Doraemon is the childhood series of many people. It was a very sweet, very funny series, that when you stop to think about it for a minute, was quite rough. The characters were constantly beating each other up, the protagonist was obsessed with seeing his only friend naked, malicious deception was common, and even among friends it was common to ignore each other or for things to go wrong.
Of course, none of this had consequences beyond the episode itself. No one got hurt, no one’s feelings were affected, and after each episode everything returned to the status quo. But that makes us wonder, what if Doraemon had continuity? What if everything that was done to each other had more serious consequences? How would the story have been? Surely much shorter and somewhat more similar to The Original Sin of Takopi.
A dark series, but with an adorable protagonist
The premise is simple. Takopi, an adorably octopus-like alien, comes from Planet Happy and has traveled to Earth to spread happiness among the people he meets. The first person he encounters is Shizuka, a 9-year-old girl with whom he shares his time and his wonderful objects in an attempt to make her happy. Failing miserably time and time again.
Why? Because this is not Doraemon. Shizuka suffers bullying at school and has a complicated personal life, like Nobita, but the difference in degree and intensity between them is notable. Shizuka is beaten, robbed, and her things are broken, and it has practically become a sport to make her life as miserable as possible. Her only joy is her dog, Chappy, as she barely sees her mother, who works as an escort, and he is the only memory left by her father before he abandoned them.
The story of Takopi’s Original Sin is quite a bit harsher than that of Doraemon. And right from its first episode, it has some grim moments. It starts with a warning about suicide and might need a couple more warnings, because the episode holds nothing back. And that’s why it works.
Takopi is not Doraemon and we love it precisely for that
Where in Doraemon the consequences were nonexistent and from there humor was born, in Takopi’s Original Sin everything they do has consequences and from there drama is born. Takopi is extremely innocent and does not understand humans or their way of relating. He comes from a planet where the greatest possible conflict is eating someone else’s flan and finds the levels of violence and bad intentions that can occur on Earth inconceivable. This gives rise to drama, but also comedy, in this series: from Takopi misinterpreting situations.
Takopi does everything to make Shizuka happy. That is his ultimate motivation and it generates the great mysteries of the plot. Why is he there? Is there a solution to this problem? Can an alien who does not understand conflicts at all solve an extremely serious conflict that even humans specialized in doing so would have trouble addressing? His sweetness, optimism, and innocence are what make the series interesting. It invites us to think that there is something behind it.
Although only one episode has been released so far, Takopi’s Original Sin manages with its premiere to invite us to think that we are facing a series with great potential. If you want to find out, the first episode is available on Crunchyroll. But we warn you: Takopi is not Doraemon and Shizuka is not Nobita. And that’s why it could be one of those animes you shouldn’t miss for anything in the world.
