This week’s Takt delves fully into Lenny’s past while throwing multiple death flags in the present, meaning this episode really only has one conclusion. That, and the lack of depth in Lenny’s development to this point —not to mention the relatively thin relationship he has with Takt and Destiny—kinda left me wanting on this one, and I don’t feel good saying that!
First Lenny, Titan, Takt, and Destiny meet in Central Park where Lenny will reveal the secret of the Symphonica and the Boston Tragedy, but before he can say anything Sagan shows up, says “Yes, I’m Evil too”, asks the others to join him, and has both Heaven and Hell attack them when they don’t. I usually don’t mind getting down to the exciting action, but for an episode full of exposition they could have gone into a little more detail about what Sagan is trying to accomplish.
Yes, there was every indication that Sagan was evil too, but the fact that he’s evil…just cause kinda flattens the conflict. It would have been more interesting if he’d presented his side of what the world should be, or give a good reason why he’s riling up the D2s. But nothing. His Musicarts fight Lenny and Takt’s, Takt runs out of gas, Lenny takes three bullets and uses what’s left of his life to put Titan in Overdrive.
With a fusillade of bullets that would make Tomoe Mami proud, OverTitan manages to disable Heaven. Whether she didn’t feel conficdent taking Titan on herself or read the room that her laughing and mugging was growing stale, Hell withdraws with Sagan and Heaven, and the fights over just like that. The remainder of the episode is saying goodbye to Lenny, and…I don’t mean to be callous, but there’s an art to death scenes.
If the character is someone you care about and their death was set up, you’re on the right track. Lenny seems like a swell guy and all, and I liked him, but the show never made me get all that invested in until this week, when they rushed through it all. The inevitability of his demise from start to finish, and trying to land payoffs with inadequate setup made this turning point of an episode fell far more hollow than it should have.
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Interesting reaction. Of course, how much exposition in a character is necessary for investment is highly subjective and varies greatly from person to person. All characters in a story are ultimately without depth because they are fictional. In an analysis of a character, one ultimately hits the “Truman Show” Blue Wall of his/her reality. Everyone’s pet at home has more depth than a character in a story. For my tastes, I invested early in Lenny when he was first introduced, and that just grew with each scene he was in. So EP 10 had emotional resonance especially that very end ending with Takt’s father. I am also invested in the Senior Asahina and he hasn’t even been introduced, but that is due to all the other character’s descriptions of him, and the emo reactions of his son.. Your take on Sagan is also my lack of reaction to the character. We know nothing about him or his motives, he is just the big bad cypher villain. Do we really need to know the backstory of a monster to wish his destruction by the protag? For my interests, “Takt: op.” is a comedy with dramatic elements, and its purpose is to sell a computer game. In the very funny comedy of “Kaguya-sama”, they pulled off one of the most heart felt dramatic story arcs in the Ishigami backstory at the end of S2. And then they destroyed an entire High School with a Red Balloon!
There is no work of art anywhere, at anytime, or in any culture that satisfies everyone.
What is Art?
“All right,” said Susan. “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need… fantasies to make life bearable.”
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
“Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—”
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
“So we can believe the big ones?”
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
“They’re not the same at all!”
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME…SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
“Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what’s the point—”
MY POINT EXACTLY.”
― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather