There are some shows out there that are just inherently difficult to recommend to people. This isn't because the media in particular is bad or poorly written, rather it's because the journey that the media puts you on is far from a happy one. How do you recommend media that is so soaked in tragedy, shock value and inherently horrific subject matter? In a world where a lot of people see media like anime as a form of escapism, I completely understand never wanting to touch a show like Takopi's Original Sin, but I will also never subscribe to the idea that media like this should not exist. Much like how the children in this show have to deal with situations far beyond what anybody should reasonably have to confront, sometimes it's worth exploring those difficult real issues in a safe environment as a viewer so as to avoid those types of situations in the real world.

Don't let the cute alien mascot fool you like it did me when I first read the original manga that this series is based off of. This is not a story for the faint of heart. Takopi's Original Sin is a story that deals with issues like bullying, suicide, child neglect, abuse and child murder.There will be a lot of moments throughout these six episodes that will practically flash bang you with some of the most realistic gruesome imagery I have seen in quite some time. The way that the series is directed utilizes hard cuts and sharp scene transitions in order to really hammer home just how upsetting situations are. This is a series that prides itself on its juxtaposition, viewing things through the lens of a simple alien mascot character as it gets exposed to some of the worst situations that humanity has to offer. The whole show feels like it's supposed to be a harsh reality check where a pure creature slowly realizes that the world does not follow suit. It shows that something as simple and straightforward as trying to make other people happy is a far more difficult goal than you could ever imagine.

I appreciate the fact that Takopi's Original Sin isn't just violence porn, even though it could very easily slip into it from time to time. Given the sheer amount of abuse that is on display, there could be minutes at a time where you are just feeling overwhelmingly uncomfortable. You will see a little girl hang herself, you will see people get beat and the sanity of the characters deteriorate in real time. There are even some moments where I had to pause the show and take a step away from my desk for a minute just to regain my bearings. But that's how invested I was in the series. It's like watching a train crash: you know it's a tragedy and you want to look away, but you keep coming back to it because you want to make sure that everybody involved in the crash gets out of that situation. Whether it's the quirky alien or are two primary grade school leads, there comes a point where I just wanted to reach into the screen and give everyone a hug to tell them that everything was going to be OK while also accepting the reality that not much would change even if I could.

Our main characters are just grade schoolers, but despite being in a pretty small and isolated town, what they go through is unfortunately commonplace. There's this theme that the screwed up actions of parents can inadvertently spill over onto the children that they're supposed to look after. The reputation of a mother who's a hostess can cause their child to be seen as a parasite and abuse in a broken family can warp a person's perception of another. Violence compounds more violence, and the cycle keeps going. Being exposed to all these atrocities through an innocent, derpy little mascot character who barely understands things beyond the level of a five year old is appropriately chilling. The children that it's trying to help unfortunately are used to the abuse, but Takopi is experiencing it all for the first time. It wants to help, but its lack of knowledge of the situation makes it difficult.

Takopi wants to help these girls become friends and tries a bunch of wacky contraptions that wouldn't be too out of place in a more typical comedic anime, like a magical ribbon and a time traveling camera, but the conventions of wacky anime are barely able to put a dent in cold, hard reality. This is something that is reflected in the presentation as well. We get really cute and happy mascot music that feels like something right out of a Saturday morning magical girls show whenever Takopi is on screen. Its voice acting is delightfully exaggerated to the point of originally sounding annoying, and its round body contrasts well with everything else on earth. The human characters are a lot more angular and dirty. Scuff marks cover their entire bodies in order to reflect the abuse that they have dealt with, and the color palette is a lot muddier. The best parts of the show are when the aesthetics are able to effectively crossover during those brief moments of happiness where it seems like everything is just able to work out. But we also get moments of silence. We get moments where the cicadas are screaming in the background as the harsh reality of something horrific is happening on screen. This legitimately creates an environment where it's almost impossible to relax while watching the show.

It's a very chilling and cynical structure, because even something as narratively broken as literal time travel can't break the cycle of abuse. It's almost like this anime is anti-escapism, because even when one problem is able to be solved or a traumatic outcome is avoided, another one follows suit. There's a slow escalation of things never getting better, as if the tragedy of these grade schoolers is a fixed point in time that can never be undone, no matter what. Which unfortunately brings us to the ending of the show, which is undoubtedly a sticking point. When you spend almost six whole episodes building up an impossible scenario, how do you end in a way that justifies everything that happened?

I won't go so far to say that the ending invalidates everything and I will not give spoilers with regards to how all these issues get resolved. Thematically I think it works, showcasing that life sucks but there's always an opportunity for things to get better, especially when you're in the company of other people that genuinely understand you. The ironic thing about tragedy is that it can arguably bring people together more than a happy memory. I can see what the show is saying at the end, and it was very emotionally effective, but from a narrative perspective, it was very unsatisfying. In some ways I felt like things were cut short a little bit sooner than they should have been, or there should've been a stronger elaboration on what happened during the final fifteen minutes that deviated everything from specific outcomes.

I do feel that if the ending of the show was stronger and better fleshed out, this would be a much stronger recommendation from me personally. There is a certain catharsis in watching shows like this in that, walking through horrific tragedies or experiencing them from different perspectives can lead to a strong emotional catharsis. Nobody wants to feel horrible, especially when the art itself almost seems to be going the route of hammering over your head that some tragedies just can't be avoided. However, there is a certain comfort in watching Takopi try desperately to help just two girls who are clearly going through things that will affect them for the rest of their lives. The tragedy is visceral, but that only stronger enforces this idea that we as people need to do our best to be there for others. We might not understand exactly what they're going through or always have the solution, but if there's one thing that this show definitely hammers home, it's that being there can sometimes be better than leaving those people alone. If you have a stomach for it and know what you're getting into, then I think this can be a show that might ironically feel uplifting and special in a sea of depressing tragedy.