Senki Zesshou Symphogear G
Should've Brought a Poet
I had forgotten how much fun Symphogear was. Upon seeing it back, that special combination of music (and therefore plentiful character songs), mechanized magical girls, and a slight bit of chuunibyou action make for something that anime as a medium alone can best express. The first season resolved a lot of its issues already, and any sequel would have to up the stakes. And it did, and was even better for it.
Starting with a death and ending with
seems to be how these things go. The road to get there, though. Symphogear is a show that has a lot of twists, and almost every episode ends on a cliffhanger. While not a whole lot happens in each episode, I thought the series gave enough screentime between everybody to ensure that the stakes in those fight scenes were earned. In many ways, this looked to be Maria's season. Tsubasa and Chris were mostly getting used to a more normal school life (though dere Chris is adorable), and Hibiki's issues were resolved partway through the season. She's too happy go lucky, the glue that holds everyone together.
A good story is defined by its antagonists. Shirabe and Kirika were just as interesting as Maria, especially as the season wore on. The choice of VAs was also inspired. Nanjou, Kayano (she's in everything, isn't she?) and of course Yoko Hikasa all had some very powerful songs. Like I said back in Illya, if a magical girl series didn't involve an enemy becoming a friend by the end of the season, it wouldn't feel right.
While there are other shows I liked better, this one had the best action of the season. Seeing all those suits twist and turn and combine and enlarge and make new weapons out of their parts is incredible. It appeals to the magical girl fan and the mecha fan in me.
Then there's the transformation sequences. Those were some of the most beautifully animated things this season. Fluid, unique and featuring plenty of parts snapping onto other parts. Knowing that things like Chris' "Bakyu~n" were ad-libbed is awesome. Goes a long way towards making her even more dere. Even when she's fighting by releasing all of her armor until she's nude. It only lasts for a moment, but I'm okay with it.
Dr. Ver was a bit on the cartoonish side, but all of Symphogear seems to be rooted in fast-paced action. The school festival episode was really the only time there was some downtime - and yet it was one of my favorite episodes. That performance of "Lighting Detective Ban" was right up there with Potte and Kanae's "Momoneko Ondo" - even though those songs couldn't more different musically or tonally.
I thought everything in the story was foreshadowed well enough, and it built on the concepts of the previous season while developing its new characters. And the music was fantastic as always. The opening, the ending, every song that they played in the show. Though once again, the Lightning Detective stands above the rest. Have you read the show's history on the Symphogear website? It's a fascinating study.
I wouldn't mind a third season, though I'm not sure where else the concept could go. This is entertainment, but it's high quality entertainment. Is that also art? Don't know, don't care, but it has a lot of rewatch (and relisten) value.
Final Thoughts: Awesome music, awesome transformation sequences, more hints of yuri and Lightning Detective Ban. Not as heavy on the death toll as the first season, with more of a focus on friendship. Maybe that works for you, maybe it doesn't. But I had a great time with it.
Should've Brought a Poet
I had forgotten how much fun Symphogear was. Upon seeing it back, that special combination of music (and therefore plentiful character songs), mechanized magical girls, and a slight bit of chuunibyou action make for something that anime as a medium alone can best express. The first season resolved a lot of its issues already, and any sequel would have to up the stakes. And it did, and was even better for it.
Starting with a death and ending with
a battle in space
A good story is defined by its antagonists. Shirabe and Kirika were just as interesting as Maria, especially as the season wore on. The choice of VAs was also inspired. Nanjou, Kayano (she's in everything, isn't she?) and of course Yoko Hikasa all had some very powerful songs. Like I said back in Illya, if a magical girl series didn't involve an enemy becoming a friend by the end of the season, it wouldn't feel right.
Though I didn't see the Miku twist coming. Even if it only lasted for one episode, that was an intense way to raise the stakes. Hibiki's friends did feel a little more important to the action this time around - especially since Miku was the one who saved the day in the very last scene.
While there are other shows I liked better, this one had the best action of the season. Seeing all those suits twist and turn and combine and enlarge and make new weapons out of their parts is incredible. It appeals to the magical girl fan and the mecha fan in me.
The giant robot summoned in the finale, and Hibiki and Maria's giant fists of justice, too.
Dr. Ver was a bit on the cartoonish side, but all of Symphogear seems to be rooted in fast-paced action. The school festival episode was really the only time there was some downtime - and yet it was one of my favorite episodes. That performance of "Lighting Detective Ban" was right up there with Potte and Kanae's "Momoneko Ondo" - even though those songs couldn't more different musically or tonally.
I thought everything in the story was foreshadowed well enough, and it built on the concepts of the previous season while developing its new characters. And the music was fantastic as always. The opening, the ending, every song that they played in the show. Though once again, the Lightning Detective stands above the rest. Have you read the show's history on the Symphogear website? It's a fascinating study.
I wouldn't mind a third season, though I'm not sure where else the concept could go. This is entertainment, but it's high quality entertainment. Is that also art? Don't know, don't care, but it has a lot of rewatch (and relisten) value.
Final Thoughts: Awesome music, awesome transformation sequences, more hints of yuri and Lightning Detective Ban. Not as heavy on the death toll as the first season, with more of a focus on friendship. Maybe that works for you, maybe it doesn't. But I had a great time with it.
