You should write essays, i think you'll be good at it
very eloquently spoken!
Thanks, you are the first person to actually get the manga here, I wish your comment would have more upvotes but I guess many reading are children themselves and might not get this manga.
Yes, I came here from anime adaptation and as I continued to watch, I kept thinking about how his innocence was slowly getting tainted, his opinions changing from one to another the more he learns about people. First, he sided with Marina because he saw everything from Marina's side then he sided with Shizuka because he's seeing things from Shizuka's side. Then he finally revealed that he actually doesn't know what to do and how to solve things at all. In moments like where Takopi become afraid of Marina after taking the beatings in Shizuka's place, it very much reminds me of how younger siblings ( who aren't abused but grew up in an abusive household) would feel and react everytime they see the other siblings getting beaten
i didnt expect a great analysis in this mostly bl website. hats off to you (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
Maybe I'm looking too deep into it & I'm probably babbling nonsensically
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But I feel like Takopi's original sin wasn't that he failed to make either Marina or Shizuka happy nor that he unintentionally cause the death of either.
His sin was the loss of "childish innocence" (not d dirty kind) --> a sin for his alien race 'coz it goes against their very essence
That's why his mother wanted to erase his memory so that he'll go back to being childishly, innocently happy (default / natural mindset for a happy-an)
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Also, it's kinda sad that the only thing he could do in the end was to "magic" the problems away by sacrificing himself
By using up his very essence ("innocence") in exchange, he forcibly returned part of Marina & Shizuka's "innocence": the ability to set aside differences & just make friends, parents' / adults' /society's version of morality be damned.
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This manga is metaphorical I guess
Takopi's the representation of that innocent child , powerless against the adults, and still at that stage where he isn't tainted yet with society's right & wrong.
Like the toddler us, his version of right & wrong was based on whether someone is happy or not.
Like us, he was powerless against a situation forced by adults we have zero influence over (esp in the Asian context) & becomes confused by what is truly right & wrong.
But unlike us, he can't grow up. He wasn't allowed to.
Hence why his mother wanted to erase his memories, 'coz part of growing up is realizing happiness and morality isn't so simple
Hence, why he fails to grasp the complexities of the situation (it isn't something an innocent child can solve while remaining *that* innocent)
'Coz paradoxically, part of our growing up involves letting go some of that "innocence".
It then becomes a question of how twisted or not twisted we become in the process.
Which was where Azuma & his brother comes in.
Azuma was at the verge of growing up twisted after letting go of his "innocence", but was saved by his brother's genuine love
(altho their happy ever after isn't guaranteed since Junya might not finish uni & we don't know what their perfectionist Mother will do, Azuma's hopeful look indicates things might turn out ok for him regardless)