Title: One Room of Happiness (Original Title: 幸色のワンルーム)

Type: Manga

Year: 2017-2022

Country: Japan

Genre: Drama/Psychological

Status: Completed

Platform: Licensed by Crunchyroll (license discontinued?)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Warning: One Room of Happiness contains difficult subject matter such as suicide, abuse, and rape. Many of the characters are or have been victims of abuse, and as such this series has multiple scenes and chapters that can only be described as “emotionally unpleasant.” However the series also has many “warm and fuzzy” moments, and while there is tension that things could suddenly go horribly wrong underlying much of the series, this is balanced with joy and hope. In this way the series shares a lot of thematic and tone overlap with Oyasumi Punpun.

Given that Oyasumi Punpun is an infamous emotional trainwreck of a series, and given that the premise and initial chapters of One Room of Happiness send off super-skeevy vibes, here’s a mild spoiler about just how bad One Room of Happiness gets:

The core of the series is in its character study of abused individuals dealing with trauma, and the character development that comes with working through it and connecting with others also scarred by abuse. The plot is fairly engaging, and there’s some cat-and-mouse as the “kidnapper and kidnapped” try to evade the police. The art, pacing, and dialogue are all quite good. Because one of the core themes of the series is recovering from trauma, the series is overall more wholesome, heartwarming, and uplifting than most “psychological” series, which depending on the series can border on torture porn. IANAP (I am not a psychologist), however I left One Room of Happiness feeling like the difficult subjects handled in this series were done respectfully, gracefully, and at least somewhat realistically.

The two main characters are on the younger side (14 and early/mid-twenties), however the subject matter is mature and, likely due to their trauma, the characters act mature for their age. The series’s overall quality is high, and the “turn-offs for older audiences” that I try to watch for with these reviews are basically absent. As long as you are prepared for the heavy subject matter and can get through some of the more questionable content/vibes of the early chapters (including one chapter with non-sexualized 14yo nudity), I think this series is both appropriate and enjoyable for older audiences.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free country fediverse.