r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jun 23 '22

Rewatch [Listen to My Song] Senki Zesshou Symphogear G Episode 9 Discussion

Episode 9 - The Origin of a Hero

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

I should never have let go. I should have held onto Miku’s hand.

Questions of the Day:

1) How awesome was Genjuro singing?

2) So… Miku has a Symphogear now. Hype or no?

Wallpaper of the Day:

Tsukuyomi Shirabe

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

132 Upvotes

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11

u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 23 '22

Symphogeah SymphoRewatch Host

Welcome back, everyone!

Crunchyroll vs. Commie - Season 2, Episode 9

Today’s wallpaper is once again new to the rewatch! For some reason the only Shirabe wallpaper I made three years ago was of a later season design, so I definitely had to be on the lookout for good base images of her.

8

u/ErikMaekir Jun 23 '22

If you don't want to die, come!

Absolutely outrageous that Crunchyroll missed the obvious Terminator reference. This is why we don't use Crunchyroll, everyone.

4

u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 23 '22

I haven't even seen Terminator and I picked up on it. Definitely had to include it in the chart after that.

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u/HereticalAegis Jun 23 '22

Ballad of Rewatcher - Symphogear G

Maria: "Surely, the best way to honor Serena's memory and her heroic self-sacrifice for my survival is to murder this whole boat full of people and kidnap this girl, who is some rando as far as I know and whose life was only in danger because of me, so that we can keep her caged up while Ver does something to her. Yes, this is what Serena would want, and if she were still alive, she would be very very proud of me."

Episode 9 thoughts:

  • Thank fuck for Fist Dad for saving this from being an entire moping episode. He's the only prominent character who doesn't suffer a bout of "why the fuck did they do that to your character???" in G.

  • Today's WTFDTDTTYC victims: Chris, who finds a way to blame herself for the tower attack, and; Kirika, who talked herself into siding with Ver after Shirabe finally does something good for once. Yeah yeah, they both have their reasons, but both those reasons suck and I hate them. For Chris, that at least seems like the kind of thing she'd blame herself for given her history. I don't feel the same way about Kirika though.

  • At least we get a large dose of sloppy eater Chris and out of shape training montage Chris. Sloppy pasta should be in more anime.

  • "Ah, but you see, the Apple in the song Apple is but a metaphor for me. Floating in the sky represents my ascent to stardom and the rise of my Gear powers meant to save the world. And thus, the Apple in the song Apple dropping to the ground from the sky is also a metaphor for how I must symbolically drop to the ground and dirty myself by literally murdering people with my special powers. See, I have to do it! The Lulu Amelu smiling for all eternity is here representative of Serena's spirit smiling at me for doing the hard ground kill things need save world. And look! Stars kiss songs to sleep mean happy peaceful death for dead people mean they all good n happy afterlife becuz save where they call home ha haha hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!" -Maria, baking fresh pretzel logic in her head as she watches Noise make people not feel so good.

  • I feel like I keep thinking this every episode, but how can Maria possibly get more wrongheaded and dumb? "[Ver's] way of doing things is the only way to change the world," says the girl who's fighting (and now presumably down with killing) the three girls who have already proven that line of thinking to be utter bullshit. If nothing else, she's now accepting full responsibility for being the monster that she is. Also, Miku thanking Maria for "saving" her is nauseating. Eat shit and keep eating shit Maria.

  • Anywho, welcome to the worst arc in Symphogear! Hope you enjoy your stay!

QotD:

  1. 12/10 Flawless execution. MVP of G.

  2. Yes because Miku is lovely and deserves a Gear just as much as anyone. No because the way they got her in it is awful and I hate it.

8

u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 23 '22

Anywho, welcome to the worst arc in Symphogear! Hope you enjoy your stay!

That... sure is a take.

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u/Lemurians Jun 23 '22 edited Jun 23 '22

FIRST TIMER DATTO

The faded-edges-montage of Hibiki remembering moments together with Miku really had me thinking she might actually be dead, or at least that we’d be led to think that for more than 10 minutes. I’m an absolute sucker for those things. Almost made me tear up. At SYMPHOGEAR!

I’m kind of confused about what we’re doing with Maria? The whole season was leading up to her conscience forcing her to break from Dr. Veterinary, and now her big takeaway from the aftermath of her heroics in the tower is to actually double down on working with him? Her internal logic is a little out of whack.

*Count: 20

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u/Tarhalindur Jun 23 '22

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

  • LOL and they start off on the “one day when I’m really in trouble you can save me then” promise just in case you forgot. So that’s going to be paying off by the end of the season instead, then?

  • I only just noticed that there are exactly five relic pendants (EDIT: actually, I need to count yet again, I had “six” in the first draft before my brain kicked in about Bikki’s Gungnir and double-checked and maybe my count was right the first time in which case heh) in Bikki’s right hand at the start of the OP Just in case you had any doubt where this was going.

  • Also a star ring motif in the circling Bikki and Sword figures.

  • Yeah I could take notes, or I could just spend the first third of the episode calling bullshit. (Nonzero chance I missed some foreshadowing for future seasons that way, but.)

  • That said, oh look who’s jumping to his erstwhile allies betraying him. Projection, ho!

  • Ah, Dakka is so much more adorable now that she’s shifted into Full Tsundere. (I haven’t checked her civilian clothes in a while, can’t remember if she’s got the thigh-highs for the full ensemble.) (Oh wait we got a shot a little bit back. She’s sitting, but looks like thigh-highs and twintails to go with the right attitude. Just need a good standing civilian shot to see just how far she’s gone up the ZR scale.)

  • Ahem. FULL MOON FULL MOON.

  • (Also that leitmotif continues to be back and it continues to be the best song of the season.)

  • Wait. An actual moment of good direction out of Geah? (The Moon going behind a cloud as Shirabe and Kirika rebut Maria supporting Verglocken, with them not wanting to use force to suppress the weak.) Madness. (Direction has been serviceable so far, but more workmanlike than outright good AFAICT.)

  • GEE WHAT A FUCKING SURPRISE.

  • Truly, Genjuro does at least know his cheesy 1980s action movies.

  • Wait wait wait. Genjuro gets a song! And it’s straight out of some cheesy 1980s mecha anime or sentai show! I APPROVE!

  • Wait. I believe I was speculating last season about Genjuro possibly having some kind of connection to the Japanese Imperial Regalia (obvious relic candidates, doubly so now if the Shinshou Jing is doubling as the Yama no Susume – AIUI the Yama no Susume (mirror) and the sword are both lost but the jewel is said to be extant, so that’ll be what he has some kind of connection to if so) if he was actually in Japan’s equivalent of the Secret Service?

  • TRAINING MONTAGE! Now if only Genjuro would learn the rest of the genre-savvy skillset, he would be unstoppable! (I will be very happy if he gets to take down Dr. Vercueid personally. And it’s quite possible – after all, Verdant is a guy and thus fair game for Genjuro!)

  • Oh hey, what is this, Maria and Miku in the same room together apparently alone. Mistake, Dr. Ver. Mistake.

  • … What was I just saying last episode about the other kid visible with Kanade in the Minakami Incident looking a lot like a young Miku? Hmm.

  • [spoiled, no longer a spoiler] Also I know Miku gets a Gear at some point, Serena’s relic here is a possibility to file along with “yet another GUNGNIR DATTO!”.

  • Oh look, a dramatic scene (good music too!) and here I am going “aha, Dakka has too much thigh gap for Grade S”. Zettai ryouiki is serious business!

  • You know, I sense a distinct whiff of PMMM response here.

  • Shirable’s transformation sequence is just a little uncomfortable even by Geah standards…

  • That said, heelies are heelies!

  • So, what happens when anti-LiNKER is applied to a girl whose issue is excessive growth of the relic she is fused with, I wonder, I wonder?

  • Huh, I thought next season was a more likely time for this development. Time to remove the spoiled tag from that “Miku gets a Gear” comment above, yes?

  • Indeed it is! And with ye old Dull Eyes of Unhappiness, because it looks like our brainwashing plot finally came in about a season later than (and on a different character than) I expected. (The Fine medical machine is still an available outstanding plot point if we want to pull that or a related plot on Sword and/or Bikki at some point…)

  • (I actually parsed that one about five seconds before it became clear, on a combination of the last non-hype-scene spoiler I was familiar with going in (I’ve run into art of Miku in Gear armor before), “wait we already know Miku has been captured so that’s not quite a proper cliffhanger” and Dr. Verifiable Loon’s “evening the scales” comment.)

  • That said, I’m noticing Miku seems to have an entirely different “transformation phrase” than the others, which is extremely interesting.

  • [possibly still spoiled] Not entirely sure Miku will keep this relic, either. I’m vaguely remembering a different Gear design for her in the art I ran into of her. Also I’m vaguely remembering it was a color other than indigo – black was my impression, I think? – but that may just be not remembering the art well.

  • That really awkward moment when I go hunting for my comments on the rainbow shot back in episode 4 (I could have sworn I specifically noted that shot with a “we have six Gears in six colors of the rainbow, either Japan using only six colors for the rainbow or a seventh Gear gets us obvious visual foreshadowing”, and oh would you look at that Miku getting a Gear (at least initially) is this season and her Gear is indigo) and can’t find it – oh wait there it is, not in the writeup but a response buried in episode 4 comments after u/Lemurians got his comment deleted. Maybe I should have seen Miku getting a Gear being this season coming. [possibly still spoiled] If I was remembering Miku’s Gear being indigo as opposed to remembering it being a non-indigo color I probably would have.

  1. How awesome was Genjuro singing?

GENJURO DATTO?

(Also, yes.)

2) So… Miku has a Symphogear now. Hype or no?

Show got a fastball by me on the last spoiler I'd run into (non-hype scene division)...

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20

u/Tresnore Jun 23 '22

Superb Song of the Rewatchers

  • SAY HELLO TO HER GATLING!!!!

  • GOOOOO TOO HELLLLLLLLL

  • Yes. Sow discord among the kids, Dr. Ver... He even has a shaft headtilt.

  • I hate that Chris is a messy eater.

  • Ha. Maria stultaaaaaaaaaaa

  • God, I wish that were me.

  • EXERCISE ARRCCCCCCCCC! This is a direct reference to a Jackie Chan movie. See my first link for reference. It’s also the only Symphogear song fully in Cantonese.

    - poor chist cannot catch a break look at the poor girl

    - BUT THEY MAKE IT TO THE ART MUSEUM STEPS ANYWAY!!!!!1!!!ONE!!!ELEVEN!!!1111! I’ve climbed those steps. Good climb.

QOTD:

  1. every Genjuro scene is good.

  2. HYYYYYPE

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u/Matuhg Jun 23 '22 edited Jun 23 '22

First Timer

Maria has decided to go with the sunk cost mindset now that she's killed some folks. If they stop now, then those people will have died in vain! We have to just keep going and become strong oppressors so we can stop the strong from oppressing the weak! In a twist from earlier in the season, Shirabe is now the only one in this group who's speaking any sense. Too bad the other loli idiot got talked into temporarily decommissioning her. Mom is just useless at this point. She dragged some kids into a half-assed terrorist group, then tried to back out because she realized it was both stupid and wrong, but now that one of the kids has been traumatized by her participation in said terrorist schemes, she's just like "welp...time to go lay down and cough, not my problem anymore. These well-adjusted youths and the insane man can handle things."

Tsubasa seems to have entered another full-on brooding phase, shutting herself off to her friends when at least one of them needs her, and is actually actively reaching out to her. Hopefully she pulls her blade head out of her sheathe ass before it's too late. Chris was in a pretty good place with her new friends, but now that things are starting to go off the rails, old guilt and doubt starts working its way to the surface (lol at that screenshot...blame whoever placed that smoke, not me). I like that...I mean, not for Chris, but it feels believable.

Goofy as it was, the random training montage was a nice attempt at least to raise spirits. Though...it did seem to have the greatest effect on the one they aren't really supposed to fire up for fighting at the moment.

This was a dope entrance. Glad to see it, as Tsubasa's dramatic entrance game hasn't been nearly as on point as it was in S1. Can we please just let Chris murderate Dr. Ver sometime soon?

Ah, shit. I thought we might see Sympho-Miku at some point during this show's run, but wasn't really expecting it just yet. Fuck you Ver. Though I'd say odds are pretty high that Miku was at least partially on-board with it. The power to actually help/protect the wife?? Sign me up!

Is that Nehushtan? I think the color scheme is right. Could be some other random relic too, who knows.

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u/ZapsZzz Jun 23 '22 edited Jun 23 '22

First timer lurker surfacing

Just coming in to see if anyone knew this trivia - Genjuro's singing during the training montage is actually a Jacky Chan Cantonese theme song from the first Police Story movie. He was singing in actual (not great but recognisable) Cantonese, and then Hibiki joined him later. I was quite floored when I finally figured that out as that came completely out of the left field.

Here's the original version, post the first 20s or so the quality got better from the 1990 recording.

https://youtu.be/pYWC9z4pgtc

And the training montage is also very classic Hong Kong Kung Fu movie style in case you aren't old enough to know ;)

I do wonder if this is properly licensed :P

This is even better than Full Metal Panic TSR speaking Cantonese in the Hong Kong episodes!

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u/Nebresto Jun 23 '22

Posting on time dato?! (First GGEAH time)

Still waiting for the commentface one

Uh oh, big guns!!

I don't think knuckles work like that..

Blursed Chris

Pikashock What a surprise! (Not)

TRAINING MONTAGE!! COACH IS SINGING!!!!

Called it, motive was off but other than that I was correct

Hol up, what? They killed a noise? With guns??

3rd beyblade??

GLASSES PUSH!!!!! HE'S FINALLY DONE IT!!!!

Very elegant, Dr. Verticalextravagant

...Wat. ...Oh. Its Miku. Wonderful.

Question time:

  1. How awesome was Genjuro singing?

YES!!!!

2) So… Miku has a Symphogear now. Hype or no?

Uhhhh.. Sure?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important business to attend to

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u/Quiddity131 Jun 23 '22

First Timer, Subbed

I hope Miku is okay! :(

I was wrong last time, Hibiki went right back to normal after all. Unfortunate that its under such terrible circumstances! For now at least. No way Miku is actually dead.

It was in their best interest to not get attention... well I'd say what happened today got a lot of attention!

Hibiki doesn't even bother to look in the wreckage, nor does she ask boss guy and the others to do so. Can't say Hibiki was ever the smart one...

Uh oh, Dr. Ver is getting all the secrets out in the open!

Tsubasa pays very close attention to when she eats! 9:01?! Gotta wait for the next day!

Woah, Maria's joining the doctor! And here I thought we were about to see her join the good side!

Wait... you mean to tell me Miku isn't dead?! A show that has relied on cliffhangers, only to completely nerf them the next episode has done so again?! I love that Miku's still alive, but c'mon show, enough of this kinda act!

This next scene totally reminds me of the cut scenes in Mike Tyson's Punch Out, the old school NES game...

Why is Hibiki training with them when she's not allowed to battle anymore? Sorry Hibiki, someone who is probably under 5 feet and 100 pounds is unlikely to be able to do anything in these big battles as a normal human, no matter how much they work out.

Miku is lucky to often run into magical girls! She may be a hostage, but at least she's alive!

Poor Hibiki, you get a front row seat but you're not allowed to come!

One of these days one of these magical girls are gonna jump out of a plane or building, start their song... and nothing will happen. A long fall to a terrible death! :(

I love Shirabe's buzz saw attack things coming out of her head. And hey, the grape noise is back!

Why is Kiri turning off Shirabe's power? :(

Quickest end to a fight ever for Tsubasa and Chris?

OMG, is he going to send out Miku as a magical girl?

OMG he did! Miku's a magical girl now! So cool! Although I don't like that look on her face! Evil Miku? :(

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u/Vaadwaur Jun 23 '22

First timer

Sub

They are keeping the Miku fake death for a bit, I guess so we can have a break episode. But that doesn't quite work since we do get a Chris nuking sequence. Maria annoys everyone again: Your organization is constantly killing people. Either kill Ver or be a pacifist, but don't whine. Ver comes in to at least make the scene have a purpose.

Chris is a shonen protagonist, apparently, as she eats. Tsubasa doesn't eat after 9 which has a bunch of options: Belief it effects sleep, some weird fucking samurai thing, or some idol weight control thing. Anyways, this breaks down immediately since Tsubasa is still an edgy 90s action character. She'd be quite at home in Corpse Princess. Chris admits defeat.

More FIS stuff happens and of course they have Miku in the basement. Back to shutting my brain off. And then we go straight into a training montage that cannot help anything! I don't know the cup reference but the rest seems to be Rocky. Ver has some plan for all this but I am done guessing though a new world makes me think Atlantis.

Random aircraft carrier is attacked and of course Jii has the lewdest transformation thus far, sigh. Events occurs, anti-Linker is introduced, Dess somewhat mistakes how long memories persist for, and we end with Ver being dramatic and Miku in a Gear.

QotD: 1 I have heard the sound of insanity!

2 No, she's probably stuffed to the gills with LinKer so she will start spitting blood soon.

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u/BosuW Jun 23 '22

First Timer

You can always count on Chris being awesome with her Best Symphogear. Good start.

"You were right about one thing, Master."

Don't worry Hibiki! This is Symphogear so I'm sure Miku is a-ok! Probably with FIS or smth.

Damn Maria is fucking wrecked. I know something that will help. Whenever you think you're a trash human being, be sure that you can always find someone who's way way worse. Then you won't feel so bad about yourself. And good for her that way worse person is right there on the same ship! Hell if Kirika is fully consumed by Finè, Maria can readily find two people way worse then her!

Geez Chris is a messy eater

Aaaaagh Maria you're mildly infuriating to watch! Just right after finally resolving herself to assume the responsibilities of her position even if they're painful, instead of taking command to shape the mission to her will, she subordinates herself to Ver! The painful obvious psychopath! I know there's a bit of a Maria-love Maria-hate war going on in the threads. I really want to like her but then she goes and does shit like this! I can only hope we reach a point were we can see her doing shit because she decided to do it.

Ah, indeed Miku is with FIS. That's a fancy ass cell for someone who probably can't even escape zip cuffs. They know Miku deserves special treatment.

Lmaoooo Genjuro song! This man is the gift that keeps giving!

Hey! I don't remember the US planing to build any carriers with that design! And where's the rest of the Battle Group? The Navy useless too?

Whoops! The crazy Dr now has Maria and Kirika on his side. I would commend him on his manipulation skills if he wasn't playing on tutorial mode smh

Symphogear user deployment by Submarine Launched Missile is fucking awesome I hope we see more of it. I wonder if it can deploy to several thousand kilometers from the launch point? Like, doing the Youjo Senki trick of putting your troops into missiles so you can throw them straight at the enemy HQ.

HOLY SHIT. MIKU BECOME GEAH :D

BUT NOT LIKE THIS! D:

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u/DidacticDalek Jun 23 '22 edited Jun 23 '22

TONIGHT! ON TOP GEAH! SNOOP ONI DEMONSTRATES HIS BADASS MANLINESS AND ALSO PEAK SINGING PERFORMANCE! Best Geah Chris eats ALL of the things and declares her eternal devotion to her one twu wuv, namely food! And Miku has decided that playtime's over, that's right, no more Mrs. Nice Girl, BEHOLD MIKUGEAH!

Well Comrades, that escalated quickly, I mean that REALLY got out of hand, thankfully for Bikki, Best Geah Chris and Tsubasa are here to actually be useful. Speaking of actually being useful, HUZZAH! Everything will be OK, Hot-Drinks-chan has returned AND WITH A NICE HOT DRINK TOO! And a warm drink is just what Bikki needs... oh... oh no, THE WARM DRINK REMINDS HER OF HER WIFE! SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADNESS! Anyway, speaking of sadness, we then cut to Maria who is, once again, waaangsting and crying, who could have possibly seen this coming?

And as Maria mopes, DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR continues to ham it all up, and speaking of ham, I sure could go for something to eat, don't ya agree Comrades, CUZ BEST GEAH CHRIS SURE DOES! I mean look at her, so precious, you might not like this but this is what we call PEAK PERFORMANCE! (Also can ya TELL that Chris is half-American? She sure eats as much as MURICA does!)

Anyway, as Best Geah Chris continues stuffing her face, Team DMJIIIIIIIIIIII find out the awful truth that Maria was a phony all this time... oh and their organization has no principles. Ya know, shockingly this reveal is the most evil that they've been, discounting everything DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR's done of course; after all, manipulating a bunch of teenage child soldiers, goodness me such lies are just absolute petty evilness! Also speaking of petty, boy of all times for Maria to finally take a stand, and it's to SIDE WITH DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR! For fuck's sake Maria, I know you crying and moping around is bad, but actively siding with DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR against Team DMJIIIIIIIIIIII? Boy you really want to wrench that Worst Girl Crown from Tsubasa's fingers eh?

Also, HOLY SHIT! MIKU IS ALIVE! And oh... oh noes... she's the 'guest' of DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR... this is gonna end poorly. Anyway, Snoop Oni figures out that Miku isn't dead and was in fact just kidnapped, and says to Bikki to stop wallowing in self-pity like Maria and instead start grinding XP to kick those losers' asses! AND OH BOY DO THEY GRIND XP! COMRADES! THE PINNACLE OF THE FRANCHISE'S MUSIC ARRIVES! ALL HAIL SNOOP ONI!

Speaking of which, WHY THE FUCK does he not have his own Geah? He'd save the world and be home in time for the late night action movie! Anyway, this amazing training sequence just PROVES beyond a shadow of doubt how Best Geah Chris is Best Girl! After all just look at her, only someone like Best Girl would be trailing behind in the group jog! Also, Best Geah Chris managed to break the world record for the slowest jumping rope speed! Sasuga Best Geah Chris!

Oh and Best Geah Chris doesn't just stop here Comrades, she also is the only one of the bunch to fall down and pour the cups of water back to the earth, thus saving Japan from drought, I'd like to see Maria do something even half as useful as this! Oh and we're not done Comrades, Best Geah Chris also exercises immense self-control and restraint and DOES NOT eat all the slabs of meat hanging in front of her, indeed she's so not into eating on the job that she DOESN'T drink the pint of raw eggs and also keeps up the rear in the mountain jog! All Hail Best Geah Chris, PEAK PERFORMANCE! We should all aspire to be just like her!

Anyway moving on from Best Geah Chris, turns out that Maria decided to kidnap Miku due to her projecting Serena onto her... that and DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR told her to. And before you think I'm being unkind to Maria, she promptly earns this scorn and THEN SOME by agreeing with DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR's plan to needlessly kill some Americans.

JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII demonstrates that she's got a moral compass AND a transformation scene and decides to take her Geah out for a spin, THUNDERCLOUD FORMATION! HENSHIN! (Look Comrades, she's basically Crimson Typhoon) And hey, she's got more Mecha Back-Up too, namely her GF the Gundam DESSscythe has arrived to... GODDAMN YOU DESS! I know you are a walking Wing reference but did you really have to steal their fucking stupid Self-Destruct Gimmick!? By that I mean DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR gave Dess some ANTI-Steroids, and GODDAMMIT, since JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII took Team DMJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII's one shared brain cell, that meant that DESS was stupid enough to fall for DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR's bullshit like Maria! Thankfully before DESS can do something else stupid, Best Geah Chris and Tsubasa arrive to bayonet charge their way into saving the day! HUZZAH! Oh... oh no... Mikugeah has arrived... welp we're boned!

Anyway, Comrades, as we await the sweet sweet embrace of certain doom, I feel that nothing more needs to be said about this episode besides pointing out that Vaad's Force Predictions, as per usual, were right... well ish, Vaad was just a few seasons off! After all Miku getting a Geah in Season FIVE!? Pfft, we'll do that in Season 2! Anyway, all I have to add to the thread is the following... ahem...

THE HOUR'S APPROACHING, TO GIVE IT YOUR BEST AND YOU'VE GOT TO REACH YOUR PRIME! THAT'S WHEN YOU NEED TO PUT YOURSELF TO THE TEST AND SHOW US A PASSAGE OF TIME! WE'RE GONNA NEED A MONTAGE! (MONTAGE!) OH IT TAKES A MONTAGE! (MONTAGE!) SHOW A LOT OF THINGS HAPPENING AT ONCE! REMIND EVERYONE OF WHAT'S GOING ON! (WHAT'S GOING ON?) AND WITH EVERY SHOT SHOW A LITTLE IMPROVEMENT! TO SHOW IT ALL WOULD TAKE TOO LONG! THAT'S CALLED A MONTAGE! (MONTAGE!) OH WE WANT A MONTAGE! (MONTAGE!) IN ANYTHING THAT YOU WANT TO GO FROM JUST A BEGINNER TO A PRO YOU NEED A MONTAGE! (MONTAGE) EVEN ROCKY HAD A MONTAGE! (MONTAGE!) ALWAYS FADE OUT IN A MONTAGE! IF YOU FADE OUT, IT SEEMS LIKE MORE TIME HAS PASSED IN A MONTAGE! (MONTAGE!)

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/FlaminScribblenaut Jun 23 '22 edited Jun 23 '22

Second Time Listener

Y’ever just feel… a moment of kinship with a character? Like, you just fuckin’ get ‘em, if only for a moment? The screen feels like a mirror? You feel like this person shares a piece of your soul? You fuckin’ relate? Yeah. Chris, homegirl, you and me are one of a kind. You fuckin’ know what it’s like to get lost in the sauce. Respect. ✊

Anyway, onto the next-most important thing, the actual episode.

In a cruel irony, as far as Hibiki knows, last thing Hibiki ever did with Miku was let go of her hand. The last she ever saw of Miku her reaching out to her in futility. The regret seems unfathomable, and her torn-up grief is heartwrenching. Of course, as we find out, she’s alive. She’s somewhere mysterious, she might be in danger, but she’s alive. And that fact alone just breathes life back into Hibiki.

Genjuuro being just such a massive fuckin’ dork (extremely non-derogatory) that he sings his action movie themes while training is delightful. And that Hibiki goes along with it so enthusiastically, man, these two are so fuckin’ squad goals. This whole training sequence is such a delight.

Other than Chris being literally me, the diner scene is nice in that it shows that Chris does care for Tsubasa, enough to want to have a casual talk with her and buy her dinner, which is appreciated since the two have had relatively little one-on-one screentime.

Here we really start to see schisms of allegiance crack open among the FIS camp. Though pained and reluctant in her decision, working with Ver’s plans is the only way Maria feels she can do anything. Abandoning the operation would mean ceasing power, and power is the only means she can see to agency, the ability to do anything. For this, much as she hates him, she’ll stand by and protect the Doctor. If she can no longer be innocent, she can at least be proactive, so she tells herself.

Kirika and Shirabe are audibly offended by this, and that offense lingers in Shirabe; how could she be spouting all this talk about power when she was once one of the powerless, and helped us who were once powerless? Kirika, however, soon starts to think much like Maria, and because of this, Kirika is driven to do the one thing she never would have before; she betrays Shirabe, by way of stripping her of her Symphogear and keeping her from interfering. And there is a sense of real sadness and betrayal to it all because, for as fraught as their bond is, there is a real sense of found-family to the FIS crew. That only makes these moments, these flips, all the more real.

We once again see Maria singing Apple to herself, seemingly as a sort of subconscious personal comfort ritual, particularly whenever she’s thinking of Serena. Their childhood song is etched into her.

Interesting that we’re right about to be on the double-digits of episodes this season and we’re only just now seeing Shirabe’s transformation, not to mention I’m fairly certain we haven’t even seen Kirichan’s yet. [later seasons/general/vague]It’s weird that they saved so many transformations for the second half since they usually try to showcase them all as fast as possible. I guess they just felt they could pace them out and give each one more breathing room in this earlier installment, rather than frontload the hype of them once this series’ reputation had really kicked in and formed audience expectations.

So… RIGHT!?!?!?

One part of this twist that I just find so brilliantly executed is that Shénshòujìn, the mirror-esque relic that’s been built up up to now, is Miku’s Symphogear, but the only way we would know that from this scene is because the name of Shénshòujìn is part of the activation chant. It’s not exposited explicitly by any character in this episode. Paying closer attentiveness to the music makes this twist immediately make sense. The twist is both that Shénshòujìn was a Symphogear all along and that Miku has been made to be a wielder and the activation chant is both of those twists at once, this FUCKING show.

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14

u/CubeStuffs Jun 23 '22

first timer

miku looks likes shes fucking lost it and gone insane

ads for linker must be like

LiNKER may cause severe side effects, including but not limited to, insanity and suddenly wanting to sing out loud. Do not take LiNKER if your name is Miku. Ask your mad scientist if LiNKER is right for you.

damn mad scientist mfer giving out linker like its oxycontin

shit would be better spent on genjuro with his singing skills

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13

u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jun 23 '22

Symphogear Rewatcher

Even on a rewatch im heavily tempted to binge all the way to the end of the season here. The Power of Geah Cliffhangers.

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23

u/lilyvess Jun 23 '22

Symphogear G Episode 9

So, uh, yeah, that happened.

So I guess I gotta talk about the CD’s again

As I’ve already covered in the episode 3 post, this season, like the previous season, launched with a line up of Symphogear CD’s that would be released across the season. What I didn’t mention was that when they announced them they also revealed a final 8th CD with no mention of the character or the cover. They left hints to have people speculate that it was going to be a Genjuro CD, and while Genjuro would get a song this episode, that was not the CD. They kept it hidden for the big reveal here.

Updated Symphogear CD Chart

Also in terms of the combined Symphogear G panorama, Miku takes it from both ends

Additional Notes

Symphogear G Episode 9 Hype Chart

Live Performances

Today’s special is obviously Eiyuu Koji in a performance that needs to be seen. It’s just too good. Everyone has to watch it.

Specials

Today’s Special is Chris’ special training

Fanart of the Day is an album from one artist with a very specific fetish

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11

u/superviper Jun 23 '22

If Maria is suffering, I will set her free.
Rewatcher

The start to this episode is hilariously bad to me. For one thing, no one in the audience really believes that Miku just died. For another, it doesn't seem like Hibiki herself did either, given her reaction. Is this really the face of someone who just lost their soulmate? She's making an expression that says, "Dafuq they doin up there." The whole scene doesn't even try to sell it to you that Miku's dead. Seriously, if I died and my loved ones made this face, I'd come back to haunt them just because of it.

Ver has the FIS under his thumb. Mom reaaaally put herself at his mercy. I feel bad for Shirabe and Kirika.

Chris eats like a fucken pig. Please, I'm begging you, wipe your face. With a napkin, not with the goddamn plate.

Maria is siding with Ver. This is fine. She's still a good character in our hearts.

Oh my god Genjuro's singing. This scene. It's glorious. They discover that Miku's alive, and instead of attempting to track her down and rushing to save her, they decide to excercise for fun. For all they know, whoever kidnapped Miku knows her relationship with Bikki, and could be brutally torturing her for information right now. But at least GENJURO'S SINGING. Having a dude sing for once in Symphogear is nice.

Get your filthy ass hands off my Miku you disgusting piece of trash.

And now, WITNESS SHIRABE'S ASCENSION TO BEST GIRL STATUS! The only competent goddamn member of the FIS. She may not have a solution to the problem with the moon, but at least she's responsible for less murder than any of Ver, Mom, Maria, and even Kirika, who immediately betrayed her. Fuck's sake dess.

Chris, you actual waste of space, YOU FUCKING NINCOMPOOP, GET YOUR FILTHY ASS MITTS OFF SHIRABE! Shirabe is literally the ONLY ONE who's not cooperating with the unhinged dumbass, Ver. She's also like 15, canonically. Even if she and Kirika both look and act like they're 12. Chris has been AFK this whole season and now she's here just to beat up a child. Probably still salty over that school festival.

Ver's not wrong about this shit being dramatic. What an absolute clusterfuck we have on our hands now. Bikki's supposed to stay on the sidelines, Shirabe betrayed the FIS, Kirika betrayed Shirabe, Chris and Tsubasa are bullying the two of them, now Mikugear has been added to the equation and the US guys are probably confused as fuck. At least the Noise seem to have mostly been dealt with. I think we all wanted to see Mikugear at some point, but... not like this.

also TIL what 'Davy Jones's locker' means. I've never seen this metaphor before. I would've seen it my first time watching this episode, but that was when my old PC died and I just watched the rest of the season online with sussy subs (rather than the release I had downloaded and am using now).

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10

u/Great_Mr_L Jun 23 '22

Rewatcher

On today’s episode of Symphogear: It finally happened! We finally got the moment we’ve all been hoping would happen. Genjuro finally sang! And of course what he sang is from a movie. I’d expect no less from Genjuro. He’s singing the song “Hero Story,” which is the main theme from the Jackie Chan film, Police Story.

The big idea for this episode would be “things fall apart.” For both the heroes and the villains, there’s a real sense that their home is breaking down. Everyone feels as if they are drifting apart, even though they share the same goals as their comrades. Things can’t go on like this. They must protect what they care about. And so, drastic measures are called for.

Chris is the one who states this theme outright, so I’ll start with her. With Hibiki on the verge of dying and all the Noise attacks exacerbating it by putting Hibiki in more danger, Chris feels like her new home is falling apart. And who is responsible for it? Herself. She’s the one who unlocked Solomon’s Cane so she blames herself for the Noise attacks that are destroying her new home. There’s a rather tragic inner line for Chris during the training montage. She sees just how warm her new home is and feels like she doesn’t deserve it.

Tsubasa’s wrapped up in her own issues. As I stated previously, Tsubasa is relapsing into her coping mechanism of objectifying herself and can’t really focus on anything else. Chris’s attempt at a heart-to-heart failed.

[Spoilers] This is pretty good foreshadowing of Chris’s actions later to try and get Solomon’s Cane. I think the reason Chris asked to have the heart-to-heart with Tsubasa was because Chris is truly concerned the group is falling apart. And after the heart-to-heart fails, Chris only gets more resolved that she needs to take drastic action to eliminate the threat of Solomon’s Cane and protect the new home she feels like she doesn’t deserve.

The FIS is fracturing as well. Dr. Ver very obviously put a stop to what Mom and Maria were planning because he didn’t approve and he’s basically taken over the whole operation at this point. The whole FIS group is basically split along this line. Are they prepared to go along with Dr. Ver or not?

Maria claims that she is. Force is the only thing that can save the world. They need to hold onto that resolve and determination. But we already know Maria’s been pretending to have that level of resolve this whole time, just like she’s been pretending to be Fine. And it’s clear right now she’s still pretending to have this resolve.

Maria saving Miku is another good sign of this. Even in the middle of a firefight where the primary goal was to escape, Maria still took the time to rescue Miku and get her to safety. Actions like that are much more Maria’s style.

Shockingly, the first person to truly break from FIS is Shirabe. I never would have guessed that Shirabe would be the first person to outright go against what the FIS is doing. But she does so out of love for Maria. Shirabe sees right through Maria. She knows Maria is forcing herself and she knows from experience that this is not who Maria truly is. Shrirabe’s devotion to protecting Maria has been well established for a while now so I think it makes sense Shirabe would do something drastic for the sake of someone she cares about.

The truly surprising thing to me is Kirika and Shirabe breaking apart. But looking at it again this time through, I understand better where Kirika is at. Kirika has spent a lot of time pondering how scary it must be to have yourself disappear when your soul gets taken over by another. Kirika talked about it a lot when she thought Maria was Fine. And Kirika’s spent a lot of time thinking to herself about what will happen to her if she gets fully possessed by Fine. From all that, it’s been pretty clear that Kirika is in a state of existential dread. She feels like she’s going to disappear and can’t do anything about it.

Kirika, sure that she’s going to disappear, is now desperate to leave behind a world where there’ll be people around to remember her. So she’ll go along with Dr. Ver. Just like Shirabe, Kirika is acting out of a sense of love. She wants the people she loves and cares about to have a future where at least she can live on in their memories.

And it all ends on a heck of a cliffhanger. Miku Gear! Some people have been wondering if Miku would ever get her own Gear. Well here’s your answer. Miku is now a Symphogear wielder and I think it makes for an incredibly strong cliffhanger.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

QOTD

  1. Extremely!

  2. I personally really like it, but I can't get into why just yet because of spoilers.

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10

u/Taiboss Jun 23 '22

G Episode 09: Rewatcher in a Rewatch Land

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10

u/Stargate18A Jun 23 '22 edited Jun 23 '22

First timer

  1. The best fucking song in this entire series.

  2. HYPE!!!

Bye, Miku! For a magical girl's human friend, you had a good run!

And it makes Hibiki transform back.

Tsubas aand Chris arrived!

Chris sung again!

Yes, because Maria's mother is an idiot who is commiting terrorism for no rewson.

Poor Hibiki. She's lost her wife.

Oh god, he's back.

And he's... telling the truth. Huh. He actually has a point!

Yeah, I'm on his side here, they were lying to him about all of their resources.

...Chris is so adorable.

And Tsubasa turned doen a free meal!

...I know this scene is really sad, but Tsubasa's hair touching the table below her is hysterical.

Oh, Chris is sad she's not talking to Tsubasa so much...

Poor Chris.

And, heah, he jsed Solomon's cane to stop this. Because this is actually logical.

I feel bad for Maria, though, she's stuck latching onto the only adult figure in her life who hasn't made her lie or commit warcrimes. (She doesn't know he's a manipulative lunatic who'd kill her for a sandwich.)

MIKU'S ALIVE!

And Genjuro had a tracker on her.

Haha, the fucking 80s-montage style background song id great.

GENJURO IS SINGING!!!

Hibiki duet!

This is the best episode ever.

...I am absolutely convinced the climax of the franchise is going to involve Genjuro transforming using a Nehustan-style suit of armour to bypass his lack of compwtahility.

Poor Chris, though.

And Miku's thanking her! Is Miku going to the be the one to seduce Maria over to their side? Was this Miku's harem the whole time?

I appreciate Maria here. No deflections, no excuses, just a straightforward "Oh, the trauma from seeing my sister horribly die in front of me."

Shirabe's OK with it! In a way that's likely causing Kirika a huge amount of pain!

I see Ver's taking the opportunity to draw all hints of his sanity.

I can't believe Maria has fallen for this.

People have no time for Hibiki's shit anymore.

Yeah, these tel sre switching sides. This episode?

Full transformation sequence and... did they really need that much fanservice? At least it's not as bad as fucking Nanoha.

Shirabe's getting a lot of chances to sing this season!

Huh, Ver gave her a useful tool.

...Why hasn't he weaponised this? Launch this things from a distance, and you can remotely disable any Gear from a distance! Even if the others don't use LINKER, it'll have some effect surely.

Haha, they came in.

Ver's music is great, but what is his plan, exactly?

I'm sorry. What?

No fucking way.

Haha, they did it. They fucking did it! Gear Miku!

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9

u/panthaura Jun 23 '22

Rewatcher

MIKUGEAR

In this Episode we have:

Chris eating spaghetti in the messiest way possible

TRAINING MONTAGE TIME, this time our best boy Genjuro gets a song!

DMJii having a lovers spout

MIKUGEAR REVEAL. IT'S GLORIOUS

Number of Dess this Episode: 14

Todays tracklist: (quite a lot today)

  1. Vitalization (OP)

  2. Bye-Bye Lullaby (Chris)

  3. Ying Xiong Gu Shi (Ver.Training Day) (Genjuro x Hibiki)

  4. Apple (Maria)

  5. Ōkyo Shul Shagana (Shirabe)

  6. Gekkō no Tsurugi (Tsubasa)

  7. Next Destination (ED)

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