Happy Sugar Life

Episode 7

For the first few minutes of this episode, I was concerned that the production was taking too long to build up to the opening of the apartment door, especially with all of the ecstatic writhing that the eavesdropping teacher was doing over wanting to see Satou finally get cornered. All such concerns fled the room when the door finally opened, revealing Satou's aunt. From that point on, this episode is a disturbing masterpiece of execution.

It was virtually a given that Shiori wouldn't be on the other side of that door; after all, Satou has been much too careful and possessive with her to introduce her to anyone else – even a potential best friend! – or allow herself be caught in a situation where her secret was revealed. However, the aunt still being alive was a mild shocker, since the teacher was far from the only one watching that assumed Satou had killed her off. That the aunt is bat-shit crazy is hardly unexpected, either. However, her particular brand of crazy goes far beyond what anyone else has displayed, and the way it's handled makes her the most genuinely unsettling character to date. All of the details stack up perfectly, from the squalid condition of her room, to a warped mentality about love that goes beyond sado-masochism, to the utterly unnerving way that she picks apart the young police officer's mind physically and sexually before turning on his female partner. It's by far the most impactful version of this kind of scene, with the cherry on top being the way the officer looked back with at least a hint of arousal rather than fear on his face.

Just as important is Satou's reaction. It's pretty obvious why she would be resistant to letting anyone see her aunt. It would be more surprising if she wasn't mortified by her aunt's behavior. No further explanation is needed for why Satou left home to live on her own, though Satou's “signal” to her indicates that they still have an ongoing relationship. Her handling of the teacher afterwards shows that she's still on top of that game too.

As good as the scene with the crazy aunt was, the episode's most potent scene came afterwards where Satou was leaving with Shoko and confronted her under the streetlight about the status of their friendship. When Satou asks if Shoko is a good enough friend to be able to deal with knowing about her aunt, Shoko's failure to answer is understandable, as that spectacle would shake up anyone, but that hesitation and Satou's devastating follow-up about them returning to being regular friends resonates with the power of a Point of No Return. Shoko blew her chance to do something for her friend, and she knew right away that she had blown it. Hefty stuff.

So whose apartment is Satou actually staying in, and who was slain in that locked room? The epilogue finally gives us an inkling, as we meet someone who picked up Satou after she ran away from home and now uses her as a model for a portrait. The title of the next episode strongly implies that we'll get the truth of the matter then, but it's going to take quite an effort to top this episode.

Rating: A-

Happy Sugar Life is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.