English Dub Review: Takt Op. Destiny “Conduct -Creed-”

Overview

Taking place in the dystopian future of 2047, a world where music cannot be played freely because it attracts monsters called “D2s”. These monsters were produced by a black meteorite containing Black Night Siderites which fell from the sky years ago. They hate the music produced by humans and are drawn to the music source and attempt to destroy it as it’s strangely the only thing that can hurt and kill them. To combat the D2s, the Symphonica International Organization and the Musicarts combine their powers to defend the cities from D2s.

After four years had passed since a truce was made with the D2 creatures. music consequently remained taboo throughout the world, and melodies ceased to be heard. Somewhere in America, a little boy who grew up not knowing what music is begins to hear the melody from a piano. The one playing it is a young man with black hair named Maestro Takt. And then, a deformed creature known as a D2 and a girl named Destiny, who is armed with a sword, appear as though they were lured in by the melody…


Our Take

So in a nutshell, we’re starting off with a guy who wants to save the world with music? And a cold emotionless girl who has an addiction to sweets, and another girl who’s their driver that needs to go to New York with the other 2, because they need to? The setup itself kinda gives off the same vibes as another music-themed Anime called Listeners which also had a road trip-like narrative. But the personalities of our three leads such as Tackt, Destiny/Corset, and her sister Anna are different in both the story and how their powers seem to operate on their own set of rules this world seems to have, compared to the aforementioned “Listeners” with Takt guiding and commanding her attacks almost like a Pokémon battle. Plus, given how sheltered everyone is in this universe, I’ve never seen children or teens fascinated by classical music before.

Given that this is the first joint effort between Animation Studio’s Mappa and Madhouse, I wouldn’t expect anything less from either side as they both have extensive track records of amazing anime under their belts and usually deliver in spades, as shown in the stylized colorful art mixed with some fluidly in the breathtaking fight scenes which are often expected from these heavy-hitters in the anime industry…

Overall, I can see the plot going in an interesting direction, and while the character dynamics between both leads and what Anna does hint at some hilarity, the execution is kinda iffy and needs more episodes to further set itself apart from “Listeners” while setting up the events to come. But I’m all in for this exciting journey of using music as a form of weaponry as the three proceed their journey to New York.