Takopi's Original Sin

Episode 1: 5/5 perfect episode of television. deeply emotional and so viscerally good. - the animation and art style is just gorgeous, it makes the low frame rate come off as so fluid and the character designs are amazing too. - some of the imagery is just so striking, in the hanging scene, you get every indication about what is about to be shown yet the cut to the wide shot is still so shocking. - same with the fight scene, i didnt expect it to be that brutal. the pen part is genuinely horrifying its all amazing. - thematically its already covered the failings of superficial depression treatments that cure the symptoms but not the systems. i predict in the next few episodes itll be all about the societal systems and everyones personal lives that lead to cases like shizuka. - sometimes takopi can get a little bit annoying but i think it creates a really striking contrast with shizuka, particularly when shizuka is hiding in the bathroom, the differences in the way they're animated and lit is just done really well. - really liked the teasing of Marina's story and excited to see more of that as well as Azuma's story. - music is also used great here, good soundtrack choices and theyre mixed great. - love a time travel story Episode 2: 4.5/5 another brutal episode. - i can see how this could be interpreted as kind of misery porn but i honestly dont think the suffering is stretched that badly. i think itll be less misery porn later too cause i think the story is transitioning to be about how to recover and fix shizukas situation. - the highlight of the episode for me is the very ending. not only is marinas death just gorey and good but i think shizukas reaction to it is really interesting for her character. - cause her celebration directly tells us that she is straight up not a good person, but just like marina, its all due to circumstance and feelings that she as a child cannot properly process. - so it changes the story from misery porn of Shizuka being beaten over and over again into a more complex story about broken people. - the bit with Chappy is kinda vile though, insane emotional manipulation to have a child AND a dog suffering. - also the callbacks/reuse of Shizuka's suicide is striking. - brvtal stuff - also lmao azuma has got the most obvious case of a woman va'ing a little boy ever Episode 3: 4/5 weaker episode for me. - the ending is masterful. seeing takopi, who up till this point is just a beacon of happiness and positivity finally breakdown is powerful as hell. it works especially well with the flashbacks of marina's life which really remind you that. yeah she was evil and had an abusive family but its impossible to reduce her life to that. showing a murder victims entire life is one of my favourite literary things. - may azuma's love never find me. - aw takopi-marina and shizuka are so cute. - still, i see this episode as more filler. just setting up the plot machinations for the future. - the scene where takopi-marina proudly exclaims she'll live with her dad is insane and so uncomfortable (good way) lol - not sure i fully understand azuma's arc, the motivations seem a little messy to me, but it seems like a pretty cookie cutter "not as good as sibling" story so /shrug Episode 4: 4.5/5 such a beautiful episode. - the way the shaky cam is used throughout is so good. in the pancake sequence especially its so uneasy. - azuma's whole breakdown is so telling. the detail of him loving Shizuka so much because of an Oedipus complex is very interesting. - it also further morally greys Shizuka's character by making her outright manipulative towards Azuma which adds more depth to her. - the trippy psychedelic imagery before Azuma's confession to his brother is pretty cool. - but my favourite part is still his big catharsis with his brother - its just really beautiful and sweet. junya's just a good guy. Episode 5: 4.5/5 ok so i got a littleeee bit confused. - ok first, disregard the rest of the show, the story here itself about 2022 Marina is beautiful. - its the most we see of her mother (both in screentime and in... face) which is really interesting. - the production value on Marina and her mother's fight is insane by the way, the way the blood is animated and the way the sunlight lights the scene. its also so excellently intercut with 2022 shizuka and azuma, such an insane juxtaposition. - the lighting on the scene after Marina has killed her mother too. also the final shot of Marina with the bottle to her head, about to kill herself is insanely haunting. just wild shot composition. - it really makes me curious about 2022 shizuka's story though. - anyways this episode adds just an insane amount of depth and interesting to marina. really a huge what if about her character, just terrific. - also wow dad reveal Episode 6: 4/5 a sweet little finale to an amazing show. - shizukas final breakdown at takopi is great. it really shows the tragedy that has unfolded and the failure of Takopi's all-or-nothing positivity approach. also "what was i supposed to do then" is just a really great refrain. - ultimately we see that shizuka does it purely out of spur-of-the-moment anger when we get the really sweet scene where takopi sacrifices itself and shizuka begs for it to stay. - personally, i choose to believe in A Good Place-like position for Takopi. he is dead but he lives on as the little voice in Shizuka, Marina and Azuma's heads guiding them towards a better life. - overall, this is an amazing, amazing show. - i was wrong, it doesn't deal with societal factors towards trauma - i think it deals primarily with the cycle of abuse and harm - obviously toxic positivity is in there but the cycle of abuse is most relevant to shizuka and marina. - we see this through both their lives as well as their interactions with each other. - shizuka is the way she is because of her lack of parental figures and marina is constantly abused by her parents - thus, they take it out on each other and yet nothing changes. - really really cool stuff, stellar production in this one too.