Impression:

I really hope that you enjoy singing because we get our fair share of it in this episode. None of it was bad, but it wasn’t all good either. Japan likes to make everyone sing, so I hope that they enjoy the experience. I won’t judge too harshly because I sing like a dying cat.

I guess the transformation doesn’t occur instantaneously.

The confrontation at the end of last week’s episode continued at the beginning of this one. The fights were actually pretty interesting even though I did not find them to be completely satisfying. That is the issue that arises when one side gets crippled by gas that messing with your synch ratio. The Finé escape with the Nephilim, but their base is destroyed and their relics have been taken. That means that the Nephilim no longer has a food source. The thing must be a picky eater. Apparently, it will eat the symphogears, so the little divas have left to steal some relics. Maria cannot go because using her symphogear hastens her transformation into Finé. The resonance is what triggers the cellular memory. The girls end up at the school festival because we can’t have a school anime without one, so we do get some more light-hearted stuff. Chris has a really nice solo that I enjoyed. Unfortunately, the moment was cut short by an attack that will occur in the next episode. Dealing with terrorists really messes up life. I guess that is goal.

Chris is my favorite character.

Current Opinion of the Show:

I am very up and down regarding this series. On the bright side, I do like the action scenes. They are pretty cool and none of the singing has killed me yet. Some singers are just better than others. I would like to see more from Chris because her abilities look the coolest in my opinion. Hibiki is kind of boring in all honesty. On that note, I am glad that we are seeing more of Chris. Her solo was very nice and it made the school festival part of the episode not suck. I am intrigued by the fact that the Nephilim eats relics. That is a mystery that I want more of. On the other hand, I am a bit tired of the anti-villain thing. I want a villain in this series to actually be evil. Instead, we are getting more girls that have fallen victim to unfortunate circumstances. They will inevitably come together and fight off a great evil because you can’t make the girls actual bad guys. “We protect what justice cannot.” Technically, that is a lot of things, but I think having anti-villains as your main villains isn’t really the best thing. At least not with the writing strength that this series has presented.

I guess that could be a thing.

The statements by both Tsubasa and Shirabe bring up a few interesting things. Is Maria held back by her lack of natural compatibility with the symphogear like Tsubasa thinks? Technically, Finé used a complete relic while in Ryoko’s body. Even Chris used it without singing. That is a possibility. If you add that to the fact that using her symphogear slowly corrodes her spirit, then Maria really has the odds stacked against her. It is the statement that Finé is trying to take of Maria’s body that has me wondering something. Who is really pulling the strings here? I doubt that it is Finé if her soul has yet to take hold of Maria. Also, I doubt that the series would forget what she said to Hibiki at the end of everything. This series likes to be way too happy. So, are Dr. Ver and the dying woman behind this? Either that or there are other former FIS members that we have yet to meet. I really want to know how Dr. Ver planned on fighting the girls. Could he be similar to the commander? Well, that wouldn’t surprise me.

Hibiki is special.