First Impressions / Senki Zesshou Symphogear

OP Sequence

OP: 「Sychrogazer」 by 水樹奈々 (Mizuki Nana)
Watch the OP!: Streaming ▼

「雑音と不協和音と」 (Zatsuon to Fukyouwaron to)
“Noise and Dissonance”

My Mizuki Nana/TWO-MIX anime has been taken over by Yuuki Aoi! As much as I like Aoi, it’s a bit of a downer that I may not get to hear Nana and Minami as Zwei Wing anymore. The episode itself on the hand was fairly dialed back compared to the high-tension premiere, but provided a rather entertaining blend of plot development and timely humor that has me hooked.

On the story side of things, this is largely due to that fact that Tsubasa isn’t very accepting of Hibiki as a replacement partner for Kanade — to the point that she’s both angered and repulsed by the fact that Hibiki inherited Kanade’s Gungnir Symphogear from the Holy Relic 「聖遺物」 (seiibutsu) fragments lodged in her chest. Hibiki’s cheery and grateful personality doesn’t really help her case either, since she’s a painful reminder of Kanade’s death. At the moment, Tsubasa isn’t fully aware that Hibiki is the girl whom Kanade died protecting, so it’ll be interesting if that tidbit actually makes their relationship worse. One thing is clear though: Tsubasa harbors a lot of misguided frustration and most of it isn’t directed at Hibiki as a person, but simply what she comes off as — salt in open wounds.

To heavily contrast an emotionally burdened Tsubasa, I really like how the leader of the “Mobile Disaster Prevention Unit 2nd Division” 「特異災害対策機動部二課」 led by Kazanari Genjuurou (Ishikawa Hideo) and Symphogear inventor Sakurai Ryouko (Sawashiro Miyuki) are an easygoing bunch. The operators, Fujitaka Sakuya (Akabane Kenji) and Tomosato Aoi (Seto Asami), are much less so with agent Ogawa Shinji (Hoshi Souichirou) falling somewhere in between, which all together provide a lighthearted atmosphere where things never seem quite as severe as they probably should. That effectively alleviates Tsubasa’s anger to a certain degree — at least from a viewer standpoint — so she’s not mistakenly perceived as the “bad” person in all this.

Instead, I find myself more understanding of Tsubasa’s situation than Hibiki’s, who’s taken on the “accidental heroine” role in the series. The most Hibiki has going for her is being in the wrong place at the wrong time two years ago and now her desire to protect Miku and her other friends from the Noise. That naturally falls a bit short of Tsubasa’s painful loss that I witnessed last episode, so I don’t find myself picking sides at all when Tsubasa pointed her sword at Hibiki in the cliffhanger. I’m simply curious to know how Hibiki’s going to gain Tsubasa’s trust — something that the extremely “busy” opening sequence (as awesome as it is) doesn’t even allude toward. Well that, and who the lavender hair girl in the OP is.

* I’m okay with the premise where the Holy Relics resonate with a person’s singing, even though it drifts more toward fantasy than sci-fi.
* I am a bit surprised to see Encourage Films and Satelight recycle some footage already, even if it’s just for some of Tsubasa’s attacks.
* Full-length images: 01, 05, 06, 15, 16, 19, 28, 29.

 

ED2 Sequence

ED2: 「Meteor Light」 by 高垣彩陽 (Takagaki Ayahi)
Watch the 2nd ED!: Streaming ▼

77 Comments

  2. In this part ,Hibiki(Aoi Yuuki) reminded me of Oshiroi-san from bento. I really wish this was a 2-cour anime cause I somehow love how they created the music and all. I do still hope that Kanade(I know Divine you still want to see them together singing) will still have some appearance as the this anime goes on.

    Last, good work Divine. Those full length shoot are as godly as always.

    Croos
    Reply

    1. To me she sounds exactly like her in almost every scene and since I am not particularly fond of that genki/crazy Oshiroi character of Ben-To it kinda annoys me.
      Same goes for Sawashiro Miyuki who I enjoyed hearing as Honda Masazumi in last season’s Horizon and now she’s voicing some weird speaking scientist/nurse type of gag character.

      boingman
      Reply

  3. I got trolled, I expected a berserk Hibiki and it didn’t happen. At least Hibiki is enthusiastic about her new powers. Instead, most of the emo went with Tsubasa. I suppose I can understand her anger, but I think she’s being pretty mean to the new kid. Good thing the rest of the staff is funny. I’m still confused on what kind of tone the story is trying to set though.

    Also, DAT ED….. is creepy!!! I mean WTF was that!?

    fragb85
    Reply

    3. Doesn’t Hibiki have a weapon? Kinda lame.
      And I have to agree that I could do without the constant singing. Either sing or fight, both at the same time seems a bit ridiculous to me. At least so far.

      boingman
      Reply

  4. That episode was okay… except for one thing that the series seems to have screwed-up in the very first episode:

    Why was the show marketed with FOUR female protagonists (poster AND website) and they end up killing ONE of them in the very first episode ?

    It doesn’t make any sense, I was expecting that the story would put some emphasis on the relationship between Tsubasa and Kanade, who would still be alive and would have survived the attack in the stadium… but no, we get screwed. What’s next ? Tsubasa gets killed next episode and Miku gets her relic ? I swear, this show has many good points, but there’s that one part I can’t wrap my head around.

    It’s like having a Power Ranger show that first shows on a poster 5 rangers and then the show decides to kill one of them, that’s borderline if not false advertising.

    JiCi
    Reply

    1. The reason is pretty obvious. Its a marketing ploy by fooling the audience. Just market a character then kill off said character as a shocking twist. Symphogear isn’t that first one to do that. Plenty of movies and TV shows have done it before. Ga-Rei Zero is a great example, they marketed an ENTIRE CAST of characters and then killed them off in the first episode.

      fragb85
      Reply

      1. Ga-Rei Zero is an example of why the entire idea is utterly awful, and an example why the entire idea is stupid. The show was marketed to people who came for scifi/paranormal team of slightly older characters and got 2 emo schoolgirls, basically half the audience abandoned the show and never looked back. It’s retarded, the replacements don’t even appeal to group of viewers.

        Agreed, JiCi, it was pure BS. Especially trading a character like Kanade for the most overdone stereotype of the moment, moe schoolgirl Hibiki.

        “My Mizuki Nana/TWO-MIX anime has been taken over by Yuuki Aoi! As much as I like Aoi, it’s a bit of a downer that I may not get to hear Nana and Minami as Zwei Wing anymore.”

        This. And it’s more than a downer it’s really lame, not only do we not get to hear them together for more than just one song and battle despite them supposedly being the leads in all the art, but she’s replaced by way less interesting Hibiki.

        DangerMouse
        Reply

      4. @dangermouse Ga rei zero wasn’t marketed as any such thing. It was marketed as a prequel to an awesome comic series. And that is EXACTLY what they gave us. I would have been INCREDIBLY disappointed if the original cast stayed, and none of the comic characters had their pasts elaborated on.

        The way they started killing off cast members in both the first two episodes also caught a lot of peoples attention. You wanted to watch the 3rd episode. The episodes did an amazing job at showing just how dangerous Yomi actually was. She basically single handedly wiped out two full teams of specialists including the actual main characters. Something even the comics never did correctly.

        bijyu
        Reply

      5. @bijyu: IMO they did since I didn’t know the manga was that different, and while I wasn’t appreciative of it the show survived it for me and I thought it was alright (though it’s been a while since I’ve seen it and at the time didn’t know it was a prequel so I still feel I couldn’t say I found it more than just alright since for whatever reason I remember I felt it was too slow in building back up to that, however if I’d known of the manga back then I imagine that wouldn’t have been a problem for me) but I do agree with you to some extent since they did their troll much better since Yomi getting development as a dangerous character through the troll was far better than the troll of trading a lead like Kanade for Hibiki as the entire lead of the series.

        Firstly, at least they trolled everybody and not only half their audience (only Kanade interested fans were trolled IMO), and what they left behind after the troll all served one purpose which was creating/showing the power of the potentially main antagonist who’d killed off main character level characters that they’d built by having her be the killer, unlike here where they killed their most distinctive and dynamic quickly likeable character in favor of boring over-used Hibiki, so they took the most potential and left behind the least fresh thing they possibly could (as the second half of ep 1 and ep 2 confirmed) through the troll, unlike in Ga-Rei Zero where they at least left behind Yomi and her power.

        Still they did misleadingly advertise it with the troll cast for anyone who didn’t even known the manga existed until afterward and I know the change in kind of protagonists didn’t work for everyone judging from some of the blog reviews at the time. Plus, I’m sure a lot of the manga fans didn’t even bother showing up since they probably felt the trailers were showing something pretty unrelated to the manga too and likely felt like you (if they even heard about that it was troll start, IMO it didn’t serve any audience).

        Also, at least they killed everyone and therefore trolled all of their audience all at once and not just only half their audience in those who came to see Kanade after seeing all the promo stuff of her and Tsubasa and that they’d be a team and the main characters, then liked her when she was proving to be better than expected and really cool only to be so quickly replaced by a protagonist who couldn’t be farther from what most Kanade fans liked about her character and came to see be it her design or the personality she had begun displaying.

        I do agree with you to some extent though.

        DangerMouse
        Reply

      6. Well even if this anime had similar start like Ga-Rei Zero this time it is main character who is previewed as dead but also as they said in ep 2 that if people would know about her then her friends would be in danger so it may still be other way around
        As for one of Zwei Wings dieing it is good way to start anime and show that it is drama not shounen and it has serious mood to it. May be if it happened like in Madoka’s 3rd ep some wouldnt even watch till ep 3
        As for Ga-Rei Zero I loved it and it is still one of my favorites like Scholl Days, True tears and Sola… As for others I ve hear ppl saying how bad they were and how unintheresing and so on but then you might just go and watch cartoons for 10 year old kids

        laaa
        Reply

    4. “It’s like having a Power Ranger show that first shows on a poster 5 rangers and then the show decides to kill one of them, that’s borderline if not false advertising.”

      ^^ This, and it’s like killing the Red ranger (leader) of the group too.

      Kentaiyoshimi
      Reply

    5. that’s borderline if not false advertising.

      This is so stupid I don’t even know where to start.

      Really? Really? FALSE ADVERTISING? For a fucking TV show?

      I can’t believe how much people seem unable to handle having a show actually surprise them with something.

      Fencedude
      Reply

      1. Sorry for the long post!

        I don’t think it’s stupid.

        If you didn’t enjoy the show I used as an example insert your own favorite partner show and remove your favorite one that made a great first impression.

        For me, since I really liked it and it’s the most recent partner show I think I’ve watched, it’d be like if Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt had advertised itself heavily with both Panty and Stocking with the same prominent posters and promo stuff and trailers they put out of Panty and Stocking art and plot descriptions (just like Zweiwing Kanade/Tsubasa facing the Noise) prior to it airing and then killed Panty in the first ep who had a ton of the best, coolest, and funniest scenes in the show but was already my favorite character pretty much from the start and through their first battle scene even before she got to do most of those scenes, which we never would have gotten, but was already great to watch after the first half-length ep. I doubt I’d watch it if it were Stocking (who was pretty cool too and had some great scenes) and a Hibiki-like girl directly in place of Panty, especially if Panty appeared to be and was advertised as the lead first who was supposed to teamed with Stocking, taunting us with the other show we could have gotten (in this case the one we actually did).

        The other draw was supposed to be the two of them acting as a team, instead we got barely one duo song and battle out of them (despite as Divine said, this supposedly being the Takayama Minami x Mizuki Nana team) and we took a potentially awesome team which was making a surprisingly great first impression for some “lame idol action show” that we were lead to believe we’d follow and learn about and instead we go from that tease to having to watch dull, overly-done Hibiki go through the motions of such an often used character arc, rather than the Kanade/Tsubasa partnership we came to the show to see and learn about, even if it were played safe it’d still be more interesting than stupid Hibiki trying to partner with Tsubasa, given the great (potentially Haruko/Birdy/etc.) heroine impression and vibes Kanade was giving off and that we came to see them as a team and how they’d develop as one, at least in my opinion as someone who decided to check out the show based on Kanade’s awesome design and the transformed armored action shots of her and likely personality (which was actually even better than the simple “positive/hyper/etc.” one-note personality I expected, only to ironically be quickly robbed of that pleasant surprise in exchange for something even more overdone than what I thought even Kanade would initially be with Hibiki) and the description of them fighting the Noise/aliens etc together (like some unexpected Gainax epic). And yet they didn’t even troll the whole audience they mainly only trolled those of us who came to give the show a chance based on Kanade (just like all those who’ve posted they came for Tsubasa) I think a number of factors all worked against this troll being a smart idea, the least of which being how good and distinctive Kanade was coming off in a sea of moe, cutesy, or bland heroines compared to how overdone Hibiki is and the direct replacement of one for the other, that’s already a tough sell in some fashion, trolling it doesn’t help IMO.

        DangerMouse
        Reply

    7. One of the best things in the world for a writer is to do the most unexpected. Really, your question is like asking why Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica killed Mami. They, IMO, did it for PRESENTATION!

      They did it to make a point: “this isn’t going to end in some sappy happy ending with the protagonists holding hands and we will probably need to screw everyone dead. Life isn’t fair, and people die easily with a snap of God’s fingers.”

      You probably missed the point of the opening introduction of Episode 1. We had a graveyard scene, complete with sobbing best friend, dark gray skies, and plenty of rain. If that isn’t already a warning about a show where protagonists die, probably not of the level of what we can call a “heroine snuff-out fest”, well, that’s your problem. XD

      The Moondoggie
      Reply

  5. Did not watch the ED. I am feeling okay somehow. The past week after watching it is oh so great that it became terrible: I was thinking of what Hibiki’s gear looks like, and I can’t pull her off my mind.

    …until now.

    Jay
    Reply

  10. It was kind of a let down to see Hibiki perfectly sane after this.
    I still can’t help but cringe a little at the scenes where they’re singing while hacking the enemy.

    Btw “resonate” links to nowhere.

    Nhelraios
    Reply

    1. Well we have to wait for 3rd Episode. Hibiki waves are a bit Off because of the First Transformation Shock. Perhaps Tsubasas actions will drive these Waves Overdrive… How knows the Storyline..

      Germanguy
      Reply

  16. Okay, i saw the 2nd Episode. Looks like the other Girl in the OP is from the 1st Branch. Because there are a 2nd Branch of JSF (or so). And Hibiku get the 3rd Relic… So there must be 2 Others.. Tsubasa and (perhaps) this still unknown Girl from the OP

    And looks like this Anime, is strongly base on Emotions. I like it.

    (no Spoilers, because it is said in this Episode)

    Germanguy
    Reply

  17. i kind of feel that Hibiki will be power-ed up or buffed from time to time as I think there will be a routine of “the soul of Kanade still lives within her” or the memory will flow to Hibiki to cover up the disadvantage of lacking experience. This kind of plotline is kinda normal to see as many stories that has transplant organ or sealed ppl/items tend to do so.

    btw, is the girl walking in the ending the one in the OP screenshot 05?

    echo
    Reply

  18. I thought they explained how Hibiki got her Symphogear (from Kanade’s shrapnel) and Tsubasa was in the room during that explaination. So I think Tsubasa knows Hibiki is the random girl Kanade saved by sacrificing herself two years ago, and hates Hibiki even more for ‘killing’ her best friend.

    TSouL
    Reply

  20. “My Mizuki Nana x TWO-MIX anime has been taken over by Yuuki Aoi!”
    Can’t agree more with what you said which is probably why I can totally understand why Tsubasa is all pissy. Frankly, I’m not even sure I’m ready to accept Hibiki as Kanade’s replacement. Yuuki Aoi’s not a bad seiyuu but unfortunately, she’s no Takayama Minami. The early departure of Kanade has definitely taken a lot of oomph from the show but I’ll definitely tune in to see what Symphogear has in store for us.

    Seishun Otoko
    Reply

  21. lame… perhaps after pushing too much into the 1st ep the animation crew just can’t keep up.

    same with the production designs. I was wondering how the visuals keep acting up throughout the episodes like theres 2-3 team doing it separately and join them up <– without proper directing.

    fairx
    Reply

      1. Well, Hibiki said so. “Suddenly a Song filled my Mind!”. As if the Relic or so, use Telepathic Waves to let them Sing. Even if Hibiki has never sung before (Rescue the Little Girl at Beginning and still able to sing)

        My Explanation…

        Germanguy
        Reply

  27. Hmmm, singing while fighting and the skill parchment things are a really big turn-off for me even though I really like Nana Mizuki.I just can’t seem to get into this series.

    Btw, one thing I noticed is that nobody mentioned any of Miku’s “feelings” towards Hibiki. Hibiki is also not making it easier for Miku with all the things she’s saying 😀

    Maximilian
    Reply

  30. Interesting plot development here. Looks like both of the “mecha shoujo” anime (the other one being Rinne no Lagrange) this season have taken off with a bang right off the bat.

    Also, I believe TVTropes has a term for characters who end up getting more adoration than they intended, like that blue-haired singing girl in Star Driver (North Maiden?). Post-google, I see it’s called the Spotlight-Stealing Squad. Kanade falls into this category, at least as far as the people here (myself included) are concerned. She’s likely going to appear in flashbacks and the like in the future, so at least she’ll get fleshed out a little more, right?

    Other than that, I hope Hibiki grows a lot as a character. She and Tsubasa don’t really look like a match right now, but it’s fairly obvious that they’ll learn to work together somehow a la Tiger and Bunny, but with a lot more friction.

    Got high hopes for this one.

    DCLXVI
    Reply

    1. Or the Songs are Memories of Kanade, stored somewhere inside of the Gear and Help her Singing, until these Memories fades away with time. And the Current Owner overwrite them…

      (Hey, thats a good Story point… :))

      Germanguy
      Reply

  32. Also, hate hate hate the ED. It looks like drawings from a 14-year-old boy’s notebook. Having Hibiki walking in silhouette just reminds me of how awesome the Madoka ED was and that this is not it.

    Hisoka
    Reply

    2. Thats perhaps the 3rd (still unknown not screen time) Girl. We saw in the OP. Perhaps shes a ex-Symphogear that faded to the Dark Side. Like Tsubasa’s direction is now

      (Hey again a good Story point.. Perhaps i should apply to the Studio :))

      Germanguy
      Reply

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