Symphogear XV
a review by Ocatu
a review by Ocatu
Not unlike all my other reviews, this will be less of an actual review and more an unorganised stream of consciousness after watching the entirety of this masterpiece that is the whole symphogear series.
I will try to keep the general parts spoiler-free for people that might be interested in checking the series out, and will give a warning before spoiling anything.
Now let’s start with what’s important. Is symphogear any good? Well, that’s complicated. It’s a very unique show like nothing I’ve ever seen before. A mix of several genres and concepts that come together to make one of my favourite series of all time.
Well, you didn’t answer the question, you might ask. And that’s true, because I find it very difficult to give an answer in this particular case. Symphogear has many fantastic qualities and a lot of horrible ones as well. The difference is in whether the watcher takes those flaws at face value, or appreciates them for the ridiculousness and cheesiness they bring to the series.
To start, as always, I’ll get into the pros and cons of the entire series as objectively as I can, and later I’ll talk about them a bit more in detail.
Pros
Cons
Note that for me, all of these “cons” except for the sketchy animation in the first seasons are not cons at all, they don’t detract at all from my enjoyment. On the contrary, I love Symphogear’s plot, dialogue, action and setting, but that doesn’t mean they are any good.
Now, maybe you’ve read until this point, and you are still asking yourself: Should I really watch 5 seasons of this? Is it really worth my time? And here’s my answer. Do you like the sound of watching a cheesy 80s action movie where the protagonists are singing power rangers, the plot is ridiculous to the point of delirium, and the levels of unga bunga turn-your-brain-off action are through the roof? If yes, give it a try. But keep in mind the first season is the weakest in my opinion.
From the first season onward, they refine the formula with each iteration and the seasons only get better and better, trimming what was maybe unnecessary and improving on what makes the series unique. That means more budget for the animation and sound teams and embracing the cheesiness and stupidity of the writing.
Not much to say here, Chris is okay, I like Maria quite a lot, and Tsubasa is alright I guess, but the rest are nothing special or even worth-mentioning writing-wise. But let me tell you, I have no idea why, but in Symphogear that doesn’t affect my capability to get attached to them. Somehow, against all logic, this has been one of few series where I’ve physically rooted for the characters when they did something cool while watching.
There’s a couple of secondary characters though that I feel obligated to mention, because they are one of my favourite parts of the whole series, and they’re Mr. Chad Genjuurou himself and Ogawa, the character that has a design more generic than your average extra.
Genjuurou, the commander, the man, the legend, has superhuman strength, capable of standing against Symphogears in hand to hand combat and beating them, capable of destroying a rock the size of a meteor with a simple punch, capable of causing an earthquake-level shockwave with just a stomp of his foot. And you might ask, what’s the reason for all his powers? And that’s the best part, it’s never explained.
Same for Ogawa, he’s a ninja that moves like Goku with his instant transmission, and can run on water, make body doubles and everything. In short, superhuman abilities as well, also not explained, and the rest of the planet are just normal humans with just a couple of exceptions.
The plot is one of my favourite things about the series, and probably the most bonkers you’ll have seen in a while. The show has refined the formula of each season making a banger of a first episode and then building towards an always epic and very hype finale where, as I said before, I end up physically cheering for the characters and with a big smile on my face.
I will talk a little bit about the setting here as well, and this will involve some SPOILERS.
As I said before, it’s absolutely nonsensical but I love it. Ancient relics of mythological weapons such as Gungnir or Ichaival (Ýdalir) that are activated via song and transform their wielders into superpowered action heroes. Ancient alien gods that try to control humanity by literally building the moon with a metaphor involving the tower of babel. Nazis that fled to South America with ancient relics sponsored by the German illuminati, and the list goes on. I just loved seeing what crazy shit the writers would come up with each season and enjoyed every single moment of it.
XV also has one of the endings I've enjoyed the most in anime that wraps everything up beautifully (Shem-ha Miku step on me).
SPOILERS OVER.
The music is one of the most important aspects of the series, as probably 95% of the action is performed while singing, and most of the show is action. And let me tell you, I like it a lot. It has a very distinct aesthetic, and Symphogear has at least one unique song per character each season they sing while fighting, with sometimes duet songs for big moments or collective ones for the finales. Also, the fact that they always use the opening and its name in each season for the big finisher move against the big bad guy brings a level of hype hard to match.
I will leave here a couple of examples for the interested:
In conclusion, this anime is pure hype, and honestly I have no idea how it turned out this way, but for some reason the recipe works. All the ingredients work together to create something special, the action, the music, the cheesiness, the over-the-top ridiculousness of everything, the hype, and the secret ingredient that powers everything up, just like the symphogears, love.
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