Warning, this article contains huge spoilers for Happy Sugar Life.Whenever I think of Happy Sugar Life, I can't help but think of the death of Shouko. Not only was she my favorite character in the show, but everything about her death was masterfully done. It is a roller coaster of emotions, backed up by smart visual directing, excellent character writing, and emotional music.I'll be analyzing the entire scene, which lasts 5:49 minutes. You can find the clip here. It's not necessary to watch the clip because I'll be describing most of what happens in my analysis, unless you would like to experience it again (try not to cry).Outside the Apartment: This is how it all starts. Shouko has found Satou’s apartment. Satou is about to enter when Shio steps outside and hugs her. At that moment Shouko takes a picture, with the shutter sound going off which alerts Satou. For your information, the shutter sound cannot be switched off by law in Japan. Shouko is trembling with fear. Enraged, Satou throws her into her apartment and closes the door. We fear for her life as dark clouds in the sky begin to brood.Shouko trembles in fear. Satou realizes she's been seen.Dark clouds foreshadow impending tragedy.The Character of Shouko Before we talk about anything after this, we should talk about Shouko. Her Nameしょうこ / 証拠 / ShoukoShouko's name in Japanese means “evidence”. This is subtle foreshadowing for Shouko’s role in the story- to be the one to provide the evidence to Asahi that Satou is secretly living with Shio. Her name meaning “evidence” also sets her up to naturally be the opponent against Satou, who has to keep her life with Shio a secret. Satou has to "get rid of the evidence", which foreshadows Shouko’s death.Her Character ArcShouko is Satou’s best friend. Both of them are looking for true love, and try to find it by going out with guys. But once Satou finds Shio, her behavior starts to change. Shouko is concerned about Satou. Shouko wants to help her, but finds herself doing things halfheartedly and saying empty words, despite genuinely caring for Satou. This is exposed in episode 7 when Satou asks whether she would continue to be her friend after meeting the masochistic whore with warped views of love that is her aunt, knowing that she is related by blood and was raised by her. However, Shouko is unable to give her a response and can only avert her gaze.The moment of weaknessHowever, she regrets this- afterwards saying, "I didn't know that my halfhearted courage could hurt others so badly". Feeling down in the park she meets Asahi, who cheers her up and his hard work looking for his lost sister inspires new courage within her to confront Satou once more. A Dilemma “If Shouko loved Satou she would not have taken the picture”This presents an interesting dilemma. Shouko cares about Satou and wants her to change her ways. Taking an incriminating photo would put Satou in jeopardy of losing the one she loves (Shio) and her most definitely getting arrested. However, Shouko does have a duty to fulfill. She has a duty to Asahi to help find his sister after being inspired by him. Despite being stuck in this dilemma, Shouko does both. She fulfills her duty by taking the photo, and shows love for Satou by trying to talk things out with her. Buildup to her Death: Inside the ApartmentCanary SymbolismThe scene makes it clear that Shouko is symbolized as a canary. Firstly, we see an image of a canary flying through stormy weather. Secondly, the narration continually refers to a "little bird" who sings. Finally, Satou calls Shouko a "brave singing bird".The canary holds symbolic meaning- it is a bird used in coal mines to detect poisonous gases. When it stops singing, it indicates to the miners that there is danger. Shouko's death suggests impending danger for Satou, which comes to pass as where she lives is discovered.The Insert Song “Canaria”Canaria, or in English “Canary”, is the title of the insert song played while Shouko tries to talk things out with Satou. Canaria is a beautiful but sad song that is used to convey the heartfelt but ultimately useless attempt for Shoko to try convince Satou to change her ways. It is sung from the perspective of someone observing a canary. That someone is Satou, and the canary, as established before, is Shouko. Canaria is not Shouko’s song, but it is about the reaction Satou has to her song. Canary, your singing voice isthe light that pierced through the deep deep forest.Goodbye, I won't look at the brilliant colour to much.I'll only avert my eyes,until everything has ended. -The chorus of Canaria Shouko’s song is her attempt to talk to Satou and get her to change her ways. Her genuine care for Satou is like a light piercing through the deep forest of Satou’s sins, only for Satou to willingly look away, or basically ignore her, because she knows she is too far to turn back.The Narration The narration as Shouko argues with Satou is quite obviously a metaphoric description of Shouko’s attempt to reason with Satou and her entire character arc. I find these few lines to be the most meaningful. “Her song melted into the rain”Her reasoning with Satou is ineffective. It cannot reach her.“The little bird won’t give up” / “She’s tired of giving up”Despite facing resistance, Shouko will not give up. She is tired of the half hearted attitude which caused her to falter when it was the most important time not to, when she met Satou's aunt. She will see this through.The Silent Argument: HopeThe fact that we cannot hear any dialogue in the argument is a smart directing move. In the manga, you get to see all the dialogue in a very jumbled up manner.The dialogue in the mangaOf course this is a bit harder to recreate in anime, so we don’t hear a thing they say. But we don’t need to- we can just imagine what they are saying based off their facial expressions and body language, along with some visual aids."What do you know about me, Shouko?" is what I can imagine her saying.A visual metaphor for Satou explaining to Shouko how she rejects her old life and those around her, now having found a new and better life with Shio. For a moment, we are fooled into believing that the Shouko might just be able to convince Satou. The lighting changes from dark to light.Shouko hugs Satou and holds her hand and in the background the black screen shatters into white.Satou looks a bit shocked, perhaps touched by Shouko. Shouko lets Satou keep her phone, which could be interpreted as an act of willingness to not tell anyone. Orbs of light illuminate the darkness as Shouko prepares to leave the apartment, another symbol of Shouko trying to reach out to Satou like the canary song. Has Shouko reached Satou?Her Death:Why does Satou kill Shouko?In short, it’s because she doesn’t trust Shouko and has no other choice. Satou genuinely wanted to trust Shouko, so she tested her by letting her meet her aunt in episode 7. However Shouko was not able to handle it, and it was that moment when she couldn’t give Satou a response that she lost her trust.Her Death: Shock and HorrorAs Shouko is about to leave the apartment, Satou gets the jump on Shouko, restraining her from leaving and pulling her to the floor. Satou apologizes before killing her, which suggests that she doesn’t really want to kill her best friend but has no choice.Clawing so hard it leaves scratches. Flailing legs. In the red filter, blood is white.Her death is nothing short of brutal. Her throat is stabbed, she claws away at Satou’s hand over her mouth and her legs kick wildly in desperation. A red color filter symbolizing danger and blood is applied, though the blood under the filter is white. Nothing, no music, but her muffled screams, flailing, and the sounds of the knife are heard. The struggle continues as the knife travels deeper into her throat. She sheds a tear- a tear for her lost friend Satou, before her hands fall to the floor and she finally dies. The red filter is lifted, and we see the corpse of Shouko, with tears steaming down her eyes, surrounded by a pool of blood.A tear shed for Satou.The red filter lifts, letting us see the blood in its true shade of color.The scene is extremely hard to watch. The physical movement and lack of music all contribute to how brutal the scene is. The red filter is actually used to make the view of Shouko's dead corpse more horrifying after it is lifter, where the blood returns to its original, gruesome color.The Aftermath: SadnessWith her death is the death of the only sane person in Happy Sugar Life, and with only the mentally broken left the show is sure to end in tragedy, like it does. It is a sad death, not just because it is the death of the only sane person in the show. It is the death of someone who showed true love for Satou, a death of a genuine friend, who wanted to amend the broken friendship and trust between them caused by a moment of weakness.Her death is not in vain however, as true to her name, she delivers incriminating evidence to Asahi.ConclusionShouko’s death is excellently done. The entire 5:49 minutes is a roller coaster of emotions. The fear when Shouko is caught, the hope when she tries to talk to Satou, the shock and horror of her brutal death and finally the sadness of her passing.Every single aspect of the show comes together to make this scene brilliant. The compelling character writing of Shouko. The canary metaphor. The smart visual directing. The emotional but meaningful song. Put together, this is the best murder scene to have graced anime.Rest in Peace, Shouko. -GaryMuffuginOak
May 3, 2019 • Subscribe
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