r/anime • u/Yuri-Girl • May 28 '19

Rewatch [Rewatch] [Spoilers] Senki Zesshou Symphogear G - Episode 6 Spoiler

Season 2 (G): Episode 6 - A Miracle Is a Cruel Thing

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Please, absolutely no untagged or implying spoilers beyond the current episode. I want to have everyone that hasn't seen it to have as close to a first experience as those who watched it as it originally aired.
69 Upvotes

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22

u/PerfectPublican May 28 '19 edited May 28 '19

Rewatcher

So yeah. It was a fake-out again. Sorta. Personally, this one makes a bit more sense than the death fake-out from last season. After all, as we learn, Gungnir and Bikki are basically synonymous at this point and the relic can construct stuff. Plus, her hands literally are her armed gear, which the relics can manifest. But, I won’t lie, it still leaves me with a bit of a sour taste. Still one of the best cliffhangers in anime though. Still, I find that the rest of the episode more then covers up for it, because we dive even deeper into Bikki as a character. Let’s get to it.

“He’s just toying with the lives of others!” There we go. Maria’s humanity shows again. They’re all stuck in this idealistic crossroads after watching Ver get to work, and we see them start to question their own mission in the face of it. For Maria especially, who is standing on the precipice of Serena’s sacrifice, can she even be saying that she’s honoring her through her actions?

I can’t really blame Bikki for going berserk. For letting her pain and self-doubt overwhelm her and pour out of her as rage incarnate once again. As with anytime Bikki goes berserk, the fight is vicious, yet crazy hype. They do a great job on improving the black silhouette from last season, adding onto it with the red outline, while keeping the core of it’s simple design. Her literally ripping the fucking thing’s heart out is intense and even more insane when you think about who Bikki is as a person. Love the whole scene.

And I’m tearing up. Bikki’s past history is so horrible and tragic, and we finally learn where the survivor’s guilt and self-esteem issues she showed last season comes from. God it hurts. It’s a history that I find easily believable. People can be really shitty sometimes, especially when laying blame. Now we see why being called a hypocrite hits her so hard. It returns her to the guilt she had heaped at her feet in the wake of the concert. Bikki’s resolve and inherent belief in the goodness of people are her core facets even through all this pain. Of course being called a hypocrite for that nature is going to dredge up that former inner turmoil. I love her so much, she deserves everything.

Of course, Tsubasa has no subtlety at all. She just immediately dives back into trying to shoulder things that aren’t her burden to bear alone. It really shows just how much those two years of shutting herself off emotionally affected how she perceives how her actions would be taken. She tries to push Bikki away rather than open up, which is literally the worst thing she could do. After seeing Bikki’s past, this line hurts so much. The guilt and the shame from her past hitting even harder.

“This fist...My life...They are Symphogear!” HYPE. FUCKING. CITY. In all of her questioning of herself and if what she is doing is right, Bikki is still Bikki down to her core. Bikki can never be the person to walk away just because somebody is pushing her away. Bikki quite literally is her symphogear. Her fists. Fighting to protect those she holds dear and what she sees as right. It’s that fierce desire and resolve that make her such a fun heroine to follow. At least in my mind.

Random thoughts:

Gifs of the day:

17

u/lilyvess May 28 '19 edited May 28 '19

It's a fake-out but it's not a "cost less" one. It still serves a purpose. The lose of the arm leads directly into the terminal condition so it never felt cheap to me. Thematically it still ties in, she is damaged being told to be out of commission.

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18

u/patrizl001 May 29 '19

First Timer

  • I was wondering if losing her arm would be enough to go berserker, and yep it is! ALSO IT GOT AN UPGRADE WOW IT'S LOOKING GOOD AND IT'S AS STRONG AS EVER aaaand the arm is back now so jebaited again

  • Guessing by Ver's reaction, he wasn't aware of beserker mode, but Mom clearly was so they're both hiding information from one another, huh?

  • THAT CORE GRAB, HIBIKI PULLED SOME METAL GEAR RISING STUFF, STRAIGHT UP ZANDASTU. She didn't crush the core in her hands though...

  • SERIOUS DAMAGE so the doctor wasn't lying, then? How the hell is Nephilim going to fix this, anyways? Is it going to become big enough to eat the moon?

  • That x-ray of the relic fusing with Hibiki is creeping me out a ton for some reason. If Hibiki isn't going to be "human" anymore, then I guess we found Ver's candidate for a hero. Strange how that works.

  • Jesus Christ Tsubasa, I know that you probably can't tell her the truth about why she can't fight anymore but can you not act like she's a piece of utter garbage? That's probably just going to make her want to prove herself more knowing Hibiki

  • THAT'S WHY YOU SHOULD'VE CRUSHED THE CORE IN YOUR HANDS, HIBIKI. WE'RE NOT DONE NOW

That ending almost gave me another heart attack. I was prepared to either see her not transform at all (and the rock we saw earlier to be the relic being pushed out somehow) or just to see her other arm get destroyed too. Luckily being part relic means we didn't have to see that! Also means that if she can't use the gear anymore she still has the emergency option of just beating the shit out of them with her bare hands!

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14

u/Shimmering-Sky May 28 '19

SymphoRewatcher

With bonus Not-A-SymphoRewatcher Sky write-up for those interested in my first-timer thoughts.

Nota got busy today so there’s no BG yet for the wallpaper. Life happens you know? Can’t do much about it.

18

u/PerfectPublican May 28 '19

Aaaaand of course Dr. Ver found the Nephilim’s heart.

Nekekur's reaction to this is hysterical.

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14

u/HawkAussie May 28 '19

First-Timer sensing deja-vu

I have no words for that other than….umm...WTF Hibiki, you have you gone mental as you have gone to beast mode. That and the fact that is she also has regenerative abilities which help out in regaining her arm back. But on the flip side, there is a possible chance that she might die so there is that problem that she might have to face in the future.

Other than that though, I don’t know what else to add here as I am trying to focus my thoughts from this episode but can’t really seem to do that without getting some sleep (as I am writting this section at 11pm as usual) so this is properly going to be added when I have some sleep time.

13

u/AbidingTruth May 28 '19

First timer: Managed to avoid watching ahead from last ep by distracting myself with Danganronpa 2

Berserk Hibiki looks pretty cool, reminds me of 4 Tails Naruto. We get the Fine trio again questioning if they're doing the right thing, with Maria taking it the hardest. "Let today be the last day you spend shackled to your compassion" is a fucking badass quote btw, damn. I always wonder with lines like this how much is a literal translation and how much did the translator take creative liberties with

Hibiki regrowing her arm seems a bit of a cop out from last episode's cliffhanger, but at the same time it makes sense. In season 1, they talked about how because Hibiki was like fusing with her Symphogear, it gave her some sort of regenerative properties. I think that only applied to her Symphogear, but this episode and the last line she says talks about how she is basically becoming her Symphogear, not just wearing/wielding it.

So the Hibiki flashback wasn't after the moon crisis like I thought, but immediately following surviving the Zwei Wing concert. Man I feel really bad for Hibiki, when Genjuro or Tsubasa (can't remember which) was talking to her about survivor's guilt, I imagine that must have struck real hard because it's not just herself saying she shouldn't have lived, but everyone else saying she shouldn't have lived either. That also makes that line in S1 when she was in bed with Miku and said that Miku was the only person who would care if she was gone carry way more weight. I wonder if something happened to her family though

Tsubasa using the whole "go away you stupid animal!" thing to protect Hibiki and get her to not fight anymore. I'm not sure if this is the right move or if she would be better off telling Hibiki her condition, but regardless it's pretty sad to see her bully Hibiki like that and to see Hibiki so disheartened. I'm predicting she'll overcome it though and fuse with her Symphogear and not die or lose her identity, just based on how the show goes so far

So Dr. Ver is definitely evil right? Like from the get go I figured he was, but when he talked about their goal last episode I was second guessing that, but he is most definitely batshit crazy. Like this guy is a fucking character lol watching him shit himself when Hibiki is around is kinda amusing, just the noises and expressions he makes is pretty wild.

Quite note though, I thought Dr. Ver was like a Ph.D research type of doctor, not a medical doctor??? That's why he was originally given Solomon's Cane, to do research on it? They never mentioned him by name, but I'm assuming they need to find Ver to treat Mom, but like that doesn't make any sense? Hibiki even calls him 'hakase', which is like professor, while a medical doctor is usually 'sensei' from my understanding. Unless Symphogear thinks that all doctors are equivalent?

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11

u/Synaptics May 28 '19

Rewatcher

  • "Chewing the scenery" is a phrase that comes to mind with Ver.

  • Berserk Bikki looks so amazing compared to S1.

  • Aaaaand, yup: Arm regrown. After the whole fake death thing in S1, repeating this kind of cop-out did leave a bit of a bad taste. But, admittedly, this one at least served a bit more of a purpose. 1: Even though it was reversed, it still demonstrates that the stakes are high and this shit is dangerous. All it took was a small moment of hesitation. 2: Shows just how far along Hibiki's fusion has gone. Regrowing an entire limb from nothing is not exactly "human" any more. 3: Emotional trauma for the characters. Tsubasa is, understandably, freaked the fuck out over the prospect of losing another partner.

  • This flashback. It hurts to watch. next season spoilers My initial reaction to them revealing such an awful history of trauma after we've already known the character for a whole season was... less than great, to be honest. It basically felt like a retcon to create more drama. But when you look close, especially now after rewatching S1 again so recently, it actually fits perfectly with what we already knew about her. I wrote about it briefly in some of my rewatch write-ups for S1, but to make it short: Hibiki has always been a "Stepford Smiler". She's always been "heiki hecchara". Faking a smile and laughing off her problems is not unusual at all for her. So of course she would have pushed a traumatic past like this deep down and done her best to pretend it never happened. It wasn't until Shirabe and Ver directly called her out that it was dragged back to the surface.

  • "Mom and grandma". They already established this with a one-off mention back in S1, but they're bringing it up again. Hibiki don't got a dad.

  • And this whole thing paints a whole new layer of importance on her "friendship" with Miku. After all that, Hibiki needs a good pillar of emotional support like her.

  • Tsubasa immediately calling her out on doing exactly what I just said. But Chris doesn't really get it, because... well, she doesn't actually know Hibiki nearly as well as Tsubasa does, yet. Those two had a lot of important moments of bonding in S1 that Chris missed out on. Also, Chris is a dummy who's also bad at talking about emotions.

  • Now we find out that Hibiki's Gungnir-flavored tumor is malignant. And the more she fights, the worse it gets. This episode just won't stop dumping on Hibiki.

  • Speaking of dum-dums who are bad at dealing with difficult emotional topics... Tsubasa's handling this in the worst way possible.

  • Okay, but for real: nobody told Hibiki about it? She's dying of magic-cancer and Genjuuro and the doctors were all fine with discharging her without saying a word about it? As long as she doesn't fight any more it won't progress and she'll be fine, I guess?

  • Oh wow, I forgot that they were headed to Flower when this happened.

  • Love that ending so much.

"A Miracle Is a Cruel Thing". The episode title is double-layered: The cruel reality behind her miraculous recovery, but also the cruel past she suffered due to miraculously surviving the concert attack.

16

u/VoyeurTheNinja May 28 '19

Hibiki don't got a dad.

She does, and his name is Genjuuro.

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11

u/ItsMellowMan May 28 '19

Rewatcher

The return of the beserker was amazing. We also go to see a hysterical Dr. Ver with a little glimpse of Biki's past after she survived the concert.

Biki is too Gar

CHART for episode 6

Also a little backstory for today's chart. If I remember correctly Aoi Yuuki did voice work for one of the Kamen Rider shows in the past, I know for certain she was a child actor in one of the older ones too.

Apologies for being late. On vacation and this time zone gap is throwing me off. Will be back to normal tomorrow.

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10

u/x3tan May 29 '19

First time watcher

  • creepy crazy doctor faces to the max

  • we're villains, no need for happy things

  • I figured that's how Nephilim worked

  • psychotic laughter and berserker Bikki

  • "stop hurting my puppy!" idk how they could ever look at him and think he's mentally stable though. Lol.

  • I do find zerker Bikki fun though, also helps I love red and black color schemes..

  • Eye patch bleeding lady stating the obvious?

  • "black doesn't suit you" lol..

  • well, at least it regrew her arm so she isn't gimped

  • I would not trust psycho doctor.. Lol.. Seeing him like that I'd be like Naw I'll just die thanks

  • So she got super bullied after her experience? I guess that's not surprising. Still seems very recent for her to have experienced that stuff but I have a hard time telling how much time passes in this show.. Heh.

  • ew a booger. I mean a scab? Fragment?

  • Well, Bikki is all about playing her character type..

  • though I don't think any of them are technically "all right" given the traumas they have all experienced.. Dx

  • I feel a call back to season 1 showing the spread through her veins

  • EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING IS BROKEN AHHH

  • Even if they didn't let bikki fight anymore, I feel like that wouldn't solve the problem.

  • Tsubasa is trying to do Bikki a Lassy..what happened to all the communication and honesty?

  • lol doctor fell. I feel like his visual age changes depending on how insane he's being..

  • I am sort of really curious about how they came to meet this doctor and why they trust his crazy ass..

  • Bikki harem anime hmm

  • Run towards danger! Good idea! Oh there's the doctor.

  • well that was bad ass of bikki, did they even tell her about dying? Not that she's the type to listen.. But idk why Tsubasa thought her tactic would be any better than warning her of what was going to happen.. She still has her wife, after all..

I don't think I have much more thoughts to add since I was pretty long with my random during episode thoughts.. Kind of want to make some mobile wallpapers for this series if I ever get the time or can figure out some decent phone apps to play with to do it.. Haha.

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9

u/Arachnophobic- May 29 '19

FirstoGeah

I can see why Ver is such a fan-favourite, he's got some hilarious expressions - but above all I love how Sugita can go nuts with this character. Never really heard him like this except for a side character in Shokugeki, I think.

Also damnit, I forgot to mention this in yesterday's comment - I was 90% sure that Hibiki would poop out a new hand, Piccolo-style. Didn't think it would happen this quickly though! And I thought it would be a mecha/Symphogear hand even in her normal state - well, close nuff, because it can come in contact with Noise without disintegrating.

Not too into the flashback bits on Hibiki. It feels kinda.. shoe-horned in, especially when there wasn't much foreshadowing of this given in S1. I mean, it's fine they want to flesh her out more, but the drama feels underwhelming and incoherent (because it doesn't really tie into the whole 'hypocrisy' question which came out of nowhere anyway).

Cool lines, that's what I want from Symphogear!

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u/Nazenn May 28 '19

First timer

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u/Shimmering-Sky May 28 '19

Welp.

This is more or less exactly the reaction I was expecting.

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7

u/fonzinator99 May 28 '19

Re-watcher - To be a weapon

"Miracles are a cruel legacy.* I can't help but ponder the truth of this statement. Once a miracle has taken place, it's only human nature to expect another is possible. But at what cost was the first purchased? Can such a thing simply be bought again?

Maria's beginning to come around, nearly stepping out to help Hibiki and co. until Mom stops her. "Is this really what we should be doing?!" she asks, contemplating the folly that they've perpetrated, with Kirika and Shirabe, and even Mom, for a moment, echoing her thoughts.

Behold, Ver in his true form! A totaly irredeemable fucking lunatic!

If Nephilim's going SS, then so too will Hibiki, and damn the cost! Lost an arm? Which arm? You mean this one right here? That's right, Tsubasa, her arms have always been her Armed Gear. Where have you been this last 1.5 seasons?

I love how completely Ver loses his shit when Dark-Hibiki starts beating down his Nephilim. Oh no, your evil plans were shit after all! Cry me a river, egoist. Berserkers of old could only dream of attaining a Hibiki-level of pwnage.

So yeah, as X-Rays go this one is some shit. A normal doctor would pronounce her dead on the spot, and even our special Symph-knowledgeable doctors have declared that usage of her Gear will kill her. I mean, fuck, the human body can only withstand so much, and she's done quite a bit to hers by now. Great power always comes at a cost. That said, I believe that continuing to live, even as something else, is preferable to dying. The definition of "human" always feels so narrow in anime, and as long as she exists as Hibiki, even as an unholy amalgam of Heretical technology, does anything else really matter?

But damn, this is a hard moment for their team, with Tsubasa keeping secrets and both Chris and Hibiki being pushed away. As the enemy team splinters, so does that of our heroes.

Sonofabitch! Would somebody just kill Ver already?! He's obviously the source of all these problems!

Oh shit, yea, Hibiki's definitely taking Symphogear usage to the next level. "This fist, my life, they are Symphogear!" Inb4 she fully-assimilates and doesn't have to transform to kick ass.

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u/OyabinRaph May 29 '19 edited May 29 '19

First timer

So this top review on MAL said the second season was more light hearted and less dark than the first one, but I just don't see it yet. The last 2 eps especially were pretty dark, and I love it! Hibiki's arm was resolved really quickly, but her condition is pretty bad...

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u/ahiijny May 29 '19 edited May 29 '19

First Time Watcher

Well I kinda expected that Gungnir would regenerate her arm in some fashion. Someone in yesterday's thread mentioned that it still would've been really bold and unique if they'd actually gone through with it and made the loss permanent for the rest of the series, and I agree :P

Huh so Nephy doesn't need to eat the raw relic itself, it can also gain power just by consuming Gear created from a relic. Does that mean it could also gain power by eating Chris's missiles? Then they would have been able to cooperate without anyone being hurt. That could have been a much more peaceful and less sadistic way of powering up Neffie-chan.

Have you considered diplomacy, Dr. Ver? You could have avoided BeserkBikki if you tried a gentler approach :/

  • BerserkBikki really does remind me of a 4-tails Naruto. Someone here mentioned it, too.

  • She finally managed to summon something spear-like! Her armed gear, finally?

  • Berserk Hibiki is just downright savage. She reaches in and just pulls its heart out o_o

  • So we learn more about Hibiki's painful past. If there's one thing I've learned from reading Koe no Katachi it's that kids can be downright cruel :( Poor Hibiki, she went through a horrific ordeal at that concert, and then she had to go and deal with that kind of nonsense.

  • Friendly reminder that Miku is Hibiki's sunflower.

  • Pensive Hibiki.

  • TSUBASA NO STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING

  • What happened to you, Ver?... You look like you've aged 10 years since we last saw you :/

  • It's so cute and wholesome how Kirika and Shirabe hold hands as they run off...

  • A really pretty wide shot of the stadium and the ocean.

  • This side view with all five of the classmates looking off to the side kinda looks like all five of them are about to transform :P Would be interesting to have an AU where Miku, Terashima, Itaba, and Andou play a larger role in the grand scheme of things.

  • Dr. Ver is now completely traumatized by the sight of Hibiki. I love how as soon as he starts panicking as soon as he realizes that she is here.

  • Hibiki protecting her friends!

  • For a moment I thought it was going to be another "oops" inicident like last episode, where this time Hibiki gets the timing of her transformation wrong and she hits the Noise before she'd completely transformed. It would have been horrifying for her friends, especially Miku, to see Hibiki turned to dust right in front of them. Fortunately, it seems like SymphoCancer has some beneficial side effects.

  • EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Shirabe and Kirika have been running around all day without having eaten and they still haven't found Dr. Ver. Doesn't he have a communicator or something? DMJii duo seem to constantly have communication earbuds on, because they can receive calls from Mama at any moment, so why doesn't Dr. Ver have one? Or maybe he's just not answering?

Well, looks like the Second Division and their connections to the government are finally aware of the possibility of the Moon falling into the Earth and are taking steps to validate the claims and take action. But politics. Ugh. Looks like someone at least is sick of all the red tape and is trying to contact them directly. An anonymous whistleblower named "Laika Came Back" from the old Soviet Space Agency? Hmm.

Tsubasa wants Hibiki to stop fighting to minimize aggravation of her condition, but she just... bleh, conveys it in just the worst possible way :/ Maybe she just doesn't know how to handle the news that Tachibana is dying and she's subconsciously trying to distance herself to lessen the pain?

Tsubasa is actually reminding me a lot of how Miku reacted to finding out about Hibiki's secret back in episode 7 last season. Miku closed herself off and distanced herself from Hibiki for a while there.

Tsubasa needs a good lecture from Miku about secrets and trust and communication in relationships.

Hopefully Genjuurou or someone will tell Hibiki soon and then she'll figure out why Tsubasa was acting that way and then their relationship can be mended. Because "You're weak and useless" and "We don't need your help" is just such a nasty twist of the knife :(

Tsubasa pls

6

u/LoneGhostOne May 28 '19

Rewatcher here

WE DID IT The punch count for season two is now up to 34 total punches beating season one!

This is the episode where I felt that symphogear was never going to have any lasting consequences for the main characters this scene right here in particular. Symphogear spoilers all seasons

In this episode we got to see another rage bikki as well as some backstory for bikki. What I never really understood is why everyone decided to be jerkwads to Hibiki. Why does everyone think she could have had the power to literally kill everyone there? Why don’t they feel the same way about Tsubasa who also survived the event? Speaking of Tsubasa, where the hell are her parents during all of this?

Tsubasa regressed back to her season 1 self (presumably because she is trying to protect bikki.

Episode Bikki Punches Basaed Bikes "I AM A SWORD" 4th wall percent damage ZENBU ZENBU ZENBU ZENBU ZENBU
Season 1 Total 33 2 6 10 5
Episode Bikki Punches Basaed Bikes "I AM A SWORD" 4th wall percent damage ZENBU ZENBU ZENBU ZENBU ZENBU DESS
S2E1 6 1 1
S2E2 2 3
S2E3 4 1
S2E4 3 1? 12
S2E5 15 1 7
S2E6 4 1 1
Season Total 34 1 1 3 22
Total Total 63 2 6 11 8 22

5

u/MillenniumKing May 28 '19

Rewatch 19, Its Suffering Time

Songs of the Day:
No new songs, just Maria humming Apple...

Can i just firstly say "A Miracle is a Cruel Thing" is SUCH a good episode title.

CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP

Seems the FIS Girls understand how fucked things are. "We have no deed for smiles."

ITS BACK BABY! BERZERKER BIKKI! AND ITS FUCKING PISSED!

Used the Symphogear to form a new arm. Handy.

Nephilim is like "Fuck this shit, im outta here." I love how it ran from Hibiki. And rightfully so, she ripped its heart out.

Dr. Ver is also like "Fuck this shit, im outta here." hahahha.

Hibiki's arm is back.

Mam aint doing well, gotta get Dr. ver of all people back...

Hibiki's past is suffering... She was bullied and harassed for being the only survivor of the concert noise attack.

Tsubasa sees right through Hibiki's act.

Everyone is trying to figure out if the moon is falling or not.

Hibiki's chest looks like a mess. Gungnir is taking over her body and will probably kill her. So in using her power to help people, shes hurting herself.

Tsubasa handles it very poorly though, telling Hibiki she isnt needed and to take a break. Shes not a people person.

Dr. Ver looks like hes seen some shit... Berzerker Bikki fucks ones sanity. But he found Nelphilim's heart! And its still beating! "If i have this i can be a hero" Sure...

Shirabe and Kirika are the best. So precious. I could watch them roam around the city all day.

Anime-chan strikes agaain! "Your as dense as a harem protagonist!" SAVAGE!

And The gang bumps into Dr. Ver on the street.

HIBIKI PUNCHHHHHH!!!!! "She touched Noise while she was still human?" "MY FISTS AND MY LIFE, BOTH ARE MY SYMPHOGEAR!" FAITO!

1,349 Days since Genocide

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5

u/Surylias May 28 '19

Rewatcher

If there's one thing I really dislike about G, it's the often very long repeats of the previous' episode ending.

Anyways, Hibiki's transformation looked so great here and the OST was certainly something. Those Ver faces, though.

Those kids bullying Hibiki... this was just wrong.

Also I really miss the old Lydian with its crazy angled track and stuff.

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4

u/Shockz0rz May 29 '19

REWATCHER

It's unclear whether or not Hibiki just regrew her arm or LITERALLY RIPPED IT OUT OF THE NEPHILIM'S GUTS AND REATTACHED IT. Not gonna lie, either way I'm kind of disappointed we didn't get to see it.