OK, how many people remember what happened at the end of “Senki Zesshō Symphogear”? Did anyone do the homework assignments over the break? Anyone? Fine, I want two scrolls on my desk by tomorrow morning. To recap, the Noise was defeated, but we blew a crater in the moon the size of Texas, which now makes the moon look like Saturn.

“Senki Zesshō Symphogear G” starts up about three months after that climatic battle. The good guys (or gals, in this grouping) are, from right to left:

Tsubasa Kazanari. Half of the group Zwei Wing, her partner, Kanade, died but passed her relic on.
Chris Yukine. A bit of a loose cannon, she was an enemy who became an ally.
Hibiki Tachibana. She is trying her best to be a good fighter, but she has merely a shard in her, not a full relic.

They are supposed to protect Dr. Ver (a mad scientist type) and Solomon’s Cane, a device that can summon The Noise, but they are set upon by the Noise during a transfer from one place to another. They then learn that the person they wanted to see in concert, Maria Cadenzavna Eve, (that uber babe with the wings on her boobs) calls upon the Noise so she can hold the stadium hostage and do battle with the heroines. As they prepare to attack her, Marie gets two support help. Yes, those bad guys….uh, gals, up there who are (here, left to right):

Kirika Akatsuki
Shirabe Tsukuyomi

They fight to a standstill, but learn that not only is Dr. Ver and Solomon’s Cane on the side of evil, but that the evil is in the form of Maria, Kirika and Shirabe! They have plans, plans of such a terrifying nature that it takes three episodes to tell us all of them!

I do not have any overall problems with Girls Who Save the World shows, but there is a tendency to get bogged down with fan service, even if it is just legginess or scanty outfits. Please note the legginess and scanty outfits up there. Plus some revealing transformation sequences as well are heaved into the mix. And when we throw in a pseudo crisis (this involves Hibiki, but it a plot point, so cannot be revealed at this time), the whole thing starts to devolve into the DBZ Syndrome (Endless fighting amid more endless fighting, when we are not endlessly fighting).

And Dr. Ver! Crfap, he is the stereotypical mad scientist. (OK, I misspelled ‘crap’, but I really like what I made, so we’ll keep it). Even “Dexter’s Lab” wasn’t as cornball as this guy, with the jiggly eyes and the maniacal laugh and the overweening arrogance that comes with the Power of Science! All he needs are the purple rubber gloves and he’d be perfect.

It’s just that anything good or interesting in the first series got watered under with all the eye-popping histrionics for the second season. And when some of the girls break out their signature moves (Megadeth Party, Queen’s Inferno, GigaZepplin) you start to wonder. Is there a MetallicaMash as well? Do all heavy metal bands get this treatment? And that’s where the problem lies.

You are forced away from the story and zoom in more on the mechanics of the plotting, wondering what caliber of whimsy is going to get trotted out so you can see how really creative these folks are. You also reach a point where you want the bad guys’ plans to succeed, just to put an end to the show. I have seen other GWSTW shows that were handled with more aplomb. Crfap, even ‘Sailor Moon’ would be better to watch.

Maybe if the girls were a tad older, a bit more mature, an upgrade better, we could leave behind a lot of these petty annoying concerns that bedevil them (“Will she ever like me?”). No, we get bogged down in what real commitment is to whatever you believe in and YOU don’t have it, slacker! Oh, like I am going to listen to trash talkin’ from some villain and feel it is the truth? Just say that outfit makes her butt look fat and you’ll stop her in her tracks. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

In the end, the good guys win; we all become friends and go to Akihabara to score on the latest J-Pop CDs. Hooray for the power of friendship.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 7 (Some of those costumes get really silly)
Plot 6 (Weakened unnecessarily)
Pacing 6 (Fight sequences get tiresome)
Effectiveness 7 (A bit predictable)
Conclusion 8 (Oddly enough, there is an actual end)
Fan Service 4 (A similar show would be “Gurren Lagann”)

Overall 8 (A smudge too neatly tied up)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Crfap!