➤ story
➤ characters
➤ art
➤ extra
➤ my rating

please keep in mind that the final rating might be solely based on my personal enjoyment!! the review itself is just me discussing all the factors mentioned above.

warning: please be aware that this is not a spoiler-free review

previously titled "people don't get used to anything as fast as they get used to comfort"

╰┈➤ story

one room of happiness (aka "sachiiro"), tells the story of an emotionless, bullied girl, who is at first referred to as "XXX" or "▬▬▬". one day, a man named Haru abducts her. to his surprise, the girl is more than happy to live with him, as for her it is a chance to escape her current life. abandoning her previous name, Sachi decides to live with Haru until her death. but society would never accept that, of course... and so, the two hide and run away from everything; starting from the law, finishing with Sachi's family. as the story goes on, Sachi experiences new things and emotions and develops as a character.

as you can guess, making a stockholm syndrome kind of story can make some things complicated or controversial. one of the bad things about this manga is that at first, it sort of comes off as a love story. to clarify, it is not!! it's something that happens because Sachi does not see any reason for her to be kidnapped other than romantic love and misunderstands the situation, which shows just how little she knows about the world. that's what i think, at least - but interpret it as you will. while i personally do not agree, one of my anilist mutuals has voiced another issue when it comes to this manga, saying that how little Sachi experienced in life is unrealistic at times - for e.g she never cracked an egg before. but that's up for discussion, too... when it comes to both of those points, it is important to keep in mind that sachi is only 14 years old. sachiiro is my favorite piece of fiction ever, therefore i might be a bit biased, so decide for yourself.

one part that confuses me about the story is how quickly Sachi accepts that Haru is gone after he sacrifices himself for her. She's never shown crying over him, tho maybe that's a part of her being emotionally mature?? i just wish a bit more of her grief was shown.

i also wanted to add that those little secrets the series has really make it much more entertaining!! Haru's name, Haru's past, Matsubase's past, etc... learning all of this really made it fun. i think we can agree that the coolest fucking thing was Haru taking his mask off. technically it wasn't much, but it was a big part of his character and i love how the author didn't make him take it off all the way until the end. it has some really cool symbolism...

Spoiler, click to view

another favorite scene of mine is when Haru saves Sachi from Shin Katagiri, and the scene where Sachi's mom manipulates the truth to make it look like they both got attacked. chills, literal chills!! this manga never fails to create an amazing feeling of suspense.

the last few chapters of the manga were very touching ~~to the point i started crying. like it wasn't just a few tears, i was in full ugly sobbing mode,,~~ and done really well, showing how even though Sachi moved on, she will never forget what Haru did for her. their bond feels more genuine than anything and undoubtedly transcends death.

╰┈➤ characters

there's a lot to say about the characters, especially Sachi, as she is clearly the focal point of the story ~~feel free to skip this section, i wrote way too much lmao~~. She starts off as someone who does not care about what happens to her and is overly optimistic towards Haru in a clearly unnatural manner. Sachi slowly starts feeling more emotions overtime once kidnapped, but still has some suicidal tendencies (trying to kill herself because she was feeling "too good") and tends to risk her safety, as she doesn't think highly of it (meeting up with Shin Katagiri). During that phase, Sachi talks about getting married to Haru / committing double suicide, and believes Haru kidnapped her out of love. As i said in the "story" segment, that is because she does not see any other reason for being kidnapped other than romantic love.

around chapter 25 Sachi starts actually caring about what happens to her, slowly gaining a sense of being human. after hearing Haru's backstory, her relationship with her kidnapper becomes much more genuine, as both of them stop being overly friendly. Haru gets slightly colder towards her, but Sachi still isn't being 100% herself, as she admits in chapter 27. Sachi's will to live is much stronger now, and she wishes to spend the rest of her life with Haru - for the first time ever, she actually wants something from life. it also becomes a matter of fact that she wasn't kidnapped out of love. even so, she knows she's someone special to Haru and openly confronts him about it in chapter 24. from now on they don't pretend that their relationship is romantic. as more time passes, Sachi embraces more and more emotions and meets Matsubase and Yashiro, which is a crucial event for her development as a person. they have taught her what is trust, friendship, and gave her a feeling of safety around people other than her kidnapper. it's beautiful to see her develop like this - since Sachi's past is so tragic, it is quite hard to not care about her.

while other characters are not as developed, they're great, too. for Sachi, Haru is a symbol of hope, and he really gets you thinking about how quickly can you change something or someone's life completely. Matsubase and Yashiro are a super cute ~~gay~~ duo and as i already stated, Sachi wouldn't develop emotionally the way she did if not thanks to them. it's really hard to not like all these characters, seriously. my personal favorite is matsubase, as you can see by just quickly looking at my anilist profile and favorites. i also like how Sachi's real name was never revealed, showing that her past is irrelevant in her future.

╰┈➤ art

while it doesn't seem to be anything special, sachiiro's artstyle is stunning most of the time. for the first few chapters it's not that great, but it gets much better over time. there is this one inner volume cover art that had the most fucked up perspective i've ever seen (pic below on the left / first pic), but that's the only instance when something went wrong. on the other hand, Hakuri's art reaches its peak on volume 10 cover, which is my favorite manga cover art of all time together with the spinoff's 4th volume. it's absolutely gorgeous... the coloring, the color palette, the way eyes are drawn... i could go on and on, seriously, but i think you can see my point by looking at the art below (middle + right / 2 + 3).

sadly, i don't feel the same way about the cover of the last volume (11) - that cover art is one of my least favorite ones, i'd say. but since cover arts are generally colorful n pretty, i'll include some gorgeous panel examples, too:

╰┈➤ extra

it's hard to find something that draws you in as much as sachiiro - i think only S2 of link click has given me a similar sense of suspense. link click has some interesting backstories and mysteries to be solved as well, and i can't wait for S3 to release.

╰┈➤ my rating

i cannot express just how much i'd do for this to become an anime. new anime might start airing and new mangas might be released, but whatever happens, sachiiro will forever be my no. 1. being a clearly biased mf i am, it's a 10/10 for me. i will never love anything else the same way i love sachiiro.