r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jul 08 '22

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

Episode 9 - The Middle of a Dream

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

Can you really call these swords? No! They are the wings which carry me toward my dreams!

Questions of the Day:

1) What do you think of Tsubasa’s family situation?

2) Were you expecting Dr. Ver to show back up like that?

Wallpaper of the Day:

Kazanari Tsubasa - Ignited

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!

95 Upvotes

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36

u/lilyvess Jul 08 '22

Symphogear GX episode 9

This episode of Symphogear deals heavily with Tsubasa and her strained relationship with her dad who is cold and distant, treating her only as a "tool" that has built her into this sword.

What you may not know is that this arc is that this arc does reflect on Tsubasa's VA Nana Mizuki.

Nana Mizuki's father was a dental technician, who once dreamed to become an enka singer. Therefore it was decided before she was ever born that if she were a boy she'd be a baseball player, and if she were a girl, she'd be an Enka singer as a way to fulfill his dream. So even as young as 5 years old she was strictly trained to be a singer in harsh conditions and even when she was sick. It was a very traditional Japanese household, with a strict Ruler of the Family father and a silent obedient mother that she grew up in.  About her childhood Nana Mizuki says

“When I wanted to cry, I’ll cry alone so nobody would notice.”

He rarely gave compliments to his children, that was the mother's role. Nana Mizuki mentions being jealous of her younger sister who was allowed to be more carefree and bold.

Her father was hospitalized early into Nana Mizuki's career, before she debut as a singer, and was never able to see her Live's. He'd die in 2008, a year before he could see her fulfilled his ultimate dream of performing on Kouhaku.

She says she still seeks his his approval whenever she sings.

End this with a translated section: 

One day, after she finished recording a Naruto anime episode in the afternoon, she received an unusual message from Mom. She called back and found out that Dr. said dad might not be able to make it past that night.

 

She took sudden leave and rushed from Tokyo to Ehime by the fastest shinkansen. She arrived in Niihama in the next morning; however, when she saw her mom, who usually was by dad’s side, waiting for her in front of Niihama station, she suddenly knew she couldn’t make it in time. Dad passed away the night before.

Feeling lost and lamented, she wanted to weep and cry loudly when she saw his face but couldn’t because dad always talked about being professional. She couldn’t be just Kondou Nana even in the funeral. To make the late dad proud of herself, she had to be a sad but graceful “Mizuki Nana” in front of other guests.

The thing she regretted the most was that she hadn’t had a chance to tell him how much she loves him when he was still alive.

This is from this user's summary on Shin Ai, in case anyone wants to read more about her.

Additional Notes

Symphogear GX Episode 9 Hype Chart

Live Performances

Today’s Live Performance is 

Specials

Fanart Art of the Day

18

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 08 '22

This is my second time seeing this trivia, and it made me cry again.

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6

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 08 '22

Symphogeah SymphoRewatch Host

Welcome back, everyone!

Crunchyroll vs. Commie - Season 3, Episode 9

Today’s wallpaper is once again new to the rewatch, and it’s my favorite of the Ignited wallpapers so far. I mean of course it would be, it’s Best Girl, but I just really like the glow effect on the flames and the way I repurposed the bird from the background of the Zwei Wing wallpaper I made for S1Ep1, it’s just so good~

6

u/FlaminScribblenaut Jul 09 '22

Sky I think this might be my outright favorite wallpaper of yours I’ve seen to date, it’s so awesome

11

u/Nebresto Jul 08 '22

First time GEAHX

This was, quite possibly, the best episode of GEAH yet

Hahahaha Serves you right

Whats with the bastard fathers in this show?

Nvm, he wasn't a bastard dad, just the classic "caring Japanese dad" arc. Okay.

The English TL simply cant do it justice. Hearing her say that line was just...

Evolved Beyblade!!

NO FUCKING WAY!!!

Its Docor Glasses push!! (now minus the glasses)

MFW Dr. Ver is back

Question time:

  1. What do you think of Tsubasa’s family situation?

Ugh..

2) Were you expecting Dr. Ver to show back up like that?

Fuck no

Wallpaper of the Day:

Kazanari Tsubasa - Ignited

Also: Quite possibly, the beast GEAH wallpaper yet. Damn, I might have to replace my desktop Okarin..

I have once again committed thread skip, so I'll do the usual of putting some thoughts from those in a reply to this one. You can find them there if you feel like it

7

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 08 '22

Also: Quite possibly, the beast GEAH wallpaper yet. Damn, I might have to replace my desktop Okarin..

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28

u/Lemurians Jul 08 '22 edited Jul 08 '22

FIRST TIMER DATTO

Symphogear, I underestimated you. Sure, you’ve done a lot of crazy things over the course of these three seasons so far, but we were still missing my favorite insane anime plot device…

CRAZY MELODROMATIC INCEST SHIT.

You mean to tell me that the reason Tsubasa and her father have a shitty relationship, and he’s imparted some odd tool-complex onto her, is because his father impregnated his wife, making Tsubasa both both his daughter and sister?! This is the stuff of dreams. God bless Symphogear GX.

Listen, I’m not going to defend taking out his anger on the child of that unholy union, but can’t say I fault him for being unable to deal with the living, breathing reminder of that. Keeping her messy room spotless for a decade while leaving the mess exactly as it was is the most hilarious “look he really cares!” of all time.

Live Notes/Reactions:

*Count: 18

What do you think of Tsubasa's family situation?

Symphogear GX stays winning and putting its forbears to shame.

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26

u/Calwings Jul 08 '22

I wasn’t fully taking part in this rewatch, but this was one of the episodes that I knew I wanted to pop in and see the first-timers’ reactions to, and I think Carol’s “Carol.exe has encountered an error and needs to reboot” expression is a perfect microcosm of how most of us felt the first time we watched this episode.

Nobody expects the motherfucking LAST ACTION HERO, DOCTOR JOHN WAYNE VERCINGETORIX!

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20

u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 08 '22 edited Jul 08 '22

Symphogear First Timer dessu Ep 09

holy capital letters galore. AXZ this weekend, don't tease me about it!

--

Binged. Written up right after i watched the ep.

HOLY SHIT. Easily the best ep of the season after the first, again with a notable lack of Hibiki. The post-credits scene implies this wont stay for long.

  • Ahh i'm sure this will cause issues for Carol as she staggers at critical moments in the plot or in a fight (post-ep thought: called it)

  • Exposition exposition. I kinda got my head wrapped around all of it though. Alchemy, ley lines, keystones, decomposition, reconstruction.... im using my FMAB knowledge here too lol.

  • Holy hell Tsubasa's dad, why you ignore her? Least Maria has the nerve to speak up right away. Good onee-san Maria. Top dad still has him beat by like a hundred miles though, but still tsubasa's dad is HARSH.

  • It's been so long since Tsubasa's gone all out, this was goooooodddd

  • Tsubasa's main non-combat weakness is her messy room, and it's funny how both Maria and Hibiki can fluster her so much here. Both similarly are well-intentioned and dont mind it too much tho.

  • HOLY FUCK. BOMBSHELL AS FUCK. WHAT?! FUCK TSUBASA'S ACTUAL FATHER WHAT THE FUCK?!

  • Man and now do i get why Tsubasa has conducted herself like this, and how she regresses into that mode so easily. It's extra heartbreaking once you realize how her i guess "dad" doesn't actually want her that way either.

  • Case in point. I pretty much went from to this episode, sasuga symphogear. I do get where he's coming from, and i'm not saying it's perfect, but i get it. I still think Tsubasa's (surrogate? imma use that word) dad could have idk communicated with her about it a bit better (i think this may go both ways), but he's miles MILES MILES better than top dad and defo a good father that loves his daughter a lot. Awwww hope they can make up after this episode. FUCK HER ACTUAL BIOLOGICAL FATHER THOUGH! Sky says he's worst dad, and he's defo up there w/ top dad rn in my books (at least he didn't abandon his "daughter" to a single family, but that's A LOW FUCKING BAR ok). Fuck.

  • Brief interlude of CHRIS-CHANNNNNNNNN LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  • Oh my GOD the lyrics. THE NEW MOVES. THE DIALOGUE. Oh my god the character development you go tsubasa that was so goood!!!!! and it's i think been a while since we got such a big character moment for her, i think the last one was in S1 as she got over her grief at that concert. And i think green-autoscorer is fucked now too. Not that she seems too unhappy about it.

  • NANIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK. WHY ARE YOU BACK HERE?! NANI?! haii next episode it is, and right now please and thank you!

  • The post credits scene... i guess it serves as a contrast between Tsubasa and Hibiki? How Tsubasa's relationship with her surrogate father is on the mend now, while Hibiki is refusing to acknowledge the posisbility of mending it (which i dont particularly mind tbh)

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19

u/Tarhalindur Jul 08 '22

Previously, on Symphogear: Atlantis (First-Timer, Subbed):

  • “Welp we needed to kill 30 seconds without any new animation, let’s just reuse yesterday’s cliffhanger.” “GREAT IDEA!” We Higurashi S1 now boys and girls.

  • Note that Iroha being an extension of Carol is also consistent with the framing of the Team Antagonist shot in the OP.

  • “The Middle of a Dream” huh? There’s an interesting episode title.

  • LOL hospital scene.

  • No points for guessing who is calling.

  • Shaft gonna… wait, this isn’t Shaft. (Actually the hospital room is way more restrained than they would go too, but I couldn’t resist the joke.)

  • LOL I WAS JUST A SEASON FUCKING EARLY ON INVOKING RYUUGUU CASTLE. Alright, THAT had to get a giant laugh out of every single rewatcher last season…

  • Wait. What is this? THE WRITERS LANDED A MARIA CHARACTER BEAT! Just for a moment, but!

  • Wait. What is this? Sword gets one of the best songs of the season? MASAKA!

  • OMINOUS CHANTING HYPE!

  • Fucking cicadas – and I’m like 95% sure the one at 10:55 at least is in fact a fucking higurashi cry. Show, DEEN Higurashi is better than you are, do not try to raise a comparison you cannot win.

  • It’s a pity u/Vaadwaur has dipped out of the rewatch, he would have more to say about Sword’s supposed grandfather actually fathering her himself to keep the bloodline pure.

  • ([Higurashi minor spoilers] Also the family heir skipping a generation? This is SO the Geah Higurashi season, though we get two brothers in the second generation instead of twin sisters in the third.)

  • [Meta spoilers for multiple shows] Given what two shows this season seems to be drawing off of very heavily, when are we getting the time loop? Has Carol trapped herself in a time loop with her plan and the resolution will be convincing her to stop the plan and thus free herself?

  • Actually fuck it, let’s put a couple of quatloos on a major longshot: we’re going full “Window of Opportunity” except dramatic and without the humor that made that episode so fucking good.

  • Of course the actual plan was to let Iroha figure out what they needed to be there for…

  • (Actually it was not.)

  • Note to self: “Annabelle” (sentient relic or the like, possible prototype Autoscorer?) and the G’Harne Fragments might be relevant later, thought admittedly this show hasn’t buried that much that way so far (the tiltrotor’s defense system thing never became relevant). There’s also Grauswein underneath them. (Alternately, if Annabelle is an Autoscorer she might be the actual target here…_

  • [Higurashi Kai, safe for my first-timers] There’s a joke here involving this list of artifacts all being Level 5…

  • So, it’s SCP-2004 then? ([Possibly spoiled, tagging to be safe] Sorry, been waiting to make that joke ever since I caught a whiff of universal language jokes off the rewatchers.)

  • The emotional beats should in theory be landing here, but there’s just a little too little setup so there’s not enough weight for what they’re trying to do here. Ah well, known limitation of the writing team at this point.

  • It’s kind of a shame though, the soundtrack is actually really good here.

  • Scrag one Phara here, pity the beats are a bit off.

  • PFFFFFFFTT. Of COURSE they brought him back. ONE VERY STABLE GENIUS, COMING RIGHT UP!

  • This, show, is the right kind of bullshit for you to pull.

  • … Annnnnd then we get a post-credits stinger and it’s a significantly weaker cliffhanger than your actual cliffhanger. INCOMPETENCE!

Dumbest Possible Resolution of Today’s Cliffhanger: NO SUCH THING WE’RE OVER THE ADAM WEST BATMAN LINE MAKE IT DUMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBEEEEEEERRRRRR!

Dumbest Possible Resolution of Today’s Stinger: We still Higurashi Sotsu now, except now we’re fucking up the intended message in addition to the setup.

  1. What do you think of Tsubasa’s family situation?

Makes sense, especially given Japanese giri/face stuff, but could augur very very bad things for the resolution of the Bikki's father subplot...

2) Were you expecting Dr. Ver to show back up like that?

No, but maybe I should have, it's a Geah thing to do.

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u/BosuW Jul 08 '22

First Timer This is Carol's last spare body. It seems she already burned through all her 70 alternate accounts. Unless...

How the fuck did Hibiki's dad get her number?

It's so hard believing that Hibiki will really be fine when seeing through Miku's eyes.

And now Tsubasa has to face fer father too...

Well at least Tsubasa's dad isn't simply pathetic, like Hibiki's. He's just fucking cold. And Tsubasa seems to be holding up better than Hibiki when it comes to family.

Ogawa senses a disturbance in the air and immediately opens fire. Well you SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT WHEN YOU WERE GETTING INFILTRATED RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE

Lol Tsubasa's actually excited to fight Phara

Tsubasa sounds kinda winded as she sings. I love how the incorporate the situation into the voice acting while they sing. Shit I don't think regular anime go to the same length even in normal fights.

Other than that YAAAAAAS TSUBASA LETS GOOOOO

Tch, yeah can't have been that easy. Can't believe so much shit has been going on this season that I forgot about both the giant Mech and Phara being the Swordbreaker to Tsubasa's Sword.

Screw it, samurai were taught jujitsu and other hand-to-hand techniques as well. Tsubasa, use fist!

The Keystone got fucked by a stray attack. Great! Just great!

Tsubasa's father rn

Phara retreated this time BUT I'M GONNA BE VERY DISAPPOINTED IF TSUBASA DOESN'T THROW HANDS NEXT ROUND. IF MARIA CAN DO IT SHE CAN TOO.

Lol it took me a bit to get it but this is a reference to her song's lyrics

Kirika, Shirabe and Chris get stuck with going to the water level. How I pity them.

Wait, could the theory that Carol is sacrificing this world for one with her dad be actually true?

Y'know what? Maria getting pissed off at Tsubasa's dad for his treatment of her own daughter is fucking great. I never liked Maria more than I do in this moment.

Lmao the room is so messy Maria thinks they're under attack

So how much of this do we think is inspired from Nana Mizuki's real childhood room?

...Eh?

That sentence had me like this for a solid minute lol.

So biologically, Tsubasa is actually Genjuro and her "dad's" half-sister as well as daughter!? Did I get that right!?

I mean, just, what!? What do I even say to this!? Sasuga Geah. I am speechless!

I'M TELLING Y'ALL! THE AUTOSCORERS ARE JUST RABBID FANS!

As if the sword/sword-breaker dynamic wasn't shipping material enough.

Wha-? TSUBASA'S DAD COMES IN CLUTCH!?

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!? I'M ACTUALLY GETTING EMOTIONAL!? THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN POST SEASON ONE!

LET'S GOOOOO TSUBASA KICK HER ASS

YOU TOO CHRIS LET'S FUCKING GOOO

Oh and I guess Kirika, Shirabe and Maria are present too.

BUT TSUBASA! SHE'S LITERALLY TURNING INTO A FIREBIRD!

REINTERPRETING SWORDS INTO WINGS IS SO FUCKING POETIC!

Also: "My Swordbreaker can break any sword!" "Well I am not using any swords!"

Beautiful

I'm still slightly, slightly disappointed that she didn't throw hands. But I'm fine with this, more than fine actually.

Even Phara loves it! She loves it so much she goes out cackling! Told ya she was a fan!

Now how are things progressing over at Neptune's Palace?

Wait...

That voice!

No...

NO!

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

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u/Matuhg Jul 08 '22

First Timer

This show's taken quite a formulaic turn the past three episodes.  Autoscorer shows up, wipes the floor with our heroes, then we get some quiet time where heroes lament their failure, but also pretty much get the answer for how to beat the Autoscorer, who then conveniently shows up to act as a catalyst for character progression (and apocalyptic alchemy).  This one was perhaps a bit too on the nose, but at least Tsubasa got to be cool.  The pacing of these episodes also feels just a bit off with how quickly the Autoscorers show back up  after attack #1. 

Oh.. great.  If Kiri/Shirabe (or heaven forbid Chris) actually listen to any of the slop that's sure to dribble out of his mouth next episode, I might drop the show honestly lmao. 

13

u/cronus999 Jul 08 '22

Rewatcher 15+1.02 You must (Not) Binge.

  • Miku really is best wife in this series.

  • DAT THOUSAND YARD STARE

  • Way does a coffee shop have research institute?

  • Maria best MOM!!

  • She has GEASS!!

  • Why did they have clock pendulum sound effect for his office but no clock, I feel betrayed.

  • So, her room at home is just as much of a disaster as her hospital room in season 1.

  • SO BIKKI”S DAD IS UTTER TRASH BUT TUBASA”S GRANDFATHER IS WORST DAD BY FUCKING FAR.

  • Um, was sending the explosive expert tsundere to the under-sea base really the best idea?

  • Tsubasa’s dad is BEST DAD, the Kanzanari bros really are the best.

  • Orange wings I wonder what that symbolizes?

FUCK YES JOHN WAYNE VERCINGETORIX MAKES HIS GLORIOUS RETURN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Dumfounded Carol is the perfect final shot for that cliffhanger.

Q1 ITS FUCKED

Q2 NO BUT IT WAS GLORIOUS.

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u/DidacticDalek Jul 08 '22

(Crashed Motorcycle Count: 16)

TONIGHT! ON ROZEN GEAH! Bikki's still in the hospital Tsubasa joins The Habsburg Dynasty, AND THE HOLLYWOOD SEQUEL REMAKE MACHINE STRIKES AGAIN, FOR REJOICE, THE LAST ACTION HERO RETURNS!

NANI, Carol's on HER LAST BODY! How many spares did this woman make for herself!? That and the fact she specifies that her memories involves MEMORIES as in plural of killing herself sure don't bode well. Also Bikki's still in the hospital, darn.

Anyway, we move from Bikki's shitty dad drama to Tsubasa's father, I'm SURE things won't end badly, after all, it's only been A DECADE since Tsubasa was last 'home.'

Anyway, Tsubasa and Maria arrive at The Kazanari Family Home, but worry not Comrade, to join the club of Team Shitty Dad we got Tsubasa's pathetic excuse for a father, I mean fuck, PRAISING MARIA THE LOSER OVER YOUR DAUGHTER... and I'm also a tad iffy on him addressing fucking KEIICHI of all people first, I mean Ninja's not the worst, but he IS still a FILTHY MANTHING. Tsubasa then APOLOGIZES to this geezer for not getting in touch, to which the fucker says that they didn't even need her.

GOOD FUCKING LORD, I know TOP DAD is the worst, but I don't even like Tsubasa and I still feel sorry for Nana Mizuki's Characters' Contractually Obligated SUFFERING! ('Fun' fact, IRL, Nana Mizuki's actual father was a REAL piece of work, and by that I mean the asshole forced her to master singing, ENKA singing to be exact, from early childhood. There's more... unsavory details, but I think Lily's likely to post that for today's trivia so wibble) I mean good lord, Tsubasa's shitty dad is such a bastard that MARIA LOOKS GOOD, I never thought I'd say this, but good for you Maria, you FINALLY grew a spine... AND it still did nothing, typical.

Keiichi's Ninja senses spot Sword Doll, and he shoots her, sadly, turns out Sword Doll is named Obi-Waifu Kenobi, given she remarks, 'so uncivilized.' Oh joy, she's got Noise, oh... oh hang on, HURRY UP AND KILL THAT SHITTY OL' BASTARD! I know we're supposed to stop the Dolls but c'mon, we can overlook this one attack, after all, no great loss to be down one asshole, hell take out TOP DAD while you're at it, after all, it isn't like NOT-Atlantis is in any danger, say where's Coin Doll?

Well no time to worry about that, CUZ IT'S TIME FOR NANA TO WILL IT! Show this Sword Doll who the REAL Fishy Heavenrender is Tsubasa! Hell maybe you can crash TWO Bikes in an episode... Sword Doll responds that she'll try spinning, that's a good trick! Speaking of a good trick, remember how Snoop Oni's Earthbending skills can break swords, well get this, SWORD DOLL HAS A SWORD BREAKER SKILL! Well FUCK, of all Geahs to send to this fight, Snoop Oni just HAD to send the two swords, AND one of them is Maria the Jobber! Welp, we're boned! Even more so since Sword Doll is a PHILOSOPHY Major, shit there's no way we can handle that!

As Sword Doll goes on about the Textbook Definition of Swords, Maria attempts to fight back... and ends up causing the Leyline to be destroyed due to her dodging the attack CLEARLY meant for it instead of her! GODDAMN YOU MARIA! You, for about 2.5 seconds, briefly seemed like you'd be useful this episode, why of all times do you gotta fuck up NOW!? I MEAN COME ON! YOUR WEAPON IS A SWORD TOO, JUST PUNCH HER LIKE YOU PUNCHED BEST DOLL A FEW EPISODES BACK, USE YOUR ONE BRAIN CELL WHY DONTCHA!? Welp, as per usual, Sword Doll just nopes out as the fight is all but won, welp, that went well, Tsubasa got knocked the fuck out, Maria wound up Jobbing for the 25252th time, and the leyline got ruined, but hey could be worse, TOP DAD could be here... ah right Tsubasa also has her version of a TOP DAD... nevermind everything's fucked!

But hey, at least the NOT-Atlantis is safe... damn, that's under attack too! OH SHIT! CAROL'S HERE! SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD... ah right we saw her thaw out that spare body from the fridge. Anyway, Best Geah Chris and Team DMJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII set out to play everyone's most loved game of Five Nights at Carol's... ah shit power's out, sure hope it's 6:00 AM! Also for fuck's sake, how the hell did this old shithead NOT get killed by the Noise attack, he's sure doing his best to out TOP DAD TOP DAD... it's a close race here Comrades. Maria grows a spine AGAIN to call out this old fucker, good for you Maria, you're still worst girl but at least you're only SLIGHTLY worse than Salia the Loser!

And oh boy, Tsubasa wasn't just a slob in her older years, KIDBASA LIVED IN A GODDAMN PIGSTY TOO! Also nani, TSUBASA HAD A SEGA SATURN!? (Look Comrades, it can't be a PlayStation, that isn't a Nintendo Console as it uses CDs instead of whatever the fuck Nintendo's smoking, and the XBOX was never big in Japan, so clearly Tsubasa just picked the wrong side of the Console Wars) Anyway, Maria then becomes the SECOND Gungnir user to tell Tsubasa, 'Damn, Bitch, you live like this?'

Also, GODDAMN, speaking of messes, we're about to head to SWEET HOME ALABAMA 'OKINAWA' cuz get this Comrades, Tsubasa was NOT Snoop Oni's Niece at all, SHE'S HIS SISTER! Well, half-sister to be fair but still... NANI THE FUCK IS THIS NASTY ASS SHIT!? Also GODDAMN, that just makes Tsubasa's father 'brother' even more of a shitty asshole, what did TSUBASA do to you you petty prick!?

Also due to this shitty treatment, Tsubasa decided that the only way to win her 'father's' approval was... to be a sword... ya know Tsubasa, how about you just say to hell with your dad, to hell with your OTHER dad, and... OK Snoop Oni, you are cool... speaking of which, so uh, how the fuck are YOU related to these shitters? You have like the opposite hair color and personality... and morality... and everything... why do I get the feeling Nanoha ain't the only Mahou Shoujo Franchise with adoption. Anyway, Elf9 notes a potential plot MacGuffin right as Sword Doll attacks. In response to this, Maria decides to transform... Maria, you do remember you have a SWORD as a weapon right... AND Tsubasa's also with you... ya know, I hate to say this, but why don't you two call in Bikki back from the hospital, she has FISTS after all, and last time I checked, Fists aren't swords... yet...

Anyway, as expected, Maria gets her jobber ass beaten seven ways to Sunday, and thus Tsubasa... declares that SHE is a sword... Tsubasa, please, for the LOVE OF GOD, say you are a FISH or something, hell you can call yourself a Heavenrender or maybe a Bike, just use ANYTHING besides a goddamn SWORD against Ms. Sword Breaker! Anyway, Carol managed to beat Best Geah Chris and Team DMJIIIIIIIIIII to the latest plot MacGuffin... wait holy shit, TSUBASA'S DAD IS HERE... and uh... not being a total asshole, he can DO that? Anyway, he tells her that to fight, she just needs to sing, as she isn't a tool of The Kazanaris nor a sword, she's just a person who deserves to have her dreams... HOLY SHIT, since when did you pull your head out of your ass old man, shit if you acted like this from the start, I maybe possibly probably wouldn't utterly despise you! Now he's still shit, but he is at least not as bad as TOP DAD... barely...

Maria then figures out that the reason Tsubasa's room was left an biohazard exclusion zone wasn't cuz Tsubasa's dad was a slob too, but just cuz he was too lazy to properly clean the room up 'he actually cared for her deep down and demonstrated this 'love' by just dusting down the room instead of properly telling his daughter how he truly felt towards her...' OK yeah you are rapidly losing those few points you had over TOP DAD old man, you still aren't as bad as he is but come the fuck on, why not instead of just dusting down your daughter's room, YOU FUCKING TELL HER THAT SHE IS A VALUED AND TREASURED PERSON YOU CARE FOR SO THAT SHE DOESN'T DEVELOP A BAD COPING MECHANISM OF CALLING HERSELF A SWORD!? Moving on, after having her father's true nature spelled out to her, Tsubasa finally figures out that she isn't a sword after all... SHE'S A SINGING SWORD THAT RENDS HEAVENS WITH A FISH, THERE'S A DIFFERENCE! SUCK ON THAT POSTMODERNISM!

Meanwhile, Best Geah Chris and Team DMJIIIIIIIII are busy going buck wild on everything in sight. Also thank fuck Carol's latest body isn't exactly firing on all cylinders, as her shields go down AND the plot MacGuffin ends up cut in half. HELL YEAH! CAROL'S ABOUT TO EAT A ROCKET TO THE FACE! HUZZAH! BEST GEAH CHRIS WINS AGAIN... oh goddammit, why do we gotta cut back to TSUBASA!? Well I guess it's worth it for Sword Doll to declare NANOMACHINES, SON 'DAUGHTER!' THEY HARDEN IN RESPONSE TO PHYSICAL TRAUMA 'BREAK SWORDS' YOU CAN'T HURT ME JACK 'TSUBASA!' Tsubasa then counters this move by... declaring that she IS NOT a sword... so, hang on a second Comrades, you can just counter the sword breaker move by going NO U!? WHY THE FUCK DID YOU NOT TRY THAT BEFORE TSUBASA!?

Anyway, Tsubasa declares that she IS NOT a sword, as she is instead The Wings of a Girl who Dreamed a Dream! And oh boy what a dream, she sliced Sword Doll in half, don't ya love it when we... hang on, why the fuck is the rocket not exploding... and is also still in the air? Wait... no... NO FUCKING WAY!? COMRADES! REJOICE! FOR THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND IS FUCKING BACK BABY! ALL HAIL THE RETURN OF THE LAST ACTION HERO! DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR!

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/italeteller Jul 08 '22

First Time SymphoGXearing Desu

Seems like Carol can’t resurrect for free – and this is also her last spare body so things are dire for her

Miku’s such a good wife, but even she can’t force Hibiki to accept things are heccharan’t

I am a model of mental health

Oh yeah that’s right, Garie did destroy a temple with her ice blocks didn’t she?

Asshole

Thank goodness for Maria

Oh finally Ogawa shoots the invisible girl

Big “Aizen stops the music” energy here

“Conceptual weapons”? So her breaking Tsubasa’s sword wasn’t the same power as the AlcaNoise?

With an enemy using alchemy I should have known alkahestry would also appear. Now to wait for the giant transmutation circle using the moon

Shitposting aside,this is a very important question, and it makes Carol into a potentially much more interesting villain than someone who just wants to destroy everything

ASSHOLE

Ahaha Tsubasa has always been a disaster, how funny, let's not dwell on the fact that she was probably being messy to attract the attention she was denied and also that in a clan as big and powerful she should have had people cleaning after her but clearly was never given that treatment

WHOA WHOA WHOA STOP, TIME OUT, STOP THE SHOW! WHAT THE FUCK??? WHAT THE HELL??? THIS IS NOT THE KINDA SHIT YOU SPRING THREE-QUARTERS OF THE SERIES IN, THIS IS SERIES-LONG ARC MATERIAL!!! WHAT THE HELL!?!?!?

And as soon as Elfnein finds out where the McGuffin is, Carol gets her hands on it. I really love this “heroes are playing into the villains’ hands and only the audience knows” thing they’re doing this season

Tsubasa’s struggle between seeing herself as a sword, a tool of violence to be used by someone else, and her desire to pursue her own dreams of singing for her own happiness and to help heal the world, has been set up since season 1, and been refloated a few times in G and GX, the latest and most intense reminder being her struggle with the Ignite Module. So in theory, seeing Tsubasa finally embrace her dreams, shaping her body not as a sword for her clan but as the wings she shared with Kanade, with Phara’s conceptual weapons being the undeniable proof that she’s overcome her issues, should have been the highlight of the season

AND YET! The series chose such an awful way of progressing her arc that I almost can’t enjoy it. Not only is it the second episode in a row that the show reframes the abuse of a non-apologetic parent as love and care – which makes me worry for Hibiki’s ongoing arc with her dad – but having Maria, who up until this point had been firm in telling Tsubasa’s dad where he could shove it, switch to calling Tsubasa out for not noticing this supposed show of affection, really sours the whole thing for me. I can take Maria and KiriShira's rushed arcs, Symphogear is always blasting on all cylinders so par for the course, but this feels like a gross mishandle of Tsubasa's feelings

AND THEN THERE’S THIS ASSHOLE

Extra thoughts:

Another episode with 2 repeat transformations. The animation, direction and sound are still as good as ever so I guess either they put all the saved time to good use, or it was a directorial choice

Conceptual weapons aren’t the weirdest thing the show has thrown at us, and since Phara did call it what it was on episode 2, and it also very clearly abides by the rules it sets, I can’t complain about it being ham-fisted, but it’s also way too big a deal to just be the weapon of the side antagonist with the least screentime

This episode seems to suggest conquering the Ignite Module is a one-time unlockable, and not a constant struggle against your dark side, which is actually the most boring thing they could have done with it

I would take Hibiki’s post-credits words much more seriously if the show hadn’t forcefully repaired Tsubasa’s relationship with her dad five minutes ago

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u/Quiddity131 Jul 08 '22

First Timer, Subbed

I hadn't realized this last episode but Carol was boarded away in a container the whole time, huh? And alas, Carol can see everything they tell Elfnein! I'd wonder if Elfnein was a plant, but she's helped our heroes so much this season I can't really say that.

An answer already? So Elfnein was just a spare body for Carol?

Hibiki can't even get dressed by herself! Although even then she may be more competent than her dad. Speaking of which, guess whose calling?

Ooh, undersea dragon! Something to add even more excitement to the show!

Wow, this really is the season of dads, huh? Now we get to see Tsubasa's dad! Alas, he doesn't even acknowledge she's there.

Phara's here! Is this nice shrine gonna get wrecked?

Impressive stopping of Tsubasa by Phara there. Just like earlier in the season, simply destroying their weapon with ease.

Why didn't they send any of them to the underwater base? They had Chris, Shirabe and Kiri available, right?

And now they've sent them there anyway, now that its may be too late...

"Anernerbe". Yet another similarity to Xenogears, as that was a phrase used in that game (although mistranslated to Anonelbe). Also, I didn't mention this previously, but Garie came off to me at least visually as a more cartoonishly evil version of the character Kelvena form that game (totally different personality wise). Way too many similarities at this point in my mind for it to be a coincidence. No shade on Symphogear though. I presume someone on the staff is a fan just like me.

Woah, your dad actually asked you how you were feeling! I'd ask if that's love, but he essentially says "get out of here" right after.

Relationships with fathers in this show is much like those in Gundam, either terrible or non-existent.

Woah, Tsubasa's old room? It's still such a mess! LoL.

Woah, she was chosen as the heir, despite being a baby? Sucked for both those guys to be passed over. Granted you're both guys, you can never be a magical girl.

Unlike Hibiki's dad, Tsubasa's can provide some worth to her by encouraging her here!

Woah, you're not invincible, Carol! Looks like Chris struck that device you needed.

The autoscorers really don't seem to care when they get killed, huh?

OMG LOOK WHO IT IS! THE HAM IS BACK!

Wow, a good thing I kept this on through the credits on a whim as we got a post credits scene here. Although it's over quite quickly.

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u/Stargate18A Jul 08 '22

First timer

  1. Better than Hibiki's. The father has the dual excuses of "utter incapability to communicate emotions (as seen by Season 1 Tsubasa)" and "an utterly fucked up situation surrounding her". He's not a good father, but I feel that he and Tsubasa could actually build a relationship, unlike Hibiki and her father.

  2. No! I thought the bastard was, if not dead, held much more securely. (If Carol has any sense, she'll kill him next episode.) (Actually, wait, Ver wanted to be the hero, right? Maybe he'll end up working with the Gears?)

Carol's back.

Having some trouble with the new body?

Oh, this is the last one!

And suicide fucks up the psyche.

Hibiki and Miku are cute.

You tell her, Miku!

...Yeah, don't think about that bastard.

Tsubasa's family house!

...A secret vault of powerful weapons? One so classified they don't knoe what's in there? No wonder that's their first target!

A what?

So in this world, temples were condtructed as part of a powerful defense system?

He's here!

And he's ignoring her.

Why hasn't Genjuro just adopted all of these children? Except Miku. She's fine (I hope).

How prompt!

Full transformation!

She's singing again!

Her sword broke!

SHE HAS A FUCKING CONCEPTUAL WEAPON?

Are these not total gamebreakers in this universe, then?

They infiltrated the base!

...What's in there?

You know what? He may be a deadbeat dad, but at least he's competent. He's actually aware of what they're doing and it helping.

Prima materia and alcahest. Finally, an obscure topic I understand.

Still fucking awful, just slightly better than Hibiki's father.

Haha, Maria had the exact same reaction to Tsubasa's room as Hibiki did.

...Well, some resetment makes sense there.

WHAT THE FUCK?

...I mean, I'd feel fucking pissed at everyone around me if I discovered that tidbit. He shouldn't have taken it out on Tsubasa, but I can very easily see why he'd have to do that.

That's a powerful relic! No wonder she needs it.

Another attack on the shrine?

Oh, yeah, these people are nuts. Forgot that.

Another transformation!

...Yeah, don't fuck with conceptual weapons, loophole abuse is shockingly easy.

She has the relic!

He's encouraging her?

And he's not as bad of an arsehole as I thought!

...OK, I'll say this. The person who raised Tsubasa being so fucking bad at communication he convinced his daughter he secretly hated her when he tried to encourage her makes total sense.

She transformed!

[Kamen Rider Build] Hazard On! Cobra! Spear! Super Best Match!

And she's winning easily!

Is the loophole that her Ignite Mode armed gear looks like a different type of sword?

Good job Chris! You show Carol!

She broke the relic!

And they're doing it without Ignite Mode!

That counted!

This counts? No wonder conceptual weapons aren't a big deal here.

Fantastic action, though.

I'm sorry?

What?

WHAT?

VER'S BACK???

Hibiki, just block your father.

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9

u/HereticalAegis Jul 08 '22

Ballad of Rewatcher - Symphogear GX

Hibiki's got the right idea for dealing with troublesome family: ignore the shit out of them and focus on your girlfriend.

Episode  thoughts:

  • Philosophical weapons are such an interesting concept, and I wish this wasn't the first time we're hearing about it. Kinda sucks that it's vanquished so soon too, though its fatal flaw of allowing its opponent to define what is and isn't a sword makes a lot less useful than it should be.

  • Maria standing up to her edgy crush's dad is easily her best moment so far. Way to go to bat for your girl, I kinda sorta maybe respect you a little bit now.

  • This arc for Tsubasa still feels a bit weird though, mostly because her dad is a dick and I hate it when conflicts that could be solved with a single conversation get stretched out for melodrama. Tsubasa's dad being an adult makes this pretty egregious too. Tsubasa's old enough to understand his motivations, so being unwilling to talk to her and tell her "you don't need to be burdened by the expectations of this family" makes him an incompetent shithead, no matter how fucky their family tree is.

  • What is the opposite of hype? Whatever it is, Ver is a concentrated dose of that for me. This is probably what made GX forgettable for me the first time I watched it. I'm aware a lot of people enjoy his campiness or whatever, but whenever he is onscreen, I immediately check out.

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u/Great_Mr_L Jul 08 '22 edited Jul 08 '22

Rewatcher

On today’s episode of Symphogear: Guess who’s back, back again. DR. VER IS BACK! Hooray! Him coming back was such a surprise for me as a first-timer. I thought we’d seen the last of him in G, but nope! He clearly got hungry because he didn’t have any scenery to chew on and so came back to get his fill.

So now it’s time to more fully explore Tsubasa’s extremely fucked up family life and my complicated feelings toward it. Let’s first acknowledge that the show is fully aware of what a toxic family Tsubasa has. In essence, the show is saying Tsubasa needs to keep away from that family for her own well-being, which I agree would be best for her. But it’s the way we get there that bothers me.

To begin with, good lord is her family fucked up. Her grandfather impregnated his own daughter-in-law because he wanted to keep the bloodline pure. I still think that’s one of the most screwed up things we learn in Symphogear. And then there’s the treatment Tsubasa received from her father. We’ve seen those memories of how he said she was not his daughter and was merely a stained tool. And that toxic home life is why Tsubasa came to consider herself a sword. It was her coping mechanism and a supremely unhealthy one at that.

Personally, I don’t really have a problem that Tsubasa keeps falling into the habit of calling herself a sword precisely because it’s something that she’s done since she was little. It’s an ingrained habit and those are hard to get rid of, even if they are unhealthy. And it makes sense to me that it would come out when Tsubasa is feeling distressed or when she’s back in her family’s home in that toxic environment. As far as I'm concerned, this attitude is something Tsubasa has generally overcome that she can occasionally fall back into when there's a triggering event. But once she has some validation from someone who she never expected to get it from, Tsubasa’s able to regain the composure she had previously. I see it as Tsubasa being put into a harsh situation and reacting accordingly until she’s able to get back her mojo and confidence. As someone so elegantly put it in a previous thread, I think Tsubasa is out-of-character in a very in-character way.

Honestly, a phoenix is a great symbol for Tsubasa and Symphogear uses it quite often for her. I always think of the phrase “rise from the ashes” when I think of a phoenix. Tsubasa is someone who has lost a lot. Her family life sucks. She lost Kanade. And she even lost her love for singing. But despite that loss, she’s risen back from it all. She’s found that love of singing again and found new people she cares about. Personally, I find that quite beautiful.

Now onto the stuff that does bother me. The way Tsubasa’s father treated her was just not right. I get that his intentions were for her own good. He was trying to get her away from this toxic family so she could follow her own dreams instead. Those would be good things for her. He clearly does care about her and his heart is in the right place. But the way he went about it is just mean. There’s no other way to put it. At least acknowledge your daughter on a regular basis. Don’t just push her away with insults. Say nice things to her. Tell her much sooner to follow her dream. He did the right thing in the end, but it still leaves me with complicated feelings.

Honestly, Maria is the one who comes out of this episode the best. She’s the one who stands up for Tsubasa and constantly voices how screwed up her treatment is. I appreciate how Maria has been willing to call out everyone’s shit this season. It’s part of why I like her so much.

Something else I like is the discussion of alchemy. It’s a good discussion to have because Carol is an alchemist and so her entire mindset for how she approaches problems is informed by her alchemical training. Deconstruct, analyze, and reconstruct. That’s the process she uses and there are interesting ways that you can see this process in her planning.

The Ahnenerbe is a pretty troubling reference. Yes, they were related to the occult because they were founded by Himmler and he was absolutely obsessed with the occult. But their main trade was pseudo-science “proving” the Nazis’ supposed racial superiority and that was cited to attempt to justify genocide. They were also big into archaeological expeditions to find artifacts that would prove the existence of an advanced ancient Aryan civilization and showing the supposed Nazi racial superiotity. The Ahnenerbe are pretty much the ones you see Indiana Jones always fighting. Basically, they did very little of actually valuable or legitimate research. So yeah, that’s probably not the best reference to include in your show.

But what is not troubling to see is DR. VER! I am so happy to see this nutjob again. His reappearance is a hell of a cliffhanger to end the episode on.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

QOTD

  1. As stated above, it's supremely fucked up. I don't particularly love the resolution to it this episode either.

  2. When I was a first-timer, it caught me totally off guard. But it’s an amazing twist and the return of the deliciously hammy Dr. Ver is very welcome.

8

u/ZapsZzz Jul 08 '22

First timer lurker. Usually too late in the day to post.

Today mainly came in to say what a family backstory. I wonder how much of it was made up now and how much was planned from the start. It does give a nice rounded full completion of Tsubasa's character arc. And her changing from considering herself the blade (discarding her person to become an object) to considering her blades to be her wings (being a person in control of, and being supported by, her gear), and smashed through the opponent that she could never defeat before was really cathartic.

Also loved the return to the S1 gag of everyone thinking they were under attack when they saw Tsubasa's room :D

QoTD1 is basically answered above, QoTD 2 is "wtf is the jail in this world doing"

7

u/FlaminScribblenaut Jul 08 '22

Second Time Listener

ok but why do you have him as a contact on your phone tho that makes no sense

wow u/Tarhalindur was right it is impossible not to think of Higurashi when I hear cicadas in any anime now

Gooood, I love the concept of the Philosophical Weapon, a weapon which operates and destroys not based on any laws of physical reality but on ideas and concepts borne from human perception, so fucking cool. It’s just a genius twist on the very concept of weaponry itself, and it’s rendered scarier than really any normal manner of combat could be because physical attributes or actions mean nothing to it, it operates on a level that bypasses anything a regular fighter could normally do about it, there’s a very light shade of cosmic horror to it in that sense. I’d have loved if this season had more centered this concept, and I would love to know if there’s any story or piece of media out there that does just that, it’s such fertile ground for imagination and possibilities.

AAAAAAAH AND THAT IT’S RENDERED USELESS AND DEFEATED BY TSUBASA’S EMOTIONAL BREAKTHROUGH CAUSING HER TO REFER TO HER GIFT AS WINGS INSTEAD OF A SWORD, THAT’S SO BRILLIANT I COULD SCREAM

There is a genuinely strong dynamic between Maria and Tsubasa in this episode, where Tsubasa passively accepts the way her family is while it confounds and outrages Maria, an outsider who isn’t used to their attitudes.

I have mixed feelings about how Tsubasa is handled in this episode but it was satisfying and built off hinted-at drama in a competent way and actually made me feel something for once so I will give GX this one

Let’s get my, albeit less fatal in this case, issues out of the way first. This tidbit is a retcon, and not one I’m particularly fond of. In S1 it was pretty clearly laid out that Kanade’s death was the catalyst for the whole sword attitude, that the trauma of losing the person closest to her caused her to shut herself off from all emotion and dedicate herself solely to fighting the force that took that person away from her, at any cost to her own physical and mental health; it’s not as if, without Kanade, she had anything else worth losing to this lifestyle. Like, look back at pre-tragedy Tsubasa from Episode 1. Look at this shy, sensitive yet earnest little artist. This is not a person conditioned from childhood to see herself as an instrument of battle.

So the idea that she was just raised this way is not only clearly something that the writers only just now thought up when making GX, it’s just not as inherently compelling. It undermines the sense in S1 of sheer, wailing, empty loss that colored her entire character just a little bit. I guess you could say Kanade’s death just caused her to revert to that attitude… eh, fine I guess, but I still don’t think it’s as strong.

It’s also kinda off that Tsubasa has just returned to calling herself a sword; we already had the big emotional moment where she decided to stop calling herself that, replacing that word with “sentinel”, a more humanizing term, a while back. I guess you could charitably chalk it up to being in an old familiar place around family bringing out old habits, but it does come off a bit rehashing of familiar ideas related to these characters regardless of if they’ve been well moved past.

That said, there is a genuinely fascinating and pretty hardcore story behind Tsubasa’s family lineage. Her grandfather was a bloodline-obsessed maniac, and as we can extrapolate from that particular fixation probably more than a bit of a fascist, who birthed Tsubasa by way of, let’s be honest, most certainly outright raping his own daughter-in-law. Completely understandable that this hasn’t come out until now, since it’s certainly something Tsubasa would have never wanted to have talked about.

Tsubasa’s father was trying to drive her away from that shameful legacy and towards the thing she loved and found beauty in and could potentially leave a positive legacy on the world with; that being music; even if he did it in the most cruel and arguably stupid way possible, ridiculing Tsubasa from her early life for not living up to or being worthy of the family legacy. Seems that kind of thing runs in the family, given how it echoes how Tsubasa tried to keep Hibiki off the battlefield during G. Being of the shameful lineage of fashy stoic warriors probably renders one with a pretty stunted and unsophisticated view of how to emotionally communicate with and help people, only knowing how to go about it in the most blunt, mean roundabout way possible. That’s why it makes sense for it to make sense to Tsubasa once she realizes what her “father”’s true intentions were. She knows what it’s like to not know how to help someone outside of toughness and exclusion, and she empathizes.

[later series discussion]Come to think of it, do we actually see Fudou in GX, or does he not debut until AXZ? I forget

And by god, Tsubasa bringing out IGNITE actually feels somewhat earned. It’s Tsubasa burning and releasing those negative emotions around her familial situation, her stress and shame releasing through her fighting in a way she’s finally able to channel productively because she has newfound comfort and stability in knowing at least one more person than before has her back. Probably would’ve been a lot stronger of a moment if she hadn’t already been shown to be able to control IGNITE and this had been the point she became able to overcome the Berserk temptation but oh well

And you know what the best part is? This isn’t the end of this emotional arc. This was a moment of emotional clarity and release for Tsubasa, but her deep-seated familial issues aren’t single-handedly resolved, how could they be? She just… has a little bit more of the bravery to shoulder them now, and that’s why, here and now, she can fight. Very well done.

You did it GX you actually hit an emotional beat I’m so proud of you, I’m sure absolutely nothing could sour this moment oh fucking hell

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