The Tragic Masterpiece That Changed Anime Forever

Do not watch this anime if you want to be happy. Believe me, you know it’s going to be bad when you see two trigger warnings before an episode even begins. Of course, the show I’m talking about is Takopi’s original sin. I’ve covered this anime multiple times already, and even before the anime, I’ve also covered the manga ages ago. But if I said a 50 seconds short could do this incredible series justice, then I’d be lying through my teeth. I don’t even think this particular video would do it justice. But if I’m able to get one person to watch it at the very least, then it would make it worth the effort. There will be spoilers ahead, so be warned. Yes, that’s another warning to be added to the video alongside the already obvious one. Considering the topic is of course depression incarnate, Takopi has become a lot more popular. In fact, even more than the stated was when the manga gained traction, and for good reason. The anime has managed to set a standard for manga adaptations in general and because of the contents of the story, the studio deserves more than enough praise. Mostly because of the fact that as controversial and uncomfortable as Takobi is, it’s insane that this was actually allowed to air, which could pave the way for more adaptations for stories of the same genre, which I would gladly love to one day see coming to fruition. In this video, I’ll basically cover why you should watch Tacobi in the first place, and I’ll also be giving insight on why I think it is a masterpiece. So, without further ado, the plot basically follows Takopi, an adorable and cheerful octopus-like alien from Happy Planet, whose supposed mission is to spread joy and happiness, and his encounter with this girl, Shizuka, a particularly gloomy looking kid, which Takopi takes a liking to, and makes it his first priority to help her smile and essentially find happiness, which he does by trying to impress her with his happy gadgets, which are essentially magical gadgets that are supposed to be used to that effect. As simple as that sounds, it’s actually a very difficult task for someone, or rather something like Takopi, because he is quite literally incapable of reading the room, understanding human emotions, actions, even some terms, and questionable behavior. This dense and optimistic mindset is, in my opinion, one of the key things that makes the show brilliant and what it’s trying to portray. Because Takobi doesn’t notice the little details that seem to be connected to the root of Shizuka’s behavior. It adds a deeper sense of unease to the viewer, and you finally come to see the dark reality of the situation when you literally see a group of girls laughing about what they do to Shizuka. They are the reason she is unable to smile as Takopi wants. Shizuka is being bullied at school. And this kind of bullying isn’t light in any way. It’s a lot more heartless. It’s disgusting and will make you uncomfortable. This is the part of the show I think I might love the most. But love is a strong word since most of the characters are either broken or just disgusting. But if there’s one thing Takopi’s original sin got right, it would be the character writing. with Takopi’s overly optimistic nature due to only having experienced happiness and not really understanding human nature. When this particular part of his character’s effect on the story takes its toll, at least at the beginning, would be this scene where Marina asks Shizuka to meet with her. Shizuka, knowing the implications of that, is stuck terrified in the toilet. She’s shivering at the thought of going while Takobi pers her about going. Thinking the girls are having just a little argument and they should make up. In the first place, this only happened because instead of stopping the bullying at its root, Takopi tried to resolve the situation by thwarting Marina’s attempts at bullying Shizuka. Using a happy gadget, he basically transforms into Shizuka since she wasn’t able to go and goes in herstead, only to be met with a scene I can only describe as completely brutal. Marina at first is presented in an evil and completely inhumane way. Her actions becoming more and more despicable and calculated than before, all to strip Shizuka of every last flicker of happiness in her life, so much as to get bitten just to make Shizuka, to lose the one thing keeping her going, her dog Chappie. Shizuka’s dad basically abandoned her. Her mom is an escort and just neglects her, not bothering to even notice the obvious scribbles of unal alive yourself written on her bag by her classmates and just her disheveled appearance when coming home from school. But it’s not that she can’t see it. It’s more on the line of she doesn’t want to see it. The story actually starts a long time after the bullying must have began. So, we can assume Shizuka might have tried to ask for help, but the adults failed her and the school might be the most disgusting entity in the show. Her desk literally has hateful write-ups on it. Her appearance beckons help yet the teacher and school overlooks it. This is something especially realistic since most schools would rather maintain their reputation than crack down on bullying. But when I personally lost faith in the adults was when the police came over to Shizuka’s place and they saw everything. They saw signs of neglect and yet they didn’t bother with it. The show eliminate the possibility of picking a side because we get introduced into the cycle of hatred and abuse. When we see how Marina’s family is broken with her dad rather spending time and money on an escort being Shizuka’s mom than the well-being of his family and Marina’s mother pushing all the hate and frustration onto Marina abusing her. This doesn’t justify Marina’s actions, but it’s used to show us just how isolated Marina also feels as she passes on the pain to Shizuka, who without anyone to help her, does something no child should think of doing. Kakopi’s attempts at fixing this gets more and more convoluted as the story goes on with him accidentally ending Marina’s life with a happy gadget and Azuma, Shizuka’s classmate, who gets thrown into the mix, which I think might have been the most effective way to serve as a source of a parallel between the two characters, Shizuka and Marina. because Shizuka, who basically begins to get manipulative and take advantage of Ozuma’s feelings, even to the point of asking him to take the blame for what happened to Marina. Ozuma was my favorite character in the story. His entire story was my favorite part of the manga and a very unique take on an inferiority complex. Ozima’s mother basically exploited his longing for affection by demanding perfection from him and his brother, a product of her warped mindset as a doctor, an expectation which his brother Junior was able to meet. But not Azima. She would make promises to them that if they did well at school, they’d get her homemade pancakes, which I’ll assume is used as a metaphor for love in this case, which Ozma becomes obsessed with, but never really succeeds, and she eventually gives up on him, completely shattering his heart. This feeling of wanting to be loved and acknowledged is what Shizuka was able to effectively use against Ozma when manipulating him until his brother Junior, who is to put it lightly, the goat, helps bring Ozuma back into the light, get his little brother moving again after years of stagnation. By far, this was the best episode of the anime, and it really helped Inzuma’s overall character development and is the piece of the puzzle that sets Takobi on his path to breaking the cycle of pain. I really like how each of these characters, although having distinct personalities, their stories bounce off each other and presents us with the running theme of a cycle in the show without having to drag anything out. The anime translates the manga incredibly well. Many of the scenes and ideas being presented in the manga felt more raw and impactful in the anime. It’s being directed by the assistant director of Made in Abyss, which might be the reason why the uncomfortable and unsettling scenes hit harder than when I read the manga. This story shouldn’t be surprising to me. I’ve read the manga multiple times already, yet the anime managed to surpass whatever first impressions I had with the manga. The animation is insane with a fluid art style that matches the manga and occasionally cartoonish and picturebook artwork that matches the way the story is written, and the character models go crazy with fluidity on screen. There’s just several artistic and creative decisions they managed to use to elevate the story and visual ambiguity. I also like the random shots of Sakuga despite this being a psychological slice of life story. Reminds me of the Look Back movie. My favorite part of this adaptation would be how they perfectly portrayed isolation. In the streets, there’s barely any people. Really giving us insight into just how isolated the victims these children feel, how helpless they really are. Another thing that stands out in the adaptation is the music. If you can’t already tell, I’ve been using a few of the tracks in the video. There’s a lot of upbeat songs that mislead you and some ominous and dramatic scores that really make you feel things. There’s a lot that goes into this anime that makes it easily one of the best adaptations ever made. [Music] What exactly is Takopi’s original sin trying to say? Well, to understand the message behind Takopi, you would have to look from the beginning. The time travel gimmick was used to make Takopi think he can actually save Shizuka. And as naive and as noble as his intentions were, he couldn’t do it. In fact, you could say Takopi was the bad guy because everything kept escalating whenever he got involved in their lives. But at the end, he finally understood just how naive he was. He understood his happy gadgets and antics couldn’t possibly fix their lives. Especially when him, the third party, was just a naive alien without proper understanding of human nature. We see his character development finally shine through when Shizuka passes on her own pain to Takopi, spewing all her hatred and hopelessness onto him. Instead of responding negatively, the little happy and squeezed her arms and responded with pure affection, which was just a tearjerker scene. Takobi sacrifices his life in his last attempt to help Shizuka. He couldn’t fix anything himself, but what he did do was give both Marina and Shizuka each other. Someone to talk to, someone to help lift the burden. It’s not a happy gadget. Their lives weren’t fixed. As you can see by Marina’s scar at the last scene, but that’s life. Some things don’t change, and people can’t just erase trauma. But by talking and empathizing with each other, maybe you could overcome those emotions. With the idea behind this being that they could go on to become proper adults, I’ll agree them bonding over a doodle of Takopi wasn’t the best way to go about it, but it still worked and it matches the core themes of the story. The ending was bittersweet, but it also pushed the notion that pain can coexist with hope. We can at least all agree what to take away from this show would be Takopi was a hero and happiness comes from talking pe. Thanks for watching. Leave a like and subscribe for more content like this. I also upload shorts daily with recommendations. If you have a manga or anime you’d like me to talk about, you could use this comment section. I’ll try to be more consistent and hopefully I’ll see you next time. [Music] [Applause]

TAKOPI’S ORIGINAL SIN BROKE EVERYONE

Anime or Manga Title: Takopi’s Original Sin (Japanese: タコピーの原罪, Hepburn: Takopī no Genzai) is a Japanese web manga series written and illustrated by Taizan 5. It was published on Shueisha’s web platform Shōnen Jump+ from December 2021 to March 2022, with its chapters collected in two tankōbon volumes. An original net animation (ONA) adaptation produced by Enishiya and TBS Television was released from June to August 2025.

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#anime #manga #animememes #takopiinogenzai #takopi

Here’s an underrated anime to watch.
Similar anime/manga: oyasumi punpun, three days of happiness, boy’s abyss, erased, doraemon, made in abyss, look back.
Takopi’s original sin episode 1,2,3,4,5,6.
Bgm: Takopi’s Original Sin ost, Made in abyss.

It was also coveted by, trash taste, gigguk, kito senpai, theanimeman.

Time stamps.

Intro: (0:00)
The plot: (1:04)
The characters: (2:06)
The adaptation: (5:37)
The message: (6:46)

this masterpiece of an anime changed Anime forever

9 Comments

  1. This show is the Goat of this year for me
    This video really drives the beauty of the anime
    Thank you❤

  2. Yh Shizuka manipulating the poor boy was crazy
    I didn't even know if she was doing it on purpose or not

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