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What the hell is Symphogear?
Hello friends. Today let's talk about Senki Zesshou Symphogear.
As the fifth season of Symphogear approaches, you're likely to see a lot of bad taste lesbians in your social media circles start hollering increasingly about alchemy or divine power or something. As your local bad taste lesbian, I'm here to both provide an overview of what Symphogear is, and also talk both about what makes it compelling, and what makes it problematic.
I don't know if I would really recommend actually watching Symphogear, but there is definitely a lot going for it. It also has some things about it that makes it really hard to recommend.
What is Symphogear about?
At the base level, Symphogear is a show about a bunch of teenaged girls who have superpowered mech suits made from ancient technology that they use to fight equally ancient monsters, or, more recently, superpowered alchemists. Also they're idols for some reason?
But that's just the basics. The thing that makes Symphogear compelling is the way that it grapples with love, loss, and duty, the ways it talks about and shows romantic relationships among its cast, and a thoroughly well-done iteration of the optimistic friend-making protagonist, except this time she's a girl and a lesbian.
Why might I want to watch it?
Symphogear opens by showing us how much Hibiki (our protagonist) and Miku (her girlfriend) mean to each other, and this relationship is core to all of what Symphogear is about. The show is explicit in saying that Hibiki and Miku's connection is something special, and that the magical power that Hibiki (and by extension the other Symphogear wielders) wields is fundamentally tied to the strength that this relationship gives her. That's pretty gay. Also they live together and sleep in the same bed, which is, well, you know. They're very good friends.
But Miku and Hibiki aren't the only couple that is central to this show. Next up are Tsubasa and Kanade, who introduce the central mechanics of the show, the Symphogears and their perennial nemesis, the Noise. Although they are known as Idols (the musician kind, not the religious concept), Kanade and Tsubasa are equipped with fragments of ancient relics that let them sing special songs to do magical girl transformations into armored warriors. A Symphogear wielder is the only one who can touch the Noise (the weird monsters of mysterious origin) without being instantly turned into undifferentiated carbon. This power comes at a cost, though, as singing the songs to activate the relics requires special compatibility (or a drug called LiNKER to compensate), and takes a toll on their bodies.
Kanade doesn't last long, singing her "Climax Song" to sacrifice herself and save Hibiki's life. In the process, her relic (the Gungnir) is embedded in Hibiki's chest, giving her the power to transform as well. Despite its centrality to the ongoing plot, this scene is a bit cheapened by the fact that nobody else ever dies from the stress of their Climax Song after this, and by even the end of the first season it isn't a risk so much as it's just a special powerup that you can do if you're willing to bleed from the eyes a bit.
Tsubasa, who was deeply in love with Kanade, takes this loss pretty hard. She's later revealed to be the daughter of a family that has been deeply involved with the ancient technology research and defense for generations, and that due to her (frankly abusive) upbringing, she regards herself primarily as a weapon, rather than a person. Still, Tsubasa takes it pretty hard when Hibiki (and later Maria) are able to use the power that Kanade died for. Sadly, this isn't really pursued as much as I'd like.
In the first season, Hibiki and Tsubasa are opposed by the Noise, and by their commanders, the misguided Gear-wielder Chris, and the evil Fine, reincarnation of an ancient priestess who wants to destroy the moon so she can undo the curse of the tower of Babel and then kill and/or fuck God. You know.
When the show really hits its stride is season 2, when Chris is part of the squad with Hibiki and Tsubasa, and a new trio of opposing Symphogear wielders are introduced. First is Maria, who has a "dark" version of Gungnir, the Symphogear wielded by both Kanade and HIbiki. Accompanying her are the show's other couple, Kirika and Shirabe (not much to say about them other than that they're very gay and it's good).
Season 2 also introduces a new element that I'll briefly discuss here, as it's going to be very relevant in the upcoming season. Hibiki's embedded Gungnir fragment is growing, an almost cancer-like affliction that threatens to overwhelm her personhood and turn her into a raging monster. She's eventually healed by her gf Miku, who's been tricked by the villains into piloting a different relic that has a sort of purifying power (in the form of a giant laser). Eventually both Hibiki and Miku get hit by this laser, curing Hibiki's symphocancer but also (it is later revealed) cleansing both of them of original sin and rendering them eligible to channel divine power. That's going to become important now that divine power is way more involved (after season 4), but in the moment this is a continuation of the existing theme (stated explicitly by several characters earlier in the season) that Miku and Hibiki ultimately depend on and reinforce each other, and that the strength each of them has is derived from their relationship with each other.
One thing that I wish that the show was able to spend more time on is Maria's Gungnir. After Hibiki gets lasered, she ends up stealing Gungnir, and after that Maria uses a different Symphogear (originally used by her long-dead sister, the only other person in the show to actually die from her Climax Song). The thing that we don't really see as much as I'd like is an exploration of what it means that these are relic fragments (rather than the whole relic), and, more importantly, what it actually means to Tsubasa that people other than Kanade can use Gungnir. Especially since Maria and Tsubasa are persistently romantically linked, it would have been nice to see a bit more parallelism here.
In conclusion, this is a show about gay girls doing cool shit and loving and supporting each other despite difficult circumstances. That's pretty cool in my opinion.
Why might I not want to watch it?
Symphogear is not without its problems. The biggest one (and most likely to be a dealbreaker) is that the camera is very gaze-y. I'm not going to sugarcoat this, it is pretty gross sometimes, especially given that the characters are teenagers. Different people are going to be able to tolerate or look past this to different degrees in different media, and this is one that requires a substantial tolerance.
Beyond that, the show also has a bit of a thing for tragic backstories, to the point that it is almost absurd in a few cases. Almost all of the characters had abusive or terrible childhoods (in some cases literally being in an "orphanage" that was actually a secret research facility turning children into magical soldiers), and in one particular case we see some of that abuse on-screen (Chris and Fine have a particularly nasty scene in season 1 where Fine gets naked and electroshock-tortures Chris for fun). Thankfully, they calm down a little bit in later seasons, it's never quite that bad again.
So, in the end, why care?
I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't find something compelling about Symphogear. Hibiki actually is a really great protagonist, and it really is refreshing to see so many obvious lesbians in a show (even if they can't say it out loud ever, despite everything). Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for Symphogear. Hopefully this time it's not a naked guy and his robot sex doll like it was last season.
As the fifth season of Symphogear approaches, you're likely to see a lot of bad taste lesbians in your social media circles start hollering increasingly about alchemy or divine power or something. As your local bad taste lesbian, I'm here to both provide an overview of what Symphogear is, and also talk both about what makes it compelling, and what makes it problematic.
I don't know if I would really recommend actually watching Symphogear, but there is definitely a lot going for it. It also has some things about it that makes it really hard to recommend.
What is Symphogear about?
At the base level, Symphogear is a show about a bunch of teenaged girls who have superpowered mech suits made from ancient technology that they use to fight equally ancient monsters, or, more recently, superpowered alchemists. Also they're idols for some reason?
But that's just the basics. The thing that makes Symphogear compelling is the way that it grapples with love, loss, and duty, the ways it talks about and shows romantic relationships among its cast, and a thoroughly well-done iteration of the optimistic friend-making protagonist, except this time she's a girl and a lesbian.
Why might I want to watch it?
Symphogear opens by showing us how much Hibiki (our protagonist) and Miku (her girlfriend) mean to each other, and this relationship is core to all of what Symphogear is about. The show is explicit in saying that Hibiki and Miku's connection is something special, and that the magical power that Hibiki (and by extension the other Symphogear wielders) wields is fundamentally tied to the strength that this relationship gives her. That's pretty gay. Also they live together and sleep in the same bed, which is, well, you know. They're very good friends.
But Miku and Hibiki aren't the only couple that is central to this show. Next up are Tsubasa and Kanade, who introduce the central mechanics of the show, the Symphogears and their perennial nemesis, the Noise. Although they are known as Idols (the musician kind, not the religious concept), Kanade and Tsubasa are equipped with fragments of ancient relics that let them sing special songs to do magical girl transformations into armored warriors. A Symphogear wielder is the only one who can touch the Noise (the weird monsters of mysterious origin) without being instantly turned into undifferentiated carbon. This power comes at a cost, though, as singing the songs to activate the relics requires special compatibility (or a drug called LiNKER to compensate), and takes a toll on their bodies.
Kanade doesn't last long, singing her "Climax Song" to sacrifice herself and save Hibiki's life. In the process, her relic (the Gungnir) is embedded in Hibiki's chest, giving her the power to transform as well. Despite its centrality to the ongoing plot, this scene is a bit cheapened by the fact that nobody else ever dies from the stress of their Climax Song after this, and by even the end of the first season it isn't a risk so much as it's just a special powerup that you can do if you're willing to bleed from the eyes a bit.
Tsubasa, who was deeply in love with Kanade, takes this loss pretty hard. She's later revealed to be the daughter of a family that has been deeply involved with the ancient technology research and defense for generations, and that due to her (frankly abusive) upbringing, she regards herself primarily as a weapon, rather than a person. Still, Tsubasa takes it pretty hard when Hibiki (and later Maria) are able to use the power that Kanade died for. Sadly, this isn't really pursued as much as I'd like.
In the first season, Hibiki and Tsubasa are opposed by the Noise, and by their commanders, the misguided Gear-wielder Chris, and the evil Fine, reincarnation of an ancient priestess who wants to destroy the moon so she can undo the curse of the tower of Babel and then kill and/or fuck God. You know.
When the show really hits its stride is season 2, when Chris is part of the squad with Hibiki and Tsubasa, and a new trio of opposing Symphogear wielders are introduced. First is Maria, who has a "dark" version of Gungnir, the Symphogear wielded by both Kanade and HIbiki. Accompanying her are the show's other couple, Kirika and Shirabe (not much to say about them other than that they're very gay and it's good).
Season 2 also introduces a new element that I'll briefly discuss here, as it's going to be very relevant in the upcoming season. Hibiki's embedded Gungnir fragment is growing, an almost cancer-like affliction that threatens to overwhelm her personhood and turn her into a raging monster. She's eventually healed by her gf Miku, who's been tricked by the villains into piloting a different relic that has a sort of purifying power (in the form of a giant laser). Eventually both Hibiki and Miku get hit by this laser, curing Hibiki's symphocancer but also (it is later revealed) cleansing both of them of original sin and rendering them eligible to channel divine power. That's going to become important now that divine power is way more involved (after season 4), but in the moment this is a continuation of the existing theme (stated explicitly by several characters earlier in the season) that Miku and Hibiki ultimately depend on and reinforce each other, and that the strength each of them has is derived from their relationship with each other.
One thing that I wish that the show was able to spend more time on is Maria's Gungnir. After Hibiki gets lasered, she ends up stealing Gungnir, and after that Maria uses a different Symphogear (originally used by her long-dead sister, the only other person in the show to actually die from her Climax Song). The thing that we don't really see as much as I'd like is an exploration of what it means that these are relic fragments (rather than the whole relic), and, more importantly, what it actually means to Tsubasa that people other than Kanade can use Gungnir. Especially since Maria and Tsubasa are persistently romantically linked, it would have been nice to see a bit more parallelism here.
In conclusion, this is a show about gay girls doing cool shit and loving and supporting each other despite difficult circumstances. That's pretty cool in my opinion.
Why might I not want to watch it?
Symphogear is not without its problems. The biggest one (and most likely to be a dealbreaker) is that the camera is very gaze-y. I'm not going to sugarcoat this, it is pretty gross sometimes, especially given that the characters are teenagers. Different people are going to be able to tolerate or look past this to different degrees in different media, and this is one that requires a substantial tolerance.
Beyond that, the show also has a bit of a thing for tragic backstories, to the point that it is almost absurd in a few cases. Almost all of the characters had abusive or terrible childhoods (in some cases literally being in an "orphanage" that was actually a secret research facility turning children into magical soldiers), and in one particular case we see some of that abuse on-screen (Chris and Fine have a particularly nasty scene in season 1 where Fine gets naked and electroshock-tortures Chris for fun). Thankfully, they calm down a little bit in later seasons, it's never quite that bad again.
So, in the end, why care?
I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't find something compelling about Symphogear. Hibiki actually is a really great protagonist, and it really is refreshing to see so many obvious lesbians in a show (even if they can't say it out loud ever, despite everything). Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for Symphogear. Hopefully this time it's not a naked guy and his robot sex doll like it was last season.