Anime Review: Takopi’s Original Sin

---  --- What prompted me to watch Takopi’s Original Sin? Curiosity, if I’m being honest. I stumbled across its eerie-sounding title on an anime discussion thread late one evening. People were throwing around words like “gut-wrenching,” “tragic,” “disturbing,” and yet—it featured a cutesy, alien-looking character on the cover. The juxtaposition was too intriguing to ignore. I went in expecting some quirky sci-fi or a lesson-heavy children’s tale. What I got was a psychological time bomb that detonated quietly in my chest—and left me picking up emotional fragments for days. I want to start by saying what Takopi Original Sin is not. It is not your average manga turned anime or a nice-guy-type of story with easy lessons. No. It is a gritty, violent examination of trauma and abuse and of how vulnerable childhood can be--disguised as the cute, gooey, squishy design of a space-traveling creature called Takopi. ---  --- It looks cute at first sight, Takopi. He is an optimistic alien of the Happy Planet, who has a bag full of magic devices that should help everyone nearby to be happy. Therefore when he gets to the earth and he meets a young girl by the name Shizuka who appears to be very unhappy, his task is no doubt to make her smile. Easy, right? And that is where the story starts to unravel like an emotional horror film in slow motion. It is not that Shizuka is sad; she is broken. Her silence, her bruises, her isolation they all shout at the fact that home is not safe, school is a battlefield and her mind is already too familiar with darkness. Takopi in his naive optimism does not know how much she hurts. He can only do what he can to help, in the best ways he knows; by rewinding time, by erasing memories, and by gadgets by which he tries to change the course of events. And there is no magic that will make people happy. That is where the original sin comes in. Heartbreakingly, Takopi makes a choice, a fatal, irrevocable error, the repercussions of which creep throughout the narrative like a silent cry. I was even gasping, not due to any major twists, but due to the sense of the emotional weight of things. It ceases to be a tale of a cute alien trying to correct sadness, and becomes a mirror- we must look at how childhood trauma can be so deep-rooted when left unattended, and how even the best intentions can result in a disaster. ---  --- ---  --- The animation is minimalistic as well, though that is part of the reason it hits so hard. The art style is minimal, bordering on minimalistic and almost deceptively basic so that the emotional expression, especially through the eyes, does all of the work. It is possible to sense how Shizuka feels about her sad look. One gets a feeling of confusion in Takopi as he attempts to make out human morality using his alien rationality. And when everything starts going haywire, it is not flash effects that make you stand up--the silence, the quietness and the gradual, creepy realization of what is going on. The outstanding feature of the Original Sin by Takopi is its emotional maturity. It does not glorify suffering. It does not sensationalize abuse. Rather, it poses tough queries: What is the meaning of a genuine help? Is it possible to be able to reverse our worst mistakes? Can a person be happy as a gift, or should one seek happiness in self? And what is most important of all--what about a case where one is too far gone? I ended up exhausted emotionally after watching the series. I was forced to sit and just feel. The guilt, the powerlessness, the what-ifs. It was not the only story of Shizuka or Takopi. It happened to be a tale of the children we neglect in real life. The ones who quietly take their places in the back of the classroom and conceal their bruises beneath their long sleeves and screams behind the silence. It was a fable about the friends we should have helped earlier, the things we never said, the regrets we could not make. ---  --- The greatest thing that scared me was Takopi himself. Although he is not a human character, he is possibly the most human out of all of them. His quest is not merely an attempt to rescue Shizuka, but a quest to comprehend the nature of a human being and a choice to become happy is not pre-programmed. It’s messy. It’s complicated. And then it is too late. Would I suggest Takopi Original Sin? Heartily--but with a caution. This is not easy weekend viewing. It is such anime that will not leave you alone days later, it is such anime that will talk to you when you are alone and tell you how you should be nicer, more present, more aware of the suffering people might be having and not talking about. It tells us that we do not require some magical devices in order to make a difference. At times, all a person needs is a place to be safe. An encouraging word. A caretaker of sorts. To sum up, the Original Sin by Takopi is not only a story. It is an emotional journey- one that tears you apart and that gently shows you how to be complete once more. This disguises itself as a sci-fi drama, but in reality it is an intense psychological thriller about innocence, guilt, forgiveness and the price of silence. ---  --- ---  --- --- >**Thumbnail is designed by me on pixelLab and other images are screenshot from the movie**