I have a general rule with anime – once I start hitting fast-forward, that’s usually the end of the line.  There have been series that clawed their way back from that, but very few.  I almost made it through this episode of Takt Op. Destiny but by the end I was skipping, just kind of wanting it to be over.  I won’t say this is definitively it for me, but next week is going to have to show me a whole lot more than these last two episodes have or it will be.

If there’s anything that gives me a bit of hope, it was the ending of this episode, because it apparently means Lenny and Titan will be leaving the stage at least for now.  And I must say, it’s amazing how much I came to loathe the both of them in only two episodes.  My God, they’re annoying, and I don’t even know which one is worse.  I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily a huge Satoshi Hino fan – more indifferent – but this is by far the most grating performance I’ve ever heard from him.  Woof.

That said, I can’t chalk up all the issues I have with Takt to those two, awful as they are.  My fear with this show, the looming spectre, was always Guilty Crown – what it was, and what it signifies.  Even when Takt was pretty good there was always a nagging doubt that there was no “there” there with this series, and it’s not even as great-looking as GC was (and with 30 animation directors this week, who knows how it will hold up).  It’s a collection of tropes and cliches presented with a certain amount of style, but the writing has grown increasingly torpid as we’ve progressed.

As good as the second ep was – and it was really quite good – I don’t want to give up too quickly.  But it was good because it was so simple, which allowed it to be heartfelt and sincere.  I very much doubt that style will be making a reappearance – it really seems more like a one-off – and the more Takt Op. Destiny tries to go big, the more it collapses under its own weight.  The bubble hasn’t burst yet, but we’re getting pretty darn close.