Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal.
(Read the full episode below, or click here for the list of other episodes)
------------------
(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.)
------------------
Last episode was a real whammo.
We met a new big bad villainess who wears nothing but opera gloves and thigh-highs and has Regina George hair I heard is insured for 10,000 dollars. We also found out Dr. Perv secretly works for the enemy and is plotting something dastardly for our heroes. Whatever it is, it’s going to be nasty when the good guys are struck by her sudden but inevitable betrayal.
I’m not even sure what to call this character anymore. It was implied last episode that the Topless new villain and Dr. Perv are the same person. But, I’m not 100% chocolatebar-solid on that, and I’ve certainly been very mistaken before. I don’t want to confuse myself and everyone else by combining these characters in the recap if I end up having to split them again if that prediction misfires.
When we started this show, I never expected Dr. Perv to be anything more than your typical quirky supporting character, so I didn’t think I’d be talking about her much. Which just goes to show how wrong I’ve been proven by this anime and how much Symphogear loves flinging monkey crap at me while laughing. But, even if she isn’t the real villain, Dr. Perv’s role as traitor within the agency means she’ll be a much bigger mover on this gameboard than I anticipated.
“Dr. Perv” is kinda annoying to type in that I always have a minor pregnancy scare thinking I missed a period somewhere, so I don’t mind cycling that nickname out. Her real name is Ryouko (I had to check previous screencaps, hah), but I worry my PMMM fixation will make me type “Kyouko” out of habit. So, between those two and “Topless”, that’s three names for one person, which just won’t do.
We’re gonna take the middle road for now. Topless will stay “Topless” for whichever scenes she’s in. Dr. Perv will stay “Dr. Perv” for her scenes, but I will also be cycling in some “Ryouko” for the Dr. Perv scenes. If and when the anime confirms that these three names belong to one scumbag, I’ll consolidate them further and cycle out the obsolete ones.
Using that image reminds me Snoop Oni isn’t actually named Snoop Oni, either. I think it starts with a “Gen”. Generalissimo? Gen Urobutcher? Genwunner?? Eh, I’m sure the anime will remind me at some point. Unless he also turns out to be a much bigger threat than I thought (oh god please no, I’m not going to jinx it, I learned my goddamn lesson cracking “what if she’s secretly evil lol” jokes about Dr. Perv last episode for fuck’s sake never again), he will persist as Snoop Oni, probably unto perpetuity.
In other news from last episode, Hamster briefly got her hands on the mighty – and mightily unstable – Relic Durandal and called upon the power of Greyskull to wipe out an enemy attack.
I’m honestly not sure which of the above animated shows is gayer.
Tsubasa woke from her coma, but not in time to make it to the party, so I really hope we get to see Tsubasa’s reaction to this news. In that fight over Durandal with Chris and the Noise, Hamster finally stood on her own for the first time, without Tsubasa there to save her. It will be interesting to see how their dynamic evolves from here. Hibiki definitely won her spurs last episode, but Tsubasa will probably still treat her like some annoying squire.
These two characters have a lot of partnership to learn if they’re going to survive as allies. Especially now that one of their other allies is about to turn against them unexpectedly. A friendship between these two will likely only come from the fire and blood of a really shitty situation where they are forced to hang together or hang separately.
Tsubasa’s character arc still hasn’t hit its peak, either. Although we did make some progress last episode during Tsubasa’s heart-to-heart with Kanade’s spirit, we’re nowhere near the closure this poor girl needs in order to get over her issues with Hibiki, her own self-loathing, and move on with her life.
I am increasingly nervous for Tsubasa, what with Topless lurking behind everyone’s back, waiting to snatch another Symphogear wielder and turn them into her own personal toy like she did with Chris. Tsubasa, you better sort your shit out, sort all your shit out, real soon, before those cracks in your psyche get seeded with some pretty infectious evilness-vines.
I’m curious where today’s episode will go. Will it be a wild, brutal ride like the previous episode, or will the anime take a brief cooldown to spend more time on character development and relationships? Honestly, I’d be satisfied with either. But, whichever direction this episode takes, I predict Pain.
So, settle in, pop open a nice fresh bottle of your preferred painkiller pills, stop playing with that little cotton ball thingy under the cap seriously are we a bunch of five year olds here, and let’s watch episode 6.
We open the episode with an establishing shot of Topless’s mansion.
Hooo boy… Get them pills ready, folks.
Chris stands alone at the edge of a little dock poking into the lake next to the mansion, because rich people always have their own private lakes. Can you even imagine the boating parties Topless must throw?
Who the blazes is Finé? Is that Topless’s real name? Am I gonna have four names for this character? I’m wheezing all over my keyboard.
Chris reminisces about last episode’s battle. She’s full of resentment that a noob like Hibiki was able to activate and wield Durandal so easily, when Chris herself spent months mastering the “Staff of Solomon”, which I guess is part of her Nehushtan Gear. Chris doesn’t want to admit it, but on top of being envious of Hibiki’s power, she’s a little afraid of her too, due to the whole Frothing Berserker thing.
Oh yeah honey, Hibiki’s a real fuckin monster.
Just look at that ferocious beast.
TERRIFYING
Chris is pissed that Finé wants Hibiki captured, and okay yes it is now confirmed that Topless is indeed named Finé. Sheesh, what do I do now? I like sticking with the sleazy nickname, but “Finé” just means “Climax”, so there’s plenty of sleaze potential there, as well. On the other hand, the accento is annoying.
Finé, Topless, Ryouko, Dr. Perv… Should I just throw everything to the carrion and go with a tetragrammaton and call her FTRD?? Will this hideous amalgamation just keep growing and growing, gobbling up more and more names until it becomes a great massive abomination of oppai and betrayal simply known as She of Many Names?
Okay, I’m just going to make an executive decision to stick with what I said in the preamble. She’ll stay Topless for now, and maybe later on we can cycle in Finé once all these characters solidify.
Symphogear leaves us no time to ponder names. It’s now time for…
TRAGIC BACKSTORY.
Is anyone even surprised by this? I mean really. Was there actually a sentient member of the audience who thought Chris was going to come from a happy, stable home where she was loved and cared for and got her report cards magneted to the fridge because her family was so proud of her and carried her up to bed after she fell asleep on the couch, and all that happy childhood stuff? I’d have been more surprised if she didn’t have some horrific awful backstory.
Also, this tragic flashback consumes all of four seconds of screentime. Not even any monologue over it. It’s like Symphogear can’t even be bothered to go into detail about this character’s background. Just, “Shit sucked, nothing was daijobu, boom she’s a tool of evil now.”
I hope we get more in-depth with Chris’s history at some point. She seems an interesting girl from the little we’ve seen of her so far. I’d like to get to know her better. How she survived the world from such a young age, what she had to learn to make it through the child slave market, and how she fell into Topless’s hands and eventually decided her loyalty lay with this woman now. Although, Chris clearly has some resentment toward Topless despite working for her.
It also adds to Topless’s already-high level of disturbing if Chris was sold to her as a child, considering she now uses Chris in a very sexual manner. How and more importantly when did that start, and how thoroughly has she groomed Chris into her tool? This character, whatever her name, gets greasier and greasier with wickedness the more I think about her.
It seems obvious Chris will break free of Topless at some point, because that’s what normally happens to evil-aligned magical girls in anime. However, it’s quite possible the redemption arc for Chris won’t peak until the moment of her own death. It’s not unheard of for the evil magical girl to sacrifice herself to bring down the villain she once served.
Bundles of fucking fun right here, folks. Aren’t we all glad we decided to watch this anime??
Chris is interrupted when Topless herself strolls onto the scene, wearing… clothes?
I barely even recognized her.
And why is she wearing a massive, fancy, floppy hat like it’s opening day at Del Mar?
Also, why do her eyes look so strange? Usually, altered eyes reflect a character as somehow inhuman or mind-controlled, but I thought Topless was the one doing the mind controlling here? Is she not even human?
Chris is angry and openly defiant toward Topless. Never the less, Chris obeys her. Chris promises to best Hibiki next time they fight, to prove to her mistress that she’s a more worthy tool than that noob hamster.
Good grief. Once again, Symphogear chooses the path of most suffering.
Why do I say this? Because they could have gone a gentler – HAH, as if anything about this show is gentle – direction with Chris’s relationship to Topless/Finé. With Chris’s shit-stained toilet seat of a childhood, it would’ve been easy for the show to paint her as just a sad, manipulated girl who doesn’t realize how badly she’s been used, and thinks Topless is the one person in her life who genuinely cares for her. This would’ve made Chris’s redemption arc a whole lot lighter and easier, as it removes a big chunk of the responsibility for her current situation off Chris’s shoulders and drops it onto Topless instead, who the audience is already predisposed to dislike.
The more painful, and therefore more Symphogear-y, option is to discard that entirely and make Chris fully aware of the spider’s web she is tangled in, which the anime seems to be doing here. Chris is aware that she is being used, she is aware that her mistress is a shitlord who deserves no allegiance, she is aware Topless plans to replace her with Hibiki, and she accepts all of this. Chris is taking responsibility for her own bad decisions and hurtful actions towards the other girls. This makes her character all the more tragic, because she is aware of her own mistakes but chooses not to fix them.
This second option gives much more depth to Chris than simply, “Poor baby doesn’t know any better, she just needs someone to show her the light of the real world!!” Chris quite clearly has seen the light of the real world, and found it repugnant. She chooses to stay in this abusive relationship because she has been through so much, been so alone for so long that even being with a villain is better than being Alone Again. We’re still waiting to learn what the “wish” she alluded to last episode was, the wish Topless promised to grant in return for obedience. But, honestly, Chris’s wish could’ve been as simple as, “Don’t abandon me like everyone else has.”
I must give Symphogear cookies for choosing this path. It’s going to make Chris’s inevitable redemption arc a lot more difficult for her to grow through, and a lot more painful for the audience to watch while this character unlearns to hate herself and the rest of the world. But ultimately, the payoff will be much more satisfying for both Chris and us. A pre-emptive clap for you, anime.
After that scene with the Problematic Boob Duo, we transition to the hospital where Tsubasa is recovering from her Climax Song wounds.
Tsubasa is being very Tsubasa-y and pushing herself to the limit even when confined to hospital. She’s adamant that she has to force herself back into full health ASAP and get back out there to Fuck That Noise and anyone else in her way.
Tsubasa is very much a self-forged sword. She believes if she hammers herself in the face hard enough and often enough, it will somehow make her stronger. In reality, this mentality is just going to make her shatter right there on the anvil with no one to blame but herself.
She flashes back to thoughts of Kanade, and we get some more insight into why she’s doing this. Tsubasa feels like she must push herself to be as heroic as Kanade, even if it means dying in battle, else she won’t be worthy of standing next to Kanade on the Other Side.
Oh honey, honey no. If there is one thing Kanade failed at in her life, it was not telling you often enough that you are absolutely good enough just the way you are. A whole lot of people up in here need a Kanade in their life to tell them that and nothing but that on a daily basis.
Out the window of the hospital, Tsubasa catches sight of Hibiki and Miku next door, jogging the school track. This segues us into Hibiki’s inner monologue of the day, as she worries about what happened with Durandal last episode.
Hamster doesn’t fully understand her own power, but Frothing Berserker mode seems to frighten her even more than it frightened Chris. Hamster is a kind soul who wouldn’t hurt a fly. She’s horrified that she came close to seriously hurting and perhaps killing another person, even an enemy magical girl like Chris. Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?
After all that exercise, Hibiki and Miku decide to take a bath and hoooooo--
--lllllyyyy shit where are we going here?
Is it bad that the first thing I thought about this image was “These damn teenagers’ bathroom is probably bigger than most of my generation’s entire apartments”?
Gay levels increasing at alarming speeds, Cap’n! All systems on overdrive, I cannae hold ‘er together! She’s about ta blow!!!
Hibiki and Miku chat in the bath. They aren’t really talking about anything substantial, but that’s not the point, because all that matters is showing them being happy and content with each other. When you’re in a solid-enough relationship, you can talk about any inconsequential thing, or not talk at all, and still feel wonderfully connected to your partner.
Their chat dissolves into a tickle fight once Miku notices Hamster is gaining muscle. Miku also notices Hamster’s body is covered in scratches. Miku’s still not aware of the whole Symphogear thing.
I’m honestly surprised it’s taken this long. Hamster is such a bad liar, I thought Miku would outfox her long ago and catch her in a lie. But, that’s Symphogear for you. I am learning that this anime loves nothing more than to draw out the pain as long as possible. We’re probably in for a few more episodes of this lie, possibly even the rest of the season if they plan to save the big reveal to Miku for the season finale and spend the following season covering her reaction to it.
After the bath, Hibiki and Miku make plans to go to their favorite restaurant together later.
Really, girls? Did we learn nothing from that failed meteor shower date a few episodes back? No good will come of this. Chris or an angry Tsubasa or Dr. Perv or some other asshole is going to show up and rain on that parade pretty damn torrentially.
This scene also reveals Hibiki carries a scar on her chest from the concert battle. I like this a lot. But, I also lowkey really wanna know how fucking this:
…results in nothing but a neat and tidy little treasure map X-marks-the-spot. My Nana couldn’t even stitch up my damaged stuffed animals that cleanly when I was a kid.
Scene change to the agency base, where Snoop Oni and Dr. Perv discuss the funeral of the Defense Minister killed by the bad guys last episode. They also discuss how, in the wake of the Noise attacks and the decision to house Durandal at their base permanently, the team is now overhauling the base’s security system.
Ryouko is the one who designed the new security measures? Well then, in that case I guarantee you this shiny new “security plan” will have a deliberately built-in MASSIVE GAPING FLAW IN IT FOR THE VILLAINS TO EXPLOIT.
Not everyone in the government was a fan of this new security plan.
Ohhh, so that’s why she had him killed. He wouldn’t let her build the equivalent of the thermal exhaust port on the Death Star, the one goddamn weak point in what should be an impenetrable defense. Now that he’s out of the way and Dr. Perv’s new “security” plan for the base is going into effect, our good guys have no idea just how fucked they are about to be.
STOP FUCKIGN SMILING YOU SHITLORD, I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE UP TO, YOU ARE THE BURNT UNDERCRUST ON MY PIZZA HERE TO RUIN EVERYONE’S DAY
Back on Hibiki’s end, she gets a call to go help brown-haired guy agent sort out a mission. This, of course, means she must cancel that restaurant date with Miku. Miku seems to be the only one surprised by this outcome.
For the love of cupcakes, Hibiki. I adore you, but you are rubbish at managing your relationship. Miku is either going to dump your flaky, evasive ass, or else think you have a side ho somewhere, and Miku will let suspicion get the better of her and secretly follow you on one of these missions and fucking get herself killed in the crossfire.
DONT MAKE ME JINX IT YOU FUCKNUT
Miku, being the patron saint of Lesbians Who Put Up With Shoulder-Deep Bullcrap From Their Adorable But Frustrating Girlfriends, bless her little heart, puts on a brave face as usual and fakes that she doesn’t mind Hibiki cutting out on her to go running off to who knows where doing who knows what.
We roll over to the hospital. Hamster stands outside Tsubasa’s room with a bouquet of flowers, trying to psych herself up enough to actually step through the door.
Wait, what? Hibiki ditched Miku to visit Tsubasa? That’s the mission brown-haired guy wanted her to go do for him? Don’t get me wrong, I really want these two Symphogear girls to have some development together. But, for goodness sake, if Miku really did secretly follow Hibiki like I was worried, and sees that she blew Miku off to visit another girl… hooo boy. Ain’t no patron saint of tolerant girlfriends gonna intercede with Madokami on your behalf there, Hibiki.
Tsubasa’s room has been ransacked, with clothes and magazines strewn haphazardly and overturned bottles all over the place. Hamster panics, thinking Tsubasa must’ve been attacked, until Tsubasa herself shows up.
It turns out, Tsubasa is just a slob at cleaning her room.
HAH
That is 1) hilarious, and 2) exactly what these two girls need right now.
This whole time, I’ve been thinking that the resolution for the conflict between them needs to come from Tsubasa’s end, since she’s the one harboring all the resentment and disdain toward Hibiki, whereas Hibiki holds nothing but admiration for her. But, honestly, if these two are going to become comrades, Hamster has to make concessions, too.
They can’t become true friends and allies until they see each other as real people. Tsubasa needs to stop seeing Hibiki as some straw-brained scarecrow propped up in Kanade’s Gear, and Hibiki needs to stop seeing Tsubasa as some pristine deadly warrior pop star. Exposing a very humanizing and slightly embarrassing side of Tsubasa, like her being a total slob around the house, is going to help Hibiki see her as a real, flawed girl instead of a figure on a stage. This is a really cute and sweet way to chip off some of the tension between these characters. I’m glad the anime did this.
Hamster tidies the place up for Tsubasa. They share some small-talk for what may be the first time ever. Have these two ever had an actual conversation, other than Hibiki fangirling over Tsubasa or Tsubasa snapping at Hibiki in battle or around the base? It’s a refreshing step forward for them. Even the music in this scene is airy and cheerful, typical of a more standard schoolgirl anime.
Though stuck in the hospital, Tsubasa has been keeping up with the news, including news of Hamster’s recent accomplishments.
They share some understanding that they both have a lot to learn about each other, and it seems like they agree the other one is maybe too harsh on themselves. It’s not enough to bridge the waters between these two characters, but it’s a good start.
Over on Miku’s end, she browses the library disconsolately, wishing her Hamster hadn’t canceled on her. Miku picks up a book:
“How to Be Honest with Yourself”
HAH AGAIN
Miku needs to take the really passive aggressive route and leave that book out in the open in their dorm for Hibiki to find, or she needs to ditch the “passive” and just beat Hibiki over the head with this book until Hamster gets the message.
Miku sighs, dreaming of a relationship that doesn’t leave her alone and considering investing in the battery market, when she gazes out the window, and lo and behold…
Are you fucking kidding me right now, Symphogear?
Of ALL the windows in ALL the library, Miku just had to be standing by the ONE that JUST HAPPENED to look out onto the EXACT SAME window to Tsubasa’s hospital room at perfect eye level during the ONE COSMIC SECOND in the history of the universe that Hibiki and Tsubasa were actually getting along well.
It’s like the show doesn’t even give a shit. “Here, have some wildly contrived drama, if you viewers have made it this far then we already know you just love getting angst-lashings flayed into your skin like a cat o’ nine tails, hahaha fucking choke on your suffering you fools.”
But no, instead of Miku getting angry, Symphogear yet again takes the more sadistic route and has her shove all that pain way down deep.
Not only is Hibiki drifting away from Miku, this little highlight makes it seem Hibiki is transferring romantic attention to Tsubasa, instead. Which, from Miku’s perspective, is especially devastating since Miku knows how much Hibiki admires Tsubasa as a singer, even without the Symphogear thing Miku has no way of knowing about yet. How is Miku supposed to compete with a world-famous pop star? So, she chooses to swallow the hurt even if it suffocates her, and pretends not to care if Hibiki leaves her.
In relationship terms, the type of struggle Hibiki and Miku are going through right now is sometimes referred to as “leaning out” versus “leaning in”. When relationships go through rocky times, as all long-term relationships do from time to time, one partner starts to “lean out” of the relationship. They become less interactive with their partner, more distant, less open about their feelings, start spending less time together and being less enthusiastic when they actually are together, and may even start flat-out lying and evading. Hibiki is showing a number of these symptoms.
This partner who is “leaning out” doesn’t necessarily want to break up the relationship at that moment (hence it being called a lean rather than a break), nor want to stir up drama, but they are nevertheless fraying the ties between themselves and their partner, intentionally or unintentionally.
Miku isn’t seeing all the Symphogear + Noise + Chris + Kidnapping + Assassinations + Durandal parts of the equation. All she sees is Hibiki growing more and more distant and spending less and less time with her, even canceling dates on her like that meteor shower fiasco and now the restaurant outing. Distance doesn’t mean physical distance – these girls are still attending the same classes every day, sharing baths and meals, living in the same dorm, sharing a bed and falling asleep to the sound of each other’s breathing – and yet Miku feels Hibiki’s absence in the relationship even when they’re together.
We the audience know the opposite is what’s happening. Hibiki is only doing all of this Symphogear stuff because she wants to be a hero who protects people such as Miku. Her love for Miku hasn’t waned at all. But, on Miku’s end, because Miku is unaware of the superhero secret identity, nothing seems to have happened to cause Hamster to start behaving this way. So, the poor girl can only conclude there must be something wrong with Miku herself, and that’s why she sees Hibiki’s actions as an attempt to lean out of the relationship.
Look at her, she doesn’t look angry, she looks hurt and above all else, scared.
The instinctive, almost desperate, reaction for most people when they sense their partner leaning out is for them to do the opposite and start “leaning in”. They start insisting their partner spend more time with them, talk to them more, be intimate more, be over-affectionate and all up in each other’s faces in a desperate hope that this will draw the other person back in to the relationship. This instinctive response usually does no good, instead causing additional strain on the situation, as the outward partner can start feeling even more flustered by the needs of the person they are trying to lean away from.
(Some people even suggest that if your partner is leaning out, you also should lean out just slightly, instead of following your instinct to lean in. The idea is that doing so will either jolt your partner into realizing there is a problem and they will do the leaning back in themselves, OR it will be healthy for both of you to realize the break is what is best for both of you. This advice sounds like madness to me, but I’m not a relationship guru, so what the hell do I know?)
Miku will either lean in way too far and accidentally make things worse, or she will keep swallowing the pain and just watch Hamster drift further from her without trying to stop it because oh well I just want Hibiki to be happy even if I’m not part of that happiness.
AGGHHHH
We’re only halfway through the season. I can’t take another 6-7 episodes of this pain if the anime really does intend to save the reveal for the finale.
*Symphogear reveling in my suffering in the background, laughing and pelting me with more monkey crap*
What also worries me is that Miku’s attempt at “leaning in” just might come at the exact wrong moment, such as when Hibiki is already pushed to her limit due to Symphogear-related drama, and Hibiki ends up snapping at Miku’s insistent attention instead of recognizing her own mistakes and leaning back into the relationship.
This is tricky territory to navigate. If both halves of a partnership lean the wrong way at the wrong time, the relationship will collapse.
Back with Hibiki and Tsubasa in the hospital room, the conversation turns serious.
Tsubasa wants to know why Hibiki agreed to become a Symphogear wielder. Hamster didn’t choose to have Gungnir embedded in her, but Hamster did choose to join the team and use that power for good. Tsubasa needs to know why. Fighting the Noise isn’t some game or pastime to Tsubasa, it’s Serious Business. If she’s going to respect Hibiki as a comrade, she needs to know Hibiki will take the fights as seriously as she does.
That’s not a good enough reason for Tsubasa. Tsubasa demands to Go Deeper, We Have To Go Deeper. Hamster eventually admits that she likes helping people because you don’t have to compete with them or compare yourself to them in order to help them. It’s simple and nonjudgmental, and it makes Hibiki feel like she’s actually accomplishing something with her life instead of falling short of everyone else. Accomplishment is a feeling she doesn’t normally get.
OH MERCY NOT AGAIN
DONT D O THSI TO ME
Hamster reveals it was Kanade’s brave sacrifice in saving her two years ago that inspired her to help people. She also feels as if she owes it to Kanade and all the other innocents who died in that concert attack, since Hibiki is alive while they are not, to use her life for something meaningful now.
We’re not yet done with this surprising but welcome heart-to-heart between these two. Hamster goes even further, revealing to Tsubasa her fears about Durandal’s power and what sort of influence it will have on her to wield that power in battle. Hibiki needs advice from a veteran, and Tsubasa gives it as best she can.
Except it’s shitty advice.
Uh, no, Tsubasa, becoming a warrior means the exact opposite of that. You need to put yourself closer to the way normal people live. You need to make sure you still live and laugh and love and whatever other catchphrase middle-aged suburban moms sticker onto the bumpers of their SUVs. You need to keep yourself more human, no matter the battles you face, to avoid isolating yourself and becoming worse of a monster. Hardening your heart won’t keep you alive. The strength of your love for others and their love for you is what keeps you alive. Hard shatters, but strong endures.
This is why you have issues, Tsubasa.
And why you are inevitably going to shatter someday.
Just when we thought this episode was going to be all fluff and navel-gazing, something wicked this way comes!
Snoop Oni and the team send out the alert, in a panic that Chris will start slaughtering civilians in the middle of the city or something before Hamster can make it in time to stop her.
Tsubasa isn’t fully recovered, so it’s up to Hibiki to answer the call and try to hold Chris off. She’s done it before, but this time she won’t have Durandal to help her…
Hamster runs as fast as her little legs will carry her. Who does she bump into on the way? Take a wild guess.
OH FUCK
PAIN TRAIN HAS NO BRAKES
BRACE FOR IMPACT PEOPLE, ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS, THIS IS GONNA RIP OUR SHIP APART
PLAYER 3 HAS ENTERED THE BATTLE
RED ALERT, CAP'N!
Chris is still in a rage over her defeat at Hibiki’s hands last episode. Let’s be real, Chris seems to have two settings: Rage and Angst. (Whereas Tsubasa’s settings are Angst and More Angst.) Chris lashes out at Hibiki without thinking as soon as she spots her.
Now you care? Grinding Tsubasa’s head into the dirt with your boot was fine, summoning Noise to attack Tsubasa and Hibiki was fine, summoning Noise to ambush their agents was fine, launching a surprise attack just now on an unarmed Hibiki was fine, ALL OF THAT WAS FINE, but Girlfriends Are Off Limits, apparently. Chris is truly a woman of honor.
Hamster Gears up in a flash, just in time to save Miku from a falling car launched at her by the force of Chris’s blind opening shot.
Miku is floored by this. Twelve seconds ago, her biggest problem in life was worrying her bae was gonna leave her for a pop star. Now, her eyes are exploding in front of her with the sight of super-powered enemies trying to kill her, and said bae donning ass-fitting armor to leap into the fray. Miku’s view of Hibiki, her entire worldview, her sense of reality itself is disintegrating in front of her eyes.
Hamster is no more equipped to handle this situation than Miku is, and right now there’s a big spiky set of underboobs ready to beat her to a pulp, so the relationship drama needs to wait until a less we-could-totally-die time. With a quick, broken, eye-contact-avoiding apology, Hibiki dashes away from Miku, who can only stare after her wordlessly.
Hamster kites Chris away to a less populated area of the park to prevent her from harming any more civilians. For some reason, Chris allows herself to be baited like this, when really if all she wanted was to hurt Hibiki she should’ve just stayed put and kept attacking Miku and more innocents in front of her. But no, HONOR instead, I guess.
Once Hamster has safely drawn Chris away, she surprises Chris by trying to just talk instead of fighting further.
Chris responds to this about as well as you’d expect. Which is to say, Hibiki gets a purple whip to the face.
Chris, with her dismal background experience of just how “good” humans can be toward each other, doesn’t think much of trying to make peace. Notice how her mask obscures her eyes in these particular shots when she delivers this rage-poisoned dialogue, representing once again her lack of a centered self and how the villain’s influence has further corrupted her worldview.
Chris is so pissed off by Hamster’s attempt at friendship, she decides she wants to disregard Topless’s kidnapping order and instead just straight-up shred Hibiki right then and there.
Yeah that’s real scary and all, Chris, and you look super enraged right now, but I hate to break it to ya...
...Hibiki’s enrage mode is far superior to your enrage mode.
YOU GON GET BERSERKED ON, GIRL
Even without using her berserker morde, Hibiki charges full speed ahead and Falcon Punches as hard as her fist can take it.
The force of her strike practically pulverizes Nehushtan, to Chris’s shock. The camera pulls away in an explosive cloud of dust. Our last shot of the episode is an injured Miku looking at the rising explosion and saying Hibiki’s name in disbelief.
------------------
This episode was a Pomeranian. 90% fluff and 10% concentrated hatred for humanity.
It was a nice breather after the throat-gripping chaos of the previous two episodes. Symphogear’s angry fist eased off a bit and let us clear our heads to focus on character relationship developments.
I was wrong, yet again, in thinking the show would keep dragging out the reveal of the Symphogears to Miku. This shouldn’t surprise me, nor should it surprise me if the anime finds a way to make this reveal even more painful than keeping the secret would have been.
How oh how are Hibiki and Miku going to resolve this? Hamster is clearly way out of her depth trying to manage both her superhero life and her relationship with Miku. It’ll be painfully adorable to watch Hibiki flail around awkwardly and try to get herself out of this mess with any semblance of dignity.
Actually, maybe this will tie in with what I was bah-humbugging at Tsubasa for earlier in the episode, the issue of keeping yourself human in the face of monsters.
If love is truly what keeps you human and lets you endure fight after fight, then being able to finally open up to Miku may be exactly what Hamster needs. These two have been through a lot together already, and Miku will most likely continue to support Hamster even with the superpower stuff. That support could be the only thing that keeps Hibiki sane and stops her from falling entirely into Frothing Berserker mode and succumbing to power.
On the other hand, Miku already came close to losing Hibiki two years ago, when Hibiki nearly died in the concert attack. Miku certainly won’t be pleased to learn Hamster might take even more serious injuries and possibly die on her. (And we the audience have that awful looming foreknowledge hanging over our heads from the first episode, when we saw that Hibiki does die and Miku can only weep over her grave.)
In addition, even if the anime goes the happy route and Miku gets to be comfortably “in” on the secret now, it’s possible she will then be spending more time with the other Symphogear team folks, including Tsubasa. It is… not gonna go down well if Miku and Hibiki get their adorable couple-ness on right in front of Tsubasa. Tsubasa is still harboring a lot of resentment toward Hibiki for supposedly stealing, in a way, her lover Kanade’s life from her. Deep down, Tsubasa’s still not quite sure if she believes Hibiki deserves to be alive in Kanade’s stead, though I doubt Tsubasa would put it in such blunt words.
Tsubasa and Hibiki took important steps toward each other in this episode. They’re still a long way from standing side by side. Miku’s presence in their Symphogear-world will add yet another crinkly layer to Tsubasa and Hibiki’s already bumpy relationship.
Tsubasa has her own issues to sort out, and no partner to help her through them and keep her from dehumanizing herself even further than she already has. I’m still scared for this girl, and we’ve got a whole lotta anime left to make it through. I honestly don’t know what will happen to us all from here.
Pictured: the true Symphogear watching experience.
In other relationship developments, we got more insight into Chris and her fuck-lationship with She of Many Names. Chris has a pretty jagged edge to her personality, and she’s gonna lash out with it and slice our heroes (and herself) up a bit more before she’s ready to really start her redemption arc. It’s gonna be a long, hard, uphill climb for Chris. Unlearning to hate the world is hard enough, but she shares something with Tsubasa in that they both need to unlearn how to hate themselves before they can make any progress toward healing.
With Hamster-Jesus there to hold Chris’s hand through it, I think we can make it. The question now is not whether Chris will surmount her own flaws in the end, but whether she will survive the climb. If Chris does survive, she’ll most likely follow the path of other formerly-evil magical girls and join the hero’s team full time, or else decide to go seek her own path elsewhere but remain an ally to be called upon by our heroes when they need her.
The holy trinity of Girls Who Really Need to Love Themselves More is now complete. I’m sure Chris will fit right in.
------------------
