Takopi is an alien from Planet Happy with one simple, yet admirable goal: Spread happiness to Earth-dwellers! The first person he gets to talk to and befriend is Shizuka Kuze, a kind young girl. Each chance he gets, he introduces a Happy Gadget, intended to bring joy by the power of Happian technology. To his dismay, Shizuka fails to be enthusiastic about his attempts to cheer her up. In fact, Takopi quickly finds out he’ll have to invest more time learning about Shizuka’s difficult life before he can truly connect with her. Each detail he learns about Shizuka’s school and home life shocks him further and forces him to adjust his optimistic worldview.

The episode starts off with a suicide content warning, and it’d be wise to take that one to heart. Right off the bat, it’s clear the story will be dark and uncomfortable, so don’t be fooled by the Kirby-like appearance of our pink alien protagonist. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of anime that lean into the shocking and disturbing side of things, but this first episode manages to strike the perfect balance between hope and despair. Takopi might be ineffectual in his efforts to help Shizuka, but his pure intentions and tenacity keep me invested. The beautiful character design and background art help me empathize with Shizuka, while Takopi’s goofy antics manage to be funny without making light of the tragedy and trauma. There was a moment halfway through the episode where I became genuinely frustrated, but the good kind of frustrated. I realized this will be tough to watch, but that I’ll have no choice but to continue watching because of how well crafted it is. This ONA will have 6 episodes with varying runtimes, and I can’t wait to see how the story will develop. This could be something special.

Takopi’s Original Sin is streaming on Crunchyroll.