Happy Sugar Life

Episode 3

NOTE: Due to my involvement in a major convention, there is a strong possibility that next week's episode will not receive a separate review. If that happens then episodes 4 and 5 will be reviewed together in two weeks.

For a while there, I actually thought Mitsuboshi might turn out to be something other than a predatory pedophile in the making. Up to a certain point, it looked like he might be so thoroughly traumatized that, like Satou, he was seeing Shio as his salvation and a purifying influence. But nope, he decisively crossed back over that line with the comments about wanting Shio to touch him more and then deciding that it would be better for him to touch her instead—back at his home. Given his ecstatic slobbering and the screwed-up nature of this show, that can't be reasonably interpreted any other way. His whole encounter with Shio was just about sorting out the logic in his head to justify what he probably had an inclination to do anyway, which was exceptionally creepy. The only uncertainty is whether he was always headed down that road or if things were accelerated by his rejection of adult sexuality from the incident with his former manager. Aspects of the show like him expressing interest in Satou point to the latter angle, but that strikes me as too simple a progression. I'd respect the series less if the manager incident proved to be a transformative experience rather than a trigger.

Many other details come out in this episode too. Shio actually leaving the apartment disproves the ghost theory and fills in the picture of her past much more clearly. Scattered scenes confirm that she also came from an abusive household, one where the father was a real monster and her mother fled the house with her at some point while her brother Asahi stayed behind to contend with their father. Then something happened to Shio's mother between that point and when Satou met her, something bad enough that Shio is blanking out both the incident and her mother's face. Asahi is also damaged enough by this to be scribbling out people's faces, and this all at least implies that the “marriage” thing between him and Shio might have been some kind of role-play defense against their father. But we'll see where that goes. Satou's progression in this episode was just as interesting but not as convincing. She stops short of harming Asahi, which means we still don't know whether or not she's actually perpetrated any violence, but she seemed a little too pleased about realizing that she was capable of jealousy.

Overall, this episode firmly reinforces the show's theme that the world is a nasty place full of ugly, twisted, broken people, so it's best to grab any bit of sweetness you can find. Sadly, I can't label these twists as too over-the-top at this point, since a lot of what's happened unfortunately doesn't stray far from reality; pricks like the two thugs in the park who enjoy hurting people are out there, violently abusive family situations are out there, sexual dysfunction and trauma are out there, and situations where teens strike out on their own to get out of hellish situations are out there too. Now I'm actually starting to wonder if this premise is really as sensationalistic as it seemed at first or if the show is pursuing some degree of more measured social commentary. Whichever the case, the show's production is doing a fine enough job of promoting the disconcerting tone (and Natsuki Hanae – the voice of Mistuboshi – really goes all-out on his performance), allowing the series to go in any number of directions in the future.

Rating: B

Happy Sugar Life is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.