Takopi's Original Sin

Takopii, a cute squid-like alien from the Planet Happy, travels to Earth carrying a bag of magical gadgets designed to make people smile. He meets Shizuka Kuze, a quiet fourth-grader who won't smile no matter what he tries. Don't let the adorable alien mascot concept fool you — this one goes to some genuinely dark places. Shizuka is dealing with relentless bullying from a classmate named Marina, a fractured home life, and the kind of loneliness that no magic gadget can fix. Takopii doesn't understand any of this. He's from a planet where happiness is the default state, so he keeps pulling out cheerful little devices thinking they'll solve everything, and they just... don't. His inability to grasp why a child is suffering becomes the central tension of the whole thing, and it hits way harder than you'd expect from a 6-episode ONA. The time travel elements kick in when Takopii's desperation escalates, and that's when the story really starts twisting. If you liked the tonal whiplash of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the emotional gut-punches of Anohana, or the time-loop stakes of Erased, this is in that same neighborhood. Studio Enishiya adapted the manga faithfully, and at only six episodes it never wastes your time. It's a compact, emotionally heavy watch that uses its sci-fi premise to examine how hard it actually is to help someone who's drowning — especially when you don't even understand water.