WARNING: The following contains spoilers for takt op.Destiny Episode 10, "Master and Pupil -Lenny-," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Episode 10 represents another emotional moment for takt op.Destiny as fans bid farewell to Lenny, who made an important impact on Takt and Destiny's lives. In fact, it turns out Lenny knew and idolized Takt's father -- his teacher -- a long time ago, and it was because of his death that Lenny became a Conductor for the Symphonica.
This isn't the first time takt op.Destiny has had a tearjerker of an episode. Episode 2 revealed how Cosette first became a Musicart, while the last few episodes have built up to a poignant emotional catharsis of sorts for Takt and Destiny as the former finally accepted Cosette's passing. Unforunately, Episode 10 just doesn't resonate the same way. It's hard to have the same emotional reaction when it gets weighed down with cliches.
After hearing Lenny's cryptic message about the Symphonica and how it's connected to the tragedy that killed Takt's father 10 years ago, Takt knew he couldn't let Lenny leave without hearing the entire truth. But just as Lenny is about to expose the Symphonica, of course someone interrupts: the Grand Maestro Sagan and his two Musicarts, Hell and Heaven.
It's a trope that's been done countless times -- just as the hero is about to learn the truth, the villain comes in and acts as a barrier to his or her understanding. Cliches aren't inherently bad if it's given an interesting twist, but Episode 10 of takt op.Destiny goes down a predictable trajectory. Takt, Lenny and their respective Musicarts work together to fight against Sagan.
With MAPPA and Madhouse at the helm, the fight's animation is one of the best parts of the episode with sparks flying as Destiny clashes with Hell's deadly wheels-for-feet and Titan going bullet-for-bullet with Heaven. But it's not enough to detract from the other poor storytelling details.
Sagan is as one-dimensional of an antagonist as they come. Granted, Episode 10's focus is more on Lenny and the Grand Maestro's motivations were barely explored before the action took over. But the way he's portrayed makes him look like he just gets sadistic joy out of watching people die for music. Even if Sagan is revealed to be some kind of psychopath, he's not a particularly interesting one. Many anime and movies of late have strived to create well-developed antagonists because oftentimes their primary purpose is to push the plot (and protagonist's development) forward but right now, Sagan is just doing bad things for the sake of being bad in takt op.Destiny.
As a result, it's a little harder to feel as deeply moved by Lenny's death as it was intended to be. He originally became a Conductor out of guilt over Asahina Kenji's death. In his eyes, the reason Takt is now father-less is because he didn't push hard enough in stopping Kenji from holding the concert. As repentance for not saving Kenji, Lenny saves Takt.
The high point in takt op.Destiny Episode 10 is Titan's power-up, which, though it feels isolated, is fraught with emotion. Mustering up the last of his strength, Lenny transfers all of his powers to Titan who unleashes blast after powerful blast in a dazzling array of explosions. Just as Lenny calls out for Titan's attack 'Triumphal', there's a moment where it looks like the Musicart is crying bloody tears -- she knows the cost of winning this fight is losing her beloved Conductor.