The ancient rites have been completed and the door to eternity is cracking open, so I hope you folks are ready for another episode of SYYYYMPHOOOOGEAAAAAR! Last episode was mostly just a continuous series of battles from start to finish, but we did end up learning more about the internal dynamics of the Bavarian Illuminati – namely, that everyone except Tiki thinks Adam sucks, and are actually loyal to St. Germain. However, with Prelati potentially having been destroyed outright by the young Symphogears, and Adam now asking St. Germain to sacrifice her one remaining follower, it’s looking like the time for any potential leadership struggle may already be passed.

That’s generally how it goes with Symphogear, though – the enemy team starts with maybe a half dozen or so individual members, and gets whittled down over the second half of the season, leaving us with a climactic confrontation with whoever the biggest bad guy is. Structural forecasts aside, what I’m actually most looking forward to is seeing whatever new power mode Hibiki and her friends synthesize out of the “Fool’s Stone” that they’ve been seeking. Let’s hit the ground running with another episode of SYMPHOGEAR!

Episode 8

“In the Gap Between Past and Future.” Another one of my favorite titling conceits: a florid, evocative description of an extremely ordinary concept, like The Present. I would also have accepted “On the Brink of Tomorrow”

Kirika just sort of blankly staring at her digital reader, and then she’s suddenly found the Fool’s Stone. The luck of the idiot

This show knows Elfnein is just too powerful of a resource. Opening this episode with her helplessly windmilling her arms and then slamming face-first into dirt is an excellent choice

“I can’t bear to look at them.” Hibiki enjoying not being the punchline for once

“To make a mud-covered miracle shine…” Maria just can’t help but talk like that all the time, huh? No wonder she and Tsubasa work so well together, they’re both chuuni as heck

Nice, dramatic shading on this shot of Elfnein working hard. Adding a total non-combatant to the main team has made for a tricky dynamic at times, but she’s a very charming character, and as the season has gone on, they’ve been giving her more and more meaningful projects to work on

The siblings from Valverde want to speak to Chris, but she says to tell them she’s busy, declaring “the past is the past. You can’t change the outcome of your choices.” Of course, by saying this, she’s unintentionally revealing how much she really is still hung up over the past – if it were truly behind her, she wouldn’t be afraid to meet with them. But that’s par for the course with Chris; as the show’s self-declared prickly but ultimately fluffy tsundere, she says the opposite of what she really feels around 70% of the time

And Tsubasa knows her well enough to immediately call her on this, telling her she can’t keep running away from the past

Genjuuro says it’s time for training, and that “if this were a movie, there’s no way a single pebble could bring about a happy ending!” A fair point, and kind of a meta-joke about the contrivance of the Fool’s Stone in the first place. Also, if this were a movie, we’d be right around where the hero hits their lowest point, and must redouble their efforts to win the big tournament (or beat their rival, or however else the sort of movies Genjuro watches tend to end). Thus it is indeed the perfect moment for an inspiring training montage

Over on the Illuminati’s side, we learn Prelati is still alive, and that Cagliostro actually overheard Adam’s request for a sacrifice

Nice to see all six wielders fighting together for once. Normally it makes sense to split them up, or only focus on a couple of them per battle – otherwise, it’s hard to maintain a sense of clear back-and-forth and momentum within the fight. But it’s fine for a training battle that’s essentially just a montage of special attacks, and we get some very nice cuts for Hibiki and Tsubasa’s attacks here

Oh my god, Genjuuro just in his usual tracksuit with a gym teacher’s stopwatch and whistle, announcing he’ll do battle with all of them

And of course, his absurd flying kick sends Maria blasting off again

Hibiki’s the one person who actually expects this result, unsurprisingly

“The commander is trying to tell us something by communicating with fists and hearts” leading directly into Hibiki getting flung into the bushes is an extremely good gag

Tsubasa’s blade is caught between two fingers, and then all of Chris’ missiles are thrown back at her. I feel like Genjuuro could just save the world himself every time, but he’s too committed to making sure his team train into their best selves

Ahaha, I love Hibiki’s face down, butt up pose of total defeat

And of course, for the real training, he’s got to kick on his montage jams. I genuinely love how this show embraces its action and martial arts movie roots – it feels in conversation with the foundation texts for things like “shonen training arcs” in a way not many anime acknowledge. When it comes to action, I also just generally prefer a joyful, even farcical tone like this – action narratives are inherently pretty absurd, so you might as well lean into the fun, rather than attempting to evoke a seriousness your underlying narrative doesn’t support via your gritty, somber aesthetic choices. There are few things I find more tedious than a silly story taking itself deathly seriously

Cagliostro offers to go fight the Symphogears alone. I’ve got a bad feeling about this

We offhandedly learn that Tsubasa actually did convince Chris to go meet with the siblings. A nice, quiet show of friendship by Tsubasa

Sonya is following in the footsteps of Chris’ parents – meaning both of them are, in their own way

Hah, love Chris getting just straight-up annoyed when the Noise interrupt her emotional breakthrough

Even for arcs like this one, the show still injects a bit of absurdity and self-awareness into its storytelling. Its interest in the lives of these characters is obviously genuine, but it prefers to express the turns of their emotions through winking melodrama, and preferably some explosions too

It’s sort of like Love Live in that way – both sincere and self-aware at once. As long as the character beats ring true, you can surround them with a lot of fairly ridiculous theater

Actually, now that I think about it, that really describes a whole lot of anime, doesn’t it?

Ayahi Takagi just throws herself into Chris’ music performances, adding so much snarl to her delivery. It’s not an easy thing to do, and it wears on your throat in a way traditionally “clean” singing doesn’t – they’re lucky to have an actress who can sing this well while putting on a voice like this

“You’re not as naughty a girl as you sound.” Cagliostro continues to relentlessly flirt with Chris

“I like you, but I’m going to kill you anyway.” In 2020, this too counts as flirting

Aw shit, Cagliostro sends all their backup, along with Tsubasa, into the Space Dimension. Not surprising – this fight is the turning point of Chris’ arc this season, so they’re making it a battle that she must face alone

Oh huh, she’s not alone – interestingly, they left Maria behind, as well

“Victory pose!” Cagliostro is so good. Once again, I’m terribly sad that we’re at the point where show villains start getting defeated, and thus we won’t get to hang out with the illuminati for much longer

Stephan finally lays down the law, and tells both his sister and Chris to stop obsessing over what they can’t change, and start addressing what they can

I really like how they animate Cagliostro’s boxing style. They do a great job of presenting her as “light on her feet” – you can see how her weight bounces from one leg to the other as she positions for her next strike, very much in the manner of a professional boxer

Wow, this heart-punch attack is gorgeous. An incredible combination of loose character animation and fluid effects animation

Ooh, I love what they’re doing with this. Though the Fool’s Stone is itself an arbitrary device, the power it’s granting them is anything but – it’s a power they can only unlock through truly emotionally harmonizing with whoever they’re fighting with. Thus this season’s power up serves as a natural way to bring the team closer together, while also thematically underlining the show’s emphasis on overcoming our differences and reaching out to each other

This is the best fight of the season so far! Certainly in terms of effects animation, this episode is a buffet of wonders. Beautiful explosions, energy attacks, transforming mechanical devices, all of it

And Done

Woof, what a terrific episode that was! Just a remarkably generous serving of so much of what Symphogear does best, from the hilarious absurdity of Genjuuro’s training methods, to that beautiful fight across the last act. Cagliostro’s always been the most fun of the illuminati both in terms of personality and attack style, and though I’m sad to see the end of her, this episode’s climax served as a fantastic celebration of her character and visual panache. The cuts of her attacks here were some of the most beautiful I’ve seen in any season of Symphogear, and leave me even more excited for the season’s last act. All that, and we even drew Chris’ seasonal arc to a graceful conclusion, as well! Absolutely one of AXZ’s best episodes, and a fine addition to the overall Symphogear greatest hits.

This article was made possible by reader support. Thank you all for all that you do.