Now the day has come. Will Satou and Shio be able to escape?
From the looks of it, it seems that Satou messed up on her planning somehow. While dressing Shouko’s dead corpse, Satou took her ring off and forgot about it until she was about to buy bus tickets. One can argue that Satou can simply buy another set of rings. Since the ring is the sign of eternal love, Satou would feel incomplete without it. A replacement wouldn’t fix that. Still, I feel that this is a sign of Satou’s tragic downfall. Despite this, while preparing Shouko’s dead corpse, Satou shows signs of remorse for murdering her best friend.
Of course, Satou’s aunt is crazy and decides to try to burn down the whole apartment complex. With Asahi threatening violence on Satou and trying to snatch Shio away, things don’t look good. While he manages to injure Satou, Shio is unwilling to come with him. This is not surprising given what her mom did to her, causing the PTSD.
Asahi eventually explains that their mother abandoned Shio because she was about to kill her abusive husband. Still, this doesn’t make it right. Sure, her mother might want to shield Shio from losing custody of her if the police catch her doing the crime. Still, given how Asahi acting like their abusive father, I can’t blame Shio.
The last scene is definitely bittersweet. Sure, Shio is willing to sacrifice her life with Satou. The funny thing is that while Satou took the fall, she hopes that Shio will still love her when she reborn. Believe it or not, Shio survives after Satou sacrifices herself.
While it seems as if Asahi got what he wanted as he visits the hospital, he is in for a sad realization. Shio is shown in a hospital bed. When Asahi comes up to her, Shio said the she doesn’t need Asahi or her mother anymore since she has been reborn. Now, her love and happiness only exist inside her. In other words, a part of Satou is now inside Shio. This can explain why Satou kept Shio alive. In other words, Shio has essentially disowned her older brother and mother. Either way, it seems that Asahi’s and his mother’s dreams of living together with Shio will never become a reality.
That said, there is some good news. The police arrested Satou’s aunt for causing the arson and possibly murder. Of course, Satou’s homeroom teacher receive the justice he deserves as the police pound on his door. Unfortunately, Taiyou is still a pedophile and still mentally broken.
Final Impressions
Happy Sugar Lifeis definitely one of the darkest romance stories that has a tragic ending. The characters in one way or another are messed up. Some examples are Satou’s homeroom teacher, Satou’s aunt and of course Taiyou. While Satou is not normal and she actually murders people for the sake of protecting her love for Shio. As you would expect, this means killing her best friend to protect her “Happy Sugar Life.”
That said, there are a good number of disturbing moments, especially with Taiyou’s obsession for Shio to Asahi’s father abusing his son, Asahi. While there are some truly messed up and gruesome moments, there are some fluffy moments too, especially with Satou and Shio. Either way, Happy Sugar Life was interesting to watch, but it definitely won’t be for everyone for obvious reasons.
A enjoyably dark show this was. I enjoyed it as much as Magical Girl Site myself.
Satou and Shio’s romance was adorable yet twisted but compared to everyone else the two were the most sane.
I was saddened that only Shio survived and she’ll most likely become the next Satou once she finds “her reincarnation” or until they reunite in the next life.
Best side-character was Auntie. Side-character I felt the most sorry for was Suu.
And maybe Shouko as well, but then again, worrying too much about Satou got herself into trouble.
Yes, Satou’s aunt is a fun character, although she is insane in her own right, especially when she burned down the whole apartment complex and taking credit for it. But yes, Sumire deserves better.