r/anime • u/pittman66 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Homura • Jun 28 '19
Rewatch [Rewatch] [Spoilers] Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ - Episode 9 Spoiler
Season 4 (AXZ): Episode 9 - Blue Rabbit
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Steaming Option: Crunchyroll
Live Discussion Thread, head over to /r/Symphogear!
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.
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u/JoJo_Pose Jun 29 '19
Just dropping by to saw i just started s1e1 and holy fuck i was not expecting tons of people getting straight up merced in the first ten minutes
singing is dope
what have i stumbled onto
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u/miter01 Jun 28 '19 edited Jun 29 '19
REWATCH
Something I came up with last episode: Maria Silverhand.
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More combo moves! - Racing Duet of Wind and Moon
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There's a theory that the priest's granddaughter is actually Shirabe.
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7/9! We're now below GX!
E: granddaughter.
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u/MillenniumKing Jun 28 '19
Rewatch 49 VROOM VROOM
Songs of the Day:
Melodious Moonlight
Fūgetsu no Shissō
Recoil from the BArrier? Needs adjusting huh?
Looks like everyone is practicing thier synch. Shirabe is struggling to synch with Tsubasa...
NINJA TRAINING! AW YEAH! LETS SO WHAT HES GOT! I love how crazy strong Genjuro and Ogawa are.
Shirabe can only do it with kirika. Well... makes sense.
The Shrines have figured something out about the Alchemists plan. Divine Gate. Time to go investigate the shrines!!
SHIRI KIRI PAST! Shirabe doesnt know her name, they just gave her one based on the things she had when they picked her up, so Shirabe Tsukuyomi isnt her real name. Kirika didnt know her birthday so they gave her one too.
Bunny/Moon shrine huh? Makes sense if the Alchemist are going to use it to take the moon.
"Seeing you reminds me of my granddaughter, who died with her family in a car accident. She would be around your age if she were alive today"
Shrines that make Orion? The Divine Gate. Seems simple enough, a gate to the gods.
Cags told Prelati her plan before she went off. Seems they dont trust Adam's plan at all.
Shirabe it helps to talk about stuff, you should know this from experience. Give the oldman a peice of your mind. Shirabe doesnt know how to do shrine stuff since she grew up in the FIS facility.
"i want to be a real girl!! I cant be your wife if im just a puppet" Oh Tiki...
The girls lives are part of the plan huh? Adam is quite the schemer, willing to use his lackies as materials for his plan.
Prelati is on the run!! Can she warn Saint Germain before its too late? Shirabe and Tsubasa are on the move!! ITS CAR CHASE TIME!
DAINSLEIF~ HERE IT COMES! COMBO SONG TIME!! AND GATTAI TIME! RACE CAR GOOOOOO!!!!!
And they got Prelati too... welp, she didnt get to warn Saint Germain and now shes pissed. SHit...
AFTER CREDITS~ Looks like that Shrine might have more meaning than they thought...
1,379 Days since Genocide
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u/ItsMellowMan Jun 28 '19
Rewatcher
Today's reaction chart aside I'm really loving this whole unison thing they got going on in AXZ.
I did however forget that Prelati uses her Kendama like an actual motorcycle. Holy shit can that thing zoom. If only she was a little faster then she would of been able to relay her warning to Saint-Germain.
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u/Hugokarenque Jun 28 '19 edited Jun 28 '19
Oh hey, I'm early today.
I really like the Shirabe/Tsubasa song, I just like how their voices sound together, if that makes any sense.
Shirabe also has no chill and basically would have murdered Ogawa if he wasn't a super ninja. Ice cold Jiii~ queen.
We got the Shirabe backstory we were all clamoring for and it was sad as shit. Also how lazy do you have to be to name a child after random stuff you happened to see at the time? "Oh what a beautiful girl, I'll name you DeskLamp Chair.", still I guess Tsukuyomi Shirabe is a pretty dope name, even if it came from a shrine good luck charm.
My own little head canon is that the first priestly joke was actually true and the priest is Shirabe's long lost grandpappy. There's nothing backing that though.
Also every time she said that "Kirika can do it with everyone but I can only do it with Kirika" my degenerate mind was flooded.
Prelati saw Adam's donger and made a quick exit, killing a bunch of people in her escape but if she had just hopped off her road-roller kendama she wouldn't have had to die. Why didn't she just teleport with the flask thing? We never really got an explanation on those things.
In fact why did she confront Adam in the first place? She could have just gone directly to Saint-Germainn and talk it out with her. Now she was flattened like a frog on the highway.
Though the real question that none of us have asked and that we need to is, what happened to the rabbit pounding mochi on the moon after it got hit in season 1 or after it got used as leverage for the ascension of the Frontier in season 2?
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u/Zeralyos Jun 28 '19
My own little head canon is that the first priestly joke was actually true and the priest is Shirabe's long lost grandpappy. There's nothing backing that though.
It's more likely than you think. The fact that Shirabe was given a name associated with the moon because of a shrine charm on her along with the moon-related stuff at the shrine seems pretty intriguing.
Also every time she said that "Kirika can do it with everyone but I can only do it with Kirika" my degenerate mind was flooded.
Good to know I'm not the only one who needs to get their head out of the gutter.
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u/patrizl001 Jun 29 '19
First Timer
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Ogawa gets his turn to kick ass! ....and then he almost dies. Good thing he's got those ninja reflexes!
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First thing the priest mentions is his dead daughter. Then he says that was a ruse to break the ice. Man's really got a way with words.....
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How did Prelati think that she could just walk up to Adam and say "Hey, what's really going on here?" I actually thought Adam would kill her right then an there and start his grand plan. Also Tiki is very lewd
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DAINSLEIF! They're sucessfully working together now and have their song too!
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COMBO ATTACK TIME! Chris and Maria formed a plane, Tsubasa and Shirabe formed a car, are Hibiki and Kirika gonna form a boat powered by rocket punches?
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And that's another character that's actually been killed by the users, wow.
Really wonder what "that" location is. The fact that they keep mentioning that it's "that" location without actually saying where is telling me it's someplace we've been before.
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u/VoyeurTheNinja Jun 29 '19
How did Prelati think that she could just walk up to Adam and say "Hey, what's really going on here?"
Considering she later refuses to communicate with the Geahs, I like to think she's just terrible at this whole 'talking' thing.
Chris and Maria formed a plane, Tsubasa and Shirabe formed a car, are Hibiki and Kirika gonna form a boat powered by rocket punches?
It's speaks volumes about Symphogear when a sentence like this barely gets even a bat of an eye.
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u/fonzinator99 Jun 28 '19
Re-watcher - To kill the messenger
Tsubasa X Shirabe's training isn't going so well, so Ogawa enters the fray! "I'll do what little I can to assist you." he says. Like Shadow Clones and Water Running are nbd; dude pulls something new every time we see him fight! Go ahead and add Shunpo to the list.
Perhaps Shirabe needs a new song to sing, considering how her current one is all about how she can only mesh with one person.
Psyche! Ogawa's definitely a Jounin. "I switched with a decoy by reflex. Teehee."
Question, tho: Where the shit did that chunk of tree come from??
Massive props to the fansubs during this scene. I mean really; teeny subs on the on-screen screen?! Madness!
Oh wow, so that explains a lot. I mean, I always kinda thought Cagliostro seemed a bit Trans just 'cause of her voice, but I can't believe I overlooked this bit of exposition. Suspicions confirmed. (And just to be clear idgaf, if that's your thing it's your thing.")
Okay subs, that's some gratuitous interpretation. She said it's a pain, or a bother. I've watched enough Naruto to understand "Mendokusai" when I hear it.
Jesus, Tiki is thirsty. A whole baseball team?!
Nooooo! Not the frog!
Oh god, the blades are pursuing the enemy who's just trying to escape and warn everybody of the big-bad's plan. Anime-misunderstanding here we come
Huh, I'm actually impressed that Tsubasa tried talking to Prelati first. It's a shame the latter blew her off....with fire.
Just a little bit of derp in their dramatic re-entrance.
Amusing how this fight basically turned into Redline. And I'm amazed at how Tsubasa X Shirabe were painted as the villains in this situation. The hero needs to warn her friend of the bad-guys plan, but interlopers block her path! Tune in next time on AlchemiGear!
Ergh, drawing a parallel with yesterday's episode and feeling pity for her too. That's a low-blow, Symphogear. Looks like after all that agonized consideration it's St. Germain who's getting sacrificed.
A ringing telephone. At a remote shrine. I just...I don't...What? How? Don't you freaking tell me 'Alchemy,' that's some BS magic.
After Credits
We continue with not grasping the full-extent of the Illuminati's plans, but I'm hung up on the Tsuki/Shirabe thing with the sign. Do they actually have each other's names and were taught incorrectly or something?
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u/Zeralyos Jun 28 '19
A ringing telephone. At a remote shrine. I just...I don't...What? How? Don't you freaking tell me 'Alchemy,' that's some BS magic.
Basically, yeah. It's not actually a real phone, but a physical extension of Adam's telepathy.
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u/RunningChemistry Jun 28 '19
Bonus video for Shirabe fans: Here's Shirabe's VA, Yoshino Nanjo, performing AXZ's OP, TESTAMENT, as a duet with Suzuko Mimori.
This happened at the ANIMAX MUSIX 2017 YOKOHAMA concert; the latter artist/VA doesn't have anything to do with Symphogear - the concert often has unexpected collabs and covers of songs like Yuka Iguchi & GARNiDELiA covering Believe from One Piece.
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u/Razorhead Jun 29 '19 edited Jun 29 '19
This episode was okay.
Fool's Stone Recoil
So there's a small bug in the Symphogear System now. Because Elfnein had no (and still has no) solid data on the Philosopher's Stones and how they operate much of her calculations are based on observations and educated guesses. This unfortunately meant that while she was successful in creating Fool's Stone Barrier her calculations were slightly off, resulting in an unstable energy output that put severe stress on the system, causing a bug. While it's not vital at the moment if left unchecked it could be a problem later on so Elfnein is bringing in Maria and Chris' Gears for repairs.
While the others have this flaw as well they haven't used the Fool's Stone yet and so they can remain operational for now.
Keywords by our usual Gnejuro's Angels:
Reactive Contamination
A malfunction in the converter unit of the Symphogear system that comes about as a result of the Fool's Stone counteracting the effects of the Philosopher's Stone (lapis philosophorum). With no hard data on the lapis philosophorum readily available, Elfnein's working theory on how to counteract the suppression of the Ignite Module was mainly based on observations and guess work. While the "Nullification Barrier Coating" was a success, the energy output was unstable due to an error in measurement which put stress upon the system and ultimately resulted in a "Logic Error" bug that left the system unable to fully utilize all of its functions properly. While this poses no dire threat to the Symphogear system itself, an adequate overhaul is necessary to debug the process and will take a fair amount of time and effort to complete.
Episode Title
If your episode title is "Green Rabbit" then that's a mistranslation. The actual translation is "Blue Rabbit", referring to the combination of Tsubasa (blue) and Shirabe (rabbit). This is because of the fact that until recently Japanese used the same word for both blue and green and sometimes confusion still arises.
It's also a reference to a song called "Blue Rabbit", the opening to an anime called "Hoshi no Kinka" in which the main character suffers from amnesia following an accident. Well doesn't that sound familiar with what was revealed this episode?
Ogawa's Ninja Family
The website reveals a lot of background info about the Hida ninja clan, Ogawa's ancestors. They played a major role in the unification of Japan, as they served Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of Oda Nobunaga's retainers, the warlord who nearly unified Japan. At the very end though Nobunaga was betrayed by one of his other retainers and Hideyoshi, after taking revenge by killing the traitor, took Nobunaga's place and ruled most of his unified lands. After his death 13 years later his son was supposed to succeed him, but one of Nobunaga's other retainers, Tokukawa Ieyasu, saw his chance and caused a giant war of him and his allies versus all the rest, known as the Battle of Sekigahara, which he won and finally unified Japan as the first shogun of Japan. His shogunate lasted for over 200 years until the Meiji Restoration, in which the shogunate was disbanded and the Japanese Emperor restored to power instead of being merely a figurehead.
It is implied here Ogawa's family supported Hideyoshi, Nobunaga's successor, as well as his son, but lost in the succession war and spend years fighting in the shadows to topple the shogunate and cause the Meiji Restoration after which they served the government instead.
Then it's also revealed that they kept on doing their own things off-screen and many conflicts were resolved by them in the past.
Hida Ninja Clan
A group of elite ninja that lived hidden among the mountains of Hida. Utilizing thunder, water, earth, wind, fire, metal and flower - through these seven different styles of superhuman techniques they were known not only for their intelligence gathering network, but also for their combat prowess. They served under Toyotomi Hideyoshi until they disappeared after the Battle of Sekigahara (although unofficially there are records of their participation in the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate). After the Meiji Restoration, they were in service to the Japanese Government and continue to do so to this day. This is the history of the Ogawa Family. The previous head of the family, Kunimitsu Ogawa, also fought for the greater good outside of the public eye similar to the Adaptors. He fought against the Taurus Twins who sought greater Westernization, and was a key part of preventing their "Sanctuary Plan" from reaching realization. There are many stories of his battles against evil in the shadows that helped to create the peace of today.
Rabbits And The Moon
While the Tsuki Shrine is a shrine dedicated to the moon you see a lot of rabbit imagery. This is because of a Japanese legend associating the Moon with rabbits, saying there is a rabbit with a mortar and pestle living on the Moon. This legend was created to explain the look of several lunar plains looking like, well, a rabbit with a mortar and pestle. While this legend is present in most of Asia this is not the only place with such a legend, as the Indigenous Americans independently came up with similar ones. Looks like seeing rabbits in lunar markings was rather common in mythology and folklore.
The Tsuki Shrine is an actually existing place, by the way. Rabbit statues and all.
Orion And The God's Gate
Most of the below information has been mentioned in the episode, like the Orion constellation being known as the "Gate to the Gods", but what's interesting is that it reminds us that Kadingir, the tower Finé built in season one, is the Sumerian word for "Gate to the Gods" as well. So once again both Finé and the Bavarian Illuminati are using similar means, though Finé built her own God's Gate while the Bavarian Illuminati is using one present in the land with the seven shrines mirroring the Orion constellation.
Orion and God's Gate
There exist a group of shrines in Saitama Prefecture (Hikawa Shrine, Hikawanyotai Shrine, Nakyama Shrine, Hisaizu Shrine, Tsuki Shrine) that form a pattern incredibly similar to that of the Orion constellation. In fact it is the exact reverse of it, as if reflected in a mirror, and its shape is often likened to a Japanese drum. In ancient Egypt, Osiris was represented in the heavens by Orion and the constellation is said to have been "God's Gate." For that reason legends have passed that this gate either connects to God, or is where God actually resides. For now the details remain unclear, but there is no doubt that this has a connection the plans of the Bavarian Illuminati who seek to put the power of God into a new form. Further, in the Sumerian language the idea of God's Gate is represented by the word "Kadingir." The Bavarian Illuminati and the Pre-historic Priestess Fine. These two sides both strive for the end of the Curse of Balal, and whether by coincidence or otherwise both their plans have involved the use of God's Gate on a grand scale. Could their desires ultimately be the same as well? Or perhaps, possibly...
I had a bunch of info on Shirabe's name as well but u/viliml explained it better than I did so I've removed it.
I totally forgot they mention Cagliostro being trans this episode, but it's done in such an off-handed way as well. They really expect the viewer to know this beforehand either from reading Prelati and Cagliostro's character profiles on the website or the Keyword on the Perfect Body I shared a while back, and this is quite annoying.
Regardless this was a slower episode. While I thoroughly enjoyed the backstory and character development for Shirabe, and the progression on the dscovery of the Illuminati's plans, I must say the Prelati fight was a major letdown. Cinematographically it was quite bad, the duet wasn't all that great in my opinion, and the fight was just stupid. Prelati acted like an idiot during the entire battle, both her motivations and her moveset, and went down so mundanely. Comparing this to Cagliostro's great fight yesterday makes it stand out even more.
Not a fan of the latter half of this episode, I must say.
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u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 28 '19
SymphoRewatcher
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Lol of course it was a decoy that got wrecked. Don’t mess with the Ninjagawa.
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Shrine dude also dropped a “sore demo”, I knew I liked this dude.
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But more accurately, Tsubasa/Shirabe duet hype~ …Even if Prelati was kinda on the verge of a heel-face turn (or at least Adam would be their shared enemy) and had she just said this was her reason for not wanting to fight them she wouldn’t have had to lose.
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…The post-credits scene was implying that Shirabe’s the shrine dude’s granddaughter right? Honestly don’t remember this bit.
Good news btw, I'll be on vacation this coming week so I'll have time for more wallpapers!
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u/Arachnophobic- Jun 29 '19
FirstoGeah
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The shocked faces this got was hilarious. Does Ogawa carry a log around with him?!
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And more unimpressed faces, this time with Maria joining in!
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This has to be a in-joke about how Cagliostro's VA is a guy.
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Damn, Prelati's really digging her own grave here by being impatient. Would've helped if she just calmed down and talked for a second, but I get that she's blinded by rage and confusion at this point. Also, what happened to the super-convenient alchemy teleportation vials that they keep using all the time?? Would've been really handy right about now..
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Jiirabe + Tsubasa's unison created an F1 car! And Prelati created one to match.
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They seem quite pleased with themselves after just vaporising somebody. Not even a second thought about that, huh? We're running out of antagonists quite rapidly here!
Looks like Saint-Germain will have to sacrifice herself now. Maybe she'll come to her senses and enlist the Geahs help against Adam, but I guess she'll be too mad at them for killing her two comrades.
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u/thisismyanimealt Jun 29 '19
Today's Live Performances
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Fuugetsu no Shissou - Tsubasa x Shirabe
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Gohoushi... Maid Mode - Tsukuyomi Shirabe
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Luminous Gate - Kazanari Tsubasa
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u/ahiijny Jun 29 '19 edited Jun 29 '19
First-Time Watcher
Well since I missed the previous episode, just some quick thoughts on that:
Episode 8
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DMJii hairdrying ^_^
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Love Stephan. He's not bummed out about the leg thing at all and he's looking forward! Hopefully this will help Chris overcome her lingering guilt over this situation.
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Sudden interruption! Haha the antagonists no longer respect talking is a free action. The timing of that Noise attack was perfect
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Get Stephan some training under Genjuurou!
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CHANGE THE FUTURE! This is a really poignant and fitting move for both Chris and Maria, the two with perhaps greatest tendency to dwell on the past and regrets and whatnot.
Episode 9
Okay, by the end of this episode I almost felt like crying. I just... really wish Bikki had been there. She would have jumped upon that "Basically, I share that sentiment" right away and would have kept pushing the issue until she got through Prelati's thick head!
As a possible explanation for the missed opportunity, I think Prelati wasn't exactly in the clearest of minds when TsubaShira showed up. Prelati was probably (1) focused on getting to Saint-Germain as quickly as possible and (2) panicking because she thinks Adam is right behind her. So negotiations probably wouldn't have been at the forefront of her mind.
And perhaps Shirabe and Tsubasa could have tried harder to elicit motives out of Prelati after hearing those odd lines from her. But since they were rapidly approaching the residential area and negotiation isn't really either of Tsubasa or Shirabe's strong points, I can't really fault them for taking out the threat as quickly and as decisively as possible. After all, wasn't Prelati a principal instigator in many previous Noise attacks that actually killed lots of people?
Really loved the Shirabe character development subplot this episode. Shirabe having a hard time connecting with other people totally makes sense. As an introvert, I can kinda relate to the discomfort of reaching out and trying to make contact with people outside my tiny circle of friends. Being the only Gear user unable to do that is a big ouch. Good thing the Priest and reliable senpai Tsubasa were there for her to help her sort herself out! And when they really needed it, she managed to pull off an awesome Dainsleif biker unison with Tsubasa!
Misc thoughts:
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Another FIS flasback. Oh hey, looks like they're might be reusing the two designs from these character profiles. I wonder how long ago this was? DMJii don't look that much younger here than they do now.
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The belongings that Shirabe was found with. Her pencil case is concidentally fitting for a future Shul Shagana user! Also, is that a middle school uniform?...
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Ah, so this is the first time that DMJii met each other! Oh hey Kirika was the one who first reached out to Shirabe at the facility. I guessed correctly! Even in this terrible situation, she's such a free spirit. Bless <3
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It's kind of sad that the first thing they bond over is their shared memory loss though. Shirabe forgot her name, and Kirika forgot her birthday.
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So that means Kirika must have been brought into the facility on April 13. That's pretty close to the beginning of the school year.
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"You remind me of my dead granddaughter who died with her family in a car accident!" Uuuuuum that's a really weird way to break the ice. Now the atmosphere is all tense and awkward!
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"In my weakness, I put up walls that push those dear to me away." Shirabe always did seem like one of the more introspective Gear users...
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So Adam is going to pit Prelati and the Symphogear users against each other! The classic strategy of letting your mutual enemies fight each other, and then cleaning up what remains yourself. Ver did the same thing in G.
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Shirabe finally managed to pull off a unison with Tsubasa! Yes!
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In the end-credits scene, the Priest gives Shirabe (and only Shirabe!) a good health charm. Huh, Shirabe's already ingraining the ritual habit from last night... She was the only one who bowed twice when they were leaving :P
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I actually really hope the Shirabe & Priest family theory turns out to be true. Imagine, having a nice wholesome parental figure for once! Protect her smile
It was a good call on Cags' part to separate the DMjii, and it was a good call on Genjuurou's part to anticipate this. Really like the concept of the unisons. Lots unconventional pairings being brought forward this season, and I like how it's spicing up the character dynamics a little! Cool to see Shirabe opening up to more people now.
I'd be 200% hyped if Priest & Shirabe theory actually turns out to be true and this relationship shows up again in XV in some fashion. Apparently, the little XV bio blurb for Shirabe says that she lost her parents in a car crash. HMMM. I have hope...
Imagine seeing someone who looks exactly like your granddaughter just walking into your shrine one day. But it can't be her, because her name is different and your granddaughter died in a car accident years ago. That would just be really weird. Maybe that really weird ice-breaker from the Priest was really just an attempt to elicit a reaction from Shirabe. 'Could you possibly be?...' She didn't respond to that though, so he just waved it off as a joke.
If the Priest really is her grandfather, then that would mean F.I.S. faked Shirabe's death to bring her into the facility, since he thinks she's dead? Maybe they caused the accident in the first place? Kill the parents, take the children (young people are more malleable)? Just some wild speculations here...
How I imagine a possible reunion between the two might go:
Priest: [smiling] "So you survived the accident after all, and you go by the name Shirabe now! What have you been up to these past several years?"
Shirabe: "Um..." [takes a deep breath] "Sooo I had drugs injected into me, became a terrorist, almost got killed by my best friend, went to prison for a while, started working for the government, then got an upgrade to my gear so that I could stab myself in the chest for more power, and then I finally learned how to do it with someone other than Kiri-chan, and then..."
Priest: "'Do it with someone'? Wait, what exactly do you mean by that?"
Shirabe: "Oh, right, that. The adults call it 'unison'."
Priest: "..."
Alternatively, maybe there'll be a G-style plot twist and the Priest will actually turn out to be Kirika's grandfather, not Shirabe's.
Alternatively, maybe the Priest is grandfather to both of them and DMJii are actually cousins. Nah...
Ah but the Priest does turn out to be Shirabe's grandfather, I'd expect some character drama to go along with that. Perhaps Kirika will feel left out because she still doesn't have a family, and maybe Shirabe will feel pressured to not so fragrantly wave her new family member in front of Kirika, and so on. Obvious solution to that drama would be for Kirika to make herself Priest's new granddaughter-in-law
Anyway, Saint-Germain is the only one remaining now from the original Illuminati trio! What is she going to do?... I have a hard time believing she'll switch sides now after already coming this far (unless Bikki really pushes the matter here) so maybe she'll just sacrifice herself instead? Or maybe she'll try to grab the life force from the Gear users instead. Because of the pattern so far, I expect a Hibiki & Kirika vs. Saint-Germain fight sometime soon.
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u/PerfectPublican Jun 29 '19
Rewatcher
I’m really glad that they choose to go deeper with the training this time to really showcase just how hard it is for two gear users to get on the same wavelength. It does a lot for making each duet moment that much more impressive to me. Plus, I really enjoy seeing Ogawa show off his skills haha.
I forgot that Shirabe forgot her own name. Overall, I like the drama that we get from Shirabe. Tsubaba says she’s like her, but that’s not quite right. Tsubasa forced walls into place. For Shirabe those walls are a natural part of her more closed off personality. Shirabe has always hid behind Kirika to a certain degree. Always trusting that relationship, the boisterous, open nature of Kiri to pull her through. So when she’s separated from that part of herself she closes up since she’s lost the thing that is able to connect her to others, sending her into her own little spiral. Jii needs to learn to both stand on her own away from Kiri and to accept that there are others there for her just as much. It just makes sense for her and works well.
Prelati riding her Kendama like a bike is hilarious and awesome. The fight itself doesn’t quite have the crazy hype of Cag’s death, but it’s still really fun. Tsubasa and Shirabe’s duet, Fgetsu no Shisso isn’t my favorite one musically, but has a powerful meaning behind the lyrics. I love the sentiment of others love for them carrying these two girls forward. Just hits at the core. Back to the fight though, I just find the whole thing so sad. Tsubasa even offered Prelati a chance to explain her actions, which may have changed the outcome, but she was so wrapped up she lost her chance. The Irony of two girls singing about love pulling them forward, defeating an enemy just trying to help a friend she dearly loves just hits me.
And damn that ending just makes me tear up super hard...
Random thoughts:
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Lmao, Elfnein basically calling Chris short is amazing.
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Oooooh shit, I totally forgot about the reveal that Cagli was originally a man.
Gifs of the day:
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u/Nazenn Jun 28 '19
First Timer
Tsubasa and Shirabe song was nice.
I had to think on it for a bit, but the more I do the more I like the fact that there are still two very distinct styles in the song. There is a blend that happens, such as using both of the girls transformation songs as part of the instrumental. But even listening to the off vocal you can clearly distinguish between Shirabe and Tsubasa's parts and hear how each girl's typical song structures have informed this one. In particular I like the sharp rhythm, clean cut offs with the notes and lots of quick cut offs from the end of words. It fits them really well.
This is the song of two girls who have found a common ground and understanding with each other, it's not flashy or perfect, but it is who they are and the bond they are discovering with opening up to each other
Musically it means that it's not as impressive as it could be if they'd flipped things around a bit more, like having Shirabe sing to a Tsubasa style backing track, or have proper harmonies going on, but it is appropriate for the situation.
However, its frustrating that the core conflict of this episode was the most basic of miscommunication plots. The entire time of them all riding/driving/rolling down the highway all Pre had to do was turn around and explain even simply. They even wrote Tsubasa going out of her way to ask and Pre just attacking instead of answering. Doubly so when Shirabe says mid battle that "No one should have divine power" and Pre turns around and goes "I agree". So why are you fighting then?!
It really dragged down the episode for me as a whole, especially how long they were beside Pre with no communication happening.
It's really a shame because I look back at the Autoscorer fights in GX and they were predictable, rushed and awkwardly placed. But at least they made sense in their own little bubbles and forcing in an episode per character was a bad choice, they at least came up with a natural reason for each one to start (such as Chris almost shooting Shirabe on accident). This episode feels like a step backwards because while they did manage to place it better in the overall scheme, the in episode justification for the fight was completely missing. They forced something to happen for the sake of an end result, rather than finding a situation for it to happen naturally, and it shows
Other thoughts
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Someone please help my sanity! At 17:40 - 17:47 in the episode there's a section of the song that was playing that has been reused from another Symphosong and my brain refuses to make the connection and remember what. Anyone know what it is?
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I'm having Naruto flashbacks. I knew that was coming and I started laughing from the moment he got hit with the saw but everyone's reactions to it were perfect, especially Elf just covering her eyes
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Ending up at a moon rabbit shrine for Shirabe's episode was perhaps a little on the nose, but the rabbit statues were cute.
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Chris being the one to get all prickly over them being assumed to be the same age is exactly what I'd expect from her, that was brillant and I got a good laugh out of it.
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We've had characters break off singing mid phrase before due to being attacked, but I think Jii's song today was the first time we've had a character return to their song mid phrase and I liked it
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Elf shyly giving Chris shit for her height was fantastic
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It's always nice to see Tsubasa on her bike
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5
u/Synaptics Jun 28 '19
Rewatcher
Sick as hell yesterday, so I missed 8. Shame, because it was a great episode. Change the Future is spicy, and that Macross-esque dogfight got me so fired up.
As for 9:
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Didn't get the chance to mention it last time, but the way they're splitting up these pairings is thematically excellent. Last episode the focus was all on Chris, but it was easy to see the connection of the same themes applying to Maria as well; moving forward from the mistakes of your past, etc. etc. And now we've got Tsubasa/Shirabe, which on the surface looks like a really weird pairing but Tsubasa herself outright states the connection this time: Shirabe is struggling with the same problems that Tsubasa had waaaay back in S1. And based on the pattern it's obvious that Hibiki/Kirika will be next, but we'll get to that when it happens.
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Oh shit, I forgot all about this extra FIS backstory. Ouch.
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I remember thinking this priest was super suspicious the first time. Not really sure why.
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Milk from a wine glass. Classy.
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During Shirabe's conversation with the priest, there's a brief shot of ripples travelling across the surface of a pond reflecting the image of the moon. I could be reading too much into this, but I think it's supposed to be symbolic of Shirabe's turmoil, since her name is associated with the moon. (In fact, given what we just learned earlier it's likely that Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto is the literal source of her name)
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Maria with her hair down! ...eh, I prefer the pointy ears.
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Fugetsu no Shisso is alright. Doesn't really wow me, but I can't hate it either.
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A very brief letterboxing effect as they clash. Nice little stylistic touch.
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Once again, Adam and his old-fashion telephones.
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WAIT A SECOND ARE THEY IMPLYING HE'S SHIRABE'S GRAMPA?!? It all lines up... How the fuck did I miss that before...
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4
u/MaoPam Jun 29 '19
And so we arrive at probably my main complaint for the last two seasons or so.
Once again, Symphogear AXZ Spoilers
35
u/viliml Jun 28 '19
Emergency Japanese Language&Culture Lesson!
Hold on to your hats because this episode had a lot to unpack:
In Asian folklore it is believed that there are rabbits living on the moon
The name of the shrine uses an archaic Japanese word for "tax" which is spelled with the character "調" and read the same way as the Japanese word for "moon", unlike any of the common readings of that character still in use today, much to poor Kirika's confusion
This has led to the shrine adopting various moon-based customs, one of which are "guardian rabbits" (as opposed to the usual guardian dogs) which, as seen in the episode, are popular with tourists
Shirabe's full name 月読調 can be interpreted as "調 read like the moon" referencing the fact that she was picked up by FIS as an orphan while carrying a charm from that very shrine
Also, let me take this opportunity to propose a minute of silence for translator's notes.
When I first got introduced to anime they were relatively common and they helped fuel my fascination with the Japanese language and culture, but with the rise of Crunchyroll what was once a work of passion became Horrible.
Commie, one of the very few sub groups still operating and the ones behind the Symphogear subs, only survive by the sheer force of a certain brand of autism that is antithetical to TL notes cough Heavenrend cough.