Tag: Takopi’s Original Sin

Finished Takopi’s Original Sin.
5th episode is a flashback to timeline when Takopi met older Marina instead of Shizuka, and Shizuka is alive, despite attempted suicide in 4th grade.
Marina’s mother is a violent alcoholic. In one of her fits she attempts to stab Marina, and she kills her in self defence. Marina still blames all her troubles on Shizuka, so Takopi decided to travel back in time and kill Shizuka. That’s what we see in the first episode. Both time travel and time loop in the same story.
I can see where all the praise comes from. It discusses topics which are rare for anime: depression, suicide, alcoholism, child abuse.
Even though the resolution seems a bit force (Shizuka and Marina become unlikely friends after Takopi’s sacrifice), it is still at least something different to the regular slop.

An anime that is based on subverting expectations. It’s a depressing school drama wrapped in a comedy anime about a 4th grader, Shizuka, that meets always optimistic alien, Takopi.

The 4th grader, in contrast, is depressed, suicidal. Her father absent, her mother is an escort (in other words, prostitute) and she’s bullied at school. The only positive part of her life is the dog that’s left from her father.

It quickly turns out into a “Groundhog Day” time loop story, where Takopi tries to prevent Shizuka from killing herself by unraveling the cause in an naive, alien way. Until it doesn’t.