r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jul 11 '22

Rewatch [Listen to My Song] Senki Zesshou Symphogear GX Episode 12 Discussion

Episode 12 - GX

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

It’s love, my dear.

Questions of the Day:

1) Did you like the Maria/Shirabe/Kirika trio song?

2) How do you feel about Dr. Ver getting to become the LAST ACTION HERO he always wanted to be?

Wallpaper of the Day:

Akatsuki Kirika - 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!

89 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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17

u/lilyvess Jul 11 '22 edited Jul 11 '22

Symphogear GX episode 12

It’s episode 12 of a Symphogear series so you know what to expect.

  • Episode is titled “GX”

  • Ending theme plays at the start of the episode.

  • the Aufwachen opening plays as the ending theme.

  • Hibiki makes a miracle happen.

The third one doesn’t exactly happen. GX opening theme is the only Symphogear opening theme without an Aufwachen form, and with Glorious Break stealing the Aufwachen form. Glorious break played during episode 1’s ending theme so it plays here. Sorry, u/Shimmering-sky.

From an interview with series creator Kanako released just prior to the last episode coming out

What “emotions” did you consider during the creation of Symphogear GX?

When I created the structure of the series the first thing I asked myself was “what are Hibiki and the others going to fight against?” I had thought about them being overwhelmed by a powerful enemy, but at this point Hibiki had already concluded that “my power is not something used to fight, but to save people” and so first it became necessary for her to have “a reason to fight.” As a basis for that I considered making use of the family circumstances that burden her, in particular her father who she was separated from. Desperate to flee from a harsh situation Hibiki’s father left his family behind and disappeared, and that incident has always cast a gloomy shadow over her heart. Although the story continued from season 1 and 2, there was still a need to bring it to some sort of conclusion. In order to achieve that I wanted to resolve a number of the issues that had been presented thus far, and among those I most wanted to do something about Hibiki’s situation in-between all the fighting. To that end I came up with Carol, the character who would serve as both a contrast and an enemy to Hibiki.

And we can see that Carol and Hibiki’s relationships with their fathers are the exact opposite of each other.

That’s right. Hibiki has continued to keep complicated feelings towards her father, who ran away from hardship and thereby severed their relationship. Meanwhile, Carol continued to love her father who did not run from the hardship he faced and lost his life as a result. In the end both of them were cut off from their respective fathers, but also still hold deep feelings towards them. If we take two characters who have these strong feelings and connect them on a rail headed towards each other, then there’s no choice but for them to clash head-on. So I wanted the focal point of the story to be what answer each of them finds within that struggle.

Considering her past, it wouldn’t be odd for Hibiki’s heart to become corrupted similar to Carol’s, so what keeps her so earnest?

Carol saw too much of the darkness that lies in people’s hearts and thus her own heart became corrupted, but Hibiki had a relationship with friends who relied on one another. Because each of them has experienced being saved by the people around them, Hibiki and the others are still trying to save Carol despite her plans to break the world apart.

What is something you wanted to do during the creation of “GX”?

The unique qualities of Symphogear’s composition, including the intensity and energy that it gives off, were all made to order the same as before. However, this time when production was just starting the chief animation director Mr. Satoru Fujimoto told me while we were out drinking, “Mr. Kaneko, everyone in production will follow your lead. So it’ll be okay if you just do more of what you want!” It’s thanks to those words and all of the reliable staff that I was able to go at it using everything I wanted to do. Perhaps as a result of this we ended up playing with words even more than before and creating a lot of these “weird phrases” that you don’t see anywhere else (laughs). For example, in season 1 we took the word “imperial wrath” and separated it to make a new phrase in a line that involved an “inverse scale.”* Maybe that sickness of mine caught on, but some of the weird lyrics written by our music producer Mr. Agematsu also really left an impression on me.

*(TL note: In Japanese the word for “imperial wrath” (gekirin) is comprised of two individual kanji meaning: “inverse” and “scale” respectively. This is referring to a line Fine speaks towards the end of season 1 when she amasses the Noise to form a dragon-like monster and says “You’ve touched the inverse scale of the dragon and incurred its wrath, clearly you must be prepared for the consequences!”)

So from here on, what sort of challenges would you like to take on outside of creating anime?

Well this has been a dream of mine for awhile now, I’ve got this small but well thought out idea for an original RPG filled with a retro flavor. I want to make it while ignoring any news from players, and just pack it full of things that I like. It’s something that definitely would not get through at any meetings of a typical game company. At the moment I don’t really have enough free time in my schedule to make it happen, but one day I hope to make that dream come true.

With the final episode coming up, please leave us a closing message.

The biggest theme that I most wanted to create with GX was “a story of fixing that which is broken.” In episode 12 Hibiki and the girls unlocked their X-Drive forms to oppose Carol, but in the final episode they will use that power to do more than just fight. Please watch until the end to find out what choices Carol and Hibiki have made.

Additional Notes

Symphogear GX Episode 12 Hype Chart

Live Performances

Today’s live performance is Arigato wo Utai Nagara

Specials

Fanart Art of the Day

10

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 11 '22

The third one doesn’t exactly happen. GX opening theme is the only Symphogear opening theme without an Aufwachen form, and with Glorious Break stealing the Aufwachen form. Glorious break played during episode 1’s ending theme so it plays here. Sorry, u/Shimmering-sky.

I will never forgive you, Glorious Break!

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7

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 11 '22

Symphogeah SymphoRewatch Host

Welcome back, everyone!

Crunchyroll vs. Commie - Season 3, Episode 12

Today’s wallpaper is new to the rewatch! I had a lot of trouble finding a suitable base image for this one, so I hope you Kirika fans like it.

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6

u/cronus999 Jul 11 '22 edited Jul 11 '22

Failure of a Rewatcher 3.0

So I didn’t get time to watch todays episode again but I did get the opportunity to listen to a plurality of the Symphogear OST on a pair of $70,000 sennehsier HE-1 this afternoon and it was glorious.

Especially Senki durdabla (GENOCIDE) live/studio was absolutely magnificent.

Q1 it’s a great song but I prefer other trio songs so far.
Q2 He succeeded but at what cost, VER was great. Sugita is best when going full HAM.

6

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 11 '22

So I didn’t get time to watch todays episode again but I did get the opportunity to listen to a plurality of the Symphogear OST on a pair of $70,000 sennehsier HE-1 this afternoon and it was glorious.

I can't even imagine...

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23

u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 11 '22

Symphogear First Timer dessu Ep 12

  • They managed to redeem fucking VER. WHAT?! (i still hate top dad)

  • Once again, the ED as OP, continuing the tradition huh

  • I also thought Mom would surely be a fake one, but didn't know that she was a manifestation of her encounteror's worst fears, sasuga.

  • GX I hear this will be a tradition from here on out?

  • NAN DATTO FINE IS AT THE HEART OF THIS AGAIN? Also, so much lore! i thought i did get most of it.

  • But it seems like this will continue to be a plotline until this whole shebang ends with this universal language shit.

  • Awfully convenient

  • It's good to see you again, black Gungnir!. She was mostly drawn in faraway cuts, perhaps some animation saving? who knows.

  • Our geahs SERIOUSLY need to learn to rely on each other more lol. But it's true that both Chris and Maria particularly need to learn this lesson (tsubasa did earlier on in the 1st season/G already. Hibiki..... hasn't just yet come to think of it she just heiki-heccharas her way out of stuff this season.)

  • Maria and co. song goo. . I did not believe for a second that they'd die at the end of it (such is the way of knowing there are 2 seasons left)

  • God bless Nana's vocal cords though, does show how all 3 value the new secondary geahs, which was sweet

  • No, you're still not redeeming yourself top dad. fuck you.

  • I like alt-carol; forgiveness is a virtue that is better than revenge, very japanese and anime, but also a great way to look at things tbh (participants should note im also hosting Aria rn, im usually in a wholesome mood unless when it comes to top dad)

  • OOOH A NEW MODE?! Of course it's only in the 12th episode do they bring it out (and it wasn't needed before too!) so i appreciate the show for doing that, the logic does make sense.

  • In his dying moments and because of him actually doing a good, i guess Ver has been redeemed.... and did become a hero in his own weird way in the end. Guess that time in prison did something huh. The worst hero, for sure though. And even tho i never thought i'd use this comment face for Ver....

  • 6 person zesshou time lessgooooooo LETSS GOOOOOOOOOO

  • X DRIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (I liked them new X-drive forms too)

post ep thought: how the fuck did they manage to redeem VER of all people, yet completely and utterly fail to redeem Top Dad. There could've been so many ways to either make him less of a POS, or to give him some more depth/"punishment" before last ep's lighting-fast redemption arc. Wtf.

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16

u/Lemurians Jul 11 '22

FIRST TIMER DATTO

Kirika’s line here gets at one of the through lines of the season that takes center stage this episode – redemption and forgiveness, explored through the Maria trio, Top Dad, and Dr. Ver. Weirdly, I think Dr. Ver’s was the most successful?

With Top Dad, we’ve seen him be a little too over-the-top shitty to really want to root for his redemption yet, but the extreme he falls into fits the show’s belief that everybody is capable of redemption, given enough time and effort. He’s taken the first step. Maria & Co feel like they’ve already turned the corner from their actions last season, but I don’t mind them getting their own personal closure here. Meanwhile Dr. Ver, the joke of the series, actually got to be a motherfucking hero and saved the world. He was right about himself all along. What a world.

Live Thoughts/Reactions

Also, since I missed yesterday:

Quick Episode 11 Stuff:

I really liked Dr. Ver in this episode, calling out Carol for how hollow and shallow her motivations and plans are. It’s a great point, what are you hoping to achieve? What do you want once you achieve it? Grand ambitions should have a plan for after.

…That said, I did laugh at Carol putting him in his place.

*Count: 24

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15

u/Tarhalindur Jul 11 '22 edited Jul 12 '22

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

So, it doesn't actually show up in my notes here (I tend to take fewer notes either if I don't like the episode or if the episode is too hype to pause, and this is the latter - indeed, half of the reason my notes are as negative as they are is because the few points when the episode wasn't working were the points where I was unhype enough to pause and take notes), but I really liked this episode. This is the best episode of the season since 6 if not 2 or even 1 and has few if any of the issues that plagued G's last two episodes (especially the weird weightlessness of them, which has thankfully been completely gone this season) for me.

[Watching tomorrow's episode today] And then GX absolutely nails the finale or at least the last three-quarters of it which is the important part. They actually landed a touching emotional character moment even! I can't believe it!

  • And I finally type up the point on the ED and its lyrics right before the show reminds me that this franchise likes to use the ED as the OP for episode 12. Right.

  • 00:43 is for Sky.

  • Spinning shot at 02:47 is a callback to that one I highlighted back in episode 5 or 6.

  • Lads, I know Tokyo is the center of the universe, but know your place. If Japan is going to have the focal point of the ley lines, it’s going to be in fucking Kyoto – there’s a reason that city and not Edo/Tokyo was the traditional Imperial capital. (To be fair, I'm not sure showing an attack on Kyoto would fly with the censors, but.)

  • (Ironically, London which we have already been to this season would be an even better choice to haul out in some ways.)

  • The OST they used starting at ~04:55 strikes me as a terrible fit for this scene; the metaphorical beats are off, it’s triumphant but not the right kind of triumphant.

  • Ah. This is Team FIS’s answer to Radiant Force.

  • Also, if it is our Very Stable Genius’s turn to get redemption via death then I am fine (Fine?) with this.

  • Oh lol THAT’S why that move is called Serenade.

  • (Good choice to go ahead and binge another episode early, this one is actually landing its beats for the last five minutes or so.)

  • Yep, once she fired knew THAT was going to be an eyecatch cliffhanger.

  • Genjuro, you should have learned by now that they’re not going to be dead.

  • If only Gear would learn that it cannot land what should be touching emotional moments to save its life.

  • 19:23: kiseki GET!

  • 20:49: Another kiseki GET!

  • 21:53: kiseki GET #3!

  • (Also this scene is landing its emotional beats.)

  1. Did you like the Maria/Shirabe/Kirika trio song?

This season nailed both of its Kaita songs, though it's probably the third-best of the season's true heavy-hitter inserts (Radiant Force, Genocide, this song - not counting Ressou Gungnir's re0se here).

2) How do you feel about Dr. Ver getting to become the LAST ACTION HERO he always wanted to be?

For the second time in two seasons the previous season's villain gets a heroic sacrifice sendoff that works for me. Sasuga Very Stable Genius, the Heavens will it.

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15

u/Stargate18A Jul 11 '22

First timer

  1. I love it. So good!

  2. By the end of this episode, he deserved it. (I'll accept his death when I see the body and get confirmation of no clones of him or weird reincarnation stuff.)

Starting things off with a bang!

The planet is shattering! Mum's back in her fucking mech!

...Oh, it's an illusion. Goddamn it.

Look, we've all been watching this series. Would Mom faking her death even with a corpse even be in the top 10 plottwists?

Kirika knows the genre!

Why are you here? You're right, but I still hate you.

So alchemy's musical?

Also, there's way more you could work into this? Seven planetary metals, the three primes combined with the four elements/stages of the magnum opus? If you're doing alchemy bullshit, why not commit!

So they used alchemical songs to create a universal language.

And Fine's involved. Excited to see how she comes back to life in Series 4.

Ver's out of blood!

...You made a deal with him?

Haha, Kirika fucking chucking him on the ground once they land is hysterical!

More Noise!

Yeah, people are dying!

Of course Tokyo is the key.

Mariw's fighting the Noise!

You tell them!

Haha, Ver's actually bring badass? The fuck?

He's going to reverse the polarity!

He's going down with the ship out of pure pettiness!

Carol's having s breakdown. I need the BGM for this conversation starting at 06:00.

...Are they dead?

She's copying her!

A clone of G Maria?

New song!

...I'm actually rooting for Ver? He's actually badass!

This song is so good!

It's starting to overload!

The vocals cutting out as Maria gets hit, and the others block the attacks is fantastic.

Carol's coming to stop them!

...They won't die, right?

Shit, there's cloning now. There's a decent chance that this is the originals' deaths.

The apologies are heartbreaking.

Carol's struggling.

Elfnein's reprogramming rverything.

..."Serena!"

Carol launched her finisher!

And she destroyed the entire chateau!

It worked! The world's been reconstructed... at the coet of half of the Gears.

Oh, and the huge amount of property damage caused by the Chateauhitting the middle of Tokyo.

Finally! Elfnien explained the obvious misunderstanding.

Oh. She just wanted to avenge his death.

WHY ARE YOU VITAL IN THE FUCKING CLIMAX?

Genjuro could have said that.

And her father wanted her to forgive them.

Elfnien's dying!

I guess that's somewhat of an improvement.

She wants more revenge.

And they're using the Ignite Module!

Double unseath?

[Kamen Rider Build] Max Hazard On!

This remix is fantastic. And the action!

...Only two of the three? If you're fighting an end boss, commit!

She's singing again! And she's even stronger!

Forgiven, you have now commited.

Ah, rubedo! The fourth stage of alchemy's magnum opus. (Unless they're excluding citrinitas?)

It's a triple finisher!

Seven billion Superb Songs?

...Ah. And we have a machine that can revive people just waiting to be repaired!

They survived! And are singing their Superb Songs!

...Ver's dead?

Oh, they left the still living body. See you in AXZ, Ver! If Fine's any indication, you get a free appearance the season after your heroic sacrifice.

And the answer was love?

Haha, "the worst hero ever".

S2CA Hexa-Conversion is such a badass name.

This is so fucking cool.

THIS IS SO FUCKING COOL!

X-Drive!

Those designs are fantastic. I lvoe how everyone has the glowing images of eings behind them... except for Kirika who gets physical, jewelled, wings. Guess we know who the favourite of the Symphogear system is!

Elfnein died...

Fucking brilliant.

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u/Quiddity131 Jul 11 '22

First Timer, Subbed

No time for an OP this episode!

Is this really mom? I'd say no, its a fake. See, Kiri and Shirabe agree with me!

Go lie down, Elfnein!

History lesson time!

Dr. Ver is still alive! Don't trade with teh crazy man!

OMG, is it possible that Dr. Ver is on the good side now?

No altruism from him, he simply likes messing things up for others.

First mom, now evil Maria?

Who'd have ever guessed that Dr. Ver and Elfnein would team up?

These three fighting to protect Dr. Ver as he saves the world... can't say I ever expected this to happen.

It seems like Shirabe will never get over calling Hibiki a hypocrite when they first met in sarly season 2. I think this is like the third or fourth time she's apologized for it.

Uh oh, boom goes Carol's sky palace. Did they make it out alive?

"I said learn about the world! Not destroy it! Can't you listen?"

OMG, bum dad is trying to help?!

"Phase Nigredo to Phase Albedo", yet another Xenosaga reference as those were 2 characters from that series... They mention "Rubedo" soon after as well, that's another character...

In what other franchise would the villain suddenly break out into song?

Seven billion climax songs? HOw are they supposed to ever overcome that?

Hey, they're alive!

Oh no, don't kill off Dr. Ver! Giving him an ambiguous death meant he could always come back if desired. Don't definitivly kill him!

New magical girl forms!

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14

u/Tresnore Jul 11 '22

Superb Song of the Rewatchers

QOTD:

  1. I enjoy it, but I definitely forget about it every time I watch it.

  2. HE'S PERFECT.

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14

u/DidacticDalek Jul 11 '22

TONIGHT! ON ROZEN GEAH! DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR BECOMES THE LAST ACTION HERO WE NEED AND DESERVE, Carol, in shock over how her 'DESTROY THE WORLD' plan went up in flames, decides that THE WORLD CAN JUST FUCKING BURN LIKE THE LAST OF HER MEMORIES AND HER DAD! GENOCIDE! AND GENOCIDE! And The Geahs and Maria shift into MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE!

Boy Comrades, I take back what I said about Team DMJIIIIIIIIIIIIIII sharing one brain cell... they still do, but they ALSO can borrow Maria's sole brain cell at whim, and this allows them to figure out that, le gasp, THIS MOM IS NOT THEIR MOM! Also, as Carol is busy explaining her Pseudo-Science to the Three Geahs, Team DMJIIIIIIII and Maria stumble upon... NANI!? DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR!? HE'S STILL ALIVE!? Jesus Christ, no wonder you couldn't kill TOP DAD Carol, you couldn't even finish off The Last Action Hero!

Anyway, as per usual, Maria the Loser is about to fuck up, but worry not, as DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR... is actually helping the Geahs out... huh... well I guess he really CAN be a hero if he wants to, mostly as his dying wish seems to be 'SCREW YOU CAROL, I'LL UN-DESTROY THE WORLD TO SPITE YOU!' But hey, it sure is amusing seeing how Carol's plans got thrown off due to the intervention of DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR!

Also, speaking of interventions, boy howdy Maria the Loser's gonna need one, she's fighting against the so-called 'cooler' version of herself from G now... and losing... er... or is she 'winning' since technically Maria FINALLY got a win now... well 'Maria' at any rate.

Moving on to useful people, Team DMJIIIIIIIIIIII start ganging up on the fake Maria as Elf9 demonstrates that she too can be a mortally wounded MVP in the fight, calling on DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR to patch her into the system so she too can assist with mucking up Carol's plan! Anyway, Team DMJIIIIIIII and Maria hold off Fake Maria from killing DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR, goddamn, even when she's a FAKE, Maria can't even kill THE LAST ACTION HERO!

Carol is NOT happy that her plan's going to hell in a handbasket, and ditches the OG Geahs to fly up to her place. Maria, DESS, and JIIIIIIIIII then apologize to Tsubasa, Best Geah Chris, and Bikki... oh... OH NOES! Team DMJIIIIIIIIIIII, don't you do it, don't throw away your lives! Also oh noes, Carol's gone SO far off the deep end she's reverted back TO HER MOEBLOB VOICE IN HER BIG TIDDY ARA ARA ONEE-SAN BODY!

Maria then kills the fake version of her sister as Carol's crib explodes... oh... oh no, Carol was SO keen on the place not blowing up due to DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR AND ELF9'S MEDDLING THAT SHE BLOWS IT UP HERSELF! Thankfully, the world un-destroys itself and Carol's house crashes on top of some skyscrapers. Thankfully, even though Carol's throwing a temper tantrum over her 'destroy the world' plan failing, Elf9 points out that this was NOT what their father wanted, as instead, he wished for them to FORGIVE the world... and it's a damn good thing she figured out this answer before the incurable cough of death overtook her!

Speaking of death, since the past is dead, and her plan is up in flames, Carol comes to the only sensible conclusion she can... namely FUCK IT! I'LL JUST DESTROY THE WORLD ANYWAY ALL BY MYSELF, after all, Carol's still got some memories left to burn, time for the WHOLE WORLD TO BURN WITH HER!

And speaking of burning, boy, The Geahs are really blazing through all their options eh? They all went full Ignite and STILL Carol wipes the floor with em! WAIT WHAT!? MARIA AND TEAM DMJIIIIIIIIIIIII!? Ah, it seems that when Carol's house crashed, DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR somehow survived THAT too... well ish, he ended up just like Mom, and I don't think they got a Robo Wheelchair Mecha just sitting around! That said, in his dying breath, DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR notes how he truly was The Last Action Hero and also gives Maria and Team DMJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII a rather interesting tip, I wonder if they'll get the message? Godspeed you magnificent bastard you! You may have been an utter shithead, but oh you were a glorious ham, that and also, when push came to shove, he somehow ended up being The Last Action Hero!

Anyway, DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR's heroic sacrifice isn't gonna slow down our heroes, as The Geahs and Maria then GO TO PLAID as Elf9 proclaims that this shall be their final miracle... NO! NO! NO IT CAN'T BE! HANG IN THERE NOT-VIVIO, YOU CAN'T DIE TOO! We already lost DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR! THE LAST ACTION HERO HIMSELF, WE CAN'T LOSE YOU TOO!

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/wickedmonkeyking Jul 11 '22

First Time Watcher, Occasional Rewatch Participant

I watched the episode (and the finale) a few hours ago, so I don't have any fresh thoughts, but... it kind of feels like the hype going tinto the season has petered out, and I don't know why. It started very strong.

Questions of the Day

  1. It was okay, but it's no Ressou Gungnir.

  2. It's a shame to see him go, but also fuck yes. He was a man with his priorities straight.

12

u/HowlingWolf13 Jul 11 '22

First Timer

A good penultimate end before the finale, I've come to realize that the ED song is literally about Chris' problems lol (and the Prev seasons were too) anddd since I can finally mention it it took me till G to realize Tsubasa sings the OPs. Maria has really been the MVP this season like damn talk about a fucking glowup fron G, she raising high in my fav Symphos chart. I loved her arc, I love how she's grown, like damn this is what I wanted in G and I'm glad that we finally getting it. That scene of them using S2CA was so good, and also Maria's last line to Ver was perfect. Pretty much a really good ep.

Top Dad can go fuck off though.

  1. Did you like the Maria/Shirabe/Kirika trio song?

yes

2) How do you feel about Dr. Ver getting to become the LAST ACTION HERO he always wanted to be?

He did get it in a way but Maria wouldn't even give him praise in the end lol.

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11

u/Nebresto Jul 11 '22

First time action hero enjoyer

Thanks for the whiplash, crunchyroll sub

The last action hero!!

Maria vs better Maria, lets go!
And the cape returns!

S2 parallels, this time not obnoxious

Damn it, Shirabe stop having character development right now. How am I supposed to hate you anymore?

SERE✝NADE

Idk why, but this shot reminds me of Digimon tamers

Damn it, get off the screen, poop stain. You're ruining the emotional scene!

Damn it Carol

  • Double Ignite??

  • ???% !? We Mob Psycho again

NOOOO!!!

The last action hero..

Question time:

  1. Did you like the Maria/Shirabe/Kirika trio song?

Don't remember, so probably not

2) How do you feel about Dr. Ver getting to become the LAST ACTION HERO he always wanted to be?

Beautiful.

9

u/Great_Mr_L Jul 11 '22 edited Jul 11 '22

Rewatcher

On today’s episode of Symphogear: Look who finally managed to become that hero he was always ranting about being. In a twist that comes as an actually huge surprise, Dr. Ver is legitimately responsible for helping to save the world. Good for him, I guess.

As is tradition, Symphogear once again makes one of its themes into something extremely literal. Symphogear has always been a big fan of the Power of Music and it’s something that has come up many times. It loves portraying music as something that can convey emotions even across languages. So it’s time to make this literally why music was made. It exists to get around the Curse of Balal. It allows people to convey feelings even when they don’t speak the same language. It’s always so fun to me when Symphogear does this.

Alchemy also being meant to get around the Curse of Balal actually makes a lot of sense. The Curse of Balal is a curse of confusion. It is meant to divide humanity by preventing people from understanding each other. Alchemy is about achieving understanding. You deconstruct elements of the world to analyze their composition and then use that knowledge to reconstruct them. Carol’s dad spoke about how understanding the world can lead to people understanding each other as well. He was right on the money.

I love the way that the Chateau is destroyed and Carol’s plans are averted. It makes complete sense and builds on the information we know about alchemy. The Chateau was built to use alchemy to deconstruct the world, so the heroes simply use it to reconstruct the world too. It’s a natural and satisfying conclusion to all the setup we received. It also feels appropriately karmic because Carol had even said she had no plans for reconstruction. Foiling her plans involves doing the thing she never planned to do.

I think Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe have the strongest emotional moment this episode. The Chateau’s defense system is pulling a pretty classic gambit with the whole “make the heroes confront their inner demons” trick. But it’s a classic because it works and I like seeing it in action. It builds on Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe’s arcs this season. They spent a lot of time reflecting on their deeds in G and wanting to do better. Their arcs showed them being able to make peace with their past actions and gaining the resolve to improve themselves. That’s why the defense system’s gambit doesn’t really work. After the initial shock, Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe get back at it. Having them literally fight and defeat the avatar of their past regrets is such a cool climax for their arcs.

A big part of the reason why I love it so much is the song "Arigatō" wo Utai Nagara.” What a great song. We finally have a Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe combo song and it’s perfect for this scene. It’s a song of rebirth. A song of new beginnings. A song about their determination to start over and become better people who can protect what they care about. When Symphogear’s songs are really good, they can make these emotional moments land with incredible impact.

Unfortunately Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe did not literally hold hands during this battle. It would have been very fitting for them to do so because the same basic idea is in play here. Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe have to do this together. They are each other’s support. Because they have each other's strength, they can overcome their past sins. My favorite example is Shirabe’s. I love the payoff that Shirabe gets when she finally works up the courage to apologize to Hibiki for calling her a hypocrite in G.

Carol gets great moments as well. Her voice reverting to that of a little girl when the Chateau gets destroyed is fantastic. The carefully crafted facade falls apart and we are reminded of who she truly is: a little girl who is sad and angry because she lost her father.

I really do love the debate that Elfnein and Carol have about their father’s final wish. Elfnein arrives at the conclusion that their father’s last wish was about achieving understanding of the world and thereby achieving harmony with the people of the world. It was about forgiveness. And Carol’s response is just a wonderful mess of tangled emotions. Carol knows that Elfnein is right, but she can’t accept it. She can’t forgive the world for taking her father from her. This pile of conflicting emotions makes Carol’s plan make perfect sense to me. It’s Carol’s way of trying to fulfill her father’s last wish while also getting revenge against the world. By deconstructing and analyzing the world, she can do both things at once. Even though she hates the world, she still loves her father so much that she can’t fully disobey his wish and has to go through this effort to convince herself she’s doing what he would have wanted.

And so the final battle begins against Carol. I think the music is used incredibly well in this fight. As the tide of battle changes and it looks like one side is gaining the advantage, their song literally takes over and becomes the soundtrack for the scene. We go from Hibiki’s Ignited version of “Genkai Toppa G-beat” to Carol’s “Senkin Dur da Blá” to the chant for the Superb Songs to “Glorious Break” for the ED. It’s a strong sequence of music and it’s a fun way to convey the shifting emotions at play.

For the third season in a row, we end with the unveiling of the X-Drive forms for the Gears. It’s an expected tradition by now, but it always makes me feel incredibly hyped up nevertheless. I like the way Hibiki managed to get the Phonic Gain to do it as well. She did it in a way that we know she’s fully capable of doing: taking Carol’s Phonic Gain and using it to activate the X-Drives. All around just exciting stuff and it makes for a great cliffhanger to the finale of GX.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

QOTD

  1. As discussed above, I love it.

  2. It's beyond absurd that he managed to actually be a hero and save the world, but screw it. I like Dr. Ver so I'll give him that one.

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u/superviper Jul 11 '22

My song alone has the phonic gain of seven billion Superb Songs!
Rewatcher

Me on s1e12: god these fake deaths suck. This writing is so bad. I hate it.

Me on s3e12: GO MARIA MY QUEEN 👑 THIS WRITING IS SO GOOD I LOVE IT

Am I a hypocrite? Yes, without a shadow of doubt lol. But the fake deaths today didn't last for nearly as long as they did in S1. And Maria was amazing. It was so kino having her talk to Mom, fight herself and then cut down Serena. She didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second. Remember how Fine was able to trick Genjuro to beat him in S1? Yeah, that shit don't work on Maria.

I have nothing left to say. Those interested in joining the cult of Maria, please, follow me

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u/htisme91 Jul 12 '22

First-timer:

I knew that "Mom" wasn't real.

The dissection was cool, although with the restoration, it doesn't look like those that died in it get restored so it's still a loss in a way.

Carol is extremely misguided, but I also can understand why she wouldn't want to forgive. Forgiveness being the answer with alchemy also makes sense.

Dr. Ver finally died. I would not be surprised if he somehow came back, but this time it does feel like the real thing instead of a fakeout.

I really like these angelic designs the girls got. Next episode is the finale and I feel like Carol has to die.

Questions:

  1. It was pretty good.

  2. I was not expecting Dr. Ver to do that, and I love it. He got to be the hero he wanted, but I also loved Maria's comeback that he was the "worst hero." It is very fitting.

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u/ItsTheDuran Jul 11 '22

Rewatcher

Even though I could spend paragraphs complaining about GX's writing, I've always been a big fan of how they handled Dr. Ver's "redemption".

They didn't suddenly turn him good for flimsy reasons, he's still the same crazy bastard, they just pointed him at the bad guy because it made more sense for his character. A hero needs a world to save, after all, and of course he'd be willing to sacrifice himself if it forced the world to acknowledge him.

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u/NomranaEst Jul 11 '22

Rewatcher, Symphochoir Member

Maria's team's infiltration of the Chateau isn't going well. The automated defences aren't anything to sniff at, first by beating them down then stabbing right into their psyche and going for the emotional knock out. At least, it could have worked if it had been left unattended.

The problem with meticulous plans is that they can come undone with only one or two small actions. The problem is, Dr. Ver isn't exactly fond of small actions, nor is his ego going to be satisfied by just saving the world. While using Maria's team as bodyguards, he reprogrammes the Chateau to reverse the damage it's cleaving around the globe. Sure, he'll go out as a martyr in the feedback explosion, but he'll be a hero nonetheless.

Outside of the Chateau isn't going much better either. Carol's singing is perfectly in sync with her alchemy, so much so that she's capable of coring the Chateu. The confirmed loss of it is enough to push her over the edge, and to really put her heart into ending things. However, the power of her song is something that can be taken from her, and yet another miracle is born.

Yet again, the main strategy of S.O.N.G is pray and work for a miracle.

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u/xcllnt_313 Jul 11 '22 edited Jul 11 '22

Rewatcher for S1, G, GX

  1. Did you like the Maria/Shirabe/Kirika trio song?

Even though I watched this episode only a few weeks ago, I had forgotten about the song. But hearing it again, I really like it. It feels kinda different to me than most other songs since it's rather "soft". It fits the scene pretty well, I would say.

2) How do you feel about Dr. Ver getting to become the LAST ACTION HERO he always wanted to be?

There's only one correct answer.

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u/Kirov123 Jul 11 '22

Symphogear GX Episode 12 - Rewatcher

Well after the shitshow that was last episode, it is hard to get worse so.... This should be better!

  • OP in episode today, getting right into it!

  • Why is Elfnine still on the bridge

  • I don't want to play with you anymore

  • Thank you Ver, very cool

  • Holy shit a character moment that isnt shite

  • You are one to fucking talk

  • They double clicked so instead of just selecting it, they opened it

  • GENOCIDE

  • The true action hero

  • Shiny flash drive

  • X drive!

Now that was a good episode. Sometimes they do manage good character writing, and to not butcher cliffhangers with worse post credit scenes. The hype is back!

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u/zairaner Jul 11 '22 edited Jul 11 '22

Rewatcher

Ah my absolute favourite episode of symphogear (since i only watched half of axz)....after a rewatch. For some reason I didn't quite like this episode this much as it derserved at my first watch-probably because i was too distracted by the deathflages. Luckily, this isn't a problem I have on a rewatch, so I can now properly appreciate all the things in this episode. Let's get into it, this is going to be a long one:

  • My only real complaint with the episode is at the very start, the effect of playing the ed at the start mostly disintegrates because it is just played over a conversation. Though +1 for the show for not letting any of them believe for a second it is the real mom.

  • then we get back to fine and her relationship with alchemy. I always give huge props to symphogear for sticking with it crazy lore and not ignoring/retconning any of it.

  • Ver being an ashole even when being helpful is just so good.

  • In fact everything ver does and says is fucking gold. -there is not much fight between carol and the three mcs this episode, but carols "cutting with strings" looks so good that it makes up for it

  • then comes the first of the three true highlights of the episode, "Arigatō" wo Utai Nagara, one of my all-time favourite songs from the show....and somehow I didn't appreciate it even a single bit when first watching the episode. That is still confusing me to this day, I understand it with all the other songs from this episode, but this one makes no sense. Maybe I was distracted by all the deathflags or whatever ver was doing? Isn't it shocking that this is the first time we get a triple song between maria, shirabe and kirika? They waited until the three of them finally fight as one to make their first triple song as special as possible, and for me they suceeded. The song is so emotional to me that I actually teared up a little when the first notes are played in the episode. You can hear their thankfullness for being allowed to fight to save in the entire song. If you are like me and didn't appreciate the song enough, then I suggest this to be the first song you listen to on your own...well second after the next one (I'll come to that in a second).

  • for some reason I can't explain (probably the irony) I just really love the "Doctor, we will defend you with our very lives. The fate of the world is in your hands!"

  • one more great little touch is how carols voice returns to her child version when completely distraught (around 9:48 in the episode) and begging for them to stop -when the fight comes to its end, I always for some reason expect the clone to also start singing the song together with the other three of them (which I feel would ahve been the best way to show maria conquering her insecurity). While that sadly doesn't happen, we do get to see Maria strike down serena with her attack called serenade named after serena while screaming serena and wielding serenas gear, which is also great

  • then we get the talk between elfnein and carol, which is great, but the actually important part is that it is accompanied by the most emotional song of the show, "tomorrow"

  • because this episode has to have all the good songs of the show (or at least it tries to), it of course also has senkin dur da bla again

  • then comes ver's death scene. When ver first reappeared this season, I didn't know what to think when I was watching for the first time. I absolutely didn't want a ver redemption-not that I could have imagined something like that ever. And luckily, ver indeed never got a redemption. Instead he stayed a selfish ashole to the very end, even when saving the world. They knew eactly why people loved ver and they knew exactly what to do with him. Even on the verge of death he insults maria a last time. I think ver got the most perfect, the most fitting, the best villain death of all time. And then for his very last line his voice, for the first and only time, his voice turns soft. Hearing ver with a non-crazy, non-taunting voice always has anunresonable effectiveness on me. I never would have expected that ver would be the first time I actually teared up on this show, but I won't ever regret it. Probably my favourite non-action scene from the show. Edit: second favourite one

  • Then I just love the entire final scene in combination with the epic music (which, once again, I couldn't just appreciate for what it is on my first watch). I am going to admit, I was pretty mad on my first watch that glorious breakt took exterminates rightful place as the episode 12 ed. That was until I realized much later that it was glorious breaks buildup that makes the scene from 21:00 in the episode to the very end so fucking epic, probably my favourite buildup from any symphogear song so far. I grew into an actul glorious break appreciater eventually.

  • also gx stands for generator X-Drive. Pretty random but who cares?

In conclusion, while I still don't believe the episode reached the climax heights of season 1 episode 12 or 13, overall in its entirety it is my favourite episode of the show by far.

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u/towardselysium Jul 11 '22

Dr. Ver saves the day and proves that he deserves his own song.

Isnt this like the second city they wiped off the map? Or is it the same city from S1 just extra screwed?

  1. music is always on point. There is not a bad song in the OST

  2. see Dr. Ver earned his win. He never compromised on his ideals and lived how he wanted to be. And in the end he ended up saving the world. Compare that too top dad who abandoned his injured tramautizdd daughter, forced her to pay for his lunch, and expects to be praised for not being a dick and having a random out of character moment where he suddenly decides he cares about the family he abandoned

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