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「覚醒の鼓動」 (Kakusei no Kodou)
“Awakening Beat”
It’s too early to call Elements Garden’s original “music” anime a surprise hit, but this impressive first showing already has me thinking it will be. With highly successful pop star Mizuki Nana pairing up with former TWO-MIX vocalist Takayama Minami as the “Zwei Wing” vocal unit, this premiere delivered both a high-tension live performance and fast-paced action. Not only that, it started with a cold open of Kohinata Miku (Iguchi Yuka) crying over Tachibana Hibiki’s (Yuuki Aoi) grave and then flashed back to two years earlier when the members of Zwei Wing, Kazanari Tsubasa (Mizuki Nana) and Amou Kanade (Takayama Minami), battled against the “Noise” — an alien-like threat that dissolve humans into carbon upon contact — and Kanade sacrificed herself to save Hibiki by singing a song that uses her life force. The story then shifts back to the present, where Hibiki is attending Lydian Music Academy with Miku and runs into Tsubasa again. She’s once again attacked by the Noise, sings the same song that Kanade saved her with, and awakens an out-of-control Symphogear of her own. So um yeah, all of that in the very first episode.
The premise seemed straightforward enough after the promo video revealed exactly what the Noise is, but the direction in this first episode goes far beyond anything I was expecting. The cold open where Hibiki is presumably dead made me start wondering if this entire series would take place in the past, but then Kanade dies in what was only a flashback to two years ago. After that, things transitions back to the present where Hibiki is alive, suggesting that the story will continue on from here where Kanade is dead but Hibiki is not. So from what I gather, we have a cold open foreshadowing Hibiki’s death in the future, followed by a flashback showing Kanade’s death in the past, and then the actual story starting in the present. Assuming that’s the case, my only disappointment is that Kanade’s role in the story seems to be over already, and with it, any future performances by Zwei Wing. That would be a real shame since I loved how Nana and Minami sounded together, and the relatively new studio Encourage Films really impressed me with their animation of Zwei Wing’s live performance and subsequent action sequences — complete with comic book-like onomatopoeia still frames.
Visually and aurally, Symphogear did not disappoint in its premiere, playing out like a magical girl action series at times with Macross-like music. What has me sold the most at the moment is the story itself though, as I’m really curious as to how things will proceed from here. The cliffhanger is part of it, but more so was how quickly Kanade was written off. There hasn’t been much in the way explaining exactly what the Noise are or how the Symphogear System works either (???), other than suggesting the latter stems from a genetic level and harnesses the power of music, so that’s yet another reason to keep watching.
* It seems like there’s a lot of German in this series. e.g. “Zwei”, “Flugel”, and… “Aufwachenschlagen”. The last one translates to the episode title, “Awakening Beat”.
* Mizuki Nana’s “Synchrogazer” is actually the opening theme, but was used as the ending theme for this first episode. The actual ending theme is “Meteor Light” by Takagaki Ayahi. See the CMs for each single below.
Watch the OP/ED Single CMs!: Streaming ▼
INS: 「逆光のフリューゲル」 (Gyakkou no Flugel)
by ツヴァイウィング (水樹奈々, 高山みなみ) (Zwei Wing (Mizuki Nana, Takayama Minami))
Watch the INS!: Streaming ▼
ED Sequence
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ED: 「Synchrogazer」 by 水樹奈々 (Mizuki Nana)
Watch the ED!: Streaming ▼
First episode I watch of the season and had no idea what this was about, but really impressed. If not, mostly for the music, those inserts songs especially at the concert were AMAZING. [lol CG dancing though]
Felt like a mix of Macross F with Mai-Otome system and Madoka as the lead. Moar Nana Mizuki songs woo! Very unexpected mahou shoujo, rather wth in many places, eg. when they pull off moves and have their attacks spelt out and the art changes, they have to sing as they fight, and when Miyuki Sawashiro’s character said “Aufwachenschlagen” i was like lmao wtf. along with Gungnir.
It’ll be really short, but potentially really interesting storyline to come as we watch how Hibiki will probably end up dying as the start forewarns. Action is very strong too, I loved the animation and choreography with Tsubasa flipping everywhere, sword wielding, wiping out everything. The Noise look so weird though XD
Looking forward to next episode :]
Yeah, Tsubasa’s flipping was pretty damn sweet, as was her “spinning bird kick” with huge blades attached to her feet.
The timeline confused me to some extent also.
Hibiki is apparently going to die in the future, Kanade died in the past, the present is somewhere in between those 2 years.
Regardless, I was thoroughly impressed with this first episode. The cliff hanger has me particularly excited.
I’m hoping Hibiki’s not actually dead there(what a twist!), and her death was just staged for whatever reason.
Looks pretty promising, although it sucks that we wont be seeing more of the KanadexTsubasa duo. Given the limited screen time they had, I actually quite like the pair, and a little sad to see Kanade go.
This first episode gave really strong vibes of Macross Frontier x Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. Even more so with Mizuki Nana playing one of the characters.
deconstruction of the magical girl genre O__O in a literal way
Oh please, this isn’t a “deconstruction” of anything.
Now, I freaking love the show so far, but lets be realistic about this. This isn’t even a “magical girl” show.
You know what this is? Its Iczer, Idol Edition.
And that is more than awesome enough.
ಠ_ಠ
nofunallowed.jpg
Iczer? How many are going to get that obscure reference? And I’m not seeing the resemblance, other than the yuri and the horrible screaming death of civvies.
That depends on how many people played Super Robot Taisen L for the NDS
For the last time, this and Madoka aren’t deconstructions. They are subversions.
If it’s a subversion, they’d be using Magitek or any hightech weaponry that can be explained sufficiently by science. But apparently, save for heat-death and quantum physics, Madoka is all magic. Same here.
No that would be one possible path for a subversion.
It’s not the only one.
Killing one of the supposed protagonists and revealing a side character to be the main character or revealing the animal protagonist was also an antagonist are also where you can take the story.
If it was a deconstruction, it would have been bad end for everyone except Kyubey and even the main character’s aims and goals would have ultimately been for nothing.
UNLESS… unless a deconstruction is followed by a reconstruction, like in Madoka. In Madoka they deconstructed the Magical Girl genre by showing us the basic premise of the genre, the Mahou Shoujo trope, as a standalone. They made Death true in the story in the most guresome way possible should ever a girl lose or gets corrupted. Death isn’t a usual trope used in the magical girl genre and therefore what they did there is a deconstruction.
Then in the final episode, Madoka unleashed her reality-warping wish to destroy all witches and prevent the transformation of the magical girls to witches. This caused her to be separated from reality and become a personified force of nature: a literal goddess of hope that reconstructed the magical girl genre to how we know it: magical pets, monsters-of-the-week that aren’t former magical girls and, even though magical girls still die, at least they will go to a better place without suffering so much in their death rather than turning into a monster that will chase after or be chased after by others.
tl;dr genre deconstrction/reconstruction looks like subversion… But there is a small difference in detail.
not “deconstruction”, i think it’s more “Evolving for the Mature Viewers”
Know your Viewers 🙂
I did enjoy this first episode. Great animation and songs, though I did get some really strong Madoka X Nanoha vibes here. We have Yuuko Aoi voicing the main lead, we have a main character that’s suddenly thrown into the chaos and we also have technology based Magical Girl weapons.
Also, must there be characters in a music-centric Anime that must be called Hibiki and Kanade? (^.^;)
I was hesitant about this series at first, but it seems decent enough…
I was looking forward to this show (to the point where it marks my official return to episodic anime blogging, but I was just blown away by how awesome it actually was.
It had a very “90s OVA” feel to it, which is refreshing, and it had just the right mix of seriousness and over the top to be the perfect action experience.
Really looking forward to seeing what comes now, Tsubasa’s clearly quite wounded by what happened to Kanade, and I have a feeling she’s not going to be too accepting of Hibiki right off the bat…
This episode certainly set the bar high. Its got style, visuals and music. The fight scenes feels like something from a music video. I certainly dig the action especially the stylistic showing of their signature moves (Hooray for engrish). I did expect all that, but what I didn’t expect was how dark it is. We witness a lot of screaming civilians dying horribly and then the women that they were billing as a main character suddenly dies. Then we already get a forgone conclusion that another main character will also die.
The story is a little incomprehensible right now but I’m defintely hooked. I hope it will take some time to explain things.
why the last screenshot ( hibiki berserk mode ) reminds me of Toyosatomimi no Miko?
I enjoyed how this episode did just about everything it could to sustain a high energy level throughout. There was a little lull during the school scenes, but everything else was fast-paced and exciting. So much so, in fact, that I immediately wanted more, which means this show is definitely doing something right.
I’m most curious about the range of music that the studio has chosen for the coming episodes. Things can’t stay so upbeat and energetic forever. I’m hoping to see some slower, more emotional pieces integrated into future episodes as the characters develop more. The mysteries between the timeline points should help out with that. But most of all, we need more Kanade!
It looks ok. See how it goes.
Uhh. The transformation at the end reminded me of FLCL.
A very intriguing series; I hope it can keep it up.
Yeah me too, thought that was neat to see again, haven’t seen that in some time.
Am I the only one who thought Hibiki’s transformation at the end made her look like Taokaka from BlazBlue?
Yeah I was getting a FLCL + Kyuubi (Naruto) vibe off that whole thing.
I’m really interested to see where this one will go~ Like Divine and others mentioned, it has a peculiar Macross Frontier/FLCL vibe. I’m not quite sold on the Noise but hopefully this’ll turn out to be a sleeper
that ending, mecha-wherwolf unleashed.
Wow, didn’t expect to like this show this much. It’s really like Macross Frontier with it’s high-pace battles and matching music.
Too bad Kanade is already gone though (or not, it’s only the first episode). I knew from the start I was going to like her, but I didn’t expect her to be that universe’ Kamina.
Felt the same way, really enjoyed it for the most part, but I too knew from the start I’d like Kanade and she was indeed my favorite and her going even in badass fashion (or seeming to as you point out) has potentially soured me on the show.
Thought of Kamina as well with Simon (or in this case Hibiki) taking over for him, never enjoyed the rest of Gurren as much as that beginning even if the rest was still pretty good.
https://randomc.net/image/Senki%20Zesshou%20Symphogear/Senki%20Zesshou%20Symphogear%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
*pop* >:D
Now this… THIS is how I like it! Feeling like a semi-deconstruction of the magical girl genre like how Nanoha was when it genre-shifted from magical girls to military sci-fi. I get goosebumps by the fact that it already told us that the protagonist will not survive.
Except we don’t know that anymore for sure I don’t think because they jumped back forward the two years (the same amount of time they initially went back) to the present where she’s supposed to be dead and yet she’s alive.
the song is reminds me with “ARTONELICO” anyone notice???
Its been mentioned a time or two (or three, or four…), yes.
Oh, i wasn’t the only one that got Ar Tonelico Vibes. And yeah. i am a Fan of Ar Tonelico Vocals. Favorite is “Ar Tonelico 2 METHOD_REPLEKIA”
I own all Parts of the Serie (1-3)
love the music, haven’t played the game, hard to brush out that ps2 for me. i like EXEC_SPHILIA.
It has slight similarities, but Ar Tonelico would have probably been the last thing to pop in my mind when I think of Symphogear. Though it has a decent soundtrack, Ar Tonelico (the series as a whole) is more or less a visual novel series with a very light RPG aspect to it. The dialog was filled with way too much perversion and unfunny jokes, which became more and more prevalent when 2 and 3 got released. And even with the soundtrack, I only truly enjoyed the first game. I have a very limited selection of songs from 2 and 3, just because their soundtracks were a lot weaker.
This 1st episode is done right, because I can’t wait for more of this show.
If you ever watch Satelight’s former anime name “KISSDUM” you will not surprise for this.
Why hibiki can transform.2ch was disscussed.Cause piece of Gungnir was in her body from that incident.
Nice! Didn’t think of that.
A seed.
But how did Symphogear came to the 2 original users?
Although it seems like Ryoko who developed the Symphogear System, there seems to be something more to whatever ‘over-technology’ she used.
The beserk Hibiki reminds me of Evangelion.
Than all those mythology/religious stuff (Dead Sea Scroll, Adam and Eve etc.) came to mind.
Last Meteor a whirlwind based attack? Blasphemy!
For some reason, 22, 23, and 25 reminded me of Code Geass (The infamous Euphie scene)
Whose bright idea was it to have a concert with civilians attending above a dangerous military operation/experiment?
Yeah… I probably didn’t think about it fully until afterward thanks to the pacing, but yeah.
Perhaps this Civilians are not really that “not guilty”..
Can i remind you of “Evangelion”? 🙂
i think the audience was required for the experiment. looks like they were trying to use the audience hype to contain mephisto, but kanade got the audience too hype and their machines couldn’t contain the pressure.
but actually i don’t think the defense force is all that bright in the first place. i guess present day is two years after the concert incident, and then they were trying to use conventional weapons against the noise, one of the soldiers goes “what?! normal weapons don’t work against them?!?!” if the audience knew who the noise were, shouldn’t they have already tried conventional weapons against the noise years ago?
I’ll probably be the only one who thinks so, but this episode was incredibly disappointing to say the least.
Once again, we have a show with enormous potential that is ruined by horrendous pacing. The entire first episode was rushed to hell and back, and probably should’ve been spread out over 2, 3, perhaps even four episodes. Not crammed into just 20 minutes.
Not only did I have no idea what the hell was going on (or just barely), I didn’t even get the time to get to know the characters, who were then promptly killed in a way that screamed “you are supposed to cry here”. Well sorry, but I’ll pass on that and facepalm instead.
Also, Japan, please stop using jpop for everything. Giant worms and god knows what else devouring thousands of people, and they throw in a up-beat song? Undermines the whole scene, if you ask me.
I’m not expecting them to go all emo on us either, but they could’ve tried a little harder.
Symphogear could’ve been a fantastic “Mai HiME meets Ar Tonelico”, but instead I cannot help but feel like I’m watching a second Guilty Crown trainwreck here. I’ll give it a couple more episodes, but something tells me I’m wasting my time. Too bad, because I was really looking forward to this too.
Enlighten us then, how exactly can you conclude an episode as “rushed and horrendous pacing” when its only the first out of twelve episodes and the overall story has yet to be revealed? Do you just happen to have a Flux Capacitor?
The episode jumped from point X to point C to point F to point A without giving the viewers a time to digest what they had just seen. Not to mention characters were introduced as such a rapid rate, that by the end of the episode I didn’t remember a single one because they only got one or two scenes in the entire episode.
Now, I don’t expect the creators to lay bare the entire history of a character one at a time before moving on to the next, but it really wouldn’t have hurt to give us a bit more than “Hi, this is character X, NEXT!”
But meh, it was just the feeling I got from this. Almost as if they’re adapting a novel or something, but skipped over half of the material.
Huh? There were a grand total of six, SIX! named characters this episode. Hibiki, Miki, Kanade, Tsubasa Genjuurou and Ryouko. Claiming that you “couldn’t remember the characters” is either complete BS, or you have a really terrible memory.
Miku, not Miki.
You are acting like this is the first episode of Horizon or something. Hell, are you sure you didn’t accidentally watch Horizon? Because then at least that complaint could have some validity.
I didn’t even bother with Horizon.
Anyway, you just more or less proved my point. Everything was going at such breakneck speeds, I did not even realize there were only 6 major characters present. Why? Because they got the same amount of screentime as random background dude #12. They didn’t even have the time to properly register in my mind, let alone enough time for me to remember them.
No, the problem is that you are searching desperately for accusations to throw at the show, when really you have nothing.
You would have to be an utter moron to not be able to tell that there were only 6 notable characters in the entire fucking episode.
Or it could simply be that these things *are* valid reasons for *me*, even though they might not be for you.
Opinions, and all that.
But yes, I’m sorry I offended you by not liking the show.
No one gives a shit if you don’t like the show. Its you waltzing in, saying everyone else is an idiot for liking it, and then making shit up to justify not liking it.
Don’t like a show? Great! Don’t like it! You don’t need a reason, just don’t watch it and ignore it.
I was going to simply let all of this rest, but where in the world did I ever call anyone an idiot? I didn’t. I merely stated my opinion, passionate as it may be (due to disappointment as I truly want to like this show), but nothing else.
I merely disagree with you, and apparently many others, but I have *never* claimed anyone was “an idiot” because of it.
In fact, it was you who called me names, not once, but twice for no good reason at all.
But whatever, this is pointless bickering. I’ll just take your advice and shut up now, because this is going nowhere fast.
Also, Japan, please stop using jpop for everything.
Yes, how dare Japan use Japanese pop music!
Nothing wrong with jpop per se. But using it for every possible scene is just… not done. At least not if you want to be taken seriously. Imagine Yakety Sax playing during the scene where the Titanic sinks into the ocean. That’s the kind of feeling I got when watching this episode.
Jpop is fine, in moderation. This wasn’t moderation, not by a long shot. Music can be an incredibly powerful tool to evoke emotions and add depth to shows, but it has to be used properly. It wasn’t in this episode.
the show is based around jpop. that’s like watching 8 mile and saying: ugh this movie about some guy trying to make it in the underground hip hop scene, must they use rap all the time?!
“the show is based around jpop”
The creators specifically said so? In that case I apologize, as I was under the impression it wasn’t mentioned anywhere what kind of music they were going for. Still, doesn’t make the disparity between the effect of the music, and the effect of the visuals any less jarring, IMO.
Do you have to be told that? Shouldn’t it be fucking obvious by watching the goddamn show, which was loaded to the brim with JPop, and from Mizuki Fucking Nana no less? Who’s basically the JPop seiyuu queen?
My most profound apologies for not knowing every single person involved with every single show, especially if said people are usually working in a genre I do not like.
I will reflect upon my sins and try to repent, my lord.
Yes, amazing how people who like a genre get upset when someone who knows they don’t like said genre stomp in and bitch about how a show in that genre sucks because its in that genre and should be some other genre instead.
Fucking christ you’re an idiot.
“The creators specifically said so? In that case I apologize, as I was under the impression it wasn’t mentioned anywhere what kind of music they were going for”
Just an assumption when I see two starlets in that kind of get up without instruments or a band. If I saw them in a rock band, I would just as easily have said the show was centered around j-rock. When I saw K-On, the fact that the characters were playing instruments in a full piece band set up, I figured the show would be centered around rock.
When I saw Gundam, I figured the show would be about mecha. O_O
I’m actually with Henduluin about the jpop issue. He stated his reason clearly and I agree with them. Can’t understand how he gets so much fire for his opinion. He’s not mindlessly bashing or insulting the show.
Just because we are on the internet doesn’t mean people get to be complete morons. Don’t like what he or she is saying? State your opinion, hopefully get to an agreement, and learn from one another.
Of course, this will never come true when talking about the Internet, unfortunately. One can only hope.
Also, Japan, please stop using jpop for everything. Giant worms and god knows what else devouring thousands of people, and they throw in a up-beat song? Undermines the whole scene, if you ask me.
I’m not expecting them to go all emo on us either, but they could’ve tried a little harder.
LOLZ. What music are they gonna use? Crappy rap music? Beyonce?
Please when you watch Japanese animated shows, or in short “anime”, expect everything to be Japanese.
Now about the scene: They are performing a concert right at the start so, of course, J-Pop. Next, a big-damn heroes moment! Should be J-pop, it be weird if we hear some Lady Gaga songs, lolz. I mean it felt like that moment in Macross Frontier when Sheryl Nome started singing right when the ship started transforming in episode 7.
Tenbatsu!
Agree, can’t hide my disappointment at how quickly Kanade’s role in the story seems to have ended already and I was so looking forward to hearing Takayama Minami in a songstress role.
I’m 100% sold after episode 1 and can’t wait to see what’s next.
Didn’t expect Kanade to get taken out of the picture so quickly. Then again, we could be absolutely wrong and have exist in spirit. The music definitely has a Nana Mizuki style to it lol. The battle animation stylization and music is really enjoyable. It’s interesting to see over calling the names of moves. Plus, it leaves it on such a great cliffhanger. I can’t get enough of it and can’t wait to see what next episode is like.
This is absurd: why would they kill one of the poster girls in the very first episode ??? That doesn’t make any sense.
The episode was well done… but I really question that choice.
So the concert by the
Galactic Fairy and CinderellaZwei Wing was interrupted by aVajraNoise invasion…Anyways, the animation is quite fluid, especially during the concert, but I do not understand why Kanade will sacrifice herself for a random civilian she does not know.
Okay…. I dun even know…what’s happening….
And I LIKE IT
That last scene is quite good…. the armor is adjusting to her size
Decent first episode, some of the CGI dancing looked awkward though.
And I am surely not the only one who thinks that Hibiki WONT die. Maybe they’ll just pretend she is due to her transformation at the end of this episode.
> Aufwachenschlagen
there’s so much wrong with this word, I don’t even know where to start…
They really should stop using Babelfish translations in anime.
Sadly that my Favorite Translator dict.cc dont have Japanese/Nippon support
Hidden numbers in the credits
In the credits of Senki Zesshou Symphogear ep 1 there is numbers hidden that you can only see when the names pass underneath them making them hard to see any idea what they are.
I think the numbers are 1300 740-5740
The concert was really cool but most of this episode just reminded me of Macross Frontier. I don’t think I liked the whole addition of magical girls either. I’ll still watch a few more episodes to give it a chance but I thought this one was kind of boring.
I also would’ve liked it if they didn’t foreshadow Hibiki’s death because it would feel more significant after we got to know her a little bit…
Ermmm I dun really like that “I’ll give it a chance” on any anime >.>
Cause for me it’s like they begging for you to watch them
The end transformation(42) just somehow makes me think that she kinda looks like Toyosatomimi no Miko from Touhou Project lol
There were a lot of good things about this premier episode, but also a lot that could have been improved. For starters the animation, transformation sequence, music, and fight choreography were all absolutely stunning! I had to rewind Kanade vs. the Noise a couple of times, and the transformation which Kanade undergoes has to be one of the cooler ones I’ve seen in the past year (though not quite as good as the ones in Heart Catch Pretty Cure). The pacing was really off though, as I was getting super confused by them jumping between time lines, and there were a few too many plot contrivances. Kanade is willing to sacrifice her life for the main character, only after thousands of her already devoted fans are mercilessly slaughtered? When Hibiki is running through the city, it seemed implausible that there weren’t any other people around, and to top it off she runs to the top of a building of all places! The biggest plot hole has to be how Hibiki could have possibly remembered the song which Kanade sang; hopefully this will be explained later on along with absolutely everything else. So, yeah…Definitely a very interesting start, but it seemed as if the creators were trying to throw too much into the first episode to make it emotional and exciting, yet in all that excitement they forgot to add some common sense and intelligence…
i cant decide whether to watch it or not, to continue or to drop it already. damn
If i am allowed to give you an advice. Wait 3 Episodes. If you still dont like the Anime, drop it
yeah, i always watch new series atleast half way/5-6 episodes, but this one in just 3 minutes i got bored already.
This Anime got on my Radar. Looks Good so far. But the “Noise” Monster Style, i need to get used to it 🙂
Y’know, I was pretty sure in one scene in the animated performance in the stadium, they forgot to add in Kaede- just Tsubasa awkwardly winging on one side of the screen, andno kaede for a good ten or fifteen feet. Odd- every shot’s composed to show they nearly joined at the hip. Goof, or some kind of weird Chekov?
Totally agree.
That was supposed to be “reply to JiCi”… it even showed reply to…sigh.
Yuki Aoi voicing this: https://randomc.net/image/Senki%20Zesshou%20Symphogear/Senki%20Zesshou%20Symphogear%20-%2001%20-%2042.jpg
This will be interesting. This series has caught me completely off guard, with the only reason I even tried this out was because of Yuki. If this series continues the way it has started, I would say that, together with Amagami (I’ve only watched these two so far for this season), this year has gone off to a fantastic start :D.
Glad I decided to watch this anime. This first episode gave me a lot of Madoka vibes. Minus the Cat/Rabbit.
I wonder if Hibiki transform into Kanade.
VERY Modaka-ish with the(after the crying at a grave…) bright color pallets and carefree characterization in the beginning only to give way to some WELL choreographed action and general badass-ery. I’m pretty excited for this show with the underlying musical theme and how it compliments the action so well. And then that CLIFF HANGAR! With her in beast/overdrive mode…seems like a gem.
I was undecided on this anime from the start as the concept itself is really nothing original, but gave it a thorough watch through once, then twice to get a gauge as to what to expect.
While I agree there was some to like here for pretty much everyone, the animation and song styles being the repeatedly mentioned ones, there was also quite a bit that could have been improved and some things in particular that have me believe this isn’t a series I’ll follow through until the end.
Now while it’s been mentioned that the songs played through battle have a very Ar Tonelico feel to them (which they do), there was also the issue of the mysterious antagonists being called Noise. Now I refuse to believe I’m the only one who flashed back to the smash hit Nintendo DS game, “The World Ends with You”, when I heard that.
Two distinct references to past games? …Eh, that’s throwing me for a bit of a loop, and certainly not a good one.
As for the main characters, now I was really taken with Tsubasa and particularly Kanade; hence why I was rather sad to see her go so early on. Hibiki? Don’t like her. Not at all. She is exactly the kind of female lead I couldn’t care less about, but find her exceptionally more annoying the more I’m forced to watch her. Her inevitable death isn’t going to change that.
When all’s said and done, unless I somehow see some more Kanade action later on, Tsubasa isn’t going to be enough to hold Symphogear on her own. A couple more episode will decide whether to keep watching or drop this, but it’s up in the air right now.
Nailed it Shinn Kamiyra, other than the game references which I liked.
I’m not a huge fan of knowing right in the beginning that someone will die at the end (if she really does die). When it serves the ending up on a plate like that it kills some of the anticipation so the actual events leading up to her death would need to be epic to compensate for it.
Also, wasn’t digging the appearance of the Noise as they looked like a combination of the enemies from Robotek (game) and Starship Troopers. Not really scary or intimidating until you see them evaporate a couple thousand people.
Plot holes I can ignore for the most part (big Mirai Nikki fan here) but how the hell does she climb all the way up that tall ass building – and with a kid on her back? She must be on the track team or something. And why does she make it through the alleyway only to be flanked by 6 of them just chilling out on a little ledge along the wall – it was so comical for some reason that I almost though they were just going to hit her in the face with a pie?
I’m not sold on this but I will definitely give it the standard 3 episode test. Hope they can pull all the elements together to make it cohesive. We already have our Guilty Crown (yes, it’s a formal descriptor now) for the season and I don’t want anything else treading down that path, especially a unique concept such as this.
Its just the first episode so there is much mystery.
What is the Mephisto thing? Lord of the Noise?
What the motive of Noise?
Does Noise have a leader, an organization?
Or are they used by someone?
What is the origin of the Symphogear System?
Heaven sent mutation?
How did this ‘war’ start?
Perhaps some flashback later on with Kanade in action?
What is the true purpose of that concert 2 years ago?
2 years on, the city looks battered.
Is the battle over?
When Kanade sing and fight, it almost felt like a musical 😛
Somehow if its Tsubasa and Hibiki, it would feel like hero and sidekick.
Will Miku get anything? Or is she a civilian all the way?
the stories feel like madoka magica
Anyone who says this seriously needs to watch more anime.
If they has added more drama and SciFi into Precure I would have watched more seasons of it. XD
I’ve been doing some thinking about why I liked this episode. I hear all the complaints leveled against it, and some of them are actually quite valid. The pacing was rushed, you don’t have enough time to get invested in what happens to these characters, and it certainly won’t be the best written show of the season. So why do I like it (aside from the production values, which I love)?
I think it’s because of two things. First, I really liked the hook at the beginning of the episode. The way they set up the imagery brought upon by the narration and the nature of the actual visuals of the scene was really great. Whether it was a fluke or not, I don’t know, but I absolutely loved that.
Second, I think it was because I treated this mostly as an action show. I mean, the premise alone was enough for me to believe that action was a primary focus, and I’ve always found music to be a typically silly (though entertaining) means to do this, which probably enabled my suspension of disbelief to go further than it normally would.
Once I thought of it as just an action show, its cheesy moments and convenient devices became a lot more forgivable. Plus, the awesome action and animation definitely makes the action part enjoyable. So yeah, I think will most likely be a fun action series for this season (so long as they don’t screw it up and try to be too serious and dramatic).
When I first read the series synopsis and saw the words “noise” and “memphisto”, I was like … wait! another suite precure somehow?
But after fully watching the whole episode one, I felt like ‘WTH did I just watch!’.
The most interesting thing about this show is that it does kill one the main characters and promises another death of another main protagonist(?) in this very first episode!! I wonder how seriously can they be?
Personally, I’m a bit okay with this as long as this episode doesn’t end up with something like Ga-Rei Zero did in the past. Anyway, can’t wait for the second episode. 😀
lalala~
plot hole this~
plot hole that~
and you forgot that this only the first episode!
lalala~
I think Hibiki got her powers from Kanade cause she was hit by the shards of Kanade’s weapon.
Rewatch this scene : http://puu.sh/cLTr and this http://puu.sh/cLTE .
If that should be true, then Hibiki received some Shard of her Power Suit. That explains the Animation where the Mecha Parts refits on her Body. But, for being a First Timer the Power of the Suit overtook her Conscious and She is only Fighting on Instinct. I think Tsubasa will appear and keep this Power in check
..or the Scene where She Awakes on the Operation Table, is the Key Part where they done more then “Save” Her Life… Perhaps they Transfered the Raw Mecha Power inside her Body that gave Kanade her Powersuit
..or after re-watched this Picture https://randomc.net/image/Senki%20Zesshou%20Symphogear/Senki%20Zesshou%20Symphogear%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
…do we have here some kind of Evangelion? Perhaps these Shards that left here, are in their Bodies and works as Powersuit? How knows
This Nehusthan is the Key. And the Black Box so far
Seems like people at 2ch had the same thoughts as well?
https://randomc.net/2012/01/06/senki-zesshou-symphogear-01/comment-page-1/#comment-760267
If someone of the Studio is reading this. Please use http://www.dict.cc as English>Germany Translator. There you get many accurate Translation then on Google or elsewhere
Aufwachenschlagen = Awakened Beat? then Erwachen Takt would have fit better. Here the Beat means Music not fighting “beat” aka “i beat him”
The opening is kind of slow. Since this anime is about singing, it has a quite few singing scenes and takes away time for story development. I can’t tell where the story is going, and will follow at least a couple more episodes.
it’s not only about Singing. The Way they Sing the Song, are their Fighting Power. Some kind in the “Ar Tonelico” PS2 Game. Where Vocal Songs have Magic Power.
Example, do you hear how much Emotion Kanade put in her way of singing when she engage the Noise in the Concert? It is not only Singing, it is a mix of Singing with Emotions and Fighting Spirit.. All a mix-up, that give me a goose bumps so far
yeah, as you can see. i am a Fan of Ar Tonelico 🙂
Of course, when I said “this anime is about singing” I didn’t mean it in the sense of IDOL Master, but more like in the sense of the original Macross in which singing is used in battles. I don’t know about the game. But the first episode took a lot of time to set up the concert. So singing certainly takes a center stage in the story, making it necessary to take time to develop a lot of singing scenes, even though they are also mixed as fight scenes.
interesting show.
i cant help feeling that its somewhat like madoka magica meets macross frontier. tachibana’s disposition is similar to kaname madoka
One of the things when I start hearing German stuff is usually linked to Super Robot Wars. And somehow I can’t shake the feeling I am gonna seriously enjoy the songs in this anime. You know you have a winner when you’re gripped right through the whole pacing of the story.
Whatever other people may say, I will see this anime to the end!!!
Am I the only one who thought at somepoints Tsubasa’s outfit looked extremely similar to KOS-MOS from the Xenosaga series?
Thought that too, it was really cool since I loved KOS-MOS, so I really loved Tsubasa’s armor.
I actually think I should have liked the show what with the idol front giving way to possibly interesting scifi which is my favorite genre, ashame I’m only giving this show one more ep to convince me Kanade’s not dead or the Hibiki turns into Kanade possible theory – and no, flashbacks or “in spirit” aren’t enough in my opinion, since they killed the only character I actively wanted to watch in action and came in to the show wanting to see and the only charismatic character in the show (Tsubasa would have been possibly great with her to play off and not horrible lead Hibiki) and just as I was getting into it’s potential with the aliens and kinetic style of action and even possibly raising the stakes by surprisingly killing a kid, instead they killed it for me (even if I know she dies later).
Kanade is dead. She is not coming back. That would be incredibly pointless because the show is not about her. The show is about Hibiki. Stop whining about it.
I’m in there for the long haul for this one. Please my senses o anime overlords.
Every anime with a female character that dies, is going to be referenced to madoka. Every anime with a male character that dies is going to be referenced to Lagann. People complain that anime lack originality. I think anime produces should complain that fans lack originality.
Totally agree with your point, just because a show happens to kill a prominent character of the same sex doesn’t mean it references Madoka or Gurren.
Either way, it’s nothing like those, what they did with Kanade and giving us Hibiki not to mention the misleading reveal of the show with Kanade and Tsubasa as the leads was extraordinarily stupid.
Sorry I meant doesn’t make the new show simply a Madoka or Gurren clone simply uncreatively borrowing from those shows just because it happens, it can still do something like that in it’s own way.
And I’m referring to the reveal of the show with the various articles and posters and promos etc ofcourse.
Either way, it’s nothing like those, what they did with Kanade and giving us Hibiki not to mention the misleading reveal of the show with Kanade and Tsubasa as the leads was extraordinarily stupid.
If by “stupid” you mean “a brilliant bit of misdirection”, sure.
Are you seriously still butthurt over this, 7 episodes later? Get over it.
I love Madoka and TTGL as much as the next guy but not every prominent character’s death is based on it. It’s a literary trope for crying out loud.
Hibiki got me rolling around all day trying to remember how she looks familiar. from Dororon..? or from Jubei Chan..?
I am not a big fan for anime that use has a lot of obviously intended Yuri vibes (the very reason why I could not completed StrikerS). The story is not my type either so I guess I will keep reading episode summaries and watch the episodes that interest me. On the other hand, I absolutely love the music so much that I may buy the CDs.
it seems like i found yet another anime to keep up with this season. this season is great
Does anyone know the song that Kanade sings during that battle? Not her “Swan Song” nor her transformation. I love the deep tone of the vocalist during that fight but I can’t find the single anywhere.
If its not on the OP single or the Zwei Wing single, then it hasn’t been released at all.
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