Once more unto the breach.
(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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Dear Symphogear,
My name is Nekekur. I’m 26 years old. This is my first season finale but I’m not scared. I like to watch the transformation sequences go by. My mutuals say this anime is nice. I think your show is good. Thanks for a nice watch.
Don’t fuck up the landing.
☼ Luv Nekekur
xxxx
Symphogear has been a real dish so far. Solid characters, satisfying growth, a suitably sinister villain for our heroes to combat, and all of it crimped ‘round the edges with fun fight scenes and poked through with extravagant gayness.
But. From the opening scene of the very first episode, we’ve had Hibiki’s preordained death hanging over us, ready to drop.
Our Hamster-Jesus who Suffered, Died, And Was Buried… With Miku breaking down over her grave while their ruined, post-apocalyptic city limps along, trying to rebuild itself. That’s a lot to pack into one episode, atop the final battle against Finé.
I don’t know how the anime can fit in all that without the episode feeling more rushed than when the cashier starts ringing up the next person in line while you’re still scrambling around trying to shove all your shit back into your wallet and pick up your bags.
But, I have faith that Symphogear will find some way to handle its finale well. The anime has done enough right so far, the least I can do is repay it with my trust. I don’t think it will fuck up the landing.
Before all that Hibiki resurrection stuff though, we’ve got one big mean butterfly to pin in a box.
Last episode ended with the three magical girls rising with the dawn, sporting shiny new White Ranger winged versions of their Gear, ready to kick Finé’s ass once and for all.
I’m hoping for some kind of redemption for Finé. It’s common in magical girl anime to convert the villain rather than kill them. Even in situations where redemption happens only moments before the villain dies, at least they can enter death with some kind of peace.
Bringing the antagonist back to the light is especially common when your protagonist is a Rebirth-Savior archetype. Hibiki has declared again and again that anyone can understand each other, anyone can learn to get along.
I want Hibiki to extend the same hand of forgiveness and friendship to Finé that she did to Chris.
At the very least, I hope the real Ryouko can somehow be saved. Finé said her host’s mind was “devoured” at the moment of possession, so there may not be anything left to save, but… we can hope. It’s a truly shit deal for the real, innocent Ryouko to have her life stolen from her just because of who her ancestors happened to be.
It’d be satisfying if Finé could be exorcised from Ryouko. Then Ryouko could go back to her life as a scientist studying the Relics, living the dream of seeing those Relics in action as part of the Symphogear support team with her friends.
If Ryouko can’t be rescued, then I hope for the sake of mercy that her mind really was devoured twelve years ago. That she hasn’t been conscious inside Finé’s head that entire time, helplessly watching Finé use her stolen body to torture and abuse and murder people while Ryouko is powerless to stop it. What a living hell that would be.
Redemption for our villain hinges on whether or not Finé wants it. “Participate in your own salvation,” or “Don’t wait for others to save you,” or Don’t Give Up On Life, however you want to phrase it, has been the strongest theme of this anime. No one can save Finé if she doesn’t want to be saved.
Finé’s defining traits are her selfishness and rejection of love in all its forms. So, as much as I like seeing antagonists have a change of heart, and as common as it is in magical girl anime for that to happen… I can’t say it’ll surprise me if Finé yet again rejects love, no matter how merciful an offer Hibiki makes.
Hibiki’s merciful nature also makes me worried for Hibiki’s safety if things do go south with Finé after she’s defeated. We’ve seen how Finé is willing to use any dirty tactics to her advantage. What if she pulls that same moe-face trick she did with Snoop Oni?
Making Hibiki think she wants redemption, or that Ryouko is still inside her somewhere, and then when Hibiki hesitates even for a moment…
Please don’t go down that road, anime. Seeing it happen to him was bad enough. I do not want to see a Hamster-kabob at the end of one of Nehushtan’s whips.
Shit, now that I think about it… what if Finé pulls this trick on Chris? Chris has a pretty raging revenge-haze going on lately, but there was one point she held at least some affection for Finé, however misguided.
Look at that evil-ass smirk. Finé knew exactly how well she had Chris snared at that point. Manipulative people like Finé are so insidious for precisely this reason. They’re cunning enough not to be awful 100% of the time, knowing that if they display even the tiniest bit of caring, it will make their captive doubt themselves and keep obeying despite the mistreatment, just like Chris did. Heck, Chris wasn’t even the one who broke away. It took Finé kicking Chris to the curb twice before Chris realized the truth.
Please, Symphogear, don’t let the bad lady hurt these precious girls any more than she already has. Please allow Finé some kind of redemption, even if it’s only moments before she dies. I’ll take whatever I can get.
Hoo boy. Still, whatever treachery or pain lies ahead, based on previous episodes we can be sure the anime will also bless us with a wild, memorable, epic battle and a yuri-coated climax for the season finale. Also, J-Pop.
My expectations for this episode can be summed up in four words:
So, belt out whatever gibberish war-cry you want as long as you tack on a “tron” at the end, because here we go!
The episode begins with a quick refresh of the previous ending: Hibiki in her new Gungnir, surrounded by Tsubasa and Chris in similar powered-up, winged versions of their Gear.
From the underground shelter, the rest of the good guys watch this development on their monitor. Miku, “This Isn’t an Anime” girl (a.k.a. TIA-chan), and the other schoolgirls are glad their song reached Hibiki and inspired her to Don’t Give Up On Life.
You got that right, kid. For the first time since Finé invaded the school a few episodes ago, things are actually looking good for our heroes.
LET’S SEE HOW LONG THAT LASTS.
I’m going to take this screencap of Miku smiling proudly, because I get the feeling I will need it later, when her face becomes twisted in all that foreshadowed grief.
Outside the shelter, at the ruins of Kadingir, Hibiki says it was everyone’s love for her that gave her the power to create this new Gear.
It also gave Chris and Tsubasa “the power to stand up again,” she says.
I still don’t know whether that means they were just unresponsive before, or if they really were dead and honestly got resurrected through the power of song. Some explanation other than “J-Pop conquers all” would be nice, anime.
Finé stares up at Hibiki and the girls as they hover above her in their new Gear.
Chris chimes in, but not with her voice. Turns out, these new outfits give their wielders telepathy to talk to each other and to Finé.
Yes, really. Telepathic magical girls.
Faced with these powerful new Gears, Finé uses her Staff of Solomon to summon Noise to aid her.
Sheesh, I thought Finé forgot about that weapon. She didn’t use it last night when defending Kadingir from the girls. Where did she pull it from? …Never mind, I don’t want to know.
Tsubasa asks if all Noise attacks in history have been Finé’s fault. Finé gives a cryptic reply to the effect that the Noise weren’t originally hers, but she took advantage of their existence to use as minions.
The Symphogear wielders don’t understand her explanation.
Chris, you are literally the only other person we’ve seen summon the Noise. What the hell do you mean you don’t know how they work?
> spent six months training with the Staff
> still has no idea how it works
“IDK I just pulled the trigger on the Staff and hoped monsters came out, lol. Finé was too busy torturing me and making phone calls in Engrish to actually train me properly.”
Finé summons hordes of Noise. More and more, filling the skies and ground until they flood the city like a plague of locusts.
Well shit, son.
I sure hope those White Ranger outfits pack a helluva punch, because that is a lot of mobs to take out!
Chris gives a bold I’LL TAKE ’EM ALL ON, 50 D.K.P. MINUS IF EITHER ONE OF YOU NERDS GETS KICKED INTO THE WHELPS, and flies off.
Tsubasa gives a Rare Smile™ at this. You can tell that Hibiki isn’t the only noisy little scrub who wiggled her way into Tsubasa’s affection. Before they join Chris, Hibiki tries to apologize to Tsubasa for the whole “fisting you through the chest last episode” thing.
Well yeah, clearly not. It didn’t even slow Tsubasa down. She took Hibiki’s fist all the way deep into her body and wow I really need to rephrase this sentence.
Oh, how far we’ve come. Brings a mist to mine eye.
The three girls fly off toward the Noise-filled city. Yeah, just leave Finé behind, I guess, not like she’s ultra-dangerous even without her minions and probably needs to be watched closely so she doesn’t go fuck up the civilian shelters out of Grinchy spite while the Symphogear girls are preoccupied with the Noise. Who cares, we got some monsters to kill!
Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris sing in unison as they fly together. A combination of all three of their battle songs, but entirely new.
They pull some impressive attacks, putting their new Gear to use with powered-up but still recognizable versions of their signature attacks. They sing their battle song as a team and lay waste to the hordes of Noise in an epic spectacle of explosions and punches and sword-slashing, blowing about 80% of the episode’s budget in two minutes like a suburban mom on her first trip to Vegas.
The girls are crowing over how easily the Noise are defeated, when Tsubasa suddenly remembers, “Oh yeah we forgot the villain,” and we cut back to Finé.
Not sure if seppuku or just DIY belly piercing.
Finé full-on stabs the Staff of Solomon into her abdomen and out through her back, fully impaling herself despite the agonizing pain.
Finé’s body, already altered by its fusion with Nehushtan, begins to absorb the Staff. Not only that, she starts absorbing the remaining Noise, drawing them to her in flashes of light as she mutates. The remainders of her human body swell with disgusting viscous monster-essence.
WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING
The girls push B frantically, but they can do nothing but watch in horror as Finé transforms into an unholy fusion-abomination of her human body, Nehushtan, the Staff, and now hordes of Noise.
Finé calls out to Durandal, the sword Relic, as her warped body oozes with Noise-goop. She extends a monstrous appendage down into the ruined shaft of Kadingir and snatches Durandal out.
I have no idea what the crapping crustacean is going on right now, but thank goodness we’re actually going to use Durandal as more than just a background battery. It would’ve felt really misfired if the anime didn’t bring its hyper-powerful weapon back out to play a role in the final battle.
With the added power of Durandal, Finé at last metamorphoses into her Final Form.
She transforms into this gigantic red faucet-shaped demon that looms over the city. It shoots laser beams (laser beams!!!) from its mouth, leveling the parts of the city the Noise didn’t already destroy.
At the center of this new monster is the ascended Finé, holding Durandal.
SHITTING FUCK, MAN
MADOKAMI SAVE US ALL
“Butterflies also commonly symbolize change, metamorphosis, transformation, and rebirth, due to their former caterpillar status. [...] Her ‘transformation’ theme also likely means she will change shape yet again later in the show, becoming a more powerful and threatening being that our heroes have to defeat.”
^ That was me at the end of episode 5, the episode which first introduced Finé and her butterfly motif. But, I was just expecting, like, she’d grow horns or sprout wings or something minorly monstrous in that way…
I was not expecting GIANT RED FAUCET SPEWING LASERS FROM ITS TAP
I may well need to replace my monitor after watching this episode. This is way too full-throttle over-the-top bizarre and wonderfully epic for mere circuit boards to handle.
As overwhelmingly gnarly as this development is, it also makes me a bit sad. Because this whole unholy-abomination-metamorphosis thing makes it less likely Finé will be redeemed. Turning your previously human villain into a big scary monster for the final fight often signals they’re going to get killed. It feels guilty for the good guys to take a human life, therefore some shows/films take the easy route and remove the villain’s humanity, meaning killing them becomes less gray. We could look at some famous Western animated examples.
Okay, bad example. The good guys didn’t kill Jafar. They just threw him away so he would no longer be Jaclose to them.
That’s good news then – I guess killing Finé isn’t guaranteed. Last-minute redemption still possible. Maybe the Symphogear wielders can get her human form back out of the big red faucet-beast somehow??
The girls throw their best attacks at Finé’s new monster. It’s no use. The monster’s thick armor and her fusion regenerative powers mean she just shrugs off their damage, even Hibiki’s fists. Finé taunts them that even their boosted Gear is no match for her, now. The Symphogears she created were built from mere Relic fragments, whereas Durandal and Nehushtan are intact Relics.
The survivors in the underground shelter are rocked by tremors from Finé’s attacks as she brings all that Wrath And Ruin shebang to the area above them. Miku tries to stay confident and reassure TIA-chan and the others.
Uh, about that, sweetheart…
Y-yeah…
Everyone is awestruck by the terrible monster Finé has become.
Dang. That sounds way cooler than “red faucet-beast”. Let’s go with that.
Also, if we have a Red Dragon, who’s the corresponding Woman Clothed in Sun?
Wait, never mind, silly question.
Chris and Tsubasa blast and hack their way through the Red Dragon’s outer armor to Finé’s location inside, trying to make way for Hibiki.
These two have had significant growth. They went from trying to kill each other the night they met, with Tsubasa getting her head stepped on let’s not forget, to trusting each other with their lives in battle. I don’t expect they will ever become as affectionate toward each other as Hibiki is to both of them, but there’s no doubt these two are now comrades to the core and will fight to the end together.
Thank you, Symphogear, for blessing me with this relationship. After their initial fight, I really wanted to see Tsubasa and Chris grow into teamed badasses who respect each other as warriors but aren’t above throwing catty taunts at each other from time to time, and the anime delivered.
Even working together, Tsubasa and Chris can’t damage Finé much. They manage to grapple Durandal out of her hands and toss it to Hibiki.
Chris even pulls out a pistol and shoots bullets at Durandal for propulsion to knock the sword that last distance through the air to her friend.
Oh, Chris. Never change.
I guess if Tsubasa can solve all her problems with the “use a bigger sword” mentality, then Chris can live by the “shoot bullets and/or missiles at the problem and cuss it out until it does what you want” philosophy.
Hibiki catches Durandal without getting her fingers shot off, thankfully. The OP song suddenly starts playing over the scene, and the camera flashes between all the other characters as they watch Hibiki take hold of it.
Whoa-ho-ho, here we go, folks! We know what happened last time Hibiki wielded Durandal:
SO BRACE FOR IMPACT
Wow, that does look jarring. Gungnir + white Gungnir + glowing wings + Durandal + Frothing Berserker = motif overload. It’s like someone maxed out the accessories on Build-A-Bear for magical girls.
Hmm, nope, Hibiki still doesn’t have enough shit going for her, Symphogear. Stack on a couple more power levels. Like, make her hair shine golden and feathers molt off her and lilies bloom at her feet, then we’ll talk.
Miku decides she’s had enough of watching from the underground shelter. She tells the others she’s going above ground to Stand By Your Man.
Miku, I know you’re one brave little toaster, but I swear to god if you end up being the reason Hibiki dies, such as if she takes a hit to save you, or kills herself to stop herself from hurting you while clouded by her rage… I WILL BE MOST PUT OUT, YOUNG LADY.
Snoop Oni, TIA-chan, and the others agree to come help, too. They run to the surface together to cheer Hibiki on and try to keep her from McLosing it.
All the agents and schoolgirls take turns shouting encouragement at Hibiki from below. With… varying levels of success.
Chris and Tsubasa fly to Hibiki’s side to further support her. She struggles to keep the corruption at bay long enough to use Durandal against the Red Dragon.
I am sorely tempted to make another of those out-of-context “someone who hasn’t seen Symphogear please explain this screencap” posts for this shot. If I don’t get at least one response of “anime retelling of that scene from Bible mythology where angels stop Abraham’s sacrifice”, I will be so disappointed.
Finé’s not a fan of all that supportive love stuff, of course.
Finé flings another attack at the Symphogear girls from inside her Dragon, right as Miku yells out Hibiki’s name in encouragement.
It’s no surprise that through the chaos, it’s Miku’s voice that reaches Hibiki above all others and reminds her she has people who love her.
Hibiki’s resolve to keep fighting, and her knowledge that others love her, revitalizes her. She is finally able to overcome her Frothing Berserker mode, after struggling with it all season.
Hibiki draws all her body’s corruption and negative energy into her heart, where it’s purified in a gleam of light, restoring her to her love-boosted white Gungnir.
This is really fascinating. It’s kind of a parallel/opposite to what Finé did when Finé took her own Final Form by drawing in all those Noise. I fucking love when the hero and villain are opposing parallels to each other.
Both Hibiki and Finé were overcome by negative, violent, evil energy, and chose to physically draw that energy into their own bodies. They both became much stronger by doing so, but Finé used that energy to transform herself into a worse monster, whereas Hibiki used it to remind herself of love and become purer for it.
It’s also interesting if you compare where on their bodies these two drew in their respective negative energies. For Hibiki it was the heart, and Finé chose to impale via the abdomen, right by her navel.
Many cultures and mythologies have different ways of conceptualizing how spiritual energy flows through a human body. Let’s look at one well-known mythology you may already be familiar with.
There’s a belief that energy flows through various “chakras” located on the body. Each chakra is tied to a different aspect of a person’s identity and emotions. A person must find a way to make their spiritual energy flow through all the chakras, upward to the highest one. The basic idea is that if a person can keep all their chakras in healthy balance, their spiritual energy will be purer and they will live as a more enlightened person.
Finé chose to pull that negative energy in by impaling herself in the abdomen/navel region.
The abdomen/navel chakra (orange on that chart) is considered one of the “base” chakras, since it’s low on the body. Suitable, as Finé is a very “base” person in many respects.
The emotions affected by this chakra are mainly tied to sexual impulses, due to it being located near sex/reproductive organs. If you experience sexual desire (which not everyone does, but if you do) then finding healthy ways to express your sexuality is an important part of your well-being.
But, this chakra’s relation to sexual behavior is usually talked about in an unhealthy sense. Finé is certainly unhealthy in how she chooses to express her sexually-overtoned desires, such as her cruel treatment of Chris and her multiple invasive touches on Hibiki and Miku. (Remember when Finé bit Hibiki’s ear? I do. Boy, I do.) And above all, Finé’s willingness to slaughter people for the sake of her obsession to reconnect with the ancient god she sexually desired.
According to the interwebs, this chakra is also tied to “relationships, violence, addictions, basic emotional needs, and pleasure.” Welp.
This chakra’s low on the scale, meaning someone who lets themselves be ruled by this chakra rather than a higher one will never be able to achieve wholeness of self. This failure to grow is exactly what Finé keeps doing through her continued selfishness and rejection of other forms of love than just her cruel base impulses.
By contrast, Hamster chose to draw in all that negative energy through her heart. This purified the energy, rather than corrupting her further like it did for Finé’s transformation.
The heart chakra, shown as green on that chart up there, is higher on the scale. This one influences a person’s “compassion, tenderness, unconditional love, equilibrium, rejection (of negativity), and well-being.” Someone who lets themselves be ruled by this chakra isn’t perfect, as it’s still a few steps below the top, but it’s a much kinder and healthier way to live than Finé’s selfish base chakra.
Hibiki is just plain full of love for everybody, and her general mentality is “Befriend ALL the things!” Her compassion and forgiveness are her defining traits, after her thematic Don’t Give Up On Life determination.
In addition to the whole love/heart thing, this chakra’s also located next to the thymus gland, which supplies T-cells for your body’s immune system. In other words, the cells that fight off invasive corruption and protect you from succumbing to its takeover.
Hibiki’s heart is also where she carries the scar from that near-fatal injury she took at the concert battle two years ago, which embedded Gungnir in her and led to her becoming a Symphogear wielder. That wound almost killed her... But, it also gave Hibiki new life and reminded her of love and compassion through Kanade’s brave example, allowing Hibiki to carry on that legacy of love and save the lives of many others, like Kanade did for her.
It’s also kinda hilarious to note that the heart chakra happens to be associated with the color green.
GEE, I WONDER WHY HIBIKI’S HEART IS GREEN?
Purified now, Hibiki raises Durandal with the help of the other magical girls for a radiant strike. Finé watches in confusion.
For goodness sake, Finé.
It’s love.
AI YO!
That’s the name of the OP song, right?? Durandal’s ultra-powerful Final Attack is named after the OP? Rad.
This Synchrogazer attack takes the form of a huge slash of golden light. It cleaves through the Red Dragon.
Finé thinks to herself this is a “mutual annihilation” of the Relics. Meaning Durandal will be destroyed along with Nehushtan? Bummer. Still, I guess the anime can’t keep Excalibur around forever. It’s too powerful for us to work a plot around it. Same with the white Gears, those totally need to get nerfed in the next patch, I don’t think the girls can just wear them forever.
Synchrogazer is powerful enough to overcome Nehushtan’s regeneration rate. The Red Dragon is defeated in our biggest, Michael Bay-est explosion yet, while Finé screams in rage and disbelief.
After the explosion, the anime cuts to commercial to give the audience time to catch their breath after that adrenaline rush. We return to a quiet overlook of the ruined city. The smoke begins to clear, and civilians emerge from their shelters to survey the post-battle damage.
Praise be, the GameStop was saved! The fanboys need those pre-order weapon specials and exclusive hero skins.
So, is… is it over?
Did we win?
Are we finished? (Finé-shed?)
Oh good, Hibiki was able to save Finé, after all.
Our villain looks drained of energy. Even her formerly bright golden Nehushtan is washed of color. She is well and truly defeated. Hibiki carries the weakened Finé over to where Tsubasa, Chris, Miku, and the rest of the team are gathered by the ruins of Kadingir.
The team eye-rolls a bit that Hibiki would save Finé. Chris calls Hibiki a “screwball”, because yeah haha that’s not the pot calling the kettle black at all, we all know Chris is totally the Queen of Good Decisions and has never done anything misguided in her entire life at all haha, nope no siree. Regardless, Chris and the others know it’s just who Hamster is to give people another chance.
Now comes the real test. Will Finé allow herself to be saved, or will she once again give in to hate and lash out?
Unsurprisingly, Finé can’t fathom why Hibiki would let her live. Hibiki, true to her merciful nature, makes one last offer of friendship to this terrible, terrible person.
Hibiki insists:
Basically:
This is the moment of truth. Will Finé accept this chance at redemption, like Chris eventually did, or will she remain Empress Asshole to her death?
Finé actually does have a moment of quiet reflection. She tells them how her ancient people created the Noise after their god struck down their civilization, and they resorted to chaos and violence instead of love.
Well, yeah, but… are you better than your past? We have to move forward. The others girls were able to.
Tsubasa overcame her past, kind of similar to Finé’s in that Tsubasa also lost her connection to the one she loved and her sense of purpose in life. Tsubasa was able to find peace with her grief and look toward a new future. Same with Chris – she used to hate the world even more than Finé does, but even Chris could still see that love exists and is worth protecting.
It’s not too late, it’s never too late. Come on, Finé, dammit. Stop hating yourself and everyone else for one freaking second and take the goddamn stepladder out of the pit that your savior is offering you.
So, what’ll it be, Finé? I’m holding my breath over here.
Come on… You can do it…
GOD DAMN IT FINÉ
I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU HOW DARE YOU
I just… argh. On the one hand, Finé has been such a rotten-to-the-core villain that I want her to die just so she won’t be able to hurt these girls any more. On the other hand, I really was hoping she might be willing to change, just this once.
I really like seeing fictional antagonists redeemed. If only because it’s so rare to see in real life. In real life, recidivism seems like the norm, and my job involves me spending 8 hours a day reading about and being exhausted by just how often selfish people will refuse to stop hurting others.
I can’t call this bad writing on the anime’s part. Finé has consistently been selfish and refused to accept responsibility for her own evil actions, instead saying it’s the rest of the world that’s evil and she just wants to destroy and remake it. So, having her refuse Hibiki’s offer even after being completely defeated makes sense for a character with her worldview.
Finé grabs hold of one of Nehushtan’s whips. Her face twists in rage. Chris of course, for thematic reasons, is the first to realize Finé’s impending treachery and tries to warn Hibiki. But, Hibiki isn’t what Finé aims her whip at.
Finé shoots the whip past Hamster’s head, up into the air and beyond, climbing higher and higher while she laughs maniacally. She knows she can’t defeat the team, but she can at least fuck their shit up out of spite right before she dies.
The others realize she is once again trying to SHOOT THE MOON oh god.
AND SHE DOES, she actually reaches that whip ALL THE WAY UP TO THE MOON.
Exactly how far away is the moon??
I replayed this sequence and timed it. Assuming the anime didn’t cut out any travel time, it took 13 seconds from Finé launching her whip to it making contact with the moon.
13 SECONDS TO REACH THE MOON FROM EARTH
FUCKEN SYMPHOGEAR, NOW I GOTTA DO MATH
Finé shot that whip at almost 64 MILLION MILES PER HOUR.
For comparison, the average gunshot is only a paltry 1,700 MPH. Even the space shuttle only travels at 18,000 MPH. 64,000,000 MPH is about one-tenth the speed of light.
FINÉ SHOT SOMETHING AT ONE-TENTH LIGHTSPEED HOLY SHIT.
DO NOT MESS WITH THIS WOMAN
(I now realize I could’ve just searched “how long does it take light to reach the moon” and reverse-calculated from there and it would’ve been a lot easier than that mess of a proportion equation, but I’m a humanities person goddammit I don’t know math, FFS I just spent a chunk of this post talking about fucking chakra mythology, do I look like a STEM person to you.)
Finé harpoons the detached chunk of the moon that was blasted off by Kadingir’s first shot. Then she fucking hauls that whip back, digging her platform heels into the dirt and shrieking. This last-ditch effort yanks the huge chunk of moon-rock out of orbit… and sends it on an impact course with Earth.
The strain this puts on Finé’s whip and the rest of Nehushtan seems to be tearing her apart, but she’s too far gone to care. She screams in fury and pain and all the wretched hate she has in her, while the others watch in shock as the moon-rock begins its long fall toward their planet.
That’s the “meteoroid falling” of the show’s sub-title? A chunk of the moon yanked down to Earth as part of the villain’s spiteful death-throes?
Wow, sure didn’t see that one coming when I first started this show.
As Nehushtan shatters and fragments off Finé, and her body seems to be the next thing about to disintegrate, Finé howls about how she will always be reborn. As long as Relics exist, she will come back someday and find another body to take over.
Finé promises them that next time she’ll bring about her dream of destroying the world and transforming it into one completely under her power.
WHAT world, you banana peel? I’m not an astronomer, but won’t this magnitude of meteoric impact have far-reaching environmental consequences that will wipe out habitable conditions for humanity on Earth? How will you rule the world when there are no humans alive for you to possess? Reincarnate as a plankton?
Fucken hell. A “he would see this world burn if he could be king of the ashes” moment indeed.
Hibiki is the only one of the good guys not knocked off her rocker by this. She confronts Finé calmly. She tells the dying Finé that she actually has a request for Finé in the next reincarnation.
Hibiki tells Finé to do better next time, and entrusts the future to her. No matter how many times Finé has fucked up, Hibiki still believes she can change her ways if she’s given another chance, another life.
Finé is unique among every other human in that she has the ability to truly overcome the past and start over, with her multiple reincarnations throughout history. And yet every time, she has chosen to be the same shitty person. I said last episode that the definition of a bad person is not that they did something awful, but that they continue to do awful things and reject opportunities to better themselves.
Finé is too obsessed with her ancient civilization and her rejected love of her god to ever move forward like the other characters do. She alone has the power to overcome the past, and she alone, among all the characters in this anime, refuses to.
Finé’s animal motif, from her hair pin to her choker to her armor design, has always been the butterfly, the creature of change and metamorphosis. But really, she’s a butterfly who never did metamorphose. Finé’s still stuck in the same cocoon she refuses to push herself out of each and every time she starts a new life.
The other girls are the ones who metamorphosed, who “grew wings” by working together and transforming not just into their new Gear, but into better people than they were at the start.
They had character development, while Finé has been stuck in asshole-stasis for thousands of years.
Hibiki, ever the optimist, believes Finé will finally change in her next life.
Finé doesn’t quite know how to handle this sunny little bundle of optimism that just won’t quit.
OH FUCK SHE WENT RYOUKO AGAIN. Her eyes change color and shape, and even her voice softens back to what it once was. She almost sounds… affectionate when she calls Hibiki silly. The breeze gently blows her hair, and a calm piano background song starts up.
I was so scared she would Go Full Ryouko on Hibiki, but not like this. Amazingly, Finé allows herself some gentleness in her last moments, pulling back on her old false persona, to deliver her parting words to Hibiki in the image of someone who used to be a guiding figure to our Hamster.
Finé taps Hibiki’s heart, where her Gungnir scar lies. Also where Hibiki is sort of connected to Finé as the only other existing human-Relic fusion, who used Hibiki as her example.
The wind picks up, Finé fades to dust along with Nehushtan, and is blown away.
Well fuck.
So, I kiiiind of got what I wanted? Finé sort of got some tiny redemption right there at the end? Maybe? Kinda not really but still?? I’ll take what I can get. Thanks, Symphogear, I guess. That was actually kind of touching.
At least Finé died calmly and not with that hate-filled, pained expression on her face. I hope this wretched scumbag found some form of peace. Maybe Hibiki’s faith in her won’t be wasted, and she really will try to transform herself in her next life. So much for the real Ryouko she possessed, though, I guess that poor woman really couldn’t be saved. Eesh.
The rest of the team is moved by this farewell. The camera passes over them all, but lingers on Chris more than the other characters as she watches Finé die.
Well okay then, fuck you too, Symphogear, I totally needed that right now.
Wretched fucking anime.
Touching as it is, this death scene doesn’t solve problem of the slowly falling chunk of moon headed their way, with no means to avoid a direct impact.
Hibiki steps forward and promises she’ll go save everyone. She shares a look with Miku. A look of parting.
Hibiki remains hopeful, however, as she flies away on her dangerous mission to stop the meteoroid’s impact.
Miku watches her go. Tears start to fall. Miku’s and mine.
Everyone listens to Hibiki begin a new song as she ascends.
Miku’s tears become Niagara Falls when she realizes it’s Hibiki’s Climax Song. Even though Hibiki has so much love to live for, like Kanade before her she is willing to sacrifice all of it to save people.
But of course, You Are Not Alone, so Tsubasa and Chris join Hibiki in this final venture.
The three of them smile at each other and fly off through space in a sparkly, multi-colored stream of mutual gayness.
We could calculate how insanely fast they must be flying based on how long it takes them to reach the meteoroid, but I’ve done more than enough math for one day. By which I mean, I did one short equation and that’s the extent of my ability.
Because you’re in space, honey. How are you even breathing? Oh who cares, it’s an anime series, we gotta have a Finale In Space scene!
Hush, Miku, it’s way cool and that’s the only explanation we need.
The magical girls join hands and sing together as they fly. Their song reflects on how far they’ve come over the course of the season.
I love how the other two have these meaningful lyrics but Chris is just like, “Yeah, it was a pretty good time. Got to step on some heads, almost shot my savior’s fingers off. Worth it.”
They reach the meteoroid and combine their magic in a big rainbow streak.
If there be a gayer trinity of magical girls, ye be hard-pressed to find them. I couldn’t be happier.
The girls bust out everything they’ve got to break the meteor into pieces. Tsubasa pulls out her BIGGEST SWORD YET.
Good god. That thing is wider than most freeways I’ve driven on.
Chris, not to be outdone, racks out enough missiles that we could probably justify invading.
Hibiki readies her fists, and all three girls smash into the meteoroid at the same time, Chris and Tsubasa joining in with Hibiki’s Climax Song.
Their joint attack breaks the huge rock into pieces small enough to fall harmlessly to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere, thereby saving the world.
Okay but even so, the moon itself was severely damaged by Kadingir’s first hit. Still going to be major environmental repercussions from the moon getting knocked off its normal orbit and now being significantly smaller in mass than it was and having less gravity to affect our tides and shit and you know what let’s just ride out this fabulous climax and not worry about all that, I’m too blissed out right now to worry.
Back on the ground, the rest of the team watches the fragments of meteoroid break up in atmosphere and become meteors. Although the world is saved, Miku falls to her knees and breaks down completely.
WELL OKAY THEN, I WAS FEELING HAPPY FOR LIKE TWO SECONDS, APPARENTLY THAT WAS WELL OVER MY LEGAL LIMIT AND NOW SYMPHOGEAR’S GONNA CLAMP DOWN ON THE SUFFERING AGAIN
Miku finally got to see shooting stars, after all this time.
A meteor shower was the first date Hibiki and Miku missed back in the early episodes, when Hibiki lied to her and had to go fight the Noise instead of spending the night with Miku.
Later, when Miku and Hibiki resolved their problems and reunited after their rift, when Miku was running from that big Tentacruel with the cement-mixer turban…
…Yeah, that scene. During that scene, the thought of someday seeing shooting stars with Hibiki after all was what gave Miku the motivation to Don’t Give Up On Life.
And now Miku finally gets to see shooting stars.
When Hibiki dies.
Wretched.
Fucking.
Anime.
We the viewers know that Hibiki, and by extension Tsubasa and Chris, will doubtless be resurrected from this death. But, Miku can’t know that. On her end, the grief is 100% real and absolute and Hibiki’s death cannot be undone.
Aaand here we are again. Back at the beginning. The opening scene of the first episode, where Miku visits Hibiki’s grave and breaks down in tears for what we didn’t realize back then would be the 100 millionth time.
I guess after Miku has her breakdown, she’s going to, I dunno, sing to Hibiki’s grave, and that will revive Hibiki through the Power of Song, like the school anthem did last episode? We don’t have much screen time left in the episode, so that resolution would feel terribly rushed, but it would fit the musical theme of the show and could be a really touching reunion for them.
Miku reflects that it’s been three weeks since the loss of Hibiki, and…
Wait, what?
They didn’t find the bodies of the magical girls? This changes that sing-to-the-grave idea, then. If the agency didn’t find the bodies, that probably means the girls didn’t actually die.
Well, crap. Maybe the three of them fucked off to the Caribbean or something and are boozing it up on a beach with coconut-shell drinks with tiny umbrellas in them, enjoying a hard-earned vacation after saving the world before coming back to school.
…Okay but really, I guess they’re, like, lying comatose somewhere after falling back to earth, like how Tsubasa was briefly comatose after her first Climax Song? Or maybe their injuries made the girls lose their memories or something, and next season will be Miku trying to find Hibiki and restore her memory?? I don’t know what’s going on.
Miku takes a bus ride to the cemetery where Hibiki’s empty grave lies. In this post-apocalyptic city, she gets her Mad Miku: Fury Road on.
Miku lays the yuri-lilies down and kneels, sobbing, in front of Hibiki’s gravestone.
The first time around, this scene didn’t hit hard at all, simply because the viewer had no idea who these people were or what was happening. Now, 13 episodes later, these characters have found a place in my heart, and watching Miku grieve for Hibiki really cuts.
Miku, sweetheart, please… don’t do this to me. You weren’t paying attention to those signs on the bus.
The rest of the city’s population manages to keep their hopes up. We get shots of the ruined city limping along as people rebuild and life goes on. We even see the noodle lady who runs Hibiki and Miku’s favorite restaurant. I’m glad she survived the Red Dragon’s apocalypse.
Miku continues to cry, and oh god where’s that cap of her smiling proudly from the start of the episode, I need it right goddamn now.
There, that soothes the pain. A tiny bit.
Miku’s grief is interrupted by a scream from a random woman across the street. A pack of Noise are advancing on the woman. Not anything caused by Finé, just one of those unpredictable Noise attacks that still plague humanity.
Miku rushes to the random woman’s aid, just like Hibiki would. Miku takes the woman’s hand and tries to lead her to safety.
Even with Hibiki gone, Miku can honor Hibiki’s memory by carrying on her desire to protect people. Miku thinks to herself that she’ll never give up. Because Hibiki never would.
Miku and the woman run as fast as they can, but the woman collapses with exhaustion. The Noise close in around them. Miku refuses to abandon this woman, even if there’s nothing Miku can do to fight the Noise.
Wha…
What the fuck are you doing, Symphogear? No way you’re going to kill off Miku, so…
Don’t… don’t tell me…
No.
No, I refuse to believe this anime that I’ve come to like would do what I’m terrified it’s about to fucking do.
A magical attack cuts down the Noise, saving Miku and the unconscious lady just in time.
In disbelief, Miku turns to look at who saved her.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, SYMPHOGEAR
THEY WERE ALIVE AND UNHURT THE WHOLE TIME??
THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH TABLES FOR ME TO FLIP IN THE WORLD
Jeez, I was joking when I said they fucked off on vacation with umbrella drinks somewhere. I can’t fucking believe they really were just pretending to be dead.
I’ve changed diapers with smaller loads of shit than this.
And Hibiki has the gall to just grin sheepishly over it.
This is so much worse than Hibiki actually dying and being resurrected, or being temporarily comatose/incapacitated.
How could you do that to Miku, Hibiki?
This is just flat-out unacceptable, Symphogear. Crap excuses Hibiki might potentially come up with, like “we had to keep it secret for the sake of the agency” or “I had no choice but to lie” are hollow. For one thing, Miku was inducted into the team as an external agent a while ago, so she already has security clearance regarding the Symphogears.
More importantly, it’s just plain cruel for Hibiki to let Miku believe she was dead. For three weeks, no less!
It’s so disrespectful to these characters. It makes the otherwise cinnamon roll Hamster look vile, and it denigrates her and Miku’s entire seasonal relationship arc of learning to be honest with each other.
That Tentacruel scene between Hibiki and Miku is tied for my favorite scene this entire season. That scene was so well put together. A culmination of all the struggle these two went through to salvage their relationship.
It’s hard to find such a mutually supportive pairing, where they are honest and communicative and work together and above all trust each other.
Bull shit, Hibiki. Trusting your partner to Don’t Give Up On Life while you’re gone is one thing. Needlessly abandoning your partner to grief, thereby risking their mental well-being and potentially leading to severe irreparable damage, is an entirely different matter altogether! It’s hard enough for adults to cope with the grief of losing a partner. Put a teenager through that, and you’re lucky if they don’t fall to pieces.
BUT I MEAN, HAHA, IT’S NOT LIKE HIBIKI HAS EVER SEEN A DIRECT EXAMPLE OF JUST HOW BADLY LOSING YOUR BELOVED CAN FUCK UP SOMEONE’S HEAD, HAHA
I’ve gone on record as saying one of the most cruel things Finé did was abandon Tsubasa to her grief and do nothing to help her from spiraling down into despair. Shockingly, Hibiki may have just surpassed that cruelty. To Finé, Tsubasa was a young person partially under her care. But to Hibiki, Miku is the most important person in her life.
The other characters don’t act at all disturbed by this development. Tsubasa and Chris watch with a smile as the two lovebirds reunite. Snoop Oni and brown-haired guy also smile from the sidelines. Even Miku quickly finds her feet and dashes to Hibiki.
The fact that none of the characters takes it badly means the anime did not think this was a bad thing for Hibiki to do. If someone had reprimanded Hibiki with even a simple “Not cool, dude, not cool,” that would’ve eased the sting a bit, showing that Symphogear recognizes what an awful way to treat someone this is.
By having no one in-story criticize Hibiki, not even Miku, the anime is presenting to the viewer that lying to the person closest to you for three weeks and letting them suffer alone is a perfectly healthy way to manage your relationship.
The sun clears the clouds as Miku runs into Hibiki’s arms. They embrace so hard it almost knocks Hibiki over, and for fuck’s sake I really wanted Miku to throw in a full-armed slap across Hibiki’s cute little Hamster face just for good measure.
The episode, and the season, ends with Hibiki and Miku finally watching a meteor shower together, just like they always wanted to, mirroring the scene in the OP where they join hands beneath the stars.
As they stand side by side, Miku vows to herself that despite all the struggle, she will never Give Up On Life.
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So, that was the finale episode of Symphogear season one.
The credits roll, and I’m too incensed to appreciate the fact the anime is playing Tsubasa and Kanade’s concert song from the first episode instead of the usual ED song. It’s a touching, symbolic, full-circle bookend moment, but shut up, anime, don’t talk to me right now, you’re grounded.
Symphogear, I trusted you.
I trusted you, I wrote you a nice letter, and you still fucked up the landing.
CLEARLY.
It’s not a denouement if you just hack it apart Gordian style.
Fantastic buildup, and then a complete falling on its ass in those last couple minutes.
All right, all right. I’m being too harsh, I know. The majority of the finale was a wild, fabulous blast. (Laser beam dragon!!!)
A poorly handled final few minutes of screen time doesn’t erase the quality of everything that came before it, nor the quality of the other 12 episodes.
Of all 13 episodes, this was the first time Symphogear disappointed me. Which goes to show how much I enjoyed everything else it gave me. The lyrics from the magical girls’ combined Climax Song excellently express my thoughts about this anime.
Speaking of which, so much for the supposed fatal potency of Climax Songs. The girls weren’t even injured by that meteor-shattering stunt.
Every Symphogear wielder except Kanade survived performing a Climax Song. Tsubasa and Chris performed two Climax Songs each. (Chris’s two within a few hours of each other. This means Chris takes the trophy for Shortest Refractory Period Between Climaxes. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))
“Climax Song burns with life” factoid just statistical error. Average Symphogear can sing 10,000 Climax Songs a year and not die. Kanade, who lives in a cave and died after only one Climax Song, is an outlier and should not have been counted.
Apparently not, Shiro. Apparently, people just take a brief nap after they’re killed, and then they go back to being BAMFs.
Welp, the symphony isn’t over, but it has come to a short intermission between acts. What a strange, magnificent trip it’s been. And miles left on the journey, as we’ll be starting season 2!
This post was about the finale episode proper. I’ll do a separate post covering my impressions of the first season as a whole. Just some wrap-up thoughts about the themes, characters, what worked and what didn’t (spoiler: most of it worked great), thoughts about the watch/react process itself, and ideas about what next season might have in store for us.
We’ll be diving right into the next season. I can’t wait to get started! I had no idea what I was getting into when I took my friends’ suggestion to watch this anime. I am now well and truly trapped interested.
Although, Hibiki’s gonna have to work her orange-spandex-clad ass off next season to get back into my good graces.
Regardless, I want to see how these precious suffering wonderful magical girls grow from here. Their struggles and their triumphs, their rad fight scenes and memorable songs…
…and most of all, I want to see just how much more gayness Symphogear can bestow upon us.
I get the feeling the answer is A Lot.
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