Happiness Vol 5 Review: Bites With Its Twists
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
At this point in the manga series “Happiness” by Shuzo Oshimi, it’s safe to say the story has multiple protagonists, and not just one. So, I need to stop referring to Makoto – the Harry Potter lookalike – as its principal lead. Besides, even after five issues, there isn’t a lot of character development going on for Makoto. At least with Yuki, we get lots of deaths and unhinged violence. That bad boy bully turned bloodthirsty vampire is downing humans like desserts at a buffet place!
Recap of “Happiness” Volume 4: Nora attacks Yuki when Makoto goes along with him for her help. Feeling betrayed, a battered Yuki rushes off to his girlfriend Shiraisi’s place, and the two lock themselves in an intimate daze. Discovered in bed by Shiraisi’s furious father, Yuki retaliates by killing everybody in the house. However, he is torn apart with regret when he realizes he has murdered Shiraisi too. The volume ends with Nora’s hideout getting busted by armed forces, while Makoto is still with her.
Volume 5 of “Happiness” starts off intense, with Makoto and Nora fighting with all their might against the armed personnel who corner them. Will they manage to escape and get their happy ending, or will they end up as lab rats for those looking to study vampires? That’s one of the focal points of the new issue. The other subplot follows Shojo’s efforts to track down both Yuki and Makoto and sort out the nearly unsolvable mess the boys are in. I mean, Yuki seems beyond redemption, although Makoto is still a Mr. Goody Two Shoes, despite his new vampiric fangs and the thirst to drink human blood.
I remember thinking how the first two issues were a curious balance between a slice-of-life high school romance drama and a dark twisted gothic horror tale. Shuzo Oshimi has stopped with all the lighter, milder moments of teenage life and turned “Happiness” into a full-fledged dark splatter-fest. The artwork chaotically captures all the frenzied violence and raging emotions of the protagonists. Shojo is the only human character in the manga who is pure of heart and hopes to “save” her classmates. Although, her savior complex costs her heavily.
There are quite a few surprising story twists in “Happiness” Volume 5, including an extremely unexpected time jump and shift of narratives. Earlier on, I was beginning to worry how Shuzo Oshimi was going to keep this manga interesting for five more volumes, but the last few pages turn around the story in a way that opens doors to a whole new world of possibilities for this vampire fantasy. Some readers might not like the change in focus, but I am pretty excited to see where the manga is headed.
Rating: 4 on 5. You can read “Happiness” on Kindle Unlimited.
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