Review of Symphogear G

Fans of the original Symphogear show likely have come to the conclusion that Symphogear is a fun, but extremely mediocre show that can’t be taken seriously. While it had great music and moments of heart pounding action, it also had some quality issues from a low budget, a string of horrendous writing, and poor character development, all coined together in what looked like haphazard direction. Fortunately, Symphogear G fixes these problems while maintaining the original feeling of bravado from the first season, and it can even be considered, dare say, a great show. The increase in production and quality can be seen from the very firstepisode of Symphogear G. It opens with a fluid battle scene, then as reminiscent of the first season, throws one of the most explosive and amazing looking concerts akin to the ones you can see in AKB0048. Unlike the first season that seemed to have blown all their budget in the first episode then used chump change to gear the rest of the show, the animation for Symhpogear G does not take a sudden drop in quality and stays consistent for the most part, save for moments here and there.

In addition, Yoko Hikasa, Ai Kayano, and Tomokazu Sugita, all talented and well-known voice actors come to play an additional role in the show. Especially with the addition of Hikasa and Kayano who contribute songs to Symphogear G along with the previous returning main cast (Aoi Yuuki, Nana Mizuki, Ayahi Takagaki), the show presents a powerful amount of song pieced together with well-orchestrated music. Fans should be returning to this season for some wonderful music; and Symphogear G very much over over leaps expectations. The only unfortunate part is that while there are great pieces of music in the show, there is only really one concert scene in the entire show. Though visually and audibly orgasmic it may have been, there's a feeling of disappointment that other songs did not receive the same treatment.

The writing and characters becomes the biggest improvement in Symphogear G. This season takes three months after the first one, where the main cast learns not every problem has been solved from their previous encounters and now face a new terrorist organization that can also use Symphogears. The plot is actually built from the very ground up and manages to reveal the story along the way for viewers to speculate on how events unfold, unlike the first season that seemed to make plot devices up as the show went up and felt like nonsense at the very end. Symphogear G seems to have learned that plot twists are endearing devices to hook viewers up to the show, and it does quite a lot of it this time around that will want viewers to move on to the next episode as quickly as possible. Some of the twists are somewhat obvious and easy to figure out, but nevertheless they succeed in giving the proper emotional impact needed to move on with the show.

What really shines are the characters in this season. With the melodramatic infighting between the main characters of the first season out of the way, Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris finally form what looks like a real team. Their interactions and relationship development are vastly improved, and the first few slice-of-life aspects at the start give a real endearing feeling. The new antagonists of the show; a crazed madman voiced by Sugita and can control the Noise, an elderly commanding woman, and three Symphogear users, are also given much screen time during the show. During their time, much of their character and motivations begin to change and develop as they attempt to fulfill their plans which have questionable morals. Strangely, they are actually given so much focus that the antagonists themselves begin to feel like the heroes. Apart from the crazy madman voiced by Sugita, whose main appeals seems to being insane and making over-dramatic expressions (Which Sugita really does well actually) to entertain the views, the other members of the terrorist organization have so much of their own internal struggles that the viewer may end up wanting to support them in the end. Coupled with their own character songs which are equally enjoyable to listen to as the songs of the main cast, it becomes very difficult to not like the antagonists. Not many shows can achieve well-written villains that manage to gain the sympathy of the audience, but Symphogear G manages to just this. The obvious problem with this however is that fans coming from the original show may feel like the main cast do not get enough attention. Strictly speaking, this is not true as the main heroes, especially Hibiki, are given their proper development and own internal struggles. However, there may be some fans who feel the main focus should be on the protagonists rather than a shared one with the antagonists, and miss the slice-of-life aspects of the show that are gone after the first few episodes at the start.

In conclusion; Symphogear G fixes many problems from the original show while maintaining the silly quirks from the first season (Such as Hibiki punching a train in to a group of enemy Noise) that fans enjoyed. It comes with a bigger budget and actually presents its own original story that will keep the viewer going. Certain fans may feel it loses appeal because the slice-of-life aspect is toned down, but Symphogear G definitely will find a warmer reception with the overall audience.

Sadly, the original show may have already lost a chunk of the audience that was interested in it. Those who finished the first season, were disappointed by it, and are wondering whether to watch G or not should definitely give it a shot.