Nekekur Watches Symphogear: Nekekur Watches Symphogear: Season 1, Episode 8 [Re-Upload]

Those who are about to die, I salute you.

(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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We’re about to watch episode 8.

Episode 8.

In many 12- or 13-episode anime, the 8th episode is usually when serious shit hits the fan. Think of any 12-episode anime off the top of your head. Odds are good that episode 8 was when you regretted watching that anime and realized I Was Stupid, So Stupid.

From a structural perspective, it marks the start of the final third of a story. In your standard three-act story, the third act is always the most painful. Although in that department Symphogear has already given us enough shit to fertilize the entire surface area of the Sahara, we have yet to hit the true nadir. In this episode or the ones following it, our heroes will be bashed down to their lowest point, closest to defeat, then must rise up once more for a triumphant climax.

With episode eight, we’re entering what I like to call Hell’s Home Stretch. The traumatic couple of episodes which build us up to the climax. I imagine Symphogear has a pretty epic climax in store.

The easiest way during Hell’s Home Stretch to punch your characters and your audience right in the throat is to kill off somebody. If Symphogear has any more major character deaths (apart from Kanade back in the first episode) planned for us this season, I expect they will occur during Hell’s Home Stretch, between episodes 8-11. Since Symphogear has 13 episodes, we can bump that up to 8-12, and episode 13 may be saved for the true finale-climax and the denouement.

(The fact Symphogear has 13 episodes also means the pain-train may not hit us this episode, but the following episode, instead. 9 or 10 might be our next big whammo if 8 isn’t.)

So, if it’s the case that Death Cometh Soon in the new few episodes, who’s gonna pay the butcher’s bill? We’ve got a nice fat selection of lambs for the slaughter.

We’ll start with Daddy Longlegs here. I gotta say, she’s a likely target for a big dramatic death.

Tsubasa has been shattering herself into jagged shrapnel ever since the first episode, as penance for her perceived flaws of inadequacy, self-loathing, and above all failure. Tsubasa sees Kanade’s heroic death as Tsubasa’s own failure to protect those dear to her. Mirroring Kanade’s death by making her own valiant sacrifice in battle will (in Tsubasa’s mind) absolve her of her failures. It will also bring her to stand by Kanade’s side in death and feel whole again, since she has been living a hollow war-life in the two years since her partner’s passing.

Tsubasa has been wiggling the needle on my “don’t get attached, gurl gonna die on you” meter since the early episodes of this anime. I’m no more comfortable with the possibility of her death now than I was then. I really want this character to stay alive so I can see her grow, see her surmount her self-imposed penance of living a deliberately shitty life, and see her just be happy goddammit she doesn’t deserve this damage.

If not Tsubasa, who else might die?

Bruh. As much as I like the big red spiky lion dad of our team, being a mentor and uncle figure makes him a solid candidate for dying in the coming episodes.

Stories that center around teenage characters are often coming-of-age stories, where characters must grow into the people they will live as for the rest of their lives, for better or for worse. Part of coming of age and becoming an adult means moving beyond the hold other adults had over you when you were younger. You can still respect their teachings and value their advice, but you need to stand on your own now, and be responsible for your own decisions and the path those decisions lead you down. The fictional teacher/mentor/parent must take the sideline so the hero can shine, and that often results in said mentor fucken dying and just cheering their boy on from six feet under.

Moral of the story: Don’t mentor anyone. You will get pregnant. And die.

How about this so-normal-it’s-abnormal guy? If the show doesn’t want to kill off a big character like Tsubasa or Snoop Oni, then the baton might pass to brown-haired guy and the other agents we know from hanging around the base.

We the audience are close enough to these characters that we’d be sad to see them die, but not so close that their deaths would be particularly heartbreaking. Token ally deaths are usually just fodder to demonstrate how evil your villain is and how stinging their betrayal is. So, I could see brown-haired guy and some other MIBs getting killed off during whatever betrayal/attack/knife-in-the-back scene when Ryouko reveals her true colors to the rest of the agency.

Speaking of Ryouko, well, she’s the villain, so it’s unlikely she’ll die before the climax. That is, if the show plans to kill her rather than redeem her. But, I could see her shedding her human form or something and metamorphosing into another entity, and so “dying” in that sense.

What other characters might bite the dust?

UNACCEPTABLE

Don’t you dare even try me with that shit Symphogear get the fuck out of my sight right goddamn now this is just rude.

Hmm, how about Rage-chan?

The previous episode ended pretty rough for Chris. Last we saw of her, she was on the losing end of a lovers’ quarrel with Topless in the lakeside mansion, about to be snuffed out permanently. The only thing saving Chris from dying may be that she’s only just begun her character arc. She has yet to really redeem herself. Chris needs to make peace with her own awful decisions, remember that her goal was once to save people, not to kill them. And above all, she needs to realize There Are Things In This World Worth Protecting.

It’s possible Chris will be the one to die to appease us bloodthirsty viewers. But, I think if it comes to that, her death would need to be during the climactic final fight against Topless, where Chris will earn her redemption by being the one to bring down the villain she once served, or at least be instrumental in aiding her new good-guy allies in defeating Topless. Anything less than a truly epic death would feel too cheap for a complicated enough character like Chris.

Of course, throughout this list of possible dead-men-walking, I’ve been ignoring the one person most likely to die in the third act of this story.

The opening scene of the first episode of this anime was Miku visiting Hibiki’s grave. Hibiki’s death is a foregone conclusion.

Early on, I speculated Hamster’s death would take one of two routes – the first route being “she isn’t really dead, she just had to fake her death to throw off her enemies”. Now that we know a little more about how our villain operates, it’s possible the reverse of that might happen. The enemy might be the one to fake Hibiki’s death, to throw off Hibiki’s allies.

We know Ryouko/Topless plans on letting Gungnir’s corruption spread throughout Hamster’s body, to turn Hibiki into some power-crazed berserker the villain will use as her personal tool in her larger goal of remaking the world. We also know Chris supposedly “disappeared” a few years ago, when in reality Chris was being kept as Topless’s minion.

Topless might repeat that trick here. Abduct Hibiki and torture-brainwash her into Topless’s tool, fake Hibiki’s death so the agency doesn’t come looking for her, and then the good guys get a nasty surprise some time later when Hibiki shows up “back from the dead”, only now she’s an unrecognizable inhuman monster completely without her own will.

In which scenario this Reaction/Recap series will go on hiatus and my body be given to the river for a time, to cleanse me of the suffering before I can continue any further with this anime.

The second route I was thinking Hibiki’s death might take is that she actually will die, but then get resurrected somehow.

This second route actually satisfies me. After all this time of scrubbing my skin raw to try and wash the pain of this godforsaken anime away, out damn’d spot, I… I feel like I’ve made peace with Hibiki’s death.

After watching half this season with the foreknowledge of poor little Hamster’s death looming over our heads like a spike trap ready to drop, I think I’ve finally reached the Acceptance stage of grief.

Because I finally pinned down Hibiki’s character archetype.

I’ve jokingly called Hibiki “Hamster-Jesus” before, but now I believe that name may actually be suitable.

I’m not sure what you call this archetype, but there are a number of famous fictional examples who spring to mind. Ancient dudes like Jesus and Osiris, and modern examples like Madoka and now Hibiki. (Heh, same voice actor for these two girls, even!) I could probably find more examples, not to mention the proper name for this character template, but that would involve Actual Research and yeah no. I’m just going to talk out of my head and hope it’s coherent.

For now, I’m going to call this figure the Rebirth-Savior character. Whatever you decide to call it, this character is defined by a couple notable traits, all of which Hibiki can check off.

Although faced with great trials, the Rebirth-Savior character remains optimistic. They believe hope is the only thing which keeps people going. They’re cheerful, persevering, and generally pick themselves back up after being knocked down. Determination is a big character trait here.

The Rebirth-Savior is powerful, but not particularly threatening-looking, and not a fighter by nature. They prefer to offer friendship and forgiveness to an enemy to recruit them into an ally.

This is because this character believes people are inherently Good, and that goodness can be cultivated in others if you just encourage it with a little goodness from yourself. This is where the “Savior” part begins. This character saves others not by beating some sense into them, but by encouraging others to have the same hope they themselves do.

This, however, is the fatal flaw of the Rebirth-Savior. Because they are so forgiving of enemies and trusting of people they really really shouldn’t trust, this is how they’re defeated. It’s never an honorable defeat in open combat. They are always brought down by betrayal from someone they were kind to.

Jesus had Judas, Osiris had his own brother, Madoka made the mistake of thinking the cute little cat-bunny was her friend and guide, and now Hibiki has the Bitcherfly lady who helped introduce her to the Symphogears and is part of the good-guy agency Hamster works with.

This Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal always results in death, literal or symbolic. Jesus was crucified, Osiris was hacked to pieces, and Madoka became a witch or died through various means in each timeline. We don’t know how Hibiki’s gonna die, but we know it’s coming somehow.

BUT IT’S OKAY

BECAUSE NOW WE GET TO THE “REBIRTH” PART

Dying, either literally or symbolically, allows this character archetype to ascend to their Final Form.

And it’s pretty gnarly when they do. Through various magical means, the Rebirth-Savior is resurrected by the power of their own Hope. Being “defeated” only causes them to become an entirely new being who is beyond defeat at all. They become a larger-than-life figure, often literally a god, as their determination and belief in goodness allows them to triumph over death itself.

This is why these character types resonate so hard with people. Not only does the Rebirth-Savior beat death themselves, they also break a system of death for everyone else, resulting in the rebirth of a new, better world. Jesus and Osiris became heavenly gods who their followers believed would bring them to a peaceful eternal afterlife instead of worldly suffering, and Madoka broke the Incubators’ exploitative system of death/witches and led all magical girls to salvation.

It’s not yet clear what system of suffering Hibiki might break (other than this fucking anime itself, there’s a system of suffering right there) if she follows in the path of these other characters. I’m guessing it will have something to do with stopping Topless from destroying/remaking the world into something hateful, and also stopping Topless’s summoning of Noise attacks that keep killing people. Durandal is probably gonna aid Hibiki in this, as the sword Relic’s power may be what gives Hibiki that god-level magic to actually accomplish her rebirth and defeat of evil.

The Rebirth-Savior’s friendliness and optimism is what makes these characters likable to the audience, but their triumph over suffering is what makes them enduring for their fans. It’s not guaranteed that this full character path is what will happen to Hibiki, but if our Hamster does indeed die, rather than faking her death or something, then her “rebirth” will likely be frickin spectacular.

Hokay, gird yourselves, folks. Keep Hope Alive, and let’s find out what episode 8 has in store for us.

We begin with It Was A Dark And Stormy Night.

Miku lies awake listening to the rain, still in low spirits over her recent breakup with Hibiki. Even though she’s the one who did the breaking up, it’s clear Miku isn’t any happier now. She’s likely only feeling worse about this whole situation.

Miku’s still using the bottom bunk, away from Hibiki. Hamster is up in the top bunk, lying there equally unable to sleep, but not daring to try talking to Miku again, since Miku hasn’t been speaking to her at all. These two need an honest, open talk. That won’t happen until Miku comes around a bit.

Miku shuffles out of bed and wanders the dorm. She catches sight of a photograph of her and Hibiki smiling together. There’s no dialogue here, but oh my god it’s so painfully clear she misses Hibiki so much. They are within arm’s reach of each other right now, but they might as well be on the other side of the world for all the distance between them.

In the living room, Miku unbuttons her pajama top, slides it off her shoulders, and…

…whoa, what the blazes is happening?? How did we go from “silent grief” to “stripping my clothes off for no reason in the middle of the living room in the pre-dawn hours while I know my frustrated ex can hear every single rustle of clothing as it falls off me”?

WELP, NO TIME FOR THAT QUIET CONTEMPLATIVE SHIT I GUESS, LET’S SMASH-CUT OVER TO CHRIS FIGHTING SOME NOISE TO AN ABRASIVELY LOUD ROCK TRACK

Yeesh that was a jarring cut, Symphogear.

I’m glad to see Chris survived Topless’s wrath last episode. Unfortunately, it looks like Chris’s escape from the mansion was followed by some big nasty blueberry-looking Noise, no doubt a parting gift from Topless. Chris in her Ichaival Gear runs through empty alleys in the city to get away from the Noise.

Backed into a corner, Chris crushes those blueberries into dust. Why she kited the Noise all the way from the countryside mansion to downtown Sufferingville if she could have just one-hit K.O.’d them the whole time, I have no idea. Probably wanted to get out of firing range of Topless’s new blinged-out golden Nehushtan.

How far even is it from the mansion to the city? Did no one en route look up as Chris passed and say, “It’s a bird, it’s a plane... it’s a girl in a cleavage-baring outfit running her ass off to escape big blue blob-monsters?”

Strained from that fight on top of her narrow escape from Topless, Chris collapses in the alley and falls unconscious. It’s A Small World After All, because who should stumble upon her now but Miku.

Does this mean Miku undressing out of her pajamas at the end of the previous scene was her getting ready to go out shopping, in the rain, at like, 5 A.M.??

Symphogear just now crossed the line from science fiction into all-out unrealistic magical unearthly fantasy. No goddamn way a teenager willingly gets up at 5 A.M., short of Tanisha banging trays outside their room and screaming at them that they ain’t gon’ get no sleep ‘cuz of her.

Miku’s even wearing her full school uniform. Most girls her age simply roll out the door in their pajama bottoms and some Uggs.

How are these two characters going to interact? Last time they saw each other, Chris tried to kill Hibiki and accidentally injured Miku in the crossfire, which forced Hibiki to reveal the Symphogear thing to Miku and eventually led to their breakup.

Will Chris apologize to Miku for hurting her, or put on her usual don’t-touch-me-i’m-angry-i’m-always-angry attitude? And will Miku demand more info about the Symphogears from Chris, or will Miku leave her there in the alley? Or will Miku instead show kindness and bring Chris back to the dorm like a little lost puppy, and Hamster is going to lose her shit, like of all the strays you had to bring home Miku this was the frickin prize I know you’re pissed at me right now but I STG she is going to blow our dorm up.

Symphogear is happy to answer all of these questions!

...After the OP and a commercial break that crashed my player, of course.

fucken

One Adobe Flash update download later, we return to Hamster on the phone with Snoop Oni. He and the agents are at the now-empty alley. They detect an energy residue from Chris’s fight with the Noise, but of Chris herself there’s no sign. They have no way of knowing Miku was there, but I’m worried there’s no sign of Miku, either. Where did these two girls go, did they go together, and did Miku go there as a captive?

Hibiki asks Snoop Oni what will happen to “Chris-chan” now. Because Topless took her usual tasteless route last episode and publicly dumped Chris in front of Hibiki, Tsubasa, and the rest, Hamster knows Chris is drifting at the moment.

WAIT I WAS KIDDING ARE THEY REALLY GOING TO TAKE CHRIS IN TO LIVE IN THEIR DORM?

Symphogear Episode 8: Hibiki and Miku Adopt 1 Angry Small

Snoop Oni tells Hibiki the team will continue to investigate Chris’s whereabouts, and for Hibiki to stay on standby until then. Hibiki gives a yessir and heads off to class. The first thing she notices is Miku’s empty seat in the lecture hall.

Her classmates notice, too, and offer sympathy.

We cut back to Miku at the dorm and…

I just choked on my drink. I was not prepared for this development.

Symphogear, you son of a bitch. We’re supposed to be in Hell’s Home Stretch, not some domestic menage-fluff adorableness. Next thing you know, these three girls will be happily making pancakes in the kitchen together and arguing about who has to water the plants and who always leaves their dirty towels hanging on the shower rod. (It’s Chris, isn’t it? Of course it’s Chris.)

Also, what is with Chris’s hair in this shot? Nobody just falls into bed with their hair perfectly extended in radiating directions like that. Exactly how long did Miku spend arranging those jellyfish-tendrils while Chris was unconscious? That’s… a little creepy.

Chris wakes with a gasp and lurches up in the futon.

What is Chris wearing? Is that Miku’s gym shirt? Did Miku undress her before playing with her hair? Creepy-meter is ticking up.

People taking care of her instead of shitting on her life just Does Not Compute for poor Chris, so she snaps at Miku.

Miku stays surprisingly calm, considering the girl she is currently alone and defenseless with almost killed her when they first met.

Chris bolts to her feet without thinking, which accidentally reveals a little more to Miku than just her vulnerable side.

People walking around commando is old news for Chris at this point…

…but, Miku’s a little more modest and seems to want Chris to cover up a bit, which Chris does.

Am I on another planet? This awkward huddling stray winter-coated-ermine is the same vicious fighter who nearly killed both Hibiki and Tsubasa on multiple occasions and hates humanity as a whole.

However, it turns out I was wrong, Miku and Chris aren’t actually in the school dorm. Miku convinced the nice old lady who owns her and Hibiki’s favorite noodle shop to lend her a futon in the back. I suppose this is where Chris will be staying until she figures out what to do with her life now.

Miku tends to Chris’s scrapes and bruises.

To Chris’s surprise, Miku doesn’t raise the obvious questions about how Chris got hurt or why she was in that alley. Chris asks why Miku isn’t bringing up any questions. Miku replies that not asking questions is kind of a flaw of hers.

Chris doesn’t really understand Miku’s vague-loguing, but correctly interprets that Miku is going through relationship issues. Chris thinks only in terms of fighting people, and after being around Topless for so long it’s no wonder why, so she asks Miku:

Do…

Do these two not recognize each other?

Whoa, that hadn’t even occurred to me. I fell for one of the classic blunders: never get involved in a land war in Asia, never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line, and never assume the characters have the same perspective as the audience.

Now that I think on it, when Chris and Miku saw each other for the first time during that fight in the park, Chris was still wearing her Nehushtan mask over her face. Also, Miku had just been hit by flying debris off on the side, so maybe Chris didn’t see Miku’s face clearly, either.

When Miku found Chris in the alley, Chris had already killed the Noise and de-transformed out of her Gear, so it’s possible Miku doesn’t even know Chris is a Symphogear wielder like her Hamster is, and thinks Chris is just some random injured girl in need of help.

Miku must’ve seen Chris’s Relic amulet when undressing her. ...But, again, from the character’s perspective, Miku wouldn’t know the significance of that, since Hibiki has no amulet of her own (what with the whole chest-embedded-Gungnir-corruption I don’t think Miku knows about yet, holy sheep’s bladder that is not going to be fun when she finds out), so Miku’s never seen a Relic before now.

Back at the school, Hamster is up on the roof (again with students on the roof, where are the yard supervisors in this school and why do they suck at their jobs?), worrying about Miku’s absence, because Miku never missed school before.

Tsubasa joins Hibiki up there. She’s mostly recovered from the wounds she took from her Climax Song way back during the first fight with Chris, but still walks with a crutch.

Hibiki and Tsubasa have warmed to each other enough that Hamster confides about her relationship troubles and how she’s struggling with her duty as a magical girl.

This is a thoughtful mirroring of the Miku and Chris scene we just had. These four girls, all of them wounded in one way or another through their involvement with the Symphogear life, pair off and allow themselves to be vulnerable and honest with each other, whether allies or enemies or strangers. Maybe they can all find a little healing together after the nonstop trauma this show has put them (and us!) through.

Honey, losing the love of your life sure isn’t a small thing. Look what it did to Tsubasa.

Also, in Hamster’s case, she doesn’t know it yet, but losing Miku’s love and support may also worsen the whole anti-smoking PSA currently spreading through her body without her knowledge.

Tsubasa’s not the most well-adjusted person to be doling out advice to Hamster. Still, Tsubasa’s certainly been through enough fighting to understand Hibiki’s struggle.

TSUBASA MY GIRL

THAT MAY BE THE WISEST THINK YOU HAVE EVER THUNKED

SHE’S FINALLY LEARNING YOU GUYS THANK MADOKAMI

PLEASE DON’T DIE ON ME IN THE NEXT FEW EPISODES I NEED MORE OF THIS GROWTH

Tsubasa is finally starting to take to heart what Kanade’s spirit told her, about there being more to life than battle. There must be something you want to battle for, else you’ll just batter yourself blunt after enough battles and won’t be able to go on any further.

Tsubasa talks a bit about her injuries from the Climax Song. She tells Hibiki that it’s a song of destruction, both of others and of self.

This is a struggle of all heroes – they must come to terms with the idea that you have to destroy things, or even destroy enemy people, in order to save the people you care for and swore to protect. The problem is learning how to avoid destroying yourself in the process as well, as Tsubasa points out in regards to the Climax Song almost always being fatal for its singer.

Hamster jumps up and tells Tsubasa that the Power of J-Pop is about so much more than just destruction. Songs inspire and create as well as destroy, Hamster insists. She tells Tsubasa how much Tsubasa’s music has inspired her over the years, especially when Hibiki was forcing herself through difficult physical rehab after nearly dying at the concert battle two years ago.

Power can be used to destroy or to inspire. Kanade understood that. It’s why Kanade convinced Tsubasa to form the idol duo Zwei Wing with her in the first place. To use their music outside of battle, to bring happiness to people to balance out some of the pain the two of them caused while fighting, and the pain they themselves endure in their warrior life.

Tsubasa is still coming to terms with this. Apart from her character arc of someday forgiving herself for Kanade’s death, Tsubasa’s development requires growing into a whole-er self and forging an identity outside of being merely a “sword” for battle. A sword is useless without someone to wield it, which is why Tsubasa is, like Chris, without direction at the moment. Tsubasa needs to find new purpose in fighting. Not for the sake of the past, but for her own will, just like Hibiki’s determination to become a hero for the sake of saving others. The most important fight is always the fight for Self.

Once Tsubasa figures that out and wins her inner duel for Self, girl’s gonna be goddamn unstoppable.

Back with Miku and Chris, Chris has now changed back into her red… outfit thingy. (Dress? Onesie? Thneed?) She says she can’t offer Miku much advice about relationship troubles, because…

Oh don’t worry, Chris, I’m sure that’ll change Real Soon Now once you get co-opted onto the team.

She tells Miku a little of her background, about how her family was killed and she’s been on her own, used and abused ever since.

I feel for ya, Chris. But honestly, you kind of made your own bed there. You knew Topless was evil and abusive, and you still chose to obey her and trust that she would honor her bargain with you.

Chris, despite being even less qualified an advice-giver than Tsubasa, offers Miku a tip.

Okay but didn’t you just get your ass kicked trying to beat up the much-stronger Topless, which is why you’re here in Miku’s hands to begin with? What does that prove?

Also, will that be how Hibiki and Tsubasa finally win Chris over to Team Good? Beat the shit out of her once and for all, and boom friends now.

Make up after fighting each other?

NO DON’T GO BACK TO TOPLESS AGAIN CHRIS GOOD GRIEF HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING

Chris and Miku admit that maybe they can’t really understand each other’s situation, but they still express gratitude to each other for what passed between them today.

Nice?

Miku even has a special proposition for this “nice” girl.

Well, now.

Unfortunately, Chris can’t cope with Miku’s sugar and spice and everything nice, and turns her down.

Hang on, so Chris does recognize Miku as the girl she almost accidentally killed? Perhaps Miku doesn’t.

Back with Hibiki and Tsubasa on the roof, their chat is broken up by a call from Snoop Oni. Calls from Snoop Oni generally mean only one thing.

Tsubasa is still officially benched, even though she was recovered enough last episode to help Hamster fight Chris in the park. Snoop Oni orders her to sit this one out just in case, so Hibiki must once again solo this Noise attack.

I get the feeling Symphogear doesn’t really know what to do with Tsubasa right now. She’s been benched for almost the entire middle third of the season now.

This is The Problem with writing a supporting character who is leagues more powerful than the main hero. It’s hella fucken rad to watch them in action, that’s for sure, but it begets questions. 1) If they’re so strong, why aren’t they the main character then, and 2) Why don’t they just solve the plot immediately and this story would be Over?

With a character who is awesome and unmatched in their physical prowess, like Tsubasa, writers must give them non-physical barriers which keep this character from being just some overpowered problem-fixer of a plot-slasher. Wouldn’t be much of a story if one character just solved everything in one day, the end. You need to cripple that powerful character with serious personal psychological issues which hinder them from seeing their true goal and/or seeing how to reach that goal healthily. This enables actual Plot, and Arcs, and Development. This is why Hibiki is the main character and not Tsubasa. Hamster’s character has more Arc to climb toward being powerful and determined and having a stable relationship and alla that, whereas Tsubasa was super strong even before we started the show.

So, Tsubasa’s been sitting quietly for a bit, contemplating her own character development and talking to Kanade’s spirit and making some psychological progress and such, then getting whipped out when the plot needs her, like to fight Chris last episode, and then promptly put back in the sheath until we need her again.

This episode is focusing on the Hibiki/Miku breakup drama and Chris’s issues. Tsubasa will likely stay in her sheath a bit longer, until the anime has time to devote another episode to her, which should be Real Soon Now, considering we’re at the gates of Hell’s Home Stretch.

However, as for this particular battle, maybe Hamster won’t have to solo this Noise attack, after all.

Chris hears the air raid sirens go off (when did the city install those? I think this is the first time they’ve used them), and is stricken by the sight of all the innocent people, including Miku, fleeing for shelter from the oncoming Noise.

This shot of one of the fleeing children’s stuffed animals, dropped and trampled by the frightened crowd, accurately sums up my viewing experience.

Chris knows exactly who caused this attack, and probably blames herself for drawing Topless’s wrath to the city and endangering civilians. As not-nice as Chris is, she can’t just abandon people to their suffering like she herself was abandoned years ago. So, what can she do but bid farewell to Miku and run toward the oncoming Noise.

You’re being a good guy, honey. It’s a curse. Being good is hard, especially when few people are good to you. But, sometimes even just one or two people showing kindness can really turn a person, like how Hibiki and Miku are slowly turning Chris.

The civilians evacuate, leaving Chris able to fight the Noise without fear of accidental casualties like Miku almost was for her when they first met.

Chris shouts a defiant COME AT ME BRO to the gathered Noise, and they charge her. Unfortunately, she’s unable to sing her activation phrase before they reach her. Yeah, prolly shoulda Geared up first instead of raging dramatically at the sky there, Chris.

She’s saved when a big red blur of spikes and dad jokes thunders into frame. He stomps the ground in front of her so hard it raises chunks of concrete from the impact which block the oncoming attack.

Snoop Oni, bruh, what even is your skillset. This is the second time he’s done this – halted a magical attack in its tracks just by, like, stomping the ground really hard. Is he an Earthbender? Or, does watching Bruce Lee movies really give you this level of non-magical badassery?

“They showed us he has special shoes, Nekekur!” – Don’t even give me that crap. I don’t care if you have frickin pristine Italian-buckled leather Pradas, no way a pair of shoes could cushion a human body from the amount of force needed to kick up that much mass, not to mention how he’s even able to generate that kind of force to begin with. His leg bones and probably his entire pelvis and spine would damn well shatter from this stomp unless he has some kind of magic along the lines of the Symphogears.

He’s able to hold the attack off long enough for Chris to activate her Gear, which means whoooo transformation time!

I don’t think we saw Chris’s proper Ichaival transformation sequence last episode. Regardless, same as all the transformation sequences we’ve seen, it is pure 175-degree-proof radness extract so potent it’s banned in twelve states, and it’s exactly the kind of thing I signed up for.

Chris pulls out her Gatlings and starts mowing the Noise down. She doesn’t thank Snoop Oni before leaping off into the battle, but she does promise him she’ll handle the monsters if he takes care of any civilians who might not have made it out of the area yet.

For the agency’s sake, I sure hope all the civilians have cleared the area, else there’s gonna be a lot of cleanup for the agents to do in regards to getting everybody to keep the secret of the Symphogears after witnessing such a public battle.

Snoop Oni watches Chris charge off, unable to help her further.

What the hell. Did you know about Chris’s whole wartime-child-slavery thing back then, Snoop Oni? Why were you “not able” to save Chris back then, if so? You can kick up an entire street’s worth of concrete, but you somehow couldn’t “save” her before? Get your goatee’d shit together, man.

Chris is heavily outnumbered, but By The Power Of Rage manages to destroy an impressive amount of monsters. We’re treated to a pretty cool fight scene. Chris isn’t as graceful as Tsubasa nor as straightforward as Hibiki, but she sure knows how to handle them guns and take zero nonsense from the Noise, and even Chris’s previous Nehushtan fighting style with the whips had a pretty vicious intensity to it. I like the variety in these girls’ fighting styles.

Hamster is still on her way to the battle. She runs through the city on foot, because it’s not like there is literally any more efficient method of transportation in existence or anything.

Can’t Symphogears fly or something? Pretty sure we’ve seen Chris and Tsubasa fly. Or at least building-hop? Keeping your powers hidden is probably less important than making it on time to the fight right now, Hibiki. Why don’t you just Gear up in public and get your booty-shorted ass over there ASAP? Even failing that method of transportation, you’re a fifteen-year-old Japanese girl for goodness sake, don’t try to tell me you don’t own a Vespa or some shit.

Hibiki gets distracted en route by a woman’s scream from one of the damaged, evacuated buildings near the main fight. Hamster being Hamster, she drops everything to go investigate who’s in trouble.

She descends into the damaged lower levels of the empty building, looking for the woman who screamed.

PLEASE DON’T BE MIKU PLEASE DON’T BE MIKU PLEASE DON’T BE MIKU

A Noise swipes at Hibiki from the rafters. She pulls a Sick Flip and evades it.

“It” is revealed to be a massive orange Tentacruel wearing a cement mixer as a turban.

Once again, insert that “I’ve seen enough hentai to know where this is going” meme here.

Hamster is about to yell out her Symphogear activation phrase, but someone covers her mouth before she can make any more sound.

Aaaaand of course the damsel in distress she heard cry out earlier was Miku. Could it really have been anyone else at this point?

Forced to keep quiet, Miku types into her phone and shows the screen to Hibiki to communicate instead of talking, since talking would draw the Tentacruel down upon them. Miku herself is being quiet now too, quickly learning after that one initial scream that alerted Hamster.

So, this is a Noise that gets upset when people… make noise?

Miku tells Hamster, through text, that the lady from the noodle shop was also trapped in the empty building with her.

How in Zeus’s bleached butthole does a giant wibbly-wobbly octopus “chase” anybody? It could, like, eat them or crush them... but chase, as in “run after them using its tentacles as legs that are even less coordinated than the QWOP guy”?

I’m gonna have to go lie down for a bit to try to wrap my head around that image.

Hamster’s in a bind. She could sing her activation phrase and use her Gear to chop them up some fresh calamari pretty easily, but doing so would alert the Tentacruel and thus endanger Miku and the noodle lady while Hibiki was still doing her transformation dance.

To try and figure out a plan, Hibiki and Miku end up texting each other from two feet away, because how else do couples communicate nowadays.

Miku leans in intimately close to Hamster and whispers in her ear low enough that the Tentacruel won’t hear. Even though they might die right now, maybe because they might die right now, Miku has something important to say to Hibiki about their relationship.

Miku apologizes for leaving Hibiki and for hurting her. Miku admits that she still cares deeply for her Hamster and wants to make things right between them.

The music swells to this gentle but strong sweep as these two finally bare their true feelings and speak to one another from the heart. Miku is so frightened by Hamster’s duty to be a Symphogear wielder and risk her life in endless battles. But, Miku remains determined to support Hibiki in any way she can, because that’s the optimistic, cheerful, save-others-first Hamster that she loves. It’s who Hibiki is. And it’s who Miku is to surmount her own fears and help Hibiki do all this. They both want to be together again.

These two are finally getting that honest, open talk they needed…

…when they can’t actually talk, due to the looming Tentacruel.

It’s a clever and hilarious and moving little inversion. And in a broader sense, the issue of the Symphogears/Noise as a whole has stolen their voices from each other, but now they can once more speak to each other truly and with love, even in defiance of monsters.

I can’t handle this. I don’t have enough reaction gifs to fully encompass the depth of this cathartic moment after all the utterly shitty pain this horrible anime has put me through. This intimate, healing moment between these two girls is wonderful and I will fight you.

Miku is determined to help Hibiki, even though she doesn’t have any Gear or special powers. But, Miku has a whole lotta courage, and that’s all you need. She stands up and yells loudly to draw the Tentacruel’s attention away from Hibiki and the old lady.

Now that they’re both intent on mending the rift between them, it’s time to put that to the test. This move is going to require a lot of trust. Miku tells Hibiki that she trusts Hibiki to save her. In return, Hibiki must trust Miku that this brave act is what Miku really wants even if it puts herself at risk.

This, this is exactly why these two are such a solid couple. They trust each other to the death – not their own death, but their partner’s death. An unshakeable “I trust that this is what you believe in, and I will do my best to support that, regardless of the pain it brings me to watch you risk yourself”. With mutual understanding, Hibiki and Miku put their plan against the Tentacruel into action.

Miku exits stage left, pursued by a giant orange octopus, giving Hibiki enough time to summon her Gear and save the unconscious noodle lady.

(I went back and re-read that last sentence a few times and yep, confirmed for definitely the strangest out-of-context sentence that has ever crossed my keyboard.)

Just as intended, Miku distracting the Tentacruel allows Hibiki to make it back up to the surface and hand the noodle lady off safely to some nearby agents. Hamster then gets to building-hopping, searching to catch up with Miku and the pursuing Tentacruel.

Holy crap, Hamster’s hopping several city blocks at a time looking for them. Just how much ground did Miku cover in the less than one minute it took Hibiki to transform and hand noodle lady off? Did Miku hijack somebody’s Vespa?

(Also, how fucking hard can it be to spot a giant orange octopus from an aerial view? I mean really, Hibiki.)

Turns out, this Tentacruel changes color like some real-world octopuses and cuttlefish do, and oh my god Miku was right it literally is chasing her.

I need to go lie down again.

While Hamster searches for them, singing all the while to keep her Gear going and also because no battle would be complete without J-Pop, she makes a resolution.

Hibiki’s always wanted to save people, especially after Kanade laid down her own life to save Hibiki two years ago. But, you can’t save people merely out of some sense of survivor’s guilt, Hibiki now realizes. And, you can’t save people on your own – people aren’t just objects who exist to enable your own heroism. People must participate in their own salvation, they must have the will to keep going. Hibiki flashes back to the concert battle, and finally understands that that’s what Kanade meant with her parting words of “Don’t give up on life!”

This is why Miku isn’t a damsel in distress, after all. Even though she doesn’t have the power Hibiki does, Miku still does her utmost to Keep Hope Alive and keep fighting.

“Saving” someone and “keeping them safe” aren’t the same thing. Miku’s trust in Hibiki means allowing her to be the hero she needs to be, and Hibiki similarly has to trust Miku’s heroism here, too. For Miku to try keeping Hibiki “safe” from fighting Noise and being a Symphogear wielder and all that frightening stuff would be denying what Hibiki wants and who she is. In return, Hamster respects her partner enough to give Miku the same level of trust – letting Miku make this dangerous move to help Hamster defeat the Tentacruel Noise, because Miku is something of a hero herself, and keeping her “safe” from battle would mean never allowing her to use that heroism for good.

Over on Miku’s end, as she continues to run from the Tentacruel, she also makes her own resolution to Don’t Give Up On Life. She can’t die yet, she has so much gay left to live for!

Just when it seems the Tentacruel will catch Miku and re-enact The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, Miku musters up enough last resolve to dodge its attack, causing the monster to miss and send them both tumbling off the side of the cliff.

Hamster swoops in just in time for the rescue!

I’m honestly looking at a picture of a lesbian saving her wife by fisting a giant cluster of phallic symbols.

Paging Dr. Freud, line two.

With the monster destroyed, Hamster catches Miku in midair as they fall.

Hibiki manages to stick the landing without killing either of them, 10 points from all the judges right there. They tumble down an embankment by the river and slide to a stop on the grass together.

They’re a little banged up, but otherwise fine.

I’m sure you did. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Miku cries tears of happiness, relief, and just plain exultation at finally having her Hamster back in one piece. She throws herself at Hibiki, tackling them both to the grass in the gayest manner possible.

Not sure what surprises me more – that these two prefer cowgirl, or that Miku’s the top. Oh who am I kidding, this shouldn’t surprise me at all.

Both of them cry and confess how scared they were for each other. Miku lets out some more of that pain she’s been bottling up, about how she loves that Hibiki wants to help others, but she also needs Hamster to be willing to let the ones who care about her shoulder some of that burden, too, instead of Hibiki trying to do everything alone.

Their gay lovefest dissolves into gentle teasing each other over how mussed up their hair and clothes got from the battle. Without a mirror to see themselves, they move in even closer together and immortalize the moment with a selfie.

At the start of this episode, these two were so very far apart. Now, they’re right back at each other’s side where they belong. They bridged the rift between them, and now they’re more solid than ever.

This is heart-meltingly endearing, but what happened on Chris’s end, fighting off the Noise that Topless sent after her?

We cut to later that night. The MIBs are tidying up after the battle and the civilians are returning to their homes.

Hibiki and Miku stand before Snoop Oni at the taped-off site of the attack. Hamster confesses in this tiny sheepish voice that she broke protocol by letting Miku see a Symphogear in action again. Miku insists that she got involved deliberately and was even able to help Hibiki a little. Snoop Oni clearly notices the afterglow between these two, and he’s basically Good Guy Greg anyway, so he lets the breach of policy slide.

Does this mean Miku will take a more active role in helping Hibiki be a Symphogear wielder? Without magic, it’s too dangerous for Miku to assist in battle directly, but maybe they’ll let her help out with the agency to keep supporting Hamster. There’s a lot Miku could offer the team.

Tires screech when somebutterfly else rolls up to the after party.

Snoop Oni lets Hibiki and Miku go home. Before they leave, Miku asks Snoop Oni if he happened to see her friend Chris during the chaos. The last Miku saw, Chris was running in the opposite direction of the fleeing civilians, right toward the Noise attack. It’s still unclear whether Miku knows Chris is a Symphogear girl like Hibiki.

(Come to think, does Miku know Tsubasa is one, too? I don’t believe they bumped into each other that time Miku was taken to the base. Where is Tsubasa, still back on the school roof? Probably bummed over missing another rad battle. Just sitting up there gazing forlornly off into the distance, imagining all the melodramatic entrances she could’ve made…)

Snoop Oni doesn’t let on to Miku about Chris’s powers, but he does reassure her that they haven’t heard of any casualties from today’s Noise attack, so Chris is most likely safe, wherever she is.

This segues us into a shot of Chris standing by the city’s river. No doubt contemplating where she’s supposed to go from here.

This is the second time we’ve been given a scene of Chris standing next to a body of water to contemplate. She did the same at Topless’s lake a few episodes back, so these scenes are probably not an accident. I’m not sure what this parallel is supposed to mean.

I suppose, since water usually symbolizes change and purification, Chris’s association with it here might represent the difficult change and purification she’s working her way through right now. Topless’s lake was out in the remote country, reflecting Chris’s isolation. Topless’s lake was also a solid, still lake, reflecting stagnation and being “stuck” in its current state. Transitioning Chris to this river puts her in the heart of the city, surrounded by people she wants to protect, not isolated anymore like she was at Topless’s lake. Also, this is a healthy, flowing river, not stagnant like the lake, no doubt representing progress and forward motion. Chris herself is breaking out of her “stuck” state and finally moving forward with the current toward becoming a better, purified person. She doesn’t know where that river’s going to take her, but we’re all along for the ride wherever it ends up.

The closing scene of the episode bookends with the opening scene, with Hibiki and Miku alone together in their dorm. Except, now their relationship is fully healed. They’re sharing the top bunk again, cuddling and wishing each other good night, open and loud, whereas this morning they were silent and closed off to one another.

YEP, JUST GALS BEING PALS

The episode ends happily (when have I ever said that before?), with Hibiki and Miku laughing together in each other’s arms.

------------------

This episode was so gentle. It was like Symphogear: the No More Tears bottle.

I came here expecting to have to lie on a bed of nails, but the anime gave me a nice fluffy cushion instead. What… what is this curious sensation in my chest? Feels kinda like... hope? This may be the first time things actually got better for everybody by the end of the episode than they were at the start.

…Which means things can only get worse from here.

:)))))))))))))))

Since we have 13 episodes in this season, our one-way ticket to Trauma Town might start next episode, instead.

Tsubasa didn’t have much presence this episode, so she might be the focus of the next or next-next episode, possibly meaning she’ll be the first of our girls to get a bucket of bricks dumped on her by the true Third Act of the anime.

On Chris’s end, she took big strides forward today on her rocky path to finding her own identity and purpose. Chris’s scene of vulnerability where she opened up to Miku was unexpected and much appreciated. Especially since Miku returned the honesty and gave us a little more insight into how Miku thinks of and navigates her relationship with Hibiki. If “not speaking up” is Miku’s problem, she certainly plowed through that full speed today by finally speaking to Hibiki from the heart.

I expected the rift arc between Hamster and Miku to last much longer. Now that these two have solidified their bond with that truly perfect scene with the Tentacruel, it means they’re ready to stand together against whatever awful trials the anime will throw at them in the episodes to come. We’ll have to buckle down and see if Love Wins even against more and more monsters, battles, power-mad Topless villains, Gungnir’s spreading corruption, and Hibiki’s impending death. Fun times ahead.

Welp, at least we have this heartwarming picture of them to comfort us in the coming darkness.