Oct 6, 2020
“I want to define what my own idea of happiness is”
At first I was reluctant to read this manga because I assumed it was horror, and it was pretty obvious that there was a romantic relationship between the victim and her abductor, which I thought was pretty messed up. However, 5 months later (sushhhh) I decided to give it a try. BOTH of those assumptions were completely wrong, this is not a horror or romance and it’s probably one of the best stories which revolves around a plot or theme of kidnapping. (It’s more of a psychological if you’re into that)
Sachi, 14 year old girl.
...
All of the characters are extremely complex and wonderfully constructed, but she is the main character of this story and victim of abduction. I absolutely adore her character because she has been crafted by the author with such inferential depth and meaning. Of course, her backstory is dark, but I think that’s a default for these types of plots. All her life, her parents had abused her. She was also severely bullied in school, everyone knew, but they turned a blind eye. It got to the point where she was so overwhelmed with negative emotions that fear didn’t bother her anymore. She wasn’t capable of producing normal human reactions. She barely knew anything about the real world as nothing had ever been done for her. She lived all her life without knowing what the concept of happiness was. She refers to herself as if she were a different person, using “Sachi” instead of pronouns such as “I” “me” “my” etc, which shows the incapability of living her own life. This is probably how she viewed pain too, if her hand was to be crushed she would look at it as if it belonged to somebody else.
Now, this is where Sachiiro no one Room is different from other abduction stories.
The plot doesn’t follow the cliched “Trying to escape from my kidnapper while the author attempts to justify his actions due to a tragic backstory :D” route, no, Sachi views this sudden turn of events in her life as a new beginning. She wants to start over, this time knowing what happiness is. Her abductor, which she refers to as “Oniisan” (Older brother), is her only source of happiness in her life and the only person who was ever able to genuinely love her, whether you choose to view their love for each other as platonic or romantic. Despite what it may seem, this story does not depict Sachi developing Stockholm syndrome in any way. The two main characters do have a large age gap, but I wouldn’t assume for that to be troubling, because at a certain point the story pretty much establishes that their relationship is not romantic in any way, although it could seem so at the start as Sachi is not capable of properly identifying emotions such as love, therefore mislabels their relationship. (Which is also building on the depth of the psychological aspect of things, but I won’t spoil. Oniisan obviously does not see Sachi in a romantic way, though.) I personally have not caught up to this manga, but it is definitely not a horror in any way. Oniisan does not torture Sachi, and has only cared for her. Their relationship is the focus of Sachiiro no one Room as well as character development and recovery from traumatic events. I highly recommend this and please do not drop it at any cost, it might seem heavily cliched at the beginning but it is an amazing manga and gets better later on.
There are many interpretations of this story but I think the issues explored throughout it are portrayed in such a beautiful way where it will leave you crying for no reason between chapters. (Haha might just be me)
Of course, it isn’t for everyone and I won’t force you to read it, but it is worth a try because it is truly captivating and will definitely change your view on the world. I can’t say much about it because I don’t want to give away any spoilers oof. There is also a live action which I haven’t watched yet, and the English translation for the title is “A Little room for Hope” or “One Room of Happiness”
“Not being able to do anything but just continue living, I don’t want to do that anymore”
This is my first review so hope you enjoy it >~<
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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