WARNING: I will discuss spoilers in this review. If you want to have a wild ride, then click off of here and get to Happy Sugar Life already!
Before I get into the actual review here, I'd like to add that I first watched Happy Sugar Life in early 2022. Or well, tried to. I got through a grand total of two episodes before I was so disgusted that I dropped it right then and there. I HATED this series.
Out of curiosity though, towards the end of the year, I gave it another shot, and while I still wasn't really an HSL supremacist, I saw some glimmers in this series.
I recently had a growing interest in revisiting this anime, and I rewatched it not too long ago. Ladies and gentlemen, here is my review for Happy Sugar Life!
CHARACTERS
Happy Sugar Life presents us with a very interesting cast of characters. You of course have the main girl, Satou Matsuzaka, who very early on obviously is far from your normal cute pink-hair girl. She keeps an 8-year-old girl who is half her age, Shio Koube, hidden in her home at all times. You see, to Satou, Shio is her one and only love, and she will go to extreme measures to preserve their relationship, or their "happy sugar life", even if it means committing murder. I find Satou's perception of "love" to be flawed, but it's no surprise it turned out this way, as her aunt who raised her throughout her childhood ALSO has a very twisted ideal when it comes to the meaning of love. Satou's aunt is basically the reason that Satou is the girl we know and... love? Hate? God, I don't know. Asahi Koube is Shio's brother, who has been searching for his sister so the two of them could reunite with their mother (I'll discuss their family later on). His dedication towards finding Shio is commendable, and I found myself rooting for him throughout the series. Shouko Hida is Satou's best friend and co-worker, who meets Asahi later in the series and the two grow a bond as she helps him in his efforts to track down his sister. Shouko is one of the few "normal" people in this entire anime, and I liked how some of her reactions in the series gave off vibes I'd normally expect in a funny slice of life anime, compared to the other characters behaviors at least. I'm unsure if this was an intentional detail or not, but I caught it nonetheless. Taiyou Mitsuboshi was one of Satou's other co-workers, but he would quit his job after the manager there raped him because he confessed to Satou after just days. He developed a traumatic response to older women from that point on, leading him to becoming obsessed with Shio, seeing her face on the missing posters Asahi plastered all around the city. He's another one of the characters I felt bad for, because he even showed signs of wanting to get over this, and face his fears, but thanks to Satou, that doesn't go anywhere.
Overall, I find all the characters to be well written. They're VERY flawed, have a lot of problems, and Satou herself is a terrible person, but that doesn't mean she and the others aren't good as characters. I've seen criticism that the show tries to make Satou out to be a good person because the others are worse and whatnot, but this series revolves around Satou. We hear more of her inner monologues than anyone else. It's her stage, and she has warped ideas about her actions, so it's not surprising that when she gets into conflict, it's all about how SHE feels and how it's affecting HER.
ANIMATION
The animation quality, especially in the important and defining scenes of Happy Sugar Life, is excellent. The color schemes that the studio goes for to match certain moments like Shouko's death, and how the flashbacks were handled, it was all great. Visually, it's pleasing to watch, and nothing appears too dull.
STORY
At the basic level, the story for Happy Sugar Life is really intriguing. A girl whose doing something really wrong but would do whatever is necessary to protect her and her "lover's" happiness? Sign me up! Even through a rewatch, some moments had me at the edge of my seat anticipating what was to happen next. The pacing is very good, nothing drags too long, and nothing really feels lacking, either. Some of my complaints, however, lie within the final episode. Yes, it's a horror anime, and yes, a happy ending is a bit cliche, but was this really the best ending we got? Additionally, some of the decisions made after coming back to get the wedding ring that Satou forgot were pretty dumb. Plot convenience and plot advancements were no stranger to this series, and while it's not a dealbreaker to me, I can see other people drawing the line at that. I also don't understand the scene with the policemen and Satou's aunt. When she began making advances on the officer, why didn't his partner do anything? No tackling, no threatening, no pulling out a gun, nothing. She just stood there while she was making her advances. It was jarring considering these are literal police officers we're talking about. I have other less significant complaints, but I don't want this to be a whiny rant, so I'll save that for another time. Seeing the backstory for the Koube family, with Shio and Asahi's dad being an abusive piece of shit and their mom having to tolerate it for such a long time made me feel a lot more for the siblings and all that they went through. Another moment that hit different was Shouko's death. It was easily one of the most dramatic breath holding moments of the series for me, seeing Shouko trying to mend things with Satou, only for her to be killed because her actions threatened Shio and Satou being separated from each other, should their secret become known to the wrong people.
SOUNDTRACK
They went unnecessarily hard on the soundtrack for this anime. I love how the opening starts off really cute, but as soon as those specific notes first hit, you know EXACTLY which ones I'm referring to if you've heard the OP, as soon as those kick in, you know this isn't your average tea drinking slice of life comedy. Oh no, you're in for a whole other world, buddy. The background soundtrack is just as good as the OP and ED too and can really set the mood! Great score!
ENJOYMENT
A year ago I'd call myself crazy for saying this, but I really enjoyed Happy Sugar Life. It has its flaws and less than favorable moments, unfortunately, but aside from that, you have a variety of characters with a swath of issues ranging from Stockholm Syndrome, to maybe narcissism, schizophrenia even? It would take ages to list it all. The story is very interesting, the visuals are great, and even though there are some bizarre moments that had me scratching my head, I still very much enjoyed Happy Sugar Life. If you're into horror, I recommend it.
