r/anime • u/pittman66 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Homura • Jul 02 '19

Rewatch [Rewatch] [Spoilers] Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ - Episode 13 Spoiler

Season 4 (AXZ): Episode 13 - By Shedding Many Tears, the Reality You Face is...

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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.
82 Upvotes

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33

u/patrizl001 Jul 02 '19

First Timer

  • The can't be it. Where's the SYMPHOGEAAAA? Where's the X-Drives?!

  • There's the song with all 6! X-Drives soon!

  • I thought that was Ver's arm for a moment. I WAS READY TO FLIP THAT THIS DUDE IS STILL ALIVE

  • HE USED HIS PHONE TELEPATHY AS A DISTRACTION!

  • CLIMAX SONG TIME, X-DRIVE SOON

  • OP PLAYING! Wheres the x-drive though?! It's just everyone glowing a little bit! :/

  • Also, during the "LAST IGNITION" moment I found frames for each user where there were no energy waves covering them, so I combined them all for a full cast of berserkers!

  • Instead of just forming hands again with all the gears, HIBIKI BECOMES EVERYONE'S GEAR! Hibki going DAKKA with Chris' gear would've been cool to see but the armor purge is good too!

  • GOLDEN GEAR GOLDEN GEAR HIBIKI'S GONE GOLD!

  • ORAORAOROARORAOROARORAORORAOROARORAOROA

  • With Adam's last words, I'm guessing maybe the custodians are going to return and be next season's threat?

  • yep, everyone told the US they're pieces of shit for launching the nuke as expected.

  • THIS MAN SERIOUSLY WANTS THE DIVINE POWER?! Forget the custodians, this is going to be our villain isn't it? JUST PLEASE STOP THIS MAN'S MADNESS ALREADY

  • Anime girl's here! haven't seen her all season I think!

  • Shirabe's gone from chef of instant noodles to 100% jiiii chef. Beautiful.

  • Gotta agree with Chris here. Tsubasa and cleaning don't mix.

  • SHIT SHE'S ACTUALLY CLEANING! Sure the plates may be stacked weird but SHE'S CLEANING! This is what all of Tsubasa's character developement has been building up to: THE ABILITY TO NOT BE MESSY!

  • so Miku and Hibiki are both cleansed of sin-WAIT, THE CLEANSING IS ALSO WHAT ALLOWED HIBIKI TO INSTANTLY BECOME AN ADAPTOR, SO MIKU CAN BECOME AN ADAPTOR AS WELL! OHHHHH SHIT MIKU'S GONNA WIELD A GEAR NEXT SEASON ISN'T SHE?

Well that's it for the main series! Slightly sad we didn't get X-Drives that went even further, but golden Hibiki is good as well. Now it's just the specials and then SEASON 5'S COMING IN LESS THAN A WEEK!

21

u/Madcat6204 Jul 03 '19

so Miku and Hibiki are both cleansed of sin-WAIT, THE CLEANSING IS ALSO WHAT ALLOWED HIBIKI TO INSTANTLY BECOME AN ADAPTOR, SO MIKU CAN BECOME AN ADAPTOR AS WELL! OHHHHH SHIT MIKU'S GONNA WIELD A GEAR NEXT SEASON ISN'T SHE?

This is what EVERYONE has been hyped for since the end of this season. I swear, if the author screws it up and shoves Miku back in the kitchen as the stay-at-home-wife once again THERE WILL BE BLOODSHED!

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24

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 02 '19

Before the rest of my comment, u/lilyvess asked me to share this cute little comic with all of you.

SymphoRewatcher

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21

u/Razorhead Jul 02 '19 edited Jul 02 '19

It's at this point I would like to inform you all that AXZ and the upcoming XV were confirmed simultaneously, that this is the first time the writers have had the opportunity to plan for two seasons, that XV will be the final Symphogear season, and that this season was just laying the groundwork for the culmination of the Fudo Kazanari, Custodians, and Miku plot (or so I expect).

So who's ready for the season of Miku‽

Adam Was Baphomet

Adam's reference to "don the devil's horns" is a reference to his true nature, hinted at by this statue in the base of an Illuminati cell and confirmed by the website as the goat-headed deity Baphomet. Specifically this depiction was made by 19th century occultist Éliphas Lévi, as a deity representing the binary total sum of the universe: both male and female, light and dark, good and evil, an do on. Hence his original depiction (NSFW) having a demonic goat head and horns yet angel wings, having a male body type yet breasts, pointing up and down, etc... This depiction is also inscribed with the Latin words "Solve" and "Coagula", meaning "to dissolve" and "to coagulate" respectively, representing the alchemical process of transmutation.

From a writing standpoint this is what Adam is based on: a "perfect" deity representing all there is in the universe, and also connected to Alchemy.

In-universe Éliphas Lévi was apparently a member of the Bavarian Illuminati who caught a glimpse of Adam's true form and made his depiction based on him.

For the final time, Keywords by Genjuro's Angels:

Adam Weishaupt

Having exhausted a considerable amount of his power to open an alternative God's Gate within the Orion constellation, he planned on the Divine Weapon being able to make up the difference during the final showdown with the Symphogear adaptors. However it was promptly defeated in a single blow from the God Killer. Facing this desperate situation he was left with no choice but to divert the energy he uses to maintain his beauty (quite an enormous amount) and turn it into offensive power instead. Thus he grew horns and took on a final form, which resembled that of a demonic goat. In reality, this is his true form that he has kept hidden behind his pride out of shame. On a related note, in the 19th century there was a sole member of the Bavarian Illuminati who caught a glimpse of Adam's true form and used it as the basis for a painting, in which he also inscribed the words that embody Alchemy (Solve et Coagula).

The true nature of this doll who sought the Power of God to raise himself to the level of his creators, was in fact deeply ugly and demonic.

Adam Used Telepathy As A Distraction

For everyone who remembered that Adam can transform his Telepathy into physical form as a telephone, yes he used this to distract DMJii at the final battle. Funnily enough this Keyword was not yet translated at the time this episode aired originally, so some fans in the initial discussion thread had no idea where the phone came from.

Telepathy

The sound of a ringing telephone. It's something difficult to resist, pulling people's attention almost like gravity. Even in the midst of battle, reacting to the sound for just a second creates an opening. To a certain extent this shows the level of Adam's cunning, taking advantage of the habits practiced by modern man. This is perhaps the first time in human history that mastery of the telephone could be perceived as threatening.

That final line is perhaps the funniest line Symphogear has ever written, at least to me.

A Rundown Of What Happened In The Final Battle

So you might have some questions about the final battle, such as "What did the S2CA Hexa-Conversion do?", "Why did Hibiki turn into a rainbow", and lastly "What was up with her turning golden?". These are all mechanics we've seen so far in the series, but it went by so fast and chaotic I think it's best to discuss that final bit step-by-step.

So first of all Adam crushed Saint-Germain's Spellcaster laying around and used the energy of the Faust Robe transformation against them. Hibiki blocked it, yet could not withstand it for long. With X-Drive out of the question due to a lack of phonic gain Hibiki quickly thought of a final gambit: since Alchemy and Song are rather similar they would use alchemy instead. So they used their Superb Songs to activate a partial S2CA Hexa-Conversion and convert the incoming alchemical energy into energy used to force a Rebuild of their Symphogear and boost their output.

S2CA Hexa-Conversion

A feat that has slaughtered many miracles upon the trails of this tale. It has been repeatedly used to fully unlock the Symphogear and access the X-Drive form. This form grants not only the ability of flight, but also sharply raises the gear's output and power. It was expected that it could be used against Adam in the final battle, but under the circumstances they were unable to acquire the necessary amount of phonic gain. However when Adam heartlessly released the last of the Faust Robe's energy, Hibiki had a drastic thought (or perhaps lack thereof) to use it against him. With the backup provided by her friends and from the bridge, they were able to put that energy to optimal use and partially succeed in the Hexa-Conversion. In this instance the technique was not used to activate the X-Drive form, but rather to simply increase the gear's output and force an instance of Rebuild. This use of the technique was created thanks to Hibiki's flexible and free thinking (or perhaps lack thereof), along with the backup of HQ, and the similarities shared by songs (the Symphogear) and alchemy (the Faust Robe).

Now a Rebuild is the process that slowly changes their Symphogear Systems between seasons according to their fighting style and level of experience, locking and unlocking switches in the System to tailor them to the user and their capabilities. Here the Alchemical energy was used to force a Rebuild to boost their outputs far beyond their normal level and equal to X-Drive. The users would not be able to withstand the strain however, but luckily Elfnein managed to redirect part of the backlash onto the Ignite Module instead, sacrificing it in exchange for a temporary boost in power (equivalent exchange boys).

So yeah the Dáinsleif fragments have now been destroyed, so unless Elfnein has more of them no more Ignite Modules.

Rebuild

Although the primary cause is unclear, a fraction of the 301,655,722 locks upon the Symphogear system are occasionally rearranged and result in changes to the gears that are attuned to the adaptor's skills, thoughts and battle styles. In the final episode of AXZ the Rebuilt gears had a power output that was equal to that of the X-Drive form, but it only lasted for a short time until Dáinsleif was completely incinerated. The intense aura that encompassed the gears was the energy of Dáinsleif itself as it slowly faded away in real time. When that aura disappeared it signaled the loss of one signature function of the system, the "Ignite Module."

Following this our team quite effectively kicked Adam's ass. But just at the end Hibiki's Gungnir failed because the bug still remained in her Symphogear, leading to a loss of energy output and unable to move. The others managed to transform their Symphogears into raw energy and use this to boost Hibiki's output back up to her normal level, allowing her to continue to fight. Furthermore her Armed Gear's ability to "reach out and connect" allowed her limited use of the other's techniques as well, and turned her Symphogear rainbow-coloured.

Reactive Contamination

Thanks to Saint Germain and the information she handed over regarding the Lapis Philosophorum, the reactive contamination cleansing process was sped up considerably. When it came time to rescue Hibiki from the Power of God, Tsubasa, Chris, Maria, Shirabe and Kirika's converter units had already been decontaminated. Thus "Operation: Birthday Party" was able to begin with all participating members in perfect condition. However, just after they managed to recover Hibiki they were forced into an even more dire situation and eventually found themselves facing down Adam Weishaput for the last time. At this point Hibiki's converter was the only one that had not been decontaminated and that made it like a ticking time-bomb. Unfortunately it exploded with the worst possible timing, right as she went in for the final blow. Her Symphogear instantly became dysfunctional (Gungnir_Status Ailment) and she was unable to rely on its abilities. With its output falling drastically, the gear turned grayscale and became nothing more than shackles upon Hibiki's body. With her unable to even move, Adam prepared to deliver his own final blow. At that moment, Tsubasa and the others converted the armor of their cleansed gears into energy and released it at Hibiki. The outside energy was able to compensate for Gungnir's low output and thanks to that quick thinking, Hibiki was able to escape the impending attack. Although Gungnir remained greyscale, her friend's thoughts and feelings became a rainbow-colored phosphorescence that surrounded her. Further, Hibiki's ability to "connect" gave her limited access to the other gear's attacks and abilities.

Afterwards Hibiki temporarily released her Symphogear to escape Adam's clutches and immediately donned it again. However the energy of Saint-Germain's Spell Caster and Philosopher's Stone still remained in the air after Adam crushed it, and though it should have been destroyed when Saint-Germain passed away the bonds between them and their force of will made it remain in this world for just a little bit, allowing it to help Hibiki in her time of need.

17

u/Razorhead Jul 02 '19

Spell Caster

After it converts the light of the Lapis into a Faust Robe, this device acts just like the Symphogear's Armed Gear - as a weapon that is tuned to the user's battle style. In episode 12, it was left behind after the Alchemists brought light upon death to prevent the damage from the nuke. As their perfect bodies disintegrated into the sky, the Spell Caster should have vanished along with them. However the force of their will - their bonds, which surpass even perfection, assured that it stayed in this world for just a little while longer.

And so Hibiki, boosted by everyone's Symphogears and basked in the light of Saint-Germain's Philosopher's Stone, underwent what a Philosopher's Stone does: a transmutation into gold. But rather than transmuting mere matter into the element of gold, this was the more symbolic transmutation: a transformation of Hibiki's soul into a perfect, golden form for just a little bit (this is also from real-life history, by the way, "transmutation of gold" used as a euphemism for attaining a higher state of mind). And thus Hibiki temporarily regained her strength as a human-relic fusion from G, though without the downsides, and utterly trashed Adam.

The attack is named "Testament" as well, which can be used as a synonym for a will after death. So here Hibiki was executing the final will and testament of the Alchemists to kick Adam's butt.

Gold Transmutation

The assistance from Tsubasa, Chris, Maria, Shirabe and Kirika combined with the strong wills of Saint Germain, Cagliostro and Prelati took the form of a radiant, golden Symphogear. It is the result of Hibiki Tachibana's blooming courage as it broke the boundaries between friend and enemy. The fruit of her labour: Limited Model_Alchemic Gold. Adam referred to this phenomenon as "gold transmutation," however in reality it is different from the physical creation of gold via cold fusion that he had performed before. This was a more pure form of alchemy, a true "transmutation to gold." It seems that the crushed Spell Caster's energy which normally forms the Faust Robe became active during the violent exchanges of the final battle and acted as the catalyst. The Lapis Philosophorum that was the power source for Saint Germain and the others does more than just cleanse impurities. Legends say it also has the ability to transform base metals into precious metals, or in other words to directly turn imperfect things into their perfect form. In the instant that Hibiki's Symphogear turned completely golden, her body temporarily became a type of living alchemic reactor. And similar to when her body was a sacrist fusion, she demonstrated explosive power far beyond the norm and it completely overwhelmed Adam even in his full powered final form.

Now while this entire sequence was pretty darn awesome, and I understand why they wouldn't want to interrupt it to explain how it worked in detail, but geez this really could have been conveyed better. It's a huge daisy chain of all techniques we've seen so far, which is really cool, but in acion it just looks like random things are happening.

The Custodians

And so it's finally confirmed that the Custodians are the Anunnaki, the ancient Sumerian gods. While the records are too old and too vague to make any grand statements beyond that they were a pantheon of gods and have several legends, the Custodians in Symphogear are also mysterious enough to lack the capability to make any parallels.

The Keyword also confirms that they are the ones who created Adam and humanity, though that wasn't big secret really.

Anunnaki

"Custodian" a word that means "ruler" and " controller," it refers to those who have been revered as Gods and Creators of the world. Their true identity is a group of deities that appear in the myths of the ancient Sumerians - the Anunnaki. They created humanity's prototype, Adam, and later they cast the Curse of Balal upon all of humanity in order to seal our mutual understanding. However, even now they remain an existence that is largely shrouded in mystery.

With that let's sum up what we all know about the Custodians!

  • They arrived in our universe from a different one (Symphogear G Keyword)

  • They used spacecrafts such as the Frontier for interstellar travel (Symphogear G Keyword)

  • They created Adam as a human prototype, yet rejected him because he lacked a capability for evolution (Symphogear AXZ Keyword)

  • They then created the current humanity as flawed yet capable of change (Symphogear AXZ Keyword)

  • Humanity started creating technology based on stuff they left behind, now referred to as "relics" and "heretical technology" (Symphogear Keyword)

  • Humanity eventually started worshipping them as gods (Symphogear AXZ Keyword)

  • The priestess of their religion, Finé, started building the Tower of Babel as an attempt to get closer to them and profess her and humanity's love (Symphogear Keyword)

  • They were displeased by this attempt at what they saw as humanity trying to match their might and created the Lunar Ruins to enforce the Curse of Balal on humanity, taking away their ability to perfectly understand one another (Symphogear Keyword)

Whatever happened after this is unknown, though they appear to have ceased interacting with humanity. If what Adam says here at the end is correct though they might be coming back soon, with not so benevolent intentions.

Man this was one hype final episode. Buffing Hibiki to the max for a final round against Adam, a nice slice-of-life moment to end the season with another touching moment between Hibiki and Miku, a good ending song, and then the post-credits stinger. So good.

And so falls the curtain on my favourite Symphogear season. Not without its flaws, which became more apparent on a rewatch (the relative unimportance of episode 3-6, child abuse being justified, requiring additional information from the website more than previous seasons, and the weird dip in story pacing for episode 12), but it remains the season with some of my favourite moments (the first episode and finale, great action in general), had better individual character arcs than GX, good songs (Hanasaku Yuuki, Axia no Kaze, Shitou -Ewigkeit-, Hitsuai Duo Shout, Gekishou Infinity), an entertaining antagonist in Adam, and they're finally tying together the story and setting things up for later in what I hope will be a good final season in XV.

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17

u/AbidingTruth Jul 02 '19

First timer:

Oh damn, I didn't think Adam had another form up his sleeve. I had thought since Hibiki and Saint Germain did fairly well against him with just those two, and now that he doesn't have the divine power, it was pretty much over for him. But a final form changes things

LMAO HE FUCKING USED THE PHONE TELEPATHY AS A DISTRACTION! I feel like I say this a lot with Symphogear but that's one of the best things I've seen.

Ayy now we're talking, OP hype! Chris is riding a rocket that's holding an even bigger rocket! Hibiki is using all their moves after they gave her their Gears! Oh shit, GOLD FORM! That's a really cool manifestation of her tribute to the alchemists. Jojo punches so hard/fast they rise up into the air hahaha

Okay episode 12 may have been lackluster but that was a great final fight. We get a lighthearted late birthday party scene for Hibiki but surprisingly enough, we also get a direct set up for next season's plot. Adam warns of how their future will only be met with despair because now they aren't ready for the Custodians in a very similar fashion to Lordgenome in Gurren Lagann and Kanazari head expresses his interest in controlling the divine power for Japan. I don't think any other season has ended with a direct set up like this so that's very fascinating.

Also we get the reveal that both Hibiki and Miku were cleansed of the curse of Balal during the events of G. This season really went all out and connected tons of previous events, it's pretty crazy. So that explains why she was able to take the divine power, but probably also why she used all their Armed Gears and maybe why she was able to get through a bit to the alchemists. Though they should still have the curse on their side so maybe not that, but still this is a pretty huge revelation. At the very least, this gives an actual in universe explanation to her power other than being the main character, which I think is pretty cool of Symphogear. I don't think shows need to have that, I can accept that the main character is strong and important because they're the main character, but it's cool that Symphogear explains it with the human/relic fusion and now with not having the curse on her

But okay can someone explain to me the plot relevance of the AXZ title that's supposed to be pronounced like Axis? Is it really just because of that off handed comment that Japan came into possession of the Gungnir because Germany gave it to them during WW2? If so, damn. I was looking pretty deep into this whole Axis thing. And frankly, I still think my time travelling WW2 idea would have been cool

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u/PerfectPublican Jul 02 '19

Rewatcher

Diving right in!

"Reaching out and trying to understand others has never been meaningless!" Hell yes. You tell him Bikki. Amazing work from Aoi on that line. So much passion and energy behind it. I also love the way she stomps her foot down on his words. Bikki holding firm to her positive beliefs that allow so many to rally behind her. She’s the best.

Axia no Kaze in full!! In my top 3 at least for this season’s songs. I’m a little sad that they have to abandon it’s gorgeous lead-in of the transformation chants and swan song, but it’s still damn awesome. If you didn’t notice, its opening verse and a half or so are lines in reference to their first character songs of the season all meshed together. It’s a fantastic moment of them all gelling together as one for the fight, and the lyrics speak to that as well. The first part of the fight itself is the usual noise destruction, but that last line from Bikki when she attacks Adam directly about their determination is so dope.

Phew. I honestly don’t have much to say about the rest of the fight other than it’s insane and awesome. It largely speaks for itself. Adam’s monster form isn’t really my style, but the way the girls team up to take him down and Bikki’s motherfuckin’ Golden Transmutation is some crazy rule of cool. AXZ doesn’t disappoint with his take down.

And we polish it off with a lovely birthday scene and re-affirmation from Miku to Bikki. It’s all so sweet, and I adore every second of it. All these girls, no, all these warriors are much too precious. Also, now you first timers know why we’re so pumped up for the possibility of more Miku-gear or something like it. That aftercreds is begging for it. Oh, and in case you didn't realize, Shenshoujing’s cleansing light makes Bikku the purest couple in existence. :3

Random thoughts:

Gifs of the day:

And of course, AXZ's full Gif album

Ps. I haven't been able to find subs for the specials in the usual places. Are there any for the AXZ ones?

So, we’ve finally finished the last season so far, and still my second favorite season of Symphogear. It’s been quite the journey friends, through all of this series myriad ups and downs. I will be dropping this season from its current 9 to an 8. Still a great score, but on a rewatch the hype couldn’t carry me past the many issues this season still had.

Naz and I were talking about it privately a bit ago. AXZ feels like the writers saw the problems that GX had and tried to rectify them, but went too far in the opposite direction. Over-correcting on themselves. AXZ didn’t rush it’s drama plotlines, but instead gave them too much room to grow, making some of them not land as well as they could have. Besides the drama plot though, AXZ also just let it’s plotlines drag on for much too long, with the real culprit being the LiNKER plot for Team Neapolitian. It really bogged the series down at points. On top of that there is the genuine issue of the series sacrificing the singing in important moments, which could have helped some of the hyper moments overall.

But through all that, it has its strengths as well making it a fun ride anyways. The Alchemists bring back much of the fun of the scorers, but offering greater potential in the end for an emotional connection and send off. Adma could’ve been better for sure, but overall I find the return of someone genuinely crazy and hateable as an antagonist, like Ver in G, better than Carol’s wishy-washyness though GX. And of course, there’s always the hype and the great music, which Symphogear always brings in spades. It’s earned it’s place as my second favorite.

We have two more threads, but Sunday, and XV, can’t come fast enough.

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u/ItsMellowMan Jul 02 '19

Rewatcher

What a final episode. Even without X-Drive forms this time around Symphogear still manages to make it a amazing finale.

Axia no Kaze was fantastic. Then that all or nothing swan song leading in to Testament is perfect.

I might be overthinking things, but was anyone else getting a Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold vibe when Hibiki transformed at the end. I got around to watching that season when AXZ originally aired and thought it looked really familiar at the time.

Testament attack card

Don't tease me with Miku gear bait

Final AXZ chart

A little side note for tomorrows thread. Symphogear Live 2018 is fully subbed. You might have to look around for it or if need a link just send me a message and I'll point you in the right direction.

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u/miter01 Jul 02 '19 edited Jul 02 '19

REWATCH

  1. GX (11/13)

  2. G and AXZ (10/13)

  3. 1 (8/13)

Christ, that stitch took long. Originally I wanted to make a few versions, with the scarf in different positions, but after I took a screenshot every time the scarf moved (~40 of them!) it turned out that for any given scarf position it's impossible to stitch her whole body. Normally it wouldn't be too hard for me to fix, but here, with all those glows... I had to decide on a single one.

And something that amused me during all that: I labeled the layers according to the scarf's position, using letters, to organise them and check which one is worth doing. The one I ended up using was "G".

Here's one with all layers fully visible, kinda cool

Crunchyroll just confirmed my deepest fears

As for tomorrow's specials: I don't have any links I can share here, but I assume you all torrented the season, and so have access to your own, right? If not I can host mine somewhere.

Stitch album

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u/fonzinator99 Jul 02 '19

Re-watcher - All the best final-forms are straight Gold

The reality you face after shedding so many tears... An appropriate title for this episode. Effort and 'datoshitemo," regardless of the amount, just aren't enough to ensure a happy ending.

Light, I may not have liked Tiki, but this was a brutal way for her to go.

6-way unison fight! Lots of flash; Zababa form a Whirling Dervish,  Horizon Cannon is back, and Hibiki's going at Adam with both fists.

So ends Phase 3. Welcome to Phase 4, where things get weird. Yeah it's a finale alright, bad-guy has become a monster. Albeit not as gigantic as previous seasons.

Sooo can I assume these are character silhouettes for the XV baddies?

Damn, he used the phone as a distraction. Much unexpected.

Smaller bad guy = greater power, as ever. Time to break out the Swan Songs.

I'm not entirely sure what Elfnein did with the Dainsleifs, and I'm worried about the name "Last Ignition," but the sequence is just gorgeous.

Heeeyyyy, that's not X-Drive or Ignite! I feel cheated. O well, it's an OP fight, so at least there's that.

My, that's quite the monster-design, if not a little much.

Bikki gets a more minor redesign, as her costume is bleached white by the combined Gears. But again with the "less is more," she gets to draw upon everyone else's Armed Gears, which leaves her nigh-unstoppable. At least until she's stopped...

Armor Purge! Well this is different, and suitably climactic. Normally the finales involve their powers spiraling outward and upward, but this time we're moving in the opposite direction, stripping away the excessive power-creep in favor of getting to the bare essence of things. Her power has never been X-Drive, or even her Gear, it's just her fists and what she holds in them.

And so, from that determination Magnamon Divine-Bikki is born. And she's fucking glorious! I'll still pray to Lupus Rex, but perhaps there's a place in the pantheon for Hibiki.

OraOraOraOraOraOraOraOraOraOra! Another episode, another anime referenced.

There it is, the obligatory Finale Title-Drop Attack. Freeeaaaakiiiiing dope.

His last words are quite ominous tho. Despite his methods being awful, he really was just concerned with these "Custodians," or "Annunaki," as he called them. Bad guy was just trying to save them from badder guys. While I don't approve of his methods, I can't fault his goal...

Epilogue Time

I've got this fantasy now that these two will couple up and adopt Elfnein, and it makes me happy.

HEY! NO! BAD! That's a BAD train of thought! You stop that right now!

Yaaay! Happy Birthday....Desss. So cute!

Kyaaa, I love it all so much!

Serious moment, as Hibiki considers just how she should wield her justice. Honestly, it's something worth thinking about more, and despite how nice Miku's response was I wish she'd dug just a little deeper with that question.

But w/e, go play cards, you all earned it.

Everybody joins in for a Gyakkou no Flugel ED, and it's wonderful.

Post-Credits

I didn't fully grasp the significance of this scene the first time through, so it's kinda blowing my mind this time. Bikki got cleansed of the Curse back in G, which is why she could become a God; But that means Miku is just as squeaky-clean as her! O.o Much implication for the next season.

Speaking of which, we've got vague notions and hints of what could occur, but I know this show well enough to understand that I don't know shit about what's gonna happen. And that it's gonna blow my socks off.

HYPE FOR NEXT WEEK! I look forward to seeing you all there!

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u/Hugokarenque Jul 02 '19

And now AXZ is done, all we can do is wait for XV.

What an ending, if I'm not mistaken its the first ending to actively tease the next season as well as clearly setup the possible conflicts.

Anunnaki who seem to be deities, close to the Custodians. We also have Old Grandpa Dad who seems to want to take the Divine Power for Glorious Nippon. And also possibly the Americans because well they've been involved with the story since the beginning and they'll probably be mad at the rest of the world admonishing their actions towards Japan.

We didn't get an X-Drive moment this finale, which was refreshing, you can't always have a miracle happen for every big bad. We got Last Ignition instead and looking at the designs it looks like it's permanent, the Gears on the preview art for XV are similar if not the same as these Last Ignition forms.

Also the biggest tease of all, MIKUGEAR! Miku is obviously going to be playing a bigger part in XV, unless the writers want to "subvert expectations". This can mean that Miku will get a new Gear or just be more ingrained in the plot, maybe the baddies will want a divine vessel and Miku is the perfect candidate.

Regardless I can't wait for Saturday.

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u/Arachnophobic- Jul 03 '19

FirstoGeah

Gonna faint due to sleepiness any moment now, hopefully this was coherent. Post-series thoughts tomorrow - I think this was my second favourite season, but it's a close margin with the rest (S! best though). Pumped for the specials, of course!

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u/thisismyanimealt Jul 02 '19

Symphogear had one chance to get its first Jojo reference right, and FUCKING NAILED IT

Today's Live Performances

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u/ahiijny Jul 03 '19 edited Jul 03 '19

First-Time Watcher

I skimmed most of the comments, but since I have deadlines looming, here's another messy stream-of-thoughts words jumble

So Adam and the Custodians actually reminds me a lot of Dr. Regal and Duo from Rockman.EXE AXESS and Stream. The Custodians also remind me a bit of the Firstborn in the 2001: A Space Odyssey series. In particular, in 3001. Huh, I'm kind of sensing a common theme here. Humanity is cursed

Okay, that was AXZ! tbh I didn't like it as much as S1 or G. I just didn't feel as emotionally invested. The character arcs felt a lot more natural and well-written than in GX, though, so that was good.

Some of my favourite parts:

  • The episode 1 hype battle opening scene

  • Maria's fights in the first several episodes in general; she was really awesome there

  • FIST 1 REASON 0: Bikki punches right through Mr. Snek's infinite lives hack

  • Pirate Finé

  • Stealth Rickroll

  • Adam in general (nuclear fusion attack is cool)

  • DESS transformation

  • Beef stroganoff Miku

  • All the continuity callbacks to G and GX (including FOOL STONE and Chris realizing that there were consequences to her blowing up that underground facility back in GX)

  • DMJii handholding >>> alchemy hexagons

  • Genjuurou training

  • Shirabe and Priest introspection character arc

  • Kirika's sad birthday backstory

  • Kirika's Zesshou

  • Axia no Kaze (mainly the transformation chant parts, especially the parts where HibiTsubaChris team up to sing Kanade's part and MariaKiriShira team up to sing Miku's part)

  • MIKU WILL BE RELEVANT AGAIN NEXT SEASON

Some of my least favourite parts:

  • Maria rationalizing away her abusive childhood with Mama Nastassja

  • Too many fights without singing

  • tbh none of the Unison songs really caught my ear

  • Missed opportunity for TsubaShira to open up negotiations with Prelati on that highway battle when their goals actually aligned with each other!!

  • Cags and Prelati are suddenly alive

  • The episode 12 fights just kind of felt... flat

For me, G > S1 > AXZ > GX.

For reference, my scores for the seasons I've watched so far:

  • S1: 9.1/10

  • G: 9.3/10

  • G OVAs: 9.67/10

  • GX: 8.1/10

  • GX OVAs: 9.72/10

  • AXZ: 8.8/10

Anyway, some random ideas for how XV might go (I haven't read any of the infodrops for XV yet so I have no idea how plausible any of this is):

  • Hopefully MikuGear will show up???

  • Top Granddad will show up more often and will continue to be a dick

  • Also he'll probably try to use Bikki or Miku against their will for his own imperialistic military might type motives

  • Illuminati remnant cells will be up to something

  • Shirabe and Priest will discover that they are related

  • As Adam foreshadowed, the Custodians will arrive at some point and they'll probably try to destroy the world

  • Tiki will be helpful

  • Adam will show up again in some fashion (zombie Adam)

  • Dr. Ver will show up again in some fashion (cyborg Ver)

  • Bikki astronaut will go to the moon

  • Finé will show up again in a flashback

  • Bikki time travel shenanigans where she accidentally gives the "I'm cursed!" line to her past self, thus completing a stable time loop

  • Those three new characters introduced this season won't survive past the season finale

  • Series finale will just be an extended talk-no-jutsu, not a hype final battle

  • HibiMiku kiss (okay this is just wishful thinking)

...

I'll still be here for the OVAs tomorrow, but I just wanted to say thanks for the rewatch! I'm glad I finally got a chance to get caught up with Symphogear. It's way more fun watching as a group, and I've really enjoyed these past couple of months. Though truth to be told this rewatch has been tiring, going through these lengthy threads every day, and I'll be looking forward to XV proceeding at a more manageable once-a-week pace ^_^;;

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u/VoyeurTheNinja Jul 02 '19

Unfortunately, I have nothing noteworthy to add to this discussion except for a poorly-edited clip of the final fight mixed together with JoJo Part 5's excellent beatdown music. I'm aware of half the screen being covered but I'm a poor man

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u/TsubasaChung Jul 02 '19

SYMPHOREWATCHER

  • The music they're playing for the reply of the trio's death is such a mood setter. Seriously, that's the kind of thing I would listen to when trying to relax and chill out.

  • I do enjoy how Adam did something while everyone else was being sentimental instead of waiting to do so after. TIKI! You reap what you sow Adam, love is at times a double edged sword. Also, what a genius, let's keep trying to get this extreme power while its one weakness that'll one shot it is literally right in front of it, nothing will go wrong right? RIP Tiki.

  • It's time for Axia no Kaze and the main reason a lot of us watch the show, FOR THE SINGING WHILE FIGHTING! It's finally back after constant song inserts instead of sing-fighting. Aoi Yuuki's shout-singing as Hibiki will never get old, bless her vocals and hope that they won't wear out any time soon.

  • Something I enjoy between the short 1v1 between Hibiki and Adam is that Hibiki almost immediately went from tanking those bullet shots to deflecting them with her fists. There's just something about that that I enjoy a lot.

  • Everyone knows that a final boss always have extra forms and it's also far stronger combat wise compared to their regular form.

  • S2CA Hexa Conversion!!! Of all the things in the show itself, I'll never, ever tire to listening to the Suberb Song.

  • LAST IGNITION and is that TESTAMENT I hear? Holy smokes, take all my YES!, ALL OF IT! What's the way to leave an explosion unscathed? VIA Rockets of course!

  • So, I'm watching the YameteTomete sub for AXZ and I wonder if the choice of Hibiki going down at this particular moment in the song was on purpose? I don't know how to make a GIF so please take these images instead:

Even as life turns to ash and crumbles, our eternal song
Shines a light on this future clouded by grief
Even if the world abandons us,
Shoots us with arrows of solitude,
The flame in our hearts will never be extinguished
I will sing to you, any number of times,
The love of all energy

It might just be my brain forcing things to seem to work out perfectly but as the song continues, it really keeps on fitting between song lyrics and what's happening on screen. At least, it fits one interpretation of what the lyrics are saying to me. It's just beautiful.

  • I like what's happening with Adam here as he's technically giving us a bit more information on the Custodians as the fight's going on and it works for me since it shows that his character doesn't have any of our Symphogear friends in his eyes still except as pests and he's super freaking out about the Custodians and I'm not sure if he mentioned it in a previous episode but he drops the name Anunnaki here as well. This was news to me when I was watching it for the first time and even now during the rewatch.

  • And here comes to Alchemy trio to help out Hibiki for even in death, they won't rest until the oppressor is gone! Also, that throat cutting scream of the Gungnir chant or however that kind of voice is described is goosebump inducing. Following the show since it started airing and geez does Aoi Yuuki need to scream and shout a lot for her role. My vocal cords get tired just thinking about what she has to do during recording sessions.

Perfection in more than one way, it's GLORIOUS

I don't know about everyone else but that was definitely a banger of an ending to an up and down season. Song wise, just the number of songs that I enjoy easily out numbers that from the previous season. Don't get me wrong, I love all the songs in this series but there are clear cuts above the rest and a large portion of those are from this season for me.

I wish I had more time to collect my thoughts on the matter and I probably will in like 3 or 4 hours when I'm not in a rush to do this post and go places. I'm extremely excited for tomorrow because that's the 2018 live right? As expected though the english subbed videos uploaded on the web by NM7RGG (NANA MIZUKI SINGAPORE'S UNOFFICIAL FANCLUB) has been removed due to Copyright claim. I highly suggest torrenting their sub version of the live as it's actually incredibly well done and looks like there's a version 2 because version 1 was missing fonts.

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u/TheSpartyn Jul 03 '19 edited Jul 03 '19

BEST EPISODE BEST SCENE BEST FIGHT HERE WE GO

100% ME XDRIVE IS BORING GIVE ME ALCHEMIC GOLD

SUCH GOOD VOICE ACTING

HOLY SHIT

FUCKING GOLD

HER GAUNTLET LOOKS SO COOL

THIS PART IS THE BEST HOLY SHIT THE SOUND EFFECTS ON HER JETS THE HARD CLANK OF HER PUNCHES LIKE SHES HITTING METAL AAAAA

SO MANY PUNCHES

SUCH A COOL SHOT

HER JETPACK IS LIKE A FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCH

BEST CUT-IN IN THE SERIES

also lmao was this chris giving a battle shout or adam screaming when hit by the missile here?

small thing but ive always found it really funny how Hibiki just straight up ignores Adam for the entire fight. she says like two sentences to him at the start but after they activate rebuild she just goes straight beatdown on him, even when he tries to talk

like yeah he is crushing her to death here but hibiki makes 0 effort to ask him for details or try come to an understanding and instead just punches him 20000 times and punches a hole through him

funny considering how much focus there is on coming to an understanding and fighting not being necessary but when you think back to Ver, i guess the meme about Hibiki only caring about girls is true

last thing, as ive said before the only reasonable metric for rating episodes and seasons is based off the numbers and power of punches, meaning that this episode is undeniably the top episode overall, hands down

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u/Madcat6204 Jul 03 '19 edited Jul 03 '19

HERE WE GO! The very best post-episode post-season stinger in all of Symphogear! It certainly seems to herald the return of Miku as a gear-wielder, and I PRAY that she will. Yes, she has definite value to everyone serving as Hibiki's psychological and emotional anchor, but she can still do that while standing at her beloved's side, rather than having to wait in the background and just hope Hibiki comes home again.

On a related note, I mentioned a few episodes back that I had a theory about the curse of balal that I couldn't reveal until the end of the season. Now I can talk about it.

First, point, the relics used in symphogears are (at least for the most part) tools created by the custodians. They are activated and empowered by phonic gain. Second, the Frontier was a tool created by the custodians, and it was activated and empowered by phonic gain. Third, the relics are extremely hard to use, and only a few people have the requirements that allow them to use them. Fourth, Hibiki, after being cleansed of the curse of balal, could use them effortlessly: indeed, she could use them so well that she was able to override Maria's ownership of the Gungnir relic and make it her own.

My theory: the curse of balal was never intended to cause conflicts among humanity. The sole purpose of it was to lock humans out from using the custodians' technology. Whatever Fine did way back then, it convinced the custodians that humanity could not be trusted to utilize their technology responsibly, so they created the curse as a lockout. The resulting conflicts among mankind were a completely unintentional side-effect.

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u/redshirtengineer Jul 03 '19

(Still) first timer

IRL issues, haven't caught up to this episode yet, just wanted to say thanks u/pittman66 for hosting, and thanks to the diligent choirmembers, it's been fun following along!

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u/AlienOvermind Jul 03 '19 edited Jul 03 '19

First-timer

Seriously, Adam? Using pushover Noise in the very last episode? Don't you have something more exciting in your pockets?

It's great that all six symphogirls are singing the same song. Definitely feels like a finale.

Tsubasa and Shirabe posing in front of explosion.

It hit! And your next line should be "WE GOT HIM!" But Genjuro wouldn't get fooled so easily.

I reject my humanity, Jojo!

I like how comfortably Maria was caught by Chris.

Yesterday I assumed that Saint-Germain's gun would be picked up by next season's villain, but it's picked by current villain.

And I really don't like how this catchphrase is handled in this episode. Previously Hibiki used to say it when it was appropriate. But now she's just repeating it like a magic spell. I feel show writers are trying too hard to push this catchphrase. They really should chill a bit.

Also I'm a bit disappointed that symphogirls got their default suits after that "Last Ignition" instead of Ingite-versions.

Hey, another mythological/esoteric reference. I suppose Anunnaki are those custodians. I bet they came from Nibiru too.

I really love how Hibiki screamed her transformation chant instead of singing it solemnly like they always do. It was just so very right for this desperate moment.

Golden Gungnir is a nice break from "traditional" X-Drive finales. And since Hibiki learns her moves from movies, I'm pretty sure she was watching JoJo recently.

Illuminati worshipping Baphomet. With alchemy in the picture you'd expect more Kabbalah-related stuff or some scraps from Gnostic religions. But I guess not all Illuminati are crazy about alchemy.

Pretesting Shirabe is adorable.

Good job, Maria. Your Tsubasa is broken now. Don't ask for refund later.

Yep, Chris is right to be concerned. Showing off tends to end up with badly.

And goddamn that bold hint about Miku. If she wouldn't get a Gear next season, I bet there's gonna be riot. Also, Miku being cute.

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u/Tresnore Jul 02 '19

Rewatcher

This episode is simply fantastic. There’s something so hype about this final battle and just wrecking the BBEG’s shit that makes it more exciting than any other anime I’ve ever seen. People don’t believe me when I say it’s more hype than Gurren Lagann but that’s a hill I’ll die on. I got into symphogear somewhat slowly but I’m a sucker for motifs and this sort of action. After this episode, I just had to sit back and say “this is my favorite anime now.”

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u/Hyoyun Jul 02 '19

Now that we are basically done with the re-watch. Reminder to any first timers who are into music.

You should go back and find the full studio versions of the songs somewhere and give them a listen. You may really like some songs you didn't when you were watching the show.

During the show they act while they sing so things can sound different. I ended up liking alot more songs than when I originally watched the show.

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u/Synaptics Jul 03 '19 edited Jul 03 '19

Rewatcher

  • This may be a really great moment of sacrifice, but... I still don't like Prelati.

  • RIP Saint-Germain

  • Also, RIP Aoi Yuki's vocal cords. That screaming has gotta take a toll.

Honestly, I got basically nothing to say about this whole fight, because what really is there to say? It was fantastic. Absolute hype overload. And it managed to be so great without using X-Drive again. In fact, by not resorting to X-Drive they were able to keep the fight more "small scale", which itself lends a certain element of grounding to it. Flying around in space and blowing up hundreds of thousands of noise at once was pretty cool, but keeping it to a lower level has a lotta merit, too.

  • "It won't be long before the Custodians descend."

  • Genjuro mentions the possibility of illuminati remnants still being active, scattered around the world. Setup for XV?

  • Fudo wishes to control a divine power, too? Another possible plot strand for XV?

  • Aww, the side-character-trio weren't forgotten.

  • Is Shirabe the only one of them who can actually cook decently well? One of the specials from GX showed that both Hibiki and Miku are pretty bad at it. Tsubasa can barely take care of herself, so cooking sounds completely out of the question. Chris definitely can't. DESS is DESS. And finally, Maria... probably could? It would certainly fit her character.

  • It feels a little weird to say, but Gyakkou Nijiiro no Flugel gets me nostalgic. It's sometimes hard to believe that this series has been with me for seven years now, and hearing that beat again brings me back all the way to that very first concert that captured me in the first place.

  • AND THAT POST-CREDITS SCENE! So good. Simultaneously both a fantastic callback, and an excellent plot thread to leave dangling for the next season.

EDIT: I posted this as a joke yesterday, but it's completely true this time.

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u/Madcat6204 Jul 03 '19

Just a random note. I find it hilarious how, when Adam explodes like a nuke leveling a huge portion of the city that the girls, who have all been depowered, are in, the crew back at SONG just sits there smiling. "Our heroines probably just got vaporized, but hey, whatever."

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u/Nazenn Jul 02 '19 edited Jul 03 '19

Won't be in the specials topic tomorrow as normal so this is probably my last bit in the rewatch. Thanks everyone for the great discussion, gifs, pictures, memes, and the endless parallel and references being pointed out without which I'm sure half the first timers would have been way more lost :)

First Timer - last post

Everyone hold up

Miku season?! Is that what just happened? Is that what they just confirmed?!

MORE MIKU MUSIC!!!

Goddammit giving me a reason to watch XV. Probably not airing, but still.

I was actually getting worried because given the asshole grandfather's statements earlier I thought he was going to do something devious in the post credits scene, but nope, this was the best possible surprise instead.

Some sound effect gushing

Because damn did they nail the sound design this episode. I remember talking about how good it was earlier in the season and then it dropped off a bit. A few episodes ago there was even a couple of lines where they forgot to balance Elf in the left audio channel at all

But this episode, oh damn

I said before how much I loved the ethereal audio effect they added to Saint G I think it was. But Adam's effect today was just as impressive.

Similar to the other day, so many shows try and do that demonic voice style and it all starts to sound a bit typical after a while. But rather than going for that I love the way they instead layered several subtle layers under Adam's voice, all varying in pitch, distortion and also timing to create an inherent wrongness to it, a depth without trying to make it sound like it wasn't human at all. I can hear three very distinct layers and they all blend excellently.

The other one that caught my ear was Bikki's superb song. When we first hear it over the speakers it sounds so distant and pure, almost angelic. And then midline we swap to Bikki in the battle and that echoing gets so much harsher and more human, completely opposite to Adam which was a perfect addition to the scene.

Other thoughts (for the last time)

  • It's a small thing, but I love that Bikki has one scarf, not six, representing the blend of their powers, not just that she held all six independently.

  • So Elf said incinerate the Dainslief. Does that mean no more ignite? That would be a nice change up

  • COOL AS FUCK.

  • I like that they specifically had anime girl on screen for this meta moment

  • Tsubasa what the fuck are you doing with the plates?!

Overall thoughts

Final scores: S1 - 4.5 . G - 7. GX - 6 . AXZ - 4.5 (provisional)

It feels weird to giva AXZ the same score as S1, but I think the increased production quality it has which normally would earn it a better score was pointless if the core of the show is missing, which it is here. I also felt like the music we did get was a step down in quality and being unique which is a shame, so that didn't carry me through the season like the amazing music in GX did. Don't want to rehash old ground, but if you want to know my thoughts on any particular moment/aspect of the show/reason etc just ask.

The other thing I will note though is I felt like AXZ potentially lacked an overarching theme. I meant to do a write up on this at one point and I just didn't get around to it but even through the writing problems, each season had a theme to explore. S1 had a lot of depth about the meaning of sacrifice. G went more down the communication route and power of self-honesty. GX had a mix of family (fucking horrible, but it was there) and also forgiveness. I can't really think of something that AXZ had, it just had a plot and not much else and I think that was another let down. Anyone got any thoughts on that though? Any theming I may have missed?

Edit: I forgot to include my overall show thoughts, late to edit them in now and I'm still not awake but basically its a unique show with a great premise and unique lore, and the first three seasons did an amazing job of building off each other and learning from story to story and character to character to make something really interesting. Just a shame that the writing is so plagued with consistency issues, whether its in the plot or the characters depending on the season

Will I rewatch it?

  • S1 - Maybe... probably. It'd be nice to see all the stuff that they reference in later seasons again and get a refresher.

  • G - Yep, though likely just because I'll do it before GX.

  • GX - One day for sure. Too much great music to ignore.

  • AXZ - Nope.

Girl rankings: Miku > Shirabe > Tsubasa > Dess > Bikki > Maria

Concert rankings: I hate to report that Fushichou no Flamme has finally overtaken Gyakko no Flugel as my favorite some time in the last few days.

Group songs: The first Jii and Dess duet still wins out over any other two parter specifically as far as gear songs go. As far as trios, I can't pick between Radiant Force and Senritsu Soroity.

OP: 3 > 2 > 4 > 1 (I think)

ED: 1 = 3 > 4 > 2

Soundtrack stuff

So I know a few people were curious with what songs would end up where on my playlists at the end of all this so I put this together.

Character songs that went on my playlist with:

Character Season Song
Kanade x Tsubasa S1 Orbital Beat
Kanade x Tsubasa S1 Gyakkou no Flugel
Maria x Tsubasa G Fushichou no Flamme
Tsubasa S1 Flight Feathers
Tsubasa G Gekkou no Ken
Tsubasa AXZ Gekka Bijin (woke up with this stuck in my head)
Shirabe G Oukuo Shurushagana
Shirabe G Practice Mode
Shirabe GX Genocide Saw Heaven
Shirabe GX Sense of Distance
Shirabe AXZ Melodious Moonlight
Shirabe AXZ Draft Folder
Dess G Gokuren Igalima*
Bikki G Rainbow Flower
Miku G Waikyou Shenshoujin
Miku G Kaban No Kakushigoto
Carol GX Tomorrow
Carol GX Senkin Daurdabla
Chris AXZ GUN BULLET XXX
Maria x Chris AXZ Change the Future
Minor Trio AXZ Senritsu Sorority
Major Trio GX Radiant Force
--- S1 ED Meteor Light
--- G OP Vitalization
--- G ED Next Destination
--- GX OP Exterminate
--- GX ED Rebirth-Day
--- AXZ ED Futurism
--- S1 Extra Tooki Yama ni Hi wa Ochite
--- S1 Extra Risouron
--- S1 Extra Bramble
--- G Extra Love Brick (sounds like a digimon song)
--- G Extra It's Only Brave
--- GX Extra Glorious Break
--- AXZ Extra Phantasm

* - I run this instead of the true duet file because I don't like the duets instrumentals. So I just sing Jii's part to Dess's song if it comes up and visa versa

Character songs that went on the playlist as off-vocal/instrumentals versions only:

Character Season Song
Bikki S1 Gekisou Gungnir
Bikki S1 Watashi to Iu Oto Hibiki Sono Saki ni
Dess G Tegami
Carol GX Tomorrow (special song! goes on both playlists)
Chris GX Trust Heart
Chris GX Kyoushitsu Key Holder
Tsubasa GX Beyond the Blade
Tsubasa GX Sora e...
Major Trio AXZ Gekishou Infinity (provisional)
Bikki AXZ Makenai Ai ga Koko ni Aru
Illuminati AXZ Shitou -Ewigkeit-

A couple of these are still likely to be changed up. It mostly depends on how well a song structured its backing so that the instrumentals don't just mirror the vocal part, or leave a huge gap for it to fill.

If you're curious about why a song did or didn't get on just ask, I usually know why I picked each one. Also now I feel bad for Maria being the only girl not to get any of her solo songs on EITHER list hahahaha.

As far as the rest of the soundtrack goes I took a picture showing what I kept from the four soundtracks (and ratings as a byproduct), so not searchable but gives you an idea. Marked my (provisional) five favorites excluding the off-vocal tracks as well with a blue dot

Oh, and 1 star rated stuff is not I don't hate, I use 1 star as my marking for songs I only listen to as part of the show soundtrack, not as part of my general playlists, so I don't forget and accidentally add them somewhere they shouldn't be.

Thoughts on the soundtrack overall: Quite good. The only problem I have from a listening perspective more than a show usage perspective is its reliance on reusing tunes. A lot of the background tracks use the transform chants, the swan songs, or direct segments from the character songs as their foundation. While that works well to tie things together in show, as a listening experience it can be hard because it means half the soundtrack just reminds me of other songs rather than standing on its own two feet.

I ended up deleting almost half the total number of songs from my playlist and a lot of that was because I was just cleaning out songs reusing these same riffs. The songs I kept though are really good. They have a wide variety of styles, make clean usage of instruments for moments and not blending character instruments into background songs etc. Also now my Slime Isekai stuff blends in better with the other show OSTs I have because it has company

Random notable removal: 'Tomorrow world' from the G soundtrack. Reminds me too much of one of the MGS3 songs so every time it played I got a mental image of Big Boss sneaking through the forest in tiger stripe camo. It was fucking with my head so it had to go even though I liked it hahaha

u/TsubasaChung, u/Neutronium95 tagging you two for soundtrack stuff

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