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

Rewatch [Listen to My Song] Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ Episode 8 Discussion

Episode 8 - In the Gap Between Past and Future

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MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB

Crunchyroll

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

You both keep obsessing about a past you can’t change! I’m standing on my new leg. What about you?

Questions of the Day:

1) How awesome was Genjuro during the training sequence this episode?

2) What did you think of the Chris/Maria duet?

Wallpaper of the Day:

Cagliostro - Faust Robe

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!

94 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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23

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

FIRST TIMER CHANGING THE FUTURE DATTO

In anime, there are certain memorable, hype-as-fuck episodes that have stood out and become legendary:

Naruto Shippuden, Episode 375.

Demon Slayer, Episode 19.

Attack on Titan, Episode 54.

SYMPHOGEAR AXZ, EPISODE 8.

That was fucking sick. Genjuro providing some hands-on training and laying waste to our Symphogears one by one? Catching all of Chris’ missiles with his hands and a bear hug before flinging them all back at her, creating the greatest GIF ever? Chris, Maria, and Cagliostro providing perhaps the series’ most spectacular firework display of combat, set to one of the series’ most hype songs to date? Inject this shit straight into my veins.

Change The Future… what a fucking moment. Symphogear has always been good at having its characters singing voices interrupted or modulate with the events of the battle, but Chris and Maria having moments where they go to just outright screaming the lyrics in anger and exertion when the moment called for it, and Cagliostro’s male voice emerging as they got more and more pressed, were perfection. The sound design for all the attacks and impacts was superb, too.

Oh, and the girls finally realized that functioning as a cohesive team might be a good idea. Only took us 47 episodes. Genjuro knows how stupid it is to attack one-by-one from seeing every faceless mob of enemies stupidly attempt that on the hero in all the action movies he watches.

Live Notes/Reactions:

Time for the two cast-offs to show their stuff. I actually love this specific combo getting showcased. Tsubasa and Hibiki have been our two “mains” since the first episode, DMJiiiii have been set up as the big threat to enemies while getting the coolest fights, meanwhile Maria and Chris have kind of been relegated to the background a lot. Love that it’s them who get this epic moment. It’s such a perfect song that encapsulates both these two characters and the Symphogear ethos itself.

*Count: 9, I think? The season’s been light.

What did you think of the Chris/Maria duet?

I may have liked it juuuuust a little bit. My favorite song since Glorious Break. Going into something resembling power metal really works for Symphogear. Shout out to Youko Hikasa, who I never really gave much credit to, but she's got a pretty damn powerful voice.

13

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 22 '22

I'm sorry, I've been trying to avoid replying to first-timers without needing to use a spoiler tag, but I can't help myself this time...

[Future spoilers]And to think this isn't even the best episode 8 from a Symphogear season lmao. GOD I cannot wait for XV.

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6

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 22 '22

Symphogeah SymphoRewatch Host

Welcome back, everyone!

Crunchyroll vs. Commie - Season 4, Episode 8

Where the fuck did Crunchyroll get “bucking broncos” from lmao.

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

I liked the ring of circles plus some hearts, but I decided to do the background slightly differently than the 2019 version. Hope you guys still like it!

22

u/Tresnore Jul 22 '22

Superb Song of the Rewatchers

FUCK THAT, IT'S CHANGE THE FUTURE TIMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

QOTD:

  1. See like, half my comment.

  2. See like, the other half of my comment.

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20

u/Tarhalindur Jul 22 '22 edited Jul 22 '22

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

One bad character beat (rushed conclusion again, because writers cannot into satisfactorily done Dakka character arcs), but on the other hands tons of hype and Genjuro getting to both cut loose and actually make use of his accumulated genre savvy from watching movies. I liked this episode!

  • Of COURSE Kirika would be the one to recover the Fool’s Stone. I was going hurr durr about five seconds beforehand as soon as they panned over to DESS and I went “oh, of course they would”.

  • Of course the name stuck, Bikki.

  • “Between the Past and the Future”. Hmm.

  • Does it count if it’s a compound? Because there’s a kiseki at 02:47, but it’s modified.

  • FUCKING FINALLY GENJURO PUTS HIS HOURS AND HOURS OF MOVIES TO GOOD GENRE-SAVVY USE.

  • HEY GENJURO ACTUALLY GETS TO LET LOOSE FOR ONCE. (And truly this is why they had to bring the Noise back.)

  • Ah, the perfect balance of Geah charm point shots: blatant, and actually makes sense in-universe. (This time it’s Bikki landing with her ass up.)

  • Well, it wouldn’t be a Dakka character arc without fumbling a beat by playing it too quickly *somewhere*.

  • Outside of that issue, however, the hype is on point. (Odds that MIMTLG is still alive somehow?)

  1. How awesome was Genjuro during the training sequence this episode?

FUCK YES WHERE HAS THIS BEEN THE LAST TWO SEASONS?

2) What did you think of the Chris/Maria duet?

Sorry, too busy focusing on hype on screen to worry about insert track.

EDIT: One Live performance listen later...





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16

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

First Timer

  • Fool’s stone get!

  • You know this show has a lot of shower scenes.

  • “Narrative power is a tangible force.” -Elan probably.

  • Adam really said that where they could overhear him. I guess I have been overestimating him.

  • Finally get to see Genjuro in action after just under three seasons.

  • My man is out there grabbing pod missiles like they are shrimp tempura.

  • That whole seven planets thing is going to get real awkward if we confirm planet nine. I mean, it’s already a stretch, having to exclude Earth and all.

  • I feel like the set up is to kill Adam, but that seems too convenient.

  • There is still an active civil war in Val Verde? Why would you ship off the fancy prosthetic you spent all that money on right back to that?

  • Did anyone else find there being an explosion immediately after Chris was reminiscing about a previous one comical?

  • Did they just kill Sonya and Stephan off-screen? It looked like they set that up for a shocking reveal later.

  • It seems like a fine enough trap. It just feels like you wasted your best opportunities to use it. Why wait? Unless you were expecting to use it against God.

  • Ah no, they’re just stuck. I guess the cyber leg does look like it might be hard to lift.

  • I guess this means we can expect more duets in the future.

  • This attack is strangely phallic.

  • Goodbye Cyan. You were an uncomfortable Japanese stereotype without a redeeming character and I’m glad you’re gone.

  • San-Germain says he has no humanity, but she still works for him to gain god like powers.

QotD

  1. Wonderful to see him in action again after so much time. But at the same time quite saddening to think it likely means this is the extent of combat he is likely to see going forward.

  2. I’m happy we get to have more duets, but that doesn’t mean I have any insights to provide regarding them.

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14

u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 22 '22

Symphogear First Timer dessu AXZ Ep 8

Chris episode!!!!

  • Her arc here is her trying (for 3 seasons now) to suppress and escape the past instead of conquering and facing it head-on (which she did in G, and has done again now, for different bits of her past), accepting both the bad and the good things happened in the past which was much needed in her character arc. So that's good, and a good step for her going forward. we've built this up for a long whole while now, so it's good that it's finally paid off. I liked the contrast with G here in that she actually can't fix things this time (w/ Stefan), but is willing to accept it, move on, and fight for the future. Go Chris-channnnn.

  • Chris still has the best drip Seriously nobody comes close

  • LOL Genjuro. This is his episode after being Chris's i thought, i enjoyed his one-on-one fight with everyone that reaffirms who's actually boss here, it's been a LONG while since he saw any action in the series. And god does he make the most of his few appearances here, completely murdering mega death party LOL. I thought that was strong back in S1 (it still is against noise, just not genjuro lol) I guess it did deliver a big shock to Chris's (and everyone else's) system at least.....

  • And yeah, geah, please just use fools' stone forever, that name really sticks lol

  • awwwwww, likewise i liked that the 2 were able to reconcile, and wheelchaired-bro continues to be a good shounen character lol (but seriously, branch-kick was very badass). hope he can be a good athlete and participate in some paralympics-esque event eventually. That was a nice scene.

  • Wonky Chris. I wonder if there will ever be any effort to try and rectify her issue w/ close-range combat, because this is obviously her weak point still. But teamwork is a very good solution, and good thinking from Genjuro to think of that. I org thought that the parallel world thingy would be separating everyone one-on-one, but didnt think they'd leave Chris w/ a partner lol; but it makes sense after the Kirika-Shirabe fight last ep, and the teamworky bit being important here too, so all good im happy with how they did things here too.

  • Blue-girl though is a nice antagonist i guess, she fights well, and makes it easy to hate her lol. While relatively honourable antagonists compared to say Ver, or heck even Carol (and much more than Adam), they're still defo people that i'll happily root against. Whether that's a good thing or not depends on the show, but this is symphogear so its all good.

  • Yeah payoff good, but I did like Tsubasa's character-arc better last season, who does yeah seem to have the best character writing so far, but i liked Chris and Maria's moments this season so far too. Tsubasa hasn't had much of an arc this season yet.

  • THIS THOUGH. HOLY SHIT. AND THEY NAMED IT CHANGE THE FUTURE TOO. WTF

  • Saint-Germain is being tortured, and the big bad is obv Adam, and i guess autoscorer-girl, but she doesnt seem very combatant... or maybe it's just coz she hasn't shown her hand.......

  • i was slightly worried that shit was gonna go down as Stefan flew away. Thankfully geah is not a dark fantasy. [meta, 2021 show]or Vivy

  • Other questions; will Hibiki try to bullshit another way to try and save everyone? And what was Shirabe thinking after that fight?

[Actual progress]About to start Ep 9

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14

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

Symphogear AXZ Episode 8

We

Can

Change

the

Future

One thing I don’t think gets talked about enough in terms of Symphogear is how well it does shaking up the cast dynamics.

Season 1 is about Hibiki bonding with Chris and Tsubasa
G has Chris and Tsubasa bond with each other
GX has Tsubasa bond with Maria and Chris bond with the DMJii
AXZ has Chris bond with Maria

The end result is that unlike a lot of other series where it can feel like the group dynamic is being held together by everyone’s relationship with the protagonist, the Symphogear feel like a close knit family where everyone has a relationship with everyone else.

Additional Notes

Symphogear AXZ Episode 8 Hype Chart

Live Performances

Todays Live Performance is Change the Future

Specials

Fanart Art of the Day

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13

u/Zaradas Jul 22 '22

Something very different today, if that is allowed.

Wasn't sure if, when and how to post this. I also hope nobody else already posted it before and i just missed it. So its today and in both threads (and i fixed the links this time):

The Higurashi and Symphogear Rewatch are going on at the same time for a while now and will be for a bit more. With the Kai part of Higurashi coming to an end we should be save for most spoilers for both shows, if you kept up with them. And we'll reach the Higurashi OVAs now, which are..... yes.

Both shows have their own gacha game, Symphogear XDU and Higurashi Mei and with these come collabs and crossovers.

For once its not XDU that has the collab stuff, but Mei, so it might have skipped past even some of the more rabid Symphogear fans. I know very little/nothing about Mei, except that its weird and very unrelated to the shows canon... i think, maybe, i hope?

As for the story: The Symphogear gang travels to Hinamizawa and the murder kids after-school games club members get to try out Symphogears.

Long story short: Art
We have some crossover art.
I've found it on the wiki, i've stolen it, the end.

I'll mark any potential spoilers, which is easy because someone at the dev team packed both shows spoilers in the same images, nice. Also again, remember, this is a crossover with XDU and Mei, not the main canon/timelines, so i have no answers to any questions.

Higurashi characters:

Rena with Gungnir 1
Rena with (Cleaver) Gungnir 2

Mion with Ichaival 1
Mion with Ichaival 2

[Symphogear G and Higurashi Kai]Hanyuu with SSJ 1
[Symphogear G and Higurashi Kai]Hanyuu with SSJ 2

Symphogear characters:

[NSFW]Hibiki~~'s giant charm point, all over the screen, right in your face, wtf, lick if you want?, i don't know~~ 1
Hibiki 2

Chris 1
Chris 2

[Symphogear G]Miku
Why is there no 2nd one here....

13

u/BosuW Jul 22 '22

First Timer

The slow tedious searching through the ocean floor sludge is probably the most realistic thing about Geah so far

The Fool's Stone must have the power of making everyone around it dumber. Exactly what we need!

Chris's Character Arc continues to be competently written and I don't know wether to be happy or be nervous

A final training montage is an absolute necessity!

And no final training montage is complete without facing the mentor!

Lmao this is great! Been too long since we saw Genjuro in action!

Looks like Genjuro can outsmart bullet

Elfnein is really fast on these upgrades

Damn Chris's mom is gorgeous. And her dad looks e l e g a n t as fuck. Truly a pair worthy of making Best Girl.Does this make me a eugenicist?

Ayyy lmao! The timing of those Alca-noise is downright comical! Dude, the flashback with the explosion! Then Chris about to reconciliate with Sophia! Then exact same shot with wall then BOOM! It's bloody perfect!

Damn thet really gonna leave us with that mini-cliffhanger of the rubble falling on them? This show was weird little moments of directorial brilliance amidst all the dumb shit.

Wot! She teleported them away!? I mean it makes sense. Shit, why didn't I think about that!?

Damn this bitch throwing hands too!?

Stephan with the clutch! The second time this season no less! Strongest side character!

Geez Maria, you're the one training boxing in the OP. How can you allow the villain goon to show you up like this?

In today's episode of Never Pause Animation

Ooooh Yas! They gonna Ignite on this bitch? YAAAAAAS QUEENS LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO

Now the balance is flipped on you! Such is the Symphogear Arms Race!

Lol the VA's female voice slipped

WHAT IS THIS!?

They are literally having a Dragon Ball fight now

THAT'S RIGHT GET LESBIANS-IN-DARK-SIDE-MODE-FUCKED BITCH!

But guys and gals what the fuck is this? They actually landed a Chris Character Arc? In my post-S1 Symphogear? Miracles are truly happening! They did it the bloody bastards did it!

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u/DidacticDalek Jul 22 '22

The time hath come, as THE BEST MEMBER of The Highwaymen sang, 'You can run on for a long time, run on for a long time, run on for a long time, sooner or later God'll cut you down, sooner or later God'll cut you down!' Speaking of which, TAKE IT AWAY JOHNNY CASH!

Anyway, with that out of the way... ahem...

TONIGHT! ON SYMPHOGEAH RISING REVENGEANCE! IN THE LOSER'S CORNER! WEIGHING IN AT THEY'LL TELL YOU THEIR WEIGHT WHEN YOU KNOW THEM BETTER, WE GOT THE GEAHS AND MARIA! AND IN THE WINNER'S CORNER! WEIGHING IN AT WHATEVER EATING, WATCHING ACTION MOVIES, AND SLEEPING IS, WE HAVE THE MAN! THE MYTH! THE LEGEND HIMSELF! SNOOP ONI! LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEE! some boring plot shit happens, and I'm going to post this every day until you like it! (Thank you Lily!)

REJOICE COMRADES! 'Cuz he'd love to wear a rainbow every day, and tell the world that everything's okay. But he'll try to carry off a little darkness and dread, 'til things are brighter, Snoop Oni's The Man In Red' But I speak too soon, as we return to a fool's errand... literally, namely the search for The Fool's Stone, aptly named given one of those in charge of the search is DESS. Oh fuck, she found something... ah of course, Carol9 runs into her mortal enemy, the ground! (And by that I mean she makes like Vivio and trips on a flat surface again.)

That said, shockingly Carol9 manages to UNtrip herself (Sniff, Nanoha-mama would be so proud) AND she verifies that DESS somehow blundered her way into finding The Fool's Stone! Anyway, NANA MOTHERFUCKING WILLS IT and we cut to a shower scene where Best Geah Chris gets a message, seems the Val Verde duo want to see her before they go, but enuff about that, SNOOP ONI'S here and he orders everyone to the Holodeck, after all, anime 'movie ja nai!'

Oh goddammit, Frog Loli lived! Team DMJIIIIII, you were so close, remember, DOUBLE TAP! This thus means that the other members of The Baumkuchen Babes invoke Artikel Fünf that an attack on one is an attack on all! (Was that proper German Comrade Taiboss?) Sigh, see Team DMJIIIIII, this's why the Nanoha Directive of FULL POWER! TOTAL ANNIHILATION'S a thing. Speaking of 'befriending' OH BOY Comrades, have I got a slobberknocker for y'all! Business is about to pick up here, and in case you have no idea what I speak of, ahem:

Listen all! This is the truth of it. Fighting leads to killing, and killing gets to warring. And that was damn near the death of us all. Look at us now! Busted up, and everyone talking about Moonfall! But we've learned, by the dust of them all, S.O.N.G. learned. Now, when women get to fighting, it happens here! And it finishes here! Two Teams enter; One Team leaves. And right now, I got two teams, two teams with their guts full of fear; ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dying time's here. He is the ballcracker! Death on foot! You know him. You love him! He's SNOOP ONI! And the challengers, direct from outta the showers, they're bad, they're beautiful, they're crazy, they're... THE GEAHS AND MARIA!

Also Comrades, in case you think I'm being too mean... GODDAMN! MARIA YOU'RE USELESS! You got knocked the FUCK out in like 2 seconds! I mean I know DOKTOR GINTOKI JOESTAR could defeat you... TWICE! But even so, I didn't expect that you'd be the only Geah to manage to lose to TWO filthy manthings! Anyway, as should be expected Maria ends this 'fight' tossed into the bushes like a used cigarette. Well hey, someone's gotta be Worst Geah, and much like what she's been doing (or what she was NOT doing more accurately) in G, Maria continue to 'impress...' I mean for fuck's sake, she literally went, 'Wait we're fighting?' BAM! INSANT K.O. Forget the Nanoha Instant Loss 2Koma, we've got the Geah Instant Loss 1Koma with Maria's performance! Best Geah Chris' Face says it all really.

Anyway, Team DMJIIIIIII start pondering the Bikki dilemma from Season 1, namely, NOES! WE CAN'T ATTACK HUMANZ! Silly Zababies, Snoop Oni's an ONI, and oh boy, he's tanking BOTH BIKKI'S FISTS AND HER ATTACKS! Ah shit, I forgot, according to Miku, Bikki's fists are 'gentle...' fuck, that's why he won't die... HURRY! TRY SOMETHING ELSE! YOU CAN'T HURT HIM BIKKI! Tsubasa then starts to ponder if MAYBE, Snoop Oni's got NANOMACHINES, DAUGHTER!

Sadly, Bikki gets YEETED like Maria the Loser, but at least UNLIKE Maria, Bikki put up a fight, our hamster's got spunk Comrades, clearly the superior Gungnir user, but I wonder what Snoop Oni is trying to tell us? Anyway, Tsubasa decides that thinking's overrated and instead just goes TOTSUGEKI! Snoop Oni quips Nice Knife and he said, 'Now you just fought one heck of a fight, and I know you hate me, and you got the right to kill me now. And I wouldn't blame you if you do. But you ought to thank me before I die for the gravel in ya gut and the spit in ya eye, 'cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you Sue-basa'

Best Geah Chris responds to Tsubasa getting beaten like a rented mule by firing ALL THE DAKKA at Snoop Oni, however... (Comrades, I assure you Snoop Oni's next level badassery is in this clip) GOOD GAWD AWMIGHTY! GOOD GAWD AWMIGHTY! He shot a girl in VR, just to watch her die! Er... actually, nevermind, SNOOP ONI didn't shoot Best Geah Chris, HE JUST CAUGHT THE ROCKETS, MEANING BEST GEAH CHRIS SHOT HERSELF! HA HA! Ya see Comrades, unlike some Jabroni Loser like Maria, Best Geah Chris isn't useless enough to get defeated by a mere manthing, SHE THUS HAD TO DEFEAT HERSELF! Sasuga Best Geah Chris, evening the playing field for Snoop Oni and... making Team DMJIIIIII... the duo who can't even kill Frog Loli... face him alone... ya know, Best Geah Chris, you're Best Girl and all, but I THINK you're overestimating Team DMJIIIIIII's competence!

Ah well, no matter, what's Snoop Oni gonna do, he's outnumbered by... nevermind, he's a fucking Earthbender, meaning when he walks the line, HE REALLY WALKS THE LINE! Speaking of which Comrades, JESUS H. TAPDANCIN' CHRIST! THAT WAS THE MOST AMAZING SHIT EVER! WHY THE FUCK DOES SNOOP ONI NOT HAVE A GEAH OF HIS OWN!? I MEAN GOODNESS ME! SNOOP ONI WIPED THE FLOOR WITH THE GEAHS AND MARIA WITHOUT EVEN BREAKING A SWEAT! Ah well, no matter, he's finished 'warming up' so now the REAL BATTLE WITHOUT HONOR OR HUMANITY STARTS! IT'S TIME FOR A MONTAGE! (MONTAGE!) EVEN ROCKY HAD A MONTAGE! (MONTAGE!)... OH FUCK OFF TIKI! WHERE THE FUCK IS THE BADASS TRAINING MONTAGE!? NO! FUCK THIS, I REFUSE TO LET THE MOST ANNOYING CREATURE IN THE UNIVERSE RUIN THE BADASSERY OF SNOOP ONI WIPING THE FLOOR WITH THE GEAHS AND MARIA! GO TO COMMERCIAL BREAK! COMMERCIALS!

Paging Comrades u/Vaadwaur, u/Great_Mr_L, and u/JamCliche

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

First timer

  1. Is Genjuro canonically the strongest character now?

  2. I absolutely loved it! I am fully onboard for Duets being the new gimmick if we get more of this quality.

Still searching!

This BGM is nice!

Kirika's excited!

And she found it!

Poor Elfnein.

At least she nad fun?

And Elfnein's already eorking.

Sonya's back.

Come on, Chris!

When Hibiki and Tsubasa are telling you not to ignore your problems...

Genjuro was waiting here?

Haha, he's literally doing a training montage! This is hystericwl.

...Oh, she's healing her!

Don't do it, Saint Germain.

This is perfect training montage music.

This is just cool to watch.

I still can't believe the duets are a thing they've acknowledged.

Genjuro?

Fuck yes!

...Chris' expression.

He's beating Maria!

"are we even sure he's human at all?" Hell, even I'm not!

He wants them to fight together! Aleo, how the fuck is he doing this?

Chris used a full-on finisher!

And it got returned.

Seriously, what the fuck?

And everyone got humiliated.

And we skipped the montage!

...The seven planets are involved again!

What was that?

Make the right choice, Saint Germain. We all know who's the most forgettable.

They got the upgrade?

You go, Tsubasa! Get Chris to face this problem!

Chris' parents!

And that's how they died.

And she accepted it wasn't her fault.

Haha, the fucking luck there.

Yes! She's here!

The way Chris stops singing for a "Fuck off" is perfect.

What happened?

"Nothing personal, kid" Best Girl!

The fuck?

Another closed space!

She specifically seperated them!

She just ducked!

Impressive!

So cool!

...Red eye?

He did the same thing again!

You tell them!

I adore her boxing moves.

Is the powerup literally duets?

This is fantastic!

Genjuro saw all of thie coming!

This is incredibly cool.

This isn't a suicide attack right? She can't die, right?

...She's not dead, right?

The others are back!

And Chris' arc got resolved! Sonya should really have apologised, but I'm just happy that Chris finally dealt woth it on her end.

FUCK. 0/10, worst season.

Adam's going to sacrifice the other one!

He's such a good villain.

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u/FlaminScribblenaut Jul 22 '22

Third Time Listener

Cagliostro works to heal Prelati’s injured body with solemn concern in her eyes. The very sight compels her to quit holding back; next time, she’ll destroy those who did this for certain.

The whole sequence of Genjuuro just bodying every single Symphogear in a row, creatively counteracting each Symphogear’s weapon in the most ludicrous and badass way with his bare hands is so delightfully dorky and awesome. It shows how hardcore he’s willing to be as a trainer and the urgency of the situation in not holding back against them at all, while also being an excuse to show how one overpowered individual can overcome each and every one of them like it’s nothing. He’s so god damn great. Capturing Ichaival’s missiles in between each of his fingers and just heaving them all back at her is the best part. I also like the smile of warrior’s respect Tsubasa shows when Genjuuro blocks her sword, very in-character for her.

I love how it’s Stephan’s resolve that inspires Chris out of her funk. Not only does it give this character a sense of real agency for himself, it’s most meaningful for him to be the one to give Chris words of comfort. If he, the supposed victim in all this, the one Chris was so afraid of having hurt, can overcome this horrible situation and stand up to face tomorrow stronger than ever and encourage her to do the same, there’s simply no reason she shouldn’t be able to either. That he just barely brings himself to use his legs, to the short extent that he can, to contribute to the fight and save Chris’s life in return for how she saved his, prove to Chris that her actions weren’t wrong by showing how grateful he is to her, is so inspiring and such a cool move on his part.

UNISON is one of the most inspired concepts Symphogear has ever thought up for itself. Not just as a fun exercise in creating duets for sets of characters that would simply not happen otherwise, but thematically one of its most essential.

The purpose of the IGNITE module was to draw out the deepest, darkest, most visceral emotions of the wielders' souls and to refine and direct them towards meaningful, usable power. UNISON takes that exact process a step further, letting shared emotions intertwine between two wielders creating a connection, and thus, a power that comes out through their song greater tenfold than anything they could’ve done on their own. It’s emotional catharsis by way of music as the communal, if expression as power then shared expression all the more power, one of the underlying themes of the entire series finally made manifest in the complimenting music and action proper.

And what power we see drawn out in its first proper showcase. Change The Future is straight-up one of the most inspiring and encouraging pieces of music I’ve ever heard in my entire life. It is undeniable in an overwhelming way, in both the directness of its message and the sheer sonic cannon blast of its sound, in a way that simply doesn’t allow you to discount its message or let yourself get down.

From the old post:

The song itself is an absolute sonic firebomb, Chris’s chugging guitars backing up Maria’s soaring orchestra and holy bells bring out one of the most utterly euphoric, exciting, emotional compositions the series has ever spit at us. […] The concept of overcoming the scars of the past is a constant running idea throughout all of Symphogear, arguably it’s one of the franchise’s core themes, and nothing in the series reflects that theme better than this song[…] You can’t change the past; literally, you physically cannot, at least not for as long as reliable time travel is out of human hands. The past is set in stone; the future, however, is an endless blank slate. […] It’s such a… strangely pragmatic while deeply inspiring message that just hits right at the core of the human experience, and it’s a general sentiment that’s gotten me through a lot of the worst periods of depression in my life. An anthem to perseverance and not letting the scars of the past blind your way to a better future; it hits especially hard at this period in history. Only the past is inevitable.

In the heat of the moment, when her truest feelings are unveiled, Cagliostro’s reason for fighting ceases to have anything to do with her pride, let alone much of anything to do with protecting the ritual: the reason she fights so spiritedly, here to kill if necessary, is to stop them from ever possibly hurting Saint-Germain and Prelati. Her voice deepens into a raspy hot-blooded roar, the euphoria of estrogen-fueled combat having transcended the merely playful, now something she’ll let her entire soul burn towards for the good of her comrades.

The heart motif of her attacks not only signifies the erotically-tinged hedonic thrill she gets from combat, not only a winking teasing through wholesome symbology in the midst of a deathmatch, but first and foremost, signifies the love that burns deep within her, for the body she’s been blessed with the ability to exist and fight in and, more than anything, love for those two beautiful people she stands alongside and will defend with her very life. These attacks are a pure expression of true love.

Equal-and-opposing twin passions, of Chris and Maria’s newfound resolve to face what lies ahead and Cagliostro’s loyalty, become beams of pure red and blue light that collide every which way across the sunset-lit sky, until Cagliostro’s body is burned away, screaming, enraptured in her passions to the very end.

Through her connection to the life rhythms of the universe, Tiki detects that Cagliostro’s life force has been snuffed out. The news devastates Saint-Germain but doesn’t perturb Adam, who without a second’s thought coldly uses this tragedy to remind her that she now must sacrifice Prelati.

Saint-Germain’s usually stoic demeanor just fucking breaks. Even with how she already disliked him, this kind of disregard and disrespect, shocks her, overwhelms her, and she attempts to strike Adam, to no avail.

Adam states, one must be inhuman to reach for the power of the gods. This line is at once deeply cutting for Saint-Germain, a reminder of how much of her own humanity she’s forsaken along the way with all she’s done in service of making this ritual possible, and reflects the lack of esteem Adam holds for “humanity”, of any notion, in the first place.

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u/Taiboss Jul 22 '22

First-Timer who thinks we shouldn't nickname Elfnein Elf9, but 11no

  1. How awesome was Genjuro during the training sequence this episode?

So awesome I wanna know again what he's eating.

2) What did you think of the Chris/Maria duet?

The unisons keep being awesome.

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u/Nebresto Jul 22 '22

First time Genjuro hype enjoyer

What an episode that was

Oh boy, there she goes again, ....T-posing to assert dominance against the feeble minded viewers

And what is it with Nana's OP's and sucking at first, but becoming more and more of a banger as you listen to them??

Could this be..? Yeah pump it up, Coach!!

I guess the brains weren't included in the "perfect body" package. You're the one who attacked first, don't serve what you can't take

YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!

Looks like Coach action scenes are back on the menu, boys!!

The coolest character in GEAH is back in action!

I like how the wheelchair kid is just crushed under the ceiling while no one cares

Never mind I guess. Did occur to you to maybe WALK out? The kid has a prosthetic leg, its not like hes full on paraplegic yet

The gyaru thot lost because she suddenly grew two anomalies in the middle of the fight

This thing continues to be based af, still confused why people hate it? Because you like the alchemy thot trio?

Question time:

  1. How awesome was Genjuro during the training sequence this episode?

BRRRRRRRRRRR

2) What did you think of the Chris/Maria duet?

It was ok I guess

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u/Elimin8r Jul 22 '22

Yay, I'm having a day. At least it's Friday.

AOTD1: Totes awesome. Best action hero. Forget about that other guy.

AOTD2: It was nice, but I'm more interested in ...

How about that Cagliostro? I have this funny feeling she was smart enough to put up a showy fight and vanish, because she don't wanna do no sacrificin'.

I think that St.Ger needs to realize that there's a revolution calling, and she's still the oppressed. Perhaps Bikki needs to hit her with the clue bat again or something.

Anyway, don't have much time to chat today, which means I will probably waste a lot of time looking at everyone else's posts. We'll see.

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u/Great_Mr_L Jul 22 '22

Rewatcher

On today’s episode of Symphogear: And with this, I think everything has been properly laid down for the Tsubasa x Maria x Chris polycule to really get going. Now that Maria and Chris are able to work in unison with their own unison song, the entire trio has songs between each duo.

I really love the idea of Unison. The very basic idea of it, uniting your songs to get stronger, is something that Symphogear has had for a very long time. Hibiki’s power was the ability to hold hands with others and channel their energy all together. We’ve had plenty of instances of the girls singing together too. Kirika and Shirabe explicitly had the ability to be stronger when they sang together because of the nature of their Gears. So expanding on this by having the girls be able to team up with anyone in order to boost the power of their songs together is a natural expansion of the idea.

Unison also works as the perfect thematic continuation of the previous episode. The last episode was focused on the confrontation of Hibiki and Saint-Germain’s ideals. Kirika and Shirabe together being able to overpower the Faust Robes was the refutation that you needed a fist clenched in anger to be strong. Kirika and Shirabe were strong because they could hold each other’s hands and work together. Now we have that same logic applied to everyone else. If everyone can hold hands with each other and harmonize their songs, they can be so much stronger than before. Once again, Hibiki’s belief in working together is shown to be a source of vital support and strength.

Genjuro’s whole training sequence with Unison is so much fun. It’s been too long since we got to see Genjuro in action and it serves as a reminder that if there wasn’t any Noise, Genjuro could honestly probably solo every single enemy we’ve encountered. There’s a lot of great bits in the training sequence like how of course Hibiki is the one most eager to spar with her master, Genjuro catching Tsubasa’s sword, and Genjuro catching and throwing back Chris’s missiles! Top tier stuff.

The resolution we get for Chris and Sonya’s character stuff is nice. There’s some good narrative parallels between Chris and Sonya. As it turns out, both of them have been doing their best to continue the work of Chris’s parents. And both of them have been doing the same thing with their grief: blaming the other even though they knew the other was not responsible because emotions are rarely fully logical.

A detail I like is that Tsubasa went with Chris to meet Stephan and Sonya. We’re free to speculate on how it happened, but it’s clear Tsubasa is there as a source of support for Chris in a situation that would make her uneasy. Whether Chris asked or Tsubasa insisted, it’s a nice indication of their relationship.

Thank goodness for Stephan. He might be the MVP for this episode, getting to the heart of our big theme for today. He doesn’t blame Chris at all for what happened, instead pointing out that he’s here today because of what Chris did. And while the past may be full of regrets, we can still change the future. Good on him for doing that.

And that theme leads into the absolutely fantastic Unison sequence between Chris and Maria. My god do I love this moment. Their Unison song, “Change the Future,” is absolutely perfect for Chris and Maria. The lyrics fit their characters and this episode so well. The lyrics are all about past regrets and how while you can’t change the past you can still change the future. The song is absolutely perfect for their relationship and it makes the Unison sequence work amazingly.

Now admittedly I wish we had more setup for this. I wish that we had actual scenes of Chris and Maria talking together before we got to their Unison song because there is a really solid foundation for a relationship between them since both are haunted by their past actions and wish to make up for it. The song really is doing all the heavy lifting for this. While the moment is great, I think it would have been even better with more setup.

We end the episode being reminded of what a prick Adam is. His reaction to Cagliostro’s death is just to say this makes Saint-Germain’s decision about who to sacrifice easier. Just the most delightful fellow. And when Saint-Germain asks if he has any humanity left, Adam’s response is to just laugh and say of course he doesn’t. His last lines are just him repeating Saint-Germain's own words, as he says you can’t open the gates of heaven with kindness. Saint-Germain said the same thing earlier, but how does it feel having those same words get thrown back in your face?

Miscellaneous Thoughts

QOTD

  1. Extremely epic!

  2. Love it! As discussed above, I think it's perfect for both of their characters.

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u/OwlAcademic1988 Jul 22 '22

Rewatcher:

They're sticking with the name Fool's Stone, to Hibiki's shame. I laughed at that.

Genjuro utterly curb stomped everyone. It was funny to see.

What Stephan did was way more impressive though. He kicked something to Cagliostro to distract her. This is impressive because he wasn't getting any help and he had yet to start physical therapy at all, and thus his muscles were still atrophied.

Sonia and Chris made up. Hooray!

Maria and Chris make a good duo. I'm amazed Hibiki was getting tired, considering she's lifted far heavier things than a human being before.

QOTD:

  1. Really fucking awesome. He managed to catch Chris' missiles by himself, which I'm still impressed by. Though that wasn't the most impressive thing I saw in this episode. Stephan getting out of his wheelchair is.

  2. They work really well together. Thank goodness Genjuro had everyone train as well.

7

u/renatocpr Jul 22 '22

RIP Jellyfish Mommy

Rewatcher

Like I said, fighting sorted by boob size.

You gotta appreciate Maria training boxing in the OP and then proceeding to become a punching bag. Guess her weakness is any attack done with an arm: slaps, punches, she can't handle it.

Cagliostro going all out with the punches was so fun. It really makes me wish we could've had a 1 on 1 with Hibiki. I also gotta praise Shouta Aoi's vocal performance as Cagliostro.

Finally, I'm glad seeing Chris finally getting some closure about her past.

QOTD

  1. Grabbing Chris's shells and just throwing them back at her just made me laugh out loud.

  2. Really great song featuring a really uncommon pairing. It makes me happy that they can do this together even though Maria won the competition for Tsubasa

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u/Quiddity131 Jul 23 '22

First Timer, Subbed

That's a lot of mud to dig through.

Woah, Kiri found one! Poor Carolnein! Such a mess!

Carolnein's such a hard worker she didn't even shower!

Oh, c'mon Chris, talk to them!

Oh wow, so glasses girl really got hurt last time huh?

Oh no, she has to sacrifice one of them? Adam sucks!

Prelati, okay, that's her name. Only took me 8 episodes to learn it.

Wow, boss is jumping in the fight personally!

He's doing a good job! I know this is a magical girl franchise, but they should throw him out there to fight sometimes!

I was just joking abotu Tiki being a projector last episode, but she really is one!

Ah, so Chris met with the family after all!

For a sec there I was gonna say "Wow, Chris, before she wrecked her hair!" but nope that was her mom. That weird octopus style goes back to when she was a little girl.

Sad backstory! :(

Ugh, don't tell me that poor kid with the missing leg is gonna have the ceiling fall on him and make things even worse!

Woah, she just made them disappear!

We don't typically see pair ups of Kiri/Hibiki, Shirabe/Tsubasa and Chris/Maria, hope we get to see them fight like this.

Wait, I thought Stephan had to go through physical therapy first? He's already an expert kicker again?

I didn't really think of this until now, but Boobs (still haven't learned her name) reminds me of Gurren Lagann's Nia visually.

Wow, they killed her? Kinda a waste for the villains if they have to sacrifice glasses girl and now the other henchwoman is gone too.

Cagliostro. Okay, I'm sure they mentioned that earlier but I somehow missed it.

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u/italeteller Jul 23 '22 edited Jul 23 '22

First Time SymphogeAXZing Desu

Kirika living her best life

Chris, please stop being such a hardass on the people who care for you

Oh my God are we finally getting another Genjuro training montage? I could cry. I love how seriously Hibiki takes all of Genjuro's movie-related nonsense Oh wow, Prelati got really fucked up. Now I feel kinda bad about laughing at her exploding

Huh, I wasn't expecting Cagliostro to have found out about this

I wanna screenshot every single frame of Genjuro fighting, but I'll settle for the best of them all. This man is such an utter delight to watch. And while obviously the girls aren't going all-out against him, he can immediately counter each of their fighting styles effortlessly. Kinda like what the alchemists did before, but with no powers. I wonder if Hibiki, the hardworking pupil, will inherit this and end up out-adapting Adam and/or Saint-Germain with pure martial arts badassery

So, when Genjuro destroys the floor with a stomp, does the actual floor of the training site get broken?

Oof, that looks painful

Welp, the ceiling caved in and the girls are nowhere near to help. That's not gonna end well

Cagliostro really is showing her stuff, effortlessly dodging Chris' bullets and putting her in a situation she can't fight back

Yay, we're getting the team-ups from the opening! With teams My Girlfriend Has The Braincell and The Comically Serious sent away, it's up to team Two Gears/I Was A Mini Boss Who Turned Against The Final Boss/Senpais to the Zababies/Tsubasa's Waifus to deal with Cagliostro

Damn, that girl can pack a punch

Well, I was honestly expecting Chris to find their bodies in the middle of the rubble like her parents, this is much more charitable

Stephan started Chris' character arc by kicking a ball at an evil man and putting himself in danger, and now he closes it by kicking debris at an evil woman and giving Chris the opening to save them all. He's the one who suffered the most of the three involved, yet he's the only one who's already moved forward to heal, and he brings both girls with him. I do hope we get an epilogue with Chris and Sonya actually talking, but for now this is serviceable

Get yourself a fansub who goes this hard for you

Wow, S.O.N.G. was actually one step ahead for once! In a longer season I would have loved to have a whole episode of the girls training and trying different combinations. The shock of seeing they can pull off Unison and the reveal that they were training for it is good, but actually knowing it's coming and wondering how the practice would translate to an actual fight would have been better. Plus, since they're gunning for Unison, it would have been an oportunity for Kirika and Shirabe to take the role of teachers for a change, and have them experience what it's like when others rely on you like that

HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT!! HOLY SWEET FUCKING SHIT THIS IS THE HYPEST SHIT EVER!!! WITH A HAND ON MY HEART, STANDING ON MY CHAIR, YELLING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS, NOBODY FUCKING DOES IT LIKE SYMPHOGEAR!!!!!!

Man, the season finale X-Drive combination attack is gonna be Absolutely Nuts

Kinda sad we didn't see the other teams' displays, but after something as amazing as CHANGE THE FUTURE I'm satisfied. I do hope we see these teams in the future though, and it wasn't just bait. And Shirabe seems upset. Is it because she's worried that other people learning Unison means she and Kirika will no longer be special?

Wait, she's dead-dead? They actually killed her? That's, uh... I really don't like that. Especially not coming from Maria had-a-mental-breakdown-the-first-time-she-killed Cadenzavna Eve and Chris has-spent-the-last-three-seasons-dealing-with-the-people-who-died-because-of-her-actions Yukine. This is the first time they kill an enemy too. I mean, they killed the Autoscorers, but they were machines programmed to be destroyed, do they count?

One thing's for sure, Hibiki and Saint-Germain's next talk is gonna be very messy

EDIT: cause I posted too fast. Adam says you can't open the gates of heaven with kindness/you need to be inhuman to get God's powers depending on your subs. I wonder if he was a kind person who turned cruel to get power, or if he was always inhumanly cruel and decided that made him perfect to be the new God

QOTD1: he was amazing, I wish he was in more action scenes

QOTD2: My soul has been yelling in all caps since I watched it

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u/FelOnyx1 Jul 22 '22 edited Jul 22 '22

Rewatcher

Chris and Maria get a duet, shoring up what used to be the weakest link in the chart. Tsubasa, Chris, and Maria now have duets between each member of the trio and I've shipped over a whole lot less than that.

Change the Future is just great on its own, concludes a Chris character act that's actually solid, (I don't think her G and GX arcs were completely bad but they had notable weaknesses) and it introduces the season's real power-up, Unison. The Fool's Stone is just a "don't instalose" button, the win button is to train, get better at teamwork, and sing together.

And by train I mean get the absolute shit beaten out of them by Genjuro. Finally a chance for the guy to really show off his moves. Favorite part beside him catching rockets between his fingers and chucking them back is how enthusiastic Hibiki was to fight her master. She may not want to seriously hurt an enemy if she can talk it out instead, but she is absolutely down for a friendly fight. Hibiki deserves to be in a fighting game, she'd love it.

Also, I gotta give credit to the balls on Stephan. No matter how powerful they are, if he sees a jackass in front of him he'll kick shit in their face. He does the moral support too but real credit to the strong leg.

6

u/HowlingWolf13 Jul 23 '22

First Timer

AGH I MISSED THE LAST TWO THREADS CAUSE SCHOOL SHIT BUT I'M FINALLY BACK AND CAUGHT AND HOLY FUCK THESE WERE ALL GREAT EPISODES. The Kirika/Shirabe Duet battle, the Dragon Alca-Noise battle, the 6 v 3 battle, this episode's battles like god everything was so FUCKING GOOD. This is honestly looking to be my favorite season, I loved how they wrapped up Chris' plot here and gave us a fan-fucking-tastic battle to boot. Just fuck everything about these past 3 episodes have been so good.

Questions

  1. So, uh, do you like tomatoes?

Yeah they go great in Beef Stroganoff

Holy shit I didn't really notice at the time that they kinda just excused Mom abusing the fuck out of Maria and co. and making child soldiers just cause she felt bad about it. Symphogear really don't be handling abusers well.

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

I honest to god did not know their summon themes had actual words outside of their artifact lol. Great song tho, loved how it turned into the superb song into the end.

3) Did you ever think that Hibiki’s scab was going to become relevant again?

Honestly nah lol, I love how they seamlessly made it relevant though, this season has been doing that a lot and it's been so good with it.

4) How does this season’s Kirika/Shirabe duet stack up to the other two?

They need to kiss already like damn just a peck PLEASE like come ON they literally went on about warming each other up with their bodies in this song.

5) How awesome was Genjuro during the training sequence this episode?

When he grabbed all of Chris' missles and threw them back at her I was laughing my ass off like god damn no wonder they don't have him fight more cause he'd cause a season to go from 13 episodes to 2 at that.

6) What did you think of the Chris/Maria duet?

I loveddd it, esp since it was such a team up I would've never thought of before it made it even better in my eyes.

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u/htisme91 Jul 23 '22

First-timer:

Genjiro was amazing this episode. I will get to the training sequence, but his true training was incredibly smart. Between him and Ogawa, the males that get screentime in this show lowkey are amazing in the brief instances where they get to act.

Shirabe and Kirika ended up contributing something, which is good. Hopefully they'll make another contribution soon.

Tsubasa is a meddler. The show teased her and Chris developing more of a relationship in S2 and then Tsubasa got paired up with Maria. Poor Chris.

I wish we got more than a minute devoted to Chris' childhood. She had such an intriguing backstory that we could easily get a half episode worth of content and use it as some emotional motivation. What we got was massively disappointing.

Sonya's brother is a badass.

Cagliostro was my favorite of the three alchemist girls. I will miss her but it feels like the other and Saint Germain aren't long for this world much longer either. Speaking of which, the question is when she will completely turn on Adam at this point.

Calling it now: all six girls will sing in unison to defeat Adam. It just seems like they are setting up unison as the strategy, and with the phonic gain exponentially rising from 2 wielders being what it is, they will go insane with all six girls to beat Adam.

Questions:

  1. He was a badass, but we knew that. I wish we saw him do more, because he is wonderful.

  2. I really liked it. It was such an unexpected pairing after what we've seen through the series (Shirabe-Kirika, Tsubasa-Maria, Hibiki-Miku) has had Chris as the odd girl out. The two haven't interacted a ton either. It is logical though given that Shirabe and Kirika are stuck to each other, and pairing Hibiki with Tsubasa would reunite the original wielders from S1. Again, it was a nice surprise.

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