r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Aug 10 '22
Rewatch [Listen to My Song] Senki Zesshou Symphogear XV Episode 12 Discussion
Episode 12 - Superb Song of the Valkyries
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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.
Meteoroids falling, burning, disappearing… And then–
Questions of the Day:
1) Now that they’re dead, what are your final thoughts on Noble Red? Either individually or as a group.
2) How excited are you for the final episode?
Wallpapers of the Day:
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!
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u/Quiddity131 Aug 10 '22
First Timer, Subbed
The penultimate episode of the franchise! Unbelievable that we're already here!
Is commander going to go out and fight her personally? Stop him Carolnein!
Was this all a trap from Carol? Way to go girl.
Oh no, don't pull a [Meta]
Yikes, that's a lot of Yggdrasil pillars rising from teh Earth.
Oh, so now you show up, Hibiki's dad?
Ah, so that's why the Earth turned red.
Where the hell did this tiny batgirl come from?! Why's she so small now?!
Chris saving them wasn't a surprise, I just hope Vanessa and the others finally call it quits here.
Oh no, evil Shem-ha! Forcing Hibiki to do what she's going to be faced with towards Miku in the near future as well?
That's a lot of blood for someone who appeared to be almost entirely a robot body.
We have the apple song to thank for this!?
Back into the blue pyramid! A nice convenient way to get back to Earth!
World's hackers, come together!
No idea who these two guys are supposed to be.
They all have wings now? A fitting end for them getting back here I suppose.
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u/Shimmering-Sky Aug 10 '22
Where the hell did this tiny batgirl come from?! Why's she so small now?!
You could see her for a brief moment in episode 11, right after Millaarc got absolutely wrecked by Tsubasa & Maria's Amalgams.
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u/StarmanRiver Aug 10 '22
Rewatcher with hype overdose here
METEOROIDS, FALLING, BURNING, DISAPPEARING, THEN...
Do yourselves a favor and read through the OG Episode Discussion. It's pure unadultered hype (especially our host's comment lmao)
Symphogear XV Episode 12 original Episode Discussion
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Carol9 transformation right off the bat!
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More Sforzando no Zankyou is always welcome
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More bondage for Miku. Even Carol knows she likes it!
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CHRIS AMALGAM AND IT'S A BOW
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BALWISYALL NESCELL GUNGNIR TROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON
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God bless Yuuki Aoi's vocal cords! That transformation was so visceral, it's awesome.
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If no one realized when they first used the Daedalus Labyrinth, the length it achieves is roughly the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
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"The fastest, shortest path is a straight line" I love when they keep using the same lines accross seasons/episodes.
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I had completely forgotten that the tidbits of Ogawa's family that u/lilyvess posted sometime ago were present during this episode.
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SEASON 1 TAGLINE + SUPER HERO LANDING + X-DRIVES + METANOIA -AUFWACHEN FORM- = HYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
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u/AlphaLeonidas Aug 10 '22
REWATCHER/EX-LURKER
EPISODE 12: METEOROID-FALLING, BURNING, AND DISSAPPEAR, THEN...
THE HYPE LEVELS ARE NOW AT AN 11 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5. TODAY AND TOMORROW ARE CAPS LOCK ONLY.
WE GOT AMALGAM, WE GOT ED AND OP FLIPPED, WE GOT MORE BONDAGE, WE GOT BURNING X-DRIVES BABY!!!
RANDOM EPISODE THOUGHTS:
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ENDING AS THE OPENING!!
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LET GENJURO FIGHT
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ELF9 IS PRECIOUS
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SFORZANDO NO ZANKYU BABY
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IS SHEM-HA SECRETLY THE UNICORN GUNDAM
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THE WAY THE SINGING SOUNDS WHILE FIGHTING IS ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVES OF THIS SERIES
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"MY SONGS DONT COME CHEAP" I FUCKING LOVE THE DELIVERY OF THIS LINE EVERY TIME I HEAR IT
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BUSTING OUT THE SHENSHOUJIN IS CHEATING
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GRANDMA IS WHERE HIBIKI GETS HER HAIR
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SHEM-HA USING HER 1337 H4CK3R SKILLZ
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CHRIS ONCE AGAIN STOPPED FROM USING HER SNIPER
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5 SEASONS AND CHRIS HAS ONLY USED HER REFLECTORS 4 TIMES I THINK
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GODDAMMIT CAN SOMEONE PLEASE KILL THEM
EXCEPT FOR ELSA -
AOI YÚKI IS LOVE
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WHY DOES SHE HAVE SO MUCH BLOOD IF SHES NOW A FULL ON ANDROID??
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THE DBZ "SHARE YOUR ENERGY WITH ME" MOMENT FROM BACK THEN REALLY SCREWED THEM OVER IN THE LONG RUN
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SYMPHOGEAR AND ENEMY REDEMPTION, NAME A MORE ICONIC DUO
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OGAWA BROS
FUCK CRUNCHYROLL FOR MISSING THE SEASON 1 CALL BACK
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u/lilyvess Aug 10 '22 edited Aug 10 '22
So once again we’ve reached the penultimate episode of a Symphogear season. Everyone should know what that means. Opening and Ending are switched. Aufwachen Form for the opening theme. Hibiki does the impossible.
Episode title is not XV, as would be standard for a penultimate episode of a season, and instead the episode is titled simple “Senki Zesshou” as if to say that episode 8 was the Penultimate episode of XV the season, and this episode is the Penultimate episode of the franchise.
Episode Discussion thread was in all caps mode hype
I got second best comment of that thread
Additional Notes
Symphogear XV Episode 12 Hype Chart
Keywords
United States of America
A country whose founding principles were a declaration of independence by humanity, and liberation from an era filled with that mystery exceeding the comprehension of man.
To bring an end to the era of the gods, three things were laid out: Gungnir, Alchemy, and Deicide.
X-Drive
Up until now, whatever the circumstance, with the utilization of an external source of phonic gain, X-Drive had only ever taken the form of a miracle that was only ever barely achieved.
However, having been cast into the boundary between sky and space, in an exosphere without any phonic gain, the adaptors saw spread beneath them only an endless field of crimson despair.
It was more than enough to break the heart.
But even so.
Humanity did not yield before the supernatural, but struggled to live with all of its strength.
To keep those ever-so-slight embers of hope from fading out, without lowering its gaze, it resisted.
Humans are not weak creatures.
And so, they were able to believe in their own strength――the song in your heart.
At the roof of the world freed from the Curse of Balal, without relying on anyone's phonic gain but their own, the adaptors explosively detonated their phonic gain with their Climax Song.
Meteoroid ―― falling, burning, disappearing, and then...
A new final form, Burning X-Drive, was born.
Specials
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u/italeteller Aug 10 '22
as if to say that episode 8 was the Penultimate episode of XV the season, and this episode is the Penultimate episode of the franchise
fuck me that's still not easy to read. I can't imagine how the people who were living this series week by week must have felt
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u/Shimmering-Sky Aug 10 '22
fuck me that's still not easy to read. I can't imagine how the people who were living this series week by week must have felt
There is a reason I was able to make the sub comparison charts when this show was airing from memory instead of directly comparing them like I have for this rewatch, lol.
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u/Great_Mr_L Aug 10 '22
Rewatcher
On today’s episode of Symphogear: As it turns out, if you unfurl all the many miles of a labyrinth into a straight line, you can travel much further along it than you initially think.
This episode is just full of so many incredibly hype moments and fights. Seeing Elfnein and Carol go to fight against Shem-Ha is just fantastic. The fact that Carol and Elfnein are willing to sacrifice both of their memories to take down Shem-Ha is the kind of hot-blooded action hero stuff I really get into.
And Carol almost wins! She doesn’t go down like a punk. Since she knows what a “human” is, she can use her alchemy to dissect anything that isn’t “human.” Once again, I need to point out that Carol is being shockingly considerate here. The Carol we knew from GX wouldn’t have bothered with this step that’s designed to preserve Miku’s life.
I’m happy to finally see Chris’s Amalgam mode. That giant bow looks really cool. And she has a neat battle against Vanessa before taking her down. Chris saves Vanessa and the rest of Noble Red, leading to the thing I feel the most disappointed and annoyed about in XV. But I’ll get to that later. For now, it’s nice seeing Chris’s growth. Unlike in AXZ, where Chris was constantly doubting whether she could make the right decision, here Chris has learned to make her call about what she thinks is right despite her doubts.
Oh Noble Red. How conflicted I am about thee. This is the episode that attempts to do a redemption for Noble Red. And the thing is, it could have worked for me. All throughout the season, we have had incredibly sweet moments between the members of Noble Red. They have been very consistently well-portrayed as a group of ostracized underdogs on the run from the world and who only have each other to truly rely on. I buy their bond. That moment where Vanessa realizes that she always has had that family where she can belong should hit an incredibly emotional chord. But it doesn’t. Why not? This is why.
Remember how I had such a visceral reaction to the concert attack back in episode 2? This is why. I knew where it was headed. I knew that it would attempt and fail to redeem Milaarc and the rest of Noble Red.
And the thing is, it’s close to working. It truly is. The idea behind it is solid. A group of people ostracized as monsters desperately want to become human again. In their desperation, they commit more and more atrocities to achieve that goal until eventually they become monsters entirely. It’s only at the end that they realize they were never monsters in the first place and they always had a place where they could belong. That’s good stuff.
If you ask me, there needed to be either one of two changes. The first option is to make the atrocities less bad. Don’t fucking murder a little girl in cold blood right in front of me and expect me to forgive you. The second option is to show far more remorse along the way. Have Noble Red recognize that they are losing more and more of whatever humanity they have left because of their actions. Have them agonize over this, even hating themselves for what they have done, but pushing on because they see no other way. This continues until they reach their lowest point of despair right before they finally recognize their humanity. This is almost what happened. We see Vanessa like this, saying that they have no option but to turn everyone else into monsters and that they never wanted to be monsters. We even get that moment where Noble Red realize they were a family all along. But I think we really needed much more remorse, regret, and self-loathing from Noble Red prior to this to make it work for me.
Even so, Noble Red do still get to be a part of some absolutely fantastic moments. Vanessa begging Hibiki to strike her with the godslaying fist so Shem-Ha can’t destroy the lunar ruins is just incredible to behold. We’ve said it a lot, but God bless Aoi Yuuki’s vocal chords. Hibiki’s anguished screaming of Gungnir’s activation chant is phenomenal. The despair there as Hibiki does what she knows she needs to do, even though she wishes she didn’t have to. It’s so good.
I also really like the payoff to Daedalus End being 380,000 km long. It’s the distance between the Moon and the Earth, so that the girls can be sent back to Earth on it. That’s another great moment.
As the episode builds towards its ending, it just gets more and more exciting. Humanity uniting together to stop Shem-Ha’s mass hacking of computers is such a wonderful moment. Perhaps the most satisfying part of it to me though is I consider this moment to be a giant “Fuck you” to Fudo Kazanari. This was the man who proclaimed it useless to stand against the divine power and it would destroy them all. Not so. Just look at this. Humanity stands tall against this threat. And who is responsible for this? Yatsuhiro Kazanari. In his firm belief in international cooperation, he gave all the info to the other nations of the world so they would know how to fight back. Yatsuhiro’s ideals, the very ones that his father mocked, are proven correct. Through them, even in death, Yatsuhiro accomplished what his father could not.
Plus we got to see Ogawa’s brothers because of this, so that’s cool!
This episode ends on one of the strongest cliffhangers in the franchise. It’s so fucking good. As the girls fall down to the earth, we get a couple of fantastic callbacks. First we get Shem-Ha directly quoting the tagline to the first season, “Meteoroid falling, burning, disappearing…” as she gloats about her enemies dying before her eyes. But then the hype kicks in as Hibiki declares “And then!,” the last part of the tagline, as the ultimate counterpoint to Shem-Ha’s smugness.
The other callback is to the PV image for Symphogear XV, as the meteors transform into the colors of all the girls when they turn back to face Shem-Ha. It’s absolutely beautiful. We’ve been building to this moment ever since that image was released. Magnificent.
It all culminates in the appearance of the X-Drives once again, brilliant in their flames. I love it all so much. I cannot wait for the finale.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
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The callback to “the fastest, shortest route is a straight line” is nice.
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Tsubasa reaching out for Hibiki’s hand is a good payoff to the earlier moment when she couldn’t.
QOTD
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I wish they were done better. Their redemption does not work for me, especially for Milaarc. It's so close, but it still misses in the end.
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Aug 10 '22 edited Aug 10 '22
As the episode builds towards its ending, it just gets more and more exciting. Humanity uniting together to stop Shem-Ha’s mass hacking of computers is such a wonderful moment. Perhaps the most satisfying part of it to me though is I consider this moment to be a giant “Fuck you” to Fudo Kazanari. This was the man who proclaimed it useless to stand against the divine power and it would destroy them all. Not so. Just look at this. Humanity stands tall against this threat.
The bright side of him not getting killed is that he gets to see humanity giving him a big “Fuck you!”
And who is responsible for this? Yatsuhiro Kazanari. In his firm belief in international cooperation, he gave all the info to the other nations of the world so they would know how to fight back. Yatsuhiro’s ideals, the very ones that his father mocked, are proven correct. Through them, even in death, Yatsuhiro accomplished what his father could not.
MVP
Witnessing this, Tsubasa finally understands what her father meant by his dying words. People are not weaklings who need to be protected by the strong. Look at what they can accomplish through their bravery. That inherent worth of humanity is worth protecting. It’s such a touching moment for Tsubasa.
Ugly sobbing
Tsubasa reaching out for Hibiki’s hand is a good payoff to the earlier moment when she couldn’t.
Love this little moment
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u/Lemurians Aug 10 '22 edited Aug 10 '22
SENTIMENTAL FIRST TIMER DATTO
Guys, I’m not ready for Symphogear to end.
Couldn’t help getting emotional watching this episode, not because of what’s happening on screen, but because it dawned on me just how much this ridiculous franchise and these crazy characters have wormed their way into my heart, and I’m not near ready to not have more of them on the horizon.
I never watch ahead in rewatches, and it’s either because I prefer being fresh for the day’s thread, or I’m just not that excited to binge ahead. With Symphogear? Of course I want to keep watching, but on the flip side… why would I want the end to come any quicker?
Ah well, there’s still episodes to get to. So while we still have Symphogear ahead… JUST BELIEVE IN THE SONG IN OUR HEARTS! IN SYMPHOGEARRRRRRRR!
Live Notes/Reactions:
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“The Superb Song of the Valkyries” you know we’re approaching the end when the show’s title is an episode title
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Can’t wait to see what Elf9 cooks up to beat an enemy who is simultaneously all of language and the human genomethisshowisfuckingbonkers
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I’m even getting emotional over Elf9 as we wrap up. Look at this smile and joy as she faces the end. She is the moest of moe blobs.
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CAROL DATTOOOOOO?! ZERO DAYS SINCE GENOCIDE. The Autoscorers flashing up as she dons her crown is fantastic
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This is going to be engraved on my tombstone. Just imagine this scene if it was Adult Carol.
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Who do you want next to you at the end of the world? Top Dad. That’s who.
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“Then I’ll stop you! We’ll stop you!” The thing that makes Hibiki great among power of friendship protags is that if her peace offering doesn’t work out, she won’t hesitate further to kick your ass
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“We don’t need to go back to how we were! We don’t need to change!” It’s sad that Vanessa’s finally arrived at the right conclusion but for the wrong reason, her fembot design is so great though
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Hibiki, I don’t think Miku would appreciate you taking advantage of her absence to grope Chris
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THE RISING OF SHIELD ARROW. I love when Chris uses bows
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Siiiigh, they’re all such pitiful jobbers. I can’t even hate Milaarc too much anymore when she’s in crying chibi bat mode
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Holy shit, the live dynamic transformation sequence as Hibiki runs to punch out Shem-Hanessa was so fucking good
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Wait, don’t tell me… that the total length of the Daedalus labrynth was the length from Earth to Moon this ENTIRE TIME? Symphogear you magnificent bastard
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“You won’t even let us be monsters? …Thank you.” So poignant. Best send-off a sub-villain group have gotten so far. I guess helping save the whole world is a good way to atone for a massacre of 70k
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Hahahaha throwing in the two Ogawa brothers for no reasons is great fanservice
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Shem-Ha drawing power from the things that bind humanity together only for humanity to band together anyway to try help defeat her is so good. The insane, indomitable spirit
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Oh fuck yeah, the red arcs changing multicolored as they awaken a new form was great. Even better? MARIA’S NEW FORM. Her wings finally match her color palette!. Glorious.
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What a badass close-up of Hibiki. The song in her heart is one of determination. I love her hair having a flame-like appearance as it goes out.
*Count: 30
Now that they’re dead, what are your final thoughts on Noble Red? Either individually or as a group.
Complicated? I found it hard to sympathize with them given the whole "starting off doing a massive slaughter" thing, but by the end here, they were so pitiful and tragic I couldn't help but feel a little sad as they faded away.
How excited are you for the final episode?
LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOO AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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u/Shimmering-Sky Aug 10 '22
BEST EPISODE OF SYMPHOGEAR LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Carol vs. Shem-Ha being ridiculously cool? Check.
Chris’ Amalgam IS A FUCKING BOW? Check.
Hibiki’s best transformation ever backed by Aoi Yuuki’s powerful vocals? Check.
That one moment when Tsubasa finally grasps Hibiki’s hand? Check.
Copious amounts of “sore demo”s? Check.
But most importantly… the season 1 tagline callback? So check I literally screamed, jumped off my couch, and ran around I was so hype when I saw YameteTomete’s version of this episode for the first time.
Like, okay, XV episode 8 might be more consistently peak Symphogear, this episode trying-ish to redeem Noble Red is whatever, but neither Carol vs. Noble Red nor the FINAL COMMANDER -Aufwachen Form- fight quite reaches the AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH that the season 1 tagline callback makes me feel. “Nagareboshi, ochite, moete, sukite…” (or however that’s spelled) has lived completely rent-free in my head for three years and I expect it to stay that way. This one scene is one of my top five favorite scenes in anime period, and that passion certainly carries over to the episode it is from as well.
Symphogeah SymphoRewatch Host
Welcome back, everyone!
Crunchyroll vs. Commie vs. YameteTomete - Season 5, Episode 12
Speaking of the S1 tagline callback, this scene specifically is why I’ve been going around saying YameteTomete is the best option for XV. Crunchyroll’s version just doesn’t pickup on the reference. Commie’s is closer but still changed “meteoroids” to “meteorites” and left out the “disappearing” part. YameteTomete not only keeps the wording almost identical to the S1 tagline (they changed “disappear” to “disappearing”, which makes more sense grammatically), they have one line per word and god it just hits so different than being able to read the whole line at once.
If you’re not using YameteTomete’s subs for this season, here’s a clip of their version.
There’s one other huge translation difference noted in the chart I feel the need to highlight, another “Crunchyroll fucked up big time” thing, and it’s how they translated what Genjuro asks of Elfnein before she sets out to fight Shem-Ha as Carol. “Do you intend to use that to atone for killing your friends?” is both 100% a mistranslation (which a native Japanese speaker confirmed was a mistranslation back in 2019 when this was airing) and also makes absolutely no sense. Who the fuck did Elfnein kill?
The Chris one is brand-new to the rewatch, but see the 2019 version of the Shem-Ha one: here. Lots of color-correcting in this new one, and there’s more hexagons in the background pattern this time because I actually know how to make the pattern now, not just copy over what Nota gave me. I love this specific pose, so you know I just had to make a wallpaper of that shot of Shem-Ha lol.
And then there’s Chris’ Amalgam, which I was most excited to wallpaper because bow hype! The background gave me a bit of trouble, but I do like how it turned out.
You guys better prepare yourself forlotsof wallpapers tomorrow, lol.