First Impressions / Senki Zesshou Symphogear / Series Introduction

OP Sequence

OP: 「Apple」 by Maria Cadenzavna Eve (CV: Hikasa Yoko) & Serena Cadenzavna Eve (CV: Horie Yui)

 

「ガングニールの少女」 (Gangunīru no Shojo)
“The Gungnir Girl”

Time sure flies. After a little bit over a year, Symphogear’s back and it doesn’t hold back in its first episode. True to the series’ nature, we get a load of transformation sequences, insert songs, over the top action, and a share of twists to start this second season, and I gotta say: that was quite fun to watch.

Taking place about three months after the end of Symphogear’s first season, Symphogear G brings us right back into the action as our heroines in Tachibana Hibiki (Yuuki Aoi), Yukine Chris (Takagaki Ayahi), and Kazanari Tsubasa (Mizuki Nana) continue their fight against the alien Noise. And well, there’s really nothing else to say except that it literally picks up right where we left off—in more ways than one. Sure, the faces may have changed a bit—due to new character designer Fujimoto Satoru and Kanade no longer being present—but Symphogear G definitely reeks of its predecessor. And there’s no more obvious demonstration of this than its nostalgia inducing similarities between this episode and the series’ original debut, which include the opening episode concert, the Noise crashing that concert, and the appearance of yet another Gungnir.

At this point, it’s quite obvious that the series’ producers (and the new director in Ono Katsumi) aren’t going to change much of what made Symphogear what it was, and admittedly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, I was someone who enjoyed watching the original series during its run last Winter, and it wouldn’t be right for this series to do anything less than what it pulled here this week. What this essentially means though, is that those who liked the first season will undoubtedly like the first season… and those who didn’t like it will most likely hate this new iteration even more than they did the first.

In any case, as much as this first episode did everything I expected of a series in the Symphogear franchise, I was actually quite surprised by just how much they decided to put here in this first episode. I mean, not only do they end up re-introducing our heroines, there’s multiple Noise battles to start things off, the introduction of Maria (and her cohorts), the concert duet with her and Tsubasa, and the reveal of Maria’s true goal (and ability to transform into another version of the Gungnir) to top things off. Suffice to say, there was a lot to swallow here, and I was admittedly caught off guard by both the final revelation and how they managed to do a decent job of putting it all together. Granted, things did feel a bit rushed at times as a result, but I guess that’s just par for the course for this series. After all, the first episode of the original series ended up quite similarly, and I suppose that’s just how this series rolls (for better and for worse). It’s just never going to be a masterpiece, but there’s definitely more than enough entertainment value for this series to be worth watching for (MEGA DEATH PARTY!).

And ultimately, that’s what it boils down to. In the end, there’s just nothing quite like seeing gals fight off alien threats while singing, and having the always awesome Mizuki Nana acting and singing gives this series a unique touch. Looking forward though, it is likely that this series will not be receiving weekly coverage here on RC. Depending on my real life workload and series demand, I may consider it. But as much as I’d like to… the Thursday air date isn’t something that fits well with my current schedule. Apologies ahead of time if there is no additional coverage.

Author’s Note: Thanks to ExecRory for the OP clarification and Sol for ED clarification.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「烈槍∙グングニ一ル」(Retsu Yari Gangunīru) by Maria Cadenzavna Eve (CV: Yoko Hikasa)

82 Comments

  1. OP is Apple by Maria Cadenzavna Eve (CV: Yoko Hikasa) & Serena Cadenzavna Eve (CV: Yui Horie)
    ED is Kuro(cant’t translate the second kanji, sorry) Gungnir by Maria Cadenzavna Eve (CV: Yoko Hikasa)

    ExecRory
    Reply

    1. Thanks. Added in the OP.

      ED kanji seems to be confounding quite a few people though… aside from the Gungnir part, but it seems to be something like “Retsu Yari” according to a friend.

      EDIT: Got it!

      Zephyr
      Reply

      1. As 烈槍 is not an actual Japanese word, I think a better way to render it would be “ressou” or “resshou”, using on’yomi for both kanji, instead of on’yomi for one (retsu) and kun’yomi for the other (yari). 烈 has only one on’yomi reading (retsu), but 槍 has two on’yomi readings (sou, shou), so we will have to wait for more official word to come out for what reading the creators intended.

        This is in the same vein that 戦姫 is better rendered as “senki”, instead of as “senhime”.

        rainbowburst
        Reply

    2. This epic premier has exceeded my expectations. Better fight scenes and more songs. What a great way to declare a war just after a spectacular concert performance. Love the yuri teasing between Hibiki and Chris. And looks like Hibiki has an evil twin of sorts. I think I am in love with Maria. I cannot wait for more.

      JohnHayabusa
      Reply

  3. loved the facial expressions hibiki had, during the plan against the noise with the train or when they apeared on que with seriously.
    also love the new insert songs for when they transformed excited to see wich other new ones they got in store for us :).

    destiny
    Reply

  4. I was very pleased with the first episode, despite how much it packed in.

    Initially I was dreading that I wouldn’t like it as much as season 1; but so far so good. I think I still like the music of S1 more as of right now. But who am I kidding, really… even if I weren’t that into this new season, I’d still watch it because of the Macross feels.

    Gotta say, ultra rocketpunch is amazing, lol. The moves Hibiki is pulling off look really nice and fluid, even better and with more flourish/fluidity than the first season.

    I’m such a meganerd that I had my Hibiki figma and nendroid delivered on the day that episode 1 came out >.>

    Harpy12
    Reply

      3. I don’t know! Write Max Factory a letter or something… Though honestly, I expect a Chris figma by the end of this season. Otherwise, I’ll go with you to protest this cruel injustice. =D

        katsudon
        Reply

      4. I would think so. She should get more screen time in general this season, so it’d make sense. But then again, some fig companies don’t really make much sense with their decisions sometimes, haha.

        Zephyr
        Reply

      6. Wouldn’t worry about it. Pretty sure it’s just the trolls following my posts just to downvote everything I write (and the comments in my post while they’re at it) when it comes out. You’ll note someone was bored enough to downvote all the comments above this one earlier.

        Zephyr
        Reply

  7. It’s backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk! All I’ve gotta say is that my body wasn’t ready for the duet between Nana Mizuki and Hikasa Yoko… I’m so looking forward to this show, it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

    katsudon
    Reply

    1. Indeed. For someone of her caliber and singing voice, she really doesn’t get much in terms of roles at all. One wonders if part of it is by her own choice, but either way, more Nana is always good.

      Zephyr
      Reply

      1. Well, considering that she is going on tour this summer, she probably wouldn’t have time to do a lot of voice work. I’ve got my fingers crossed for the fall season, and we’ve got Valvrave 2 as a guarantee, but my hopes aren’t too high.

        Myna
        Reply

    1. Also, am I the only one who noticed that the name of the new faction happens to match the name of the antagonist of the first Season who also was able to control the Noise (Finé)? This some sort of group that already existed and was the one Finé was talking with throughout Season 1 at times or something that formed after? x_x

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

  13. I wonder if they did the same thing as season 1, where they don’t show the actual opening to the show until episode 2, and the ending track to the first episode is actually the opening one?

    When I was watching, I just had a feeling that the first song didn’t actually feel like the opening to it.

    Harpy12
    Reply

  14. Wow…I’m surprised by how many haters there are (not on here but looking through the comments on streaming websites) for this anime. A majority of them are those who didn’t even watch the first season. Here’s a little hint for people, if a title has a random number or letter at the end of the title…you’re most likely not watching the first season of it. ANyways, I’m glad this is back ^_^

    SDFGS
    Reply

    1. I’ve noticed that too.

      I used to be one of the haters >.> When S1 came out I dropped it after one episode. Came back later and found it to be one of my favorite shows in a long time. There’s a lot you can criticize about the show I think, but at the same time, I think it has less offenses than a lot of other shows.

      Seems a lot of people pass the show off as just a pitch to sell singles and such. Even if it is, that doesn’t stop it from being a decent show (it’s not like that makes it an inherently bad show) – there’ve been some great shows in the past that drove a lot of merchandise.

      One of the things I’m really impressed with, is that it’s an original show that is decently written. After the debacle (imo) of Occult Academy, I was very wary of anime originals for a while. I’m very happy with the writer’s work on this show, especially since their experience was just in games before (please correct me if I’m wrong!)

      Harpy12
      Reply

      1. Me too, I mean despite how much I like this series, I do see some things to complain about it because it isn’t perferct. Its just that there’s a difference between not being interested in a show and not liking it and just plain out despising its very existance in a raging ball of fire (there’s a lot of those people out there) but I guess watching too much anime does that to people…. (referring to the raging otakus).

        SDFGS
        Reply

  15. The first season of this show was sort of a guilty pleasure for me, but holy crap did it look like arse after the first episode. It’d be nice if this can avoid the usual Satelight trend of constant QUALITY after the opening episode, but I’m not holding my breath. They feel like the new Gonzo to me.

    Kaioshin Sama
    Reply

    1. What parts after episode 1 did you think were the most degraded in quality? I thought some of the fights (Chris v Tsubasa in ep3(?) and Hibiki v noise in ep5 off the top of my head) actually looked pretty good.

      Harpy12
      Reply

    1. Because she doesn’t have one.

      Now, if they somehow able to attach a spike on her glove this season and do attacks similar to Revolver Steak, then she might come up with a special move and name it.

      TheMoondoggie
      Reply

  17. That concert with Nana and Yoko was just amazing. Its still the same Symphogear but this time with a budget! I’m actually glad for that, it feels like we just left off to where the first season ended and its still the same characters we know and love.

    Same hot-blood-action, over-the-top singing and yuri (That light flirting with with Chris and Hibiki was just adorable). Its the kind of simple honest shows like this and MJP that make me enjoy anime. Its a shame that it may not be covered by RC.

    fragb85
    Reply

  19. the singing madoka anime is back again yet well now indeed meet rival team.

    (sure whole black showing past flashback of person tears of blood & mouth while a female trying to check til saved by old lady got rock smash)

    fast forward to few months since fine & moon probs hibiki & chris doing protect cane & male prof give noise has been now more like following order from “something” give stop them on train.

    they keep coming back reach base & oh both prof with cane just “missing” meanwhile tsukasa doing a concert with person named maria with whole world watching & everyone seeing then concert over to the “twist”.

    noise appear yet to attack cause it’s maria doing cause she control the noise & had black version of symphogear while declare war on everyone cause she doing this in the name of FINE faction.

    B.I.T.W
    Reply

  22. From a writing standpoint, I really like the things they’re doing to tie in and bring familiarity and work the dialogue. Some people may see it as lame or uncreative, but linking two events together through a specific piece of dialogue or an action or even location is a pretty classic way of doing things. Good examples are the first and final scene of season 1 taking place in the same location. Now we have the link between season 1 and 2 being established in both location type (concert) and event (Gungnir). The cherry on top for me was when Genjuro doled out the same line in reaction. Another +1 from me for the dialogue was the back-to-back “Seriously?!” from Hibiki, since it’s the same dialogue but polar opposite in meaning as a reaction to what’s going on.

    Maybe I’m reading too much into it because I love the show, lol.

    Having rewatched season 1 right before, and ep1 of season 2 a few times, Chris is definitely growing on me. I really didn’t like her in season 1 the first time through, it felt like her character was trying to hard initially to be the type of character she was and it seemed obnoxious. Now that we’re in season 2 and shes mellowed out, I like her a lot more. Though I hope there’s still good conflict between the good guys, because characters that get along too well can get kind of boring.

    Gah, a week can’t go by fast enough!

    Harpy12
    Reply

  23. Y’know, as the memories of this series’ first season flow back, something occurs to me re: Chris’ fighting style. She operates entirely using ranged attacks, the more spammable the better. Thing is, as the first season progressed and she kept pulling out more and bigger missiles, I started to wonder, “what’s the downside?” Noise always went down in one hit, so Chris seemed really OP with her extremely high attack volume. It is for this reason that I am very glad that she couldn’t kill the boss Noise easily, and Hibiki was the one to bring it down.
    BTW, did anyone understand Chris’ description of that trick with the train car? The subs I watched had her saying something about a “dimensional pocket” (?), and that it slowed the enemy down. As best I can guess, it’s something like the phasing shenanigans of Tobi, from Naruto. I just don’t understand what using that train car accomplished, exactly.

    mythnut
    Reply

    1. Well basically the train car forced them to go into dimensional pockets to go through it. Doing so slows their movements down because they’re taking the time to go into these pockets. So this makes it so that Hibiki’s attack can hit all of them in one go because they can’t dodge/move out as fast as they normally would, because once they’re within the train car, they need to go through it before they can get out of the pocket and freely move around.

      It’s kind of similar to the example you mentioned in Naruto.

      Zephyr
      Reply

    1. You’re not too far off. The animation studio is Satelight, which is the same who did AKB0048. Sure, it has some different main staff, but I’m sure there are common people aboard.

      ruicarlov
      Reply

  26. No much to say except… Awesome!!!
    This season start with a great amoount of power in this songs an battle sequences.
    Ah, right. The ED name is “Dark Oblivion” (the name can see in the credits ^^).
    Impatient waiting the second episode.
    Let’s music!!!

    Zero Wind
    Reply

    1. Well, for my Ears she did improve. if i am allowed to compare with a Engine. In the Past she reach her high Voice Output with these misfiring on the Peek in a Engine. But now her High Output is without these noise

      Germanguy
      Reply

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