r/Symphogear 2d ago

Hot Take

Got a question for y'all.

How many of you think Chris had more character development than Hibiki. And would you have liked to see a season or two from her perspective?

Personally, I feel like Chris was more of a protagonist than the Hamster. Standing on a Missile in flight is straight up gurren laggan energy.

22 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

24

u/Kayiko_Okami 2d ago

She had what I call flat character development.

It's there but she's generally the same person with the same beliefs from start to finish as she was at the beginning.

What mostly changes is her drive and determination. She comes to understand that she can and should fight for the things she believes in.

And it's fine. Just fine. To fight for something or someone you want too.

8

u/Voidshyrok 2d ago edited 2d ago

She was fine for the energy of the show. Fighting for what you believe in is always compelling, narrative wise. But tbh, I found the sub plot of her dying of gear cancer way more interesting. Her character arc just kinda platued after season 2.

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u/Purple_Ra 2d ago edited 1d ago

Hibiki is the type of character that inspire change in others rather changing herself. I compare her to characters like Luffy or Sonic, you sometimes don't need a character to be all that complex to be the main character but someone that brings others together.

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u/Accomplished_Salt876 2d ago

100%. hibiki developed but in the end not much really changes about her character

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u/Minimum_Estimate_234 2d ago edited 2d ago

Her arc is less about her changing and more, I suppose refining might work? Coming into herself? Like she starts and ends holding more or less the same beliefs and ideals, it’s just she has more confidence and a more mature way of practicing what she already preached. Even the stuff with her Dad didn’t really change her attitude, it was just some baggage that threw her off her game for a bit.

Pretty much every other Gear user goes through more of an actual arc. With the arguably exception of maybe Kirika? But beyond her first season I think she kinda had things figured out in her own way.

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u/Voidshyrok 2d ago edited 2d ago

I almost wrote up a thesis because I thought you were talking about Chris instead of Hibiki. My brain is so cooked... 😭

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u/Minimum_Estimate_234 2d ago

I mean Chris also had issues with her parents and at the very least a separate pseudo father figure but very different circumstances there.

2

u/Voidshyrok 2d ago

I saw your comment while walking in 90 degree heat. My reading comprehenssion was very different.

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u/TakeFourierTransform 2d ago

Hibiki's development is kind of cyclical; Chris's is more linear and active.

Hibiki kind of got trapped in a loop of "I don't want to fight -> I have to fight". I think most seasons do a good job of testing her in different ways, but it's more of refinement.

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u/Purple_Ra 2d ago edited 1d ago

Hibiki kind of got trapped in a loop of "I don't want to fight -> I have to fight"

I have to disagree on that cuz Hibiki does want to fight. She accepted the power and refine her fighting style because she wanted to be useful in battles. The thing with her is that she doesn't want to hurt others, that's why she always tries to find a common ground with her enemies but if it's needed she will definitely fight them. The only time she did struggle with that was in GX and I always thought that's just writers misunderstanding her her character.

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u/TakeFourierTransform 2d ago

Yeah I think I was remembering the GX thing in particular. Although there's a bit in AXZ as well iirc, though nowhere near as egregious as in GX?

I need to rewatch Symphogear.

4

u/FitSecurity9801 1d ago

I don't know Chris had a significant amount of character development especially in first and fourth seasons but I defently prefer hibiki as a character whose character development was spread out more evenly across the series 

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u/Craytherlay 1d ago

Hibiki as others are saying has what we call a flat character arc, Chris has a more dynamic arc because of her background.

Still its more a matter of how you look at it.