takt op. Destiny

Episode 6

"Sunrise -Rooster-" is kind of a fascinating episode of takt op. Destiny. Whereas the previous few weeks have really emphasized the “gamey” aspects of the story that no doubt tie in perfectly to the mobile gacha game upon which the anime is based, "Sunrise -Rooster-" contains absolutely nothing of the sort. There are no fight scenes with the D2s whatsoever, no new Musicarts for TAKT to potentially add to his Alien Murder Harem, and no conflict that exists in a form that can be magicked or punched into submission. Hell, there's hardly even a plot; the entire episode consists of Anna and Destiny wandering around New Orleans and meeting random townsfolk, while TAKT stumbles onto an old jazz bar and basks in the atmosphere that the old-timers there have cultivated as they wax nostalgic for the good ol' days of live music and jam sessions—good ol' days that, as it turns out, just so happened to involve TAKT's father, Kenji “The Rooster” Asahina.

The mystery of Kenji's death, and how it led to the “Boston Tragedy” that disgraced the Asahina name, is the closest thing to a traditional hook that “Sunrise -Rooster-“ has, but even then, the episode isn't leaning on it as a cheap narrative crutch. We can already guess at a lot of the details—that Kenji's passion for music and conducting somehow led to a D2-related disaster in Boston—but what's more important is the sense of isolation and the burden of guilt that TAKT has had to bear in the years since. When Destiny dunks on TAKT for being a music-obsessed asshole in the very funny opening exchange of the episode, even Anna has to admit that Destiny is completely right, but we can also understand a little of how TAKT ended up this way. The episode is quick to point out how much of the country this far east is either dead or dying; New Orleans itself is practically a ghost town, with only a scattered few of the oldest survivors left to keep the city's legacy alive. For New Orleans and TAKT both, music isn't just a hobby or a luxury. It's a vital tether to the lives and the art that have been taken by the D2s.

Of course, a lot of this thematic depth is only present as either subtext or basic elements of the script itself. If “Sunrise -Rooster-“ has a major Achilles' heel, it's that the show's stiff and flat artwork struggles to fully convey the desolation of the city, the loneliness of its last inhabitants, or the full scope of warmth and passion that comes when TAKT and his new friends get to enjoy music to the fullest for the first time in a good long while. TAKT's piano solo is decently done, but it's the only standout sequence in an episode that mostly looks and feels average at best. It isn't enough to sink the story, but it doesn't elevate the material, either.

The same could be said for Destiny and Anna's side plot, which is about as formulaic as the usual stories of this show, but lacks the musical hook that helps TAKT's A-plot work. Outside of doing odd jobs for the locals, the biggest event of this part of the episode is when a delusional older woman mistakes Anna for her daughter and takes the girls into her home to feed them and dote on them. I'm rarely a fan of this trope, especially since I feel like it is only ever used when a story wants a quick and easy way to communicate that a bunch of young people have died in a horrible disaster. Also, I might have misjudged the quick glance at the lady's family photos, but she and her husband are both dark-skinned enough make it very odd for the super-white Anna Schneider to be mixed up for the couple's dead daughter (even when you consider the whole “delusional with grief” thing).

Still, even though “Sunrise -Rooster-“ isn't perfect, I appreciate that the show was even willing to attempt such a low-key, dramatically driven episode. Moody tone pieces are always risky for anime that rely primarily on action and goofy shenanigans to keep their audience's interest. It could be that, when the season is done, we'll look back and decide that this was an unnecessary waste of a valuable 20 minutes. For now, though, I was glad to spend a quiet evening in New Orleans with the Destiny Crew.

Rating:

takt op. Destiny is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.