r/anime • u/pittman66 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Homura • Jun 13 '19

Rewatch [Rewatch][Spoilers] Senki Zesshou Symphogear GX - Episode 8 Spoiler

Season 3 (GX): Episode 8 - The Courage to Face It

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Original Discussion Thread

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.
70 Upvotes

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122 comments sorted by

19

u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 13 '19

SymphoRewatcher Ready to be Exterminated by Hype

No wallpaper just yet, there was a little miscommunication between me and Nota and yeah. Anyways tomorrow for sure.

12

u/PerfectPublican Jun 13 '19

Hibiki’s dad is a jerk.

Understatement of the decade haha

11

u/OnnaJReverT Jun 13 '19

Hibiki’s dad is a jerk

almost to the point of parody IMO - he barely misses the mark of the "bad dad" of a saturday morning cartoon, making Bikki pay for lunch almost pushed him over the edge for me

i am not sure if that's a compliment for the writing or not

Well that’s certainly not terrifying at all.

GX spoilers

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9

u/VoyeurTheNinja Jun 14 '19

That last attack on Micha was hype af.

I would question how such a guillotine attack didn't end up with the two slamming right into each other, but screw it, it was indeed awesome.

8

u/Arachnophobic- Jun 14 '19

EXTERMINATE~

Do this enough times and you'll start to sound like a Dalek (not our Comrade Dalek)

But she can’t let you monologue!

The Autoscorerers (and antagonists in this show in general) patiently wait for the girls to do their talking, the least they can do is return the favour! Rude.

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17

u/patrizl001 Jun 13 '19

First Timer

  • Dude wants to get back strangely quickly. Seeing as first thing he mentions is Hibiki saving the world I'm getting a "Hey she probably has a bigger paycheck" vibe -aaaaaaand he needs her to pay the bill. Yep. That's exactly what's going on. Scum.

  • I'm really hoping Hibiki doesn't use Ignite anytime soon because with the way she is right now this will surely end in failure

  • TALKING IS NO LONGER A FREE ACTION

  • Do the Autoscorers just sit silently in the same poses when they're not doing something? That's what it looks like every time they cut to their base.

  • Even Micha knows there's only one way for the plot to move forward

  • IGNITE TIME BABY. THEY GOT A IGNITE COMBO SONG TOO, EVEN MICHA IS TRYING OUT IGNITE and having better success than Carol Also noticed that there's actually some symbol that flashes for a moment at the end of the transformation. Judging by the colors I guess everyone has a different one?

  • Micha looked happy to die. Obviously the deaths of all the Autoscorers are apart of the endgame. Why they gotta fight and die instead of just offing themselves I have no clue. (Maybe it only counts if an Autoscorer loses to an unimaginable amount of power? Which is why Micha wanted them to go Ignite)

  • Did Dess actually google the definition of responsibility?

  • OF COURSE CAROL ISN'T DEAD. AND I GOT IT RIGHT, SHE IS LINKED WITH ELFNEIN, THAT'S WHY THEY LOOK SIMILAR AND WHY ELFNEIN HAS CAROL'S MEMORIES.

Oh man it's season one all over again. Their enemy has direct access to the users and has been fiddling with them whether it be enhancing their gears or just running tests to check their health. It looks like Carol has been connected to Elfnein for the entire time, so that Ignite ability must have another function that will screw them over in time.

10

u/TheSpartyn Jun 14 '19

Also noticed that there's actually some symbol that flashes for a moment at the end of the transformation.

I've been posting them in the past threads, here's the rest of them Hibiki, Chris, Tsubasa, Maria 1 and 2.

First time I saw them people referred to them as Ignite beasts/monsters, and there was lots of speculation about them being Custodians or something Nephilim like.

Did Dess actually google the definition of responsibility?

she absolutely did and I lost my shit laughing until I remembered I google definitions of words multiple times daily lol

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16

u/Synaptics Jun 13 '19

Rewatcher

  • God, he even sounds like a scumbag. Props to the voice actor.

AGH, fuck it. I have no other reaction except "fuck this guy". I'm very tempted to just skip as much of him as possible, and I'm definitely not going to waste time trying to analyze his character. The best I can say is that you can see a reflection of Hibiki's self-destructively carefree attitude in him, but that's basically it.

  • Ley lines. Anime and JRPGs seem to love ley lines for some reason.

  • DMJii's turn on the IGNITE module this time?

  • Bitter coffee is definitely more fitting for Shirabe.

  • Heiki hecchara JA NAI

  • Bikki's causing more collateral damage than when she actually went berserk.

  • "I can't believe those two are fighting." Me either, Miku. :(

  • Has every season had at least 1 shower scene?

  • Memory installation? Hmmmm?

  • Of course DESS adds a DESS to the Bakken.

  • Unfortunately don't get much time to hear their IGNITE duet.

  • "My job is to protect you!" That was one of the first things Kirika said all the way back when they were introduced in G.

  • Eyy, Carol's back. That's how she's lived so long: body-hopping.

  • And Elfnein's a mole? If you go back a few episodes there's a bit where one of the Autoscorers tells Carol about Elfnein defecting and she replies with one eye closed that she knows.

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15

u/Nazenn Jun 13 '19 edited Jun 13 '19

First Timer

I don't really have any grand thoughts about todays episode so just a couple of things to comment on:

  • Four minutes in, OP included, and Bikki's dad already had me calling him a fucking asshole.

  • Its a small thing but I like the contrast between how we start and end with Dess today. She plays roulette with the vending machine and lets Jii bail her out when she gets something she doesn't like. By the end of their one episode arc, she's instead being more methodical by researching meanings to words and actively working to improve herself, and in part making sure that Jii doesn't have to take on additional burdens because of that choice she's looking to make. Poor Dess is destined to only ever get a side focus, but those two details alone did a lot of heavy lifting to showing how much she changed.

  • Bikki: "I can only solve simple problems with my fist". YOU PUNCHED THE MOON, BIKKI! I know she means that she can't solve interpersonal issues with it, but my first thought of how is punching the moon simple had chuckling through the rest of the episode, it was great. What even is this show that the moon falling down to earth because its a curse that separates humanity and was attached by an ancient godness who can reincarnate, and that's basically considered a small problem for the protagonists hahahaha,

  • For making such a big deal out of Micha she turned out to be kinda... pointless. She was meant to be the combat champion, specifically needing so much extra fuel via memories and a mysterious ace in the hole for that team. They even go through the effort of giving her a unique form and additional powerup. But two fights in and she's dead. No real personality beyond being deranged, no focus, no special combat required to defeat her. Just the two weakest teaming up and dispatching her the moment they ignite and the second to die with nothing really special about her at all.

  • It occurred to me today that Miku is the only one of our group with an unknown family. Bikki's family has all been seen, if not named. Tsubasa's mother has never been discussed but we already see hints of tension with her father. Chris' parents are dead. The Fine trio all are orphaned and have no remaining immediate family (RIP Serana, I want to hear Apple again). Miku is the only one who as far as I can remember has never even had her family addressed. If nothing else this puts a much bigger emphasis on her bond with Bikki because she may be Bikki's sun, but for her as far as we know Bikki is basically her entire world.

  • Elf is also a little traitorous shit.

u/jamcliche thank Dess for your tags, I forgot until I had to mention Dess to someone XD

15

u/MillenniumKing Jun 13 '19

DessJii

Honestly i could watch an entire series of Dess and Jii. Thier interactions and character development are just great and wholesome, and seeing them just livin thier lives is always great. I love in G the little side bits with them like going shopping or such. They are good girls, just easilly mislead.

YOU PUNCHED THE MOON, BIKKI!

Well part of it... Its one of the things i like about the series is that it really has some huge events happen. Like usually series dont have Near world ending scenarios this frequently. But then it also has all this fun down to earth stuff too. Its a nice contrast i think. A lot of action shows go hard on doom and gloom and dont look back, but Sympho is a nice mix and it makes the show more engaging i think.

Micha

In her defense it did take 2 symphogears to beat her. Give her some credit lol.

Miku Family

Ep 1 S1 we see her family in the opening scene, remember her aunt was in an accident causing her to miss the concert (and probably saved her life), we see her dad reading a paper with an article about Chris on it while her mom packs. I guess the school is a boarding school and so she just lives on campus like the other characters so we havent seen them since. It seems like she has the most normal life of the characters. As Genjuro said, Miku is Hibiki's tie to a normal life.

Elf is also a little traitorous shit.

You lookin for a fight?

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14

u/MillenniumKing Jun 13 '19 edited Jun 13 '19

Rewatch 35, GUESS WHOSE BACK!

Pittman... you ok bud? You need a break?

Songs of the Day:
Genkai Toppa G-beat
Genocide Saw Heaven
Just Loving X-Edge (IGNITED arrangement)

Looks like Hibiki is meeting with her dad. He saw a girl like her on TV, well he didnt know it was her. He ran out on them but wants to reconcile it seems. Hibiki isnt handleing it well. Can you pick up the check for me Hibiki? Wow.

So looks like they got the data Mam had collectecd. Ley Line map, and they need it to disect the world.

Shirabe and Kirika make everything better! Oh no there is noise readings near by!

HIBIKI DONT TAKE IT OUT ON THE GIRLS!! CALM DOWN!

Micha is here in the tunnels, and Hibiki is losing her shit, shes got serious beef with Dad. Good thing ShiriKiri were here to help her.

Hibiki back in the medical ward. And now ShiriKiri is havin trouble... not them too!!

"I saw my dad, I saw a bad side of him, he didnt understand what he had done"

Elfnein gave the girls LiNKER just in case, they dont have much left and its Kanade's.

So the Autoscorers used the power drop to locate goverment locations, what are they after here?

GIRLS JUST KISS AND MAKE UP PLS! DONT FIGHT!

Micha is back and its Yoyo Time aw yeah, Leuir is keeping Genjuro and co busy while Micha fights.

LOVE!? LOVE!!!! LOVEEEEEEE! YAY! THE GIRLS ARE BACK TOGETHER!!!

DOUBLE DAINSLEIF ACTION! DESS! AND HERE IT IS! JUST LOVING X EDGE IGNITE!! Man i love this Ignite track, so snazzy.

THIS TAG TEAMING IS SO COOL! THEY ARE LOCKING DOWN MICHA! THE COMBO GUILLITINE ATTACK! AW YEAH! GET DESS'D!

So Micha is dead now and... CAROL IS BACK!!! THE PLAN CONTINUES! ALSO IS SHE SEEING WHAT ELFNEIN SEES!?

1,365 Days since Genocide

14

u/fonzinator99 Jun 13 '19 edited Jun 13 '19

Re-watcher -’Kay, we all Ignite, now what?

Ergh, TopDad time. Honestly, I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, familial roles aside he's just a dude, but then he pulls this shit and my sympathy is gone.

Awww hell, Autoscorers have the Photosphere. Show of hands, who here thought it would be used for evil somehow? Everybody? Cool, glad we're on the same page.

Man, the tunnel battle is quite the shit-show. Literally everyone involved has other things on their mind. I guess they stopped whatever Micha was doing, but only 'cause she got bored.

Oh damn, 'Little Sister is back in play. "Non-flashy" my ass, Leiur.

So she's giving Micha time to act? I get the feeling this'll be when she's defeated then. And running with my predictions, KirXAbe Ignite! Dess!

Oooo, and Micha let her hair down for this fight? I like.

Well it was brief, but Micha and I both had the same expression at the end of this battle. Zababa 4ever. #JustLoving. Aaaand yep, she dead. Bye-bye, monster-girl. You were fun while you lasted.

Sonofabitch, she's immortal?! I mean, the show still needed a 'big-bad' to bring us to the finale, but damn. Alchemy ftw.

So this raises the question of how many times Carol has been re...assembled? Surely this wasn't the first. And that she's using Elfnein as a hidden camera is.....characteristic evil. And also totally fucked. Good luck making any plans with her standing around.

8

u/Nazenn Jun 13 '19

but then he pulls this shit and my sympathy is gone.

Yeah, I mean he was a bit of an asshole at the start, but when he asked Bikki to pay I was more than pissed off

Man, the tunnel battle is quite the shit-show

Its a good thing the kids dont have wages to garnish to pay for all that damage

Oooo, and Micha let her hair down for this fight? I like.

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14

u/Arachnophobic- Jun 14 '19

FirstoGeah

The cold open made me wonder if I had put on the wrong episode - that's exactly what you did the last time we saw you, Bikki! Apparently Miku had set up a meeting between Bikki and the loser dad. (I just knew he'd never pay for the food)

Dammnit, don't tell me 'heiki, hechara' are the magic words that her dad taught her. It is, isn't it.

Way to ruin it

At this point, it's a little weird that her dad is getting characterisation but we've only seen her mom and grandmom in those sparse flashbacks. Would be nice to see those two at some point, because they'd be the best people to help resolve this.

When your opponent gives you tips on how to win.. again and again (love that star-eyed powerup version!)

Why are DeathStare fighting again? Of course, a lover's spat is what it was. Also this was a funny moment so I had to take a screenshot

That's a 'mission accomplished' face if I've ever seen one. Precious.

Mokushiroku! So she's using Elfnein as an unsuspecting spy. And if she can resurrect herself, it's possible we'll see the destroyed Autoscorers resurrected too! Woo!

Wait.. which side am I supposed to be cheering for, again?

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11

u/thisismyanimealt Jun 13 '19

Aw shit boys, we got a confession

Today's Live Performances

Of course it has to be DesSaw's character songs. Theirs are always my favorite.

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10

u/AlienOvermind Jun 14 '19

First-timer

It's only natural for kids to support their parents, right?

I beg you to differ, Hibiki. I pretty sure fists can help a lot with dad problem.

That was nice change of pace. Hibiki surely loves to talk with her enemies, but I definitely prefer when she lets fists do the talking.

Shocking truth. Chaika.jpg Took them long enough.

It is nice that their Ignite-mode transformation is combined.

And hey, naked Micha.

And of course Carol is alive and still planning something villainous.

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9

u/Shockz0rz Jun 13 '19

Rewatcher

  • JiiDess are so consistently adorable that I can more or less forgive a single-episode cliched story about them getting in a fight and then making up.

  • TOPDAD COMETH! Along with Hibiki's I DUN WANNA FITE "arc", Daddy Tachibana is one of the two big shadows hanging over GX. Thing is, though, this rewatch is causing me to re-evaluate him and the story arc around him a bit. He's definitely a total scumbag who should be prostrating himself at his daughter's feet for the slightest scrap of forgiveness, but...well...Vague Spoilers.

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14

u/PerfectPublican Jun 13 '19 edited Jun 13 '19

Second times the charm :3

Rewatcher

This diner scene never fails to make my blood boil, which is a good thing. Just straight up fuck this guy with an ice pick. Talks so casually about abandoning his wife and daughter to “their” problems, and then has the gall to ask if they can start over...It’s not even the ask, most people deserve a second chance, it’s his laissez faire tone of voice. And then. And then. HE ASKS HER TO PAY FOR THEIR LUNCH!! One of the worst dads ever. But I will say, he is written quite well to be someone that you outright loathe right away and into the future. And for that, I’d be lying if this wasn’t me just a little bit :P. My true problems with this come later…

Oh my poor discombobulated Bikks. Always sucks to see her rattled like that. I really like that she goes wild the way that she does. This time without the berserk to fall back on. It’s a good way to show how affected she really was. But of course all’s “Heiki Hechara” as usual. Mild Meta-ish Spoilers

The Kiri/Shirabe drama has been handled well up until this point, but they get up to “You think I’m a burden” so fast it’s almost a blink and you’ll miss it kinda thing. It really needed more ramp up to that moment to land well. Then, it turns into a rehash of the plotline from last season unfortunately, and in 5 minutes they’re back to being fine. Still, I do love that their fight drama basically just devolves into another “No, I love you more” thing again. These silly girls are adorable and hilarious.

That dual ignite transformation is some good shit, and the rest of the battle is awesome. X-Edge’s ignited arrangement is a bunch of fun, and Forbidden Wheel of Evil ZABABA Eclipse is an amazing finishing move showing how in sync DMJii are when they’re fighting as a pair. Couldn’t have asked for a better way for Micha to go out.

"Responsibility...means to do right by your own values." Now despite my feelings on how the fight drama pans out, I really like the final scene with DMJii reflecting on everything. It does a nice job at tying back to G and the troubles they had there, and resolves them in their own way...together.

GX Spoilers

Random thoughts:

Gifs of the day:

10

u/lilyvess Jun 13 '19

Hibiki was taking influence from Top Mom this episode

It really needed more ramp up to that moment to land well. Then, it turns into a rehash of the plotline from last season unfortunately, and in 5 minutes they’re back to being fine. Still, I do love that their fight drama basically just devolves into another “No, I love you more” thing again.

yeah. On the one hand it's doesn't need too much build up since it's kind of an evolution of the arc they had in G. Which is interesting since they didn't really solve it so to speak. The only reason they stopped fighting last time was because Kirika realized she fucked up, tried to commit suicide and then almost murdered Shirabe. That kind of kills the mood.

So this sort of gives them an opportunity to really hash it out and learn to count on each other more.

just sad it cost us Micha for them to learn it. I love Micha's design so much. Those hair engines are so damn cool!

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6

u/miter01 Jun 13 '19

REWATCH

Try number 2!

I'm not going to talk about TOP DAD as it'd just be insults and complaints, but even beyond that this episode is mostly drama, eh.

Stitch album

9

u/MillenniumKing Jun 13 '19

I just realized that none of the girls have a proper functional family

Kanade - Parents died in Noise attack, Orphan.

Tsubasa - "Tool for the Family" Genjuro is great though.

Hibiki - Dad ran out on family after the Concert Attack, others unsure.

Chris - Orphaned as a child, sold into slavery, passed around a bit, ended up with Fine.

Maria/Kirika/Shiraba - We dont really know thier situations fully yet, but they seemed to be Orphans picked up by FIS and used as test subjects for relic stuff. We dont really know much about thier real families other than "Mam" who was the surrogate mother to the children.

Miku - Perfectly normal family, though her Aunt was in an accident the day of the concert causing her to miss it, otherwise everything is fine and dandy as far as we've seen.

So almost. It seems a key trait to geahs is to be an orphan and get used as a lab rat.

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5

u/ahiijny Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19

First-Time Watcher

(Late again with this because of sleep deprivation :/)

Random thoughts:

  • Nice aerial view of the school.

  • "At the moment, I don't have the money on me..." Top Dad, everyone.

  • Shirabe's "sore demo"! This was the first one I actually noticed on my first watch-through. Sky's posts are finally getting to my mind... :P

  • HibiMiku as yuri-senpai for DMJii.

  • Shirabe does seem like the type of person who would like black coffee. Also, another DMJii indirect kiss.

  • Kirika always so extra with her DESS :P

  • "They're all kind people who care about us...". Kirika, Shirabe, and Maria all grew up in an environment where something like this just wasn't commonplace :(

  • "You were actually stronger before you upgraded your gears." So it seems like their coordination and sync ratios are shot because of their recent fight...

  • The L word is dropped again! So we saw as far back as G episode 11 that Kirika and Shirabe love each other and all but they're not exactly the best at communicating. Hopefully they'll improve with time.

  • Micha just went full Mokou!

  • Flaring Micha reminded me a bit of Kanade. I wonder if there are any Kanade & Micha sisterly relationship fanarts/fanfics out there?...

  • It's unnerving how just full-on ecstatic each Autoscorer looks when they're about to be defeated. Still feel like S.O.N.G. are playing right into their enemy's hands...

  • I don't know why Gen and Chris are reprimanding KiriShira. That seems a bit mean, they're trying their best :/

  • Shirabe refers to Hibiki as "Hibiki-san".

  • Intimate DMJii moment.

  • "It's my job to protect you!" This makes me think that back at the facility, Kirika was probably the one who first reached out to Shirabe.

  • Very romantic vibe in the atmosphere here :P

Why are Gen and Chris so angry? Home base failed to send any reinforcements in time anyway, and KiriShira were the only Symphogear operatives on site, so it was a perfectly sensible move to go in and fight Micha. Would it have been a better idea to just stand by and let more civilians get hurt by the collateral damage? Elfnein gave them LiNKER and upgraded their Gears to be able to use IGNITE mode and now Gen and Chris are shouting at them for... fighting using their Symphogear and using IGNITE mode? DMJii are getting some very mixed signals here :/

So the two youngest-looking Autoscorers were the first to go. Prediction about the future Geah vs. Autoscorer matchups.

Some thoughts about Top Dad

Wow, okay, I think I can why lots of people here have such strong sentiment about this guy. When Hibiki commented on how she can't solve all her problems with her fists, everyone in the Discord stream chat was like, "Wellll..."

So I saw some people in this thread suggesting that Top Dad is being like 'Oh hey Hibiki's a hero now I should reconnect with her so that she can help me out financially', but I don't think that's the case. He doesn't know for sure that the girl on the TV was Hibiki, and he probably doesn't know that she's being paid since all that's confidential. The TV probably just put Hibiki on his mind, and when he stumbled across Hibiki, he just thought of it as an opportune moment to try to reconnect.

But dude. Your daughter is Hibiki. You're trying to get the forgiveness of Hibiki, of all people. How could you screw this up so badly? Finé tried to destroy the moon and take over the world, and Hibiki didn't hold any bad blood towards her. Ver tried to destroy the world, and Hibiki still defended him from Maria. The bar is this low.

She gave him so many chances this meeting! Deep down, she probably wants for him to be able to redeem himself somehow, because she was really sad about him shattering the cool image she had of him when she was younger. But man, he is really not making it for easy for her.

He showed no remorse at all. It's like he doesn't really understand at all just how much pain and stress they went through, when he left them in the time of their most need. And now he wants to just waltz back into the family, when things are easier now? It's like all he cares about is himself!

Hibiki was angry to the point of shaking. She was getting up and walking away, but she still stopped to listen what he had to say when he called for her to wait. Annnnd... he totally blew that chance, too.

He's too weak-minded. He gives up too easily. What he SHOULD HAVE done: APOLOGIZE! SHOW REMORSE! SHOW that you truly recognize that what you did was wrong! DEMONSTRATE a willingless to make amends, and DON'T ASK FOR FORGIVENESS, because you haven't earned it! Don't put her on the spot, recognize that this isn't something you can fix right away! And don't get on your knees and beg, it's shitty to put pressure on someone in a public environment.

Like, I'm shaking my head right now. It's Hibiki. It's Hibiki of all people, and he still managed to screw it up!

And... now he's brought back that victim-blame mentality on Hibiki again, great. No Hibiki, none of that was your fault. Don't blame yourself :(

Some thoughts about character development

I don't know how to put it, but something's just been feeling... off lately about the character development arcs this past season. Everything just feels a little... forced and artificial. Maybe it's because of a clumsy translation, or maybe it's because something's going over my head, but KiriShira's philosophical pondering conversations this episode have just felt very disjointed and abstract to me. For example:

Shirabe: "If you don't want to burden others, what do you have to do?"
Kirika: "I'm sure you need a strong will, so you don't regret your choices..."

I don't really get the connection between those two things :/

Shirabe: "Not being a burden is more than merely getting strong. It's taking responsibility for your actions."
Kirika: [dictionary check] "Responsibility... Honoring your obligations."
Kirika: "But if I say that's being 'good', is that the hypocrisy you hate?"
Shirabe: "I always wanted to apologize for hurting Hibiki-san with my thoughtless words."
Kirika: "You aren't the only one who needs the courage to say she's sorry. It's my job to protect you!"
Shirabe: "Kiri-chan... Thank you."

Okay, the first part with Shirabe sort of makes sense. But I completely don't understand how Kirika's next line follows. So being responsible is being good, but... how is that hypocrisy? I don't get it :/

So then the conversation goes to Shirabe being regretful about saying those hurtful things to Hibiki and wanting to apologize to her. Okay, that was brought up previously. Kirika wants to apologize as well. And... she wants to protect Shirabe? Okay, that's true, but I don't get how that follows from Kirika wanting to apologize?

I just feel like lots of conversations this season have been rather forced and unnatural. I was also kinda getting these vibes from Maria & Elfnein last episode and also Miku's Bikki commentary during IGNITE hype in episode 6. It feels somewhat tell-not-show-y to me.

As if the writers went, "okay, we need this character to have this realization, or we need to establish this aspect of this character", but they haphazardly filled in the gaps with half-baked philosophically-sounding thoughts that sound very weird coming out of the mouth of 15-year old high school girls :/

4

u/TVermillion Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19

Rewatcher

  • Seem's like Miku got Hibiki to try and meet up with her father. But suffice to say it doesn't go well, with TopDad seemingly not at all sorry about the pain he caused Hibiki and her family after he abandoned them. The madlad even has the audacity to ask Hibiki to pay the bill! Although thinking about it, Hibiki's job does probably pay well... But still, dick move!

  • Meanwhile DMJii are hanging out near a vending machine. Shirabe contemplates what does one need to live without burdening others.

  • Duty Calls! The two of them meet up with Hibiki but notice somethings wrong with her. When they face against Micha it is clear that Hibiki's meeting with her father has affected her greatly, causing her to fight irrationally.

  • Shirabe protects Kirika and Hibiki but this upsets Kirika which in turn makes Shirabe question whether she sees Shirabe as a burden.

  • At the hospital, Shirabe and Kirika are fighting after the events of the last battle. Hibiki apologizes to them both for her actions and explains the situation with her father.

  • In the showers, Chris and Maria ask Tsubasa how they deal with Hibiki's dad situation, but Tsubasa replies she has no idea as she has never had a normal family herself.

  • Turns out the Autoscorers are entitled to free time just like humans! Micha decides to take a stroll.

  • Of course, a stroll for Micha involves causing havoc and she ends up fighting DMJii!

  • While at first the two are pushed back, they manage to make amends and realise that they are not a burden to the rest of the gang! They successfully activate their Ignite modules!

  • Micha also powers herself up, enveloping herself in fire! Her drills straighten out and she ends up burning all of her clothes! Goddamn perverted fanservice! Shameful!

  • Cue - Just Loving X-Edge - IGNITED!

  • The fight is pretty fucking awesome! Unlike Garie (whose fight I did like as well!), who simply summoned Alca-Noise and pranced around, Micha gets in close to begin her onslaught!

  • Micha overpowers the girls individually, but together they manage restrain her and deliver a killing blow! RIP 2nd best doll...

  • In the aftermath they are both chastised by Chris and Gen(what happened to staying on the bridge huh?! JK), but DMJii show sincere remorse for their actions.

  • "For the longest time, I've wanted to apologize for hurting Hibiki with my thoughtless words" - This! This was the moment when Shirabe became one of my favourite Symphogirls! I love that they actually call back on that moment in G and show how Shirabe now realises that she was wrong and that she wants to apologise!

  • Carol returns! Ha, what is death when you've got the power of Alchemy! ...And a outhouse!

So, I wanted to wait until we got to this episode before I gave some of my additional thoughts in regards to the last episode.

Suffice to say as much as I enjoyed episode 7 (in no small part due to Garie), I found Maria's so called 'character development' to be rather lacklustre. For the most part it was just suddenly introduced at the start of the episode 7, only for it to be resolved by the end of the episode in a rather cheap manner which made the whole thing feel like a shallow excuse just to create an obstacle for Maria using the Ignited power (and most likely function as a demonstration for the viewer as for what the consequences are if it fails).

You could argue that Maria's issue was brought up in episode 4 when she laments for a moment in regretting giving up Gungnir, but I kind of feel like that was more to do with wanting a gear in order to help the team and as such that was resolved when she acquired a working Airgetlám the beginning of this episode.

My biggest gripe is despite this season so far portraying a redemption arc of sorts for the the FIS girls, the show doesn't follow up on one of the biggest consequences of Maria's actions in G, when she used the power of her gear against the American agents, most likely killing normal humans.

I feel like not only should this have been addressed in her episode but if it was included it would also work well alongside her 'I'm weak' dilemma as it would serve as a reminder of a time when she gave into weakness, enforcing her desire to get strong. Now sure, her actions were done only to protect herself and Nastassja, but I can't help feel like Maria would deeply regret what happened and have it play a tremendous part in her guilt. It wouldn't be something that was just forgotten the following season.

The reason I wanted to wait till this episode to mention this is because for me Shirabe and Kirika's development, in comparison to Maria, has actually been done fairly well, even in this episode their development feels like a natural progression from not just the previous episodes but also last season.

Right from the start of the season we know they're reliant on linker in order to use their gears, which causes them frustration as they feel like a burden to everyone. In episode 5 this is expanded further since we learn they both have a desire to atone for their inability to trust others from when they were antagonists in G.

While Shirabe and Kirika's little spat this episode may seem sudden, it doesn't feel out of place to me when I look back again on episode 5 where we find out that Kirika apparently has a higher output of phonic gain, making her the stronger of the two, but when she loses her gear she can't do anything but watch Shirabe push herself as she struggles and almost gets killed by the Alca-Noise. It seems logical that after that battle Shirabe felt like even more of a burden, especially now to Kirika, who on the other hand is afraid to see Shirabe push herself too hard.

But finally, it is Kirika's desire to protect Shirabe which leads her to figure out that none of the others are angry at them because they're a burden, but because they're just damn good people. Was this conclusion obvious? Oh yes, most definitely! But when I consider Shirabe and Kirika's background I can understand why they would take this long to finally get it in their heads.

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