Bite Size Review: "Happy Sugar Life"

This short review is the second half of the original transcript for the Master Presentations episode already mentioned in this article.

   Year: 2018  
   Original author (manga): Tomiyaki Kagisora

   Directed by: Keizō Kusakawa and Nobuyoshi Nagayama

   Animation by: Studio Ezo'la

"Happy Sugar Life" is what happens when somebody takes the premise of an especially disgusting, borderline illegal hentai pornography (without the actual sex), deconstructs it and repackages it as a straight-up horrific, intentionally disturbing, unapologetically gut-churning, psychological horror.

It's one of those uniquely self-aware anime that uses the well-established Moe conventions (aesthetic or otherwise) of any given fan-service driven, mainstream production as a way to ferociously lampoon said conventions in nihilistic fervor. I am a fan of how this show handled the juxtaposition between the sugary niceness and the overwhelmingly dark tone in conjunction with the main character's own swinging state of mind. It's capable of subtlety when the mood and narrative called for it but, otherwise, the anime just loves interspersing the two contrasting aesthetics as much as it humanly can - lest one might forget that the "central romance" and "other such things" are decisively not okay.

The horror of the human mind runs wild and amok all over the colourful visuals. Sometimes, the juxtaposition literally occurs in the spam of one single frame, which is both impressive and bewildering.

On a side note, you're not going to hear a single peep about the story. Unlike other anime that purposely tried to be creepy but ended up being hysterically misguided ("Magical Girl Site" comes to mind as a primary target for relentless mockery), this one is legitimately compelling and even talking openly about the premise itself might spoil some of that experience. Yes, like I said, it's one of those shows. You know the type.

It is not hard to figure out what the anime's only, logical, inevitable conclusion will be but getting there is a perilous journey filled with shocking twists and turns. It's safe to say that this show will wreck your evening, your whole life and your day.


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