Category: Let’s Watch

Posted on in anime, Let's Watch

Let’s Watch SABIKUI BISCO Episode 3 – “Tag Team”

If you’re looking for the ingredients of a classic adventure story, they are there in Sabikui Bisco. That’s more evident in the third and most recent episode (“Tag Team”) than it has been. This is probably the weakest episode of the series so far, but it’s good enough that the very term “weakest” feels a bit too harsh. There’s a lot of promise, here, but also some notable room for improvement.

So Bisco fails to take the hat trick. Still, it’s a solid episode. We’re introduced to a couple key points here. The main one is that the mushrooms that we’ve so far been led to believe spread the Rusting sickness actually feed off of it and can thus cure it. This has interesting implications for Bisco’s wider world. Almost everyone thinks the mushrooms cause Rust. The episode opens with a loudspeaker announcement warning the residents of Imihama City to avoid inhaling spores, and elsewhere another character calls the fact that mushrooms create Rust “common sense.”

This is framed as a simple misunderstanding; people assume that mushrooms cause Rust because they grow where it’s found. But I would not be surprised if it later turned out that someone was lying about something for some ulterior motive. It would slot in well with Sabikui Bisco‘s more ambitious storytelling aims.

About the less ambitious ones, though. As foreshadowed at the end of last week’s episode, Bisco and Pawoo* get into it here, and while their actual fight is pretty good, this is where some cracks start showing.

Sabikui Bisco is, at the end of the day, a shonen series. And while it’s not universal, that does tend to imply certain things. One of them is what I will call a, I don’t know, casual sexism tax? Bisco remarks on Pawoo’s looks some three or four times during their fight, and while his internal monologue and later actions imply he doesn’t “really” believe any of the things he says, they’re still kind of shitty. This is the guy we’re supposed to be rooting for, mind you, so comments like this coming out of his mouth unchallenged reflects pretty poorly on the series at large.

Worse, at the end of the fight (which Pawoo only loses because Bisco snipes her with an arrow tipped with some kind of knock-out poison), she’s left behind in the City Watch’s care while Bisco and Milo set off on their journey. (Which, we’ll get back to that momentarily.) Effectively, this writes her out of the series for the time being. I don’t really want to add Sabikui Bisco to the long, long list of otherwise solid action anime that treat their female characters like trash, but this is not a terrific start. A kinda-goofy “sexy” outfit is one thing. This is quite another.

At the very least, the fight itself is pretty good. One can’t say that Bisco wins too easily. Pawoo is the uber-serious shoot-first-ask-questions-later type, so she doesn’t buy any of Bisco’s talk about mushrooms healing the Rust. She does nearly beat the hell out of him, though, which is pretty great. There’s also some truly weird set dressing going on here. Why does their fight at one point pivot to being on top of a huge bowling pin inexplicably in the middle of Imihama? Who knows! It definitely rules, though. Moreso when Pawoo shatters the thing and there’s an audible “bowling strike” sound effect.

You might say Pawoo has no time for games.

There’s also some brief but fun color commentary from recurring secondary character Chiroru Oochagama. (Miyu Tomita, probably best known as the lead character, Riko, in Made in Abyss.) Her cowardly put-upon minion vibe makes her great for this sort of thing, and I hope she never stops doing it.

Intercut with all of this is Milo healing up Bisco’s mentor, Jabi. He eventually recovers enough that, when the time comes for Milo and Bisco to split at episode’s end, it’s he who stays behind to provide a distraction. (At least Pawoo will have some company in Good Characters Temporarily Absent From The Show Jail.)

As for where Bisco and Milo are actually going, it turns out that the “Rust-Eater” alluded to in the series’ alternate English title is, in fact, a mushroom. One that can heal just about anything, including Jabi’s (and presumably Pawoo’s) particularly bad Rust infection, which will eventually claim both of their lives if it’s not treated.

It’s worth noting in the latter case that Milo does give her some of the same injection that fixed up Jabi, but that the mushroom is still being sought out at all implies that this is only a temporary solution. Also, there is a bit where Milo gives a very long, heartfelt, tearful goodbye to his unconscious sister while saccharine music swells. The entire time, Bisco impatiently taps his foot in the background and then tells him off when he’s done. It’s pretty funny.

So, there you have it, Bisco and Milo exiting Imihama and setting out on an epic quest to get a special mushroom. Complete with all the fightbro homoeroticism so common to this sort of anime.

It’s classic stuff, and despite my criticisms of the episode’s handling of Pawoo I did enjoy it overall. (Time will tell if that continues to be the case, but here’s hoping.) There’s a post-credits scene here where Milo and Bisco come across a “war memorial,” a temple made out of and absolutely covered in ancient, rusting war machines. It promptly comes to life when they attempt to stop there for the evening. Thus, cliffhangers beget cliffhangers, and the adventure continues.

Until next week, anime fans.

*Official sources seem to disagree on whether her name should be romanized as Pawoo or just Paw. Because of how these things work, neither is exactly wrong, and they’re pronounced the same way. But the official subtitles use “Pawoo”, so it’s what I’ll be using from here on out.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

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Let’s Watch SABIKUI BISCO Episode 2 – “Soar on King Trumpets”

Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

We’re in new territory for this site.

I am a lot of things as a critic. But I would not say I’m exactly a savvy predictor of an anime’s success or positive acclaim. Sometimes I stick to my guns in spite of public consensus, sometimes I do not. I went over the long and short of this in another post earlier today, but the very short version is this; the previous series I’d picked up as a weekly is just not working out. Instead, you get Sabikui Bisco every week going forward.

I’m going to go ahead and assume that if you’re reading this, you’re fine with that.

This column arrives rather late (and a bit short compared to my usual) as a result of this schedule shakeup, but I do intend to pick up episode 3 on Monday, so we’ll have to really haul ass through episode 2 here. But I’m fine with that. Do you know why? Because Sabikui Bisco is an utterly unhinged box of delights, and writing about it is fun.

If you don’t like my “rapturous praise” mode of writing you can go ahead and skip this column. I have nothing but good things to say about Bisco.

This week’s episode focuses more on the redheaded title character than the feminine Milo, who we got to know last week. We learn how he ended up in the city and that the reason he sought Milo out is because his traveling companion and mentor, an old man named Jabi (Shirou Saitou, who seems to play roles almost exclusively in this vein and has done so since he made his VA debut in 1996. He was also Jake in the Japanese dub of Adventure Time, isn’t that fun?), was injured by an attacking bounty hunter looking to take Bisco in. Now, that’s a fairly normal shonen plot beat. Less normal is the fact that the bounty hunter’s method of attack was “giant snail fighter jet.” Similar weaponization of animal life occurs throughout this episode and, I imagine, will continue to be a motif seen throughout the show.

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One could speculate on the possible thematic implications of a world so war-torn that even ordinary fauna have been turned into weapons. But this early on, the sheer cool factor has yet to wear off. We’ll get there, and so will Bisco itself, presumably. Right now, the feel of the ride is what matters most. The episode ends with the promise of an impending duel between Bisco and Paw, who currently thinks (correctly) that Bisco blew up her brother’s hospital and possibly (incorrectly) that he’s killed him. This promises to be one of the most stylish fights of the season, and you’ll have to forgive me if I take this opportunity to again remind everyone that Paw is just an absolutely untouchable character.

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I wish she’d look at me like that. 🥺

So that’s the Cliff’s Notes for our second episode. I’m glossing over more than I’d like to here because I’m pressed for time. I almost didn’t even get to mention the fun little character aside where the aforementioned plane-owning bounty hunter grovels for her life at the feet of the villainous prefectural governor we met last episode. How he tosses her a pistol and tells her she’s still under contract, and how he offhandedly mentions that Bisco’s attack on the city has ruined his plan to host a totally sweet sci-fi movie marathon.

You know he’s a villain because he watches the Star Wars movies in chronological order.

Nonetheless, I hope I’ve impressed upon you how wonderfully bonkers the world of Bisco is. If you’re reading this, I assume you’re already onboard the mushroom hype train. If not, there’s plenty of time to climb on.

Until episode 3, anime fans.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on in anime, Let's Watch, Uncategorized

Let’s Watch CUE! Episode 2 – “Their Respective Colors”

Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

The people behind CUE! likely don’t know–or care–about this, but the show’s very premise is a particular form of critic bait. That’s part of why I liked it so much last week, and that’s why I’m taking a very real risk by committing to covering its entire run week-by-week here. (24 episodes is a lot for this sort of column! Who knows what could happen!) But I have faith in the series, and that “critic bait” nature is some amount of why.

TV Anime is a pulp medium, and pulp media are inherently built on standard character archetypes and story beats. This is not a good or bad thing, it’s just a fact. CUE!, with its story centered around voice actors, highlights those tropes by its very nature. In our second episode, “Their Respective Colors”, the girls of the AiRBLUE Voice Talent Agency tackle their first real audition, putting their full weight into embodying those character archetypes. But what makes CUE! fascinating from a critical point of view is that the AiRBLUE girls, being anime characters themselves, also embody different character archetypes. The entire series, if sufficiently abstracted, can thus be thought of as these archetypes interpreting each other. Just on its own, that’s very interesting.

But of course, it’s also quite a lot of heady material to get into over CUE!, an anime series primarily about cute girls doing their best to voice other cute girls. The audition–which takes up the entirety of this episode–works on a lot of levels. On the one hand it is very much all that I said above, but it’s also just a lot of fun, which is arguably more important. Before I get into anything more specific, I should point out how absurd it is that CUE! is able to inject so much personality into a given episode despite its fairly workaday production. We don’t get nearly as many of the cut-asides where our characters imagine themselves as literally embodying the roles they play here, so the actual voice acting itself is left to pick up a lot of the slack. It manages it. And from my point of view, the second episode, even moreso than the first, proves that this anime has real legs.

So! The audition. Last week I mentioned that Bloom Ball–the show-within-a-show that’s the focus here–looked like a magical girl anime. It is…not that. (Although you maybe could argue it’s a battle girl series.) It’s some sort of hot-blooded sports anime shonen thing that frankly looks way better than most actual shonen anime. (Am I saying that because of its all-female cast? Maybe.)

As mentioned, the actual episode consists almost entirely of auditions. Enough care is taken to make sure that things do feel genuinely tense. AiRBLUE are the last agency auditioning, and in contrast to everyone else, they’re woefully inexperienced. The voice director (an everyman type in a pink polo) is very clearly a bit done with all of this. The author of the original Bloom Ball manga, a woman named Kei, has actually fallen asleep in her chair from consulting on so many auditions.

I have seen so many manga and anime depict mangaka exactly like this–dark-haired women who are visibly not getting enough sleep–that I have come to believe the entire manga industry is sustained by people of that specific description.

Nobody really expects AiRBLUE to make much of themselves here, and several members of the agency, including our protagonist Haruna, (Yurina Uchiyama, part of the idol group DIALOGUE+ in her first major VA role) aren’t actually familiar with the manga. (They’re given some time to read a bit of it and go over some reference sheets to pick a character to audition, but it doesn’t seem like the individual tryouts take very long. My impression is that Haruna, who eventually auditions last, got maybe an hour or two at most?)

The pressure is palpable, and CUE! really makes you feel that tension, here, with nothing more than some closeups and other clever “camera angle” tricks. This is an actual audition, none of these girls were prepared for it, and some of them don’t even know what Bloom Ball really is. It’s an unenviable position.

And yet, in the face of all this, our girls make a good show of it anyway. Most try out for the role of Bloom Ball‘s main character. We see most of these only in passing, with the most attention being given to Yuki Tendou’s (Ayaka Takamura, also a member of DIALOGUE+) take.

Yuki’s read is hyperactive and energetic, but it’s notable that she doesn’t get one of those fancy cut-asides. We also see Haruna’s fast friend Maika (Nene Hieda, whose most recent role I’m familiar with was Miyako in Warlords of Sigrdrifa) give her take on Ball Bloom’s secondary protagonist. A fun nod to her own status as Haruna’s best bud in this series, but not one that necessarily indicates she’s great for the role. Maika’s read is boisterous and hot-blooded, an ill fit for a blue-color-schemed deuteragonist whose role in her home series is clearly “the logical one.” This is yet another example of how CUE! toys around with character tropes, and the interesting mismatch here highlights the differences between Maika and the role she’s chosen to play. Although it’s worth noting that the mangaka seems to find her take on the character interesting, at the very least.

And then we get to Haruna’s tryout. Haruna initially auditions for, again, the lead role. She’s pretty good at it too, only fumbling once when she knocks her script into the microphone (illustrated by a very funny cut-aside where she is Bloom Ball‘s lead…and then falls over with a loud conk sound. It’s very shonen slapstick.)

If her audition ended here this would be something of an anti-climax. So, CUE! employs another clever trick here. Haruna’s performance as her initial choice is solid, but the mangaka hears something else in her read, and asks if she can record lines for a different character. One who–in the very brief time we get to know her–seems even more boisterous and hot-blooded than Bloom Ball‘s lead. (Bloom Ball seems like a very good series. Were it real, I would probably love Kuwai here.)

She then does it again, having Haruna read lines for a third role as well. The other AiRBLUE girls in the casting room are a bit shocked to see this all happen, and it’s even directly called out as rare. (In fact, I was a bit worried it’d be milked for cheap melodrama, but there’s no sign of that so far. AiRBLUE’s girls are professionals!)

This all has the effect of making Haruna seem like a voice acting wunderkind. To be fair, her own VA is pretty damn good (and again, I just love the fact that Haruna is voiced by someone in her own first major VA role. That’s just perfect.) But this would not work nearly as well without the mangaka seizing upon Haruna’s first performance. It’s a trick to convince us that Haruna’s an amazing talent just waiting to be discovered, and it works. That kind of thing is why CUE! is so entertaining, and it’s a general presentational technique I hope the show keeps up as it rolls on.

Haruna and Makai end the episode by hitting a cafe to relax and reflect. Two of the other girls from AiRBLUE, Honoka Tsukii (Yuuna Ogata, who previously played Gloria in the Pokemon: Twilight Wings ONA) and Shiho “just Shiho, please” Kano (Kyouka Moriya, whose sole other role was as Hemo Midori in 2020’s Dropout Idol Fruit Tart), chat them up as the four unwind and discuss a first day’s work well done. It’s a low-key ending to a fairly exciting episode. I look forward to many more like it in the weeks ahead as we get to better know not just Haruna and Makai, but Honoka, Shiho, and the other girls of AiRBLUE as well.

Wanna talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers? Consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

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Let’s Watch TAKT OP.DESTINY: Episode 12 (Finale!)

Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

Well, here we are, anime fans. Twelve weeks later and takt op.Destiny is over. Does it stick the landing? Eh, yes and no. “Takt -Hope-” is not one of the show’s strongest episodes. It does a lot right too, mind you, but some aspects can’t help but feel a little cheap. But let’s not put the cart before the horse, we’ll start with what it does well.

On one level if no others, takt op‘s final episode stands tall with its best moments. The fights here are absolutely gorgeous, with Destiny’s duel with Orpheus being among the show’s best. The episode cuts to and away from this fight several times, but it reaches its inarguable climax when Destiny ditches her gun-sword and the two fight hand to hand.

If you know, you know.

We also get a (very brief) look at Sagan’s past here. The actual flashback is, we’ll say functional, but its conclusion, where he stands shellshocked at a world ravaged by the D2s only to suddenly step on a toy piano in the ruins of a city is solidly done. Sagan didn’t need a terribly deep motivation and I’m not sure the attempt to give him one here entirely works, but it does add a bit of depth to a villain who’s otherwise been pretty cartoonish. And in one particular way, it notably sharpens his character.

Back in the present, Sagan and Takt’s final confrontation opens with the former “explains” that sacrifice is both necessary and beautiful. His plan, thus, is to gather all of the D2s in New York, and then destroy the entire continent to wipe them out entirely. His failure, as was the case two episodes ago, is to understand that the sacrifices made by Takt’s father or by Lenny (both of whom he cites), are worthy of admiration not because of the death involved, but because of their love for others. Something Sagan clearly does not have, at least not anymore. In the end, Takt gives the man’s pontificating the respect it deserves. Which is to say, none.

So how does this all end? With a beautiful whimper; Takt himself puts Sagan out of his misery. There is no final fight between the Conductors, Sagan is literally impaled on a crystal by the time Takt reaches him, and seems to be dying already. Even if he were able to put up a fight, Takt’s brief, impassioned speech on how the world is worth fighting for on the basis that it contains music alone would’ve knocked the will to out of him. Sagan, in a very real way, is defeated on two separate fronts before Takt even shows up.

The ringer they’ve been through knocks the both of them unconscious, and Destiny vanishes not long after…until the post-credits sequence, of course. Which implies that she somehow lives on within Anna, who has become a Conductor as well.

Right then.

Remember in the first piece I wrote on this series when I said how glad I was that this series didn’t have a harem setup? Turns out it actually kind of did, except it has made the puzzling decision to merge both (or all three, if you count Cosette and Destiny separately) girls who are into our protagonist into one. It is, frankly, a strange and somewhat unwelcome coda to an otherwise pretty excellent series, and I don’t doubt many folks are going to take it harder than I have. It may make more sense going into the mobile game, which serves as a sequel to the series, but as the final act of a self-contained piece of art, it is a slight bit of a letdown.

Mostly I just never really bought that Anna was into Takt that way? For ten of the show’s episodes, she seems to treat him more like a younger brother, and the abrupt swerve into a possible second love interest in its final two feels like course correction, as though someone forgot they were supposed to be writing her that way all along. (And given that Anna seems to be a fair bit older than Takt it’s also a touch skeevy, although that might just be age not coming across well in the character designs.)

But, eh, it doesn’t have a literally perfect finale. Most anime don’t get that lucky. Overall, takt op.Destiny was a lovely little show, and I’m happy to have watched it. My most cherished memories of it will likely remain tied to its earlier episodes and to Lenny’s heroic exit in episode 10, but I do not in any way think this was a bad episode. As an end to the series it’s more functional than stellar, but even that value judgment edges closer to dismissing the excellent animation on display here more than I’d like.

So; takt op.Destiny, an action romance road trip thing filled with color and wonder that doesn’t quite stick the landing. There are far worse things to be. Until your next performance, maestro.

So, you’ve heard what I think, but I want to hear your thoughts as well. What did you think of the ending, if anything? What are your overall thoughts on the series? Would you watch a second season if one were announced? Do you plan to check out the mobile game that the show serves in part as an advertisement for? (I’m thinking about it, myself.) Feel free to drop me a comment here or over on Twitter, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Wanna talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers? Consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

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Let’s Watch TAKT OP.DESTINY: Episode 11

Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

I am of two minds about “Preparing for Battle -Orpheus-,” takt op.Destiny‘s penultimate episode. (Which, I am covering here way late, I realize. The finale airs tomorrow!)

On the one hand, it’s conceptually pretty straightforward. Sagan’s machinations have led to a massive crystal erupting inside, and taking over, the Symphonica building.

I have taken the liberty of not posting a screencap of the bit immediately after this where he graphically impales his hand on that crystal. You’re welcome.

This has spawned a huge swarm of aggressive, powerful D2s, right in the heart of New York. Naturally, Takt and Destiny–battered though they are from last episode’s events–set out to defeat him. Along the way they aim to rescue Anna and Lotte, who are trapped inside.

For the most part, this is setup for your traditional heroes-storm-the-villains’-lair sort of sequence. It largely works pretty well. Both Titan and Destiny get to show off their fighting chops a bit here, and we get some cameos from a handful of Musicarts who presumably will be more important in the gacha game that it’s easy to forget takt op.Destiny is meant to promote.

Walkure also makes her triumphant return, getting a brief moment of shine that, while it’s nothing compared to Titan’s star turn in episode 10, is still pretty good. And it’s nice to see that the show hasn’t completely forgotten about her.

But there are a few…just odd decisions here. Were I the type to be overly concerned about endings they might make me slightly worried for the finale. As is, I think they mostly just drag episode 11 down to somewhere in the middle as far as my personal rankings for the series go.

Let’s talk about Walkure first. While seeing her here again is lovely, she’s roundly dismissed by all of the other characters as an even marginally important player here. At one point, she mouths off to Takt and Titan promptly conks her on the head and knocks her out. It’s presumably supposed to be funny, given how it’s framed, but it just leaves a strange taste in the mouth.

Later there’s another sincere emotional moment for Takt–not unlike the one he had last episode–where he elucidates why he, even with his rapidly failing health and with the very real risk of death present, is determined to stop Sagan.

This is sincere and affecting stuff, but it’s abruptly, jarringly interrupted when Anna kisses him on the mouth. There are quite a few reasons this is just flat-out weird; it interrupts Anna’s own sincere emotional moment, blunting its impact, there’s the fact that Anna has always been implied to be a well bit older than Takt, and there’s the fact that just last episode Anna was trying to covertly pair up Takt with Destiny. Destiny, who mind you, has made it very clear that she considers Anna something of an older sister. Again, this seems like it’s supposed to be funny, because it’s referenced later and Takt can only stutter and fluster in response when it’s brought up. But it’s so wildly out of place here that it just interrupts the episode’s flow in a notably strange way.

On top of that; early on in the episode there’s a strange mention–not touched on again at any point here–of possibly cryo-freezing Takt and Destiny to find a cure for their condition. This is brought up before everything at the Symphonica goes to Hell, so who knows if it’ll come up again later. But that kind of sci-fi wizardry is a little outside the show’s aesthetic wheelhouse, so it feels a bit off.

And then we come to the episode’s closing scene, which contains easily the biggest humdinger of them all. I will describe this event to you in as plain language as possible, because while it is admittedly pretty cool, it’s also very weird.

Destiny and Takt come upon Hell, who is carrying Heaven. Both of them have a somewhat, how would I put this? Stoned, almost? Look on their face. Our heroes bravely attempt to confront them. At which point, they smirk at each other, and Heaven…releases/conjures/it’s not totally clear from the animation, a tuning fork. Which promptly impales both of them. They then dissolve into a puddle of black sludge, out of which rise a handful of small black prisms dotted with missile launchers, which promptly kill all of the D2s in the room. Then, the sludge coalesces into a new Musicart, presumably a fusion of the two, who introduces herself as Orpheus. Roll credits.

In a word: Huh?

In slightly more words: WTF cannons like this are a thing that single-cour anime love to whip out to throw a wrench into viewer expectations, but this is one of the odder forms I’ve seen the convention take. If nothing else; it’s certainly interesting. (And Orpheus has a pretty cool design, which helps.)

To be frank, I think further speculation on my part would be a bit pointless. What will takt op give us in its final performance tomorrow? I hope you’ll meet me back here when the time comes to find out.

Wanna talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers? Consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on in anime, Let's Watch

Let’s Watch TAKT OP.DESTINY: Episode 10

Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

“Master and Pupil -Lenny-” is the best episode of takt op.Destiny.

Well, okay, that’s a slight exaggeration. Best so far.

Let’s talk about Leonhard, Takt, and the relationship between them.

Last week, Leonhard–Lenny to his friends, which is to say, most people–told Takt that he would reveal to him what happened a decade ago in Boston. This tragedy, which cost Takt his father, the legendary conductor (lowercase C, as far as we know) Kenji “The Rooster” Asahina, has hung over his life like a shadow. We saw this back in episode three where a young Takt’s moody behavior was explained as the result of the then-recent loss. More evidence came in episode six, where Takt met a man named Joe in New Orleans, a former horn player who’d had the opportunity to once play alongside his father. Since then, Takt has focused on writing his song, a composition he’s been working on since episode seven or so.

Where does Leonhard fit into all this? Well, despite the latter’s tsundere-esque denial of it here in the episode’s opening minutes, Lenny is something of a mentor to Takt. They were actually together for only a fairly brief time, but during that time, Lenny taught Takt not just how to fight alongside Destiny but, perhaps indirectly, that life was still worth living. He is a very important person in Takt’s life, and Takt does eventually acknowledge that here.

Sadly, only under quite tragic circumstances.

Before Lenny can explain much, his meeting with Takt and Destiny is interrupted by the mysterious Conductor Sagan. We’ve heard of this man, and even briefly seen him before, but this is really the first taste of his actual character we get, and it is not a pleasant one. Lenny suspects Sagan is responsible for bringing the D2-summoning tuning fork to New York, something he–perhaps surprisingly–openly admits when pressed on. We learn that Lenny’s own cross-country trip with Titan was in large part an evidence-gathering mission. He did not want to believe that Sagan, who he evidently respects, was behind all of this. But he plainly is, and after offering Lenny a single chance to stand down so the two can “keep being friends,” Sagan quite quickly moves on to murder.

Sagan is a curious character. The nature of a twelve-episode anime means that you can’t really save the reveal of the series-wide big bad for this late in the game and not have it come off at least a little weird, but his being such an enigma largely works to the episode’s benefit. And we really don’t learn a ton about him here. Although his comments imply that he finds suffering “beautiful” somehow.

Perhaps a commentary on the tendency to conflate misery and artistic merit that runs rampant the world over. Or maybe the pain we inflict on ourselves, and end up inflicting on others, when we’re convinced it’s somehow worth it. It’s a bit hard to say just yet, and this is one of the few new elements the episode introduces. Mostly, this is an episode of endings.

It splits here splits in twain. One track follows Lenny’s flashbacks as he explains that he was a former student of Takt’s father. Not only that, he was present when the Boston disaster occurred. His motivation for mentoring the younger Asahina this entire time has been to atone for his inability to do anything on that day, neatly tying together his own arc with Takt’s while providing some subtle back-explanation for how he found him in the first place.

The other is the sort of gorgeous action animation scene the series does so well. Sagan commands not one but two Musicarts. There’s Hell, who we saw him repossess from Shindler a few episodes back, and Heaven, who we’ve not actually seen in combat before. It’s a symphony of light and color through and through, and while there are interesting details like Heaven’s weapon design (an umbrella that can turn into a vaguely trumpet-shaped machine gun) and a ton that could be unpacked in the choreography and animation itself, the real story here is the actual flow of the fight.

The match is fairly even at first, given that it’s two-on-two. But Heaven and Hell’s slight edge in strength becomes an overwhelming advantage when Takt collapses in exhaustion from his condition, detransforming Destiny in the process and making it seem like this might be the end for our hero.

It isn’t, of course. But the thread of narrative can be cruel, and if it can’t take one life, it will often wrap around another.

Which is to say, yes, this episode is where we say goodbye to Lenny. Heaven lines up to shoot Takt between the eyes, and Lenny doesn’t hesitate to jump in front of the bullets, taking them in his back as he protects his mentor’s son.

Those who can smile even a forced smile in the face of death are those who know their life was worth living.

He doesn’t drop immediately. Lenny is, as plainly as possible, a tough motherfucker, and he’s certainly not going to just let himself get shot in the back if he can’t at least guarantee Takt and Destiny can get away.

So what does he do? Easy, one last performance.

Did you know Titan can transform, too?

If the visual change isn’t as dramatic as Destiny’s shift into her magical girl-like form, it’s made up for by how outrageously scrappy Titan proves herself to be here. She’s not had a solo in the show like this before, and, while the circumstances are tragic, it is in a way nice that she gets some shine before her time in the series ends. She backflips, manifests another shotgun, Marathon-style, and then when that’s not enough, conjures up a couple more.

Come on Judgment Day with your guns, but no regrets.

It is a jaw-dropper. Titan’s “performance” is comparable to other highlight “action star” sequences from this year like Neiru’s “blow your mind” bit on the bridge from Wonder Egg Priority, Kuroe’s similar half-as-long-twice-as-bright turn in the second season of Magia Record, or, yes, the whole thing with the shotgun on the airplane in the first (and best) episode of The Detective is Already Dead. For two minutes, she is vengeance and defiance; the grim reaper in orange stockings.

She very nearly kills Hell before Sagan backs off. (And to really reinforce his Villain Bonafides, he does so in calm and cool fashion, applauding Leonhard’s “beautiful finale” like a concert attendee while Heaven drags Hell away.)

But blazing finales, by their nature, are final. And it’s here where we confront the crux of the episode. Takt thanks the dying Leonhard for his mentorship and tells him about the song he’s writing. They shake hands, and Takt calls Lenny his “harmony,” in a moment of stunning emotional honesty that is one of his own best moments in the series so far.

Lenny is happy for him, but it’s not long before he fades away into a dying dream. A dream where he and Takt get to play together like musicians, like friends, like teacher and student. A dream that will now forever remain such.

Character death is a hard thing to sell in an anime, especially one this short. Leonhard’s sacrifice for the sake of not just Takt but for everyone is the rare instance that hits exactly as hard as it’s meant to. The star has left the building. Please hold your applause.

The final shot, thus, is a lingering cello, unattended in a concert hall. A haunting memento mori, both played forever and never to be played again.

If Sagan is right about one thing, it is this; Lenny’s final performance is a beautiful thing. But his own cruelty blinds him to the true nature of that beauty. It’s not that Leonhard’s final acts are beautiful because they’re final, it’s because they lay bare a love of humanity and the art of humanity that is willing to offer even its own life up to preserve those things. By circumstance of fate, it is Takt himself who must eventually play takt op.Destiny‘s final performance. But this episode makes a damn good case that Leonhard could’ve done it, too.

Two weeks remain.

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