Kara Dennison
June 30, 2025 
The anime adaptation of Taizan 5’s Takopi’s Original Sin got an early start this summer, airing the first of its six episodes last week. This episode begins with a warning, and not without reason. Within this very first episode, we see the grim inciting incident that leads adorable alien Takopi on a time-looping mission to cheer up young human Shizuka.
If you’re not in the mood for a show that hits like a ton of bricks, there’s no shame in putting this one off for later. But the dark plot and harsh realities of this first episode relay important insights about depression, abuse, and the desire to help. And as the series progresses, Takopi will have to learn some big lessons about intervening in the lives of others.
Toxic Positivity
If you’ve ever dealt with depression, grief, or any other such heavy weight, you’ll know all too well what a push toward positivity accomplishes. The Internet, and well-meaning people around us, are full of advice. Go for a walk. Talk things out. Eat better, exercise, and get some sleep. And, “best” of all, just try having a positive outlook. Takopi’s Original Sin binds all this up into one adorable octopus mascot.
See, Takopi is a Happian: an alien whose entire role is to help people find happiness. But he meets Shizuka, for who happiness is a seemingly impossible feat. Breaking one small rule leads Shizuka to end her own life, so weighty are her struggles. Fortunately, Takopi has the ability to go back in time and fix things. But his version of “fixing” is aggressively unhelpful. Well-meaning? Sure. But, as with many people who offer the advice above, it is ineffective as it comes from a lack of experience with adversity.
You Can’t Force Happiness
Everyone’s idea of happiness is different: a truth that echoes throughout Takopi’s Original Sin. For Takopi, happiness is being at peace with the people in our life, forming bonds, and having no difficulties whatsoever. But not everyone has that luxury. For Shizuka, whose life is hellish due to bullying she can’t escape, happiness is the ability to come home to her beloved dog Chappy. Any attempts to step outside the norm at school bring the world crashing down.
As we’ll discover as the series progresses, there is hope to be had. But digging up that hope and polishing it up requires a degree of insight that Takopi doesn’t currently possess. Even the most well-meaning good Samaritan can’t force a fix. First, one has to step back, realize your opinions aren’t the be-all and end-all, and facilitate rather than force change.
Hurt People Hurt People
As episode 1 of Takopi’s Original Sin comes to a close, we get more insight into Shizuka’s bully, Marina. This popular, cruel girl is not above extreme physical violence when teachers are looking the other way. But as we see in the episode’s final moments, there’s a reason for this at home. Does it excuse Marina assaulting a classmate? Of course not. But it certainly explains it.
Taizan 5 would explore this cycle of abuse in the 2022 manga The Ichinose Family’s Deadly Sins. While this series examined the psychology of a family on the edge and their inability to stabilize, Takopi zooms in on individual parent/child relationships. Learning how to weather these relationships will, ultimately, be the key to Shizuka and her classmates finding hope.
Takopi’s Original Sin is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
