Takopii no Genzai Episode 1 Discussion

Mangaka Taizan 5 may had trouble with his axed manga of Ichinose-ke no Taizai a.k.a The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins, which barely lasted a year, Takopii no Genzai a.k.a Takopi's Original Sin is much more profound.

Ano's OP is such a sweet banger, what could possibly go wrong?

The Octopi of Takopi the Happian alien meeting the 4th Grader kid of Shizuka Kuze on the Earth (they refer to as Planet Happy), the alien seems happy, but Shizuka is otherwise quite depressed and doesn't seem happy to go to school. This is pretty evident when a group of students were proud in their effort to torment her, and as much as Takopi tries to be Doraemon and provide her some entertainment with the Happy Gadgets, it doesn't get any better for her. Even after she brings Takopi back home to meet her rather large pet dog Chappy, though with her mom out to "escort" people (a la prostitution) and without a father figure around. The purpose of Takopi on a mission to go to Earth and spread happiness around with his Happy Gadgets, he seems adamant to want to make Shizuka happy, and her smile confirms that.

The next day, however, Shizuka appears beaten up, and Takopi being in his usual happiness parade, provides her with the Reconciliation Ribbon to be used, him thinking that Shizuka would use it for good. But days go on, and with Shizuka nowhere to be seen, he goes to her house instead...to find her hanging on that same ribbon to self-suicided death, which is an instant realization that Takopi had broken a fundamental rule that the Happy Gadgets should be used under the supervision of a Happian. and not just entrusting it to aliens (i.e. humans) willy-nilly.

Thankfully, the Happy Camera allows time to rewind to the day the photo was taken on a Happy Paper, instantly bringing her back to life (a la Re:Zero parody of Return by Selfie), and him attaching to Shizuka to go to her school, is quite the scene to see her being chastized by her bullies. Thus, Takopi repeating events over and over again with none the wiser, improving Shizuka's school days that only earns more of the ire of her bully, Marina Kirarazaka. His interpretation of wanting both Shizuka and Marina to make up, he could not have been farther from the truth, and transforming into the likeness of Shizuka with his Transformation Palette, only reveal the true face of the bully herself to realize what the real human has been feeling all this while.

Still, Takopi persistent on the make-up plan between Shizuka and Marina, wants to help her out of trouble, but is desperately scared to do so. But what he does to call for help, with Azuma to stop the deed and his reassurance for her, that is the sum of the issue that she would allow others to interfere in her affair. Even after the reveal of what went down of the extra-marital affair between her mother and Marina's father, for Takopi to ulitmately not make Shizuka die (and rightfully so for Marina), is one utmost cruel plan, transferred down to the children themselves.

Tele's ED, after the episode, just feels so dark and solemn.

What a show that's filled with dualities all over, from the happy to the sad.

Dude... what the actual hell?

38 minute anime episode which is great but, in this sense, my god. Takopi gets found by Shizuka who is going through... a lot of things and he's trying to help her have the brightest smile ever. But that doesn't help that theres bullying in Shizuka's school. Every. Single. Day. And my god, does the bullying get bad. The bullying is so bad to the point where Shizuka does suicide with one of Takopi's gadgets. I had a feeling something terrible would happen but not that. Seeing Shizuka completely beat up made my heart sink. Marina is a terrible person. Why in the hell would you take out your anger on someone who's also going through troubles just like you? Yeah, I know that Marina is going through stuff but bullying, hitting and doing the most outrageous stuff towards someone who's Mom and Dad are always absent? I wish I could punch her, she deserves it so much. And the pen to the forehead? I WANT her to disappear. Abusing someone because YOU'RE going through something horrible should be a fricking crime. Who in their right mind is actually doing that to someone, especially in SCHOOL. And the teachers aren't doing CRAP. Like, theres writing on Shizukas' table saying "DIE" and you're not going to do anything about it? The hell man. I can't deal with this man, at least Takopi is there to make stuff better, I guess. But then again, Takopi keeps trying to make stuff go the positive way, sure, it works but not in THIS situation. This was only the first episode, how much worse will the bullying get?

5/5

Don't tell me that this whole title is basically a deconstruction of all those stories about overcoming toxicity with the power of friendship. Also, I don't know when the original manga came out, but this whole thing has huge dark social anime vibes from the 90s and 00s. Especially the use of sci-fi elements to open the characters' psychological problems.

@Luminova_ Oshi no Ko (I'll Never Forgive You for the Manga's Ending, Aka!) has done this with a number of other titles. But here, the very first episode hit bingo.

@phantomfandom Is the original manga a spiritual (parody) remake of Doraemon on Heroin?

@RobertBobert the original manga is actually very short it is 16 chapters as for when it began it was in 2021 until 2022

I just watched this without knowing anything about it so I was blindsided by how dark it got. My heart breaks for the MC, I'm gonna be so pissed if this doesn't end on a happy note