First Watch

Setting aside the very obvious beautiful animation and soundtrack as well as character design. Takopi's Original Sin stood out most to me because of it's a coming of age story through anything BUT it's main protagonists who are usually the subjects of such genre. Exploration of pain and love and feelings or what is right and wrong, is explored through the eyes of this foreign alien rather than the elementary kids before it. Experiencing pain at firsthand and not understanding why they are experiencing it. "Why can't we all be happy?" or, "Why can't we all just be good people?" Are both things Takopi is repeating over and over again. It breaks this stigma of children lacking the capabilities to understand these complex "adult-like issues."

Takopi is a walking stereotype of what people or society believe children are only capable of, innocence and purity and when contrasted with the rawness and tragic events of what the children in the show are faced with, it's really apparent. It's so in your face it makes you want to cry. Scenes like when Takopi is in Shizuka's body and can't even process the pain or the actions or what would make Marina do something like that in the first place, makes you experience that confusion and betrayal at firsthand. As if you were also an innocent child. Takopi very obviously isn't a very reliable narrator but still I believe that the story taking place in the lens of this character is so refreshing and wonderful. I think it's so cool. Some of my favourite heartbreaking scenes, and some of the ones I cried most about, are the ones when Takopi is just too afraid to do anything. Too afraid to help, or too afraid to fight back because it just simply cannot grasp these complex emotions of revenge and grief and has the simplistic mindset of, good people and bad people. And it takes only until Azuma tells it that those emotions are stupid and people are more complex than that. Sure you could say it's because Azuma is quite intelligent to know that but it's also quite tragic for a fourth grader to understand the harsh world like that. To be teaching someone else. Experiencing abuse and trauma teaches someone really quickly that people are more than good or bad, this anime in it's entirety shows that there is grey.

These isn't nearly the full extent on what I could even begin to write about this anime but I felt it was so beautiful I had to write a few things down while my mind was still fresh out of episode 6. I LOVE ANO!!!! I will probably rewatch it because it's one of those shows where I personally believe you need to watch it twice but ya. Marina-chan you're way too cool I was rooting for u! Really beautiful the animation was so cool!