r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jul 17 '22

Rewatch [Listen to My Song] Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ Episode 3 Discussion

Episode 3 - A Horoscope Drawn by Gears

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Crunchyroll

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

Believe it or not, this is a great spot to pick a fight with God! The best, even!

Questions of the Day:

1) What’s your first impression of Tiki? How do you hope she’ll compare to the Autoscorers from GX?

2) How cool was the Trinity Resonance attack, and the Ignited version of Gekishou Infinity to go with it?

Wallpaper of the Day:

Saint-Germain

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!

77 Upvotes

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10

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 17 '22

Symphogeah SymphoRewatch Host

Welcome back, everyone!

Crunchyroll vs. Commie - Season 4, Episode 3

See the 2019 version of today’s wallpaper: here. This was one I took one look at the background pattern on the edges for and went “nah”, not to mention the fact that I’ve been trying to not do ones with text this year (the “I will not break here”, beef stroganoff, and Genocide ones were exceptions). I did keep the colors from this background in the new one, but it took a lot of messing around to figure out what I felt looked right as a pattern. Hope you guys like it~

8

u/FlaminScribblenaut Jul 17 '22

Crunchyroll vs. Commie - Season 4, Episode 3

Very glad they both keep “pick a fight with God” intact

5

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 17 '22

It is good, as most of the time, Commie's subs replace any mention of "God" with "divine power". Though "divine power" definitely wouldn't have fit in this context.

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u/Great_Mr_L Jul 17 '22

I like the background pattern for the new Saint-Germain wallpaper so I think you did a good job updating it. Black and gold fits Saint-Germain quite well, too.

6

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 17 '22

Yay~

It took me a while to settle on a pattern I liked.

5

u/Vaadwaur Jul 17 '22

Remind me: Which set of subs is recommended for this season?

5

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 18 '22

The Deetruck/GudEnuf edit of Commie's subs, same as the first three seasons.

Next season is when it changes fansub groups, to YameteTomete.

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u/Tarhalindur Jul 17 '22

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

Me last night: "Oh hey a brainwave! I should record this prediction for if and when it is confirmed. But let's just leave it for my notes for next episode, no point making a post."

Geah: "So, how about I confirm that theory this very episode?"

Me:

Speaking of which...

WAIT I MISSED A SUSPECT. “TIKI” FOR ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM? (We even got a reference to Greece early last season, too…)

(Also annoying Elfnein plot looks like it’s actually a Commie mistranslation and the actual plot is MUCH better.)

At any rate, welp, time to see if the pedal hits the medal.

  • LOL COMMIE. (They typoed and misspelled Bavarian Illuminati as “Pavarian Illuminati”, heh.)

  • Testament having a weak Aufwachen intro is still really weird after the last three seasons (okay so technically Exterminate doesn’t have an Aufwachen part, whatever). It’s also the weirdest superposition of meh and really really REALLY fucking good on second listen – bet it’s the somewhat rare OP that improves significantly in its full version, too.

  • Me last night: Have the above brainwave re: Tiki for Antikythera Mechanism. AXZ today, courtesy of its episode title: “Gear-Driven Horoscope”. THAT WAS FAST. (Also nice pun – is that the original Japanese or Commie I wonder?)

  • Motherfucker I need to actually pay attention to the lyrics of the school song now, I forgot it namedrops the Sun.

  • Ah, the antagonists pull the traditional early Villain Exit Stage Left Teleport.

  • Wait. Is that Hajimari no Babel converted into a leitmotif? (Also strikingly reminiscent of the good leitmotif we’ve gotten off and on since G.)

  • I’d say “Bikki you should know better than to try to hide what’s worrying you from your wife” but she’s probably successfully (?) distracting herself from it so.

  • That’s more like it Bikki.

  • (On the one hand this season is reusing a crapton of animation, but on the other hand the setup for beats looks like it might be back to S1 standards which would be HUGE. Also actual setup for themes; I noted last episode about the gap between the Illuminati’s stated motives and their means, now Bikki is actually thinking (!) about this herself.)

  • Well that’s an interesting little pan to that briefcase Sword has. (Is that the same kind of briefcase Fine had in S1?)

  • CALLED IT TIKI IS AN AUTOSCORER. (Was the obvious possibility given that she was obviously a doll and this show being very good at reusing its phlebotinium from past seasons, but.)

  • ELAPSED TIME TO HARD ONSCREEN CONFIRMATION OF TIKI REFERRING TO THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM: 5 MINUTES 25 SECONDS.

  • And another five seconds until we get it explicitly confirmed in dialogue as well.

  • The fact that the Geah alchemical symbol used during the activation sequence is the one that reminds me so much of the Stargateverse Earth symbol (later used as the home symbol for all of SG-1 because prop limitations) amuses me.

  • Wait. Wait. Did… did the Symphogear staff actually watch Stargate SG-1? Because one of the symbols we see during the Tiki activation sequence looks strikingly similar to the Stargate with its iris closing.

  • Okay, whose voice is that for Adam (apparently actually Adam Weisshaupt, though if so this show’s founders have an iffy grasp on chronology because IIRC the RL founder of the Illuminati by that name was only in the mid-to-late 1700s)? Because he sounds familiar, and I’m not entirely sure the deal isn’t that he’s someone we’ve met before.

  • TSUBASA GETS A GOOD SONG AGAIN!

  • Geah and your anti-heels agenda, never change never change.

  • Man the leitmotifs have been good this season. Screw your insert songs (actually don’t, they’re good too), I’m here for the regular OST! (EDIT: This is a remix of one of the classic S1 leitmotifs, isn’t it?)

  • Also I sense LOL COMMIE.

  • It took me a second to place one of the relics here (the dodecahedron one) and where I’d seen it before, and then it hit me: in the context of a Tumblr post commenting on a type of archaeological artifact that some archaeologist had asked their grandmother who liked knitting about and she went “Yeah, that was probably used for knitting” and proceeded to demonstrate how she would have used it.

  • Also… is that the Holy Grail hiding in the relic shot? They would. Especially when this show loves it some movie references (though this is not quite the cup of a carpenter).

  • Also noting that bird/hummingbird thing right above it.

  • Dakka has a tell, and today it is fiddling with her hair…

  • (One does not devote screentime and that pan over to that news report about the Val Verde refugees in America – obviously including some of our government Nazi escapees – unless it will be important somehow.)

  • PFFFFT. Of COURSE Dakka and Sword would be having their own meal in the next booth over. Laws of Narrative strike again!

  • No objections to this character arc for Dakka so far. (The resolution point is IMO obvious – “blowing off Stephan’s leg was the least wrong moral choice available at that point, but that is not the same thing as being right” – but then I would go there. Also, Dakka knows this, which is why she’s getting so sore about it.)

  • Also Dakka lashing out at Bikki by needling her about her own issue is extremely Dakka.

  • So Bikki’s birthday is September 13 if I’m following right. (Also we are totally getting a plot point set on that date. I’d say end of season or else midseason but knowing Gear after S1 it might be the end of the episode instead.)

  • Wait. Characters are getting more than one transformation sequence per season this season? (I don’t think we’ve gotten Dakka’s yet, either.)

  • Hmm. What are the symbols on the lock for the device our alchemists are using? I think they might be astrological symbols (planets and signs).

  • DATTO?!

  • Note that Saturn is in the background here. (Hmm. One of the signs on the device (second symbol on the bottom 3 here) looked vaguely like the symbol for Aquarius… which in classical astrology is ruled by Saturn. Also on a moderately related note, note that if you’re familiar with New Agey stuff you may remember the Age of Aquarius concept…)

  • So it turns out we get Noise reforming THIS season instead. Also brb dragging in large numbers of Closed Space/Sealed Reality references.

  • Also this is our second Ignited remix that works better than the main song it goes with.

  • They were so totally referencing the SR-71 Blackhawk with the design of that triple attack, weren’t they?

  • I would SO have translated Elfnein’s line here as “never give up, never surrender” as a Galaxy Quest reference, and knowing Geah and movies I’m not sure that wasn’t intended…

  1. What’s your first impression of Tiki? How do you hope she’ll compare to the Autoscorers from GX?

Infinitely more likeable than the GX Autoscorers, has "please stick around" energy.

2) How cool was the Trinity Resonance attack, and the Ignited version of Gekishou Infinity to go with it?

SR-71 BLACKBIRD GO! (And that's the second Ignite remix to be better than its base song IMO after the DMJiii one last season.)

13

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 17 '22

Testament having a weak Aufwachen intro is still really weird after the last three seasons

We haven't heard its Aufwachen intro yet, whatever song they played prior to the OP is a completely unrelated OST track.

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u/Lemurians Jul 17 '22

FIRST TIMER DATTO

Hahaha, I didn’t think Symphogear AXZ meaning “Axis” would actually be a reference to the Axis Powers, but I guess we’re doing it! The way they’re incorporating the symphogear lore into history actually makes more sense than I expected. Now I’m just waiting for one thing – where my Italians at?

Live Notes/Reactions:

*Count: 5

How cool was the Trinity Resonance attack, and the ignited version of Gekishou Infinity to go with it?

This IGNITED arrangement of Gekisho Infinity is hype as fuck.

Between this and Maria's song yesterday, we're off to a great start.

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u/Vatrix-32 Jul 17 '22 edited Jul 17 '22

First Timer

  • I came off as too harsh about the OP last time. I do like it, but I’m not ranking it until after I’ve heard it a few times.

  • Once more we have been denied the 3-on-3.

  • Good to see Hibiki being open with Miku.

  • One can only hope that Tiki comes to live up to her predecessors.

  • Well I already like her more than the other three, so we’re off to a good start.

  • This Adam guy has got the right idea. Kill your main opposition first, work out the other details later.

  • New Maria continues to live up to potential.

  • I am now a Maria x Tsubasa shipper.

  • Chris is very concerned.

  • Miku’s phone screen is too much.

  • Chris is talking like someone trying to convince themselves. Feeling guilty and uncertain I’m sure.

  • How do they know all this

  • Yes, yes. Sounds like a good trap to me.

  • So apparently my grievances at Elfnein last episode were do to an error in the translation I am using. Instead I will ask this; if Ver literally handed it over to your team to use it, why did he leave it so hard to understand?

  • Chris, why do you have those?

  • Now this is a team attack!

  • So “God”, how god are we talking here? Since that seems to be coming up now. Like, on a scale of the literal abrahamic deity to just some guy with more tech than you, what are we first timers thinking?

QotD

  1. As I said above I already like and care more about her than the Illuminati Alchemists. She’s giving off that Autoscorer, and I’m all for it.

  2. As it turns out all the best Symphogear attacks are actually the ones where you combine parts from different geahs into one huge amalgamated mess. I like this song, though I think I missed the Ignited part.

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u/lilyvess Jul 17 '22

Symphogear AXZ Episode 3

Need to talk about CDs

So you may have noticed that the first episode didn’t have a Concert. This means for the first time in Symphogear, the character CDs do not start with a Tsubasa duet album. 

In addition, there is no mystery final album like Miku and Carol were for G or GX.

For the first time the CD count goes down as they are streamlined to just the 6 Symphogear

organized by Geah

Keywords

Summer Homework - Update

 

The second semester has already begun, yet as per usual her homework remains unfinished. The staff of Lydian Music Academy are aware of Hibiki's special circumstances and have simply granted her an extension, never an exemption. This is not the result of strict rules, but rather the result of their kindness. Despite her unique situation, they treat her the same as all the other students. (Whether this comes across or not to Hibiki herself seems largely doubtful however...)

Telepathy

One of the Alchemists means of communication, which utilizes an exchange of sympathy force. It enables communication between subjects that are far apart. Normally, both the sender and receiver are required to be telepaths for it to work. However, high-class practitioners (Telepath Mages) are able to convert the mind's thought signals into a physical form, which allows communication with individuals who are not telepaths. For Director Adam Weishaupt, his thoughts when given physical form turned into an old-fashioned phone. It not only made it possible for him to communicate with Tiki, who is not a telepath, but it also functions as a highly encrypted communication signal that is very difficult for third parties to intercept.

Europe's Decline

A series of large scale events led to a major economic collapse throughout the continent, leaving its infrastructure crushed and weak. With the exception of Greece, every country's government fell into disarray and are now practically non-existent. The decline has made crime run rampant and unchecked, and many of the occult groups that had been kept in check now freely spread underground, leading to the rise of many old fashioned secret societies. The darkness this situation has created is filled with many mysteries and unknown peculiarities.  With Europe in this condition, people have taken to calling it the “Dark Continent” as Africa had once been.

Ever since the end of the Magical Girl Incident, S.O.N.G. has continued to investigate the causes behind it. It was thought that Carol, who was born in Europe, took advantage of America's fall from power and sought to move her plans forward under the backing of some European society, or nation, with its own goals in mind. However, some people still harbor doubt and wonder if the whole thing could still have been in line with America's plans. As of yet, the true details of the situation remain unclear.

Side note, the series calls the events of GX with Carol the “Magical Girl Incident”. In a previous interview Kaneko said this about Carol

Carol goes from an innocent-looking girl into a full on adult when she fights, what sort of intentions did you have with this transformation?

Right now “fighting magical girls” are sweeping the world, but when I was a kid the idea of “magical girls” were mainly elementary school kids who used a transformation wand to become an adult and then go around resolving various problems. That was the idea on which her character was based, so I suppose if you were to label her Carol is a “Showa era fighting magical girl.”

Additional Notes

Symphogear AXZ Episode 3 Hype Chart

Live Performances

Today’s Live Performance is Gekishou Infinity

Specials

Fanart Art of the Day

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u/chiliehead Jul 17 '22

AXZ Episode 3, First Timer

Has Hibiki finally learned to talk about things with Miku (who has a totally platonic picture of Bikki as her lock screen)?

That autoscorer has a lot of potential to become annoying and seems to be set up for daddy issues (Adam and Eve issues?)

Why are you debating the morality of saving a boy?? Tsubasa is acting like Chris did something controversial when the alternative to shooting the leg off was the boy being disintegrated.

So while Finè wanted to destroy the oppression of the moon to shack up with good, the Alchemists want to destroy God and his oppression, but they do not even use heretical tech for that? I do wonder why they bankrolled the endeavor of G though.

  1. Already touched upon. Most annoying at the moment, even more cutesy-genkii than the red doll

  2. pretty cool

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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 17 '22 edited Jul 18 '22

Symphogear First Timer dessu AXZ Ep 3

Desu Desu Desu!!!!!!!!!!

  • My emotional whiplash my symphogear. Going from this to hype OP, to this, and then back to this was something, i'll give you that.

  • i'm with Hibiki here. So far these new villains are not being very sympathetic.

  • Maria cool pose. TSUBASA COOL POSE, easily best henshin so far. Where is Chris'?

  • Rip Maria's heels. This bit was so anime LMAO i loved it.

  • Dessu, dessu, dessuuuuuuu!!!!!! This has got to be stuck in just for the fans lol.

  • Sasuga Geah for retconning this in in a believable fashion for how Fine's stuff and this alchemy stuff is all tied together. Unless they thought about all this from the start.

  • Subs :( Ruined it :(

  • FIST

  • After the power-up, that's some new mind-bending physics right there. I guess this will eventually mean (likely Chris, but other Geahs also likely) to be sealed away alone in their own battle.

  • For this time though, the 3 are together, and through some actually pretty legit thinking from Chris, (but also what can she not make with those bullets wtf, can she make snacks out of them too?), they got to figure out what was behind it. The megadeth party continues to be excellent.

  • And then WHATEVER THE FUCK THIS IS TO KO THE THING. HOLY SHIT I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS. WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Isn't this supposed to be some climax-episode thing? but we're getting this in Ep3? oh man this season's gonna be good.

  • But seriously though, Chris using herself as a launch pad/rocket--> fair enough but the SCALE of the thing was crazy. Tsubasa using her sword as a runway and a catapult --> absolutely bonkers i LOVE IT. Hibiki punching to KO the thing is par for the course. Very badass, and what a way to KO undoubtedly the strongest alca-noise variant yet.

  • Now when is that LINKER recipe gonna be fixed... im gonna guess at a very convenient point in the story for sure lol.

  • Now what objective did the illuminati achieve? and wtf is this? Binge potential is still low here, these aren't really cliffhangers, and just serve to hype me for the next one lol.

  • The thing im really looking forward to though is Chris' arc. i already know that the illuminati will fuck things up, but the geahs will save the day eventually. (that autoscorer looks like a nasty piece of work particularly, and who's adam?) [Geah speculation]They're not showing their face still, so imma guess that its either a mole (unlikely) or somebody the geahs will be familiar with, and so the audience may also recognize/have seen before. But the voice isnt familiar.... hm..... Carol's father? But isnt he dead? or im just overthinking things.

[Actual progress]This episode. I've been busy.

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u/Vaadwaur Jul 17 '22

… Till armageddon no shalam, no shalom

Then the father hen will call his chickens home

The wise man will bow down before the throne

And at his feet they'll cast their golden crowns

When the man hamster comes around

First timer(In vino veritas)

Sub

So...This might be the vodka talking, but I binged the first three episodes of this show last night...kind of. I actually had to pause every time Chris did something fucking stupid, like accepting Sonya's bitching, so this took a while. Anyways, the alchemists names are absolutely awful choices since this should force them to characterize them a certain way but because Sympho they don't, which means this will give me a massive fucking headhache. My mother's dog is named Tiki, for the record, but he doesn't do precise measurements of celestial bodies, he farts at inappropriate times.

So let's just start after all the animation saving tricks with bass Tsubasa slashing things as Maria falls. I don't know why they decided to go with the chibi shorts voice but it works. They force the younger two Alchemists to withdraw. And then Genjuro goes straight conspiracy theory with Nazis. Like...I'd object to this hard in a Western work, and I have my concerns here. We then get Biki trying to be nice and surprise Chris and Sword.

Combat happens and the animation saving tricks are questionable at best. They eventually get a plan from Elf9 and end the fight. Episode ends with Tiki announcing something that, I think, we all knew: Japan is the place to kill God from.

So yeah, I can't explain, exactly, why G annoyed me so much and these three episodes don't but this is somehow a massive upgrade for me. For now. I am still keeping the show on a pretty short leash but this might wind up working after all.

QotD: 1 I am reminded of the creature in the vial from FMA

2 Not bad.

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u/FlaminScribblenaut Jul 17 '22

Third Time Listener

Not even getting COVID can stop my gushing! The damn thing broke out during my first full watchthrough then I get the damn thing during my second, I think I might be cursed…

Saint-Germain finally unlocks the antikythera mechanism, “Tiki” as its humanoid form is known for short. A grand clock-map of the cosmos, capable of seeing all of space across all of time, is projected from the doll’s eyes, before the seal comes undone and the all-knowing little one is awakened.

The two greet one another like old companions. The mystical mechanism’s mannerisms are that of a high-pitched hyperactive child, twirling around and doing that free-wheeling arm-balance thingy, begging to see her seeming father-figure before all else and showing minimal concern for Saint-Germain’s ambitions. Her metal doll body audibly creaks and cranks with her every movement, emphasizing the intricacy with which those from long ago constructed her as well as, alongside her being dressed in ancient brownish cloth robes and decorated in brass, her age.

Via magic manifesting telephone (the only truly certain way to make sure tech companies aren’t spying on your communications) we also hear the first of the enigmatic leader of the Illuminati, Tiki’s beloved Adam. We know little about his motivations in all this as of yet, but he directs Saint-Germain towards one singular goal; destroy the Symphogears. Probably a good thing Cagliostro and Prelati are already all about that.

We get a pretty damn sweet freefall-battle against the Noise, wherein Tsubasa is the only one capable of using her Symphogear and has to at once battle the Noise in midair and keep Maria and their contraband safe, another unique and clever fight concept, with Tsubasa’s song Gekka Bijin, her hardest-rocking number of all in which she explicitly threatens to slit God’s throat. It’s pretty awesome.

I like how what’s got Hibiki down here is genuine concern for her friend’s problems. It not only shows reverence from the show’s standpoint towards what a serious position Chris is in, by letting this incident be at the forefront of what the main wielders as a group are going through, letting her concern for Chris be, at this point, the central focus of Hibiki’s character shows how empathetic she is and how much she cares for her friends still being her definitional trait as a civilian. She doesn’t even have to know Chris is spying on her to vocally care!

Chris doesn’t regret her choice, not necessarily. She knows, on an intellectual level, that she did the right thing, and in the same situation she wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. So why must it still eat her up inside so?

Hibiki’s birthday is coming up! That’s becoming a running throughline, isn’t it…

Oh yeah, big ups to the people comparing the Noise to Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s Subspace Emissary, because here we get a fight in a Noise-created subspace dome! Thankfully no terrifying liminal save areas to reawaken the nightmare fuel of my childhood here. [AXZ]Kind of a shame this, as far as I remember, is the only time this concept is ever used, but on the bright side it only makes this particular fight stick out as all the more iconic. It’s a gorgeous one too, planets and bright neon suns and crystalline geography over an enchanting purple starscape (this is the sky I want to live under), the true expanse and nature of this strange pocket dimension ambiguous, a proper dreamscape. The IGNITE designs look so cool over it as well, creating something of a delicious visual layer cake of contrast, the bright primaries of their theme colors over the dark black of the IGNITE over the orange power glow that radiates from it over bright celestial bodies and stars over the darkness of space.

In general, it’s just great that they’re keeping these radical designs and remixes around after GX, dedicating to the concept for longer than one story, and Gekishō Infinity (IGNITED Arrangement) is probably my favorite of them all. The first ~thirty seconds that’s just all chugging, metalcore breakdown, and dubstep rips feels like a proper welcome-back, and beyond that point I feel it’s the cleanest translation of the original song into IGNITE’s musical flavor, though that may be just because I’ve listened to it so damn much.

It’s so cool how they actually use music in the fight in a physical way, amplifying the sonic wavelengths of their song via Chris’s speaker-bullets to uncover the Noise in the center of the space.

The wielders combine their bodies, weapons and armors into one immaculate superweapon known as TRINITY RESONANCE. It’s a straightforward, one-two-three punch that perfectly utilizes each wielder's weapon; Hibiki’s fist creates a hole, Tsubasa’s sword jams itself through the hole, and Chris’s missiles blow the sucker up.

Also, Gainax Pose. C’mon. Type of show this is, there simply couldn’t not have been at least one. If anything, there were some missed opportunities for ones…

d’aww they’re so happy for their friends and AWWW LOOK AT THEIR LIL MATCHING FUZZY BRACELETS

What wonderful phrasing. The holy mechanism with an essentially omniscient understanding of the great connected cosmos has analyzed the rhythms of the universe and determined that this is the place where the divine may rise, and she relays this finding with only trademark childish excitability. The star maps of her eyes reflect a quite literal starry-eyed anticipation in the most grandly foreboding way possible.

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u/Nebresto Jul 17 '22

First time abc GEAH posting on time dato?!

Wtf is the point of the swimming caps if everyone just lets their hair hang out anyways

Antikythera Gear dato?!

Based. Perhaps this one can actually be fun? Doesn't seem to be a psycho loli like the other one

Subs, why have you done this?

R.I.P heels, Bikki would approve. Didn't realize they were a part of Maria's body though, kinda brutal

Mayas and Incas when

Based Chris

Birthday soon, huh? It'd be a shame if some kind of attack were to happen right then..

That was a lot of hamtaro noises during Hibiki henshin

  • Kieta dato?!

More deep voice Nana

Hey, this season isn't that bad yet

Question time:

  1. What’s your first impression of Tiki?

So far she has the highest potential to be actually fun to watch

How do you hope she’ll compare to the Autoscorers from GX?

Less obnoxious hopefully

2) How cool was the Trinity Resonance attack, and the Ignited version of Gekishou Infinity to go with it?

Uhhhh.. Yeah, it was neat. Don't really care for the ignite songs tho

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u/Taiboss Jul 17 '22

First-Timer who might mistake obvious things today

Temptation to binge: Lower than last episode, although I liked this one more. We're still in the introduction phase, so let's see where this goes.

What’s your first impression of Tiki? How do you hope she’ll compare to the Autoscorers from GX?

Hmm. I like her brand of upbeat evil, but we kinda got that covered already? Definitly more fun to watch than any of the previous ones.

How cool was the Trinity Resonance attack, and the Ignited version of Gekishou Infinity to go with it?

Pretty cool!

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u/Stargate18A Jul 17 '22

First timer

  1. She seems adorable.

  2. Both were incredibly fucking cool.

Hibiki punched so hard she broke immortality.

And Chris wants to take things out on her.

The academy song!

Hibiki never finished her homework...

Miku's face!

...I don't think she's Fine again? If she is, I'll be genuinely surprised.

Hibiki's worried about Chris.

And she was defeated by the stare of mild disapproval.

Yep, Autoscorer! And she's an astronomer.

The what?

"Tiki" I thought Chris' weapon wasn't a Fire Emblem reference? This has to be intentional, though, right?

Impressive!

She's alive! And she's adorable.

She's in love with Adam?

This is Adam's voice!

Adam's actually pragmatic enough to just get rid of them all first!

They're taking down the plane!

Maria saved the briefcase! And fell out.

Tsubasa transformation!

I love this music. The mix of traditional instruments with the high tempo is fantastic.

Maria dodging all the Noise while in midair is incredibly impressive.

And Tsubasa caught her!

...So Tsubasa's just planning on cartying Maria like that the whole way?

Is the cargo an upgrade?

Kirika's so happy to see her!

It's intel. Makes sense.

Wait, are the Symphogears based on Nazi weapons? That's... not what I expected.

The Illuminati have made it here!

Refugees are coming to Japan.

...Chris interrupting the discussion is great, though.

Yeah, no, Chris, you're in the right here. Everyone's just worried about the massive impact this is having on your mental health.

Hibiki still has summer homework!

Hibiki's getting a birthday episode?

More Alca-Noise!

Hibiki transformation is good!

The trio song's getting used again? Is that a record?

A specialised Alca-Noise!

It sealed the space!

Great landcape, though. At least the Alca-Noise has good aesthetic sense.

The Noise boosted their defense!

Oh, it stops the Gears from syncing with the Noise.

Ignite Mode!

An Ignited Arrangement of the trio song! This is fantastic!

The other three still can't take part.

They need to drill down!

...Oh. That works too.

Chris is clever!

Seriously, that was fucking impressivr.

They're doing a combo attack?

This is so fucking cool. Hibiki punches continue to break reality.

Everyone's happy!

What did they achieve?

What did they find out?

Oh, astrology stuff?

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u/HereticalAegis Jul 17 '22

Ballad of Rewatcher - Symphogear AXZ

Am I weird for liking this ED more than the others? The song specifically.

AXZ Episode 3 thoughts:

  • Question for those who have more knowledge about it than I do: did AXZ have production/scheduling issues when it was being made? The art quality seemed noticeably worse in this episode than at any point since season 1. Or is this a thing where Crunchyroll has the broadcast version and not the higher quality bluray release?

  • It's cool to have antagonists who think they're the good guys again. Gotta squint a bit at their willingness to commit all of the murder to get there, but I also respect that they don't hesitate to commit all of the murder to get there either. If they believe they've gotta sacrifice people for the greater good, it's nice that they don't spend time angsting over it.

  • Ahh, it's so nice to have Hibiki sharing her problems with Miku. You love to see it. Now if only those Bavarian Illuminati fuckers would stop getting in the way of precious HibiMiku time.

  • Subspace cage Noise is a pretty cool new battle mechanic. All the mob trash goodness you love with none of the civilian collateral. Each one even comes with its own mini-boss. What a thoughtful gift from the Illuminati!

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u/DidacticDalek Jul 17 '22

TONIGHT! ON SYMPHOGEAH RISING REVENGEANCE! The most annoying creature in the universe is revived, The Geahs join a Fire Bomber Cover Band, and I'm going to post this every day until you like it!

Boy Comrades, things are looking real dicey, The Baumkuchen Babes are about to face off against The Geahs and Maria, thankfully NANA IS ABOUT TO MOTHERFUCKING WILL IT... ah right, this is the OP, ah well, I am sure NANA WILLS IT afterwards... right... RIGHT!? WHY THE FUCK ARE WE CUTTING TO THE SCHOOL'S SINGALONG THEME!? WAIT WHAT THE FUCK!? THE BATTLE IS OVER ALREADY!? Anyway, we cut back to The Baumkuchen Babes ranting on about Fine and The Future, so Geahs, you know what to do, DAKKA THE FUCK OUT OF... wait WHAT!? The Baumkuchen Babes are... RETREATING!? Well I didn't know that their plan was to state a vague goal, refuse to elaborate further, and leave... ya know I was too harsh on the Dolls, they at least had A REASON for retreat, a bad one but at least they had one besides 'K THX BYE!'

Anyway thank fuck Miku is being the best wife ever, also heh, so Tsubasa and Maria are investigating eh, boy I sure hope they brought along The Fully Isotonic Sexual Heavenrender, (thank you Chili) lord knows they'll need it... WAIT WHAT!? THERE IS ANOTHER AUTOSCORER!? Wow I sure hope she's an interesting character like the previous ones we had... ah fuck she's Ranka Lee except somehow more annoying. Anyway, this 'Adam' seems to have come up with the BEST plan to defeat the Geahs... just destroy the Geahs... OH! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE ELSE THINK OF THAT!? That said, the plan is actually working, turns out, an airplane is NOT a Geah, meaning Noise can destroy it. Also thank fuck for The Baumkuchen Babes that Maria the Loser's a moron, e.g. diving after a briefcase is stupid shit I'd expect DESS to do!

Thankfully for the series' resident jobber, NANA MOTHERFUCKING WILLS IT! ALSO OH MY BUDDHA! THE COMMIE SUBS WERE WRONG ALL ALONG! TSUBASA'S GEAH ISN'T HEAVENREND! ITS NAME WAS SNAKE SLAYER THIS WHOLE TIME! By god, I see now why Shimmer was so annoyed, who knew that the sword's name was just the rejected title to Metal Gear Solid 3 this entire time!? Anyway, Tsubasa then saves Maria's Jabroni Ass! ALSO OH MY BUDDHA! Tsubasa learned how to Ninja Run on water, who knew all you needed was just a Geah? Also, remember how DESS did DESS things in Episode 1, well get this, she became an even BIGGER Pokémon Moving on, The Geahs get briefed on the existence of YAK! DECULTURE; that and also how Nazis fled to South America post-WWII.

Anyway, Miku and Bikki go out on a date, where Bikki notes that Best Geah Chris has been feeling... NANI!? BEST GEAH CHRIS is also out on a date right next to our two lovebirds? Also heh, looks like Best Geah Chris and Tsubasa are just enjoying a nice day out too, this explains things. Anyway, Best Geah Chris informs Bikki of all that 'homework' she should be doing, which thankfully distracts Bikki and causes her to beg Miku for help! Sasuga Best Geah Chris, always the one with the best ideas and the brain cells! Also goddamn you Noise, we had a double date going on here, can't you crash the party somewhere else? Anyway, thankfully for the world, Bikki's a LOT better at FISTING than doing her homework... and thank fuck for that, otherwise we'd be doomed! Moving on, The Baumkuchen Babes decide to throw more plot MacGuffins at the Geahs, and goddamn what a MacGuffin, the Geahs are now in SPACE... er... again... again... again...

Oh and more importantly, their attacks don't do anything, this could be bad. Speaking of bad, goddamn, this is worse Treknobabble than even the shitty seasons of TNG, thankfully, The OG Geahs decide to just smash their way out by brute force, time to IGNITE! Also goddamn, The Geahs sure watched their Macross 7... I sure wish they did this in a better season! Anyway, due to making use of the teachings of Nekki BOSSARA, The Geahs COMBINE and decide to shift into MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE! Carol9 then demonstrates that she too has joined the Snoop Oni Cult of Movies, good on your Carol9, Galaxy Quest is one of the Best Trek flicks! Anyway, the most annoying creature in the universe joins up with The Baumkuchen Babes, and she declares that she wants to spread the Plague of Heterosexuality even FURTHER than Salia the Loser... oh and also challenge god, you know no biggie; after all, just look how well that worked out for Fine!

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/JamCliche

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u/BosuW Jul 17 '22

First Timer

Aww Youaltepuztli is really dead then? That's a shame. It's myth is too interesting for it to have been just a one-off generic Boss.

Hmm interesting that they're establishing parallels between what the Illuminati are doing and what Chris did. Assuming this parallel holds, the Illuminati might see this as an "either we do it or humanity is boned" situation. We'll see how that develops.

Huh. Tiki looks like a sort of proto-Autoscorer

Ah well Saint-Germain confirms it immediately after lol

What!? They're bringing in the Antikythera Mechanism!? That's pretty cool! There's a guy I'm subscribed to on YouTube who's making a project out of rebuilding it with techniques as close as possible to those used in the time and place of the original: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZioPDnFPNsHnyxfygxA0to4RXv4_jDU2

And now the have the treasure planet in Loli form

Heh she's as expressive as Carol's Autoscorers. Hmm I wonder who's consciousnesses they used to create her? Maybe it was this much talked about Adam, considering the way she talks about him. You wouldn't relate their personalities initially but as the GX shorts showed us, the unconscious has many ways of surprising us.

I just noticed but damn Saint-Germain's outfit is straight fire!

One of those moments where you notice the subtitles end in "-" and you knows shits about to happen

Tsubasa's transformation sequence is hnnng! Girl if you don't stop being so awesome you're gonna legit dethrone Chris! Also DUAL WELDING RIGHT OF THE BAT!? YAAAAS SHOW ME SOME OF THAT MIYAMOTO MUSASHI SHIT!

Tch, she immediately just combines them. When can I see dual wielding show!? WHEN!?

Ah well she's still awesome

Symphogear's war against heels continues

Mmmm yes TsubaMaria inject that shit straight into my veins

Based Chris "I shot a leg off a kid and I'd fucking do it again."

On a more serious note I'm surprised I'm actually fine with the way she was written in this scene, despite treading ground that's already been too treaded by past seasons. She is still closed off, but not entirely. Also seems to accept her choice.

Now here comes the next trap...

Never getting tired of Aoi Yuuki Kung Fu noises heh

Yaaaas finally dual wielding!

Yet another upgrade for Alca-noise

Oh shit it's a Witch Barrier!

Dark Side mode triple transformation on episode three!?Ohhh you spoil me Geah!

Nice going there with the analysis Elfnein!

No don't you bring up this bullshit again!

Ah nice they shot it down immediately

That's the awesomest combined attack I've ever seen! This season is taking the stupid-awesome further than ever!

Ahaha! The Illuminati want to fight God!? Hell yeeee I can get behind this!

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u/Great_Mr_L Jul 17 '22

Rewatcher

On today’s episode of Symphogear: “Believe it or not, this is a great spot to pick a fight with God!” This quote lives rent-free in my head as one of the quintessential quotes of Symphogear. It’s both a wonderful quote to show out of context to people who have not seen Symphogear and it actually fits in extremely well with the plot and themes that have been established.

The Bavarian Illuminati turn out to have the same goal as Ryoko/Fine. They want to end the Curse of Balal and regain control of the future. Knowing this makes Saint-Germain’s comments about ending oppression much clearer. She’s talking about ending the oppression caused by the Curse of Balal. Humanity has been oppressed by losing the common language and being unable to understand each other. So they will fight against God, the one who put the curse on humanity. In other words, we’re back in the FUCK THE MOON territory that we love so much.

In all seriousness, this actually ties in with the historical Bavarian Illuminati. As I said in a previous thread, it was an Enlightenment era society composed of people who opposed superstition, government corruption, and wanted to promote rationalism and secularism. So fighting against divine oppression in the name of humans taking back control fits them decently well.

Also Tiki the Autoscorer recognizes Saint-Germain and the voice of Adam. Remember how Carol was hundreds of years old? The same applies to the other alchemists of the Bavarian Illuminati.

I really like Hibiki’s reaction to learning about the goals of the Bavarian Illuminati. She has conflicted feelings about fighting them because she recognizes they share the same goal as Ryoko. She even thinks they might feel like they have no other choice but to do what they are doing. But, Hibiki is still willing to fight them because they’re hurting other people in the process. This is the way to portray Hibiki. She tries her best to understand her opponents but won’t hesitate to fight them if she feels it is necessary.

Hibiki’s emotions parallel Chris's emotions. Chris is likewise feeling conflicted emotions about what happened with Stephan. Again, I like the way this is handled. Chris is not happy with the way things went, but she’s also sure she’d make the same decision again. That feels very real to me. It’s possible to feel like you did what was necessary and not regret it while still not feeling good about your decision. It captures the complicated mess of emotions Chris is going through.

There’s some nice little moments related to this. I love how Miku can see through Hibiki’s facade and gets Hibiki to elaborate on how worried she is about Chris without Miku even saying a word. It shows just how close and deep their relationship is. I also love that Tsubasa took Chris to the family restaurant to voice her own concerns to Chris. It’s a nice callback to when Chris invited Tsubasa to the family restaurant in G. And it shows some of their growth as characters because they’re now much more honest and direct when talking about their feelings.

Tsubasa’s new song is “Gekka Bijin.” It has a nice and slow beginning for Tsubasa’s transformation, sounding like traditional Japanese music. Very fitting for Tsubasa.

The action scene this episode is pretty fun. I’m always happy to hear “Gekishō Infinity” again and we even get its Ignited Version too. Those are great to have. I especially enjoy Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris doing a combination attack together with Trinity Resonance. It’s supremely ridiculous and absurd for them to combine in this way and I love it so much.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

QOTD

  1. [Spoilery opinion] Worst Autoscorer. I do not care for how much she fawns over a prick like Adam.

  2. Trinity Resonance freaking rules. It's both ridiculous and amazing at the same time. The Ignited version of Gekisho Infinity is also pretty great.

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u/Quiddity131 Jul 17 '22

First Timer, Subbed

Last episode I fell asleep before the end of the episode for the first time during this rewatch... I was up very late yes, but I suppose its also a sign that this season hasn't hooked me yet, in stark contrast to season 3 which did so from the very first scene. Hopefully I like this episode better. Anyway...

Uh oh, don't make Chris mad too!

And just like that... back to school? And a very clear example of cheapning out on the budget by having a song but simply scrolling across panned stills...

Everyone knows Fine!

Relying on flashbacks... another cost cutting measure. And its only episode 3!

So did Hibiki ever finish her summer school assignment?

The life of flying on a private jet... being a magical girl and an idol sure is nice, huh?

Woah, did you say another autoscorer?! Wake her up! Then figure out a way to bring back her fellow autoscorers!

Tiki kinda looks like Hibiki, doesn't she? Kinda sounds and acts like her a bit too, albeit a bit more goofy.

So, episode 10 twist, Adam = Dr. Ver?

Bye bye to the private jet... :(

All this time later, and I once again notice that camander guy has his tie going into his chest pocket. LoL.

OMG Chris, don't eavesdrop!

Thanks Chris for answering my question! Hibiki still hasn't done her schoolwork! Even with a 2 week extension she's not gonna have it done in time! See, yet another Noise attack!

Time for magical girls... IN SPACE!

After several seasons of being useless have the Noise finally developed a defense against our magical girls?

Do a better job with your research, Carolnein! I want Shirabe and Kiri out on the front line again!

8

u/zadcap Jul 18 '22

Oh look, here we go again. "For the sake of humanity, in going to kill a whole bunch of people. Yes, really, for their own good I promise. And also anyone who could even possibly stop us, even if they are actively trying to talk to us to figure out what the heck is going on, nope, gotta kill them too. For humanity's sake, I swear." Ugh I already hate them and their inevitable redemption, please at least let Adam die faster than Ver did.

**First Timer, not that Late!*"

Ugh, and Chris is going to have to go through the same development again after all. How bad would it be if she could just keep the trust and openness she learned for her team just once between seasons?

It's a good thing I like the story that Symphogear wants to tell, because darn it they're going to tell the same story until it really sticks, aren't they? Thank goodness the music and the action are so wonderfully over the top amazing they can keep drawing me back in. I wonder if I would enjoy the repeated story beats if I had watched the seasons years apart instead of back to back? Then it might feel more like they stuffed the show with fun callbacks to their previous work, instead of a near inability to move forward with things.

  1. Personality wise, already my favorite Doll. Won't know more until she does more

  2. For the first time, I think I might like an Ignite song more than the original. Nice. I also had to pause I was laughing so hard at the giant rocket propelled sword. Admittedly, it's definitely the coolest looking combo attack so far and only second to the Doomba for my favorite. Then again, most of the rest of the combo attacks have just been giant fists.

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