Jan 24 2021 217 mins 3
After a long hiatus, it’s time for another episode of the Maser Patrol podcast. This time, we take a look at a show with a valuable life lesson:
That’s right, this time around Josh and Kevin discuss the sweet Swan Songs of the Valkyries in the Senki Zesshō Symphogear franchise. It’s largely a synopsis of the five seasons, but hopefully our enthusiasm (and a little bit of the historical context) gives a sense of why it’s a program absolutely worth checking out.
Warnings: Many spoilers. Also, the editing for this podcast might not be all that tight due to Audacity problems (but it’s Maser Patrol, so of course it’s a couple hours long anyway).
Show notes:
- Buy Season 1 here
- Buy Season 2 here
- Watch on Crunchyroll
- The indispensable Symphogear wiki
- The Shooting the Moon fansite
Marketing
- How Symphogear is marketed in Japan:
- How Symphogear is marketed in the US:
- How Symphogear probably should be marketed:
- But what Symphogear is really about:
Sample clips:
- The marketing leading up to season 1 all implied that Kanade would be a main character, and not, say, someone who would die halfway into the first episode:
Talking about the show:
- Hibiki Tachibana in a nutshell:
- The Noise designs are very much like Tohl Narita’s Ultraman monsters:
- Even more psuedo-Ultraman: The Nephilim was modeled after Zetton, while Hibiki turns into a red-and-silver giant at one point.
- Yumi’s self-awareness:
- Ignite module vs Kill la Kill god robe:
The mobile game
- Symphogear XD Unlimited mobile game opening:
XDU Collaborations that’d be of interest:
- SSSS.Gridman
- Godzilla
- ULTRAMAN
- Nanoha Detonation
- Attack on Titan
- the Gamera trilogy
- Nendoroids mentioned:
Hopefully that all sheds some light on why the franchise has such a devout fanbase, and why “watch Symphogear” has become a meme associated with rabid, proselytizing otaku. But seriously, if you’re even a bit curious, it’s worth checking out.
