed earlier in the show since it featured her suddenly jumping from a submissive masochist to becoming a dominant sadist. Regardless, I think that's a fairly minor gripe. And I'm curious if the manga did a better or perhaps different job of characterizing her. The detail we discussed above where Asahi didn't actually hit Mitsuboshi with the bat in the manga is an important omission from the anime and I can't help but wonder if there might have been similar details involving the aunt that were omitted too?
I agree, that seemed out of character to me too. I don't think there was any logical reason for Satou to do that, it seems to me like it was nothing more than a plot setup to get Satou to return to the apartment. At the very least they could have added a little more detail to justify it. For example, Satou could have started cleaning up Shoko's body, accidentally gotten the ring dirty, and then took it off because she couldn't bear her precious ring getting dirty. |
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jenthehen
 Posts: 835 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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I thought it was pretty obvious that Satou didn't want to get the ring dirty / defiled (whether that was literally or psychologically) while dressing up Shoko's dead body. There are a lot of people who obsessively take off their wedding/engagement rings to do anything (washing dishes, hands, showering, gardening, cleaning, etc) whereas others NEVER take them off no matter what, so it didn't seem surprising to me.
I think it made sense for Shio to suggest they commit suicide together - it really showed her taking agency of the situation (as had been established before). I'm also pretty sure it's a VERY common trope for lovers to commit suicide together in Japan (suicide pact or whatever), so the idea wouldn't have come out of nowhere or been particularly morbid for a kid to come up with. |
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Shiflan
Posts: 418 |
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I agree that that is the only logical conclusion too, but I think it wouldn't have hurt things to make it a little more clear. Everybody I know falls in to the latter category of never taking their wedding ring off no matter what, so it was a bit odd to me to see the former. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen or heard about anyone taking their wedding ring off for any purpose other than if their spouse died, a medical emergency involving that finger, or the old movie cliche of trying to cheat on their spouse and wanting to hide the fact that they were married.
Agreed, especially about the "lover's suicide" trope. And let's not forget that Shio is also quite young. It's entirely possible that she was given to overreacting as children are often wont to do. |
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Heishi
 Posts: 1317 |
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Wished Sato was a little more "serial killer" throughout this series and Shio, so terrified of her, having to get away from her, only to realize she can't hide from her and will always get to her. A sort of Michal Myers esque type of horror.
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louis6578
 Posts: 1861 |
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Interesting desire you have, but I think it would work better for a different story. I personally loved the direction of this romance. Damaged, yet sincere. Satou was an obsessive person, yet her love was genuine and unconditional. This wasn't a typical yandere who would would just as easily kill her lover if they were against the relationship. Satou actually cared for Shio. I think that a really messed up thing about the show that goes overlooked is that Satou was kind of the best person in the series for Shio to stay with. If Asahi got her, her living condition would be far poorer, and her damaged mother would strike her for every little thing. Who knows what Taiyou would do? In the end, it's a shame Satou was as unhinged as she was. I think the moment that she truly crossed the line and dug her own grave was in killing Shoko. I'm really mad that this show went under the radar. It's everything I could want out of a Yandere story. Genuine loved, but coming from a person too damaged to know how to convey it. Heartwarming, but tragically unhealthy in the end. Am I the only one who saw this as a sort of deconstruction of Waifu culture? The way everyone wanted Shio as their own personal angel felt like it hit too close to home. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18185 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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This thought hadn't occurred to me, but it's an interesting angle to look at the series from. I also do agree about the irony that Satou may have been the healthiest person for Shio to be with and that she is a bit mold-breaking as yandere types go. |
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rizuchan
 Posts: 974 Location: Kansas |
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Oh I think the author definitely had something to say in that regard. Although I didn't see it as Waifu culture, but more about how loli characters are written and treated as sort of an idealization of what little girls are, or even just a message about putting the object of your affection on a pedestal. But idol culture could certainly fit in there too since it has a lot of similar problems. That said, from just watching the anime, I wasn't really convinced that Satou really loved Shio as a person yet either. To me it felt like she hadn't really had time to change and she kind of got off easy. I would have liked to see a little more of her and Shio's dynamic after Shio's 'tantrum' but before uh... everything literally burned to the ground. But I understand that this is where the anime had to end, so I imagine the manga is heading in that direction. |
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Shiflan
Posts: 418 |
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I didn't see that angle at first, but now that you mention it I can see where you're coming from. That is an interesting point. This show is hardly the first to involve a female character who is the target of other's affections remarking that she isn't just a "dress up doll", but it is remarkably clear about that point.
I agree with the first part. I'm not so sure that Idol culture specifically matches here though. Yes, idol culture has toxic fans obsessing over their favorite, but the big difference in my mind is that an Idol deliberately chooses the spotlight, whereas there was none of that with Shio. I'm not claiming that Idols desire or invite the bad behavior of certain fans, but it comes with the territory. Get up on stage and that attracts "fans" from all parts of the spectrum, including the toxic elements. That angle is absent in HSL. |
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louis6578
Posts: 1861 |
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I think it's a huge shame that a lot of people are writing this off a just another garbage, edgy show like Future Diary, Akame Ga Kill, Big Order, or King's Game. This show was pretty damn special. I personally think it should be a must-watch for anyone who can handle this sort of subject matter. You could write an essay about every character and what they say about each other and the world at large, though I think the key theme is that abuse is a cycle and victims of it will seek to victimize others, whether they realize it or not.
The more I think about it, the more I realize how Satou was strangely right in her treatment of Shio. We learn later that she wasn't just lost. She was abandoned by her own mother. In other words, she was fair game for anyone to take care of. No one was looking for her (except for an underage brother in no shape to take care of her). She was well-fed, happy, and given unconditional love from Satou (romantic or platonic, it certainly wasn't a destructive sort of love). Leaving a child locked in the house? That's kind of standard when you consider the situation. I'm not gonna justify everything Satou did, but I will say this. She wasn't nearly as wrong as the show likes to think. It turned out she murdered a man, but that man tried to kill Shio first. Every bad thing she did was somewhat justified up until she started trying to kill Asahi and successfully killed Shoko. Bottom line, she was never, ever a threat to Shio. I think that says something important about the benefits of having her raise Shio. In a world where Asahi wasn't around and Shio's biological family entirely gave up on raising her, I don't think Satou would have locked Shio up. They could have had their "Happy Sugar Life" and I only wish I could have seen it. I think this is my favorite anime of the year so far despite its flaws (it gets a little too edgy for its own sake, minor antagonists are basically caricatures, and I feel like Taiyou and the pedophile teacher could have been removed entirely and the show might be more enjoyable for it). I give it at least an 8.5/10, but if I were pressed, I might swap it up to a 9. It has everything I could ask for from a story with a Yandere protagonist, including an understanding of why the character would act this way. No idea why that was so hard, Japan. |
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louis6578
Posts: 1861 |
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[quote="rizuchan"]
I completely agree there. In general, there just wasn't enough Satou and Shio together in the whole of the anime. I kinda wish it were longer or cut out all the unnecessary characters (was the pedophile teacher REALLY necessary?) to focus more on Satou and Shio together. Not to mention that Shio's reaction to Satou admitting murder was... a little too rushed. I guess you could say it didn't hit her because she's just a child, but still. |
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Shiflan
Posts: 418 |
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I agree with the fact that a lot of the minor characters are overly simple caricatures or tropes. But instead of getting rid of them, I think it would have been better if a bit more time could have been devoted to them. Elevate those characters to the level of Satou, Asahi, etc, rather than getting rid of them altogether. In your earlier post you mentioned:
...wouldn't it have been amazing if that same thing could have been said about the teacher or Mitsuboshi?
Maybe it's just me, but I got the impression that Shio knew what had happened. After all, she was witness to the bloody clothes in the washing machine. To me it was more like Shio was wondering whether or not Satou was going to try and lie about what happened or if she was going to be honest about it. When Satou told the truth then that was that. |
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louis6578
Posts: 1861 |
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I'm glad that I'm not the only one who got that impression. You can see her covering her ears during the whole thing like she knew what was coming and wanted to ignore it.
On that note, am I the only one who was hoping that Satou and Shio would get away, but it would still have a bittersweet ending? Here's an idea that always fascinated me about people who love lolis for the fact that they made perfect, adorable little sisters who love and idolize their big sister or brother. If you had that sort of ideal child in real life, even if she was as perfect as you wanted... she would eventually grow up and change. I was kinda hoping that it might go the "bitter reality" route and have Shio grow distant from Satou with time. I dunno. I guess this ending was more true to the tragedy genre, but I like my route better. You could squeeze another 10 episodes worth of narrative out of that story too. Also, how the hell did the pedo teacher get exposed at the end. I understand that loose ends are best resolved in stories, but this was one that felt shoehorned in (much like everything about the character). Satou died and Shio survived, the aunt was arrested for arson and Taiyou was further victimized. Asahi's relationship with his sister is ruined and Shio is implied to have basically become Satou through her influence. Okay, so at what point does any of these events expose the teacher? Not that it matters. He was such a Future Diary villain in terms of depth and audience investment. Edit: I looked at the manga and it goes into more detail on the Taiyou and Auntie... thing. It's pretty clear from the manga's POV that she walks up from behind as he's trying to open her door and shouting "Where's Shio-chan," so she knew what he was up to. Now... whether she thought that he was a genuine obstacle to Satou and this was her way of dealing with him or she thought he was Satou's friend and this was her way of... comforting him in her messed up way is still up for debate. I can only imagine, this being a 12 episode series, that the manga goes into more detail about a lot of things. |
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