Tag Archives: Symphogear

Symphogear XV – Episode 3

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Hello folks, and welcome back to the site. You all seated and securely fastened? You better be – this train’s not stopping once it starts, and today we’ll be traveling at the speed of SYMPHOGEAR. XV’s second episode served up an absurd buffet of animated action greatness, offering two separate battles that each measured up to Symphogear’s best, alongside an entire goddamn Tsubasa-Maria concert. It was actually even more impressive than the season’s premiere, and while I don’t expect that trend to continue across every episode… I mean, it might? This is Symphogear’s confirmed final season, a season that was greenlit alongside its predecessor, and thus likely benefits from particularly generous scheduling. 

Either way, the show hasn’t wasted any time in introducing its latest villains, and given the last episode featured Kirika/Shirabe and Tsubasa/Maria facing off against the lieutenants, I’m guessing it’s time for Hibiki and Chris to fight their leader. The rhythm of a Symphogear season has gotten pretty familiar at this point (see what I did there), but familiarity isn’t necessarily a bad thing – Symphogear is intended to be action-packed comfort food, and knowing the refrain just makes it easier to sing along. Let’s raise our voices in chorus then, as we return to the dazzling Symphogear!

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Symphogear XV – Episode 2

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Hello all, and welcome the fuck back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re continuing to barrel through Symphogear, as you can’t really stop a season of this show once you’ve started it. I knew this to be true, and thus scheduled myself some space between the fourth and fifth seasons, but the time for recuperation is clearly over – now is the time of Burning Hearts, Fighting Spirits, and Blowing Up The Goddamn Moon.

So far, Symphogear’s fifth season has proceeded in a much similar way to its predecessors: there’s some supernatural menace, the wielders kick its butt, and then we learn that menace was just an appetizer for the true threat. This time, that threat will presumably be the “custodians” that Adam warned about, though it also seems we’ve still got a crew of alchemists running around, who will presumably first clash with and ultimately be befriended by the indomitable Hibiki. One funny consequence of this being Symphogear’s final season is that the show no longer has to worry about cast bloat – there’s no need to find roles for any new cast members in future seasons, so Hibiki is free to befriend as many foes as she wants. That’s sure to come, but for now, I’m mostly just hyped to see another beautifully choreographed and ludicrously well-animated transformation sequence. Let’s not waste a moment longer, and get right into the Symphogear!

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Symphogear XV – Episode 1

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Are you all ready for some goddamn SYMPHOGEAR!? I took a little break after season four to catch my breath, but my tanks are more or less refilled at this point, and I’m ready to Blast Off Into The Starry Tomorrow of Forever’s Yesterday, or whatever other preposterous seasonal subtitle comes next.

Given that Symphogear’s fourth and fifth seasons were greenlit at the same time, it’s no surprise that season four ended us on a serious cliffhanger. As Adam was atomized by Hibiki’s fists, he warned that the “custodians will soon be descending,” implying some higher power that he, Fine, and others have actually been battling against. But the worldbuilding justification of More Punching was probably the least important thing about that finale – more relevant to the show’s own goals is that it’s already established an antagonist before the season starts, thus leaving more time in-season for roaring and punching. Let’s see how this delightful show tops itself next, as we soar into the final season of Symphogear!

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Symphogear AXZ – Episode 13

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Hello folks, and what the fuck is up. You all ready for some goddamn SYMPHOGEAR!???!?!?? I know I certainly am, and that it’s been far too long since we last checked in on the team’s adventures. Hibiki’s fist has been suspended in mid-punch for weeks now, her roar of “I’ll punch you with my song” resounding with all the force of a show’s essential pitch expressed as dialogue.

Adam is one of the most vile, irredeemable villains this franchise has concocted, and with the alchemists having already sacrificed themselves, it falls to our heroes to Finish This Fight. Having rescued Hibiki from one of those evil cocoons that our characters keep stumbling into, the team is fully assembled, and undoubtedly about to unleash some combo attack that exceeds my theatrical imagination. It’s frankly hard being a hype man for a show that’s this genuinely hype, so I’m gonna give myself a rest now, and just let the show take the reins. Let’s dive into the final episode of SYMPHOGEAR AXZ!

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Symphogear AXZ – Episode 12

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. You all ready for some goddamn Symphogear? When last we left off, Hibiki had just consumed all of the energy Adam and Tiki were using to essentially summon a god, which has apparently harmonized somehow with her Gungnir’s god-defeating energy, and now left her inside some kind of massive supernatural chrysalis.

That all sounds pretty bad, but really, that’s about par for the course for Hibiki – she was having her hand bitten off and going berserk around this time season one, and watching the fabric of reality itself get torn asunder in season three. As in those seasons, I’m presuming that Hibiki’s unwilling crystallization means it’s about time for her friends to step in, and either rescue her from her prison, or fight Nega-Hibiki and return her to her former self. Either way, I’m sure that plenty of songs, fists, and passionate speeches await us, as we surge towards the climax of Symphogear AXZ!

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Symphogear AXZ – Episode 11

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You folks ready for some Symphogear? When last we checked in, Hibiki and Kirika had concluded this season’s “let’s do some off-brand Symphogear pairings” conceit with fabulous fury, as Kirika unleashed a Climax Song in order to protect St. Germain from her betrayal-happy superior. We always knew Adam and Tiki were huge assholes, but at this point their dickery has exceeded even my most jaded predictions, and I am beyond ready to see our team initiate some countermeasures.

In terms of narrative structure, it also feels like we’ve at this point basically resolved all of this season’s individual character conflicts. The season’s first half was essentially dedicated to Maria and Chris’s struggles with accepting their former lives; Maria resolved that through her trial with Elfnein, and then paid that assistance forward by assisting Chris with her conflict with Sonia. Then Shirabe and Kirika each received a boost from Tsubasa and Hibiki, leading us to a point where the cast can hopefully communicate more confidently and honestly among themselves. Hibiki herself has actually taken a bit of a backseat in terms of emotional development, but given she carried the bulk of season three’s drama, it makes sense to put her on the backburner for the show’s penultimate season. But anyway, that basically catches us up to now – let’s dive on in then, and explore a new episode of Symphogear!

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Symphogear AXZ – Episode 8

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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!

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Symphogear AXZ – Episode 6

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Hello everyone, and I hope you’re fuckin’ ready for some SYMMMMPHOOOOGEAAAAR! Symphogear’s last episode kicked all kinds of ass, and this is me who’s writing this, so you know I’m speaking in terms of its dramatic structure and thematic ambition. After spending a third of the season lamenting her inability to contribute to the show’s active drama, Elfnein has finally found a purpose: by connecting her consciousness with Maria, she hopes to unlock the final secret of the LiNKER formula. Her mission should in turn allow Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika to fight at full strength, at last letting this season embrace the full ensemble potential of its excellent cast.

Meanwhile, Genjuro’s confrontations with the team’s benefactor, the head of the Kazanari clan, have established a rift that falls on clear political lines. Genjuro, as the head of an international strike force drawing its members from across the globe, and applying them to conflict zones worldwide, clearly sees the Symphogears as a force for good that should be shared by all of mankind. In contrast, Kazanari believes the Symphogears should be used to defend Japan specifically, even at the expense of international allies, drawing heavily on terms and iconography that bring to mind Japan’s invincible self-image prior to World War II.

Kazanari’s views are not anachronistic – he’s promoting a mainstream conservative perspective in Japan, which in our world is closely tied to historical revisionism regarding Japan’s past atrocities, and efforts to remilitarize the country. Anime rarely comments so directly on Japan’s immediate political situation (though there are exceptions, like the excellent Patlabor), and thus I’m very excited to see where Symphogear takes this narrative. The show’s already picked fights with gods and planets, so why not Shinzo Abe, too? But wherever this story goes, I’m eager to get back to the explosive action of Symphogear. LET’S GET TO IT!

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Here’s Five Sights You Won’t See Anywhere But Symphogear!

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This week’s Why It Works is all about Symphogear, because it’s never a bad time to talk about Symphogear. Actually, the truth is that my recent reader-funded posts on Symphogear’s fourth season have simply reminded me how awesome and absurd this series is, and so I felt the urge to write some more general hype for this fantastic series. Let’s celebrate some of the more absurd highlights of the incomparable Symphogear!

Here’s Five Sights You Won’t See Anywhere But Symphogear!

Symphogear AXZ – Episode 3

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to Symphogear AXZ, as our team stands on the brink of battle with the nefarious Bavarian Illuminati. Granted, that’s not really saying anything, considering our team has either been on the brink of or fully engaged in battle for basically every single moment of this season so far. AXZ’s first two episodes have been one continuous, ever-escalating action sequence, as the show seemingly attempts to construct an entire season with the no-brakes pacing and rolling action setpieces of your average Symphogear premiere. The show will undoubtedly have to catch its breath eventually, but right now it is soaring like a majestic eagle, scattering narrative tidbits like “the illuminati want to control history” or “Chris’ childhood trauma still haunts her” in the margins between its true passion: illustrating Symphogear users and alchemists beating the ever-loving crap out of each other. I salute Symphogear in its noble mission, and support its efforts to make a season-length run-on sentence out of one continuous action scene. LET’S GET TO THE FIGHT!

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