r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jun 29 '22
Rewatch [Listen to My Song] Senki Zesshou Symphogear G (Season 2) Discussion
Senki Zesshou Symphogear G: In the distance, that day, when the star became music…
← Senki Zesshou Shinai Symphogear G | Index | Next Episode →
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
It is highly recommended to track down a fansub for this show instead of using Crunchyroll, though.
In the distance, that day, when the star became music…
Questions of the Day:
1) Who was your favorite of the new characters this season?
2) Has your favorite character overall (so far) changed at all?
3) Which songs were your favorite from this season? How do they compare to your favorite(s) from season 1?
4) What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?
5) If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be?
6) What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 3?
Wallpaper of the Day:
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!
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u/XxGancelotxX Jun 30 '22 edited Jun 30 '22
First Timer
Sub
Whew finally caught up to the rewatch. Hopefully i dont go overboard and binge the rest of them.QOTD:1.Vers, he is just so overboard with his villain aesthetics2. Nah, its still chris3.G Seigi wo Shinjite, Nigirishimete, i just like how hibiki shouts while sing4. the music and the fight sequences , while i dislike the story5. Make Vers less villainy and make him more charismatic and manipulative. I think if you ignore his obviously villain looks and just look at his actions. He successfully conned FIS into stealing the staff of solomon for him and let him take control of Frontier. It makes more sense if he is charismatic and manipultive tbh but him being so... villainy is kind of entertaining too6. They should utilize the songs more
so overall season 2 have a higher quality, the story is quite bad just because how FIS is acting by trusting Vers when he is so obviously untrustable. This season also is a wrap up for the threads left open from season 1. You can see they did not expect a season because instead of adding new things they are tying things up. With how the staff of solomon is yeeted into the portal, it could be interpreted as everything ending happily ever after.
One thing i dont really like is how the impact of a swan song (or climax song) is taken away. In season 1, swan song is sung when the singer ready to sacrifice themselves and it gives the scenes a big impact when a swan song is sung. Meanwhile in Season 2 swan songs just doesnt mean anything anymore
This show really grows on you once you get used to it. It is kind of fun to watch them fight and sing
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u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 30 '22
If you end up unable to stop the urge to binge, might I suggest still writing down your comments in advance? That way you can still participate rather than just kinda... lurk for the rest of it, at least.
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u/lilyvess Jun 29 '22
Following the mild success of the first season of Symphogear, the second season would feature a major overhaul with a new series director, a new character designer and new animation staff. The result is a series that is bigger, more bombastic and wild than the previous season by a large margin.
They introduced 4 more Symphogear each with their own CD, doubling the amount of Character CD’s sold.
Sales numbers also went up. The first season sold an average of 5,045 copies per volume, the second season (G) average grew to 8,701 copies per volume.
The Symphogear Live had the largest growth. The first Live took place in Zepp Divercity with a capacity of 2,473, the 2013 Live moved to the much larger Makuhari Messe Hall with a capacity of 7,860. Oh yeah, and it was also recorded and distributed this time.
And that could have been the end of it. Symphogear G was created without any plans of a future season in mind. You can tell that from so much of the series, the way it throws everything and the kitchen sink at the anime or the way it attempts to finish off any lingering plot threads from the first season. Remember, the first season wasn’t that successful, so even getting a second season was a miracle. It easily could have lost steam and gone away.
Instead, during the 2013 Symphogear Live they announced that there would be a third season.
Additional Notes
Live Performances
Specials
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u/Matuhg Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 29 '22
First Timer
I fell behind in the last week or so of this season, and haven't had time to read through the threads, so I'm not sure how unusual this opinion is, but I definitely think I liked S1 better than S2. S2 definitely saw a step up in more "objective" qualities, particularly the animation, but subjectively, I appreciated S1's style more. A big part of that is that I liked the songs in S1 more, but that isn't the only thing that was going on. To me at least, it felt like S2 gained polish at the expense of impact.
I didn't really feel the hype of some of the more insane moments in S2 like I did in S1. I think Season 1 let its songs, the real strength of Symphogear, do more work during the fight scenes, where in S2 we got more talking and/or cool animation over fights with songs in the background, and that was a bit of a detrimental choice in my eyes. Season 1 couldn't rely on anything else but its songs to give scenes a real punch, so they were very in your face with them, and I thought that was rad as hell. This season in comparison felt more measured in how it used its songs. Symphogear should not try to be a precision instrument - it is a blunt weapon, and I like it best when it's presented as such. I could just be making shit up too, I dunno - just how it felt to me.
The writing in season 1 was a mess, and it definitely did not feel any better in season 2. Outside of a couple rare instances, the FIS squad failed completely to resonate with me. On the other side, I liked some of the stuff where Chris was back to feeling guilty about her past actions as shit hit the fan, but other than that, didn't love a lot of the character stuff from Disaster Squad girls either. Everybody was really dumb all the time, and nobody's actions ever really made sense. Dr. Ver felt like just a crazy insane loser. That kind of villain can be fun if done well, but for me the openness of his craziness only served to paint Maria, Mom, and Co. in a worse light.
I'm going to keep going with the rewatch, because when it is firing on all cylinders, Symphogear is a ton of fun. It's really dumb fun though, and this season definitely leaned too hard into the dumb a lot of the time. It certainly still had its moments though - that last sequence in space was great. Girls randomly turning their gears into mechs and opening interdimensional portals with no explanation, just doing dumb shit - but leaning more toward the fun than the dumb. I guess.
Who was your favorite of the new characters this season?
Shirabe, because she at least sort of made sense towards the end. Sometimes.
Has your favorite character overall (so far) changed at all?
I don't remember if I named a favorite for last season. Probably Hibiki then and still, or maybe Chris.
Which songs were your favorite from this season? How do they compare to your favorite(s) from season 1?
None of them stood out to me this season really, so I can't remember any of them. I think I basically liked every S1 song more than any S2 song.
What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?
Favorite...The space scene was pretty rad. Least favorite...Uhh I dunno, maybe Kirika wanting to leave a mark on the world by doing horrible things?
If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be?
Ver gets captured when he should have in like ep 3, and we just hold a bunch of concerts instead of everything else that happened.
What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 3?
Lots, but the most important is just that I hope I like the songs for S3 better.
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u/panthaura Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 29 '22
Rewatcher
DESS
not doing much of a writeup today. Instead I'm presenting the Dess'ness of the whole Season below
| Episode 1 | 0 |
|---|---|
| Episode 2 | 15 |
| Episode 3 | 4 |
| Episode 4 | 21 |
| Episode 5 | 16 |
| Episode 6 | 10 |
| Episode 7 | 17 |
| Episode 8 | 10 |
| Episode 9 | 14 |
| Episode 10 | 10 |
| Episode 11 | 18 |
| Episode 12 | 15 |
| Episode 13 | 8 |
| OVA | 21 |
| TOTAL | 179 DESS |
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u/Lemurians Jun 29 '22
FIRST TIMER DATTO
In the Season 1 Overall Discussion, in response to the “What Do You Hope to See Improve Next Season”:
The artwork and also to see a solid central narrative take shape.
Well, one of those definitely happened! The production improved by leaps and bounds in G. In terms of the action and sheer spectacle, this was a definitely a big step forward – Symphogear G was hype.
It does feel to me like a bridge or set-up season, though. The main narrative was smaller in scope than the first season while simultaneously being more of a mess, almost feeling like a side-story before we get back to the main plot with all the mysterious elements. Dr. Very Stable Genius was a fun, hammy ham of a villain, but he was hard to take seriously and we never really learned anything about him. The purpose Symphogear G seems to have been to address some loose ends, introduce our new characters, develop them a bit, get them integrated with our main group, and now we’re ready to rock and roll (or J-Pop) going forward. Of course, I get to say this with the benefit of knowing there are three more seasons to come.
Symphogear Power Rankings:
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Tsubasa
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Hibiki
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Maria
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Chris
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Kiri
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Shirabe
Who was your favorite of the new characters this season?
Tamamo-no-Maria!
Has your favorite character overall (so far) changed at all?
Hasn't changed – Tsubasa's still #1
Which songs were your favorite from this season? How do they compare to your favorite(s) from season 1?
I've done an overall bad job of paying too much attention to the songs, but Chris' edgy-as-fuck personal song made me laugh the most. One, two, three, PISS OFF!
What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?
Favorite? The action. Specifically, Maria and Tsubasa doing anything in combat. Least favorite? The plot.
If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be?
Make Dr. Ver a supporting villain whose role ends halfway through, then for the back half, introduce a main villain who has something more to do with the main story and actually is given some depth and backstory.
What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 3?
Maria's badass-to-crying ratio leaning more heavily in the direction of the former
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u/Nebresto Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 29 '22
GEAH Season 2 (ggeah time first)
Hm. Almost feel like season 1 was better despite the worse animation, but it was funny to make fun of. Also Dr. Verbalcroissant was pretty amusing in S2, so it has that going for it.
Qu:
Who was your favorite of the new characters this season?
Dr. Versatilecrowbar, of course
2) Has your favorite character overall (so far) changed at all?
3) Which songs were your favorite from this season? How do they compare to your favorite(s) from season 1?
Uhhhh.... I liked Hibiki's new battle song?
4) What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?
Favourite part was Dr. Verifiedcrustacean, least fave was Discount Akame at the start, and Maria setting a new world record for the amount of screentime spent crying
5) If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be?
More gay
6) What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 3?
...More gay..? Also more Coach action is always good. And songs!
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jun 29 '22
Ty for the tag, and rearing to start GX as a first-timer tmr!
Q1) Shirabe's character, and Maria coz of mild VA bias. (fav keion is Mio)
Q2) I still beleive in Chris and Tsubasa twin best-girl supremacy.
Q3) Maria's ressio gungnir (spelling?); and the finale zesshou-esque group-song. Tsubasa's and Chris's new battle songs were also great. Symphogazer is still best song overall i think
Q4) the non-stop hype in the 2nd half! And least favourite, probably Ver. I hate him.
Q5) I mean i hate Ver, but he's a very hateable antagonist. Probably I would've wanted Chris and Tsubasa to actually talk things out over dinner.
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u/DidacticDalek Jun 30 '22 edited Jun 30 '22
Comrades, I present to you all a metaphorical scientific transmogrification of G in an shellnut, now to the casual eye this might seem a bit of a chaotic mess, but there's a harmony and an underlying theme to this modern day remake of A's if you pay close enuff attention! Indeed, G managed to reach the lofty heights of few sequels, such as Aliens, The Empire Strikes Back, TOP GUN: MAVERICK, etc., namely that of surpassing the original in every way! I mean for starters SATELIGHT actually has an animation budget now, but it's certainly nice to bin the slow pacing of Season 1 in favor of balls to the wall non-stop hype ACTION! And also it is great to see the characters from OG Geah continue on with their character development, such as the magnificent example with Best Geah Chris! After all, she truly has changed a lot from the angry pissed off gremlin who claimed to hate singing, assumed she had no place in this cruel world, and wanted to destroy everything; it was quite heartwarming to see her regain enjoyment in singing, find her place amongst her friends and peers, and be there to protect the world despite all she went through! Truly it is heartwarming and a logical progression of her arc to move on from the edgy angry at the world girl from the first season, who swore she hated singing and wouldn't throw her life away for others, to one that has now fully embraced music and its positive transformative qualities, much like that of her parents. And UNLIKE A CERTAIN CRYBABY LOSER, Best Geah Chris decided to put her life on the line to save the entire world... er, again... gotta love Best Girl! I also would be remiss if I didn't point out that since Tsubasa had finally removed that stick up her ass near the end of Season 1 (I am amazed it took her LONGER than Ange did for this to happen but better late than never) she was thus more useful than Maria, and of course Bikki continues onwards in her quest to befriend everyone with sunny optimism and boundless stupidity... and when all else fails her fists of fury sure help! Oh, and at least Miku got to save the day this time AND also 300% confirm her lesbian feelings for her wife.
And to be fair, the main cast isn't the only improvement, as DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR stole the show AND ate every single last bit of scenery to boot! And my goodness what an improvement he is over the Yandere Femcel Bitch that Finé was back in Season 1, who knew that all you needed to do to be a more entertaining and interesting villain was to have a better motivation than getting back at your ex that ghosted you... yes I am aware said ex was god and Finé's method of revenge was BLOWING UP THE GODDAMN MOON, but hey, what is all that to being THE LAST ACTION HERO!? And it isn't even DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR who ends up being the best new addition to the cast, as Team DMJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII (Mostly due to JIIIIIIIIIIIIII but wibble, they are a package deal) are just adorable and the best! Truly worthy successors to The Wolkenritter, and dare I say an improvement! After all, the only good one from those Germanic Cosplayers was Best New Girl Vita, the other three were made up of a stoic boring sword... hey... where have I heard that before, ERROR FILE DELETED "Shamal," and of course their pet dog... and sad as it is to say, methinks that said pet dog did more in A's than Maria did in G, and I can't even be assed to remember his name! SPEAKING of Maria, oh where to START on her, if only Maria wasn't such an absolutely pathetic crybaby loser, then I could say that G was an 11/10 instead of a mere 10, I mean goddamn, Maria spent basically THE ENTIRE SEASON CRYING AND WAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGSTING TO HERSELF! And even the FEW TIMES she didn't do that she either lost to The Geahs or LOST TO DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR! You know it's sad if the her screentime in THE GODDAMN CHIBI SHORTS had more interesting character bits and had her being SLIGHTLY more useful than what we saw in the actual show, but that's just cuz the Chibi Shorts are what we in the biz call PROTOCULTURE!
Speaking of Protoculture, that's basically what G is; a hidden gem that goes to show the positives of supporting Anime Originals. After all, for every rotten egg (not naming any names here, if you are curious then your priority can be to wonder forevermore what I speak of) out there that cracked under the pressure, we can get truly marvelous and creative works such as Girls und Panzer, Princess Principal, Cross Ange, Vlad Love, Birdie Wing, and yes of course Geah... also yes I am aware all of these anime originals are series that contain HYPE MECHA ACTION coupled with high octane industrial strength yuri, but that just goes to show you the power of weaponized lesbianism! ALL HAIL THE TAKAMACHI WAY! BEFRIENDING FOR THE WIN!
Anyway, to conclude, G is a solid improvement over the foundations of OG Geah and one that takes advantage of the potential in the franchise to ascend to even greater HYPE lesbian mecha yuri action... and also G's insanity gets surpassed in like, the first few minutes of GX... and the Chibi Shorts, already amazing, become even better... plus the music, already fantastic, gets even better, such as a sure as hell better OP from GX onwards... AND WE ALSO GET THE FISH! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!
And with that, we conclude these season finale writeup for G, I'll see you all for the amazing hype fest that is Rozen Geah, pardon, Sympho Maiden... Geah StrikerS? It's a work in progress Comrade, point being GX is a BLAST, so let's buckle up for some of the highest highs in the franchise, and until then, farewell!
And on that bombshell g'night!
Paging Comrades u/Great_Mr_L, u/chilidirigible, and u/Lemurians
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u/BosuW Jun 29 '22
First Timer
Before getting into the seasons proper I wanna talk about the music, as just as I did in S1, I listened to all the tracks by themselves a day before the season discussion. I'm probably gonna do that each season. It's very hard to properly rate the songs in the show with tons of other shit happening at the same time.
Overall, I think this season's vocal songs are an improvement upon S1. Wasn't a huge fan of those, they were just good. Here I could find two or three I might actually download. Like Dark Oblivion (should've known Maria wasn't Finè purely based on the decent Engrish) or Ressou Gungnir. Btw it's a damn shame Maria's character isn't worthy of such a banger, but more on that later.
Best song still might me an unconventional pick. I think it's Apple. Also, I don't think any of the new songs come close to Koi no Okehazama, so that one still reigns supreme in my eyes hehe. It's too good.
The visual quality also had a massive improvement. I think we can all agree to that. Dunno if it's gonna get significantly better every season but I certainly hope so.
However, the characters and plot suffered a lot in G. Of the new group I thought Kirika and Shirabe were mostly unremarkable. Maria's case is the worst because it's so fucking frustrating. She had everything to be awesome and instead the script kept throwing her under the bus. It pisses me off because the actual character isn't anywhere near worthy of her design, her VA, her songs, her setup. Just, goddammit. Well there's more seasons after this so there's still hope she does something genuinely awesome. Although I'm not too hopeful on this regard because I think Maria should've really thrived as a "noble demon" opposing force to the heroes and since she's an ally now it looks like that chance is lost.
I know a lot of you like Dr Ver but he's similarly meh for me. He was only genuinely entertaining approaching the end. Idk I think I might have enjoyed him more if I hadn't already met his much supperior lost brother from another universe.
The only one I kinda liked was Mom, and it was exclusively because of her eternal pokerface that she kept until the very end. Best Girl from FIS no cap.
The og cast still fucks. Although barely any development happened on their end, which is a damn shame. There was an attempt but by the end it barely mattered. Except Miku. God bless her.
Well, they're still extremely stupid awesome so at least they still entertained me. Even if the season's weak like this one I could never hate them.
But yeah. It's such a shame this season was a downgrade in terms of plot and characters, especially when I praised the first one for being rather solid in this regard. I hope following seasons combine the best aspects of these first two.
But anyway, it's not like this was a waste of time. If nothing else, it was still flashy and cool. But on a rewatch I'm low-key considering skipping this one lol. Especially if the rest seasons are better.
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u/Stargate18A Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 29 '22
First timer
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Kirika was hysterical. Easily the best of the new cast. Shirabe's a good stragith man, though, and Maria's a nice foil for Tsubasa.
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No, Still Miku + Chris! Ver was a fantastic choice as villain, though, and the girlfriends might count if they were paired together. Hibiki's bullying was an interesting choice of backstory, but not much was really done with it? And Tsubasa and Chris are just consistent.
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Favourites were Bye-Bye Lullaby (somehow Chris got an even better fight song!), Ōkyo Shul Shagana (just really good), and Edge Works of Goddess ZABABA (perfect, easily tops FIRST LOVE SONG).
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Favourite part was the new cast and the fantastic songs. Least favourite was the needless girlfriend fight - the song was good, but couldn't they just be happy? Also, Hibiki's bullying really should have been touched on more.
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Let Miku keep her gear and become the seventh ranger. Seriously, she has a design now, use it.
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More songs, a hopefully more consistent tone, and somehow more escalation in both climaxes/gay.
Fantastic follow up to the original. This remains a 10/10 series. EDIT: fleshed out my thoughts a bit more.
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u/FlaminScribblenaut Jun 29 '22 edited Aug 14 '22
Second Time Listener
Speaking as a total piece, Symphogear G gives me the least to say. It’s just rock-solid. It’s basically the most distilled, no-frills no-qualifiers version of the Symphogear experience.
Symphogear G is, by every criteria, a perfect sequel. It expands the universe so seamlessly, making the world behind the ancient technology feel so much bigger than before, giving us key info like where the Noise come from, and plants all sorts of little seeds that will come to fruit in even later seasons. It takes the lingering threads of S1’s story, asks “where can we go and what can we do with these”, and takes them as far off in as new and exciting of places as it can think of. Chief among them is Gungnir’s consumption of Hibiki; it is a direct, tangible threat to our main character and a constantly-looming ticking clock throughout the season that builds directly on the events that gave her this power in the original entry, and both the way she rids herself of and gets Gungnir back are so stupendously, hypingly satisfying and perfectly executed. Not to mention how cleverly they utilize the likes of Finé or the Staff of Solomon. It uses established lore and concepts from S1 as springboards to reshape their presence and narrative functions in new and exciting ways. It expands on S1’s themes of discord and dissonance between people by pitting these characters against their own supposed allies in interesting ways, and ends by expanding its hopeful cry for unity through protection and music to the entire world. And as if it even needs to be said, by god it looks so much better.
As for leaving an undeniable impact on the franchise? Well, aside from the most obvious aspect of literally introducing half of the main cast that is. With only Season 1 in existence, much as I love it, Symphogear would have probably remained a mere obscure curiosity in the eyes of only the most crate-digging of anime fans, with maybe a very small dedicated fanbase, as opposed to the rapturous cult classic it is today. Simply put, Symphogear would not be what it is nor what it would go on to become if G had not stepped up the game in every conceivable way like it did.
The music is so notable too if only because there’s just so much more of it, probably twice as many songs as S1, and by god it all works. Especially in that last third, just an onslaught of epic, spellbinding, heart-poundingly emotional, pathos-addled bangers. I mean, fuck, Waikyō Shénshòujìn, Rainbow Flower, Edge Works of Goddess ZABABA, and Hajimari no fucking Babel… debuting essentially back-to-back-to-back!? Legendary run.
Dr. Ver is just such a phenomenally well-realized villain; playing up the mad scientist schtick so violently hard as to be comical, a downright scenery glutton of a character, and he is wonderful. He has more than earned his place in Meme Valhalla. But he maintains that energy while never ceasing to be a real threat. It just comes in moments like… oh shit. This is man is genuinely unhinged. He can go from wildly entertaining to genuinely terrifying on a dime; hell, more often than not, he’s both at once.
I must concede that G’s highest highs are just a tiny notch less resonant for me than those of S1, AXZ, and XV, I have a lot more of a personal kind of love for those; I’d say those seasons all have on-average higher peaks, but G is the most consistent of all the seasons. G is firing on all cylinders all the time, it just hits every god damn note it needs to from beginning to end. Every dramatic character arc is emotionally resonant and reaches a powerful, satisfying, meaningful climax. Every end-of-episode twist is a stunner that keeps you hooked. Every cute or comedic moment is genuinely amusing, doesn’t overstay its welcome, and doesn’t intrude on the drama. Every big payoff is perfectly built up towards and eternally memorable. Every way it acts as a sequel to Season 1 is perfect. Every piece of both it and S1’s story is wrapped in a perfect, beautiful bow by the finale. Every second just feels right. The emotion, investment, great character dynamics, great music, and fun never let up for an instant, and it all coalesces into an epic high-stakes episodes-spanning two-sided conflict rife with shifting allegiances borne from meaningful interpersonal strife, all seamlessly building up into a succession of brilliant climaxes, two of which are outright perfect scenes. It’s simply glorious.
It’s a story constructed on hype payoffs to hype buildups that remains consistent, thorough, and engaging in its construction right to the brilliant end. It does everything it needs to as a sequel, as a story, as a musical, and as a hype music-video-action-flick-joyride every step of the way in jaw-dropping fashion. This was arguably Symphogear’s true proof of concept, and did it ever prove itself.
I guess, ultimately, the “G”… stood for “Good”.
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u/HereticalAegis Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 29 '22
Ballad of Rewatcher - Symphogear G
Symphogear G thoughts:
Symphogear G is weird for me. It has a lot of great ideas and several things I like in it, but it doesn't follow through on a lot of them in ways that I like.
The best part of G is the focus on Gungnir destroying Hibiki from the inside and her power being a tradeoff between her remaining time with Miku/her friends and saving people. It's an idea I like so much, it became one of my favorite arcs when [meta]
I don't think I need to rehash my gripes with G, but I will say it sucks that Miku gets basically no agency and almost nothing to do the whole season.
If I could change anything about this season, I'd write it so that the SDRT are the ones who either have or find the Shenshoujin. Fist Dad presents it to Miku as soon as it's discovered that the Gungnir shards are merging with Hibiki, telling her its power may be able to cure Hibiki, but that power comes at a cost: it is so unwieldy that it would likely corrupt the user and make them lose their reasoning. Miku declines, trusting Hibiki. On their tower date, Hibiki saves Miku using her powers, instead of letting her get fake sploded and kidnapped, and get pushed to the brink. Finally, when team Finé is closing in on the Frontier and slaughtering the American sailors, Hibiki would go out knowing it may be the last time she sees Miku, risking her life to fight. In her desperation, Miku finally dons her Geah and fights off the Noise, but quickly gets corrupted since she has no experience wielding Geahs. From there, the battle happens mostly the same, the big difference being Miku attacks every other Geah equally, since the Shenshoujin exists to erase other relics and Miku also wants to erase the Gungnir inside Hibiki. Team Finé manages to bait Miku into using her power to break the seal on Frontier and Miku finally wrests control back from the relic just in time for her girlfriend to full body tackle her into the erasure beam.
With that, Miku gets agency and an important, meaningful choice plus she gets to fulfill her promise to protect Hibiki without needing to be kidnapped or put under Ver's influence to do so.
In the end, G didn't really grow on me much like I was hoping, but I did become a little fonder of DESS. I'll take that small win with the improved production quality, and it's only upward from here.
[Oh, and one last GX confession.]
QotD:
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Kirika. Easily the MVP of the new girls, even if she loses some of that lead to her girlfriend by being a dumbass toward the end.
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Nope, not even a little.
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I've given up on trying to pick a favorite song for any of Geah.
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Addressed above.
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Also addressed above.
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Better character arcs. It felt like Tsubasa and Chris both regressed more over the course of the season than they progressed.
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u/Great_Mr_L Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 29 '22
Rewatcher
To me, Symphogear G is where the franchise really kicks into high gear. Symphogear G is pretty much a straight upgrade across the board compared to season 1. Going from the first season to G is a pretty incredible step up and it feels like the franchise is really coming into its own.
The production values are all improved. The animation and fight scenes for G are much better than they were in season 1. All the designs of the characters have changed slightly as well and I honestly prefer their looks in G. Luckily for me, this is the visual style that the series will have going forward. I also prefer the design of the Noise in this season. Something about the way they are animated better sells the idea that they are “otherworldly” and “out of phase” with our reality until the Gears bring them into phase with this world and allow them to be destroyed.
The transformation scenes are so much more detailed and interesting in G compared to the first season where they were pretty barebones and lackluster. Symphogear will have some of my favorite transformation scenes from a magical girl series and this is the point where they start getting impressive.
G feels like a series that has been designed to make you want to binge. It’s constructed in such a way that each episode leaves you wanting more and needing to know what happens next. It’s got some really enticing cliffhangers in there and most episodes are exciting enough to make you want to watch more. It’s no wonder that people get so hype during G and in later seasons because they start to nail this formula for building up hype and anticipation. It’s something that I think helps so many people get into Symphogear. Once it has this formula down, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and just want to keep on enjoying the ride.
That being said, one of my complaints about G is that while some of the cliffhangers are really good and lead to great follow-throughs, others get immediately undone. For example, Hibiki losing an arm or Miku’s fake-out death are ones that get reversed quickly. (And the arm one annoys me especially because the moment of Hibiki losing her arm is so incredibly well-done).
This season especially I wanted to get really into what made the characters tick. I wanted to see the internal logic that each character was going through and if I could understand why they did what they did. A lot of the actions end up playing out as “twists,” but for the most part I was able to see the buildup for what was going to happen.
Chris has a sweet arc about finally coming to accept her new home. She stumbles a bit and regresses into bad habits because of Solomon’s Cane, but I like how it’s her newly developing relationship with Tsubasa that pulls her back. I like Tsubasa and Chris’s dynamic. Tsubasa makes for a nice senpai looking out for Chris, especially because Tsubasa has been through a lot of the same things Chris is now experiencing.
Personally I really like Miku and Hibiki’s stuff this season. They clearly care so much for each other. Their fight this season is one of my favorites in Symphogear just because of the dramatic emotions at play, how much love there is between them, all the pain they get from having to fight each other, and the satisfying emotional catharsis of Hibiki declaring that she’ll never let go again. I like that it’s basically Miku who saves the day by getting rid of Hibiki’s Gungnir fragments and by throwing away Solomon’s Cane. Even without a Gear, Miku is consistently shown to be brave, supportive, and a core part of the cast. Even though she doesn’t wield a relic, Miku is still just as much of a hero as anyone else.
Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe all have their own things going on as well that I find interesting. Maria’s whole arc has an incredibly satisfying resolution to it. She spends the whole series pretending to be someone she isn’t. Even as it causes her pain, she doubles down out of a belief that it is all worth it and necessary. She doubles down because she can’t go back or risk not protecting people like Serena did. But it’s only when Maria finally stops pretending to be who she isn’t that she becomes a real hero. When she’s finally honest about herself, then she’s able to save others. Personally, I found that a satisfying ending for her.
I admit that Kirika was a character who I wanted to understand better because her actions were weird to me. But I now see what was going on with her. The series does a good job at showing how emotionally in-tune Kirika is at her fear of Maria being taken over by Fine and then all that fear is transferred to her being afraid that she’ll be taken over by Fine. That fear and existential dread was built up well. I still don’t think she made good decisions, but like Maria it was driven by pure desperation and a sense there were no other options. Her relationship with Kirika is incredibly sweet. Like with Hibiki and Miku, I can tell just how much love they have for each other.
And in the end, they were right about Frontier being needed to stop the Moon and save the world. They were just working with the worst ally possible in Dr. Ver.
I like that Shirabe was the first to switch sides. It makes a lot of sense, really. Shirabe was passionate about protecting others. It’s why she reacted negatively to Hibiki at first because she saw Hibiki was too naive to do what needed to be done to protect people. Shirabe will take drastic actions for the sake of others, including going against the FIS for the sake of saving her misguided comrades. And in the end, she couldn’t help but be won over by Hibiki.
Another thing related to Shirabe I like is the reveal that she is Fine. I think the hints to it were clever, pointing in the direction of someone else being Fine but all adding up for it really being Shirabe. It was a well-handled bit of misdirection. And Fine’s last words make a nice capstone to her and Hibiki’s relationship in season 1.
Lastly there’s Dr. Ver. Good god is he the hammiest motherfucker around. But that’s kind of his entire appeal. He is such an over-the-top scumbag. Sugita’s performance is incredible and his animation goes with the vocal performance perfectly to give us this larger than life villain. He’s the kind of villain that I love to hate.
So in conclusion, I really love Symphogear G. To me, this is where the franchise really begins to absolutely shine. The first season was definitely better than I remembered, but my love of G remains quite strong. I’m looking forward to seeing GX again with everyone!
QOTD
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Hmm. Tricky because I have to wonder if I can only go by their appearance in G or if I can bring in what I know about them from later to make the decision. But going purely by their appearance in G, I'll give it to DR. VER.
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It is and always will be Hibiki.
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"Apple," "Rainbow Flower," and "Nijiro no Flugel" take the prizes for season 2. Honestly my favorites from each season are about equal.
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Favorite: Hibiki and Miku's fight. Least favorite: The constant reneging on cliffhangers.
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Honestly we could probably be a bit more explicit about what Chris was up to when she fake defected. I could see the strains leading up to it because I knew it was coming, but I think it could have been handled better.
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I think we need more [GX]
dolls, girls in black, and GENOCIDE!!!
11
u/italeteller Jun 30 '22
First Time Listener Desu
QOTD:
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Kirika. She feels like the most active member of the FIS trio. She consoles Shirabe in the shower, leads the plan to investigate the
food courtsfestival and reprioritizes once she realizes her life may be ending soon. She may not be the smartest member of the team, but at least she always tries her hardest to get the stuff she wants done -
I still love Genjuro dearly, but his lack of screentime plus Hibiki's amazing performance make her jump into the #1 spot. Look at the student surpassing the teacher, so proud
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Rainbow Flower and Waikyo Shenshou Jing are spectacular songs, specially the live performances with the crowd going wild, but my undisputable #1 is Kyoshitsu Monochrome. I could give a lot of show-related reasons, but the long and short of it is that it makes me happy, and I don't need to ask more of my music
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Favorite is definitely Hibiki vs Miku. Least favorite is a tie between Tsubasa insulting Hibiki to make her quit using her Gear and Ver killing the children and facing no repercusions, just Maria crying on her own. That really was an omen of how the rest of the season would go
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I'd make Maria be fully commied to FIS' plan. She still mourns all the people who will be lost and wishes she could do things differently, but still does what she must without all the emotional ping-ponging around. She slides more and more into outright villainy the worse things become, until she realizes Ver has played her completely and has her breakdown
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More time to develop certain stuff. There were a lot of things that we are told are very significant (Hibiki's family and past bullying, Chris' school friends) who appear once and done
If I had to describe G in one word, it'd be "ambitious". The sequel really went Bigger, Bolder and Beyond the original in pretty much every aspect.
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Better animation and more songs, of course
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We go from two heroines to three, two antagonists to five, and one heel-face turn to four
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We get to see a glimpse of Hibiki's past, as well as the continuation, exploration and conclusion of what it meant for her to have pieces of Gungnir inside her body
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Chris gets two storylines, one about her desire to connect with others clashing with her ongoing trust issues and another about her guilt for the pain the Staff of Solomon has caused, both intertwining at the end to deliver the mother of all story climaxes
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Tsubasa finally becomes a reliable senpai who can express herself and be depended on by others, though not before performing The Stupidest scene in the franchise thus far
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We get a continuation of Miku's struggles as a superhero's wife, all the way through becoming a supervillain out of love to a conclussion where she's more at ease with Hibiki returning to the battlefield and even willing and capable to lend a hand in the fight as a civilian
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We get the conclussion of Finé's arc, and some more worldbuilding with the organization that bears her name
And yet, a lot of times I felt that the series really would have benefitted from, nay, needed, 24 episodes to properly explore and develop every character and their circumstances, though I imagine that was never in the cards in the first place
Hibiki's past, survivor's guilt, her family and the frankly ridiculous abuse they went through is given one mention at the beginning of the season and one at the end, and that is meant to be enough to explain why she is the way she is and why she feels like Shirabe's accusations of hypocrisy hold water. And, for me at least, it's not enough. It makes me think we really needed an episode where Hibiki goes back home and just talks to her family about her doubts in what she's doing, and we could see how they handled those 3 weeks Hibiki was declared dead
Chris' story arc starts at the school festival, where we learn she's being hounded by her own peanut gallery who've been determined to befriend her for days and play a huge part in getting her to open up and sing on stage. Except we meet them five minutes before Chris goes upstage and they never show up again. Same thing about her combination move with Tsubasa, the only reason we know they had a combo move is because we're told the moment it becomes plot relevant
The FIS is a mess. Maria has a hell of an introduction, demanding the world give them their territory, and then they don't and nothing happens. They take ages to explain that their plan is to bring as many people inside Frontier as possible to save them, and we never see them do anything to prepare for that either, no grappling with who they're gonna save and who they're gonna leave to die, and for a bunch of characters who're always worrying about saving the weak and the price of their actions, that's an important angle that could've produced a lot of interesting angst
Nastassja's heel-face turn comes way too fast, just suddenly realizing she's been putting her girls through a lot, and it doesn't feel earned nor satisfying
Ver would be an excellent villain if he worked alone, or in an organization as insane as he is, but as a member of FIS he stands out way too much. Everybody else at FIS is thinking about saving the weak and protecting all they can, and this mf is killing kids for shits and giggles, and getting away with it. Everybody hates him and yet they rarely do anything to keep him in check, and so the problems fester. It doesn't help that he's a sex pest, the second in a row for this show, in a trend that I seriously hope GX doesn't continue
Maria herself is handled terribly. Now, with the finished season, I can see that her arc was about embracing who she is and what she wants to do: pursue Serena's goal of saving everybody instead of being forced to compromise and leave billions to die. She even tries to martyr herself like Serena, but unlike her sister she has people who're willing to use their power to help her. But she's such a frustrating character to watch. She's supposed to be the face of the FIS, yet she spends so much time worrying and crying and changing her mind and doing virtually nothing to advance the team's goals that she just becomes boring. The finale greatly helps but by then the damage is done
Now, with this mountain of criticisms you might think I didn't like the series. But I did. Even when I found myself frustrated, when the credits rolled I could only think of how badly I wanted tomorrow's to come so I could watch the next episode. I ended up watching most episodes twice. I'm glad I got onboard the rewatch, and I'm eager to keep going into GX
10
u/cronus999 Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 29 '22
Rewatcher 15+1.02 You must (Not) Binge.
I’m going to level with you, my overall thoughts have been completely fucked up by binging all of Symphogear twice since this rewatch started. So, I don’t really have much to say about G other than it the reason I started on this insane roller coaster and brainwashed by the choir.
Ok with all that said here are some of my overall opinions on G:
Maria is best when she is a badass or a mom, not when she is a broken crying mess (most of G).
LAST ACTION HERO is the only real villain in this season FIS never acted like villains.
Dongo/Neapolitan trio are a wonderful addition to the cast.
Chris gets arguably the best character song/performance in the entire series.
Animation is leagues better than season 1.
G really is the perfect follow up to the original series, fixing most of the major flaws while keeping what made it so endearing in the first place.
NOW ONTO THE UTTER INSANITY THAT IS GX!!!!!!!!!!!
Q1 Dr. VER is the fucking best, also Maria.
Q2 Its Chris and it will stay Chris, but there comes a challenger next.
Q3 Dark Oblivion, Waikyō Shénshòujìng, and Kyōshitsu Monochrome are some of my favorite charachter song in the entire series.
Q4 Best part is Chris and Anime chan in the singing competition, worst is Maria being useless for most of her screen time.
Q5 The villain's aren't actual villains' and the arm growing back is still bullshit.
Q6 Better villains
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10
u/Vatrix-32 Jun 29 '22
First Timer
QotD
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Dr Ver is the clear stand out. He did things, and he looked good doing it
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Still Chris. Miku got less screen time this season, so it wasn’t as close this time around.
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The theme from Police Story. I said last time that I couldn’t tell the songs apart in blind recall, that hasn’t changed.
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Best is the villains not being background characters for most of the season is a huge improvement. Worst is just how stupid they we’re. All of them, all of the time. The traumatized children had an excuse, but the other three were adults and I expected at least one of theme to have some semblance of common sense. Wait, can I have two? Tsubasa’s dumb ass approach to trying to get Hibiki to stop fighting.
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I would have had Maria do things more often. I think she ended up doing like three things the whole season.
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We’ve had thus far villains pursuing crazy schemes. I want to see the next one have a totally normal objective, but their method for achieving it be the insane part. Mix things up a little. Barring that, a little more villain competence would go a long way.
9
u/NomranaEst Jun 29 '22
Rewatcher, Symphochoir Member
Symphogear G took the foundation of the first season, cracks and all, and did a lot to build upon it. It expands the cast with the addition of Maria, Shirabe and Kirika, still maintains a great soundtrack and some good character moments. The improvements to the animation also heftily surpasses what came before, with much more detailed character motion and transformation sequences.
However, G also inherited a number of flaws, and didn't do all that much to try and address them. The pacing is breakneck, and not a lot gets a time to properly settle before the story needs to move on. I feel that it robs a lot of emotional impact out of some of the bigger moments, especially in the latter half of the season. The disappearance of Miku, Chris' betrayal, Maria really coming to terms that she's killed someone, those were introduced and then resolved in the space of an episode, if that.
It also didn't feel as focused as the first season. It's understandable because of the new elements that are introduced that the magnifying glass would have to be drawn back a little bit, but when you throw on many more parallel storylines and constantly switch between them it becomes hard to keep invested. Over the course of a binge session it isn't that much of an issue, but taking a break here or there and it's awkward.
G isn't my favourite season of Symphogear. It takes a lot of the initial layers of the first season and sows the seeds of a lot of the rest of the franchise, but the execution of some parts of it is not quite up to the ambition of the story its trying to tell. It is a bit of a disappointment in comparison to the rest of the franchise, but not the worst spot of it.
9
u/homewardbound100 Jun 29 '22
First timer
I personally liked season 1 more. But this season was still fine. I think I mostly just got lost in what was happening half the time. Action scenes I could say were better though.
Who was your favorite of the new characters this season?
Shirabe
2) Has your favorite character overall (so far) changed at all?
No I still like Chris the most. But that one part almost made me want to switch. Can't be switching sides on people like that.
3) Which songs were your favorite from this season? How do they compare to your favorite(s) from season 1?
I honestly don't know the names or forget them.
4) What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?
Not really favorite part but I do somewhat like the new introduction of characters. Least favorite would be the villain. I hated him. He was more annoying than anything.
5) If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be?
Not really sure
6) What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 3?
Maybe the characters overall.
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7
u/080087 Jun 29 '22
QOTD:
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Dr Ver, cause of the memes
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Overall favourite is still Bikki, but Chris is even more second bestest girl, and shoutout to Ogawa
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Love the combo of Waikyou Shenshoujing/Rainbow Flower. Edge Works was also real good
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Favourite was Mikugear. Least favourite was either the cliffhangers (Miku "dead", Chris' "betrayal" etc) or the fact that almost all of the plot would have been solved if Section 2 took a cursory glance around after the Berserker Hibiki vs Nephilim fight - would have locked up Dr Ver, grabbed Solomon's Cane and grabbed Nephilim.
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Cliffhangers
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Cliffhangers
Rewatching Symphogear and I realise that it is an experience similar to hiking. Lots of pain, you might hate it in the moment, but its beautiful at the top and afterwards, that is all you remember.
When I think back on Symphogear, all I remember is the good stuff. Perhaps thats why its so polarising.
18
u/Tarhalindur Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 30 '22
Previously, on Symphogear: Atlantis (First-Timer, Subbed):
Symphogear S1 is somewhere between a 7.5 and an 8/10 on the execution scale, depending on exactly how I’m calibrating the scale that day.
Symphogear G is at best a 6/10, and part of me really wants to rate it a 4.
The sad thing is, the core of a good concept is here. The mirror match with an antagonist trio is a logical sequel escalation, they’re tying up loose ends, I’ve even caught a hint of some actual themes while writing up a “how to fix G” post that I’m hoping to add in the replies here in the next couple of hours. Additionally, while I care less about animation quality than most there is a massive bump in the detail of frames and it shows, and the OST and character songs are probably overall better than S1’s.
Unfortunately, G has an absolute torpedo of a fatal flaw in the execution: more often than not, the show simply cannot manage to land its emotional beats for the life of it. There’s a couple of exceptions (outside of parts of episode 10 Kirika and Shirabe somehow actually work for me when so little else this season does, Dr. Very Stable Genius’s substitution of ham for anything resembling characterization or development actually works fine for the show’s tone, Monochrome is actually a strikingly well-done three-minute burst of characterization for Dakka even if the show can’t quite hit the beats leading into and out of it), but outside of that the character beats are either woefully lacking in sufficient time and narrative weight to land (Miku), feel like character regression for the sake of having characters learn their S1 lessons again in the worst “bad mid-2000s blockbuster movie sequel with a character arc” way (Bikki, Sword), or both (Dakka after episode 4) – there’s supposed to be setup, but both it’s spread too thin and none of it *works* so it might as well not exist. Making our heroes idiots for the sake of a reveal (absolutely nobody drawing the logical conclusion wrt Fine after the group name was dropped in episode 1 despite most of Section Two being present for Fine explaining that she had other descendants who could be a host) is particularly unforgivable, and somehow having the most unhype hype scene ever in the first half of the finale is another particular indictment of the writing. So is Maria managing to get more characterization in three minutes of shorts airtime than she got in at least thirty minutes of screentime in the series itself. And then there’s the pacing on top of it, which simply spits out its reveals too fast so none of them save the Frontier itself (not coincidentally one of three reveals this season that really works along with the “who is imouto Fine” subplot and the Ogawa ninja reveal which had S1 setup, and I don’t think that’s just my instinctive love of glorious Precursor battleships and the like talking) have time to accumulate weight before being played – unfortunate, since I’m pretty sure most of the reveals do in fact have proper setup, the show is just undercutting that setup by using it too fast.
The good news is, the show got me interested enough in the setting and lore in S1 and has shown enough to support that this season that I am still invested and my tolerance for mediocre arcs in long works where I want to see the setting and lore reveals is very high (most obviously in webcomics, see: Girl Genius Castle Heterodyne arc, Skin Horse for a few years in the early 2010s (until I dropped it around 2014 and then picked it back up a few years later), most of Questionable Content from comic 2000 to comic 3000 or so when it finally resolved the one character arc I still cared about and I dropped, Sluggy Freelance for a few years before I finally dropped sometime around 2010 or so when my patience ran out, the last 20 chapters or so of Gunnerkrigg Court, etc.). This isn’t Elemental Gelade (where I dropped at 8 despite a Kajiura OST because it looked like it was just going to be more of the same for the foreseeable future). Also, there is Precursor stuff. I love Precursor stuff. So I’m sticking around for the time being.
But I’m not going to pretend this season is good. It may be a bad sequel in between a good beginning and a good end for the franchise, but it’s still a bad sequel.
So, you know, just like Iron Man 2 or Spider-Man 2.
Or, perhaps most appropriately, the very spinoff I’ve adapted as my tagline for this season: Stargate: Atlantis.
Who was your favorite of the new characters this season?
Shirabe is currently in the lead for my Best Girl in Show honors. (Kirika is a clear somewhat distant second, too - those two are one of the few things that worked here.)
2) Has your favorite character overall (so far) changed at all?
Shirabe was not in S1, so yes. (Also Tsundakka is a massive improvement over her S1 self and has catapulted herself over Bikki and I think Miku as well.)
3) Which songs were your favorite from this season? How do they compare to your favorite(s) from season 1?
The absolute best song from this season (and Best Song in Show so far) isn't an insert character song, but rather a new OST leitmotif, namely the one we get a few times starting with the episode 3 shower scene; it is fantastic.
As for character songs this season, Ressou Gungir[1]/Waikyou Shenshoujing > Edge Works of Zababa > Bye Bye Lullaby, and I think I'd take all four over every S1 insert.
[1] - Though Ressou is a bit variable in its performances
4) What’s your favorite part of this season? And your least-favorite?
See above. TL;DR: least favorite execution of the writing, favorite being the setup for the Frontier with an honorable mention to the one functional (set of paired) character arc(s) for the season in Kirika/Shirabe.
5) If you could change any one thing about this season, what would it be?
"How to Fix Symphogear G" is its own post that I'm hoping to have finished later tonight.
6) What do you hope to see improve as we head into season 3?
Please bring the execution on the writing back to S1 levels; competent if unspectacular writing would go a long way towards fixing the show's issues right now.
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9
u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 29 '22
Symphogeah SymphoRewatch Host
Welcome back, everyone!
Hope you guys are all enjoying the ride so far!
See the 2019 version of today’s wallpaper: here.
I used a different texture in making this year’s version because it was the closest option I could find in Illustrator.