Takopi’s Original Sin – Episode 1 - Ai Animes 🤖

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking out a fresh and fairly recent production, as we explore the first episode of last year’s Takopi’s Original Sin. Even before there was any hint of an anime adaptation, I was vaguely aware of Taizan 5’s original two-volume manga, whose reputation ranged from “a stark, unflinching portrayal of childhood’s genuine tragedies” to “basically just misery porn.” And given a variety of my own favorite stories are often uncharitably described as misery porn, I’m quite curious to see where my feelings on the material land.

As for this adaptation, I’ve heard nothing but effusive praise regarding Shinya Iino’s take on the material, as well as the brilliant animation conjured by character designer Keita Nagahara and his top-notch team. The small staff list and extensive support of young, digital-native animators seem to imply a labor of love embodying anime’s increasingly global talent pool, making me all the more excited to see what painstakingly sculpted horrors await. Let’s get to it!

Episode 1

Whew! Opening with trigger warnings from both the broadcaster and production committee certainly emphasizes how we’re really getting into it here

We open with the sound of cicadas, implying a bright summer day before we see a group of children seemingly walking to or from school. Already the character animation for these secondary characters is quite impressive, as well as the fluidity of their forms. The character designs and these animators’ manipulation of them emphasize an inherent truth of childhood: how young children seem not entirely comfortable with their own shapes, moving with an unpracticed fluidity and often stumbling over themselves. Already, the art design emphasizes the youth and fragility of these characters

Our lead embodies this style, with her clothes and even face seeming to hang loosely off her bones. She seems malnourished and untended; no one has fed her properly, no one has fixed her hair

Looking into tubes piled for some construction job, she discovers Takopi, our titular pink octopus. From what I know of the premise, Takopi is basically like Doraemon, a visitor from another planet who attempts to use his tricks to bring happiness to the children. Except in this case, Takopi has accidentally landed in an Inio Asano drama (a concept strong enough that Inio Asano himself used it for Dead Dead Demons)

Our OP offers a feast of this show’s weighted yet fluidly morphing character acting, in a style that sorta reminds me of Toradora’s most loose and kinetic moments. Excellent layouts too, with lots of layers of action and ambitious movements into and out of depth

Takopi introduces himself as a “Happian,” who’s on a quest to spread happiness throughout the universe. It’s a poignant fundamental concept: a story challenging the carefree assumptions of children’s media, by contrasting them against the heavy, intractable challenges some kids are actually dealing with. Obviously I’m no cynic when it comes to optimistic children’s media (stories of basically any tone can impart valuable, life-changing lessons), but I also don’t think a challenge to that paradigm is inherently cynical, either

Lovely painted backgrounds for Takopi’s vision of the stars. There’s a real sense of texture here, like you can feel the weight of the colored chalk

He hails from Planet Happy, of course

This sequence is so beautiful! Love the painted textures, love the sliding forms; it’s like an animated pull-out book

Our lead is Shizuka-chan, who “saves” Takopi by sharing some bread with him. I can already imagine how harshly and effectively Takopi’s affectation might contrast against the cruelty of our world, further emphasizing how no one should have to live like this

Shizuka actually names Takopi, whose real name is unpronounceable with our human tongues

Takopi introduces the “Flappy Wings,” one of his “Happy Gadgets” that allows you to fly through the sky. Again, pretty much an exact parody of Doraemon, something that would be immediately obvious to any Japanese viewer

“Even if I could fly, nothing would change.” Goofy flights of fancy cannot fix what is broken in Shizuka’s life. And beyond that, the conditions of her life have robbed her of any ability to find joy in such concepts

But Takopi cannot imagine such deprivation, so he assumes Shizuka is just used to flying already

“I did as you said, Marina-chan. I broke her writing board so she can’t use it anymore.” Thus we are introduced to Shizuka’s apparent bullies. I imagine this will be one of our most central topics, a truth that most children’s media tends to sugarcoat: children’s capacity for outrageous cruelty. We generally have to be taught empathy; humans are not naturally kind creatures, and if a child gets validation in their cruelty through parents or peers, they can become shockingly inhumane

More impressive movement through depth for this shot panning backwards while following her gang. Another truth of such behavior – often our individual cruel instincts will only take us so far, but the validation of a group of fellow bullies can push us to extremes we would never reach alone

“She can buy it with her welfare money.” Kids will bully others for being poor, for being sickly, for whatever they think might leave a bruise. It’s only really the social pressure of cruelty’s consequences that often teaches kids not to behave like this, which feels like a poor guardrail in a world where cruelty is already the ascendant political philosophy

“Sounds like a great time. Are they talking about doing something fun together?” “I guess they are.” The resigned fatigue of the outcast. It feels particularly bitter to be punished and ostracized for no reason other than “it was easy to do”

Shizuka has no interest in the Happy Camera. She needs to go buy another writing board

“See you tomorrow.” Though his gadgets are useless, Takopi’s reliable presence after school already seems to be a comfort to Shizuka. There are many problems we cannot fix, but just being there is still something

Thus the days go by, until Shizuka takes Takopi home to visit Chappy, her dog

The joy Shizuka finds in Chappy makes me extremely nervous

Shizuka’s mom is an escort, another presumed source of bullying

She also says she doesn’t have a dad, which Takopi of course interprets as humans only needing mothers to have children

“Dad left Chappy for me. I love him so much. I’m fine as long as I have Chappy with me.” This is going to be miserable, isn’t it

“I don’t believe in magic.” The world has beaten that out of her

Takopi reflects on his mother warning him “not to break the rules.” Doraemon frequently gets into shenanigans through misuse of his gadgets, but Shizuka cannot imagine herself as possessing agency within her world, and thus does not even try to use them

Nonetheless, Takopi’s promises do prompt a smile from Shizuka

Of course, that’s only to make the blow all the heavier when it lands, as we cut from smiling Shizuka to her beaten up the next day, limply holding Chappy’s collar

Takopi offers her a “friendship rope,” which she’ll presumably borrow to hang herself with, thus violating his rules as well. Not hard to predict narrative turns when the worst thing possible is always bound to happen

We can actually see the imprint of her classmates’ shoes on the back of her shirt as she walks away

And of course, this time she says “bye-bye” rather than “see you tomorrow”

God, this animation of Takopi wiggling his way down the road is just so sad. It feels like he’s the embodiment of hope in this world, and he’s so fragile, so small, so blind to the horrors of humanity

Brutal sound design as we arrive, with just the steady sway of the rope breaking the silence

Takopi only gets it once Shizuka falls from her beam, prompting a harsh switch to alienating fish-eye compositions at Takopi’s own eye level

Thus, at last with a genuine understanding of the stakes involved, Takopi uses his Happy Camera to reverse time, and hopefully point Shizuka towards a happier future

Man, this is definitely a hard watch. The real world is tough enough as it is, I don’t necessarily need my fiction to rub my nose in it. Obviously quite well-executed, though!

Takopi returns to the past with a tear in his eye. Hopefully this will put them on more even footing, with Takopi understanding that a fun gadget won’t fix the cruelty of Shizuka’s situation

More delightfully wobbly character designs and detail-rich compositions as Takopi joins Shizuka at school. The art design is a mix of their philosophies – the loose playfulness of Takopi, the angular fragility of Shizuka

Marina calls Shizuka a “parasite,” something she presumably picked up from her parents. One of the most effective ways to unperson someone you wish to subject to unmitigated cruelty is to frame them as somehow “getting one over” on society, through the “handouts” of social care. This form of dehumanization is one of the motivating instincts of the modern right, an excuse to wholly embrace their inner beasts through the guise of “immigration reform” and similar ostensibly neutral concepts

“You reek just like your dog.” Poverty is also often framed as synonymous with poor hygiene and appearance. The actual film Parasite used this concept quite well; the final retribution of that film’s leads comes when the rich father winces at the alleged smell of his employee

Geez, some key animator went above and beyond for Shizuka getting up to reply to the teacher. Practically her whole body shivers with anxiety as she realizes Marina has stolen her notebook

Thus Takopi begins abusing time travel redoes in order to treat the various symptoms of Shizuka’s self-hatred and depression, in spite of being utterly oblivious to the core sources of her unhappiness

I do appreciate the lighthearted, inherently comedic tone they’re taking with all these little plays. Profound unhappiness isn’t all just the same note played over and over; there are moments of self-aware absurdity, moments of small relief, even rare moments of joy

“Are you and Marina fighting?” After a full day of Marina’s continuous torture, Tokepi at last begins to gain an inkling of the dynamics involved

God, this character acting is just brutal. Another painfully felt sequence as Shizuka shivers in the bathroom, psyching herself up for whatever Marina has planned next

There’s often no way to prevent this, either. One of the greatest accepted tyrannies of society is the relationship between parent and child, which is venerated even when a parent is abusive to their children, or when they isolate them from proper education and medical treatment, or when they refuse to correct their children’s antisocial behavior. Our worship of the traditional family unit prompts generation after generation of abused, indoctrinated, and unsocialized children, who in turn carry that violence onward to either their own children or the world at large

“Happiness is born through talking things out.” Takopi continues his thankless job of demonstrating how useless basic moral lessons can be to people in genuinely terrible situations

Thus Takopi transforms into a copy of Shizuka to talk to Marina himself. It sure is something to see Shizuka animated with Takopi’s enthusiasm

And Takopi receives the beating meant for Shizuka, a harsh correction to his conceptions regarding their relationship

“Don’t get your slut germs on me.” As expected, her mother’s work is another source of torment – likely another weapon Marina inherited from her parents. There are lots of kids with serious behavioral issues, but looking towards their parents often gives the game away

“Give me back my daddy.” So Marina blames Shizuka’s family for her own family’s breakdown

At last, we reach a moment of real moral strength from Takopi. Having learned just how abusive Marina is, and just how senselessly difficult Shizuka’s life is, he still starts diligently back from zero, giving Shizuka the answers she needs to overcome those first, gradual hurdles of each terrible new day. This is the good stuff – dignity and empathy in spite of the world’s true nature, not because we are oblivious to it. Being kind is, as Everything Everywhere All At Once put it, an absolutely essential survival strategy

“Shizuka-chan is being treated harshly because of me.” Unfortunately, his kindness and general willingness to extend grace to everyone brings him to the wrong conclusion

Her classmate Azuma, the only one who seems distressed by her treatment, offers to bring up the bullying at student council. Of course, that would only make the bullying worse – Marina’s mother would likely deny any wrongdoing, and Marina herself would make Shizuka pay

“School’s been like this for me ever since Marina-chan’s dad and my mom got close.” Yep

“It’s not so bad these days.” God, what a moment. Takopi only thinks in terms of actually “solving” the inherent cruelty of human existence, so he can’t really recognize how crucial he already is to Shizuka’s everyday happiness

We then follow Marina home, learning how her mother has essentially been broken down by her father’s abuse and neglect. Hurting Shizuka is the only way Marina can fight back, the only way she can try to be her mother’s protector

And Done

Whew, that was so cruel! But fortunately, ultimately, not at all in the way I feared it might be cruel – not cruel out of indifference, out of the deafness to human suffering’s real impact that tends to inform genuinely juvenile, nihilistic media. Takopi’s cruelty is earnest and honest, an illustration of the world as it is infused with clear sympathy for its suffering protagonists. Life isn’t fair, people often get swept into the cracks, and childhood is defined by outsized unhappiness as much as it is by innocent joy. It was hard just to breathe through this episode’s first half, but its second half conjured those warm and bitter tears of vindication, the hard-fought faith in our potential to do better that can only come from first-hand experience with our potential to do worse. Far from cynical, this show feels determined to show that Takopi is not ultimately wrong – that for all his naivete and superficial solutions, his simple determination to do better by Shizuka is the most valuable and necessary force in the universe. It is the stories that acknowledge how bad things truly are, and profess hope and optimism in spite of that, which truly ring in my soul. I mean, that’s why I’m here, right? “If anyone says there’s no reason to hope, I’ll prove them wrong every single time.”

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