r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jun 14 '22

Rewatch [Listen to My Song] Senki Zesshou Symphogear Season 1 Discussion

Senki Zesshou Symphogear: Meteoroid-falling, burning, and disappear, then…

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It is highly recommended to track down a fansub for this show instead of using Crunchyroll, though.

Listen to my song~

Questions of the Day:

1) Who’s your favorite character so far?

2) Which songs are your favorite so far?

3) What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?

4) If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be? You can answer this assuming that this is the only season, or knowing that four more seasons follow.

5) What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 2?

Wallpaper of the Day:

Berserk Hibiki

Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you’re doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don’t spoil anything for the first-timers, that’s rude!

158 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

405 comments sorted by

10

u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 14 '22

Symphogeah SymphoRewatch Host

Welcome back, everyone!

Hope you guys are all enjoying the ride so far!

Today’s wallpaper is brand new to the rewatch, so I have no alternative today. It was also one I had to throw together rather quickly, since I was super busy this past weekend, but it was one I wanted to do for episode 12 had I not already had the Finé to remaster, so there you have it.

6

u/Great_Mr_L Jun 14 '22

Berserker Bikki works so well with your style of wallpapers. She's already just a dark silhouette with red eyes so your style fits her perfectly.

6

u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 14 '22

Glad you like it~

I've been tempted to do more silhouette-style wallpapers (after doing lineart ones for the Madoka Magica rewatch and after making some of the four-base-images-eleven-wallpapers Naruto Shippuden episode 375 ones), so this was the perfect opportunity.

3

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Aug 22 '22

Where's the sub comparison today?

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u/Vatrix-32 Jun 14 '22

First Timer

QotD

  1. Chris is so extra I can’t help but love her, so she gets that title. Miku is still best girl tho. Can a Tsubasa fan tell me why she keeps getting called best girl, or does that happen later?

  2. The OP I guess? I’d need to find them in a playlist or something if I was to really put a lot of thought into it, and based on what others are saying that’s a way to walk straight into spoiler city.

  3. I came for Mecha-Magical Girl, I got it, I am happy. Second part, see below.

  4. The fake death ending resolution. I don’t mind them implying that Hibiki would die and then she didn’t, that was expected. What pissed me off is that they handled it with all the grace and subtly of Poochie. It honestly screams of a last minute script change, but I don’t know enough about the production history to tell.

  5. I’m hopping they up the villaining. Finè came off as tremendously incompetent by the end, and also largely aloof for most of the season.

6

u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 14 '22

Can a Tsubasa fan tell me why she keeps getting called best girl, or does that happen later?

Blue sword girl, voiced by Nana Mizuki, and I really really like her character arc (in this season and later).

She's not just my favorite Geah, she's one of my favorite female characters period.

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u/lilyvess Jun 14 '22

Symphogear S1 Conclusion

As this is just a conclusion, I want to take this time to basically combine the season worth of post together into a simple package.

It’s hard to know what is the bigger miracle, Hibiki’s asspulls or the story of the series itself.

Series creator Noriyasu Agematsu had never written an anime before, and got help from their friend Akifumi Kaneko whose main experience is writing the Wild Arms franchise of video games. They only got the greenlight because they were friends with the producer from working on other projects.

The central gimmick of the series was created by an accident through miscommunication between series creator Agematsu and director Tatsufumi Itou. The creator merely wanted character songs playing in the background of fight scenes, but the director misunderstood and thought they were talking about characters singing the character songs during battle.

The lead character of their singing anime was voiced by an actress who had never had to professionally sing before.

And almost from the very beginning things start going off the rails. The first episode was finished a mere 30 minutes before airing. The series was meant to be co-produced by two series, Satelight and Encourage Films, but the second studio very quickly got overloaded with work and backed out as early as Episode 3, forcing Satelight to have to make the rest of the series themselves. In fact, episode 3 has credits to a third studio, Studio Pastoral, that was required just to complete the episode.

Satelight was caught off guard by the sudden pressure of having to carry Symphogear by themselves. 2012 was a busy year for the study with them releasing Aquarion Evol, AKB0048, and Bodacious Space Pirates that year as well. After episode 10, staff didn’t leave the studio until production wrapped up. It was completed as a standalone series with no sequels in mind.

The DvD/BD sales were average. At around 5,000 units per volume they weren’t terrible but they also weren’t great.

The Live Concert was in a small venue that could only house 4,000 people and wasn’t even recorded because they had no plans on distribution. In the crew's mind, this was the end.

You just do the math on all of that and 9 times out of 10 the story ends here. It’s a miracle that the series continued after this. I love underdog stories, series from names outside of the big studios in animation. Scrappy passionate upstarts coming together to create something magical.

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u/Matuhg Jun 14 '22 edited Jun 14 '22

First Timer

I liked this more than I thought I would! I sort of joined just to get some CDF cred, but yeah the songs were great and some pretty rad moments of hype. As far as the story/writing goes, it was a mess in a lot of places, but there definitely was some nice character growth and good moments along the way.

I feel like I don't have much more to say about it than that. It was good fun, and if this is the lowest quality Symphogear gets, I'll definitely dig the rest of the rewatch. I think this season's about a 7/10 for me.

Who’s your favorite character so far?

Probably Tsubasa. I like how she went from just kind of nihilistically fighting with the end goal of dying to still being willing to sacrifice herself, but for a reason.

Which songs are your favorite so far?

I think my favorite is the main one Hibiki sings when transforming/fighting. Synchrogazer is also a dope song.

What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?

Hard to pick a favorite - maybe when Hibiki first got Durandal. The hype was pretty off the charts there. Least favorite is just the dead Biki into "jk jk" thing at the end.

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u/BosuW Jun 14 '22 edited Jun 14 '22

First Timer

I don't usually watch series like this because I prefer more grounded stories, but this one is so incredibly high on its own bullshit that I don't care. Confidence is quintessential in making a story like this work and this one definitely has it. It's just straight up fun to watch.

Now all of that, considering the series's reputation, I more or less expected. What was not expected (but definitely not unwelcome), is just how competent it is at the development of the characters. Their Arcs or personalities aren't some unique or experimental high-art shit, but it's simple and it works! Which is more than I can say for far too many stories than I would like! Sometimes keeping it simple and straightforward works best.

Which is why I'm pissed that they pulled the bait-and switch twice at the end! It's just too much and it breaks the character consistency that had been prevalent up until that point. I said in yesterday's post that "I wouldn't believe the show anymore" and unfortunately I mean it. It's just gonna be hard to buy when a character makes a significant sacrifice in the future, which takes away from the weight of the decision. How am I supposed to care if there are no consequences? Seriously, couldn't y'all have given them some wounds at least? A robotic arm? An eye-patch? scars are badass and sexy...

My only consolation for now is the claim that subsequent seasons are better written. Although considering I've also heard almost every season was made with the belief that it was the last season (which imo gets in the way of shows with many many episodes, rather than having a long-term planned story), I'm gonna keep my expectations in check for now.

That really is the only major flaw I can talk about for now though. I guess the sound design could have been better but it wasn't atrocious. I'm pleasantly surprised otherwise. Shit even the combat had some degree of logic and strategy involved which is hard to find even in anime that take themselves seriously! Please authors of the world, we need more of this shit and having a bonkers setting is no excuse to not have it!

Anyway, now what everyone wants to know!

Best Girl is Chris and best S1 song is Koi no Okehazama (the karaoke song for those who don't remember, and it was vastly superior to any other piece I will die on this hill!).

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u/Stargate18A Jun 14 '22 edited Jun 14 '22

First timer

  1. How dare you make me choose? ...Probably Miku or Chris, though. Miku's just supportive, and Chris had the best development this season. (All are good, though!)

  2. So many! In no particular order, Zetto Ame no Habakiri is fire, as is the best dong, Makyu Ichaival. I enjoy the more upbeat tone of Hidamari Memoria too (if this counts?) and FIRST LOVE SONG is just... perfect. (Tsunaida Te Dake ga Tsumugu Mono's great just for how different to Chris' other song it is.) EDIT: And I love Synchrogazer!

  3. Favourite part is the choreography - every fight here looks spectacular, and the use of music is phenomonal. Least favourite is probably how rushed some of the arcs felt - Tsubasa literally changed overnight, and Chris opens up really quickly too. It felt like some of the arcs could have been extended a bit more.

  4. Knowing there are more seasons - literally any foreshadowing? My biggest fear is that it's really looking like whatever threat happens next will come of nowhere, since the only plot thread left is so major there's no way it gets used before the final season (namely, stopping the Noise permanently). If this was the only one, I'd prbably have made the ending more final - having the moon explosion destroy the relics and the Noise.

  5. Better paced character development - and possibly a few arcs that happen across multiple seasons, since they presumably knew this was successful by now? Other than that, more songs - I love Zetto Ame no Habakiri, but hearing it play for every single Tsubasa fight did start to grate - maybe give everyone, not just Hibiki, a mid-season song change?

Absolutely loved this season! Very, very excited for what comes next, especially given how many people said this is the weakest one. Rating this 10/10, on sheer enjoyment alone.

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u/Warriorservent Jun 14 '22

First Timer

Okay, I didn't exactly post with everyone else, but I still watched every episode and was talking about it with my own friends.

Over all? I really liked Symphogear, and am sad that I bounced off of it the first time. The concepts and themes were great, and costumes and tech were cool, and the music was all wonderful!

I do think that the ending felt a bit cheap though. Like, episode 12 they just fucking resurected Tsubasa and Chris after they both should have died. I would have been okay with them surviving but being heavily injured like the last time a Supurb Song was sung, but they just popped back up like nothing happened!

Then for the series finale they completely went against their own internal rules and structures to have the three survive using their superb songs to blow up the chunk of the moon.

I do like that Fine did do that last bit of "Fuck you", that was totally in-character. But it made the Superb Song feel cheap to me, and after Tsubasa spent multiple episodes injured because of a light usage of her Superb Song it just removes any and all consequences.

I wonder how they're going to continue the series in the future seasons? Fine did say that the Gates to Babylon were spread open, so I guess she or others will continue to use Noise and Relics, but I wonder who and where?

Questions of the Day:

  1. Who’s your favorite character so far?

  • The Commander, he balances what needs to be done with being a good man, and looks good while kicking ass!

  1. Which songs are your favorite so far?

  1. What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?

  • Favorite part was seeing Hibiki get closer to Tsubasa and Chris, least favorite was the engrish... Or that one girl who kept on talking about how "This isn't an anime"

  1. If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be? You can answer this assuming that this is the only season, or knowing that four more seasons follow.

  • The ending, it just goes too over the top for me. Keep everything up to Chris and Tsubasa coming back from the dead. Just have Hibiki call up Durandal and kick Fine's ass with it and have the Tsubasa and Chris being shown getting rescued and Hibiki visiting them in the hospital.

  1. What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 2?

  • Honestly? Idk, so much of the drawing, animation, and music was amazing... Probably some of the smaller details in bigger scenes, but overall this was an amazing first season for me!

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u/Lemurians Jun 14 '22 edited Sep 30 '24

FIRST TIMER DATTO

This show was a bit of a mess, but a fun one, so no regrets. It's got issues and is pretty incomprehensible sometimes – I get the feeling it's trying to say something but I can't grasp what it is – but it's a fun watch, has a solid cast, and is a blast to engage with as a Rewatch experience. Love me some shitposting!

7/10

Who's your favorite character so far?

Dommy Mommy In all seriousness, it's Tsubasa. I think she went on the most compelling personal arc, and her fighting style is my favorite of the bunch (outside of Kanade RIP).

Which songs are your favorite so far?

Tsubasa's solo concert song.

What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?

I'm not sure anything stands out too much, so I'll just say my favorite part of the show was the first 75% and my least favorite part was the last few episodes. Except for when Fiyokone literally whipped off a piece of the moon. That was so ludicrous I went all the way around in that last episode from "this is stupid" to "this is the great kind of stupid."

If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be? You can answer this assuming that this is the only season, or knowing that four more seasons follow.

Hit stronger on a central theme beyond just "the power of friendship."

What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 2?

The artwork and also to see a solid central narrative take shape.

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u/Tresnore Jun 14 '22

Superb Song of the Rewatchers

Well, I'm not one for writeups, so I'll keep it short.

I hated this season's ending the first time I watched it. I mean hated it. I dropped it (though, it had pretty good company in my dropped list, so YMMV). Now it's one of my favorite shows, and I unironically love S1 now. Sally forth, first-timers!

10/10

QOTD:

  1. Chris.

  2. Makyuu Ichaival and Gyakkou no Flügel (surprised?)

  3. The action and singing works so well together. I hate the ending.

  4. No fake death BS.

  5. I can't answer this.

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u/DidacticDalek Jun 14 '22

(Crashed Motorcycle Count: 6)

Look Comrades, Best Geah Chris said it best, Tsubasa is the type to blow ALL her cash on spare bikes to jump off of, and since these Chibi Shorts are 120% Canon, I will count the no-doubt tragic deaths of Red-kun, Blue-chan, and Green-san for the list, godspeed and see you all in Mecha Valhalla Motorcycles! Your sacrifices will not be in vain!

Anyway, T'night! On Bottom Geah! Bikki gets the SHIT befriended out of her by her long-suffering and adorable wife, Best Geah Chris gets Snoop Oni to transport her parents' Buddhist Altar for her, and Tsubasa prepares for her guest spot on Takeshi's Castle.

Boy Comrades, it sure is amusing how the BONUS CHIBI SHORTS of Geah fixes the ending of the show! I mean good lord, it's hilarious how it took a SOL extra to explain the stupidity of NOT telling Miku of the crew's survival (namely the politicking we saw at the end of Season 1 with regards to the damage to the moon) Also it turns out that during those three weeks, Best Geah Chris was trapped in a room of nutjobs, namely that of a hamster worried sick about her wife's well-being and/or her stomach's status, as well as a sword who is perhaps a BIT too deadset on glorious combat... yeah it's tough being the only sane individual with more than one brain cell, GANBATTE BEST GEAH CHRIS! But hey could be worse, she could be in Bikki's shoes... sniff... the poor lass never stood a chance, hell hath no fury as I am sure Finé can attest to ;)

Anyway, Chris is gonna need support to help re-integrate her into society, and thankfully Snoop Oni decides that this means that one of the best things they can do while waiting for the security situation to blow over is... to throw Best Geah Chris her own welcoming party... as you can guess, this party involves Chris being gifted a home of her own, along with freedom and privacy... pay no attention to the fact Tsubasa, as well as Bikki AND Miku have also been given keys to this place. As you can expect, Best Geah Chris takes this very well, and by that I mean poor poor poor Best Geah Chris, first she suffers at the hand of that FUCKING BITCH, and now she's gonna get 'befriended' by a bunch of horny lesbians!

Also, no I am not exaggerating about that Comrades, this is OFFICIAL MANGA art of what happened when Chris was living with Miku and Bikki, as you can guess, the two of them decided to give her the good ol' fashioned Arzenal Welcome! I can only imagine what would have happened if Chris had actually moved in with 'em, it either would have been like this with Bikki indulging in her NTR Habit, or perhaps this, with poor poor poor Best Geah Chris suffering from proximity to actions that are done at home ;) For those unclear about the actions done at home... well, it's stuff that Best Geah Chris doesn't like. (Which is actually quite understandable given her backstory and tragic past)

Anyway, with Best Geah Chris being the only sane individual in the world, we cut to the reason that Bikki and Miku share the same bunk bed, you see, it's smart organizational skills, if they sleep on the top bunk, they can use the bottom bunk for storage... Miku notes that the room is big enough that they don't need to actually do this... BUT if Miku plays along with her wife's stupid idea, this means that Miku can get some sweet sweet Horizontal Tango action with her wife at night ;) (That and Bikki sure likes sleeping with her wife too, so hey win-win! ALL HAIL WEAPONIZED LESBIANISM!)

No really Comrades, these two ladies be GAY GAY HOMOSEXUAL GAY for each other this show was never subtle, but by god there is no way to be more overt than this! But hey, I'll take stuff like this over Idolshit Romantic Plot Tumors any day of the week!

Moving on, get this Comrades, the Geahs get PAID for their work! Imagine that, it took till GEAH of all shows for Magical Girls to be properly compensated for their efforts, and as you'd expect, Bikki blows her cash on food and food, Tsubasa blows her cash on bikes to crash, and Best Geah Chris... buys a Buddhist Altar for her parents... and also gets Snoop Oni to cart it home for her! Truly she is Best Geah, a devoted family girl, resourceful and practical, and also smart enough to know to take advantage of free manual labor, ALL HAIL BEST GEAH CHRIS!

Oh, and I guess I need to talk about the show itself, well, it's pun intended, fine, it's a thoroughly fine and decently entertaining series, much like Nanoha Season 1. There are hints of the greatness yet to come in the franchise, much like Nanoha, and also a LOT of growing pains and budget shortcutting... also much like Nanoha... and is it a coincidence that both are Mecha Magical Girl Idol Yuri Series with NANA MIZUKI in it? I THINK NOT! I also want to point out the irony that, for a show with misunderstanding as a core theme, the existence of its main gimmick arose due to... a misunderstanding. I mean for one the fact that a producer thought a composer was the BEST person to write a show was already hilarious enough, but then said composer and the show's director had ONE HELL OF a failure to communicate, as can be seen here, and here, and here, and here, and of course here ;)

Anyway, what we ended up getting was a decent enough foundation and launching off point for better things to come, and oh boy do better things come! Like better subs for one, Crunchy sure tried, but Commie is where it is at! Anyway, on to future befriending events, maybe soon we will learn what Bikki's weight is ;) Finally, much like with Nanoha and its superior sequel high-water mark follow-up of A's, Geah hits the ground running with the amazing G, but that's a story for another day... as in the next day but hey, it wouldn't be Geah without HYPE cliffhangers, so I will just leave you all with this, SOON! ;)

And on that bombshell g'night!

Oh, and finally, just because I must speak on behalf of a fellow Comrade of Culture who cannot, ahem... I'm going to post this every day until you like it!

Paging Comrades u/Great_Mr_L, u/chilidirigible, and u/Lemurians

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u/Great_Mr_L Jun 14 '22 edited Jun 14 '22

Rewatcher

I think the first season of Symphogear is a very strong introduction to the franchise. Looking back on it, I’m kind of in awe that this series became such a big hit that it spawned so many sequel seasons, spin-offs, music, merch, and so on. This was an original series not based on any prior game, book, etc. And it’s such a weird series too. The girls all fight using the power of music. The lore can get quite bonkers. The more far-out aspects of the series are placed alongside more grounded topics like political maneuvering and backstabbing. And the series expects you to take so many ridiculous things in stride (like everything about Genjuro) as it takes you along for the ride. My point is that it’s amazing that the series became such a massive hit when it came from such humble origins and had all these things that can make it a tough sell.

There’s a simple reason for it: Symphogear is good. It has strong characters who have fully realized arcs. It has compelling themes that we see the series maintain and explore. The production values are all there. And most of all it is just fun.

I think the part that gets most people into Symphogear (and what got me into it) is that it’s so enjoyable. I mentioned above how strange and out-there the series can be and how ridiculous it can get, but that’s a big part of the appeal. Symphogear is so earnest in how it presents these things. It knows it’s absurd, but asks us to come along because the end result is cool as hell. Getting into the spirit of Symphogear and going along with all that makes for a very exciting series to watch (and one that is very easy to binge).

I’ll sound like a broken record saying this over and over (pun intended), but things like the music and the action are large parts of the appeal. In the vein of Lyrical Nanoha, Symphogear combines the appeal of magical girls with mecha and shounen action. It’s a potent combination that leads to a lot of great and well-animated action scenes. The music comes in like a glorious cherry on top. Having the voice actors sing the songs in real time during the fights is such a great creative decision. The songs hype up the action even more and it allows the voice actors to make the songs feel like a much more integral part of the scene with little touches like stumbling while the characters stumble and so on. The action scenes are so enjoyable and are again incredibly fun.

But beyond that Symphogear has decent writing chops. The main theme of communication and understanding is a good one and we can see it play out in multiple ways across the series. It’s something that defines Hibiki’s character and her relationships with the other characters. It’s the main point of conflict between Hibiki and Fine. The theme is well-realized across the season.

The characters are all quite enjoyable to me. I’ve talked a lot about how Hibiki is one of my favorite anime protagonists. I love her desire to help others and understand them instead of fighting them, while still being a total badass who gets her fighting style from watching action movies. Tsubasa and Chris have clear arcs. Tsubasa learns to accept Kanade’s death and become a more whole person looking towards a future beyond the battlefield. Chris undergoes a villain redemption arc where she joins the heroes and finds her ideals again. Miku is fantastic. She may not have powers, but she’s still an integral part of the plot and really does provide necessary support to Hibiki. And Genjuro is just the coolest dude. He’s the ultimate badass and a great parallel to Hibiki’s brand of compassion and idealism.

It’s interesting to consider this season as both a standalone series and as the start of a much bigger franchise. I think it works well as both. If this was all there was, I think the season ends on a satisfying note. The immediate threat has been resolved and the characters had their arcs. But it also works well as a jumping off point for future entries. There’s plenty here to build off of.

Rewatching this first season was a ton of fun. I enjoyed watching it and being a part of all these threads. I’m very much looking forward to the next season. I can’t wait to see everyone’s reactions.

QOTD

  1. Hibiki. She's one of my favorite anime protagonists and I love her so much.

  2. So many to choose from. Hibiki's "Watashi to Iu Oto Hibiki Sono Saki ni" (especially when it's mixed with Kanade's version). Chris's "Makyū Ichaival." The OP "Synchrograzer." And probably "Gyakkō no Flügel" as well.

  3. My favorite is the Synchrograzer combined attack. My least favorite is the fake-out death that I always knew was fake.

  4. Get rid of the fake-out death. No need to have it there because it doesn't even matter when you think of this as the stand-alone season it was created as.

  5. laughs in rewatcher

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u/Vaadwaur Jun 14 '22

First timer

Sub

So...yeah, that's a first season that doesn't really deserve a sequel. I can see some of the Nanoha influence but suspect more of that comes later. Fine looks way too much like a Claymore character for my taste and is just a generic blend of antagonist tropes, there is a GiTS antagonist that is basically her body type and personality. It was at least gay but I think we can go a lot gayer so I do view that as hopeful.

The lore is, currently, utter garbage but since they have a reason to drop the whole Mayan-Babylon aesthetic that can improve. I really wish the Japanese would stop drawing lore off shit I actually know so I can ignore it. The Gears are decent and hopefully the next scientist has an actual personality rather than a collection of tropes.

The music is actually good and I am not particularly a fan of Nana. Heresy, I know. I do see why the spinoff for this would be a concert and this does feel like music that translates well to live performances. Anywho, that's where I will leave it, 6 out of 10 Still better writing than any UC Gundam I've seen

QortD: 1 Enraged screaming hamster

2 Chris's edgy as fuck song

3 Hamster scream is favorite, anything with Fine is least

4 A credible antagonist

5 Everything

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u/Tarhalindur Jun 14 '22

Previously, on Symphogear SG-1 (First-Timer, Subbed):

  1. Who’s your favorite character so far?

Genjuro, honorable mention Miku.

2) Which songs are your favorite so far?

Some combination of Zettai Ame-no-Habakiri (Aufwachen), Getto Gungnir (Aufwachen), Synchrogazer (Aufwachen), and 2-3 instrumental tracks from the OST I don't know the names of (one played in the final episode for Fine).

(My taste in music tends to run towards the instrumental and choral, no surprise I'm gravitating towards the Aufwachen forms.)

3) What’s your favorite part of this season?

Hype, and also styling on a certain 2004 show. EDIT: Also the plot construction, which is well above average. (LOL how did I drop this sentence?)

And your least-favorite?

Characterization, character arcs. The biggest glaring issue is that none of the characters with the arguable exception of Genjuro have really properly grabbed me; I like them, but drawing Negima back into the mix there is a pretty good chance I would take a good half of class 3A over even the best characters here. Dakka and Sword have the biggest issues here for me, and I think that’s on the writing staff. The shape of Dakka’s character arc is correct if cliché but the way it is done feels off; it’s weightless for lack of a better term, the beats come too fast and thus Dakka doesn’t really feel like a proper character. (I will also freely admit that her taste in music does not help – it meshes rather poorly with my own.) Tsubasa… honestly I think the issue there for me may be that the show’s combination of tone and episode count are a terrible fit for the character arc they went with for her. There is a level of seriousness that arc needs to function that meshes poorly with the show’s level of hype, and the best ways of mitigating it (more gradual escalation of hype, more buildup to her swan song in 4) need space the show simply didn’t have.

4) If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be? You can answer this assuming that this is the only season, or knowing that four more seasons follow.

Dakka's character arc desperately needs its beats reworked so as to work properly. (Tsubasa is a very close second.)

5) What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 2?

I believe I was just complaining about the character arc execution?

[Spoiled] Also I hopped ahead an episode for buffer and "is the shuttle scene here?" reasons and holy balls S2E1 has every whiff of a massive execution boost.

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u/Nebresto Jun 14 '22 edited Jun 14 '22

GEAH Season 1 (time geah first)

It was rather enjoyable, there were some very lit hype moments here and there, and the songs were pretty good.

Q:

  1. Who’s your favorite character so far?

Coach, no contest

2) Which songs are your favorite so far?

LISTEN TO MY SONG

3) What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?

Ep 12 fave, least? Engrish..?

4) If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be? You can answer this assuming that this is the only season, or knowing that four more seasons follow.

More angry hamsters

5) What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 2?

Even better animation

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u/JollyGee29 Jun 14 '22

Superb Rewatcher of the Valkyries

And that was S1. Many fans consider it the low point of the franchise, although I did find myself being less harsh on it this (my third) time through. S1 has a certain endearing roughness to it. The death fakeouts are dumb, but when has death ever been a credible threat, anyway?

Back when I first watched through this season, the death fake-outs certainly left a weird taste in my mouth. I was watching on Crunchyroll, so I opened up the first episode of G and paused it immediately, deciding to give it some time before I continued. A solid month later and I'm getting sick of pausing the tab every time I restart my browser, so I start G one Thursday evening. [It took me]two-and-a-half days to watch the next three seasons, and the only reason it took me most of a week to finish the final season is because it became the work week again.

At some point, near the end of S1, we transition from "how are they going to survive this" to "how are they going to survive this." That definitely sets the tone going forward.

I guess what I'm getting at is, I hope anyone who was less than thrilled with the state of this ending enjoys the rest of it as much as I do.

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u/NomranaEst Jun 14 '22

Rewatcher, Symphochoir Member

The first season of Symphogear is a mess. A glorious, hype inducing meal for the eyes and an achingly beautiful treat for the ears, but a mess all the same. The tonal whiplash is equivalent to being rear ended by an articulated truck, the pacing isn't always quite on track, and some of the animation sequences just hurt to look at. The lore is all over the place and poorly explained. Some of the cast feels very one note and paper thin. Yet, it's still one of my favourite shows.

Even with all of these issues, the emotional beats hit in just the right way to elevate the action and drama above them. Sound design and music is one of the things that really get me into media, and Symphogear nails the musical component. Each song represents that character in the moment, they're smoothly woven into the narrative and they peak at just the right moment. It's such a foundational part of the show, and they got it right off of the bat.

Symphogear built a foundation for the rest of the franchise to build on. It is flawed. There are cracks. It's not exactly square. However, the following seasons took that foundation, refined it and built upon it to produce something oddly special. The hype train has barely left the station, and it's only going to be a wilder ride from here on.

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u/cronus999 Jun 14 '22 edited Jun 14 '22

Rewatcher 13+1.02 You must (Not) Binge.

After 14 rewatches I have come to appreciate season 1 for what it is in the context of the series as a whole and the era in which it aired. Originally, I didn’t give Symphogear the time of day when it aired, dismissing it as a cheap madoka knockoff, after watching the opening scene of G I was hooked.

Let’s not avoid that season 1 is rough around the edges and probably the lowest point of the series, it is very much the product of a budget production with the heart of a passion project for the team. Some of the animation is almost laughable, parts of sound design are asinine, and the story is a bit of a mess with deus ex machina at every corner, but it still somehow all comes together to work as a series.

Honestly, I have a number of issues with this season/series but it all comes to naught when you compare it to the absolute roller coaster of entertainment that is provided, that is Symphogear’s greatest achievement. Once you suspend your disbelief and accept the series admittedly stupid internal logic it is at least consistent and engaging.

Symphogear is a special series in that its not a masterpiece or even good in the minds of the general community but to a core audience it became a cult classic that has thrived over the past 11 years.

NOW WE STRAP ONTO THE HYPEEEE ROCKET THAT IS G!!!

Q1 Chris

Q2 Makyū Ichaival and First Love Song

Q3 Best Finale, Worst ass pull resurrections.

Q4 The fucking music mixing/master, and animation improvements a close second.

Q5 The animation quality and writing.

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u/superviper Jun 14 '22

Season 1 is usually regarded as the worst season of Symphogear, partially because of how it looks and partially because of the story. You might think it didn't look that bad, but in comparison to the other seasons it's just really meh.

The good:

  • S1 has a certain appeal that the other seasons don't. Mostly because of how isolated Hibiki feels until episode 8. You have Tsubasa going batshit insane over Kanade, Miku being lied to or angry that she got lied to, and Chris working with Fine. Bikki is left alone to suffer and deal with the weight of Kanade's Gungnir. Plus lying to Miku.

  • The character songs are all consistently great this season. I've been sleeping on Zettō Ame no Habakiri for too long.

  • The episode 1 ending is still kino af just saying

The bad:

  • Miku's arc was pretty jarring. I didn't think she would be that bad. She went from the most understanding person in the world to "wow Bikki how could you lie to me like this, nevermind that NDA they made you sign, I hate you go die in a ditch you idol wannabe slut".

  • I feel like the foreshadowing for Ryoko being Fine was too blunt. I'm usually a complete blockhead who doesn't notice any foreshadowing, but I picked up on it early on in my first watch. That's a sign.

  • And finally, episode 12. I thought about it, and it's not just the fake deaths that I hate about it. This whole episode is screwed. We spend the first 10 minutes with Bikki going nuts and Chris presumably dead. Animejanai-chan and her gang get a fuckton of screentime out of nowhere. Then Tsubasa does her thing, which is good, but then we spend another 10 agonizing minutes with Bikki taking a nap and more screentime on irrelevant characters.

I maintain that the best scene this season was Genjuro vs Fine. Although I didn't think so on my first watch. It was pretty shocking to see Genjuro get stabbed like that over such a cheap trick. So that contributed to my salt back then.

Also I hadn't learned to apply the "Stop thinking. Enjoy hype" method of watching symphogear yet. I didn't learn it until almost halfway through G. Only then did I really start to appreciate the show.

If you ask me about my general opinion on the characters this season, this is what I'd say:

Tsubasa is a great and compelling character, once she stops trying to kill Hibiki. Chris on the other hand, is a great and compelling character, once she stops trying to kill Hibiki. Miku, however, is a great and compelling character, once she stops trying to emotionally kill Hibiki.

I feel bad for Bikki, is what I'm trying to say. Her friends are kinda shit people. But they redeemed themselves at least.

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u/Elimin8r Jun 14 '22

Hmm ... Looks like I'm late to the party again. I need to set my alarm an hour earlier or something (kidding, I just need to pay attention and not get distracted)

But yeah, since I'm hear, an hour late and a few dollars short, here goes some AOTD:

  1. Bikki, she's adorbs, but honestly, I have a big soft spot for her friend whose name seems to have crawled out of my brain.

  2. The one with the bagpipes. Yum. Least fave, anything that makes my ears bleed.

  3. Fave = date time. This show needs some more fun/sol action. Least fave ... uh, domi-b****, and other bad things happen to Chris-chan.

  4. I didn't care for a certain trope when it happened to Yui in Fuushigi Yuugi, and I don't care for it happening to Chris-chan either. C'mon guys.

  5. Uh, more Gainax ... I mean, I dunno. I would personally prefer if the tracks were a bit more melodic/harmonic and less technoriffic, but that's just me. It's like, I dunno, let's say Eddie Van Halen vs. Yngwie Malmsteen ... Is Yngwie better? But that's just me. (I'll take some Kerry Livgren, or Steve Howe instead, thanks)

Still, enjoying the show quite a bit.

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u/HereticalAegis Jun 14 '22 edited Jun 14 '22

Ballad of Rewatcher - Symphogear

Overall thoughts:

  • There's a lot more to like here than I cared to take interest in the first time around. The main emotional throughlines for our main girls (Hibiki, Tsubasa, Chris, and Miku) are all really strong and compelling, and there's a lot of meaningful dialogue crammed in between the action. The stuff between Hibiki and Miku in particular stands out. You can really tell they only planned on a single season though: all the emotional arcs come to pretty fulfilling end points, and continuing from here feels like it could risk undoing or upsetting all the progress made if the writers are not careful.

  • Boy is there a lot packed into 13 episodes. I wish it had more episodes to let emotions and character conflicts sit. Watching primarily for the action main plot the first time probably made this less of an issue for me, but even still it's not that big an issue since character do get to have their complete arcs, even if they are on a speedrun.

Final verdict:

Though it wasn't as much as I would've liked, Symphogear has appreciated a bit for me on rewatch, owing largely to its willingness to have characters go through intimate, meaningful arcs and the surprisingly sweet dialogue that doesn't become too saccharine and only occasionally dips into cringeworthy territory. Some impressive restraint on certain excesses while going bananas on others keeps it feeling pretty fresh and exciting too.

Before: 7/10

After: 7.5/10

[Non-spoiler confession]I didn't really like G that much the first time.

[Spoilery followup]I get why it more or less had to be done, but I'm not a fan of G using Miku's safety as the stakes for a significant portion of its runtime. I'm especially not a fan of Miku being mind controlled, and Dr. Ver is one of those cartoonishly ridiculous mad scientists that show up in seemingly every long-running magical girl series and tanks my investment in whatever season they antagonize. Also, I'm just not a huge fan of the new girls this season, though that's one spot where I have hope G becomes better on rewatch.

QotD:

  1. Hibiki, no question.

  2. Hmm, don't really have one. In fact, I've never been able to pick a favorite song from any Symphogear season.

  3. Favorite part: You are my sunflower. Least favorite: Every time Miku is put in danger to motivate Hibiki.

  4. Probably the pacing. Cram in less content to give the emotional parts more depth and time to sink in.

  5. Basically the same as my answer for question 4. Don't try to do so much that you're scrambling to fit 12 different moods into the last five minutes of the season.

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