If you didnt look at this page as it was loading, you might have missed a cool animation I made. You should be careful next time, promise?

While watching the show, I felt like I had to write down my thoughts in Obsidian. Some episodes were so shocking that I couldn't pause to reflect, so I just had to keep watching. After finishing all 6 episodes (roughly movie-length), I rewatched the series again, to write about the episodes I'd initially skipped.

If you ever paid attention to the scrollbar in your browser, you might have noticed that it gets smaller, based on the amount of content on the page. Which is to say - I ended up writing quite a bit lol.

Why?

It's one of those shows that really made me feel things. I could never even once successfully predict how it would go (which after watching a lot of anime, feels like a breath of fresh air).

I also think the world would be a better place if more people were to watch this anime. Now all that is left is for me to somehow convince you to give it a try. Easy, right?

The only problem with this show is that the less you know about it, the better it gets. (Which in a sense is also a lie, because I rewatched it like three times while writing this blog). So if you still haven't watched the show, but at any point, I somehow manage to pique your curiosity, go and watch the whole thing, and then read this blog, and thank me later.

This anime by itself doesn't really hide the fact that it's heavy af. So maybe the fact that some people would just disregard it as a "cutesy children show" is not neccessarily a bad thing. It gives a lot of subtle hints just from the visuals. If you look at the faces of the characters, they look quite unusual. Your subconcious already perfectly knows why, but you might need to take another look at the faces and maybe try covering half of the character's face with your hand, to really comprehend what they've done. Also despite being heavy, (sometimes way too heavy) you will have to take my word for it, that it will be worth it in the end, even if it's hard to watch.

For me personally, just mentioning that this anime has a "psychological" genre in it, was enough to sell it lol. There are no flashy fights here, no over-the-top action, instead, there is dialogue and sometimes nothing, but the silence, the scene, and your thoughts.

Another important reason for writing all of this is that I am stupid. There is a lot of thought that goes into making an anime, crafting the world and the characters, and most of the time, I don't think I can understand even 1% of what's going on, especially on my first watch. So by spending more time interacting and thinking about it, I would be able to better appreciate and understand it, and maybe learn a couple of new things about the show and about myself. Like, have you ever thought about why you like the things you like? I think it's really cool to be able to understand yourself better, or get better at understanding other people or anime characters.

If it wasn't obvious enough, from now on I will spoil everything and anything about this show, and I don't think it makes a lot of sense to read all of that unless you've seen the show.

That was all that I was going to write for the intro, but I guess I should also spoil that the show starts with a suicide warning (actually, 2 warnings).

As they say, prepare for trouble and make it double.

I'll go through my thoughts and initial reactions about each episode and then some overall thoughts.

Episode 1: To You in 2016

With hindsight in mind, the deteriorating logo with splashes of red foreshadowing is 10/10. It's also so cool, I have decided to recreate it from scratch, as you have seen when you opened this blog (not a video btw, it's an actual animation).

Also the cutesy-ass opening baits you into thinking everything is going to be alright LOL

Siderant about people skipping openings. It only makes sense to skip them if they serve no purpose to the anime, but in this case, by being super cutesy, it tricks your brain in a good way and adds to the contrast, thus enhancing the viewing experience.

TL;DR is DON'T SKIP THIS OPENING FFS.

I remember that the first time I heard Takopi, I felt like he was SO ANNOYING.

Also now that I think about it, from the way the Nueinukfasdasd Takopi first describes and thinks about Shizuka-chan it almost sounds like he fell for her. But maybe it's just his general attitude to always assume good things about other people.

Okay, nvm, just look at his face LOL

Half of the first episode is Takopi showing off magic gadgets to Shizuka and thinking that they'll surely make her happy, while misunderstanding every single social siutation that is happening, by interpreting everything in a happian way. Which continiously makes you angrier, as you start to slowly catch on as to what's actually happening.

One of the first real jabs of the episode starts here:

And then the cross hits you, because for the first time you see the kanji that are written on her backpack (death, garbage, ... etc). This show is so awesome, because all of the real "haymakers" are in the quiet moments, like this one.

And then Takopi makes you even angrier, because he still has no clue what's going on lol.

Visual storytelling is so powerful. Just in this image alone, it makes you even angrier than you already are, amplifying Shizuka's suffering that much more in your brain.

Oh my god, I have just realized that Chappy - Shizuka's dog is pronounced as "Chappi", so it's also ~pi ending LOL I think if you rewatch this show enough times, you will also start saying pi all the time, pi.

Chappy is literally the only thing that makes Shizuka happy.

If the previous two-punch combination made you sort of realize what was happening, now that you actually get to see it.

And right as the music stops and the cicadas start singing, and you witness this:

My heart SANK when I saw it. I guess you are somewhat prepared for this, but it still hits you like an isekai truck.

And then they show her holding a collar. Truth be told, when I first saw it, I didn't immediately connect the dots.

You KNOW something is wrong now, but I was too shocked to process it at the time. You just don't want to believe that something is coming, right at that moment, you turn into a small, silly Takopi and hope everything is alright, pretending that maybe things will be fine.

Also I must say, that this anime is so Japanese (I know, I know), because tbh the Happian-gadget rules are ON point. Japanese people live and abide by the rules, and this anime shows you what happens when you fuck around and violate the rules, and give a sad girl an infinitely stretching ribbon without supervision.

Then comes the time skip where Shizuka doesn't come to play anymore. Worried yet? You slowly begin to realize that all of your nightmares are coming to life.

Seeing the empty dog booth, my brain was finally able to put all the dots together, and this idle scene made my blood run cold.

After you get hit by the scene.

I was sitting and literally crying, while retarded Takopi is trying to put 2+2 together. When Takopi finally gets it too...hits you even harder.

Before you even get to see anything, the cicadas' cries get intertwined with the creaking of the rope. When Shizuka finally falls from the ceiling, the incredibly loud cicadas become silent. This kind of contrast in the music makes the whole thing a billion times more impactful.

It is really cool how sometimes to make stuff better, you are not supposed to add more to it, but rather remove things from it. Someone's first intention for this moment might have been to make some really sad music for the OST and it would be dead wrong. The silence here speaks volumes more than any OST ever would.

After rewatching it one more time, unsurprisingly, there was an OST playing, but I think before it began, the silence lingered for about eight seconds, which to me felt like minutes. (As a side note, rewatching these scenes doesn't get any easier, even though you already know what happens)

The dog booth scene is literally the best kind of storytelling. Just enough clues and hints leading up to this point, and it's the best kind of horror, because all of it happens in your brain. You can't even begin to imagine what has happened to Chappy or how that scene would have looked like. Your imagination creates the heaviest hitting blow possible.

I am at a loss for words... every show should take notes from this anime.

Even though magic gadgets can't bring people back from the dead, they can conveniently rewind time. So Takopi saves the day and decides that he needs to learn more about Shizuka.

After Takopi prescribed so many wrong reasons as to why Shizuka had died, it was so funny for him to finally say: "Are you and Marina-chan fighting?" LOL

It was a cool detail that Shuzika's eye had pink marks to indicate that it was Takopi instead.

I thought it wouldn't be so bad for him to get beaten some sense into him, but this was horrible and you really feel for him. When Marina took out her pen and the screen turned black right when the tip of the pen reached Takopi's eye... You know for a fact that Marina didn't stop. I am almost certain she pierced it. I can barely even begin to imagine how terrible it must have felt.

Even Badeni from "Orb: On the Movements of the Earth" anime said something along the lines of "Nobody has to go through the experience losing eye sight" ... it's just simply too much. Obviously he rewinds after that, but the psychological damage has been done. When he thinks about going to see Marina once more, bro literally gets PTSD. Poor tako...

However, this was the moment you and I did a big mistake. We thought that Marina was a scary bitch.

I didn't realize it at the time, but Takopi actually got ahead of me. He was now asking himself, "Why does Marina-chan do what she does-pi?". I was stuck with "cuz she's a bitch" and Takopi was now way smarter than I am, because he continued to try to understand while I lazily gave up.

We then get a scene of Azuma-kun trying to help Shizuka-chan, but she tells him that nothing is going to change and he understands it too. As someone who has been in a somewhat similar situation as Azuma-kun here, all I can say is wakarimasu. I didn't have the answer at the time, nor do I do now, but the feeling is relatable.

Next comes the scene with Marina's mom, which completely destroys me. It's like a literal slap in the face. The carelessness of thinking that somebody could be this cruel without having to go through an even worse hell. I really fucking love this show. You can see it in her eyes - that she is out for blood. Even if you don't know it yet, subconsciously you do.

The ending theme is just 20/10, it fits the show so well. Soothing and slow, giving you the time to take it all in.

I have to say this was one of the best first episodes that I have ever seen. On par with things like Oshi no ko , Made in Abyss , Promised neverland or The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in Broadcast order.

Unlike the first episode, this one is a normal length, but to me, it felt like it was longer than the first one.

Once again, it started with a perfect bait of: Marina is not even angry anymore, maybe everything is going to be fine. I think if you listen to enough of Takopi's narration, you might become a happian yourself.

Shizuka opens up to Takopi about the situation with her dad and how her only wish didn't come true, and thus she comes to the conclusion that there is no magic or a god.

Takopi remembers that the loop's bad ending is approaching, and now FINALLY starts wondering wtf happened to Chappy in the previous loops.

The next sequence, however, was utterly SHAMELESS.

Takopi says: Chappi wa ...

Camera transitions from the ground, up to the Shizuka sitting on her favorite pipes place, while blowing a strong gust of air into our ears.

And then after that he finishes with: Inakattanda pika. The base verb for this is iru - which can mean "to be" or "to exist", and the full version means something like "wasn't there".

This whole sentence is about Chappy, but for the second part of it, they dramatically switch to showing Shizuka. I think this is once again a reference to her hanging herself? I am not entirely sure if I got this one right, so I'll try to pay more attention to how they use the sudden gust of wind effect.

The next part of this episode, once again, turns into a psychological thriller

part 1: the appearance

part 2: the introduction

part 3:

Also the whole thing is perfectly synced with Marina saying "Haaaaa" (read in "I found you" intonation).

I don't really like horror movies and I especially hate sudden screamers. The way they do it here, is literally perfect though.

They gradually... slowly introduce the scary moment bit by bit, which adds onto the tension.

I described this moment in 3 parts, but the whole thing happens almost in an instant. The direction in this anime is just godlike. I have probably missed hundreds more cool nuances like this one, but even if you don't consciously notice them, your brain actually does appreciate it (mine certainly does).

Shizuka was screaming DAMEEE, when Chappy jumped in to defend her...

Lets just say I needed to take a breather, even after hearing it for the second time.

Marina causes a scene on purpose to provoke Chappy, so he gets taken away and is put down by the authorities.

Takopi obviously rewinds this. He says he'll try to figure this out somehow!!!

Oh, my sweet summer child.

Oh, maybe we'll go for a walk with Chappy in the morning instead?

No matter where you go, Marina will always find her target. There is no running away. Also at this point, iirc the whole magic camera rewinding every problem started to feel a bit annoying... not for long though:D

Even after all of the rewinds, Chappy still gets taken away, but Shizuka is not dead yet, so all hope is not lost. She holds onto the white lie that Chappy is just staying at the dad's house, but... doesn't make it much easier to live without him...

Marina then invites Shizuka for a friendly talk in the forest, where nobody will find them. As they show that she has been faking her dog wound, and Chappy probably didn't even bite as hard as she made it out to be, fucking bitch.

As they start talking, Marina brings out all of the guns:

YOUR DOG IS DEAD

YOU DONT HAVE A DAD

YOU DONT HAVE A CARING MOM

YOU DONT HAVE FRIENDS

NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU

ALL YOU HAD WAS A FILTHY MUTT AND NOW ITS DEAD

so...

Marina finishes with:

This exact moment is also how they introduce takopi into this scene. And we switch from 3rd person view to 1st person view, watching everything from Takopi's perspective. He panics, thinks about rewinding the time once again, but then remembers how much Chappy means for Shizuka and decides to man up and actually save Shizuka. (it was cool to see the past events from his perspective)

As he jumps into the fight and lets out the Happian battle cry. You get to hear the strongest possible blow, followed up by the sound of the flesh being torn. You don't see anything except a black screen at this point, but your mind already has a clear picture of what happened.

Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

As cicadas once again start roaring, we see that Marina is very dead. And once again, Takopi has no idea why she isn't moving. SO ANNOYING...

After that hell of a hit, surprise-surprise, the camera isn't working anymore! (One cool detail here, is that in the first episode Shizuka mentioned that the camera is heavier than it looks like. Does this also imply that Takopi lifts?)

Shizuka on the other hand.... she becomes so happy!:D The festive music that starts playing, with her brightest smile ever...

Takopi, you are amazing!!!!! WOW!

She thinks that the fact that Marina is dead is because of magic and somehow concludes that if magic is real, then Chappy must be still fine too.

As they hold hands and escape the crime scene, the real story of Takopi's original sin begins, and they drop the title once more. However, now it's pitch black, stretching across the entire screen. At this point, you start slowly realizing that Shizuka might not be that good of a person. I guess it makes perfect sense, that she would wish for Marina to be dead, but still...

No more do-overs, no retries. The real shit starts now.

I have never in a million years would have seen this coming.

Takopi has finally made Shizuka happy and made her smile... but at what cost.

You know for a fact that it's not going to be sunshine and rainbows from now on:D

Man, what a ride, and the anime has only just begun. Also, I assure you, you have no idea what will happen next. You haven't seen anything yet.

Episode 3: Takopi's confession

Azuma stumbles upon the murder scene and arguably has the most sane reaction a person could have.

Shizuka is like: bro, she got killed by tako-magic, shouganai:D (TL note: it can't be helped)

Shizuka simply asks Azuma for help in covering up the crime, but accidentally stumbles upon his trauma, which makes him unable to say no. Also, who on earth could possibly resist Shizuka's charm if she asks like that?

Mix of love, affection, and psychological trauma triggers that melt the man to his core:

From doubt and fear, he becomes filled with determination. It's really cool how in this show the characters' perspectives completely change 180 degrees. As they say: whether you think you can or you think you can't - you are right.

Also I think at this point it was the third time that someone had given Takopi shit for his way of speaking LOL.

Azuma and Shizuka team up, pack their stuff, hand over the crime weapon to Takopi and leave him on his own to cover things up and pretend to be Marina. Takopi tried to object for a bit, but Shizuka's charm got the better of him too.

When Tako, impersonating Marina arrives at her home, they switch to first person view, so you get to fully immerse yourself into the scene and witness hell, that was Marina's life. The sound effects were also very much on point. I could feel like I was physically there.

Meanwhile, Takopi is like: If they are talking a lot, this means they are friends:D

...

My fucking god (AAAAAAAAAAAAAA)

Later on, Azuma is taking charge like a big boy, coming up with the plan to go to Shizuka's dad place to get Chappy.

Though looking at the next shot, it almost looks like he is desperate. It's not real confidence, rather something based on fear and pain.

But wait, my man has to study and after his older bro comes by, we learn that the older kid gets all of the attention and now works part time, causing more stress to their mom. Will all of that part time money he buys a ring 💍 (presumably for his gf)

And Kuze-san is like: bro, just steal it:D

Azuma-kun: but stealing is bad

Kuze: you can do it, bro :3

Kuze-san is like: if there is a problem, the best way to solve it is to just get rid of it, a brute-force way. And by the way, we have tako-magix!

When trying to steal the ring, even though Azuma falls from the second floor, his damage is mostly emotional. Now he has some time to think about the stupid shit he was about to do, and how it would feel afterwards.

And we get a glimpse into the psychological torture that he went through because of his not good enough grades for mom's pancakes.

Even though she is not screaming or crying, and just talks calmly, her words still sting like a venom. The fact that there is no unconditional love, means you are fucked. Always getting compared to someone else, it's just simply unfair. No matter how much you try.

My younger brother has a bit harder time studying at school, and my mom would quite often say something like: "if I spent so much time and money on your education, you'd be a Harvard student or something". It always rubbed me the wrong way, even though it's supposed to be said as a compliment, and now I can actually see why.

I was changing schools from 1st grade to 2nd grade and at that time my mom studied with me for a bit, but after that I was pretty much on my own. But that's not the point. The point is - you shouldn't compare two different people, period.

Kuze-san somehow triggered this thought loop in Azuma, which results in: "If I don't do everything she says, Kuze will give up on me. After finally getting accepted by someone, he can't afford to lose her."

When Shizuka laughs at the sight of a beat-up Azuma, then:

Why is that?

I think that it's actually tears or relief. For the first time ever, he is not punished for his failure. Finally, my man can fail without consequences and without being emotionally abused.

We get a montage of the trio having fun and hanging out, only to end on a scene of Marina's place getting dug up by someone.

Meanwhile, Takopi is like: why can't I go back to the happy planet tho? 🤔

That aside, we are back at Marina's home.

At times like this, you forget that it's an alien creature and really feel for poor Tako... But I guess this is the only way to make him understand...

When Marina's mom figures out that it's not her daughter in front of her and begs Tako to bring her back... Goddamn, the feels.

He finally realizes that even though Marina did all of that shit to Kuze, it wasn't always like that. Marina's family used to be happy together too.

This is the moment when Takopi confesses.

I am sorry that I took her away

I am sorry... for killing you

He says all of that, without saying pi even once...

He feels sorry and decides that more reflection is needed. However, he also once again gets conflicted by Shizuka thanking him for killing Marina.

He decides that he needs to talk to Shizuka again.

Man, talk about character development.

He could get weighed down by his sins, but he doesn't dwell on the past, and decides to think about how best to move forward. We should all try to be more like Takopi (aside from killing people ofc)

And as a cherry on top, real Marina's body is found by some construction workers.

If you think that this show arrives at some "safe" narrative location, it doesn't take long to destroy this feeling of comfort and leave you thinking and wondering, wtf is actually going to happen next. Which I think is the most wonderful thing you could ask for.

Episode 4: Azuma-kun's Salvation

For the previous episodes, I actually rewatched them again, before writing anything, but right after watching this episode, I had a lot of thoughts and I felt like I HAD TO right them down. So here is my raw and unfiltered reaction at the time:

Wow.. where do I even begin. HE finally talked to his brother, but still turned himself in? what the fuck has happened. Did the brother tell him to turn himself in?

This is so weird.

This episode was so heavy as always, Kuze-san's "turn youself in for me" was NUTS.

She was the only one who ever give him any sort of attention and love, no wonder he fell for her so hard. But due to her life circumstances she has like no morals at all? she doesn't think she is doing anything wrong at all, and now she's always smiling, despite that we know that HUGE damage was already done to her, and with this upbringing, likely nothing good will happen to her in the future.

Also I had this idea, that even though Takopi killed Marina-chan, he physically won't be able to take responsibility for it, so this whole thing will have to be shouldered by these two kids. Another funny idea would be to say that Kuze made up Takopi in her head and she was actually the one who killed marina, idk how good of a plot twist that would be though. It would kinda ruin the whole anti-thesis of Takopi's world view and the shit on Earth.

Takopii is like: but I feel bad for marina chan, let's tell the police everything

and Shizuka chan is like: bro, it's summer break time:D

Also, this episode's ending is once again WILD, we finally get some sort of good thing happening, and then hearing the townsfolk gossip, you realize that everything has gone to shit again.

Just like that one scene with a dog's collar and an empty dog booth, where you just learn everything from that moment and realize what happened. Such wonderful storytelling, I love this so much.

The animation in this show conveys everything more than words ever could.

Before Azuma opened up to his bro about everything he felt, he projected his reaction that he conjured up in his head, of the brother blaming him for everything and hating him, and after Azuma could finally open up and for the first time ever be heard and understood, it's so fucking scary to think that his fears actually came to life and after that sweet moment it was probably a thousand times more bitter and sad.

I can relate so much to Azuma wanting to help Kuze, but not being able to do anything. My class also had a bunch of bullies, but I had the ultimate quiet kid aura and it wasn't "fun" to bully me, because I wouldn't react. They bullied my only friend at that time and I couldn't do shit about it, because I was scared shitless. I was too scared that I would be the one to get picked on so I could never bring myself to do anything about it. I remember one time I lashed out at one of the bullies, shouting all of the swear words I knew, but all that happened was that I got scolded and my parents invited to school for a "talk". They just lol'ed at me, proud and amused that they could get a reaction out of me, so basically nothing changed.

This whole thing kinda ended when my friend transferred to another school (because, of course, he would). But actually it was both him and my crush that I was too shy to talk to.

So I ended up all alone again.

I tried to go to transfer to the same school, but my friend had spent a bunch of time prepping for it, so there was no way I could just yolo enter it.

I am so used to loneliness at this point. I somehow convinced myself that I am an introvert, despite that, now that my friends are doing stuff without me, im feeling kinda alone and sad again. (and they did invite me, but I wasn't too keen on going at the time and now I kinda regret it)

The sort of thing that happens in your childhood affects you a lot more than you think.

I hate phone calls, I hate getting them and I hate doing them.

Maybe because my grandmother had the audacity to call me and tell me to come to her remote town and scold her drunken husband that treats her poorly, all while im trying to not lose my sanity taking care of my sick father. could this sort of stuff affect your psyche? who knows.

Now I procrastinate and put off phone calls as much as possible, even if I KNOW that I need to make them.

But enough self pity talk. I really wonder where the story will go after this. Just jailing these two kids would be too simple. Shizuka is now living her happiest days she ever hard and it would be a huge missed opportunity not to ruin her even further somehow. (wow that sounded cruel)

But I can't help but wonder, like, what's the point of this show?

It does a really great job of showing lots of emotions and drama, the contrast is KING in this masterpiece. I guess the ultimate goal would be to teach Takopi how cruel and fucked up this world can be, and how naive he is.

Is that what it wants to say?

Stop being so naive?

Top 10 lessons on how to not raise your children?

Top 10 lessons on how to traumatize your children for the rest of their life?

Top 10 lessons on how love can make you blind?

Kuze is not a good person, she literally can't be, despite that, you can't even blame her.

Just when you though that Marina is a fucking bitch, you instantly get slapped in the face with all of the shit that she puts up with.

So I guess what this show is trying to say, is like: "use your brain and try to understand WHY someone is acting the way the do"

I first encountered and realized this concept in steins gate, with Okabe's mad scientist persona. It made so many people drop the show because he is annoying as fuck, and nobody even once stopped to think why. Why is he acting the way he does. Watching the show and learning that fact was almost the single best moment in anime that I have ever witnessed. Your whole perspective on him changes 180degress. It's epic.

Either way, I really can't wait for the next episode. This show is like the only thing this season that makes me FEEL things. Idk what it says about me, that I like to watch fucked up stuff like this tho lol A question for another day, as it's already past midnight as im writing this. Oyasumi nasai.

PS the ending song is the only thing that really fits the mood of the show. The fake OP and the real sad ED. Perfect contrast once again. Because there is no way that this show will have a "good" ending, it would ruin the whole idea of fixing Takopi's naivety.

OHHH also it just occured to me, that it's already happening. When the last "baka, it's summer vacation theme happens", Takopi is actually nervous and uneasy, sweating his pink balls, but Shizuka chan is the happiest she ever was.

And I think I now see where this show could go. By making Shizuka happy, she could ruin many lives (just like she did with Azuma), though it's kinda hard to say she is at fault for this one, since it was Takopi who did the kill, but nonetheless.

Also now that I think about it, the dog most definitely was put down. Last time Shizuka lost her dog she literally commited sudoku, but it would be interesting if this time she would go with the revenge route and (ab)use the Takopii's powers for doing really bad stuff.

We saw how Marina chan lashed out her anger on Kuze, mirroring her mother's actions. Well shizuka chan never let all of that anger out, so it wouldn't be weird if she suddenly felt the urge to do so.

But it would be kinda silly to think that I can predict where this will go, I definitely couldn't ever come up with whatever happened in ep 2

Spoiler alert: I was indeed wrong lol

Episode 5: To You in 2022

It's Tokyo trip time! If you watch closely, you will notice that she travels from Hakodate, so I think it's safe to say that the anime took place in Hakodate. Maybe I'll visit one day, the excuse could be that it's part of the pilgrimage lol.

Also this was one of those types of episodes, where they play the opening music and show the actual show instead. So you know that shit is about to go down (but on the other hand, that's like every episode so far LOL)

Also Shizuka did use Tako magic to steal food in Tokyo..

As expected, her dad is a huge fucking piece of shit.

Shizuka before metting dad:

And then he sees her like this when he opens the door:

The happy-go lucky music also drops dead silent, just adding onto the shock that not only Chappi isn't there, her own father doesn't even want to aknowledge her as his daughter. How fucking cruel can you be, omfg...

We then get a close-up of this flower on her head:

I am pretty sure that this is a Chameleon flower. And since they specifically chose to show this, I got kinda curious.

In Japan, the plant is called ドクダミ (dokudami), meaning something like “poison stopper” / “poison-blocking”, because it was used as a detoxifying/medicinal herb.

Some people associate it with stubbornness or unwanted persistence, since it's hard to remove once it takes root. Also apparently despite being beautiful, the flower smells bad.

Apart from the poison stopping, the other meanings fit this scene perfectly.

Shizuka simply cannot accept the fact that Chappi is dead, so she makes up a story that her father's new kids ate Chappi. And we get this ominous line:

And she is dead serious.

When T-Pi tells her that he can't help and that they should go back home:

Right at this moment, Takopi knew he fucked up, and he finally remembered everything. And we get probably the biggest plot twist of the show.

The Sin

It's Takopi's second loop already (aside from the small do-overs he did earlier). In the first one, he befriended Marina instead.

I thought this was a funny moment from this flashback:

Takopi to Marina: "So, you are always rough with me, because you are imitating your mom."

spot on, tako! spot on.

Marina's life started looking like it was going well, after meeting Azuma, but then litrally this meme happens:

Marina's mom was really happy that she had gotten a boyfriend, but it didn't last long.

Marina gets into a fight with her mom and ends up killing her, blaming Shizuka for all of her troubles.

Ofc Takopi runs in and is like: "np bro, i'll go back in time and kill her so you can be happy :3" As he flies away, Marina literally ends herself...

Takopi now remembers his original conclusion to solving this mess:

While Takopi is indulging in thoughts of revenge, with a bright star in his eye, we see a familiar face.

The Aqua Azuma comeback!!!

Is this an Oshi no Ko reference lol?

I was almost entirely sure that Azuma is in jail rn, or whatever the similar thing for kids is lol.

Then Tako also remembers Shizuka's kindness, puts 2+2 together and figures out that maybe killing her isn't the solution (my man really evolved these past few episodes, huh). I wonder if all of that happening happy-saiyan-mom's plan in the first place? that d be kinda interesting

Episode 6: To All of You in 2016

The episode starts with Shizuka's parents fighting, back when Chappi was a small boy. When she felt troubled, she would pray to those among the stars:

For a tasty lunch at school.

For parents to stop fighting.

For bullying to stop at school.

But then she stopped to wonder. What was it, that she truly wanted?

I have rewatched this anime for a second or third time now, so I should probably know the answer...

(while both you and I are thinking about the answer, the show cuts to an opening, giving you some more thinking time. how thoughtful!)

I think it's to meet a pink tako-shaped alien with a bunch of no-good magic gadgets. Meaning I still have no idea. My best guess would be that wishing for a life without hardships is silly. Instead, it's better to wish for the strength to overcome any obstacles and make it through. (sounds kinda cheesy tho, but I think it's true)

Another answer could be... just knowing and believing that somehow things will be okay in the end. If entertained, this idea brings peace to my head. Belief is a strong friend.

If the previous question was too difficult for you, right now Tako is also struggling with this one: How can Shizuka be a good girl when she is doing so many bad things?

Azuma finally lays it out for poor tako: People can be good and bad at the same time.

>insert brain expanding into galaxy and exploding meme<

Azuma lets it all out with:

"Tako, you are a stupid airhead, but despite all that, you are kind and I had fun playing with you."

It's kind of annoying that I have no idea what actually happened. Azuma returns the magic camera back to Tako without any blood stains. We also learn that older bro got fired, mom is bedridden from stress and the clinic is closed. He also says that he won't be able to meet Kuze anymore, reflecting how he tried to save her only to impress himself... that's stronger self-reflection skills than I will probably ever develop lol. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons isn't really worth it, huh.

If Azuma really did turn himself in, he probably wouldn't still be carrying the main killing weapon around, and he probably would be in some child jail or smth. Mom is obviously bedridden because he also told her about the corpse.

But then he says goodbye to Takopi, implying that they will never meet again??? (maybe because of the rumors that azuma was frequently seen around marina and is somehow involved in all of this, they decided to close this clinic and move to somewhere else, since the family's reputation is now ruined? That's probably my best guess)

After that, he straight out gives one of the biggest clues to the solution to Takopi: Tell my younger self to not be afraid to get into fights with older bro.

So the first hard question of this episode, could be reframed as: what could Shizuka tell her younger self to make things better?

And maybe an even harder question would be: what would I tell my younger self to make things better?

I don't know an answer to this one either, because I still feel like I have a lot of things to figure out for myself. But I think slowly but surely, I am moving forward. So I guess my answer to this one would be the same one I mentioned earlier. I would probably tell my younger self that everything is going to be ok.

Takopi is then shown sitting on those pipes and like 3 seasons go by and it's hanami now? That's how long it took Shizuka to come back by herself. We also get briefly shown newspapers that say that Kuze actually managed to murder kidnap her father's children.... still scary af if you ask me.

The next scene has one of the best voice acting moments I have ever witnessed. In my book, it's on par with the legendary "I don't understand" scene from the "When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace", link to that scene

It's the moment when Shizuka finally breaks and lets out all of her anger on Takopi.

So she once again brings back the main question:

What should I have done?

Tako then goes:

sorry I can't do anything for you

sorry for trying to help you, even when I didn't know how you felt

I am sorry...

(I am not crying btw, you are >< )

So I guess the real answer is exactly what Tako said. Nothing could be done or said. And trying to help would only make things worse. Only thing you can do, is try to understand Shizuka and yourself a little better.

Takopi ends up rewinding time using the broken camera one last time... by sacrificing himself.

If you didn't cry enough yet, you can listen to Shizuka crying in pure agony when she realizes that she will lose one last, dear friend in her life.

and we get a title drop once again:

Thus begins the third and the last grand loop.

We still get to hear Takopi's voice narrating stuff as usual, but this time it's only in the heads of the main characters. He doesn't even have to do anything, per-se, because of how much of an influence the previous loops had on this one.

in the new loop tako keeps his promise of telling Azuma to fight talk more with his big bro.

And somehow, brain hacks Marina and Shizuka into saying: Happiness is born through talking-pi. as they both started crying over the tako-doodle.

Takopi then says (or rather writes! because the whole thing sounds like it's a goodbye letter): Even if I can't do anything to help you, you or YOU .. but you are not alone anymore, and I hope you reach adulthood.

He then leaves us with:

As kuze and marina walk together into the starry sky and the credits roll.

The singer suddenly changes his singing into one that is full of hope and strength, instead of being somber and sad. So fucking epic.

After the credits, we get to see old-man Chappy again! And the girlies are truly besties now, even though both of them look half-broken.

Chekhov's gun concept is utilized very well in this anime. They show takopi with a lot of guns magic gadgets, like flappy wings and then all of them actually do play a role in the story.

For example, the ballpoint pen that sounds just like a rabbit from Saturn, which catches Shizuka and Marina's eye in the store, is the same one that Takopi was showing in episode 1.

It would be lame if he just pulled out some gadget that you have never seen before and started doing random things. Instead, they show you almost all of the cards upfront, and it's up to you to be prepared for the horror that ensues lol.

FINAL thoughts

The anime is the KING of contrast. That annoying and happy Takopi makes for the perfect opposite of the character's circumstances in this show.

This show totally catches you off guard when you think: damn, that marina bitch is crazy and you don't stop to think why she's like that. AND THEN IT HITS YOU.

It was really interesting how the path to the happy ending was achieved by not involving Azuma at all. Because he is going through his own shit, he can't possibly save the situation that arose between Marina and Kuze, and they unfortunately form a love triangle, so excluding him from it and keeping Kuze all alone is the only right choice. Which does sound pretty harsh, but it is what it is.

Another interesting theme of this show is helping people. It's a good thing, right? Well, Takopi tried to help Shizuka with all sorts of magic gadgets and she committed sudoku. So it's not that simple. Unless you understand what the other person goes through, it's impossible to actually help and as it's shown with Azuma, if you are going through your own shit, maybe you can afford to help anyone else either, because it will ruin you in the process. Just like Azuma tried to help Shizuka, just to prove something to himself or to get validation. We all know how it went...

Some people hated on the ending, but I would have hated this show if it ended in any other way. The whole point of this was to show that there are no hopeless situations and you can choose to push through, even if it fucking sucks and there might be some hope at the end of the tunnel. You could come to better understand why your bully does what they do and even befriend them (impossibru) or at least like idk, be able to deal with them. Also, I thought it once again gave me the lesson of not judging a book by its cover.

Should have learned this a long time ago with Steins;Gate and Okabe, but I didn't (one of the reasons for writing these blogs - is so that I can process the information better and actually remember and learn from it. Making it less like mindless consumption and more .. you get it).

Countless people have dropped the show, citing that Okabe's character is way too annoying and nothing is happening (the second part is only true if you are brain dead and are completely ignoring everything that is happening since the very first second of the first episode). However, nobody ever stopped to think, WHY is Okabe like this and the moment that you learn the reason to this is one of the most powerful moments in SG ever. I love SG so much and I love Takopi.

I can't help but wonder why I'm so attracted to shows like this, but somehow only these can actually help me FEEL something.

Also, some people were pissed, that the whole conflict was resolved by magic in an anime about a fucking UFO with magic gadgets LOL.

Takopii uses magic to tell its story, and if you can't suspend your disbelief to enjoy it, then you are retarded. im sorry.

I guess the moral of the story is that life can suck (sometimes really badly) and no tako magic will save you. Despite all of that, you could try to better understand the people around you, and keep on going. Even though it's hard and you feel like crying (it would be nice to at least have a tako to hug sometimes tho...)

Also if you actually read all of this ... thank you. I most definitely suck at writing, so I tried to make it up with with the special effects a little bit lol. Hope you had fun.