Today’s forecast: slightly cloudy with a chance of plot.
(Read the full episode below, or click here for the list of other episodes)
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(The following is a re-upload of my original tumblr post. I’ve altered it in the following ways: fixed typos/grammar/punctuation, made image edits easier to read, clarified confusing sentences, streamlined extraneous content, and added stickers to nude scenes to comply with Blogspot policies. The rest of the original madness is preserved as-is.)
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As I mute the ads, minimize the browser, and settle in for what has become my traditional ruminate-and-speculate session while I wait for the episode to start (yes, you can establish a tradition even if you’re only three episodes in, hush), I try to collect my thoughts about this anime, based on what we’ve seen so far and where we left off last episode with Hamster and Tsubasa about to fight each other.
And my thoughts right now are about a villain.
I’m assuming an actual villain will emerge at some point. I doubt the girls are going to spend the entire season running around after random Noise attacks, showing off Hibiki’s tiny tight butt and That Leg Thing that Tsubasa does that makes me reach for my water bottle.
Unless Tsubasa is the villain, in which case holy crapoly, Batman! But, I don’t think that will happen.
In magical girl anime (and so far I consider Symphogear a magical girl anime, though a more sci-fi-bent one), the emotional struggle within each girl and between the girls is usually the source of most of the drama and character development. The external, endgame villain in magical girl anime is usually 1) male and 2) very manipulative. The “mastermind” type, ya know. Examples that pop into my head are Akio from Utena, Reito from Mai-HiME, Nagi from Mai-Otome, and of course Kyubey from PMMM.
I say “usually” because maybe Symphogear will buck my predictions entirely. Part of why I get all this out now before the episode is so that the show can either validate my predictions or prove me hilariously wrong and those of you who’ve already seen the show can laugh at how foolish and mistaken I was.
Tsubasa is neither 1) male nor 2) very manipulative, so I don’t think she’ll be the villain. Don’t get me wrong, girl’s gonna cause a lot of problems for the good-side folks, that much seems clear already, but I just don’t get that intangible “sinister” vibe from her.
Anime is a very visual medium and relies on a lot of unspoken cues to establish character roles relative to the story. Usually “bad” characters are easily visually picked out by their design, color scheme, eye shape (tareme vs tsurime), or even just the spiky-ness of their outfit.
In my head, Tsubasa occupies the “edgy teammate” role-space. The Dark Lancer or whatever it’s properly called, to contrast the more optimistic and cheery protagonist while still supporting that protagonist. I think Tsubasa’s got a good heart. Poor kid’s just dealing with major issues of grief, resentment, and her own insecurities about failure and inadequacy.
(I guarantee you all her anger at Hamster is just a coping mechanism, and in reality she blames herself for Kanade’s death for some made-up reason in her head. Part of inadequacy and low self-esteem is a corresponding sort of twisted ego-centrism that Everything Is About You somehow and anything that goes wrong is Your Fault because You Should Have Been Better, You Just Should Have. Trust me, I know this.)
Apart from that, from a purely visual standpoint, frickin look at her.
She has tareme eyes. (Just barely. The dip-parallels seem to edge up slightly after Kanade’s death, reflecting her change in attitude after the loss of her partner.) And, she has an elegant blue-and-white color scheme.
If she were “evil” I’d expect sharper-pointed eyes, lots of spikes, and a color scheme more in the field of black, purple, red, sickly green, eerie neons, or unnatural paleness. Characters picked out by the colors blue, pink, orange, healthy green, yellow, and so forth, these are usually “good” characters.
Point being, though I don’t see her as evil, what I do think will happen is that Tsubasa may well become a tool of the eventual villain at some point. That her insecurities and internal pain and resentment towards Hamster will be used to turn her against the good guys (see above re: manipulative villain).
But, if this does happen, it’s most likely it will be temporary, and she will be brought back to the team by Hibiki via the Power of Friendship and J-Pop.
Also, the only man we have so far is Snoop Oni. On the one hand, he is red and spiky. On the other hand, I really don’t get the “secret villain” vibe from him, either. It’s hard to reconcile this circus bear:
...with the image of a sinister mastermind. Snoop Oni so far has given me the impression of a big, friendly football dad who puts his kid on his shoulders so they can reach the cookie jar. So, unless the anime really throws me for a loop, I don’t see this guy turning out to be the main antagonist.
I bring all this villain-related speculation up right now because we are about to start the third episode.
You need to understand something. There are shows that have the third episode, and then there are shows that have The Third Episode. If you’re familiar with my blog at all, you’ll know exactly what anime I’m thinking of as my chief example.
The Third Episode is often when Plot happens. (And antagonists are usually the orchestrators/drivers of plot.) So far in Symphogear, we haven’t really had a plot. Oh we’ve had enemies, i.e. the Noise, but faceless monster enemies do not equal A Plot.
Faceless, fungible monsters are generally just the setup for the main villain. (Examples: the Orphans in Mai-HiME were the setup for the Carnival, and the early witches in PMMM were a setup for the drama of witch-hood itself and the girls’ struggle against Kyubey’s exploitation of their suffering.) Monsters such as the Noise are basically glorified target dummies for the magical girls to train their powers and do team-building exercises with the other magical girls before the real shit hits the fan.
“Lack of early plot” isn’t a criticism or bad writing on Symphogear’s part. It’s just common for how this kind of show is often structured:
The first episode establishes the main character in her natural setting, then blows that setting right out of the water, and the character is forced to undergo a major paradigm shift as she finds herself suddenly part of A Whole New World, A New Fantastic Point of View.
Second episode is usually reserved for infodump and worldbuilding, (even if Symphogear’s second episode still left me with a buttload of questions), as the main character adjusts to A Dazzling Place I Never Knew, and meets new allies and opponents.
And then The Third Episode hits, and both the main character and the audience Hold Your Breath It Gets Better as the actual plot kicks into gear.
This is especially true of the 12 episode season format. (I think Symphogear has 12 or 13? Not sure yet.) They don’t have time to fart around and have filler episodes like 20+ episode seasons do.
And so, I hope you will all understand why I head into today’s episode feeling slightly nervous.
So, my forecast for today is: slightly cloudy with a high chance of Plot, and possible introduction of an antagonist character. (Also, I will bet a case of Snickers bars that the endgame villain will be the one behind the Noise attacks somehow. Calling it right goddamn now.)
…
…
…Do you ever get so distracted typing your thoughts out that you forget you pressed Play and muted the tab on the episode ages ago, and by the time you remember and hurriedly pull up the browser again, the video player has crashed from inactivity? Okay, let’s refresh the page and start over, jeez.
OKAY, EPISODE TIME
Presumably, we’re gonna pick up where we left off, with Hibiki and Tsubasa about to FITE.
Or… not?
We get a montage of Hamster and Tsubasa fighting not each other, but more Noise. Tsubasa is being her usual ice-cold-killa self and topping the DPS charts. Hibiki is clutzing her way through fight after fight and barely keeping up.
Wait, we’re a whole month later?
Okay really, Symphogear. This is the second time you’ve ended an episode with an intriguing cliffhanger, then followed it up with a complete anti-climax. The first episode ended with Hibiki all red-eyed and enraged, overcome by her new powers, then picked up the second episode by completely ignoring her scary transformation or what it might mean. Then the second episode ends with the start of a big fight that looks like it’s gonna finally have Tsubasa get out some of her issues and work through them with Hibiki, but then you ignore that issue as well and time-skip an entire month?
I wasn’t expecting a full resolution to the Hibiki/Tsubasa feud arc, since that seems like it’ll be one of the main thrusts of the season, but something other than ignoring it like the soup splatters on the roof of the microwave would’ve been nice.
I am confused and disappointed. The end resolution to all this better be really epic, is all I gotta say, if the show is just going to keep postponing their drama and not actually have the drama.
The first episode was so intense, pulled zero punches in establishing characters and then completely shattering those characters’ accepted reality and forcing them to change their whole attitude and worldview… But now, the show feels like it is trailing. Ehh, I just gotta trust the anime won’t let me down, I guess. There’s been plenty of good stuff from it so far, after all.
Anyway, after the OP, we come back to a domestic scene with Hamster and Miku.
Hamster seems to be doing homework on the Noise. Interesting in that it answers one of my questions from last episode: are the Noise ancient (like the Relics) or are they new? This paper says they are a new disaster that is sweeping the world. (Does the rest of the world have Gear to fight them? Or just Japan, and they are letting the rest of the world get eaten, lol). But, since the Noise are new, the obvious question is where did they come from? Maybe our future villain character can answer that once they arrive.
Hamster is having difficulty managing her superhero double life, so exhausted after a hard day fighting the Noise that she can’t even finish her schoolwork. This concerns Miku, who has yet to learn about the whole Symphogear thing. I don’t think it’ll be long before she finds out.
OKAY WE ARE FLASHING BACK TO LAST EPISODE’S ENDING, THANK FUCK
Maybe we will get a resolution, after all. I KNEW I WAS RIGHT TO HAVE FAITH IN YOU, SYMPHOGEAR.
OH GOD NO SNOOP ONI, DON’T DO IT
WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO HAVE SOME GOOD DRAMA
TSUBASA YOU CLOGGED URETHRA, LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO THE LITTLE HAMSTER
I want to rage at Tsubasa, but honestly there are two very heartbroken girls here, and I would do well to remember that. Tsubasa is just using iciness to cover up her pain and self-loathing.
Still. Don’t you dare cause Hibiki to make that face again.
Tsubasa tells Hibiki to ready her spear for one-on-one combat, which doesn’t sound gay at all. Hamster confesses she doesn’t actually know how to use that aspect of Kanade’s power-suit.
So, if she can’t use Gungnir’s spear, is Hamster just going to, like, punch shit to death all season? Is she the type to Bring Your Fists To A Sword Fight? Or, will one of her character arcs be about connecting with Gungnir and learning to master her own spear and thrust it into her enemies and wow this is sounding gayer and gayer.
Honey, you’re the showoff who jumps off helicopters and flips extravagantly into battle and crashes motorcycles and shit. Don’t be throwing stones.
Tsubasa decides not to fight Hibiki after all, because we postpone things in this anime. I guess the actual showdown between Tsubasa and Hibiki will happen later, and it will be a lot more painful and angst-ridden. (Maybe after Tsubasa turns evil? Still holding on to that prediction.)
I remember back in the first episode I speculated that the resolution for Tsubasa’s character arc might involve connecting with Kanade’s ghost/spirit somehow. I was just guessing based on storytelling tropes and patterns, but now that we know about Gungnir, it actually seems more plausible. In episode 2, we found out that Hamster inherited Kanade’s power armor a.k.a. Gear, and I think it’s quite likely that some aspect of Kanade is still stored or imprinted or something inside Gungnir. In the final battle (because this kind of anime always has a Big Ass Final Fight, it just does), it might not actually be Hibiki, but Kanade/Gungnir who finally reaches Tsubasa and brings her back to the light.
The other obvious path they could take with this is that Tsubasa, after giving up hope and forsaking good, finally comes back to the light in the final battle after all seems lost and Hibiki is defeated by the villain, as Tsubasa chooses to valiantly sacrifice herself to defeat that villain and save the one person she finally forgives, and then goes to be with her lover in death.
If that actually comes to pass, then I will flip my keyboard, officially declare Fuck This Anime, and will be sending a bill to the creators of this show to pay for the heart medication I will no doubt need at such a juncture.
WHOA HOLY SHIT BACK UP. Looks like the fight is gonna happen after all?? Tsubasa walked away at first, but now she turns around and decides she does want to open that can of whoop ass.
But then:
Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat. Is Snoop Oni actually One Punch Man?
Hey man, you’re the asshole who just punched a giant sword out of the sky and ruptured a block’s worth of concrete and a fire hydrant, don’t be talking to me about movie stunts.
How in the world does he have this power? Does he have his own Relic? Is it a completely different kind of power? Will I have to sign a consent and release form to get some answers in this anime?
Ouch. Two heartbroken girls indeed. Even after two years, Tsubasa is still in the Anger stage of grief, apparently. I hope she stays alive long enough to make it to Acceptance. I really want to see this character grow.
Oh honey. Oh poor sweet child. You can’t rage the pain away, you can’t fight the world bloody to make yourself feel worthwhile, and you definitely cannot hate yourself into a version of yourself that you can love.
Hamster tries to patch things up after the not-fight, and says she’ll try her darndest as a Symphogear.
Oh my fucking god. Oh. My. Fucking. God.
Of all the things you could have possibly said to Tsubasa at this exact moment in time...
THAT IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST
There is not enough facepalm in the world. Hibiki, I know you mean well, but saying you’ll “take Kanade’s place” is going to do nothing but remind Tsubasa of her own failure to save Kanade.
Aaaand there it is. Good fucking job, you two fucking teenagers. Neither one of you assholes has any idea how to navigate the goddamn PTSD-minefield you are both currently paying rent to exist in.
But really, why should they? They’re still teenagers, as I said. I certainly would have no idea how to cope with that kind of suffering, grief, warfare, and myriad other pains at that age. (How old are they, anyway? I think they are high schoolers? Not sure. Meh, it doesn’t really matter, point is they are not mature enough to handle all the strife this anime will no doubt delight in raining down upon them.)
We cut back to a month later. Tsubasa is still suffering from flashbacks to Kanade’s death.
That’s it, that’s the anime.
Dammit.
Holy sweet mother of angst, I was correct, she really does blame herself for Kanade’s death. I’m… not exactly happy to be proved right, here.
Back at Hibiki’s end, she gets a call to come to the base, and has to make some excuse to Miku. Miku lets her go without questioning too much, but makes Hibiki promise they will go see a meteor shower together soon.
LOL yeah, like that’s gonna happen. How many times in superhero movies and shows have we seen the “hero misses important date with their love interest because of superhero-related duties and it ends up causing undue relationship strife because the love interest thinks the hero just doesn’t care about them anymore” incident?
One of the things I like about Symphogear so far is that you can totally see coming a lot of the pain and suffering they are going to throw at you, but the anime still manages to make it painful when it actually arrives. It’s like the anime is just taunting us. “Haha how cute, you thought you were prepared for this suffering-foreshadowing we’ve been marinating you in since the first episode, you thought you could handle it, BITCH YOU THOUGHT.”
At HQ, the crew (Hamster, Tsubasa, Snoop Oni, and Dr. Perv) discuss the recent Noise attacks.
Wait, wait, wait. …So, the information they gave us at the beginning of the episode was wrong, it turns out the Noise are ancient, after all, and are even the source of many cultures’ monster myths.
?????
This brings me back, again, to my questions from episode 2. If the Noise have always been around, why did they not annihilate humanity, since only the Symphogears can beat Noise, and the Symphogears are a recent invention?
Dr. Perv explains that although the Noise are powerful, they only appear rarely (why???), and the recent slew of attacks Hamster and the others are getting caught up in is extremely unusual.
No shit. Are we finally going to get our Plot? Who’s behind the Noise attacks???
The folks explain to Hamster that the secret base beneath their school houses a very powerful Relic called Durandal. Unlike the Symphogear girls’ Relics, which need to be sung to in order to work their power, Durandal can continue outputting power indefinitely once it’s activated. Also, anyone can wield Durandal’s strength, not just a Symphogear girl.
They speculate that whoever is behind the Noise attacks may be looking for Durandal in order to take its power for themselves. Someone has even been hacking their agency’s computer system.
The crew speculates it might be the Americans trying to seize control of Durandal, lmao. I want to defend my country here, but honestly that is exactly something we would do. We flew to the goddamn moon just so we could plant an American flag on it and try to declare it ours. We would be all over some J-Pop-powered WMD.
Well, even though it probably won’t be the damn yanks behind it all, this Durandal stuff is a good start! We got ourselves a Macguffin, some motive for the monsters, and a possible evil mastermind behind it all! Forecast is coming true -- Plot is happening, folks!
Because not everyone on this planet is a sweet-hearted little cupcake hamster like you who sees the good in everyone and wants to save people. This is a classic symptom of the Hero Type, an incapability to comprehend why everyone else is not as Good as they are.
On the positive side, it makes the hero really forgiving and merciful, and lets them recruit enemies into friends. (Or turn back former friends who have gone evil… Still looking at you, Tsubasa). On the negative side, it makes the hero really naive and gullible. I expect Hamster will be brutally disillusioned at some point.
WHOA BAD TOUCH, BACK OFF LADY, NO ONE ASKED FOR EAR-BITING
Hibiki goes back to school as usual, but she’s still struggling to juggle her schoolwork and her role as a Symphogear wielder.
Then, this gem of a line is uttered:
There is absolutely no possible way the above phrase is not a euphemism for lesbian sex. You go, girls. Enjoy your game of badminton.
Miku agrees to stay and help Hamster finish her schoolwork. They re-affirm their promise to watch that meteor shower together. Yeah, I still don’t think that’s gonna happen. Why have a happy cute scene when you can have suffering.
This isn’t relevant to anything, but I’m guessing “doset” is supposed to be “closet”?
But, of course, Hibiki gets the call from Captain Cock-Block And The No-Fun Squad that she has to go back to HQ. Hibiki doesn’t even say goodbye to Miku. Just vanishes on her without saying anything, leaving poor Miku standing forlornly in the hallway, wondering where her hamster went and why Hibiki abandoned her. Miku goes home, sad and lonely, and once she arrives, she gets a call from Hibiki.
Miku falters, and I swear you can hear her voice break in reveal of the pain she’s going through right this moment, but she bravely puts on a good face and tells Hibiki it’s okay.
Oh god no, no no, this is what I was fucking talking about earlier with Symphogear and the predictable angst. IT STILL MANAGES TO MAKE IT PAINFUL EVEN WHEN YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING, UGGHGHH.
Fuck this show.
…
Let’s watch more.
Were the Noise standing right behind Hibiki while she was making the phone call? That’s awfully polite of them. “We’ll just wait here until you get your relationship drama sorted out, dear. Let us know when you’re ready to fight. We don’t want to impose on you or anything, what kind of monsters would do such a thing oh wait shi--”
These activation phrases are getting wilder. Coulda sworn I once saw this on a Captcha.
Still, it means TRANSFORMATION TIME, whoo yeah!
I love the way the girls leap majestically into their transformations, makes me feel like I’m watching a nature documentary.
Hamster solo’s a bunch of the Noise, but there’s a boss mob up ahead. HQ radios her to be careful, as Tsubasa is on her way to help take down the boss. That would mean sharing the loot drops though, so Hibiki tries to solo it.
Plus, she still has a lot to prove. She wants Tsubasa and the others to see her as a competent magical girl, so she constantly pushes herself to Do Better.
Hibiki punches (still no spear, huh?) and kicks her way through a bunch of Noise to reach:
That’s the boss mob? It looks like a purple Sudowoodo wearing a cluster of oversized Pokemon berries. Which berry raises your Special Attack, again? Because I think Hamster should eat a couple.
Hibiki lets out her frustration on the monsters, raging that she would much rather be watching the meteor shower with Miku than punching their asses into dust.
Uh-oh…. is….
Is this what I think it is?
Are… are we finally going to come back to it?? ?
I’ve been waiting two episodes for this.
Will the anime FINALLY RETURN TO THE ISSUE OF THE RED-EYED ONI RAGE FROM THE END OF THE FIRST EPISODE?
THERE IT IS, THERE IT IS, THE SHINY PONYTA
OH MY GOD IT’S HAPPENING, THANK YOU SYMPHOGEAR, DON’T FUCK THSI UP NOW
Holy fucking shit, my sweet little hamster cupcake is full-on ENRAGED.
KIRBY’S FUCKING PISSED
Aaand it’s over.
Whew, I need a second to cool down.
So, first off, that was awesome, thank you for that, anime. But, we still know nothing about what it actually is. So many questions…
It is part of Hibiki’s unique power, that she just gets so angry at the pain caused by the monsters that she goes mad trying to bring them down? Is it a part of Gungnir? If so, did Kanade go through the same issue? Or is it a symptom of the fact that Hibiki has no proper weapon like Kanade’s spear, and she is only working off shards of Gungnir rather than a proper Relic, so her power manifests more dangerously? Why did it vanish so suddenly? Does Hibiki even know she has this ability? Is this ability going to totally fuck her over once someone actually sees it come over her? Will Miku see this rage come over her???
Please god no, ungggh I see more suffering ahead on the horizon and I know it will be painful no matter how I try to prepare for it.
After the rage dies down, Tsubasa BAMFs in in her usual flashy fashion. Just in time to kill the Sudowoodo that escaped, but too late to see Hamster’s fury-haze. So, of course, she still thinks Hibiki is a noob who can’t even pull mediocre DPS and lets the monsters get away, and thinks she has to clean up Hibiki’s mess. Damn it, somebody needs to recognize how awesome Hibiki can be, already!
Also, I find it hilarious that this terrifying, frothing, berserk-for-massive-DPS-boost-mechanic was triggered by her yuri lust getting thwarted by not being able to go on that date with Miku.
Never cock block a lesbian, folks. (Or whatever the lesbian version of cock block is. Beaver dam?)
BUT THEN
A TAUNTING VOICE CALLS OUT IN THE MOONLIGHT
OH MY GOD, IS THIS HAPPENING TOO?
ARE ALL MY WISHES AND FORECASTS GOING TO COME TRUE?
IS THIS A VILLAIN? DO WE HAVE A VILLAIN, FOLKS?
ALL SIGNS POINT TO ANTAGONIST:
I SEE SPIKES
I SEE RED
I SEE UNNATURAL PALENESS
I SEE…
…oh my.
Well, fuck a duck.
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This episode was rad.
Started off weak, but goddamn those last five minutes were worth it. Symphogear could totally be pulling one off on me, and this episode’s cliffhanger will again segue into an anti-climax next episode. But, I need to have at least some faith that this anime won’t do me wrong.
Some of my predictions from earlier episodes were disproved. However, my expectations for The Third Episode came true in other ways. Thankfully, nobody got their head bitten off, but we did get some kind of Plot, what with the introduction of the Durandal MacGuffin and the idea that the Noise attacks may be somebody’s attempt to find and steal this Relic to obtain power.
We also got what may well be some kind of antagonist!
Tsubasa recognized this girl’s Gear/Relic at the end, so maybe Tsubasa has met this character before? I was thinking the endgame villain would be a man, but it’s possible this new girl 1) isn’t actually a villain, or 2) isn’t the Final Boss villain.
There are a lot of directions you can take in magical girl anime with an antagonist who is also a magical girl:
They could go the Nanoha or the Mai-HiME route and co-opt her onto the team, once they “tame” her bad side a bit. Hamster certainly seems the Friendship For Everyone type, so I can see her trying to recruit this girl over to the good guys.
Or, this girl could be the Rival type who isn’t actually evil, but isn’t on the good guys’ team, either. The new girl could also turn out to be the main fist of the villain, and he/she is just controlling this girl, but she will eventually break free of his/her control and assert her own willpower once she sees What You’re Doing Isn’t Right.
Or, she could just take the role of a wild card in the story, with no real motivation, who just shows up from time to time to fuck shit up and taunt the heroes.
Who knows, maybe Symphogear knows full well the tropes it’s playing with, and is baiting me with this supposed-villain character only to completely pull the rug and subvert everybody’s expectations! Maybe Symphogear is the great un-doer of all storytelling conventions, and will blow my mind with how transformative a work it is, putting the cliches of past anime behind it and maybe proving us all wrong, that anime was not a mistake, after all!
Maybe not.
Anyway, apart from the wonderful chaos of those last five minutes, this episode also delved deeper into Hibiki and Miku’s relationship.
Their main drama as a couple over the course of this show is going to be juggling Hibiki’s superhero role with her personal life, of which Miku is the main component. This is a staple of any story where the hero has special powers and also an obligation to keep those powers secret. A lot of angst is going to result between them until Miku learns the truth. Even after that point, Hibiki’s going to struggle with how to keep Miku safe, how to handle being in a relationship where she might die (and we know per the opening episode that Hibiki will die at some point), and what kind of effect it will have on the bond between them to have that doom always hanging over them, waiting to drop.
Symphogear hasn’t blown me out of the water yet, but they’re doing enough right that I want to keep watching. I’m excited to see where this goes.
…
Also, that ED is still really damn creepy.
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