The first four volumes of the work are consistent in working through a series of events that gradually build up a complex tangle of relationships between different cores of characters. Even if the reader follows Makoto's experiences more closely, there is room to introduce different environments and characters. At the same time and due to this diversity of scenes, the author manages to include brief personal comments on some overarching themes such as perversity, sexuality, violence, sociability, affection, empathy, and self-acceptance that echo throughout the manga, in internal plot events, and dramatic approaches and character arcs.

Happiness (6)] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017 . Retrieved 5 November 2017. In this perspective, the author presents great indecision in working with "concept-characters" or "character-characters", a great example being the character Nora. Certainly, she is only an instrument, like a MacGuffin, who breaks the plot's inertia and motivates the central character, but is absent most of the time. In a more contemplative story, it would not be a problem for Nora to exist in this way - however, and in a misplaced chapter, to say the least, Oshimi imposes on himself the need to explain the character as if the work needed this, and has failed to produce any internal results within the manga in the process. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, the vampire theme is not used by Oshimi with the sole purpose of attracting a larger audience, instead it represents a decidedly existentialist theme.

Discussions

As you may notice, the setup is rather run of the mill, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. This specific setup is right up my personal alley, and I think it lays a great groundwork for a good, mature plot line, and some great character development. Because there are not many chapters, we only have a taste of what's to come. Is there an organization chasing them? What are the laws among the vampires that we're getting glimpses of? What's going to happen to the MC's friend? What about the MC's family? There's a lot to explore, and I hope to see the world continue to grow. Happiness is a work that brings different innovations to Oshimi‘s writing. First of all, the author uses a choral structure for the first time for drafting the plot. In fact, the narrative does not focus on a single protagonist, but continually jumps between the points of view of the several characters that make up the cast of the manga. It is always Shiraishi who reveals how much the family situation just described weighs on Yuki’s mind. One of the most frequent thoughts of the latter: “it was better if I had never been born”, is the typical state of mind in which those who do not feel accepted by their parents find themselves. This leads Yūki to become a psychologically unstable and extremely impulsive person. Stability that is definitely swept away by the transformation into a vampire. Yūki is absolutely unable to manage this new condition, and the series of atrocities he carries out after his transformation is proof of this. As soon as he woke up in the hospital, Yūki kills his mother who was watching at his bedside. He is then chased away by Nora, precisely because she immediately understands the dangers of traveling with such an unstable person, despite Yūki’s kindness. Despite appearing much less than others, the character of Saku still plays an indispensable role for the purposes of Oshimi‘s work. Saku represents the one who for years, in his particular case for centuries, lived basking in the hatred and rejection of society. This led him to become increasingly alienated from social life, making him a cold, cynical individual, unable to feel any empathy for others. Character 8/10: The manga goes through many time skips especially near the end. It gives us a good sense of conclusion for each major character and allows us to feel some closure that would have not gotten under usual circumstances. Every surviving character has come to terms with their situation and is trying to live their best life. They are living each day trying to find happiness(heh) in some form or another.

As I already wrote in the paragraph dedicated to Okazaki, Oshimi through the character of Gosho explores again the Flaubertian concept of maternal love. As the name suggests, it is a love driven by affection, a strong and unconditional feeling, the same that a mother feels for her children. Gosho’s mission is clear representation of this. But the scene that embodies the essence of this concept is undoubtedly that of the first meeting between Gosho and Okazaki. The latter, in the grip of a crisis due to his vampire condition, assaults Gosho. Nonetheless, the girl is not terrified, on the contrary, instead of trying to run away or calling for help, she embraces Okazaki, holding him tightly to her chest, to reassure him. The maternal gesture par excellence. Even if the rest of Miyagi's life is valued at a low price, it's admitted in the story that subjective happiness plays no role in deciding a lifespan's value, and instead its worth is decided by objective wealth and influence. Wasn't another message that this book tries to send is that personal happiness is more important than any fame or fortune, demonstrated when Kusunoki says, "and more than the meaningful thirty days I should have spent, these last three days will be the most precious of them all."? The story follows 19-year-old Kusonoki who is in college and broke. After being given time off at work after collapsing from not eating in days, Kusonoki resolves to sell off some of his books and CDs to try and make ends meet. While selling his books to the owner of a used bookshop, our protagonist learns of a place where he can sell his remaining years for cash. With this character Oshimi begins to experiment by shifting his writing and his thought to the hypothetical, he begins to reason ad absurdum, leaving aside his experience, his autobiographical side. The exact method with which he conceived Boku wa Mari no naka. After this premise on the character of Shiraishi it is easy to understand how Oshimi simply wanted to re-propose the same relationship already exposed with the Okazaki / Gosho couple, replacing the reflexivity of those two with a practically irrational instinct. In fact, Shiraishi, like her partner Yūki, is also an impulsive person. There are several events in history that favor this thesis. Just think of when Shiraishi impulsively asks Okazaki to save Yūki from a group of thugs, not exactly a thoughtful choice. Or when Shiraishi convinces Gosho to participate in the crazy search for Yūki and Okazaki for the whole city without having the slightest clue or the least chance of finding them. An impulsiveness that will eventually lead Shiraishi to die at the hands of his beloved, both unable to consciously face the disease of vampirism, or as Oshimi himself intends, the discomfort of social life.

Episode Videos

a b ハピネス（９）[ Happiness (9)] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on 6 December 2018 . Retrieved 5 December 2018.

Well, the revolution waged by Ryu and Haruki Murakami has undoubtedly raised the problem and certainly moved the souls of many people, however, avoiding to open a huge parenthesis on the subject, nationalism is still present in Japan, and it is in good shape. For this reason, more than forty years later, Shuzo Oshimi still feels the need to express the same “murakamian” spleen. Obviously, compared to Kasuga, Okazaki more than in front of a crossroads is forced to travel a one-way street, given his vampire disease. Oshimi therefore gives a different answer to the question that already arose with Aku no hana. In the latter, the protagonist is initially infatuated with Sawa Nakamura, his femme fatale, consequently rejecting Nanako Saeki’s maternal affection. Only in the end does Kasuga manage to free himself from Nakamura’s obsession, thanks above all to the advent of Aya Tokiwa. In Happiness the premise of the story is almost the same, however the ending is quite different. In fact, Okazaki also initially chooses (he is forced to choose) to follow Nora, thus abandoning Gosho to herself. But in Happiness there is no character who plays the role of Tokiwa, so much so that Okazaki is “forced” to succumb to his condition, and therefore “forced” to follow his femme fatale, Nora. ebookjapan (in Japanese). EBook Initiative Japan Co., Ltd. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020 . Retrieved 6 November 2020. Happiness turns out to be the simplest and at the same time more complex manga written by Shuzo Oshimi. At first glance it looks like an object almost foreign to the author’s usual repertoire, however, once its content has been assimilated, it is easy to see how Happiness is nothing more than a natural evolution of the latter’s writing. Oshimi, in fact, maintains several central elements of his previous manga in this work: the supernatural component from Hyouryuu Net Cafe, the realm of the possible already central in Boku wa Mari no naka, or the existentialist aspect of Aku no hana.

Staff

Perhaps I'm biased, but the works of Oshimi that I've read always give characters a motivation for what they're doing like in "Mari no Naka ni (Inside of Mari)" and "Chi no Wadachi (Trails of Blood)". Even if the exact reason isn't shown to us, it still gives us a decent reason to respect that certain characters have certain motivations because of something that's hinted to us. In "Happiness" half of the character's motivations for doing something are "just cuz", or "i'm crazy haha". Which is what it looks like on the surface level of the other manga he's written, but I know he can do better.