Hold onto your hats folks, we’re barreling back into SYMPHOGEAR! Season four’s last two episodes have more or less acted as a mirrored pair, and I’m fully expecting this one to complete the set. First off, Chris and Maria faced off against Cagliostro, obliterating my favorite alchemist in a blast of collaborative fury. Next, Tsubasa and Shirabe teamed up, dueling Prelati in a high-speed highway chase. At this point, we’ve only got two more wielders and one more member of the original alchemists – so if our trajectory is anything to go by, we’re in for a fight between Hibiki, Kirika, and Saint-Germain herself.

It’s clear at this point that AXZ is attempting to resolve a character writing issue that emerged last season: the lack of any genuine relationship between several members of the main team. Maria and Tsubasa quickly became a pair, and Chris happily embraced a big sister role relative to Shirabe and Kirika, but characters like Shirabe and Tsubasa had never shared a conversation, much less a point of genuine emotional connection. Through the “Fool’s Stone” and its subsequent training, AXZ has found a narrative excuse to rectify this character writing issue – now, all the main characters truly must get to know each other, because their strength in battle depends on it.

Ultimately, I feel like this whole process stands as an affirmation of Symphogear’s fundamental appeal: world-destroying threats will come and go, but the charming bonds between these leads are the core of this show. I’m happy this season has contrived a reason to expand those bonds, and eager to see Symphogear’s most genki characters explore their own friendship. Let’s get to it!

Episode 10

Saint-Germain stands alone on a rooftop, assessing the city skyline. Was it worth it, Germain?

It’s essentially a service for her lost friends. “But I’ll see you again… because that is why my life exists.”

And then Tiki starts aggressively clapping behind her. Tiki and Adam are so fucking annoying! I have no idea why the other alchemists put up with their shit

“Are you not scared of dying, perhaps?” “I am prepared to die for my beliefs. And it’s easier than sacrificing someone else.” She possesses both a clear moral core and conviction that she’s doing the right thing; in contrast, it seems Tiki and Adam just do whatever makes them happy all the time

It is genuinely a bit odd to set up the antagonistic team like this. Normally they at least start at a point of unity (like in season two), but Germain and her companions have been groaning at Adam’s shit from the start

And we cut back in to a charming moment at school, with Miku thanking Hibiki for doing her best in both her mission and homework. Miku hasn’t appeared very much this season, and so instead of giving her more of a full arc with Hibiki, she’s mostly just been a source of support when Hibiki needs one

“I’m not smart enough to choose just one. So in the end, I’m being selfish.” Jeez Hibiki, you’re such a selfless person! Any teenager would struggle with choosing their life path in this way, and though many of them would likely say “screw school, I want to fight crime!”, Hibiki has no particular attachment to the idea of “being a hero” for its own sake. She just wants to help people

We get a rare full shot of their classroom, which is just as fancy as the architecture, though too CG-clean to really offer much sense of atmosphere. Perfectly straight lines and smooth colors tend to undercut a sense of living space; real spaces are messy, full of off-color stretches and objects that speak to the history people have shared in them

Two days to Hibiki’s birthday!

Oh my god, this goofy-ass wipe transition. Chris wiping the chalkboard also serves as a wipe between scenes, which is anything but elegant, but certainly very funny

“Chris-chan was talking about my birthday?” Chris is so very red. I love this cast

The payoff for this scene is the babies bullying Chris, and I think that’s wonderful

The alchemists are planning on summoning a god. “If anything can defeat it, it will be the God-Killer” says Genjuro. Well, I guess that makes sense

Hoooly shit, they just offhandedly referenced Germany’s eugenics program, which was apparently about collecting god-killing powers? This sort of stuff isn’t uncommon in American action fare, but anime tends to take a lighter touch when it comes to WWII. But I suppose if this season is already going in on the perils of militant nationalism in Japan, drawing explicitly on the horrors of WWII makes sense

Maria reflects back on that time Hibiki destroyed a god-like serpent by Just Punching Harder. Perhaps the Gungnir is the answer?

Apparently, due to the “recoil contamination” (sure, fine) in the others’ gears, only Hibiki and Kirika can currently fight. And with Kirika serving as the driving force for Hibiki’s birthday party, it’s looking like this will indeed be the Hibiki-Kirika episode

Chris says Kirika is being too easygoing about this party, and then Kirika suddenly remembers a time she was easygoing and FIVE MEN DIED. This show is an absurd construction – brutally violent action and fuwa fuwa slice of life are merged with essentially no point of differentiation between the show’s component parts, meaning occasionally a scene about being pushy with your friends will be flavored with a flashback to that time you witnessed a massacre

The ritual begins! With both of her friends gone, Saint-Germain plans on giving up her own life to complete the summoning

Oh my god, Hibiki getting the mission call just kills me. We open on a shot of Miku in bed, her hand extended across an empty space, where she was clearly holding Hibiki’s hand until a moment ago. The two of them have at this point graduated to sharing a single bed, and there’s a clear empty space where Hibiki is supposed to go

And then Hibiki takes Miku’s hand and gallantly tells her “it’s my birthday soon, so I’ll be back.” THESE TWO

Nice skyline shot of the growing storm. Hibiki’s not gonna allow this shit!

Adam’s teleporting phone is one of my favorite gags this season. Here it just shows up on the shrine’s stone courtyard

Poor Germain. She was easily this season’s most sympathetic villain, and yet she’s ultimately just serving as the battery fueling Adam’s ambitions. Does she really expect Adam and Tiki to do anything good with the power she’s providing them?

How did I not know that Genjuro and Tsubasa’s father are brothers? I guess that goes some way towards explaining how Genjuro and Tsubasa initially got into this business

Great foley work for Tiki slamming into the ground. I get the feeling they actually just recorded the sound of a toolbox being dropped from five feet

Ooh, I love this song for Hibiki and Kirika’s shared transformation. I guess this is their duet!

The naked Saint-Germain pulls a flintlock pistol out of god knows where in order to fight the symphogears

God, Saint-Germain has such powerful eyebrows

It seems like every single group song with Hibiki has a part where she just shouts “FIGHT” as the other people sing

“The sins I bear and their weight… mean I can no longer change my mind!” I can understand that motivation, at least. Saint-Germain seems to genuinely understand the value of a human life, and thus is operating under a weight of obligation so heavy that she couldn’t possibly turn back now, and make all those sacrifices meaningless

Hah, I love this trick where Germain actually blocks her own shots with a portal, then opens the portal behind Hibiki

The character art and expressionwork are excellent this episode. Great AD work for these sequences where you really need to understand Germain’s power and fury

“I’ve always believed in justice, and clenched it in my hands.” Me too Hibiki, me too

YESSS, she reaches out the hand to Germain. TAKE IT GERMAIN. JOIN HIBIKI

“It’s wrong to use the power of a god to remove a curse the gods laid. People need to change while remaining human.” Damn, what a great pitch by Hibiki, and so appropriate to her character. She’s repeatedly lost touch with her humanity while seeking greater power, and knows personally the pain it brings. She also knows the importance of changing over time, and has developed an unwavering certainty that she and her friends can accomplish anything. Season four Hibiki is actually a very composed, confident, thoughtful hero, while still remaining true to her fundamental Hibiki-ness. She’s really grown into her role

And their hands almost touch, but then that shithead Adam has to show up

Well shit. Instead of opening a portal with the Orion gates, Adam is using the actual Orion constellation to gather power

Welp, time for Adam’s sudden yet inevitable betrayal

Oh man, terrific animation for Tiki’s attack on Germain. The effects animation has been spectacular throughout this episode, and I love how they’re emphasizing Tiki’s unnatural, doll-like movements. The fact that there was no actual sound for the charging of the beam attack completes the scene here – it feels even more menacing that way

“If there isn’t an easygoing person who isn’t carrying a burden of her own, who’ll carry the heavy burden when it comes time to do so?” KIRIKA. Love the haggard linework on her face here

“I don’t know when my birthday is. So I want to treasure other people’s birthdays instead.” KIRIKA. Oh my god, what a scene

And Done

KIRIKAAAAAA. I’m sorry I underestimated you Kirika, I didn’t know you had it in you! What a triumphant end for her mini-arc here, and also just one of the most visually spectacular, moving moments in the series so far. She’s always been a matched pair for Shirabe, but she made the most of her individual spotlight here, drawing on the pain and sense of abandonment that she rarely lets show in order to protect her friends. That mix of anthemic, larger-than-life action and poignant, small-scale character bonds is the alchemical essence of Symphogear, and that finale sequence demonstrated that mix at its absolute best. I didn’t expect to be tearing up about the DESU goofball, but goddamnit, this show made it work.

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