At the end of our last Symphogear Challenge post, I brought in the term “Because It’s Symphogear”. We are up to Season 4 now: Symphogear AXZ. I think any other person who would be binge-watching this franchise for the first time would just take this term as gospel now, and just say that anything they don’t quite get or understand in the show means they can just say “because It’s Symphogear”, and that explains everything. Heck, it was only towards the end of writing a final draft of this post when I learnt that another name for this season was ‘Symphogear Axis‘. Yes. It took me that long to notice…
As you go through each season, you do notice that the studio (Satelight) are constantly trying to better themselves, with them trying out new things as each new season goes by. Notice in season 2 (Symphogear G), they brought in villains that ultimately end up becoming good guys (Maria, Shirabe and Kirika), and season 3 (Symphogear GX) not only introduces the world of alchemy into the franchise, but makes an attempt at a solid narrative. Here in season 4 (Symphogear AXZ, or Axis), they throw a couple of things out the window and try to introduce new things.
First of all, our antagonists, the Bavarian Illuminati. For them, it’s a new world order or bust. Unsurprisingly, the three members we see the most (Saint-Germain, Cagliostro and Prelati) turn out to be pawns in what the big baddie, Adam, has in mind. Also what’s interesting is that, later on in the show, we discover that some of these villains in the Illuminati used to be men.
While Saint-Germain (you could call her the main baddie) dresses in a more androgynous manner despite being a master alchemist who has created a ‘perfect body’ for herself, Cagliostro and Prelati both used to be men but were given female bodies by Saint-Germain. As all three of these villains are master alchemists, this presents a real problem for S.O.N.G Task Force: they all wield power that can easily overcome the Symphogear warriors.
Just as I liked antagonist Carol in Symphogear GX, I liked Saint-Germain. She gave off the same kind of assertive manner and demeanor that Maria did in Symphogear G. As for the others, well…I think Prelati and Cagliostro were brought in for two reasons: one for pure cuteness, and the other for plain lewdness. To reinforce this theory, we are treated to a backstory for Saint-Germain, and given next to nothing for Prelati and Cagliostro. Saying all this about the Bavarian Illuminati, these bad guys are either completely broken and misunderstood, or completely irredeemable (like Adam is). I was able to like Saint-Germain, I even can call her misunderstood, they explain why she does what she does after all, but when it came to Adam, I just wanted Hibiki and co. to kick his backside as soon as possible.
Moving on, we are given all sorts of narratives in this season, all of which in an attempt to distract us from all the frantic action. Maria, Shirabe and Kirika still rely on LiNKER serum to obtain their Symphogear powers, and so suddenly faced with a shortage of the serum, they have to learn to fight without it. We are also given some story arcs on Chris, Maria and Shirabe, and what their lives were like before they became Symphogear users. Chris has always been my favorite girl, ever since season 1, and she remains my favorite here. These mini-stories are the reason I rate this season lower than others, on top of the fact that the villains aren’t as stellar as past ones had been…
It does sound like I’m throwing a lot of shade at this fourth season. Come to think of it, there aren’t that many anime franchises that make it beyond three seasons, so there’s something that Symphogear is doing that obviously works. Elements Garden nail the music pretty easily, and when it comes to the fighting, we don’t often care if it’s Hibiki punching more justice into the bad guys, or Tsubasa and her slice attacks, or Chris with yet another ranged weapon combo…we still end up cheering them on. When all the fighting is done, and the adults are left to clean up all the destruction they caused, they all go back home to celebrate, or contemplate hard on a taunt one of the villains made to them.
Now enough about all of that, what about the yuri? Well as each episode of each season goes by, we are made more and more aware that Hibiki and Miku are destined to live forever in Yuri Valhalla. I can say this in relation to what happens between them in this fourth season on two grounds. Firstly, by what the two call each other; Hibiki calls Miku “her warm sunshine”, and Miku calls Hibiki “her shining sun”. This alone raises a lot of death flags, and gives us a lot to think about for the future. Secondly, by the show’s epilogue; I won’t spoil too much of it (as it relates to what goes on in season 5, apparently), but…wow…it’s really made me look forward to this new season.
*by the way, I do know what happens to Miku in Symphogear XV; it’s been kind of hard to avoid all the spoilers that have appeared in my social media feeds*
Symphogear AXZ has its strengths in all the things that Symphogear stans crave for in every single episode they watch: good animation, exciting and crazy fighting, an infectiously good soundtrack. The bad news is that…it’s a sequel show that no-one else really asked for. Satelight have tried to up the ante with every new season, and as you watch, the question you ask yourself is: what exactly can they do that we haven’t seen before? I mean, take the opening episode for season 3 (Symphogear GX) – the team were able to stop a space shuttle from burning up on re-entry, and Hibiki punched the second-highest mountain (K2) in half. You know that the team at Satelight certainly have a lot of fun while making each season, and so I don’t know if this is just some Symphogear malaise talking, but at this point, I would have really preferred to see more new things. It probably is malaise, as the show’s epilogue does give us a lot of plot ammunition for season 5. Ehh…I don’t even care how crazy or ridiculous these new things would have to be; I go by the “Because It’s Symphogear” phrase now, so literally anything could happen and I’d likely be happy.
One line in episode 2 pretty much summarizes the whole of Symphogear AXZ:
“Fist 1, Reason 0”
Would this line apply to the entire franchise though? Well that’s for you to judge, and whether you think all of this absurdity, frantic and crazy action, and silliness is pure entertainment or pure cheese.
The next Symphogear Challenge post will be the final one, and will cover the most recent season (Symphogear XV) which has only just ended. Wish me luck.