Similar to Lolita, there is another perverted character that interacts with and plans to steal Shio from Satō. Taiyō Mitsuboshi is a high school student and one of Satō’s coworkers. He is assaulted by their boss after he makes it known he has a crush on Satō. He is raped by their boss out of jealousy and held captive at their job. Because of his assault, he develops an aversion to older women to the point that he cries and panics when one touches him. One day, he sees Shio in her missing poster and falls in love with her. He says she looks like an innocent angel. He finds her one day in the park, and when she touches him, he convinces himself that her touch alone can purify him from his fear of older women. He claims to want to take her to her family, but first he wants to take her to his home.
Some viewers empathize with Taiyō because of his assault and find his attraction to Shio to be innocent and misguided. However, it is important to note that he very well-meant to harm Shio sexually by taking her to his home. He even acknowledges at one point that he deserves punishment for wanting to take her instead of returning her to her family. He is even willing to lie to her family and others just to be able to share her with Satō. This is also a great example of Satō’s villainy. She is extremely manipulative and willing to do whatever it takes to keep Shio even if it means offering the girl’s body as payment. She willingly gives Taiyō one of Shio’s dirty socks to get him to do her dirty work. Another example of her manipulation was when she threatened to expose her ephebophiliac teacher if he did not dispose of evidence for her.
However, the most shocking part of her nature, besides her attraction to Shio, is her willingness to kill. Satō is directly responsible for the murder of her best friend, Shōko, and one of her neighbors, who tries to kill Shio. While the murder of her neighbor is slightly more just in context, the murder of her best friend is truly heartbreaking. It is also my favorite scene from the anime. We watch the life slowly drain from Shōko’s eyes as Satō stabs her in the neck as she is putting on her shoes. Satō does cry over this and feels shame, but her desire to be with Shio is greater. After this, Satō continues to show her concern only for possessing Shio when she allows her aunt to set an entire floor of their building on fire just for them to be able to run away together.
She also tries to kill Asahi Kōbe, Shio’s brother, when he confronts her about Shio. Some fans come to Satō’s defense and say that she did not know what she was doing was wrong, and that she can be seen as a misguided hero. They say this because of the toxic view of love Satō’s aunt instills in her. The relationship between Satō and her aunt is confusing and never really explained. The audience only knows that Satō does not like living with her aunt and is not happy when she is near her. However, she does know she can count on her because the aunt willingly helps her run away and cover up her murders. Satō’s aunt is not called an outright succubus, but I think she is.
Her eyes often glow, and she has the uncanny ability to read others’ desires. Her kink is letting others do whatever they want to her. This mostly entails physical abuse. It is never stated if Satō is abused by her aunt and her guest in any other manner besides mentally and emotionally. Satō’s obsession with sugar comes from seeing her aunt being abused and then being given candy to soothe her. I believe this is also why Satō is described as being a highly sexual person despite her young age. It is clear based on the interaction between Satō and her aunt that she is traumatized and ashamed of her upbringing. Satō is also seen as a misguided hero because she gives Shio more love and stability in a short time than Shio’s family seemingly did.
Satō only knows Shio because her mother abandoned her on the streets. Just as Satō keeps Shio locked indoors, Shio’s mother does the same to keep her safe. Shio’s mother repeats the cycle of abuse by slapping Shio and making her feel unwanted. Shio’s mother admittedly is a traumatized person who struggles with mental issues; however, it does not excuse her willingness to leave both her children in search of a better life. Asahi claims that his mother did not want to abandon Shio and regrets it; however, I am not sure if that is one hundred percent true.
I say this because even if we forgive the cruel things she said to her daughter, we are never shown her looking for her alongside her brother. The only time we see the mom outside of Shio’s imagination is near the hospital that Shio is in, but she is never said to have gone in or planned to. I also believe she may have known that Shio was with Satō, even if she did not know Satō’s name when she saw her. Satō is standing behind them when Shio is dumped by her mother. She is so close that she can hear the entire conversation between them. One thing about Satō’s character is that while she may have her secrets, she is not one to hide. By this, I mean she would not have been hiding in the shadows, listening to them. She would have watched them silently but obviously.
I am also inclined to believe that the mother was okay with Satō taking Shio because of where she left her. She could have easily taken her to an orphanage or even returned her to her father and brother, but she chose to dump her randomly in the same alley that only Satō is standing in. I only think the mom comes back into the picture because Shio and her brother are underage and would have automatically been put in her care. Another reason I think the mom did not care for her children was their father. Both of her children are products of rape and are the reason she is married. It is understandable to hold some resentment towards your children because of how they were born into this world. However, Shio’s mom does two significant things that make me feel like she no longer wants to be a mom. First, she is willing to leave her son with his abusive father so that she and Shio can escape. There was no real reason for her to let her young son get beat up. Asahi says that he offered to stay behind so that the dad would not look for the mom and daughter.
However, that made little sense. One child staying behind to be a punching bag would not stop an abusive husband from finding his wife. The mom also should have known that, considering her husband has left her before and made it clear he does not care about his family. He would have just replaced them with new victims. The second thing that she does that is questionable is that she murders her ex-husband the night Shio is abandoned. Now, I do believe this is possible, especially considering she seemed to be having a breakdown when she left Shio.
What I question is why she would kill him and not take her children. She is aware enough to know that she has to murder him using poison that would make it look like an alcoholic death, but she is not aware enough to look for the son she left or go back to retrieve her daughter. It is Ashai is goes out in search for his mom and sister. I truly believe she wanted to get rid of all the loose ends and start her life anew. Despite all of this, it does not make what Satō did alright. Satō herself knows what she did was wrong, which is why she keeps the girl locked away. If she felt like she was in the right, she would have contacted the family and reminded them that they abandoned Shio. But she knows she is wrong because of the nature of the feelings she feels for the much younger girl.
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