Hibi-harem, assemble
------------------
(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.)
------------------
Yesterday marked the anniversary of Nekekur Watches Symphogear!
It’s officially been one full year since I started this anime. I also got my first-ever gray hair this year.
Whether these two facts are related, I leave to you to decide.
Hearty thanks to everyone following along with me on this wild, wonderful ride. I’m so glad I started watching Symphogear, and I can’t wait to find out what’s over the next ridge. Strap on your spurs, here we go!
This episode picks up where we left off.
No, not the Hibi-harem stuff, although that remains a Great Idea, I mean what happens right after that.
Hibiki confronts Dr. Ver after he killed Section 2 agents in pursuit, he summons more Noise to fight her, and Hibiki makes me swoon with how awesome she is.
After the OP, because we needed its 90 seconds to catch our breath after that replay of Hibiki being a badass, the episode proper begins with Snoop Oni and the other agents in the submarine base.
They detect the Noise materialization from Dr. Ver.
Snoop Oni doesn’t want Hibiki involved in any more fighting. Using her Symphogear will worsen her fusion with it and lead to her death.
The agents then detect Hibiki’s Gungnir energy pattern at the battle site with the Noise, so so much for that idea.
Maybe, you know, telling Hibiki why fighting is dangerous for her was a better idea than Snoop Oni keeping her in the dark and Tsubasa lying to her and being a huge floppy dick to her.
Tsubasa needs a pet-shaming type punishment where she’s forced to wear a whiteboard around her neck which reads, “I lie to my teammates and take all the burden on myself because I am deeply insecure and self-blame way too much and am scared of losing the few people I care about.”
Hamster’s power burns so strongly, it superheats the air around her.
What a waste. Someone could’ve used that leaf, you know.
Miku and Hibiki’s school friends are relieved Hibiki protected them from the Noise, but taken aback by how Too Hot, Hot Damn she is right now.
Ver is not impressed.
What nonsense are you spewing now, man?
This is your first encounter with Hibiki that you didn’t plan.
No, seriously, let’s recall every single time she’s been in the same room with him.
We first see Hibiki and Ver together during the Noise attack on the train and then the Marine outpost in the opening episode. She didn’t “show up and ruin things”, he deliberately caused those attacks to cover his theft of the Staff from Section 2. And it worked perfectly. Hibiki and the other good guys didn’t realize Ver tricked them until later. Hibiki ruined nothing for him there.
The second time Hibiki and Ver come sorta near each other is the fight at the concert where he summons Noise from the sidelines. Again, Hibiki’s appearance there is the opposite of unexpected. The FISters attacked the concert because they knew it was a huge public event which would bait Hibiki, Chris, and Tsubasa into fighting the terrorists. Ver wanted Hibiki and the others to show up, because he and Mom needed the energy from the Symphogear battle to activate the Nephilim.
The next time he and Hibiki are together, Hibiki and the rest of Team Rainbow do technically make a surprise night raid on the terrorists’ base…
…WHICH VER SPECIFICALLY SAID WAS BAIT HE LAID FOR THEM.
So, again, Hibiki didn’t “show up” and ruin things. She walked right into Ver’s trap.
Same with the duel at Kadingir, the last time Hibiki and Ver saw each other. This was another trap laid by Ver. Hibiki unexpectedly going Frothing Berserker and defeating him doesn’t change the fact he planned the encounter in the first place.
So, why is this mold-stanky rug acting like he’s a victim of Hibiki’s traps when he’s the one who orchestrated all her encounters with him before today? No one will come to your pity-party, bro.
Ver keeps whining and summons more Noise. Glowing with power and singing her battle song, Hibiki Fucks That Noise. Miku and friends look on, probably calling dibs on who gets to join the harem first.
Hibiki racks up a Powershot straight through a whole conga line of Noise toward Dr. Ver, when…
Bah, Ver lucked out. Shirabe roller bladed up just in time.
Hibiki still doesn’t want to fight Sprite and Cherry Coke. Even though Shirabe has personal beef with Hibiki and accused Hibiki of hypocrisy.
The soda girls came to the rescue because Maria sent them to find Dr. Ver. They need him to help their sick Mom. Besides, he is technically on their side despite his stankiness, so they can’t just let Hibiki capture him.
Yeah good luck, kids. Pretty brave to go up against a fucken flaring sun-god who is literally burning the air around her with her power.
Shirabe’s saw blocks Hibiki, but it’s Kirika’s strength bracing Shirabe in place.
She Boot Too Wheely For She Gotdamn Feet.
Shirabe and Kirika are a solid pair, always helping each other without hesitation, on or off the battlefield. They take each other’s weight as easily as one leg shifts balance to the other for every step, never a stumble.
Mom and Maria fly over the city in their invisible Osprey, on their way to help the others.
Dang, Maria has skills! I didn’t know she could pilot a warplane.
Mom and Maria tracked Dr. Ver by the Noise materialization energy, same as Section 2 did. It’s a race for who will get there and grab Ver first: Mom and Maria, or Chris and Tsubasa?
But there’s a white-hot Hamster in the way.
Fortunately for Kirika and Shirabe, all that Blaze It from Hibiki overloads the Gungnir fusion in her heart.
While Kirika and Shirabe are distracted watching Hibiki have a mini heart attack, Dr. Ver pulls a trick out of his sleeves.
WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE?
Before the soda girls realize what’s happening, he presses the needle injectors to their necks and shoots them up.
LiNKER? That’s the scary drug that forces compatibility with a Symphogear, right? The stuff Kanade had to shoot herself up with in order to attune to Gungnir?
I really don’t want to see the soda girls vomit blood. Don’t do this to me, Symphogear.
Maria revealed a little while back that she also needs LiNKER to use her version of Gungnir. I didn’t realize everyone on Team Black needed it.
Why? We haven’t seen Team Rainbow use it. Hibiki doesn’t need drugs to sync with her Gungnir since it’s part of her body, but we’ve never seen Tsubasa or Chris inject LiNKER that I recall.
This begets the question: Is there something wrong with the Black Symphogears, or is there something wrong with the Black Symphogear wielders?
Maybe the Black Symphogears aren’t as robust as the good guys’ Symphogears. I got the impression the Black Symphogears are some kind of second-generation copies, compared to the true Symphogears used by Team Rainbow, which were crafted directly by Finé.
Or maybe Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe just aren’t as well-synced with their Symphogears as the good guys are, so they need regular LiNKER booster shots to keep up with their opponents.
Either way, Dr. Ver forcibly injecting some dangerous drug into Kirika and Shirabe without their consent makes me raise my hackles. The girls look pretty upset at the violation.
Dr. Ver calls Hibiki a “monster” and says the girls need the extra power from the LiNKER boost to defeat her.
True, but… power always comes with a price. Just look at “monster” Hibiki – her fusion makes her so powerful she burns, but she’s currently suffering a goddamn cardiac while this drug drama is going on.
If there were no negative consequences, Team Black would just shoot up LiNKER all the time. I’m worried what effect Dr. Ver’s abrupt injection will have on the soda girls. What if it gets worse than Kanade’s blood-vomit?
Whoa there, are Shirabe and Kirika implying they might die from this injection?
As in pretty much all his previous shitbaggery, we again have an example of Dr. Ver being the opposite of a hero, even though he claims he wants to be one. Heroes risk their own lives to help others. Dr. Ver demands other people risk their lives to help him.
Ver stomps over Kirika and Shirabe’s protests. He knows they only came to his rescue because they need him.
First time the anime says her name, but yeahhh I’m still gonna call her Mom.
Also, wow, “old bat”? This coming from a face-scrunched vermin who pisses his pants at the sight of his enemies.
Aboard Section 2’s submarine, the agents watch Hibiki’s HP drop.
I’m not sure at this point if she needs an Antidote, a Parlyz Heal, or a Burn Heal, but whichever way, someone please help her.
Tsubasa and Chris are en route to Hibiki’s location. Chris via helicopter, and Tsubasa via…
Now taking bets on how long that motorcycle will last before Tsubasa crashes it for dramatic flair.
That squeaky noise you’re hearing is me markering up the pet-shaming whiteboard.
Hibiki struggles back into the fight. Kirika and Shirabe are already deteriorating from the LiNKER overdose. If they’re gonna stop Hibiki, they gotta do it now. No matter what it takes, they’re determined to get Dr. Ver back to the plane to save their mom.
The soda girls can think of only one way to defeat Hibiki: their Climax Songs.
Wait what.
I thought it was… the complete opposite of that. Isn’t this precisely how Kanade died?
I thought the only way to prevent a Climax Song from destroying its singer was through Hibiki’s unique ability to combine power by holding hands to share the Climax Song’s strain.
Either Ver is sorely mistaken… or he’s being his usual lying, manipulative self and doesn’t care if Shirabe and Kirika die protecting him. Given his track record, we’re going with Option 2.
Will Hibiki have to stumble over there and take the girls’ hands to save their lives? Hibiki is already nearly undone from the fusion with Gungnir. Will she survive the strain of shouldering two Climax Songs on top of it?
Welp, it’s Hibiki, we know she’d gladly take every ounce of strain to save people, even her opponents.
Miku and the other schoolgirls watching the fight realize Shit is about to Go Down. They retreat from the area so Hibiki won’t have to worry about protecting them from collateral damage and can instead focus on winning the fight. Miku leaves with the others, but casts a worried glance at her Hibiki.
Thank goodness this takes place in an abandoned, already-ruined part of the city. Sounds like we’re about to see some Serious Damage.
Kirika and Shirabe rev up their Climax Songs. Maria and Mom, in flight to their location, hear the Climax Songs over the communicators. The camera spiral-zooms into a close-up of Mom’s face as she realizes she may have sent these girls to their deaths.
GEE, YOU MEAN LIKE WHAT YOU DID TO SERENA?
Like she started doing last episode, Mom is reconsidering her choices and showing remorse for the suffering she causes her daughters. It’s frustrating this didn’t happen sooner, but I’m still glad it’s happening, at all. Better late than never!
Despite Hibiki’s warning, Shirabe and Kirika keep singing. Dr. Ver caresses the wrapped Nephilim heart he carries. Oh shit, will energy from their Climax Songs re-activate the Nephilim?
Hibiki is unaware Dr. Ver has the Nephilim heart. But, she can’t let Kirika and Shirabe die from their Climax Songs. What to do?
WELL SHIT
FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE I GUESS
Whoa, she can do that?
We knew Hibiki could link hands to share a Climax Song’s strain. We did not know that she could flat-out drain power from anyone singing a Climax Song nearby, whether they want to link with Hibiki or not. She keeps getting more and more powerful and it is amazing.
But, Hibiki pays power’s price for saving Kirika and Shirabe’s lives.
Hibiki holds off Gungnir’s corruption long enough to redirect the energy from their three Climax Songs. She channels that energy into her gauntlet like she did with the first Combo-Climax with her teammates, releasing it into another rainbow tornado of gayness.
If these images don’t flash before my eyes in the moment of my eventual death, what even was the point of living?
Miku sees the gay Bat Signal rising in the distance.
SWEETIE NO
Here I was, trying to enjoy Hamster’s radness, but the anime simply had to bust a sprinkler and spray relationship angst in our faces.
Miku ignores her friends’ calls to stop, and runs toward the gaynado to help Hibiki.
After the gaynado dies down, Mom coughs up more blood. If we didn’t already know she was sick, I’d have just assumed she burst a lung vessel from witnessing such awesomeness.
Mom reassures Maria not to worry, she’ll be fine.
According to the plane’s tracking, Tsubasa and Chris are approaching fast. Mom tells Kirika and Shirabe to grab the doctor and Get To Da Choppa. There’s no way they can fight off all three of Team Rainbow, not with Kirika and Shirabe weakened from the LiNKER overdose.
By the way, LiNKER is really annoying to type. Every time I look at it, I feel like I owe money to Steve Jobs’s estate.
The terrorists regroup in the plane and flee together. Considering their attempted Climax Songs should’ve killed them, Kirika and Shirabe are in good shape, thanks to Hibiki.
Yeah, their enemy Hibiki protected them. Unlike their actual teammate, who lied to them and nearly got them killed.
The face of honesty.
Miku runs to Hibiki’s side. Hibiki is silent and motionless after the physical trauma of absorbing three Climax Songs on top of the fusion-corruption that already gave her a heart attack.
The air around Hibiki is so hot that Miku can’t get close. The fusion burning from Hibiki’s chest scar turned more of her flesh into calcified Relic-chunks. If this continues, Hibiki’s entire body will be reduced to an inhuman Relic abomination.
Regardless of the danger of burning, Miku remains determined to reach Hibiki and somehow help her. Chris arrives just in time to protect Miku.
Chris made it here, now where’s Daddy Longlegs?
Oh, there she is. Tsubasa zooms up on her bike and… sings her Symphogear activation phrase?
Uh, son, why are you transforming now? The battle is over.
Tsubasa goes right ahead and transforms atop her bike to the tune of her proud battle song. She flips her ankle-swords forward, forms a huge bayonet on the front of her bike, ramps the bike up into the air, still singing, and holy shit I have no idea what she thinks she’s doing but it is fucking rad.
All that melodramatic, magnificent spectacle of an entrance… to cut open a water tower?
That’s it?
That’s it.
Tsubasa made this huge, dramatic, vocal, kickass, bike-ramping entrance… just to hose Hibiki down?
She could’ve simply opened a fire hydrant on the street like a normal person. Her entrance is so goddamn over-the-top and wild and out of nowhere, and, and, and…
…oh who am I kidding, I absolutely love Tsubasa’s melodrama. I never fucking get tired of it.
This attack even has its own name, Cavalry Flash, leading me to believe she’s done this before.
How do you practice something like this? How many bikes did she destroy in the process of perfecting this technique? And how did Snoop Oni explain to the government why his agency’s budget includes so many write-offs for totaled vehicles?
I hope she does Cavalry Flash again sometime. I’m assuming she only showed off so extravagantly because she knew she had an audience in Chris and Miku.
After the Great Wetting Of The Year, Hibiki has cooled off enough for her friends to approach her and assess the damage.
It constricts my capillaries to see Tsubasa full of emotional pain like this.
But also, yeah you dumbass, I don’t know why you thought shoving Hibiki aside would protect her. Talk to Hibiki next time about why you don’t think she should use Gungnir. Don’t just make the decision for Hibiki and then push her around in the most assholish way. And now, Chris is pissed Tsubasa kept this secret from her, too.
As soon as Miku is released by Chris, she rushes to Hibiki’s side.
All Hibiki’s friends can do is get her back to base for treatment as soon as possible and hope for the best.
Back with the FISters, Maria parked the plane in the woods. Mom’s condition stabilized with Dr. Ver’s help.
Team Black is relieved their mom survived. She thinks again what “gentle children” they are, and what awful things she’s made them do for her cause.
It’s a cold and it’s a broken HALLELUJAH ♪ ♫
Again, better late than never. Good job, Mom.
Ver reviews with Mom and Team Black what to do with the Nephilim’s heart for the next phase of their Frontier plan to stop the falling moon.
“So much effort”, indeed.
Ver says the Frontier plan involves another Relic in their possession, called Shenshoujin.
This may or may not be the same Relic we’ve seen powering their plane’s invisibility magic. I can’t keep track of how many Relics are lying around, anymore. I’ll let the anime clarify it eventually.
Maria shuffles awkwardly at being directly addressed as Finé. She always seems uncomfortable with Ver calling her that. Everyone else calls her Maria, but he insists on Finé.
I dunno what Mom’s talking about with “not completely”, considering it’s more like “not at all”. We’ve never seen Maria display a single memory from Finé, even though Madame Butterfly herself said that’s how her possession of her descendants is supposed to work:
This whole Maria Is The New Finé subplot has been so awkwardly conveyed, I’d almost think Maria being Finé’s reincarnation was just some sort of fraud to trick Mom and Dr. Ver.
If not for the counter-arguments of 1) what would it gain Maria to lie about this, especially if she had no proof to back it up, and 2) we the viewers have seen Maria privately worry to herself about Finé, so we know she’s not faking it to fool others:
On another topic, regarding the attack on the mountain Relic-excavation team which Ver references, committed by Finé five years ago… That was the attack that killed Kanade’s family, right?
Another cleverly done, if painful, callback to Season 1. Well played, Symphogear.
Ver goes on, saying the Shenshoujin Relic “breaks Frontier’s seal” and the Nephilim’s heart “activates” it.
Frontier is a thing, as in, an object or a being? Huh, interesting. This entire time I was thinking of Frontier as a concept or ideal the terrorists wanted to bring about, not a tangible thing.
“Break the seal” makes Frontier almost sound like a demon they plan to release. Being sealed away in a secret location suggests Frontier is both ancient and dangerous. Is Frontier another Relic of some kind?
Maybe I’ve been going about this Frontier mystery all wrong. Maybe the terrorists don’t plan to stop the falling moon at all.
Maybe they intend to let the moon destroy the world, and Frontier is their plan for how humanity will survive afterward. Frontier could be some sort of terraforming device to make Earth inhabitable again after the disaster, or to make another planet inhabitable.
They could even take the Cross Ange route. In that anime, survivors flee their dying Earth by migrating to a parallel dimension’s healthy version of Earth. Maybe Frontier is some kind of portal to a new world.
Whatever it is, FISt’s plan has Relics out the wazoo. Use the Shenshoujin Relic to unseal the Frontier Relic, steal the Staff Relic to summon Noise to bait the Symphogear Relic wielders into activating the Nephilim Relic, so the Nephilim Relic can activate the Frontier Relic, to do who knows what, to save humanity. I’m dizzy.
I like how the anime keeps giving us little pieces of Frontier to puzzle on. I’m interested to see how Frontier unravels further.
I love how even the other terrorists are 101% Done with Ver’s shit by now.
You can practically hear the scales squeaking inside Mom’s head as she weighs the pain of dying from her illness without Dr. Ver’s medical help, versus the pain of keeping this guy around and having to put up with more of his maggot-mouthed madness.
The anime cuts back to the good guys. Hibiki, unconscious, gets rushed to intensive care. Fuck, she was just there, like, yesterday, after the arm-ripping disaster. They probably have a hospital bed reserved for Hibiki by now.
Doctors pluck chunks of Relic-rock from the smoldering Gungnir scar on Hibiki’s chest. Miku waits outside and prays. To Miku’s relief, Hibiki stabilizes. She made it out okay… this time.
Snoop Oni calls in Miku and Chris for a meeting while Hibiki recovers from the operation.
Snoop Oni tells Miku and Chris about Hibiki’s Relic-fusion condition, how it’s slowly killing her each time she uses her Symphogear.
Chris takes the news hard. In typical Chris manner, she deals with tough emotional situations by resorting to violent outbursts and cussing.
Hibiki was the first person in a long time to show kindness to her. Hamster-Jesus is Chris’s personal savior. Even though Chris has difficulty expressing affection, it’s clear she loves her friend dearly and is in pain to learn of Hibiki’s suffering.
It’s neat how the anime structured the contrast between Tsubasa and Chris over this reveal. Both of them face the same emotional pain of watching Hibiki suffer and being unable to help her, but they handle their pain differently.
Tsubasa tends to Withdraw Inward in emotionally painful situations, whereas Chris usually Lashes Out. Here, Tsubasa closes off, shuts her eyes, turns her head, controls herself tightly, and lies about her feelings. Chris kicks out, speaks out, grabs stuff, and has outbursts of uncontrolled, honest feelings.
Neither of them copes well, but it’s a well designed contrast, showing how these two girls differ in personality and coping mechanisms, but remain similar enough to work as a team.
Miku takes the news even harder than Chris.
Miku’s been a Stay At Home Wife so far this season, compared to her more active participation last season. Understandable, as we have a lot more characters to develop this season with the introduction of the terrorists. Season 1 supporting characters like Miku and Snoop Oni have had less screen time.
Still, that doesn’t mean it’s any easier on Miku’s end to sit by and watch her beloved Hibiki risk her own life with this frightening fusion condition.
Snoop Oni worries what will become of Hibiki. He tells Miku that the “peaceful time” Hibiki shares with Miku is the one thing tying Hibiki to a normal life and keeping her human. The only way to prevent the fusion’s corruption from overtaking Hibiki is for her to never use her Symphogear again.
Miku is in such anguish over Hibiki’s suffering, but just imagine, finally being told she can protect Hibiki instead of the other way around…
…but only by preventing Hibiki from fulfilling the role of a hero.
I just made the ugliest gagging sound of dismayed frustration, like a pelican trying to swallow a half-deflated basketball.
I want Miku to be able to save Hibiki…
…OKAY BUT
A HERO IS ALSO WHO SHE IS
FORCING HIBIKI TO STOP USING HER POWER TO PROTECT PEOPLE WOULD BE ANOTHER WAY OF ERASING HER IDENTITY
Arggh, this situation is such a mess for all parties involved. It’s a great, tense way for the anime to set up drama on the good guys’ side, further splintering the heroes’ unity. I can appreciate this move from a character structure perspective, while still being hurt by it from an I Love These Girls Please Stop Hurting Them viewer perspective.
Miku and the rest of the team love Hibiki, so they better tell Hibiki about her condition once she wakes up, and support her decision on how to handle it. Instead of continuing what Tsubasa did and trying to make the decision without consulting Hibiki. Whatever happens, it’s not gonna be resolved without plenty of pain on all sides.
We catch back up with the terrorists. Kirika and Shirabe are too weak from the LiNKER overdose to use their Symphogears for a while. But, they’re well enough to go shopping for supplies.
They’re able to just, like, wander around doing everyday errands? The agency didn’t put out a BOLO on them?
Maria needs to stay out of sight, since she’s a world-famous terrorist after her public threats at the concert. The soda girls weren’t involved in that display, so the general population won’t recognize them. Even so, Section 2 knows their faces by now, so how are the girls so casual about appearing in public this way? For all they know, there are agents or police tracking them back to the terrorists’ plane right now.
At least last time they went out in public, they put on disguises.
Well, sort of. Token effort, anyway.
While Kirika and Shirabe are out shopping, Mom and Maria go for a stroll near the parked plane.
It’s nice to get a scene of them out in nature. They parked the plane in the woods, and have settled here for a time. This is not by accident.
I think literally every other scene we’ve had with the terrorists’ many temporary bases took place in shitty locations. Places that were artificial, mechanized, abandoned, or outright ruined. Mom’s creepy-ass van, the abandoned hospital, aboard the Osprey, the ruins of Kadingir, even the fight with Hibiki in the desolate wrecked part of the city… This wooded area is the first time we’ve seen the terrorists stay somewhere Nice.
All this greenery, the healthy flowing water, the life blooming around them, it’s a pleasant change. It’s reflective of the fact Mom is reconsidering her goals and trying to become a better person. A healthier atmosphere reflects a healthier outlook for her team. I hope this signifies Mom’s redemption arc will stick, and she won’t backslide into her unhealthy mentality.
Maria and Mom chat. Maria blames the terrorists’ recent failures on her own “weak resolve”. Once more, we have Maria self-blaming to the Nth degree for things that aren’t remotely her fault. The falling moon isn’t her fault, the Frontier plan isn’t her fault, and the suffering caused by Dr. Ver’s scum-spewing evil behavior isn’t her fault, either.
Maria has done plenty of things Wrong, that’s for sure. She has a lot to make up for. But, she goes too far and blames herself for other things. This is probably leftover guilt from failing to protect Serena years ago.
It mirrors Tsubasa’s current struggle over failing to protect Hibiki, which is leftover from Tsubasa’s guilt over what happened to Kanade. Like Maria, Tsubasa still wrongfully blames herself for that death, even though Tsubasa overcame the worst of it during her character arc last season.
Freaking family-sized 40-piece bucket of Undeserved Self Blame being passed around, everyone gets a plateful.
We return to the soda girls. They took a rest on their way back to the plane. They talk and eat snacks in an empty construction site.
Just the choice of location – more of that empty/ruined/mechanical theme, right after we saw the girls exit a lively bustling grocery store in contrast – indicates this scene won’t be a happy one.
Although Kirika and Shirabe are wanted terrorists living a dangerous, chaotic lifestyle, they admit it does allow them more freedom than they had before. Even simple tasks like grocery shopping used to be out of their reach.
Kirika and Shirabe grew up in an orphanage? Did Mom and the FISt do a recruiting tour for mini-terrorists out of an orphanage, for fuck’s sake? No wonder the girls have issues. I wonder if Maria and Serena came from the same orphanage.
WHAT THE DUCK-SHITTING KIND OF ORPHANAGE WAS THIS
Holy shit.
Was this orphanage created by FISt to try to bring Finé back after they collaborated with her? Or, was the orphanage something Finé herself set up while she was living as Ryouko or another of her hosts? Maybe she wanted to gather many descendants in one place so she’d have a wide crop of future hosts to use once Ryouko died.
Either way, it’s Messed Up, Yo. Those poor kids.
Since Finé can only possess her descendants, this must mean Ryouko, Shirabe, Kirika, Maria, and by extension Serena, are all related, albeit distantly. That’s neat, but damn I’m gonna need a Game of Thrones style chart or something if I’m gonna keep track of the whole clan.
What awkward annual reunions those must’ve been.
This makes it sound as if Maria willingly Volunteered As Tribute to save the other orphanage kids from being possessed. Probably yet another example of Maria trying to sacrifice herself to erase her Serena guilt and live up to Serena’s brave legacy of going to her death so that others may live.
But how, how did FISt control which host Finé’s spirit would enter?
What if, like, Maria pretended to take hold of Finé’s spirit in front of everyone, but then secretly threw it out, and that’s why she shows no signs of being Finé reincarnate. Like in a comedy when someone stealthily dumps a cup into a houseplant rather than drink it. That is a hilarious mental image and I’m running with it, okay. Maria dumping the Finé Kool-Aid into a plant and being all, “Yep, sure, I’m totally the new Butterfly Lady now, you guys. I will heroically shoulder this tragic burden.”
Shirabe doesn’t look so good… Sweating, panting, eyes struggling to stay open. Kirika worries lingering side effects from the LiNKER overdose may be hitting Shirabe harder than expected. Before Sprite can do anything to help, Cherry Coke passes out.
Shirabe falls to the ground, knocking over the scaffolding they were sitting under. Heaps of metal come crashing down, falling directly towards the girls, mere seconds away from burying them beneath the rubble, with them too weak to use their Symphogears to defend themselves, and then…
…Oh, okay then, forget the soda girls, I guess. The anime cuts back to Maria and Mom talking by the river.
GEE THANKS, SYMPHOGEAR
Mom and Maria better be talking about some important shit if the anime is going to leave us hanging like this about the fate of Kirika and Shirabe.
…Play… the role??
Don’t…
Don’t fucking tell me… Symphogear…
Maria being Finé’s reincarnation really was a fraud all along?
That’s the explanation for all the confusion, the weirdly-handled reveals, the complete bewilderment for why Maria shows no signs of Finé?
I… I…
I HAVE NEVER FELT SO VINDICATED AND SO CHEATED AT THE SAME TIME.
Also WOW, so much for Mom becoming a better person. She doesn’t even apologize to Maria for this terrible manipulation. She just says it’s no longer needed.
FUCKEN PARENT OF THE YEAR RIGHT HERE.
I hope that chair floats. Because if I were Maria, I’d dump Mom’s ass right into that river and walk away.
The camera pans out, revealing Dr. Ver eavesdropping on the conversation. He doesn’t look surprised by Mom’s admission.
So… Ver already knew Maria wasn’t really Finé?
What the hell? He’s been the most vocal in telling Maria she is Finé! Even directly calling her Finé, no matter how uncomfortable it makes Maria. Plus, he’s the one who revealed to the good guys that Finé was back. Was he just yanking everyone’s chain for the lulz this entire time? This guy’s bottom-feeding bastardry knows no bounds.
I’m so confused right now. It never made sense for Maria to be Finé reincarnate. But, it makes even less sense for anyone else to be Finé reincarnate, given all the subtle cues toward Finé’s influence the anime surrounded Maria with, such as the leitmotif, the visual design, the flower symbolism, and other little touches.
So, if Maria isn’t the new Finé, who is?
Is Mom the new Finé? Is Maria pregnant with the new Finé? What the fuck is even going on with this rail-rattling reincarnation story track, anymore??
The new Finé is… no one?
Finé hasn’t reincarnated yet, after all?
This entire subplot was a RED GODDAMN HERRING?
I’m real irritated the anime batted us viewers back and forth like air hockey pucks.
But also… kinda relieved.
Finé not reincarnating at all is actually a better decision on Symphogear’s part.
Finé being brought back for the second season hit me as an ill-advised storytelling choice back when this subplot first reared its head. Finé reincarnating doesn’t mesh at all with the culmination of Finé’s character arc in the Season 1 finale.
Finé was supposed to wait to reincarnate until Hibiki and the rest passed on. This was Hibiki’s last act of mercy, to give Finé another chance at redemption, for Finé to carry on Hibiki’s hope for a better future.
We aren’t supposed to meet Finé’s reincarnation. That defeats the purpose. Sometimes, the goodness we do in this life, we don’t get to witness the fruits of. But, we can be at peace knowing future generations will be better off for what we’ve done, even if we aren’t there to see it. This death scene was surprising in its sincerity. How touching and unexpected it was, and yet how perfectly it fit Hibiki’s character.
In a way, showing mercy on Finé was Hibiki’s legacy. Something Hibiki could leave behind. Especially as, moments later, Hibiki flew off to stop a meteoroid which could’ve resulted in her death. It reassured Hibiki that even if she died that day, she knew eventually Finé would return and try to make the world a better place in Hibiki’s stead.
It brought a peaceful end to Finé’s character arc of the being the symbolic butterfly who kept refusing to metamorphose into a better person. Hibiki’s request for Finé to wait to reincarnate left it ambiguous whether Finé would ever change her assholish ways, but gave viewers a grain of hope that maybe next time, things really would be different.
So yeah, thanks but not really, Symphogear, for this season’s Finé Fucks Up And Reincarnates Early plotline that jerked us back and forth like someone trying to figure out the hot-but-not-too-hot setting on an unfamiliar shower dial.
But also, thank gawd this subplot is over and we can move on to other things.
Anyway, we’ve still got a tiny bit of episode remaining after Mom’s bombshell.
Oh good, the anime cuts back to the soda girls! I worried it would make us wait until next episode to find out what happened to them.
After Shirabe passes out and knocks the scaffolding onto them, Kirika opens her eyes in confusion and sees:
Hold on.
Hold on.
Hooooold the fuck on.
That energy shield…
We’ve seen it before.
So…
The new Finé…
…is Kirika?
------------------
This was very nearly the straw that broke the owl’s back.
WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOUT NOT BRINGING FINÉ BACK, ANIME?
This episode’s ending doesn’t solve the problem. All it does is shuffle the problem off Maria and onto Kirika.
It also washes out all the tiny Finé-related details Symphogear carefully wove into Maria’s character which I was talking about earlier. Kirika becoming Finé instead of Maria doesn’t come off as a clever twist, it comes off as someone flipping the map the wrong side up halfway through the road trip.
Poor Kirika is as confused as I am.
Kirika’s confusion means this shield is the first symptom of Finé’s possession she’s ever seen in herself. Kirika might not even realize this shield is a Finé ability, as she still believes Mom’s lie that Maria is the new Finé.
We also still have the problem of the new host not displaying any of Finé’s memories, personality, fighting style, relationship to other characters, or even her way of speaking. Kirika doesn’t fit Finé’s mold any more than Maria did.
Kirika has a violent streak, but so do Maria and Shirabe, and none of them comes across as cruel in their violence, like Finé was. They come across as upset, hurt young people struggling to deal with the Major Shit slathering their lives. Occasional angry moments aside, Kirika is overall a cheerful, honest person who shows consideration for her teammates. She’s not a manipulative rampant asshole like Finé.
Will Finé’s personality and memories invade Kirika now that Finé has awakened, like what we saw with Ryouko’s possession, immediately erasing that cheerful identity of Kirika’s? Or, will it be a gradual, terrifying process, where Kirika slowly loses herself and can do nothing about it?
I see what you did there, wretched fucking anime.
With Maria, we were led to believe that repeated use of a Symphogear allowed Finé to take her over. But, that may have been another misdirection. Finé could’ve activated in Kirika for any number of reasons: from Kirika’s life being in danger, from the LiNKER overdose, or from her attempted Climax Song earlier in the episode.
Well, I did get what I’ve been requesting for the last, like, four episodes. Although we don’t have the butterfly lady’s memories or personality, we did finally get some hard evidence of her possession, in the form of her unique shielding ability. I suppose she reincarnated for reals this time, people.
I guess I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Even if that horse just stomped its hoof on my toes.
I’m reluctant to believe such an abrupt pivot… This season tricked us too many times already. At this point, I’m fatigued. Which is even more worrying, considering this episode marks the halfway point of the season, and the second half of a story is usually when the important pivots happen. Therefore, the truly surprising stuff is probably yet to come. Yet, I’m already maxed out on how much I trust these Big Dramatic Cliffhangers.
I’m not even convinced Kirika is the one conjuring the shield here. The way the scene is shot makes it seem Kirika creates the shield with her hand. But, maybe she just put her hand up out of reflex to stop the falling metal, and maybe Shirabe is actually the one creating the shield, to defend herself while passed out. Maybe that’s why Shirabe was feeling so sick earlier compared to Kirika, because Finé was taking over Shirabe. I don’t care if this is an implausible guess, this subplot has completely lost me and nothing is too far-fetched anymore.
Are both of them Finé? Can Finé enter two hosts? There’s been no indication such a thing is possible, but Season 1’s established rules for Finé’s possession already changed so much, so why the heck not make both of them the new Madame Butterfly?
I’m so frustrated, my eyebrows are sweating.
Who is Finé? Who isn’t Finé at this point!
Fool me once, Symphogear. “Kirika is the new Finé” could turn out as manipulative a cliffhanger as “Hibiki’s arm got ripped off”. Maybe five minutes into next episode, the Kirika-Finé issue will be jettisoned off the port bow like the Farewell To Arms issue was.
Why should I believe Symphogear won’t pass the hot-potato on to another character in a couple episodes? Maybe it’ll be Hibiki’s or Tsubasa’s turn to be Finé, next. Then maybe someone else.
I like Kirika, and it’ll be fascinating to see how she copes with this development, so it’s not that Kirika being Finé will necessarily turn out a poor character arc for her. It’s just… so bizarre.
I mean, Kirika? Kirika?
Even if we didn’t already have the Maria-Finé setup, Kirika being chosen for the new Finé would still be out-of-left-field.
Of all six (surviving) Symphogear wielders, Kirika’s had the least development. Why would she be the one to suddenly shoulder the enormously important story role of being Finé’s reincarnation?
It’s like that game where you flip heads down by process of elimination.
It’s also a strange choice to diverge Kirika’s character arc from Shirabe’s so abruptly. Sprite and Cherry Coke have always been a unit before now, to the point I mentally categorize them as “the soda girls”, and not as stand-alone characters.
I’m pinging my brain for any scene Kirika or Shirabe got as individuals without the other one in the same room, but no responding blips. Even their Relics seem to be matching halves of a whole.
As Garbage-Guts puts it when he manipulates them into singing Climax Songs:
Two arms of the same body. Why separate them like this?
I can’t imagine how Shirabe will react when she finds out what happened to Kirika.
Kirika just contracted a real nasty demon, and there may be no cure. Full disclosure to Shirabe is the only honest option, honey.
Love for Kirika is Shirabe’s main grounding force. Shirabe displays affection for Maria and Mom, but not nearly to the same depth as affection for her Kiri-chan.
Will Shirabe try to stop Kirika from using a Symphogear anymore, the same way Miku will try to stop Hibiki from using one? The bond between Kirika and Shirabe seemed unshakable, but maybe that will change…
As with Maria, I don’t want Kirika to suffer Finé’s possession. No one deserves such a horrible fate.
Okay, maybe one particular scumbag deserves such a horrible fate, but not Kirika.
At the same time, for the anime to bring Finé back and not have her host be hugely affected by it would be beyond pointless. If Finé’s soul ends up having no lasting impact on Kirika other than, “Look, Ma, I can conjure a kickass shield,” I will be bewildered.
How will this development re-balance the roles of the other terrorists?
Of the three antagonist Symphogear wielders, Maria has by far been afforded the most screen time and character development. She’s also had the most friction with the other antagonists, i.e. Mom and Dr. Ver.
Does the Kirika-Finé development mean Maria will fade to the sidelines now, and Kirika will take her place as the main focus out of the antagonist characters? Then why did we spend the first half of the season on Maria?
It would be so jarring to watch Maria leave center stage and wait in the wings after she’s been a major focus before now. But, it would be even more jarring to keep Kirika waiting in the wings after this big reveal. If Kirika doesn’t take center stage over Maria and Shirabe for the rest of the season, what was the point of placing such importance on the Finé reincarnation plotline?
Shirabe and Maria will be surprised to learn what happened to Kirika, and so will Mom. Mom thought Finé’s soul didn’t enter any of the possible hosts. She couldn’t have predicted it would eventually enter Kirika.
Unless this was another lie, and Mom and Dr. Ver knew all along it was Kirika. If it even is Kirika. I don’t know what’s real, anymore.
Mom’s going to have another blood-cough attack when she finds out Kirika went all Shields Up, Captain.
Why would Mom go to the effort of fabricating Finé’s reincarnation and lying to Maria about it?
Mom tells Maria:
Why did Mom need Maria to play that role in the first place? Mom already told us FISt has access to the real Finé’s notes from the time they collaborated with her, plus they have their own Relic research. So, why was having a fake Finé figurehead necessary for the Frontier plan stuff?
For that matter, did no one in FISt ask Mom for proof that Maria was Finé reincarnate? Everyone just… took her word for it? And Dr. Ver played along because why, exactly? There is more to this Maria-Finé fraud that hasn’t been revealed yet, isn’t there?
This is, like, my fifth time using this reaction image, but it keeps being relevant.
Lying to Maria seems to have hindered Mom rather than helped.
During this scene, Kirika and Shirabe insisted Maria stay behind, instead of going on the important mission to steal the good guys’ Symphogears. Maria’s friends wanted her to avoid using Gungnir, since they believed it would increase Finé’s takeover. If they did this for Maria here, it’s possible they kept her out of other important missions for the same reason.
So basically, the terrorists benched their strongest and most skilled fighter… for nothing. A+ strategy, Mom.
On the plus side, Kirika taking Finé’s role will smooth out a rough corner in terms of the Opposing Parallel match-ups going on in the character themes this season.
Even shots in the season’s OP take time to show characters going head to head.
Not that shot in the OP.
I mean ones like this:
If Maria pairs with Tsubasa, and Shirabe pairs with Hibiki, that left Kirika and Chris the mismatched spares even though they duel each other in the OP. But, if Kirika inherits Finé’s influence, then she makes a fierce counter to Chris, given Chris and Finé’s uh, less than blissful history.
I should stop being so negative about this whole Finé Fiasco. Symphogear has the remaining half of Season 2 to convince me bringing Finé back was not a mistake. This anime won my trust and my adoration last season. The least I can do is give it the benefit of the doubt this season.
I refuse to let one awkwardly-handled subplot ruin my enjoyment of all the other parts of this season, which have been Quality so far. I adore Symphogear no matter how many gray hairs it gives me. I’ll get over the Finé Fuckup. Eventually. Probably.
In all fairness, I must admit… Kirika being Finé does make me happier about ONE thing:
Now that Maria’s been bleach-scrubbed of any Finé stain, I can feel less greasy for approving of her as a potential partner for Tsubasa!
Their interactions have a chord of romantic-sexual tension thrumming beneath their Opposing Parallel antagonism. However, Maria being Finé’s reincarnation and therefore having Finé’s personality/memories made this pairing worthy of a Clear Browser History, for a couple reasons.
For one thing, Finé is a confirmed predator and abuser, so having a relationship with Tsubasa or anyone else is dubious. For another thing, Finé is responsible for the death of Tsubasa’s first partner. Aaaaawkward.
On top of all that, Finé has known Tsubasa since Tsubasa was kindergarten age. She watched Tsubasa grow up, which would be Deeply Uncomfortable if they became a couple.
Now that she’s confirmed free of Finé’s possession, Maria and Tsubasa can have a nice, healthy relationsh–
Uh…
O-okay, well…
If Maria and Tsubasa aren’t an option, at least we can enjoy watching Hibiki and Miku be happy togeth–
You know what, forget those couples for now, at least the soda girls are sweet tog– WAIT THEY’RE NOT AN OPTION ANYMORE, EITHER.
WHO DO I HAVE TO BRIBE TO GET SOME CLEAN, HAPPY YURI IN THIS ANIME?
Welp. Plenty of good stuff happened in this episode, too.
SHE DID THAT
We didn’t see the bike afterward, so I’m not sure if it survived this scene. A noble death, if so, being sacrificed for such a dramatic entrance. Tsubasa can crash me into a water tower any day.
This scene also gave us great Miku and Chris interaction, when Chris steps in and gets all protective of Miku.
I really enjoyed their heart-to-heart with each other in Season 1, when Miku took care of Chris and showed her kindness.
Watching them interact once more, with Chris returning the past favor by protecting Miku this episode, was unexpected and satisfying. I hope they get to spend more time together.
Miku has trials ahead. Glad to see her getting some screen time again, even if it’s Painful. Miku wants to protect Hibiki, after being the one protected by Hibiki for so long. Once Hibiki recovers from the injuries she took this episode, the two of them need a long, honest talk. Miku better not take the Tsubasa route and lie to Hamster in an attempt to “protect” her.
There is no easy solution to the problem of Hibiki’s fusion with Gungnir. Hibiki and Miku have a strong relationship, so hopefully they can work together to figure out something which doesn’t involve letting Hibiki die, nor keeping her alive by erasing her identity as a hero.
In other news, this episode gave us more clues about FISt’s plan to save humanity, and what Frontier might be.
If I’m correct that the Shenshoujin Relic is the same Relic we’ve seen creating the invisibility field for their plane, then Shenshoujin has powers of illusion. If it can make something invisible, perhaps it can also strip the invisibility from something else.
Maybe “unsealing” Frontier is as simple as Shenshoujin removing the illusion from an object currently hidden in plain sight. Like how Finé hid her Kadingir tower in plain sight, since the tower was just a reversal of the elevator shaft of the good guys’ base. Is Frontier under our noses already? I will shit a brick.
As for the FISters themselves, we saw more character development between Mom and Maria.
Mom continues her slow roll toward redemption, despite the many bumps in her path. Here’s hoping she makes it to the finish line and doesn’t die right there on the track.
I still can’t believe Mom fucking lied to Maria about Finé taking over her soul.
At least Mom was right about one thing she told Maria:
Maria has struggled the entire first half of this season, trying to fill roles that aren’t hers. So many influences beset Maria on all sides, tugging her toward mirroring different people.
But, Maria is none of those people.
Maria is not the next Finé, despite what Mom and Dr. Ver told her.
Maria is not another Mom, either, despite Mom trying to groom her into a heartless killer.
Maria is not the next Kanade, nor the next Hibiki, even though she shares their Gungnir.
Maria is not another Tsubasa, despite playing the role of Tsubasa’s Opposing Parallel, a role further reinforced by Maria’s insecurity and envy of Tsubasa.
Lastly, and this may be the hardest for Maria to accept…
…Maria is not another Serena.
Maria throws herself into danger, whether it’s volunteering to be Finé’s host or helping Mom in the twisted terrorist plot to save the world, all because Maria wants to live up to Serena’s legacy. Serena laid down her life to save Maria and others, and the guilt of this is rotting Maria hollow.
I hope someday Maria sees there is nothing to feel guilty for. Maria should instead be proud of what Serena did. Serena made her own choice to sacrifice herself to protect what she loves. No matter how much Maria loved her, Maria can’t take that choice from Serena, any more than Miku can take it from Hibiki. That’s not what loving someone means.
If Maria loved her sister, then she needs to see that the best way to honor Serena’s memory is not to throw Maria’s own life away to be someone else’s pawn for some dark plan for the world. Serena wouldn’t want Maria to suffer the kind of life she’s been living as a terrorist. Maria can make Serena’s sacrifice worthwhile by being true to herself and living the most fulfilling life she can.
Maria needs to step up and create her own identity. No one else can tell her who to be.
With Mom nearing the end of life due to illness, Maria will soon be on her own. Plus, Shirabe and Kirika – especially Kirika now, fuck – will be left without a leader and in need of Maria’s guidance. For their sake and her own, Maria has hard choices to make.
Maria can’t be all those other people. Maria needs to be Maria. Maria Cadenzavna Eve, in all her glory, her melodrama, her gentleness, her fierceness, her vulnerability, her charisma. From her introduction, Maria has been one hell of a character. It’s up to her to decide who she really is.
And I can’t wait to meet her.
------------------
