Welcome to Part 2 of my review of Symphogear where, as mentioned in my overall review of the (supposed) final season, I would go into more detail on the lead duo Hibiki and Miku’s relationship development. Think of this also as a Yuri Talk post.
Check out Part 1, the G-View (spoiler free), HERE.
Note: This post is not meant to change minds but tell readers my side of the story. All I ask is to be civil in the comments. Do not harass other people for not sharing your views.
This is the best viewers are gonna get from these two until the chibi extras are released.
Before we get to the main topic let us go over the 3rd most popular couple in the series (ShiraKiri are #2, or #1 for some). To me they were the Ruby X Weiss of the series (RWBY fans know what I am talking about), meaning they are the “wishful thinking” ship. Here is the thing. In my eyes their potential relationship development did not truly start until around Season 4/AXZ. In Season 2/G shippers were going crazy for Tsubasa X Christopher (Remember Maria, Kirika and Shirabe were antagonists then). In Season 3/GX it was “Team Christopher” vs “Team Maria”. I admittedly was on Team Maria. In Season 4/AXZ it was clear Maria “won” the battle of “getting to spend more personal time with Tsubasa”…which for viewers who saw the chibi extras (Season 2 and onward) knew Maria already had the advantage before her “rivalry” with Christopher began.
Maria intimidated by Tsubasa’s awesomeness in one of the chibi extras.
Speaking of the chibi extras fans who saw them know that they not only consist of cute comedy skits but an in depth look into the heroes and antagonists featuring extra tidbits about them not shown or really delved into in the main anime. When it comes to MariTsuba, apart from her spending a lot of time with Tsubasa as part of her missions (Maria became a secret agent of S.O.N.G. after serving her time alongside ShiraKiri), the two did not have many scenes of them being lovey dovey around each other compared to the other two couples.
Maria’s occasional uber blushing around her was the best we got. Tsubasa mainly saw her as a respectable equal on stage and on the battlefield and a friend.
Maria was ultimately the one to free Tsubasa from her depression.
Season 5 is where we finally started getting some progress from Maria showing the most concern for Tsubasa while being serious at the same time. She was the oldest member of Team Symphogear and she felt it was her duty to basically be the “dada” of the group while Christopher became the “mama”. As we recall Milaarc and Fudou messed with Tsubasa’s mind REALLY HARD, sending her into a deep depression bringing great doubt about her life purpose. She was trained from an early age to become a protector and little else. It was through fortunate circumstances she got to become a singer. Thanks to that she believed she could bring positive change to the world not only with her sword but her words. Unfortunately Milaarc and especially Fudou tried twisting her mind into a “survival of the fittest” mentality or that the Kazanari Family are the only ones strong enough to lead the weak. Maria was sent on a mission to stop Fudou and the not exactly brainwashed Tsubasa. She was authorized to kill if necessary but of course Maria was having none of that crap.
An already long story short Maria figured the best way to heal the heart of a warrior is approaching her like a fellow warrior. Basically it is ONLY NOW that a potential relationship can blossom between the two. Best we can hope for is the Season 5 chibi extras for more details and if possible a movie because we do not need a Season 6.
Ah yes. We now know for sure Maria is the “top/seme”.
Right then. Finally it is time for the main event.
I suppose the best place to start is the beginning where my heart knew it would become eternally invested in HibiMiku’s romance. It was in 2012, somewhere around…
Season 1, episode 2. Bed scene.
…here. Episode 1 had a sign but when HibiMiku went bed I “squeed” loudly thanks to the girl I deemed “The Ultimate Lesbian Waifu”. Miku was never a trained fighter like her beloved eventual leader/ace of Team Symphogear who I dubbed Captain Bikkie (Thank you Captain Marvel movie), but there were moments here and there where she saved her captain be it via emotional support or a rescue in a dangerous situation. Seasons 1 and 2 showed a lot of development between the two. In S2 Miku played the “worried spouse” for half of the show but when the baddies got involved…
This emotionally difficult battle between HibiMiku in S2 was a very important one and a foreshadowing of what was to come in S5.
This emotional battle took place where the captain’s resolve was truly put to the test. The battle ended with the two somehow becoming potential vessels for a greater power. More on that in a bit.
In S3 Miku had a more “Go get ’em Tiger.” attitude toward her captain’s super heroics, being there for emotional support, listening to her and offering sage advice.
Miku saving Hibiki from the darkness once again.
In S4 Miku again saved the captain from the darkness near the end showing how powerful she was despite not being a warrior.
Now we come to S5 and the critical point of their relationship. Fans remember in the first episode Miku bringing up the question of what would the captain do were she to be become a threat to the others. Then in the above image as Bikkie mentioned her parents having difficulty conveying super deep stuff to each other, Miku could relate.
The game changing argument.
Next we got the game changing argument at the karaoke bar. The captain suggested taking Tsubasa (and Elfnein) to a karaoke bar to help relief her stress. Miku thought it was a bad idea and the two had an argument, leading to the revelation that changed everything between the two. Miku talked about how much it hurt her all this time seeing Hibiki put her life on the line time and again while she stood on the sidelines praying she came back safely. She blamed herself for not being strong enough to stand by her side and have a “We protect each other” moment (another reference RWBY yuri fans will get). Most importantly she blamed herself for Hibiki involuntarily becoming a superheroine and starting all this.
The dream Ferris Wheel scene.
For the longest time Miku was Hibiki’s “sunshine”. The one who was always by her side. The one who stuck with her when she was ostracized for being the “sole survivor” of the concert disaster in the beginning of the series. She was her best friend and most important person in her life. Her heart/conscience/source of sanity if you will. Remember this.
While recovering from a battle against a powerful enemy Hibiki had dream conversations with Miku (the first being an extended Ferris Wheel date) which was partially her heart guiding her brain to the truth. What I like to call the “heart knows what the brain does not” romantic obstacle.
Miku and Shem-Ha.
Meanwhile Miku was captured and used as the vessel of a fallen demigod, Shem-Ha, for Fudou to control in order to take over the world. Shem-Ha of course had her own goals. After Fudou’s defeat she proceeded with her own plan to rule the world, or in her mind take back what she felt was hers. What is important here is the discovery that Miku’s inability to tell Hibiki her true feelings was partially what allowed Shem-Ha to possess her. The darkness inside her heart essentially. Somewhere in her heart she was like “maybe this is the way to get my message across”. Of course Shem-Ha had other plans.
Fast forward to the final battle as the captain led Team Symphogear and CaroNein to war against Shem-Ha. While the battle was vintage Symphogear awesomeness the most important part came here.
The words that cleared Hibiki’s mind.
Basically “GIVE ME BACK MY MIKU, YOU BITCH!”
It was those words from Shem-Ha and Miku’s tears showing she was still fighting to regain control that helped our dear captain find the answer she was looking for.
And this dear readers is what I wanted when I told some that I hoped the writers would do the right thing. Whether we would get an on screen confession and/or kiss was not what I NEEDED to satisfy the long wait, no. I have watched enough shows with or centered around yuri to know how it all works. Sometimes we get a confession/and or kiss, other times the emotions are as clear as day where no words are needed. This was an example of the latter. All I wanted was for Hibiki and Miku to realize their true feelings for each other. For Miku it was to find the courage to have “THE CONVERSATION” with her beloved captain and for Captain Bikkie it was to realize Miku was not just her best friend but the girl she loved with all her heart and soul. That finally happened and the amount of joy in my bedroom was astronomical. Her love was so strong that as she was charging toward Shem-Ha at full power she was not thinking about saving the world but getting her beloved Miku back.
Miku got her “We protect each other” moment after all!
Afterward when Shem-Ha unleashed one final desperate attack we not only got to see Miku join the others to save the world but she got her “We protect each other” moment! Huzzah!
So am I upset we did not get to see THE CONVERSATION on screen? Not table throwing or hating on the writers but admittedly a little bummed. Would have definitely been nice to see.
BUT…
After five seasons of buildup including the chibi specials…I already know how this conversation will go. By this point it was clear as day how it would end.
The best/my favorite chibi extra skit. Miku’s gaze, the camera slowly zooming in as she puts the pieces together in her mind along with her reaction. All perfect.
Again I am not expecting anyone to change their mind. I am simply sharing my thoughts on the whole thing and understanding what the writers were going for.
Better than Hibiki still being oblivious after all that happened. Then we would have had some problems. Of course they did not do that.
Still hoping for an extra OVA or movie showing how the four couples are doing. Yes, I ship Christopher X Elfnein. Who better to fill Elfnein’s heart after losing her first love…again.
The Yuri Empire 
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i am just purely glad it ends well :”D and me waiting for the release date of the rest of the song in this season 5. no spoiler intended. but it was a blast :3. #twitter went wild dude
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It was gloriously insane no doubt. Loved every minute of the last minute of the finale and cannot wait for the rest of the songs to be released.
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Good job on your review. I agree with the couples. While for me, it also felt they needed to blurt out the words to each another. It was clear as day how they felt, this wasn’t subtext, it was very clear how Miku felt since S1, we wanted to know if Hibiki did feel the same way and we got that too.
In the end all of this was addressed through XV, the emotions kept building up and Hibiki was finally able to realize Miku was more than a friend. The scene, where she says she wants to save Miku, not because she’s trying to save the world but because she’s she wants to (selfishness) was very meaningful.
Hibiki the hero who always tried to help everyone, just because it was the right thing for once risked everything just to take back the love of her life, she didn’t save the world, she saved Miku and saved the world in the process. If this doesn’t show how much they love each other, I don’t know what else people want.
It also was super meaningful Miku in the end found the courage to tell Hibiki about her feelings, even if the cut that last part, this meant a lot. Also let’s remember Hibiki knew about Miku’s feelings by that point, maybe she realized and if not Shem-ha also told her, so in the end Hibiki knew Miku was about to confess.
In the end I still hope they somewhat address the last scene maybe with a directors cut ep13 but preferably an OVA or movie where we see what happened with those two and everyone else, no need of any action scenes just a slice of life episode. But also everyone already knows they did get together at the end.
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Nothing else to add here. You nailed it perfectly.
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It’s disappointing that they decided to tap-dance around the issue rather than addressing it, like many other shows that showed lots of potential but didn’t actually go that extra mile in the end… (Yes, I’m looking at you, Re-kan.)
I’m gonna binge it regardless.
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Blame laws and policies and stuff.It’s not nearly as accepted as people think it is. They had to avoid being straightforward about it.
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I blame their greed (of Re-kan’s makers) rather than policies, as their primary reasoning is having more people buy their stuff.
On the other hand, I see Symphogear as going the Nanoha route: they are basically married so there’s no need to mention. (Here I’m grumbling about shows that downplay it as simple, platonic friendship (just for monetary gain), despite teasing it to all hell throughout the season.)
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Nah, the manga was the same as far as I could tell. It takes time for relationships to develop. Just because you want to see two characters together doesn’t mean they’re going to get married after only being together for less than a year. Patience is key.
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I agree, in long-running stories that is fine. And of course I wouldn’t expect them to literally marry at the end of shorter stories either.
Hmmm, I went and rewatched the “offending” last episode of Re-kan, and the last scene was different from what I remembered (no “we’re just such good friends” bit in the sleepover scene)… I think I did have a small gripe about them not addressing the romantic development more, and that memory somehow morphed during the years into a bigger disdain (the non-existent ‘downright denial’) by somehow mixing in experiences from other shows/stories, distorting the original one.
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By the way, out of curiosity: did the manga go much further in story, or did it end around the point where the anime did?
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It goes further, but I haven’t been able to read that far yet.
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And to add to what I said, remember these are teenagers who are trying to understand what romance is. They’re not likely to get it so easily that they’re both quite in love with each other, and moreso because they grew up in a society that said “that doesn’t exist or make sense”. Less so the MC as she’s had a very different sort of upbringing, but yeah.
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Agreed, (though the “that doesn’t exist or make sense” bit is kinda ironic given their days are literally filled with ghosts. On the other hand, one can argue that ghosts being part of everyday myth would actually make them ‘normal’ and ‘sensible’, so that is that.) 🙂
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I gave up on TsubaChris and indeed switched to ElfChris long before this season. I am really hoping for something with them in the OVA that we’ll likely get.
TsubaMari I also agree with you on. I get people going crazy about it, but it’s never been anywhere near as focal nor strong as KiraShira or HibiMiku.
Anyway, I am also perfectly fine with what we got. it was as straightforward as it could possibly be, and crystal clear that they’re looking to start a life together (and comes at a good time, as they’re nearing the end of “school life”.). It was a fantastically handled romantic story that ended up always being central, from start to finish. I really couldn’t stop crying throughout the finale. It was just so fantastic to be able to finally see everything come together, and Hibiki finally realize that Miku was more to her than a friend, and more to her than anything/anyone else. It was great to see the character who always maintained that “hero” persona, admit that she’d throw away the world if it meant she could have her Miku back ❤
I will miss this show greatly, but I look forward to what sort of story this team could come up with next. It was such a journey, but journeys have to end. If they don’t, they become twisted, and broken. And new journeys can be born from that. I know it won’t happen, but man would it be great if we could begin the next series with the “daughter” of Miku and Hibiki (either via adoption or some alchemy stuff, etc), after all of them have lost the ability to use their gears (for whatever reason), but are around to be supporting cast. I’d like that a lot more than another season featuring the cast really.
A brand new series would totally be welcome too. I just want to see more from this amazing team…
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How do you know they can’t use their gears anymore?
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Am saying if they were to do a new series with a new cast, but set in the same world. There’s no anything that they can’t use their gears anymore, but I think it’d be a good way to handle it so the new characters could get the major focus without making light of what the old characters were able to do.
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It’s the difference between natural progression (HibiMiku) and wanting to see two people hook up because they are the “cooliest” or sexy badasses.(MariTsuba). And I am saying this as a big Tsubasa fan. MariTsuba have the least romantic development of the three. I saw the anime and the specials and at no point did it look like Tsubasa thought of Maria as more than an “equal on the battlefield/stage” and Maria did more than blush. The two potentially hooking up ONLY STARTED SHOWING SOME SIGNS this final season. Up to this point it was wishful thinking.
There were more potential hints with Christopher in S2 and that was debunked in S3.
After over a decade of doing this I like to see myself as less of a wishful fanboy and more someone who takes lesbian relationship progression seriously.
I could continue by delving deeper into HibiMiku but there is no need.
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First TsubaMari: I wasn’t too fond of it at first, since seasons 2-4 it felt way too One-sided on Maria’s part, and they didn’t really have to overcome anything together (if anything, Maria had more ship-bait with Elfnein, if you’re gonna bring her into this). BUT season 5 fixed those issues, and now I’m fine with the ship. That said, no way in hell Maria’s the top. The more rational one? Sure. But not the top. She devolves into a blushing mess any time Tsubasa shows her the most basic signs of affection, how the hell’s she supposed to stay composed in bed?
For HibiMiku: we got less than I wanted, but more than I expected, tbh. Both of them have admitted that they love each other, even if it wasn’t face-to-face, and they’re both obviously gonna fix that after the “Korrasami” epilogue. I would’ve liked more, but considering I was half-expecting one or both of them to die, it’s good enough for me.
(Side note: thank you Carol for taking the bullet so the other couples could have their happily ever afters).
As for Chris: I honestly kinda like the idea of her being the harem lead of the girls. She has good chemistry with all of them, I feel, being tsundere for HibiMiku, rival-y with her Tsubasa-Senpai, a diligent Nee-chan for KiriShira, and having a similar “our pasts don’t define us” arc as Maria that overlapped and resolved in one of my favorite songs. Honestly your choice of Elfnein to ship with her is the only one I can’t really see working.
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“because we do not need a Season 6.“
Regardless of how clousurey this season feels, I cannot on principal agree with this.
I dont care how convoluted, find some way to stretch this out.
Different main characters(but keep the originals around), time skip, waifu noise for crappy pseudo-moral dilemma, do something.
First yuri-type anime series that has more than like 2 seasons of content, only 5 isnt fair.
Im sure theres many more stories they could create.
Stop letting all the more long-runners be crappy shounen.
PS: Mind you, I dont want them to go that long, just not this little.
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let the long runners be the long runners. most of the time they totally lose their way and run in circles, never actually needing that length. The story that they wanted to tell, was able to be told. There’s no good in forcing someone to extend their story.
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That’s why I said the show doesn’t need a 6th season. A movie or OVA showing the couples’ progress so far, treating fans to sweet epilogues of them after prevailing over another threat should suffice.
The chibi extras will add features some more details (if they plan on including them in the BDs, which I really hope they do.)
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They do its already listed as a bonus for the BD’s. And yes a proper OVA (not the Zesshoushinai) would be fine.
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Well I did say I didnt want them to go that long.
I felt the show had a very season-monster-of-the-week, character stuff expanding across seasons of the show but otherwise pretty well self-contained within individual seasons.
The writers are going to think of something they wanted to/forgot to include and are going to regret not putting it in.
Look I wanted the first of these shows to reach 5 seasons to not end there.
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Truly, Symphogear never disappoints. The action, the plot, the songs and most importantly the ships 😀 And I totally agree with you about Miku and Hibiki’s realization of their feelings for each other. Finally!
And I’m really glad to see more of TsubasaxMaria this time 😀 If this is indeed the last season of Symphogear then it’s really sad for me because we didn’t even get to see how the ships are after this. MOST ESPECIALLY THAT LAST SCENE BETWEEN MIKU AND HIBIKI!!! Arrrrghhh! But then again as you said, their emotions for each other are as clear as day now so no words are needed. I guess an OVA is fine but I also want to see Miku in action so it has to be a movie. That’s it, just one last show, an awesome movie………..then a season 6 LOL 😀
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We all crave an OVA or movie that gives us an on-screen wrap up of the 3 (I hope 4) couples’ relationships but for now what we got was fantastic, yes..
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I totally agree 🙂
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once again it’s proven that “Nanoha-style befriending” works yuri magic 😀
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True.
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I’m a bit late but I need some time to calm down. I fully agree with everything you say, while it’s nice to see some word for word confession but I think with everything they’ve been through there’s no need for that anymore. We already know Miku loves Hibiki since season 1, Hibiki was an oblivious one but after that fight/talk with Shem Ha, she finally understands that her feeling toward Miku is love. Not just “what would I do without you, Miku”. Everything is all clear as day. Also in my mind, they were kissing under the star. No one can take that away from me. Of course we need a date episode or movie. Not just HibiMiku but other couples too. ShiraKiri, TsubaMari and why not, ChrisElf, they will need each other.
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Absolutely lass. We would all love to see how the couples are doing after the big battle.
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This comment may be a bit of a downer, so…sorry. Don’t read it if you don’t want that.
I just wish we could get a legitimate love confession/kiss in a series that’s not designed to be yuri. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Bloom Into You, my Citrus, My Kase-san, etc. but I would really like a series where that’s not the focus, but is 100% canon, like The Legend of Korra. So when this season of Symphogear ended like it did, I just…rolled my eyes. Because as obvious as it may be to us, there’s still plausible deniability, and the creators know that. They’re still just trying to have their cake and eat it too. And that’s how it will stay.
Did I enjoy the season? Yeah. Well, as much as I’ve ever enjoyed Symphogear (a fun romp, but nothing incredible). But this series had the potential, more than most, to truly stand out, to truly be something to remember, to become a classic, and instead it’s just going to go into the pile of other series that do the same thing. Does it seem odd to let this one thing be the determiner of over 50 episodes of action and story? Maybe. But just imagine re-watching the series from the beginning with the context that Hibiki and Miku become a truly, undeniable canon couple at the end vs what we actually got. To me, at least, that makes a world of difference.
Wow, that was a serious downer. Sorry if you actually read the whole thing.
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You mention Legend of Korra as an explicit example, while saying Symphogear isn’t explicit enough? While we didn’t see Hibiki and Miku’s confession to each other on screen, we still did get explicit confirmation from both of them that they’re in love, and from what I’ve heard the Japanese version was more explicit, due to Japanese having platonic and romantic versions of various words, and Hibiki using the romantic versions of those words when describing her feelings for Miku. Comparatively Korra and Asami were never explicitly stated to be in love in the main text until the comics. I do love Korrasami, but it’s a lot less explicit than HibiMiku. Hibiki and Miku are in love with each other. This is an explicit part of the main text. And while we don’t see them hook up on-screen, we know they do from the final lines of the series.
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Shirabe x Kirika are already like a married couple. It was nice what they did this season for Hibiki x Miki. That being said, I’m disappointed with Tsubasa x Maria. I don’t see any yuri despite what you all may say. Also this season’s villains are the least memorable.
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