Ronit J

Takopi’s Original Sin (2025) Synopsis:

Takopi travels from his home of Happy Planet to spread happiness on Earth, but meets the unsmiling Shizuka. Her school friends and home life are causing her somber expression and pure hearted Takopi is determined to change things.

Takopi’s Original Sin (2025) Review:

I had just finished Solo Leveling, and was browsing through what I can watch next. I saw Takopi’s Original Sin rated very highly, with only 6 episodes planned. Plus, I saw a few reels and posts talking about how this is the best anime of the year. A little more research would probably have better prepared me for the tapestry of torment that unleashes within the first episode itself.

The first episode opens with a forlorn looking 9-year-old girl named Shizuka (voiced by Reina Ueda) as she discovers Nueinukf/Takopi. The alien is a Happian from the Happy Planet, whose mission is to spread Happiness across the universe. However, Shizuka doesn’t even smile despite all of Takopi’s many efforts. She’s a girl who’s being bullied constantly in school, beaten up, and is in depression owing to her father leaving her mother.

That one statement doesn’t even scratch the surface of everything that’s wrong in Shizuka’s life. Or for that matter, the complex web of personal suffering that results in interpersonal conflicts among the characters of this anime. I genuinely don’t remember feeling this heartbroken and sad since watching BoJack Horseman. But even that pales in comparison to the pathos I felt watching just the first episode.

A Patchwork Quilt of Pathos

Shizuka comes from a broken home. Her mother works as an escort, and her father isn’t in the picture. Her only solace is Chappy, their family dog. Even in school, she has no friends. Marina (voiced by Konomi Kohara) constantly bullies Shizuka, beating her up, breaking and trashing her belongings, and ridiculing her to the point of psychological torment. In the very first episode, after a particularly bad bout of bullying—one where Chappy is taken away and supposedly put down—Shizuka uses one of Takopi’s gadgests to commit suicide. Luckily, Takopi has a gadget that lets it go back in time, starting a series of time loops that it uses to constantly try and make life better for Shizuka.

As the stories progress, we learn that not all is black and white. Marina’s father is cheating on her mother with an escort, Shizuka’s mother. Marina’s mother takes out her frustration and anger on Marina, yet calling her the only person to be on her side. This compels Marina to ‘help out’ her mother by tormenting Shizuka and constantly asking her to die. Sadly, in one series of loops, Takopi attempts to stop Marina, only to end up killing her by accident. Even its device breaks, preventing them from reversing time. That kickstarts a whole different series of conflicts, each just as heartbreaking as the original.

If that’s not enough, there’s also Azuma Naoki (voiced by Anna Nagase). He’s a top student who feels the need to protect Shizuka because of his own familial issues. The way these issues blend among characters to create this intensely painful web of interpersonal connections is equal parts genius and sadistic. The fact that all this is happening with children only makes it harder to accept.

Why Aesthetics Matter

What makes the show all the more stomach churning is Takopi’s innocence and relentless positivity. It has no idea of the pain Shizuka or any of the other characters are going through. Plus, Takopi is so absurdly cartoonish and childish in its design that the realistic elements of mental health, depression, and bullying hit harder than they would if this were presented as a dark and bleak anime like Grave of the Fireflies.

Visually, Takopi’s Original Sin is a masterpiece. The hand drawn animation evokes the carefree whimsical atmosphere of children’s shows. Yet, when the lighting and music switch to darker tones, we see these characters face unfair challenges that bring them down and rub their noses in the proverbial ground of adult society. Shizuka and Marina have done nothing, yet their parents indirectly enlist them in a proxy war that no one knows is being fought. Azuma is an innocent who gets dragged into the mix only because of his compulsion to protect Shizuka, a side effect of his mother’s Tiger Parenting that has left him craving approval and affection.

Takopi’s Original Sin balances these extremes of mood and treatment with excellence. It even breaks out into alternate media treatments when scenes demand it, rightfully unsettling the viewer. While the story alone is full of pain, the presentation elevates that pain to the point of suffering. And that—purely from an artistic stand point—was magnificent. The anime would have been great even with a generic treatment, but the aesthetics raise it to the status of a masterpiece.

Takopi’s Original Sin (2025) Ending Explained

Takopi—just as Shizuka is going to kill it—remembers that it had originally come to Earth a few years in the future. It met Marina and learned of her familial abuse. Takopi came to the conclusion that to make Marina happy, it needs to kill Shizuka. However, in attempting to return back in time, it hits the Happian Matriarch (a learned abusive pattern after being slapped constantly by Marina). Takopi returns to the past, but also loses its memories, which is what kickstarted the series in the first place.

In the present, Shizuka doesn’t kill Takopi. It returns to its original spot and encounters Naoki. Naoki has confessed to his parents, resulting in many family problems. Yet, he thanks Takopi for the few happy moments it gave him. Finally, he returns Takopi’s Happy Camera to it. Takopi then meets Shizuka again, endures her abuse, all the while apologising for its failure in making her happy. Shizuka breaks down and opens up her heart, confessing all her feelings. In a final attempt, Takopi uses its life force to power the Happy Camera one last time and turn back time to the point of that first photo.

The timeline continues again, minus Takopi. Yet, Takopi’s sacrifice and final thoughts leave impressions on the three kids. While the bullying still continues, Shizuka and Marina spot a drawing of Takopi, which gives them both pause. That along with vague flashes of Takopi’s sacrifice, the two girls break down and open up to each other.

Six years later, we see that the two are best friends. While their families are still broken and abusive, the two have found a healthier relationship with each other, giving them the space to talk and heal, breaking away from the cycles of abuse.

Takopi’s Original Sin (2025) Worth Watching?

Yes. But, with caveats.

If you’re the kind of person who has trouble sleeping after watching the likes of BoJack Horseman or Grave of the Fireflies, stay as far away as possible from Takopi. I genuinely had to take breaks in between episodes because of how heartbreaking and painful some of the things are in this show. Pathos is not a word I’d associate with any kid’s stories, except Grave of the Fireflies. But, Takopi’s Original Sin dethrones that anime as the saddest, bleakest, most heartbreaking thing I’ve watched in my life. Hell, this hurt me profoundly more than BoJack Horseman even. Yes, the end is arguably a happy one, but still, the journey is full of torment.

However, if you can stomach the realistic torment and turmoil of our kid characters, this is most certainly a gold standard for anime.

I’ll admit, I was a tad underwhelmed with the ending. The resolution felt a little too easy, given the scale and seriousness of the conflict. Yet, the more I think about it, the more apt it seems. After all, the only way to break abusive patterns is to not indulge in instinct, but in dialogue. And Takopi’s sacrifice paves the way for just that, leaving both characters relatively happier. Meaning, Takopi—in death—achieves its goal.

An extra episode exploring the healing would make the ending feel a little less abrupt. Still, I am happy with how this anime has turned out, and will recommend it to everyone who can stomach such a story with all its themes.

Will There Be A Season 2?

Probably not. The anime is based on the web manga, which ran for 2 volumes. It adapts the full story in its 6-episode run. And honestly, the story wrapped up nicely, if not a bit bittersweet. We don’t need a second season, or even a spin off. The beauty of this anime will be in the fact that it’s only 6 episodes.

In Conclusion:

Takopi’s Original Sin is one of the most moving, heartbreaking, and stomach churning animes I’ve ever watched. This moved—and disturbed—me as much as BoJack Horseman. This soul crushing story of Shizuka, Takopi, Azuma and Marina will stay with me for life.

Also check out:

• Sister Midnight (2024) | Film Review
• Island of the Dying Goddess

What did you think of Takopi’s Original Sin (2025)? Let me know in the comments below! Any other manga, anime, series, book, or movie you’d like me to review? Let me know your recommendations, and I’ll be sure to check them out.

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Until next time!