User blog:AustinDR/Happy Sugar Life: Episode 3 (Review)

So episode 3 of Happy Sugar Life was interesting. In this episode, we get a follow up of Satou raising the crowbar over Asahi in order to bludgeon him with it, but she ends up stopping herself from doing the deed. Here, we learn more about Asahi where Asahi is the older brother of Shio having been separated from her when she and their mother left the household of an abusive father who is represented as a shadowy figure with a piercing blood, red eye. So, this actually gives some idea on Shio's reasons for not mentioning her family. In one of her breakdowns, she saw someone about to punch her, so I theorize that she was hit in the head hardly and this resulted in her losing her memory of her home life. Except it wasn't something overall permanent because she still remembered the wedding vows but not from who she learned it from.

During the episode, Shio escapes from the apartment after Satou wasn't returning any sooner. Along the way, she ends up meeting Mitsuboshi and I was like, oh gawd, no, this cannot end well. So we find out that he became obsessed with her because after his traumatic experience with his former manager, he believes that only she could cleanse his soul. I wouldn't really applaud violence here, but I am really happy that those thugs from episode 2 were back in this episode who give Mitsuboshi a sound punch in the face because I was gravelly afraid to know about what Mitsuboshi intended for Shio if he took her home. So the episode ends with Satou developing a new feeling in jealousy and trying to find Shio before she could have a run in with Asahi whom she refers to by the dehumanizing word "thing."

Overall, it was an okay episode. There were some moments where it seemed to switch the tone drastically such as trying to make a few light jokes despite the disturbing content of the show such as playing Mitsuboshi for a few laughs despite him obviously being screwed up in the head. Really, this episode is the make it or break it deal for some potential watchers of the anime. I can't say that I like any of teh characters in the anime. While Satou is the only one who seems to be able to take good care of Shio, keep in mind that she still kidnapped her to begin with; committed murder and attempted murder; blackmailing and manipulation, etc. And Mitsuboshi - while I understand why he became like this - is too messed up to make me really feel bad for him. At the very least, you can still follow characters like Shio, Asahi, or Shouko because they do provide some levity to the show and without them, I feel the show would be grim dark.

Final score: 7/10