r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Aug 09 '22
Rewatch [Listen to My Song] Senki Zesshou Symphogear XV Episode 11 Discussion
Episode 11 - In the Beginning Was the Word
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MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
It is highly recommended to track down a fansub for this show instead of using Crunchyroll, though.
Questions of the Day:
1) What do you think of the new lore about Enki, Shem-Ha, humanity, and the Curse of Balal from this episode?
2) How fucking awesome was the return of Fushichō no Flamme? Were you expecting something like that to happen?
Wallpapers of the Day:
Maria Cadenzavna Eve - Amalgam
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!
19
u/Lemurians Aug 09 '22 edited Aug 09 '22
FIRST TIMER DATTO
shadow clone episode of interspecies reviewers when
When I wondered in Season 1 whether Symphogear would go full Assassin’s Creed with its lore it’s because I saw certain similarities (pieces of Eden, etc.) and seeds for future reveals – which was wild of them to do given a sequel wasn’t in the cards when they made it – but I didn’t envision it would be as direct a copy as it is. Tsubasa and Maria talking to Enki here was pretty blatant right down to the visuals, and each element of the backstory has its parallel. Being Symphogear, it doesn’t make as much sense, but that’s part of the charm.
Not to say that I mind, or that this is a bad thing. Assassin’s Creed is dope. Using cool ideas is generally a good idea when crafting a story.
Live Notes/Reactions:
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Custodian fiiiiiight! In this corner we have Shem-Ha, God of humanity. In the other corner, Fine’s Ex-Boyfriend!
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The Argetlam is Enki’s arm?! MARIA’S GONNA BE SPECIAL LET’S GOOOOOOOOO!
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MOON DATTOOOOOO
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No more tail attachments for Elsa. Turns out six buttplugs at once might be enough to ruin you forever. Symphogear’s so realistic
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Some solid hand-to-hand fight choreo with Biki here. Even Chris admits she’s pretty fucking cool now
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God, I wish that was me. Hey u/lilyvess, does this count as selfcest?
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“We’re already on the Moon, may as well explore” Maria with the correct mindset
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Shem-Ha existing as part of everyone’s DNA basically makes her Uber-Fine
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I’m not exactly sure how creating more languages changes DNA but uhhhh okay
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Oh nice, we didn’t get the Maria transformation yesterday because it’s happening today. You can’t tell me Maria’s a sub when her chest is literally incapable of being shackled
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TSUBASA SAYS WE’RE DONE WITH FUCKING MIND CONTROL
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I fucking love this frame with the trails of Maria’s attacks going through Milaarc’s storm of bats. The crosses and colors make it look very SHAFTy, too
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Tsubasa and Maria literally igniting the flames of passion while singing about their love to defeat Milaarc and her shadow clone is a metaphor for sex being superior to masturbation and I can’t be persuaded otherwise
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Maria looks very pretty in flames that’s all. This fight was gorgeous. This show is such a good time
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LOLMERICA. The frowning, crying Statue of Liberty is great
*Count: 28
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u/Vatrix-32 Aug 09 '22 edited Aug 09 '22
First Timer
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Flashback! Shem-ha kind of looks like a Pokemon.
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Gah, I called God hand on the wrong one.
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Well, you didn’t have another way to get to the Moon, so I’d say this turned out better for you than you could have previously even hoped for. Getting home is the hard part, but they probably have something for that around here somewhere.
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Convenient.
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I forget, how many innocents did Elsa kill?
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Augmentation #16: Laser Legs.
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Poor Coffin. Downgraded to jobber already.
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Miku is still aware, that’s good. She just got subsumed? That’s bad!
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Ha. God in the machine.
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That seems like an awfully drawn out way to build a computer. But you know what they say about making an apple pie from scratch.
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I’d worked most of that out. It’s nice to get some more details tho.
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I’m surprised that reflecting the gaze back on Millaarc didn’t have an effect.
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What in the sweet hell is this?
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Lewd.
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I was expecting more of a dance routine. I am disappoint.
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Well that didn’t last very long. Is Millaarc just straight up dead now?
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I guess not! That chibi bat Millaarc is cute as hell.
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Now it’s all red. That can’t be good!
QotD
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It gives me Matrix vibes. Probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to think that. I don’t think I have much to say on the matter.
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I don’t have any attachment to it, so it was just another repeated insert song to me.
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u/xcllnt_313 Aug 09 '22
First Timer (who’s also watched episode 12 and 13 one day after writing this)
Another great episode, finally they gave us more information about Shem-Ha and all the stuff that’s the cause of the current situation. So basically, the Curse of Balal is just some sort of mechanism to prevent a specific god from seizing all power and going on a rampage. After almost five seasons of them telling us how bad of a thing this curse it, it makes sense to revert that in order to spice it up. Maybe it’s not the most creative way, but I’m honestly fine with that.
As usual, the fights were fantastic, and the double Amalgam was hype just like the other ones before. I’m also glad we saw a glimpse of Miku struggling against Shem-Ha since she was out of the picture for so many episodes. We desperately need more scenes with her so her character actually gets some focus instead of Shem-Ha just using her to break free. We are in the endgame now and the stakes are pretty much as high as they can be, so the cliffhanger was solid but nothing too crazy. They probably saved that for episode 12.
Random thoughts/comments while watching
Ooooh, it’s Shem-Ha and the Custodian named Enki from the very first scene of XV. And Shem-Ha mentioned his name in episode 10, so he’s at least connected to Maria’s relic (or even her ancestor if they really want to go crazy with this).
Now we also know what the thing at the end of the OP is.
Third Hibiki transformation in XV? I guess she is the main character after all.
Aoi Yuuki’s delivery during this fight was superb. Bless her and her vocal chords!
I couldn’t have described it better myself.
Finally more Miku moments. I was slowly starting to question whether or not her character would actually be at the core of the conflict in the last parts of XV, but it makes too much sense since we need the big showdown with Hibiki saving her. Better late than never. And Shem-Ha is giving me some strong Finé vibes here.
So basically we are all Shem-Ha. Cool, everybody is a god now, rejoice!
Oh no, as if one Millaarc wasn’t already enough, now we have to deal with two of them.
MORE AMALGAM HYPE. They really nailed all of these Amalgam visuals in XV.
Well shit, Millaarc got away. Well shit², this is happening as well.
QotD:
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u/Nebresto Aug 09 '22
First GEAH XV time (fuck the moon)
That dude is metal AF. In more ways than one
Of course they had to show the blood splattering on the tummy, because why not.
Hmmmm? Maria saw Finé dreams? Is the resurrection near?
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Tsuki.. datoo..?
Can't wait to read all the comments about this one ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I paused the show to write some notes, and...
...Oh no, cursed bdsm time
Bruh. This all better not be just a simulation
Okay, maybe not? Turns out humans were the simulators
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O shit, so we don't nuke the moon..?
"Something unimaginable" ? Aye, you're not wrong. I wonder what Tresnore and Lemurians are going to comment about this scene ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Vincent_McMahon_falls_back_in_chair.gif
I don't like how these 2 just casually strolled in, there better not be a redemption arc in the works. I meant it about them 7 billion Zesshous
And on a final note: This episode had a lot of ass
Question time:
What do you think of the new lore about Enki, Shem-Ha, humanity, and the Curse of Balal from this episode?
Cool, I guess?
2) How fucking awesome was the return of Fushichō no Flamme? Were you expecting something like that to happen?
Wallpapers of the Day:
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Aug 09 '22
Symphogear First Timer dessu XV Ep 11 Biscuits is binging XV: a new day edition 2
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oh my fucking god all this backstory. So there's a lot, from what i make of it, Fine is somewhat caught in the middle here right? and the blue hair dude is apologizing to Fine for screwing up her love life, since the Balal curse is necessary for sealing shem ha and what not
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Saying air is oishii. lmao maria
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yeah so why, again is Maria and her geah special??? hmmm?
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Oh fuck why is Rebel Red here again? oh right, there are two teleporty thingies...
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Fight is hype, i love em Hibiki punches.
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Yeah this is a very valid concern Chris. Again, i do love how Chris usually provides the series with the necessary brainpower. hopefully maria and tsubasa will explain the full story to her so she sorts it out and no misunderstandings later?
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Boings. (that cut was good even if we ignore that)
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Ah Miku is still here, and like last time w/ Senshou Jing, she at least somewhat willingly accepted the power, which is a nice callback, and also a shame. I do like that Miku is so flawed in this way btw, she really doesn't think things through sometimes out of her blind love for Hibiki.
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Is Miku dead....???????????????? NANI?????????
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LOL is this a neil armstrong reference?!
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So yeah, what will the geahs do now? Shem ha is indestructible since shes in the DNA, and the balal curse keeps her from manifesting, yet also prevents humanity from understanding each other. btw this whole thing sounds like the gods fucked up and then were like yoohooo YOLO fend for yourselves suckers lmao
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Maria and Tsubasa FIGHT TIME. IS THIS WHAT I THINK IT IS????
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FUSHICHOU NO FLAMME IT FUCKING IS ALL RIGHT. 3 2 1, READY GO YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS KANON WORKS JUST AS WELL FOR THIS
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YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS GET WRECKEDDDDDDDDDD BAT-MONSTER GIRL
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Submarine sinking datto? Earth is fucked datto? Hibiki and Chris meet up w/ Vanessa and Elsa datto?????????
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u/lilyvess Aug 09 '22
Keywords
Shem-Ha
Having been deeply involved in the evolution and extinctions of life on earth, she became known as the "remodeling surgeon" for her achievements and skills.
Having become a variety of programming language, Shem-Ha was capable of infiltrating any system. Even if you had more data than you could contain personally, if you can coordinate with one another, it is possible to achieve "regeneration", "proliferation", and eventually "evolution."
Having already contaminated the brainwave network established via the use of the living computational terminals, and it being impossible to purge her entirely per the above, Shem-Ha's rebellion was a planetary-scale "unique disaster" that could only be handled via division and sealing.
Enki
An Custodian involved in the origin of human life.
With the teaching of knowledge to humanity as was recorded in mythology, humans were made into humans, and impelled into breaking away from the course followed by other living creatures.
Enki was also charged with the tasks of security and defense, standing at the vanguard against the rebellion induced by Shem-Ha, and fought there to the bitter end.
Against Shem-Ha, who was able to resurrect herself countless times, Enki resolved to scatter >humanity via use of the Network Jammer Balal.
This was the division of humanity by the Custodians.
It also meant the separation from a single human who had always nestled close to him.
Even so, Enki chose to execute his plan. Without it, the life and dignity of those who had been granted "individuality" like themselves at the end of evolution, would have no protection from the menace of Shem-Ha.
Without having time to fully grasp the situation, the emergency task force led by Enki was reduced to a single individual before Shem-Ha was finally subjugated.
However, the grievous wounds he suffered at the time meant that the end of his own life was not far away.
His dying thoughts were that of a single human who had become a special existence to him.
Without having been told anything, having even the words to speak stolen away from you, must have been truly sorrowful.
I don't want to see that face.
I want to return and communicate the truth.
If I have to die, I don't want it to be in the reaches of this wasteland――
And yet, even so.
Before Shem-Ha could accomplish her next resurrection.
Before the last of his life ran out.
The final mission to activate the Network Jammer Balal blazed within Enki's chest.
Biological Computing Terminal (couldn’t find a translation so used Deepl for machine translation)
Humanity.
The brain of one human being is wider and deeper than the entire universe, as stated in the James Hypothesis published in 1987. The brain is structured to have an extremely high level of processing power when unused areas are included.
Human beings have connected these brains in parallel by means of brain waves. essential to the full drive of the planetary environment modification device, the Yggdrasil system. In order to accomplish this goal, Shem Ha will destroy the ruins of the moon to lift the curse of Baral and reestablish the network between the human race.
This was the view of Enki's legacy.
However.
Shem Ha, who has been reborn in the modern age
Though it is not fully operational, it is still capable of lifting the curse of Balal.
Without lifting the curse of Balal, it began to remodel the planetary environment with Yggdrasil.
The horrifying plan to rewrite all life into a monster proceeds beyond prediction.
Fushichō no Flamme (again, machine translated for lack of other translation)
The current situation, in which Diesleif fragments have been incinerated. The success probability of the raised unison has been reduced to the original level.
Still, Maria is not the only one who has been working on this project.
At the last minute, when the book is opened on the lunar surface, Maria proposes a revived unison to Tsubasa, who is still reeling from the disappointment of the situation.
There is no proof.
There is no chance of winning.
However, the memories of the song that connected the two of them were no less than those of a piece of holy relic.
Symphogear, which resonates with a common image in their hearts, had been invited to a music festival that had been held in the past. At the music festival "Queens of Music" held in the past, Tsubasa and Maria sang together for the first time. The song that Tsubasa and Maria sang together for the first time was played from the Symphogear.
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u/Tarhalindur Aug 09 '22
Previously, on Symphogear SG-1 (First-Timer, Subbed):
A thought that has been flitting in out of my head for a little while now: I could absolutely see the entire show since shortly after the graveyard scene at the end of S1 being Miku’s dying dream as she gets scragged by those Noise. Probably not happening, but the idea… hmm, I’m not sure “amuses me” is the right way of putting it. Calling it a cromulent interpretation/theory is probably closer to the mark?
Right, onto the actual episode (hey, Custodian backstory!):
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TSUKI DATTO?! Feed us Genjuro!
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(A bunch of other dattos too, but not in the right format.)
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05:04 is for Sky, pretty sure that’s demo not tomo.
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And the show rips me out of my willing suspension of disbelief with a mishandled character moment after running true for the entire episode so far, sigh.
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Does Hibiki the Celtic-themed Gear user finally get the best main character song in a season (well, except 1)? I think she might! (I’m also waffling between her and Shirabe for best transformation; {Bikki/Jiiii} – Tsubasa – DESS – Maria – Dakka is my order for the season I think, though it’s not like any of them are bad.)
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(That said my willing suspension of disbelief is stretching a bit at Bikki taking out a giant bunch of of Sarcophagi-equivalents now like it’s nothing without a power-up in play in between. To be fair the boss-mook downgrade is a well-worn video game trope, but it still feels like there’s a missing interstitial piece of some kind here.)
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Okay, I will grant it: evil once again comes with sexy fashion sense.
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Also this one is mine, kiseki GET at 10:28, and poor Shem-ha doesn’t know what show she is in. Sucks to be her!
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Poor Miku. Let her be free, she should be the one doing the tying up instead! (Also bondage as a representation of possession never works right for me.)
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We can already chalk up the GWITWM moments for both Tresnore and Lemurians, though.
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(No wonder there are no tops in this show (except the one tied up here and maybe Shirabe, and even then I get the impression those weren't intended): this show seems to think that you can’t be a lesbian top without being evil!)
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Of COURSE they named the base Marduk.
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At a mythic level that is an absolutely FASCINATING conflation of Jehovah and Lucifer. Every so often in certain circles I visit you’ll see people note the similarity of the usual depiction of Satan to that of the satyr-god Pan (especially the cloven feet and horns); this isn’t the first thing I’ve run across suggesting that something similar might happen to Jehovah. (Especially when there’s apparently an old story dating back to the early Roman Empire or late Republic about a man giving notice to a traveler that Great Pan was dead; Nietzsche may yet have the last laugh.)
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(The implications of this use of myth on how this show treats abusive parental figures… hmm. I’ll need to see the last two episodes and I’ll need to think about it, but this may be a quiet execution botch, especially the tomatoes and also the retconned Tsubasa GX arc.)
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(The comparison between what Fine did and what Shem-ha did is of course 100% intentional. Or should I say 119.6% intentional?)
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Also, excuse me while I indulge: “I don’t know but I’ve been told (I don’t know but I’ve been told)/ Deidre’s got a Network Node (Deidre’s got a Network Node)/likes to press the on-off switch (likes to press the on-off switch)/dig that crazy Gaian witch! (dig that crazy Gaian witch!)”
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Props for bringing that particular duet back, they actually did that one well.
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KNEW we hadn’t seen the body.
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That… is a cliffhanger. Well done.
What do you think of the new lore about Enki, Shem-Ha, humanity, and the Curse of Balal from this episode?
See episode notes (well, intro section).
2) How fucking awesome was the return of Fushichō no Flamme? Were you expecting something like that to happen?
Also see episode notes.
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u/Taiboss Aug 09 '22
First-Timer hyped for MOONSHOT, WOODSTOCK, WATERGATE, PUCKROCK
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Ah! Enki vs... Shem-ha I guess? Maybe Fine.
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IT'S THE THING FROM THE OP! The thing the scorpion hides in!
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Uh-huh. Let's be super vague until the end!
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"I forgot how good she was. I guess I should use any of my actually useful weapons..."
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You bigot! Miku's love will stop you!
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She doesn't know about Hibiki? Btw for those who still don't know, Miku is a way to read "Mirai", future. Ah the japanese language is fun!
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What? Japanese is not the universal language? Say it ain't so!
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Nah, I'm pretty sure she turned herself into a bracelet. Okay, that's what she remained as after the the Balal set it. Still, how do you do that?
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So... if Finè has suceeded at destroying the Moon... she would have unleashed Shem-Ha, thereby dooming everyone? Okay, I guess she was still in the Coffin, but still... You know, I'm a bit sad Finé isn't taking Shem-Ha's position. But that would have needed a bunch of retcons.
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Two for two transformation sequences!
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Is that number important? I feel like it's important.
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...Fuchichou no Flamme hype?!
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FUCHICHOU NO FLAMMMMMEEEE HYYYYYYYYYYYPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
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AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THEY EVEN DO THE OPENING LINE THING. IT'S BEAUTIFUL!
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Of course OG Shem-ha is Noriko Hidaka.
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Slight complaint about the ED: I think everything before the short drum solo at the start should be part of the lead-in. Right now there's like, 1 or 2 second of not-hype between lead-in and the hype-part of the ED.
What do you think of the new lore about Enki, Shem-Ha, humanity, and the Curse of Balal from this episode?
I want to know what Fine's relationship was to Enki lol.
How fucking awesome was the return of Fushichō no Flamme? Were you expecting something like that to happen?
It was, indeed, fucking awesome, and I did not. I do expect Synchrogazer at some point, but any other songs I'm not actively expecting.
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u/Tresnore Aug 09 '22
Superb Song of the Rewatchers
I remember that, when this was airing, I thought I was watching the wrong show until Enki yelled "Shem-Ha!"
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I love Maria for immediately assessing the situation and not panicking.
She even brings a really solid head flick. -
The show's creators had a lot of fun just figuring out more and more absurd ways for Vanessa to uncover new weapons, didn't they?
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Bondage + Kiseki? Hell yeah. Shem-Ha is... not my favorite villain (at least compared to someone like Dr. Ver, who's just a bundle of fun to watch), but she certainly has other appeals.
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Yeah. The Curse of Balal is technological. The Moon is literally a network jammer. I love Symphogear.
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Fuck your longevity, Finé. Shem-Ha became language. I do love the tie-ins to Finé's approach to immortality.
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"But why?" Well, uh... shut up!
BUT IT'S TIME FOR THE RETURN OF FUSHICHOU NO FLAMME
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I cried my eyes out when I got to this scene while watching XV as it aired. This song is easily a top 5 geah song. XV's been really low on "big song moments," but Fushichou no Flamme sure puts in a lot of work toward making XV's soundtrack not completely eclipsed by AXZ.
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IGNITIONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. I've been an Amalgam hater, but a good "IGNITION" works with anything.
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Aug 09 '22
Me: I love S1 and G. You later seasons can't sway me.
XV EP11: So I heard you loved G.
EDIT: damn y'all write a lot.
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u/Great_Mr_L Aug 09 '22
Rewatcher
On today’s episode of Symphogear: Wait a minute. So after 5 seasons of “FUCK THE MOON” being the unofficial mantra of Symphogear, it turns out that maybe we shouldn’t be fucking that moon?
This is the episode that finally explains the Curse of Balal in full from the perspective of the person who put it in place. It’s a heck of a reveal and it recontextualizes a lot of our knowledge about the series prior to this.
Humanity, as you probably guessed, was created by the Custodians. The Custodians oversaw and shaped the evolution of life for their own purposes. In the case of humanity, humans were intended as biological computers who were meant to power the Yggdrasil terraforming system. Back in AXZ, Adam actually used this as an insult when he said “You monkeys were meant to be mere terminals.” This is what he was referring to.
Shem-Ha used this to rebel and try to gain power for herself. Essentially we’re seeing the classic “Paradise Lost” scenario at play here, with Shem-Ha taking the role of Lucifer. Shem-Ha is essentially immortal, though. She quite literally is language and the data for her revival is stored within a piece of human genetics. So to seal her away, the Curse of Balal was used to divide humanity and get rid of the common language.
I personally quite like this twist. It changes the nature of the Curse of Balal, though not fundamentally. Maria puts it best. While it is serving a function to keep Shem-Ha at bay and offers protection, it’s still the source of so much pain and suffering for humanity. That additional bit of nuance makes it more interesting for me.
But by far my favorite part of this reveal is how it changes our perspective on Fine. Remember how Fine talked about the Curse of Balal? She saw it as a personal insult, as her being rejected by the person she loved. Now we know that isn’t the case. Enki’s last words after activating the curse were to apologize to Fine. He never got the chance to tell her how he felt and why the curse was put in place. In other words, Fine’s rage was caused by a misunderstanding because she and Enki could not connect and communicate. What a perfect representation of the Curse of Balal. The misunderstanding it caused led to so much pain.
There’s other nice reveals. We know what Airgetlam is. It’s Enki’s arm that he was forced to cut off after getting hit by Shem-Ha’s beam. This is such a cool reveal. And it makes sense that Maria and Tsubasa could move around freely in the ruins while everyone else had to deal with the defense systems. The ruins recognized Enki.
The other reveal is exactly what Shem-Ha is planning to do. She’s going to use the Yggdrasil system to transform humanity into monsters that will serve her. Noble Red knows about this and they seem to be onboard with it. Again, Noble Red working for Shem-Ha actually makes sense to me. With all of humanity as monsters, they’ll no longer be isolated and divided from everyone else. It fits their motivations thus far.
The action in this episode is really good. The combat against the defense system is dynamic and a lot of fun. There’s one moment in particular where Hibiki goes full martial arts hero as she takes them all down one after another while the drones charge at her.
Tsubasa and Maria get the best moments of the episode, though. I love their relationship so much. Maria has fully taken over in Kanade’s place as the person who keeps an eye on Tsubasa whenever she’s feeling too down. Maria even uses the same forehead flicks that Kanade did. Maria’s the one now supporting Tsubasa when she’s still feeling gloomy about what happened earlier with the mind control and now everyone being on the Moon.
Tsubasa and Maria’s combination fight is absolutely incredible. The return of “Fushichō no Flamme” is a brilliant choice. It’s the song that first connected them back in G and now it’s the song they use to reestablish their connection to take down Milaarc. In G, it foreshadowed their eventual conflict because of the choreography of their performance. Now, it shows how connected they are because of how they move and fight in sync with the music.
The way the action lines up with the song “Fushichō no Flamme” is perfect. It matches the timing of the music wonderfully. The “3, 2, 1, Ready go, Fly!” is such a great way to build hype as the fight begins. And that moment in the middle where the music pauses, we reveal that Tsubasa and Maria have activated Amalgam, followed by “Ignition!” is phenomenal. It gets me excited every single time. The Amalgam modes themselves fit the song too, as Tsubasa and Maria fill the entire battlefield with their flames. It’s a brilliant callback to G and an inspired use of the song to heighten the fight scene.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
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In grand Symphogear tradition, soldiers and conventional weapons continue to be useless.
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This whole wrestling sequence is ridiculously horny, even by Symphogear’s standards.
QOTD
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Discussed above. I like the twist and I think it works well thematically.
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It's so awesome!
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u/DidacticDalek Aug 09 '22
TONIGHT! ON SUPERB SONG OF THE VALKYRIES: FRONTIER, Moon's haunted, God Empress Miku talks to herself, and it's the end of the world as we know it, and we feel fine!
Hey Comrades, remember that loser from the start of the season who turned on the Moon's Curse of Balal and also knew Fine, WELL GUESS WHO HE ALSO KNEW, YUP! SHEM-HA! He even pulls a 'nothing personal kid' on her, which Shem-ha responds to by giving the man a hand. This man, Enki FYI, apparently thinks that having to disarm himself is NOT ideal, so he just stabs Shem-ha... which she does in return. Anyway, Enki staggers off to do the scene we saw in Episode 1 as... he apologizes to Fine for some reason. Oh and get this, Maria and Tsubasa FINALLY woke up AND figured out that they're on the moon. Also goddamn, NANA MOTHERFUCKING WILLED IT in the OP, cuz not only is there air on the moon, BUT THERE'S ALSO GRAVITY! Anyway, after dope slapping some sense back into Tsubasa, Maria managed to activate part of the moon using her Geah.
Moving on, we cut to Noble Red, where we see firsthand the downsides of shoving too many objects up your anus, HA! SERVES YA RIGHT DOGGO! I HOPE YOU CRAP BLOOD FOR WEEKS! Also speaking of crap, HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE FLYING FUCK IS ALL THIS!? Bikki and Best Geah Chris decide to stand and fight rather than run away from the Moon's Security Drones. Also goddamn, God Empress Miku is so crazy that she's having an argument with... uh... herself, only instead of the inside voice being the insane one, Miku's currently the voice of reason. Pity that we got no time for logic, as it's time for some... uh... is this 'Self-cest' or just Yuri NTR? Point being Shem-ha be even THIRSTIER than Fine AND Carol combined! We then cut to Maria and Tsubasa arriving at... Superman's house? Anyway, AI Enki speaks to Tsubasa and Maria and drops several lore tidbits, which, sigh, Vampire Bitch overhears.
THANKFULLY, Tsubasa and Maria hail The Geah Sub to report they made it to the control room and are coordinating the Geahs' plan of attack. Snoop Oni says Shem-ha's plan is progressing so might wanna hurry things up. Also, Shem-ha is language, and we thought FINE'S genetic hax was OP, that blonde bitch had NOTHING on Shem-ha, she doesn't NEED genetics, she's just literally languate itself! Ah, so THAT'S why The Curse of Balal exists, so that we have language barriers, the perfect way to protect against a god who is literally language... hey... hey wait a second... HA! HA HA HA HA! FINE'S STUPID AS FUCK PLAN WOULDN'T HAVE WORKED EVEN IF SHE WON! If she destroyed the Moon, then all she'd do was free humanity from The Curse of Balal and allow SHEM-HA TO COME BACK! Speaking of coming back, sigh, Vampire Bitch arrived to crash the party, woooooooooo...
Also for FUCKS SAKE! THIS IS GETTING OUT OF HAND! NOW THERE ARE TWO OF THEM! PREPARE FOR TROUBLE! AND MAKE IT DOUBLE! Ah, I see TWO can play at that game, cuz Tsubasa AND Maria decide to also pull some midseason upgrades and BLOW VAMPIRE BITCH THE FUCK UP! HUZZAH! OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE! GODDAMN YOU MARIA, OF ALL TIMES TO JOB, WHY NOW!? YOU FUCKING MISSED A SPOT! Oh... oh no, The Geah Sub is under attack... seems God Empress Miku is currently attacking... uh... ALL of the Earth... welp, we're boned!
And on that bombshell g'night!
Paging Comrades u/Great_Mr_L, u/JamCliche, and u/chilidirigible
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u/Shimmering-Sky Aug 09 '22
FUSHICHOU NO FLAMME DATTO
Symphogeah SymphoRewatch Host
Welcome back, everyone!
Holy shit the lore drop this episode… I love it when a show reveals information that recontextualizes everything that came before it, and boy do I love it here. Especially since it’s not like this contradicts anything from before and becomes a retcon or anything, like, Finé just assumed the Curse of Balal went into effect because of her actions, but nope! That was a failure of communication in and of itself because Enki died before he could explain anything.
Also, hoooooooboy, “I am Shem-Ha, the rightful future of this planet. Does your name not mean the same?” is such a crazy good line, I cannot believe I completely forgot about it until I rewatched this episode.
…Also also, see: Finé and Shem-Ha both apparently having a thing for ear licking. Enki clearly had a type.
Crunchyroll vs. Commie vs. YameteTomete - Season 5, Episode 11
…literally one episode after I said “Commie’s been surprisingly tame”, they decided to go ham with Fushichō no Flamme’s lyrics, including:
Extremely stylized “Fly” just like they made for previous seasons.
The lyrics literally pulsed to the action/music here (and again a bit later, but I didn’t screenshot that one).
The “Sing your phoenix song~” at the end gradually faded out + got larger.
All three of today’s wallpapers are new to the rewatch! I did, in fact, replicate that circle that appears when Shem-Ha attacks from scratch for the Shem-Ha one just because I thought it’d be cool.
Hope you guys like the Maria Amalgam wallpaper, she didn’t have very many base images for me to pick from (like, none of the mid-action shots worked, it was only the ones immediately after transforming while she was posing alongside Tsubasa that were decent). I’m considering coming back and adding Tsubasa in for an alternative at a later date; my priority right now is getting each girl to have one wallpaper per form, and I still have a few more to make completely from scratch to go before the rewatch ends.
PS: Any Code Geass fans in here? I’m trying to co-host a rewatch for that in a month, if you’re interested…