Takt Op.Destiny
Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy, Musical
Studio: MAPPA/Madhouse
Hello my friends.
Welcome to another blog entry.
Who’s up for a bit of music? No one? Please, do not talk like that, because music is a beautiful art of expression, and one of the greatest legacies of human civilization since the very beginning. Do not listen to Homer Simpson.
Well, here is not about singing, it is more about music. And again, the title says it all, but a part of me is now convinced that we humans need music, because it awakens the most beautiful part of our souls, and teaches us about the best of human history, especially because of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Salieri, and others. Well, I am digressing, but I need to live a good impression, especially since I do not think I will have another chance to express what I think about music and not having a piano.
Because yes. I took piano lessons years ago.
Behold…
But before I go on, I must ask you the typcial question:
Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy?
If the answer is yes, then I am very happy.
And now, let’s enjoy some music of the soul, and anime together. This is Takt Op. Destiny.
PREMISE
Takt Op. Destiny is the anime adaptation of a mixed media project from Bandai Namco Games and DeNA Co. Ltd that combines music and anime (Obviously). The series takes place on 2047, the world is condemned to live without music because it is plagued by the D2, monsters that hate human music and are attracted to its source, whichever it is, either by instruments or piano, and they create rampage whenever they go. The D2 are created by a meteor, called Black Night Siderites, and in order to fight them, the Symphonica International Organization created the Musicarts, girls drawn from classical music sheets and conducted by the «Harmonica Ore», a power granted to a human.
In other words, the Musicarts are like the girls from Kantai Collection, but instead of using Japanese warships from WWII to create them, the particular component is music. (Something that is more appropriate, in my opinion).
Takt Asahina is a talented piano player, but as any respected genius, he prioritises music over everything. He has two very good childhood friends, Anna Schneider, and her younger sister, Cosette. One day, Cosette and Takt play piano together, but they attract a D2 that ultimately kills Cosette. Nonetheless, her pendant awakens Destiny, a Musicart that is very unstable, on the body of Cosette. And Takt becomes his Conductor. Both fight D2s together, and with the help of Anna, the pair must travel to New York to cure Destiny’s condition.
Takt Op. Destiny is available at Crunchyroll, and the animation is a joint venture done between Madhouse and MAPPA, much to my surprise.
And I will talk about this later.
As of November 17, 2021, six episodes have been released. But I am not sure how many episodes Takt Op. Destiny will have as a whole, but honestly, honestly, I am counting that it will have at least 24 episodes (two cours).
Finally, the opening – Takt – is performed by Ryo from Supercell, while the ending – Symphonia, is beautifully performed by Mika Nakashima.
Here is a link for the intro, which I love.
And of course, the ending.
STORY
Here it comes.
Firstlty, I must say that, when I read that Takt Op.Destiny is based on a videogame, I was like…
Because, I got a pretty bad experience with BlazBlue, and that nefarious anime released on 2013, called BlazBlue: After Memory, which is basically 13 (or 12, I neither remember nor care), pure filler that tells me almost nothing about BlazBlue, or Guilty Gear for that matter, or with Akiba’s Trip: The Animation, which didn’t left me precisely a good impression. And then, I got this teaching for myself:
«There is something worse than a crappy movie because on a videogame, and that is a crappy anime based on a videogame.»
But then, after watching the first two episodes of Takt Op.Destiny… I got hooked, with everything, the animation, the story, the pacing, the characters, and the soundtrack. This anime was beautiful in all of those aspects.
The animation… well. Do I have to say more? It is freaking MAPPA, along with awesome Madhouse. What can I say?
However, the very first moment I saw the trailer of Takt Op. Destiny, I swear to you that I thought the animation was done by Ufotable, due to the similarities from their work with Fate series.
Just look at the stills.
After all, how can you never suspected that with such a quality?
Anyway. Then I decided to see the series, and indeed, everything left a great impression. While the first episode gave us a good impression of how powerful Takt and Destiny truly are, and some great battles scenes that you will enjoy, the second episode starts on flashback mode, revealing more about the past of Takt, Anna and Cosette. And the rhythm of the story is so balanced and pleasant it makes you see the episode once more. Of course, on episode two, there are some elements of the story, as well as other characters that you will see later on, because the story reveals little by little.
And that is something that I appreciate on these stories – Three basic elements.
- Story
- Characters
- The development of both.
And that is something you see on Takt Op.Destiny.
Does this makes this anime more artsy? Not really. I would say it is more conventional, but at least the feeling of classical music is always there, and if you are a fan of the Fate adaptations done by Ufotable, or Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba for that matter, you would have any problem with this story.
CHARACTERS
I can see that the characters have a really beautiful design, and I will definitely learn more about them while i watch the other episodes.
But for now, I will center about our protagonists, Takt, Destiny and Anna. Takt is the genius who is more focuses on his art rather than in his life, or even his health, pretty basic, but the work done by Koki Uchiyama (HoriMiya), really states the identity of the character; Anna is the older sister figure who loves them, but has a hard time looking after Takt and Destiny.
And with Destiny… let’s just say that she has the same aloofness and calmness as Saber. Both are very similar.
However, one element that is must praise indeed, is her design.
It is simple, beautiful, and definitely looks like a pianist or a violinist. MAPPA and Madhouse really nailed it with the design of Destiny.
As beautiful as Vivy, from Vivy – Fluorite eye’s song.
And by the way. Why many stories have the word DESTINY on their titles? Or have characters named as such? It is not like Destiny is a bad name, or that I hate it; but many people might notice by now that it is already used everywhere like this. Anyway, I wanted to point it out, that’s all.
The characters are interesting, and I enjoyed them a lot.
CONCLUSION
Takt Op. Destiny is an anime worth of your time. It has nice characters, interesting story, enjoyable battle scenes, and fantastic soundtrack. Of course, the series is not that innovative, but it doesn’t need to be. It simply needs strong substance to entertain you, which definitely has. But the best elements are the soundtrack and the animation.
Again, if you like Ufotable, their work with Fate Series, and Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song, you will absolutely enjoy this.
Right Bart?
Ok. Not for everyone. But definitely check it out.
And now… I will show it to Komi-san, I definitely can see her reaction.
Jainituos Presents 