The summer anime lineup for the giant streaming platform Crunchyroll looks strong. While fans have every reason to be excited about returning titles this season, one dark anime is quietly stealing the spotlight. Takopi’s Original Sin, based on the manga of the same name by Taizan 5, delivers a disturbing narrative centered around elementary school children, tackling themes of bullying, depression, and violence. The first two episodes offered a glimpse into the unsettling tone of the series. Takopi, the titular protagonist and an alien being, possesses a gadget that allows him to reverse time and undo events. However, the second episode introduces a twist that renders this ability useless.
Takopi unintentionally kills Marina, the girl who had been bullying Shizuka, the child Takopi sought to protect, by striking her with the time-travel gadget. The weight of this act intensifies when it’s revealed that the gadget is now broken, making the event irreversible. This moment sets the stage for the true direction of the series, and fans were eager to see how Takopi would respond to such a tragic mistake. However, the latest episode pushes the narrative further, as the main cast begins to follow an even darker and more horrifying path.
Takopi’s Original Sin Keeps Getting Darker
Takopi’s Original Sin Episode 3, titled “Takopi’s Confession,” picks up immediately after the previous episode, with Takopi and Shizuka fleeing the scene where Marina lies dead. However, Azuma, a fellow classmate, discovers them at the site of the crime. A bookworm by nature, Azuma has read about what happens to children who commit such acts and warns Shizuka that she could be sent to juvenile detention, as no one would believe her claim that an alien was responsible for Marina’s death. Frightened by this, Shizuka pleads for his help, and Azuma agrees, influenced by his crush on her. Using one of Takopi’s gadgets, Azuma helps conceal Marina’s body inside the device and bury it underground.
Azuma and Shizuka even suggest that Takopi assume Marina’s place to cover up the incident, a request the alien fulfills without hesitation, as his only wish is to make Shizuka happy. While the act of covering up a murder is horrifying on its own, the fact that children are the ones carrying it out adds a deeply unsettling layer to the story. This contrast, innocence paired with such a grim act, makes the events all the more disturbing, leaving viewers questioning how and why these children could be driven to such extremes. Fortunately, to comprehend this, the series has already laid the groundwork for each character, and a clear pattern is emerging among them.
All three children have been shaped by their troubled family lives. Shizuka and Marina’s parents have been largely neglectful, preoccupied with their own issues, while the latest episode shows Azuma’s mother pressuring him to be perfect, demanding perfect scores, and refusing to treat his almost perfect scores. These emotional burdens, left unspoken, repressed, or ignored, may be what ultimately drove them toward such dark actions. Takopi’s Original Sin continues to excel at portraying the darker side of human emotion, and with three more episodes to go, the series shows no sign of slowing down. As Takopi and Azuma’s willingness to help Shizuka deepens, they may likely cross yet another sinister line, especially now that Marina’s body has been found.
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