WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Happy Sugar Life, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, as well as discussion of sexual violence.
Happy Sugar Life is a psychological thriller yuri series by Tomiyaki Kagisora. The story follows a mysterious high school student named Satō Matsuzaka as she befriends and falls in love with a little girl named Shio Kōbe, who was abandoned by her mother. Both girls experienced some form of trauma in their past and now rely on each other, vowing to protect the love and happiness they've built -- even if it means committing heinous crimes. It may also be the ultimate ‘yandere’ anime.
A yandere is a character who shows extreme affection and love for someone through destructive and toxic acts such as emotional abuse, overprotectiveness, and violent outbursts. They are loving and caring -- however, their adoration for the person they love can turn ugly when obsessiveness and jealousy consume them.
Most anime series only have one ‘yandere’ identifying character. However, in Happy Sugar Life, practically every single cast member exhibits these traits. The series invites viewers to think about the yandere beyond the trope, in which these characters became the way they are due to the unfortunate circumstances they experienced.
The main protagonist Satō exemplifies yandere characteristics similar to characters like Yuno Gasai from Future Diary and Shion Sonozaki from Higurashi: When They Cry. In front of Shio, Satō shows a loving and nurturing side, but whenever someone interferes with her relationship, Satō eliminates them.
In Episode 1 “The Sugar Girl Eats Love,” Satō takes on a job as a waitress to support herself and Shio. Soon after, Satō is treated poorly and forced to work overtime with little pay. The manager overworks Satō to the point where she rarely sees Shio. As a result, Satō saw the manager as a threat that needed to be disposed of. She confronts the manager and blackmails her into paying her wages by recording the manager’s confession of sexually molesting a fellow employee named Taiyou Mitsuboshi. Even though Satō is a victim of someone else’s misdeeds, she isn’t innocent either. She is capable of hurting other people by any means necessary to protect her “happy sugar life” with Shio.
Another character who shows yandere traits is Taiyou. After getting sexually assaulted by his manager, Taiyou becomes fearful of older women and sees his body as impure and contaminated. He sets his eyes on Shio in a missing person flyer and uses her as a way to cope with this trauma. Taiyou becomes obsessed over Shio, believing she is an angel that can purify his body just by patting his head and smelling her sock. His yandere side comes out through stalking and obsessively worshiping Shio.
Yet while watching Happy Sugar Life, you can’t help but feel pity for Satō and Taiyou because they were both victims of abuse. They wouldn’t have become these yandere-type characters if they didn’t experience emotional or sexual trauma. Before meeting Shio, Satō lived in a toxic and broken household. Her mentally unstable aunt willingly gave up her body to all forms of love and desire as long as she received masochistic pleasure. Satō's misconstrued view on love is based on what her aunt taught her. As for Taiyou, he was sexually assaulted and held captive by someone he trusted, resulting in an inability to form positive and loving relationships with people, especially women. Satō and Taiyou were both taught a twisted view on love, and so they transfer this toxic approach onto Shio.
It may seem like Happy Sugar Life is filled only with overt yandere characters, but there are some hidden ones too. Shio Kōbe is an innocent young girl who was abandoned by her mother. She remains loyal to Satō, knowing that she'll never walk away. Furthermore, Satō’s toxic view on love influenced Shio’s own perception. In Episode 10, “A Proposal Under a Starry Sky,” Satō confesses all the sins she's committed to Shio, who then accepts Satō for who she is and also becomes an accomplice in disposing of Shōko Hida's body. Shio’s decision to stay beside Satō should be seen as an act of her slowly becoming a yandere. They both are willing to protect their love of each other at the cost of hurting someone else.
Similarly, Shio’s brother, Asahi Kōbe, seems like an innocent older brother who's trying to search for the whereabouts of his sister. However, like Satō and Taiyou, he showcases some yandere traits through his overprotectiveness to Shio. He beats up Taiyou, who lied to him about Shio’s whereabouts, and he confesses to Shōko that his only purpose in living is for his family. Despite seeming a bit overbearing and controlling at times, Asahi shows complete devotion to his loved ones.
Happy Sugar Life is filled with yandere scenes, but what separates this series from other yandere anime is the fact that we see the characters’ backstories and how their traumatic pasts influence them to become the monsters they are today.