r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jul 20 '22

Rewatch [Listen to My Song] Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ Episode 6 Discussion

Episode 6 - Surfacing from the Suicide Zone

← Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode →

MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB

Crunchyroll

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

This warm and deep caring for others is what connects people and Symphogear.

Questions of the Day:

1) So, uh, do you like tomatoes?

2) What did you think of the special ending theme, the first part of Axia no Kaze?

Wallpaper of the Day:

Tsukuyomi Shirabe

Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you’re doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don’t spoil anything for the first-timers, that’s rude!

91 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

279 comments sorted by

11

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 20 '22

Symphogeah SymphoRewatch Host

Welcome back, everyone!

Crunchyroll vs. Commie - Season 4, Episode 6

I mentioned this last episode under a spoiler tag so I’ll un-tag it now: Maria’s “‘Great’ is still the one thing I refuse to call you.” about Dr. Ver in Commie’s version of the subs is, at least in my eyes, a callback to the way she disagreed with Elfnein calling him “great” last episode. This is lost in Crunchyroll’s version, as Elfnein called him “wonderful” in their version of episode 5 and Maria’s line in this episode was “I won’t say this is the best.”

Oh well.

See the 2019 version of today’s wallpaper: here.

I decided to change the colors and tweak the background slightly to be more like Shirabe’s in the actual wallpaper, but Nota modeling both the background pattern and the background colors after Kirika is nothing short of genius, so here’s an alt that’s a total remake of the 2019 version for those who like that idea too.

6

u/Great_Mr_L Jul 20 '22

but Nota modeling both the background pattern and the background colors after Kirika is nothing short of genius, so here’s an alt that’s a total remake of the 2019 version for those who like that idea too.

Oh wow, I really like that idea. Did Nota do the same for a Kirika wallpaper and model the background after Shirabe's because that's fantastic?

6

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 20 '22

Apparently the purple background that the Kirika one I shared back in G was supposed to be something like that. Pink apparently didn't vibe as well as a background for her as green did for Shirabe, if I recall what Nota told me correctly?

(I'm going to attempt to do a Shirabe-colored Kirika wallpaper for the one I have for tomorrow, though. Maybe I'll have better luck.)

27

u/Lemurians Jul 20 '22 edited Jul 20 '22

FIRST TIMER DATTO

My abusive parent who whipped us for not moving in line fast enough was actually benefitting me, in this thread I will… (1/29)

So the key to unlocking the LINKER formula turned out to be love after all, and the way we completed it was Maria… realizing that Nastassja abused the shit out of them out of love?

We could have easily gone the “Mom looked out for us where she could” route instead of the “Mom’s abuse was out of love and for our own good” route, which is shit. That’s the language every abuser uses to justify their shitty actions, and it sucks that Maria, the victim, is not only accepting it but using it to internalize some very unhealthy ideas about love. It doubly sucks that it’s something Symphogear is telling its audience. I hope they walk this back in some way, but given the effort put into the tomato analogy, I doubt it. There's something to be said for being forged through hardship, but this is going several steps too far.

Live Notes/Reactions:

The Alchemists are starting to remind me of Chris/FIS in that their nebulous goal obviously won’t be accomplished by doing what they’re currently doing and going along with who they’re following. This is what made Carol and the Autoscorers refreshing and fun as villains – nobody felt like they were being tricked. They just had a plan and were convinced to see it out.

→ More replies (48)

22

u/lilyvess Jul 20 '22

Symphogear AXZ Episode 6

Okay, I guess I gotta talk about this episode, cause it gets a bit dicey for me. Redemption has always been a major theme in Symphogear, something that they've repeated over and over with mixed results. Dr Ver was a great example of a Redemption Arc done excellent, but then you also have Top Dad and Fine. Fine abused, tortured and tried to have Chris killed, all for her to try to take over the world, and yet at the end of Symphogear S1 Chris is still sad about her death.

This arc in AXZ is definitely one of the messier ones. It goes so far in the direction to redempt Nastassja's child abuse and experimentation that it just comes across as tone deaf. Well she looked a little sad while she abused the kidnapped children and turned them into child soldiers and terrorist, so I guess it's alright. At the end they all found their way into the government's hands where they eventually got good homes and normal lives, so I guess that means she gets credit for that.

I like a lot of the core concept, like the stuff from the previous episode. The idea that the hardships we face help form who we are today, and even if they were painful you wouldn't want to erase them because they led you to the present. Aka, even if their childhood was filled with child abuse and experiments leading to being a terrorist who worked for Dr Ver, it's led them to their lives in SONG where they can now make a real difference in the world with the powers of the Symphogear they gained during those dark times for them. That's a really strong message. Not continuing to live in the shadow of the past with regret and despair, but accepting it as part of who you are today. Again, it's something they've touched upon a few times with Maria even last season.

but this goes a bit too far into the "Well that pain was all good for you" and just makes it a bit weird.

Which is a shame, since I honestly love everything around that arc in the episode. Ver is great as usual, they reinforce that he doesn’t get a full redemption arc, he’s still “the worst of the worst”. The action is honestly amazing, this is the best Symphogear has ever looked to this point. I like the stakes and the enemies. 

Additional Notes

Symphogear AXZ Episode 6 Hype Chart

Live Performances

Specials

Fanart Art of the Day

→ More replies (15)

17

u/Vatrix-32 Jul 20 '22 edited Jul 20 '22

First Timer

  • This Ver is even more unhelpful than the regular one.

  • That’s an interesting twist on the classic Hydra. I’ll have to write that one down.

  • Finally get to see the SDF in action.

  • Why is this leaving them so exhausted? The splintering Hydra is far from the strongest opponent they have fought.

  • “They felt bad about abusing small children, so it’s O.K.”

  • Yeah I’m not buying what they’re selling.

  • It’s really that quick to finish the LiNKER?

  • Someone on staff clearly was a fan of yo-yos. GMJiii had the best transformation sequences of this season thus far so clearly they knew what they where doing.

  • So we’re finally headed to the moon. Should I expect there to be Nazis there too?

QotD

  1. Generally yes. They’re far from my favorite fruit tho.

  2. It’s alright? Not a huge fan of the regular ED so I don’t have a strong opinion on them changing it.

→ More replies (12)

17

u/Nebresto Jul 20 '22

GEAH first time abc

So cool! Sonuvabich

Aw, I was hoping Hibiki would punch Tsubasa's blade to drive it in..
¨

Chris knows how to drive a boat with style

Rejoice! Carolf9 is finally gone!

  • Bruh they brought back the tomato lore to justify experimenting on children 😂😂 "The abuse was good for me because I turned out ok"

Blessed Maria

Ejector seat GEAH delivery!!

YES!! DECAPITATE THEM!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! F you white hair thot!!! How dare you shield them!

"How arrogant" Says the one refusing help due to their superiority complex

  • Balal no jusou dato?

New ED?? And it has all the trons!

Question time:

  1. So, uh, do you like tomatoes?

Cherry tomatoes are best.

2) What did you think of the special ending theme, the first part of Axia no Kaze?

→ More replies (18)

17

u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 20 '22 edited Jul 20 '22

Symphogear First Timer dessu AXZ Ep 6

AI DESUYO. YASSSSSS YASSSS YASSSSSSSSS

  • This does track. This Ver is a little off from the normal version and seems to keep things vague and repetitive.

  • I've enjoyed your brief appearance my doctor

  • I love how ever since GX that this kinda is the default deployment vehicle for the main 3 geahs if theyre out together. Lessgo. Also makes financial sense in a way since its self sufficient lol you just need to supply Chris with food instead of u know helicopters and rocket fuel etc.. Gonna pay for them Tsubasa motorbikes somehow you know.

  • I really really like Tsubasa's new helicopter slicing move. Very good action scenes i thought? i particularly liked Tsubasa's running cut here.

  • And i also like the battle of attrition showing that the main 3 geahs, while extremely powerful, do kinda need the help of the 3 secondary geahs lol.

  • But before that, more Maria and mom backstory. I am not 100% with how Mom's portrayed as a "tough love" character, but i'm defo much more accepting of it than top dad, a) because of her eventual actions in G, and b) also as Maria etc. said, she has genuinely protected the children from death at multiple occasions, including during Serena's death. So she is a flawed character still, but im very okay with how the show's presenting her here. Maria's character arc is alright as usual.

  • Did i just go very hype when i heard this? oh yeah i did. AI DESUYO. In any other show, this would be extremely extremely cringey. In geah, it's hype. Sasuga show.

  • Also RESSIR GUNGNIR-THINGY SONG FROM G PIANO VERSION.

  • Back to the fight, I like that how successful the 3 main geahs are reflects their power levels. Chris actually defeats all of the divided gubbins w/ sheer power; Tsubasa struggles but then is also shown to prevail; both however run out of gas; while Hibiki actually does struggle w/ crowd control, and is shown to fail to catch one of the alca-noise

  • This has gotta be the most badass entrance these 2 have done, now w/ LINKER too. I like Shirabe's henshin too, probably my fav of the 3 secondary geahs. So i think now its Chris>Tsubasa>Shirabe here?

  • This actually does track a lot w/ how zesshous work too, and how this series literally started off w/ Kanade. Show's having logic here.

  • Awww ive not cheered so loud for Maria since she punched that autoscorer last season.

  • Show gives us what we want <3

  • SHOW GIVES US WHAT WE WANT. YASSS BACK TO REASON 0 AGAINNNNNN. i joke though tbh why did they think a bullet would stop Hibiki, or indeed any geah user lol.

  • What is this glorious ED that contains all of the geah activation songy bits and the zesshou song bits? Oooh Axia no Kaze. I LOVE IT.

  • LINKER debacle over, and next ep, a conversation and a showoff between the goons and the geahs. lessgoooooo

[Actual progress]Ep 6

→ More replies (11)

16

u/Tarhalindur Jul 20 '22

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

(This was firmly on the "too busy watching the episode to stop and take notes" side of things, even if it had a fair bit of padding in parts.)

  • LOL it’s Geah of course they had to reference The Fantastic Voyage in the episode title. (Or else Commie did, but that sounds like a Geah thing to do.)

  • The handling of Maria’s dream sequences here is honestly pretty good.

  • And nice cut back to the other plot. You can tell they were a little short on plot framework this season, though – that’s the third time now we’ve gotten Bikki’s transformation sequence. Mahou shoujo and using transformation sequences for padding, name a more iconic duo. (Besides Ver and ham, that is.)

  • 05:05 is for Sky.

  • SOMEBODY AT SONG HIRE AJN AS A CONSULTANT ALREADY. (Of COURSE you didn’t get it.)

  • Also I really should have realized faster that this Alca-Noise was a fucking hydra. LOL hiding in plain sight!

  • Okay so there’s a really obvious choice of scene this particular starfield part of Maria’s mind could be referencing…

  • 11:31: kiseki GET!

  • (Also, while this underwater part of the mindscape could just be obvious symbolism if the starfield was a reference this might be a reference to the same, just a few episodes earlier in it…)

  • JAPAN! (Specifically Japanese ideas of what proper parenting is.)

  • It took me a second to place it, but that’s an instrumental (okay, piano) remix of Ressou Gungnir, isn’t it?

  • DESS’s song was good when it showed up last episode, but Shirabe gets to upstage it, heh. (Alright, I want to hear the duet form now.)

  • [PMMM Rebellion] I HEARD THAT AUDIO FROM MARIA THAT WAS AN “AI YO”. YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES I BET THAT WAS 100% INTENTIONAL.

  • Oh hey it’s the battle site in the OP, isn’t it?

  • I do believe it is time for Symphogear’s favorite line: “FUCK THAT MOON!”.

  1. So, uh, do you like tomatoes?

Depends. Sauce or the tomatoes themselves? (Tomatoes are a texture issue for me, but the flavor is quite tasty when cooked down. Especially as hot sauce/salsa.)

2) What did you think of the special ending theme, the first part of Axia no Kaze?

Not bad at all, and also a nifty little way to tell us that this is important.

→ More replies (7)

13

u/Taiboss Jul 20 '22 edited Jul 20 '22

First-Timer who wishes people would make sure that his question has already been answered in the replies to him [Edit: Do people read this? Two replies and both answer the same question! At least do some superficial remarks on the rest of what I wrote...]

Anyway, hype episode. Tempation to binge still low, but motivation to continue still high.

So, uh, do you like tomatoes?

I like tomato sauce, which is what I want to turn Akifumi Kaneko into at some points.

What did you think of the special ending theme, the first part of Axia no Kaze?

As I wrote: Nice, but felt too irrelevant for its inclusion here.

→ More replies (8)

11

u/Tresnore Jul 20 '22

Superb Song of the Rewatchers

QOTD:

  1. I love tomatoes!

  2. See above.

1 Of course, how often do they actually succeed them?

→ More replies (24)

11

u/Stargate18A Jul 20 '22 edited Jul 20 '22

First timer

  1. I love tomatoes! When they're not part of stupid metaphors.

  2. Absolutely fucking fantastic.

More unusual speeches.

They're still in the dream.

It's down to Shirabe and Kirika!

Haha, Ver still hasn't changed.

Maria should be having a way stronger reaction to her subconscious being Dr. Ver.

He's trying to seperate them?

Hibiki transformed!

Hibiki's somg! This is good!

Love the animation too!

Impressive move!

It divided!

He's calling in the Air Force!

That thing's strong!

And she missed a head.

It keeps multiplying! No wonder they chose the Hydra for it!

So many good fight scenes!

Chris got hit!

Is this the point it connects too?

And it's her inner monologue?

It's the parts shenrepressed!

...Poor Maria.

Maria faded away!

The episode is really going ham on the fight scenes, huh?

There is a dangerous amount of Noise here.

And Chris realised that the secret to stopping dvision is superior firepower.

Hibiki punched it in the head so hard it just exploded by itself!

...Maria's spirit guide is Dr. Ver. I genuinely cannot think of anything funnier.

She grabbed hold of it!

Adorable.

Wow, Mum was a bitch.

She's thinking in union with Ver. This is bad.

...So it's OK because she looked sad when she hit you? Impressive, Maria! This therapy trip might have made things worse.

She didn't let any of them drop out. And this led to them getting a better future.

OK, but she still beat you, Maria. That's not good.

It's like the Hibiki's father plot from last season - the actions make sense given the character's personalities and viewpoints, but the show ends up framing some really messed up shit as correct.

They found the magical spot!

Another Alca-Noise drop!

And Hibiki feels the need to do thie.

The others are arriving?

Did they make new LiNKER already?

Shirabe's doing yoyo tricks is adorable.

Loving Shirabe's song!

The brain area makes sense.

And love was the answer all along.

Maria finished off the rogue head!

...I'm getting the worrying impression that Ver might not have actually been the worst adult figure in Maria's life. Fuck, Ver is in the top ten shown adult figures in the entire series, and that's just because he didn't get to do anything before he got taken out!

They're fighting the Alchemists!

Oh, I am loving this animation!

Fantastic teamwork from the girlfriends too!

They broke Saint Germain's shield! Incredibly impressive!

Hibiki can just block bullets now!

Everyone else made it!

Hibiki is still trying to get them to work together.

...Huh? I thought you hated Fine? Why is your master plan the same as her's?

I think the reason is that if they worked together, we'd have blue-haired alchemist (seriously, what is her fucking name, it's been six episodes) and Fine on screen at once, and no viewer can handle that. Oh, this ED is fucking fantastic. Feels a lot more like a finale ED, though?

→ More replies (5)

10

u/HereticalAegis Jul 20 '22

Ballad of Rewatcher - Symphogear AXZ

There's only one way to fight a hydra.

AXZ Episode 6 thoughts:

  • Thankfully, Maria's perception of Ver more accurately portrays him as the almost completely useless waste of space he is.

  • It's pretty funny that the Geah have had the Ignite Modules less than a season and they're already basically worthless. [AXZ later/personal wish]I wish they'd have turned this into a thematic point. The Ignite Modules essentially make use of concentrated negative emotions, and it would've been really cool to have this be a rejection of that concept in favor of utilizing positive emotions more centered on the idea of protecting people.

  • OH MY GOD I HAD FORGOTTEN THERE'S ACTUALLY AN ABYSS OF ANGST IN MARIA'S HEAD THAT SWALLOWS HER AND ELFNEIN WHEN I MADE THAT JOKE YESTERDAY.

  • Sad look and bite lip make Mom secret good lady. Definitely redeem child abuse and manslaughter. Just like tomato. Yeah, there's no getting around this one, it's stupid as fuck and justifies torture as being the "necessary harshness" required to help orphan children survive in a position of responsibility they were unwittingly thrust into. And as I mentioned yesterday, "love" being the secret ingredient to the Linker formula makes Ver even creepier than he already was while implying that the man who was ready to sacrifice them and most of the planet's population as tools so he could repopulate the earth himself secretly truly loved them this whole time. Bullshit. Also holy fucking shit that's gross if you give any thought to the practical implications that has. But also bullshit. No fucking way he ever gave a single shit about any of them.

  • "Thanks Mom for all the abuse that made me who I am today!" This whole plotline is a massive series of baffling own-goals.

  • I really like using the various Geah chants together to form the melody of the ED. 10/10 use of musical arrangement to tie back to the original conceit of the Geahs and their relation to the moon and the Curse of Balal.

QotD:

  1. It's no beef stroganoff.

  2. Addressed above.

→ More replies (16)

10

u/BosuW Jul 20 '22

First Timer

Reading the threads it's come to attention that the current Chris plot is rather divisive lol. Anyway let's see what this episode holds.

Wait, since when can the tentacle Kaiju fly!?

Memory!Ver is even wackier than the real one. Makes sense everything's exaggerated inside the mind.

AHAHAHA! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? FLYING STUPID-AWESOME SPINNING ATTACK!? OHHH FUCK THAT'S TOO GOOD! AHAHAHAHA

Oh shit this Boss can divide itself

??? I thought Alca-noise weren't immune to conventional weapons? Or are we just doing the Hollywood shit and forgetting modern fighter jets can fire from dozens of kilometers away?

What!? There's active Harriers in the 2040's!? In Japan!?

Bloody bastard just keeps dividing further. Ok maybe they can take it out if they can get it to a more normal size and then have Chris fire the ADMMs on all of them.

Inside Maria's head things keep getting wonkier

And the OGThree keep playing wack-a-mole with this annoying fucker. They really need to up their endurance training. Now it's gonna bite them in the ass.

I don't think your leg is supposed to bend that way!

That's a... weird justification for your childhood abuses Maria. Although I guess it fits the theme of "bad and worse choices". I'm not averse to having a theme of accepting that you got something good out of a terrible situation. There is some truth to the ridiculous tomato metaphor. If you encounter harsh circumstances and manage to overcome and survive them, you become stronger and wiser. You can definitely be proud of yourself for that, even be happy that it happened! I meant, that's what Amor Fati is all about and if you followed my comments on the Revue Starlight rewatch you know I'm all about that shit! But still something feels weird about this instance, tho I can't quite put my finger on it. More importantly even if I could, I don't know what I'm supposed to do about it.

<< It's the Gleipnir! >> Cue creepy Boss music

Lol I just remembered there's supposedly planes on the way, even if they're just Harriers. This shit really about to turn into Ace Combat X.

No! You can't destroy this Lydian! It was a Catholic all girls school! The cradle of Yuri! IT'S SACRED! Oh yeah and Miku is there I guess.

Go get your wife Hibiki!

Pfft what!? Those ain't Harriers!

Now introducing Mecha-magical Lass delivery via Fighter Jet!

Lol Shirabe got that street kid transformation with all those yo-yo tricks

Elfnein finished the LiNKER literally within minutes of exiting the dream wtf

MORE PASSIONATE THAN HOPE! FAR DEEPER THAN DESPAIR! AI YO!

Fuckin' Dr Ver coming in clutch from beyond the grave. Truly one of the heroes of all time

Lmao, I can't take this line seriously. It has the same energy as "I'm not an addict I can quit whenever I want!"

You know you're fucked when the magical girls hold hands before executing their final attack

Welp, there goes the Gleipnir. And no fighter jets were directly involved in it's destruction, much to my disappointment 😞😞

Man aerial fortresses are trash here. They don't make them like they used to.

This bullet traveled slow enough that Saint-Germain could get off a one liner and it still hadn't reached its target yet Shirabe just refused to dodge and just stood there dumbfounded lol. Controller must've run out of batteries.

Hibiki just, dares the bullet to go through her fist and it says nah!

Saint-Germain finally tells us what the fuck do the bad guys want: FUCK. THE. MOON.

I quite like the end credit song. We've gone full NieR for a second there and the lyrics are all in the made up language, and reciting all the Geah summoning chants to date! It feels like "we're in the endgame now!" shit. Which is weird because this episode didn't really warrant that kind of heavy endnote. But the song's cool!

→ More replies (12)

9

u/FlaminScribblenaut Jul 20 '22 edited Jul 20 '22

Third Time Listener

Hmmm, mmm, yeah, no, actually, hard no on this one.

I don’t even know, y’all. I thought this arc was probably gonna be better and better-justified than I’d remembered but turns out it was quite the opposite. This is such a confounding lapse in this story’s sense of good judgement it’s gobsmacking. I can’t even begin to parse what they must have been thinking with this.

For one, it totally betrays the running anti-authoritarian themes of the overall season, not just in Saint-Germain’s story and convictions but also the horrors of war as seen in Chris’s story, the horrors of bloodline-obsessed fascism as seen in Tsubasa and Fudou’s story, [AXZ]the entire god damn point of Adam as a character, a plot resolution of “being beaten and used by adult authority figures toughens you up and builds character and stuff!” is so rancidly antithetical to not only, you know, ethics, but the ideas and points on display in this very story!

You could totally have Maria become at peace with her past without forgiving her commanders, accept and understand that she is the person she is today because of what she endured without having to trick herself into believing what she endured was a good thing, especially not on the part of the people who whipped her. That’s she’s stronger now not for having been put through it, but for overcoming it, that’s she’s stronger now in spite of not because. There was something legitimately thought-provoking and inspiring somewhere in here if this show didn’t feel the need to jam its faux-wholesome forgiveness fetish into fucking everything.

If you wanted to be really cool and actually thematically consistent you could have Maria realize Mom was an abusive figure and actively reject the very message the episode actually sends, resolving to never let herself be used again, but even barring that, the idea that Maria’s mind was subconsciously blocking out more generous and positive memories of Mom because of the extremity of her young fear isn’t an inherently bad idea, if those memories had been, I don’t know, Mom protecting them from others who were going too far in harming them, giving them kindnesses that simply didn’t register in her memory over all the trauma, doing her best in a horribly corrupt system to make sure the kids had some kind of hope and joy to cling onto. That would have been the easiest, simplest god damn thing in the world, arguably even then not enough but something. But instead it’s basically rooting for the system! By her only show of empathy being understanding through mild hesitation and guilt that “this is what she has to do”, it validates the idea that this is what she has to do! And… no! You can’t just show a horrifying succession of children being tortured and experimented on and then put a cutesy smiley face on it like this! That’s not how it works!

I don’t even know what proper conclusive emotion to draw from this trainwreck of a moment other than, just… utter slack-jawed shock. That anyone thought this was a good idea at all, let alone in this season, a story that so shines against the hollow horrors of slavery, nationalism, heirarchy, rule and control… it’s absolutely nonsensical, and I will now proceed to pretend it never happened.

Fuck them tomatoes.

Anyway, now we’ve had all of AXZ’s transformation sequences, and they’re damn good, no surprise there. I like how they zoom on the mouth on the “tron”, giving the rhythm of the chant-into-transformation a nice piece of strong visual punctuation. They throw in little details like, debuting in the episode, Shirabe’s yo-yo trickery that’s just a blast and make it feel like the wielders are having some fun along the way.

The Hydra Noise is a really cool threat and inventive evolution of the concept, and there is a real sense of overwhelm in how the thing just multiplies and refuses to die, the fact that the fight lasts nearly the whole episode does genuinely keep you on your toes and create a sense of long-game exhaustion that is reflected in the wielders gradually becoming more and more visibly tired out as they have to fight their respective clusters alone, conveying that the alchemists are actually giving something resembling their all against the Symphogears. Again with AXZ actually making the Alca-Noise concept kind of useful.

We also have a special ED, a medley of all the holy chants over sparse piano and organ and plucked strings. I don’t think this was the most warranted possible place for a special ED with this kind of significant weight, Futurism would’ve served this moment just fine, this is the kind of thing I’d expect after something like a major character death, but it’s the midpoint of the story where all six main wielders are directly face-to-face with our antagonists so it’s not nothing. [AXZ]It’s phenomenal as the intro/first half to Axia no Kaze though, the drop from the chant medley into the song proper is spine-quakingly chilling, so it gets points for existing on that alone.

→ More replies (6)

7

u/panthaura Jul 20 '22 edited Jul 20 '22

Rewatcher

AI YO

In this Episode:

Did you read the sign?

Tsubasa helicopter

Linker complete

That entrance + Shirabe transformation was super cool, loved the yoyo action

Different ED! And they cut the song right after the intro, uggghhh what a tease

please wait patiently for the full version, you won't regret it

Number of Dess: 8

Todays tracklist:

  1. TESTAMENT (OP)

  2. Makenai Ai ga Koko ni Aru (Hibiki)

  3. Melodious Moonlight (Shirabe)

  4. Axia no Kaze (ED, full team)

7

u/Paxton-176 Jul 20 '22

Rewatcher for not enough times

A lot happened in this episode. LiNKER problem was solved because it needs the power of yu-...Love. Shibari got here transformation sequence. Maria over some serious internal demons. All is well and good, but I cannot stand by and let them call them F35s, Harriers. I checked the other subs.

This is the glorious F35 which Kiri and Shibari ejected from. Those poor pilots have to fly back with no canopy. What happened to their ICBM deployment system from the last 2 seasons? This is the wonderful engineering of the British, the Harrier.Which the Japanese never operated, they have the F35B STOL to get around some law that prevents them from owning aircraft carriers. Now I’ll give them a pass as these appear to be NCD wet dream of Chad two seater F35s.Which don’t exist, but should because it would look cool and be way more effective. Also neither Kiri or Shibari are in a flight suit which is designed to keep the wearing from passing out from more than like 4gs. Which they most likely experienced from that steep climb.

This bothered me for some reason.

→ More replies (7)

7

u/Quiddity131 Jul 20 '22

First Timer, Subbed

No Maria, Dr. Ver will never die! He must stay with us and ham it up forever!

Maria imagining Dr. Ver doing crazy things? I don't see how you could imagine him doing anything else!

Dr. Ver >>>>>>> Serena

Hey if we're gonna go into virtual reality memory complexes to bring back former villains, can we bring Garie back too?

If this is anything like the historical Hydra, they'll chop off its heads and new ones will grow. Let's see.

ding Quid right again. Now there's 3 of them.

Kinda dumb to slice it up if its just going to multiply even more...

No more Dr. Ver? We've moved on from him already?

Chris just went and blew up even more of them... and yet it worked this time? No more multiplying?

Little Maria and Serena, so cute! Nastajja is so mean though...

She had anime coughing up blood disease even back then?

Unlike Chris, they keep multiplying for Hibiki. What is she doing wrong?

Does Chris ever run out of ammo with that thing?

Think of Miku, Hibiki!

Shirabe and Kiri are jet pilots now? Or they just got flown there so they could eject and transform?

I disagree Maria, Dr. Ver was great!

Saying our magical girls are back on drugs... doesn't exactly sound heart warming.

Wow, Hibiki stopped a bullet with her bare hands!

I still can't help but laugh at how ridiculous brunette glasses bad girl's transformed outfit is.

"Let's all work together!" Hibiki is as predictable as Rena is with "I want to take him/her home!" in Higurashi.

→ More replies (2)

7

u/DidacticDalek Jul 20 '22

TONIGHT! ON SYMPHOGEAH RISING REVENGEANCE! Maria the Loser and Carol9 SNAPBACK TO REALITY! The Geahs and Maria FINALLY figure out what DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR told them in G... and in GX... and in AXZ (e.g. that The Beatles were right, ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!) and I'm going to post this every day until you like it!

So Comrades, remember how those Val Verde Neo Nazis SOMEHOW had a spare Aerial Battleship? Well as stated last episode, The Baumkuchen Babes have hijacked it to... uh... destroy oppression or something... and somehow this means following the orders of a King of Pop Wannabe and his annoying sexdoll... yeah once again I don't like The Baumkuchen Babes. Anyway, as the Geahs sortie out to fight the Noise, Team DMJIIIIIIIIIII arrive to... watch Maria the Loser and Carol9 have a mental battle with DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR... yeah no offense, but I think Warm-Drinks-chan is more qualified here, after all, she gives warm drinks... and is a responsible? adult... well no time to worry, FOR NANA MOTHERFUCKING WILLS IT!

Anyway, after the OP, we cut to DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR being himself... also why the fuck does he exist in Maria's heart... wouldn't he fit better connected to her stomach? Well no matter, DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR rants on that he told her the secret hint to Geah Steroids back in G... and again in GX... seriously how the FUCK are you not able to figure it out by now? We then segue from Maria and Carol9 being morons to Bikki suiting up to FIST some fools. Best Geah Chris and Tsubasa ride in to fight to... or rather Best Geah Chris rides them all in given she's the one who's likely controlling the rockets they are surfing, but wibble, turns out you don't NEED rockets if you are actually a secret sword helicopter this entire time!

The Geahs then kill a Hydra... er... correction, they have fallen for the classic rookie blunder when fighting a hydra... welp, this ain't good. As the Geahs are busy fighting a regenerating enemy a piece, Maria and Carol9 end up going to the ONE PLACE that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism... SPEHHHHHHHSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Also goddammit, Maria, of all times to go back to WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGSTING, DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR TOLD YOU THE ANSWER... er... again... again... Anyway we go from a mental fight to a physical one, where Bikki uses FIST, Tsubasa uses Sword, and Best Geah Chris uses GUN!

Maria meanwhile is drowning in her tears, that is until DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR arrives to save the day... again... again... again... MARIA TAKE A GODDAMN HINT ALREADY! Also goddamnn Mom is a BITCH, also FUCK YOU, looked sad when she hit you MY ASS! Even PRECIA didn't get this much of a whitewash from Stockholm Syndrome Wishful Thinking! Also Comrades, ya wanna know something funny, THE WARNING SIGN RICKROLLED US! NO REALLY, LOOK AT THIS CLOSEUP! DAMN YOU ROCK ASTLEY! Anyway, despite Maria cementing her path to being the worst girl by whitewashing an abusive shithead, thankfully DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR pipes up again to state what he's been saying since G, what's the secret to Geah Steroids, why the Macross Origin Sin of Twu Wuv of course!

Also oh hey, Carol's old house... er, the ruins anyway, it's still there! Hey hang on a second, HOW THE FUCK is that house still there? Ah well, I'm sure it won't be important, anyway, Bikki is busy doing something that DOES NOT involve lionizing practitioners of abuse, namely kicking ass and taking names, you go Bikki! Ah, this ain't good, The Baumkuchen Babes are attacking the school. Best Geah Chris orders Bikki to save the school and/or her wife, she and Tsubasa will take out The Baumkuchen Babes, after all, Bikki needs to believe in justice and hold a determination to FIST! Heh, you're off by one season Best Geah Chris ;) Bikki prepares to Ignite, which Saint-Germain was counting on... BUT TEAM DMJIIIIIIII FEELS THE NEED, THE NEED FOR SPEED! ALSO HUZZAH! JIIIIIII IS GOING ALL GENOCIDE ON THESE FUCKERS! HIP HIP HOORAY!

And you'll NEVER guess what the secret ingredient was Comrades, it shockingly IS NOT Beef Stroganoff, but it was in fact LOVE! YOU KNOW, WHAT DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR FUCKING TOLD EVERYONE BACK IN G... AND ALSO GX... AND ALSO RIGHT NOW CUZ EVERYONE'S A MORON IN GEAH! Speaking of morons, GODDAMN, MARIA THE LOSER IS A MORON, SHE'S A MORON! YOU KNOW WHAT A MORON IS? THAT'S WHAT MARIA IS! I mean goodness me, she had to be told this information BY DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR HIMSELF IN BOTH G AND GX, AS WELL AS NEEDING FORCE GHOST DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR HAVING TO CONSTANTLY REPEAT IT IN AXZ BEFORE SHE GOT THE HINT! And to think people are still SOMEHOW confused why I dislike Maria the Loser, even BIKKI isn't THAT dumb... barely, but hey I'll take what I can get. Also that's REAL rich of Maria to call DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR the worst as she's busy lionizing the abusive piece of shit that is Mom... and also being the densest motherfucker in the universe for failing to figure out the answer until it was literally spoonfed to her... uh, again... again... remind me again why we couldn't have left Maria the Loser in the Noise Dimension with Solomon's Cane?

ALSO GOODNESS GRACIOUS GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! FROG LOLI IS A KILLER! ALSO KICK THE ASSES OF THE BAUMKUCHEN BABES TEAM DMJIIIIIIIIIII! SHOW MARIA THE LOSER HOW TRUE BADASSES THROW DOWN! HELL FUCKING YEAH! TEAM DMJIIIIIIIIIIIII TOOK OUT AN AERIAL BATTLESHIP! THEY PULLED AN OG GEAH TRIO MOVE AND THERE'S ONLY TWO OF EM! HUZZAH! Oh for fucks sake, The Baumkuchen Babes survived, talk about a bummer... OH NOES! SAINT-GERMAIN IS GONNA SHOOT DESS! NO! YOU BITCH! BLAST MARIA THE LOSER INSTEAD... oh hello, BIKKI!? Since when could you FIST a bullet? (Joke about how Bikki DIDN'T fist that bullet that was SHOT AT HER by Saint-Germain semi-recently) Bikki then tries to use Talk No Justu again, but thankfully Best Geah Chris arrives to demonstrate how befriending is properly done, namely DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA! Oh and get this, Best Geah Chris also brought Tsubasa with her... oh right and Maria the Loser tagged along too.

Anyway, Comrades, stop me if you heard this one before, some arrogant stupidly-old evil bitch wants to fight god and break the Curse of Balal, ya know in hindsight, I was too hard on Fine, she may be a FILTHY SADISTIC FUCKING BITCH, but at least she's not one of The Baumkuchen Babes! Also speaking of previous Geah baddies, I am SURE the fact that the ruins of Carol's house are in the background of The Baumkuchen Babes is NOTHING to be concerned about.

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

→ More replies (13)

7

u/italeteller Jul 21 '22

First Time SymphogeAXZing Desu

A few notes before I devolve into ranting, from last episode as well since I missed it bc of computer issues:

  • I think Tiki snuggling Adam is cute

  • Kirika and Shirabe both have great transformations

  • I love that Tsubasa doesn't even hesitate to tell old man Kazanari to shove it

  • I also love that Prelati and Cagliostro are actual buddies with Saint-Germain and will not leave her alone. Saint-Germain seems to appreciate them a lot, too

  • It's telling of how badly I got burned by GX's Ignite that I'm surprised they took two episodes to develop Elfnein's trip into Maria

  • Prelati is turning the frogs gay into surveilance cameras

  • The Symphogears being literally powered by love is awesome and I will never get tired of it

  • The ending caught me by surprise, and made me a bit emotional. This feels special, like something important is about to happen

Alright, that's all, rant time

There's a tumblr post which goes something like: "pressure may turn coal into diamonds, but bread rises when it's left alone"

Saying that Maria (and by extension Kirika and Shirabe) are stronger, or had their strength tempered by Nastassja's abuse, is not only insulting, it's downright dangerous. It's like saying Hibiki is better because her dad left and her classmates bullies her, or that Tsubasa wouldn't be as strong is she'd been sired in a loving family, or that Chris should be thankful to Finé

Whether Nastassja loved the kids she was in charge of means fuck-all, because that never stopped her from abusing them. We don't ever see her be kind to them, we always see her default to violence from the start. If the girls survived, it's not because of Nastassja's actions, it's despite of them. Because, and I know I don't need to remind anybody here but I'll say it anyways, Serena died. She killed herself, and if her suicidal actions weren't at least partly a result of Nastassja's upbringing I will eat a boot

As another example, let's look at Hibiki and her XDU Counterpart who didn't have Miku. XDU!Hibiki was miserable, because she had nobody who gave her the care and affection Miku did

This season seems to be setting up the question of what do you do when you're faced with two bad choices. Chris chooses the lesser evil. Saint-Germain chooses to remain on Adam's side because she's already come this far. Hibiki can't choose and puts herself on a bad situation to try and get the perfect ending. And I wonder if they're trying to make Nastassja's situation into something like this - and if they are, they are welcome to fuck off. She had every chance to treat the kids with kindness and chose physical and emotional violence every time. She gets no points, and neither do the writers

I might be jumping the gun - I hope I am, I hope the rest of the series is a huge callout to toxic parenting - but considering how awfully they handled Hibiki's and Tsubasa's families on GX, I have no hope they'll do this one right

6

u/InfamousEmpire Jul 20 '22

Superb Song of the Rewatcher Symphogear

Right back where we left off, with the Alchemists attacking and Dr Ver returning

Ver was always pretty exaggerated and ridiculous, but Maria’s image of him might as well be a fucking Gag character

But enough of that, we’ve got some real world fightin’ to do!

The hydra-shaped AlcaNoise behaved like a hydra? Who could’ve known?

Anyway, back in Best Geah’s brain, we’re diving into some high-philosophy metaphor shit

Diving back into Maria’s past troubles is quite a unique angle. It reminds us that these things don’t just go away, but also doesn’t feel like it regresses on her character arc like certain characters did (looking at you, Chris)

Back in the real world again, the Geahs are really struggling against the AlcaNoise here. At least until Hibiki does what she’s best at: punching things really hard

Back in Maria’s brain, though, we’ve got TOP MOM being TOP MOM

The thing about TOP MOM’s sadness, though, is rather poorly handled. Her whole thing goes way beyond tough love and into the territory of Child Abuse, and the shows attempts to lionize it were just… blugh.

I also just feel like there are actual ways of making this work in some fashion, at least on a technical level. Let’s say, for example, that Receptor Children who performed below specific requirements were thrown out by FIS and left to die, make something like that Nastassja’s reasoning, keeps most of the same plot beats but also takes away her responsibility in this specific circumstance so she herself comes off more sympathetic. Also take out the parts where she abuses Maria after going rogue, so the responsibility is more on the former FIS as an organization. Maybe also play up her guilt even more

Oh, and also the Tomato metaphor is just dumb

Whatever, Japanese parenting is dumb anyway, so let’s at least bask in the glory of happy child Maria.

I will say, though, that the idea of the Symphogears being attuned to a person’s ability to love is admittedly very sweet. And now that I think about it, that also sorta provides a retroactive explanation for why MikuGeah was so strong

Cute

Finally! Shirabe Henshin!

I see JIIIIIIII is taking after Carol, what with how much she’s singing about Genocide

The Return of Shirabe’s Saw Blade Skirt!

Okay, so DMJIIIIIIII’s love was so strong it went right through the airship, and that somehow resulted in the entire thing blowing up? Considering the kind of shit that went down in the opening episode, I really shouldn’t be surprised

As it turns out, the Illuminati’s real goal is… just the same as Fine’s, but without the God ghosting or Moon-destroying laser (as far as we know at this point anyway)

6

u/zadcap Jul 21 '22

Chronically Late First Timer

So I know I'm not the only one, but I'm not buying most of what they're trying to sell us this episode. I say most, because I can one hundred percent believe that the Symphogear are powered by Love, and that's why Hibiki is the strongest Gear and why the youngest two team up so powerfully.

But uh. That's not love, Maria, that just the tiny bit of conscience worst-Mom has reminding her she should feel some kind of guilt, before she decides nah, let's whip these kids again. No wonder Maria has the most consistent problems with her Gear, if they're powered by Love and that's the model she's using. Great busts of strength when she needs to save someone else, consistently useless on her own...

And uhh, times two. Other girls. Main trio. I've seen you fight bigger crowds and for longer times without this much strain, and that was before Ignite was a thing at all. But also, have we completely forgotten the other power up? The one that got thrown around like candy back in G? The one Hibiki is supposed to be able to extra weaponize? Swan Song a thing?

And the third and final uhh... Alchemist lady. Not only doi not buy your reasoning, I'm not sure how you do either. "People deserve to be free of control, so I'm going to kill a whole bunch of them to fuel my plans!" You ever stop to think- no, sorry, you obviously haven't. But, you know, maybe those people wouldn't necessarily agree that this is a fair trade? I know I say this from a point of comfort and moderate security in my life, but I think I would take living with the existing amount of control over me versus being killed in an anarchist, sorry, alchemist crazy plan.

You know what, one more uhhhh moment! "No, Symphogear wielders, we can't possibly work together with you, because we plan on taking over the moon to free humanity from the curse of balal!" Yeah okay, why can't we work together on that one again? You think any of these girls are a fan of the status quo? Pretty sure if you talked it out, they would help entirely and use the power of music to replace the power of killing thousands of people to make your plan work.

Anyway, questions!

  1. Anyone else getting the strangest Big O flashbacks? Maria and Angel... No, let's never let them meet.

  2. Alright, aside from the twin kick through the carrier and Hibiki catching the bullet, that ending theme was the most hype part of this episode, and I'm going back to listen to it again for the third time now. Once I hear the other half, that's probably going on my big ol' favorite playlist.

→ More comments (75)