Sigh.

While I neglected to write reviews for the first season of Symphogear and its sequel G , I enjoyed the former with all of its flaws and I absolutely ADORE the second season, it's a perfect cocktail. This season has a lot of promise, but ultimately can't stack up to the greatness of G, in part because it just bites off a little more than it can chew. It also just needed either more episodes or a slower pacing, and probably both, to address some of the shortcomings that start to show as this season nears its end.

It really, really starts off with a bang though, and the first half is incredibly well balanced despite all the things it has to juggle- delivering more campy and flashy action alongside tender character moments that work so well- especially Hibiki's. The moment where she regains her song will be burned into my brain forever, it made me cry and my heart sing. I also really was touched by how hard she tries to hide her struggles, and how many times Miku supports her when she falls down and can't hold it together anymore, in earnest love. It does feel like some story goals were truncated due to time constraints though- as by the last several episodes everything is beginning to speed up far too much- and by the last 2 episodes, it's going so fast that it's almost hard to get invested int he battle as much as I wanted to. That's not to say it wasn't heavy, climatic and adrenaline pumping, but it felt a little less weighty than before despite having the most destructive impact yet.

Hibiki and Tsubasa get such nice character work this season, and Shirabe/Kirika get some decent chunks too- but Chris and Maria are mostly undercut due to the pacing issue, and it is noticeable even when both have nice little moments.

The return of Ver is fun and adds some spice to a bit of a waning sense of momentum, but he serves little overall purpose to the narrative over than a feeling of bringing things fully to a close for all storylines, and some basic fanservice (which makes sense when considered that AXZ and XV were not initially in the cards.) The same goes for Fine's return as a doppelganger, though it leads to a fun fight with Maria.

Bikkie's dad is an interesting story addition and really does lead to some valuable emotional moments... but the way his arc is resolved feels very slapdash and leaves a sour taste in the mouth. he is simply undeserving of being absolved so quickly for the trauma he put Bikkie and her family through, and she should not have been expected to help mend the bonds broken by her scumbag father.

I wanna touch on Carol lastly because I think she becomes a very interesting antagonist by the end, and her design rocks- but her Autoscorers are somewhat lame and the attempted connection tot he familial traumas all the other girls have experienced feels tenuous and ill-defined. It also very much just feels like the climax to Season 1 again the way her plan plays out- though the conclusion of her story was quite interesting. Not as good of a main villain as Ver, but compelling enough in her own right, even so.

SO as a whole, the inconsistency in the pacing and the quality of character work is really unfortunate. I think if it were longer and paced more smoothly, this would be the best season. but as it stands, it's a bit less than the sum of its parts would suggest. I'm honestly glad the series didn't end here, top have a chance to conclude on a less bittersweet note.