AXZ Keywords #4 and website update

After last week's explosive episode, we've all been waiting for the latest website update and now it's here. New character profile, new episode preview and new keywords.







Episode Preview

Symphogear AXZ Episode 5: Gambling with lives upon a fake battlefield

In order to enforce the feelings in their hearts, both sides know victory must be assured. 
But even so you persist that in the looming battles to come, the victor doesn't matter. 
Because you understand those feelings you can continue to charge forward, never looking back. 
You lay your opus upon the scales, and kill your fear as you stand upon the battlefield.
The only weapon in your hand are the words you once heard, "stay true to yourself." 


New Character Profiles

Adam Weishaupt

The director and foremost authority of the Bavarian Illuminati. Within the organization, there are some who say he is "all looks and no brains." They believe he has no sense for alchemy and see him as no more than simply ordinary. Further, he is seen as surprisingly incompetent as the organization's leader. Despite all that, the reality is that he is an individual whose magical potential far surpasses any ordinary man. He controls numerous alchemists by force as a master of the craft who has no equal. Details about him are shrouded in mystery, he has been the organization's director since its creation but his actual age is unclear.



New Product Info

Blu Ray/DVD volume 2 will include: 

• AXZ Episodes 3 and 4
• Resounding Infinity (IGNITED arrangement)
• Melodic Sorority (IGNITED arrangement) 
• Creditless OP and ED
• TV Commercial and Promotional Video collection 

Keywords



Saint Germain's Past

The childhood memories of Saint Germain, who is believed by some to have lived for thousands of years. Born as a slave, she suffered frequent acts of violence and molestation for no given reason. However, she was taught the alphabet at the amusement of one noble who frequently called her to his bed. Ever since then she filled her empty heart with a desire for further knowledge. Time passed. Saint Germain next appeared in the high society of France, wearing the clothes of a man and carrying the air of a sophisticated individual well versed in fine arts and academics. At some point this led to her being given the title of "Count." Over time she amassed many followers and allies which gave her enough financial standing to pursue research into the "Philosopher's Stone" of Alchemy.



The Extraordinary Singin' Hood!

An increasingly popular manga that started publishing in a monthly shojo magazine about half a year ago. Shortly after the release of its first volume, an anime project was announced and is currently underway. The series tagline is "The love song of 3 million girls." Even though the Singular Disaster Anti-Riot Unit Div 2 was reformed into the United Nation's S.O.N.G. unit there is still a need for their activities to be kept confidential. Up until now they had managed to keep things under control with confidentiality agreements and media manipulation, but despite keeping constant tabs on the flow of information online, there is no real defense against people's everyday gossip. And thus, little by little, people began to talk about the "songs of girls" that could be heard "in areas struck by disaster." Of course this spread most quickly among schools through students and so eventually the government tasked an advertisement agency to devise a plan to deal with this. The result was a comic adaptation of the rumors in the form of "The Extraordinary Singin' Hood!" sponsored by a major publisher. Just as the stories of "the Human-Faced Dog" and "the Slit Mouthed Woman" became adapted into various forms of popular media, eventually the idea that the story is "fiction" became accepted by the public and the truth was successfully concealed. Currently the plan has kept the unwanted flow of confidential information at a minimum.

The story takes place in the Happy Song Kingdom, where guardian angels watch over the Earth. In a test to determine the future successor of the Head Archangel, the main character Singin' Hood along with numerous other candidates visit the Earth. There they use their song magic to transform and and bring peace and happiness to humans. The candidate that makes the most amount of humans happy will be chosen as the next Head Archangel. Despite being a bit of a scatterbrain, Singin' Hood is always energetic and tries her best in the competition. Sometimes she finds herself cooperating with the other candidates as she attempts to find the "Fragments of Happiness" and collect them all within a year's time. The first story involves the embezzlement of public utility funds from a local credit union and the lone clerk who is framed for it by a corrupt member of congress. The scandal was supposed to be covered up by a "double suicide" committed by the man and his wife, but thanks to the power of song Singin' Hood resolves the case. This first installment, entitled "The Concealed Account Book," was drafted by a group of government officials with no penchant for compelling storytelling. But despite expectations it was a great success and was somehow met with positive reviews from a broad range of readers. From there, Singin' Hood finds a home with the clerk's family and experiences joy, sorrow, and the awakening feelings of love throughout puberty. It has become a popular magical, heartwarming story, where Singin' Hood learns the true meaning of happiness. It started as a propaganda project that only had funding for a manga, but has since exploded into an anime franchise with a wide range of associated merchandise and toys, that has raked in tons of revenue.

On a related note, there is a story behind the song included on AXZ character CD #4: "Spread happiness ♡ Singin' Hood!" By coincidence Chris came across and began watching the anime adaptation of Singin' Hood. Sometime after AXZ, she was invited to karaoke by her friends where she tried singing the opening song and that's what is featured on the CD. At first Chris didn't really care about the series, as she was aware of its true origins, but at some point as she followed along she became hooked on it.



The Kazanari Agency

The ghost of a special branch of the Japanese army that was established in World War II. Created with the purpose of breaking a foreseen stalemate in the war, the agency cooperated with Germany's Ahnenerbe, the Thule Society, the Vril Society and others to conduct the world's first research on sacrists. A portion of that research was inherited by the Singular Disaster Anti-riot Unit Div 2, and later S.O.N.G. Currently the agency exists as an advisory board to the government on issues of National Security. It exerts a tremendous amount of influence on the political system.



Receptor Children

A generic term for observation subjects who were gathered to become vessels for Fine's soul. The biggest weakpoint of Fine's reincarnation system is that those who hold her seal carved into their genes must be exposed to an aufwachen waveform, it's the only point of the system that is left up to an overwhelming amount of simple chance. Regardless of the fact that her vessels can inherit her paranormal powers and memories, if they are not in an environment where those abilities can revive, then idle time simply passes. Thus, in order to overcome the weakness and prepare an "insurance," Fine began the project with the American government's F.I.S. If she lost the use of her current vessel in the middle of her plans, she wanted to assure she could revive without losing any time and restart her ambitions. Thus the receptor children were her attempt to prepare her next vessel ahead of time. By searching through hospital records and personal information she isolated potential candidates, particularly those with thin ties to society, for example "those with no living relatives" (and in particular "infants and children). Above all, Japan had the highest amount of potential receptor children, and the reason for that is in about 722 BC a branch of a family in the Middle East that held the seal of Fine entered into ancient Japan.



Prelati's stuffed animal

"More than it looks, which means it's a pouch." 



Faust Robe

This is a protector armor that is transmuted via alchemic techniques utilizing a large amount of energy. In this sense it can be thought of as a twin of the Symphogear system. The biggest difference between the two, is that a Faust Robe does not require an Activation Chant to be used. The Faust Robes worn by Saint Germain, Cagliostro and Prelati are all sourced from the Lapis Philosophicus, however it has been especially tuned to each of their unique needs and fighting styles. The capabilities of their Faust Robes are beyond impressive and not only surpass a regular Symphogear but can even suppress the power of the Ignite Module which is supposed to be an ace in the hole.



Lapis Philosophicus

One of the secrets of Alchemy. A brilliant red gem also known as "the Philosopher's Stone." Since ancient times it has been the peak of their craft that Alchemists have constantly sought to achieve. However it is also a starting point for further advancement. Similar to a sacrist, it can become the source of a large amount of energy. However it cannot be classified as a sacrist, as it is a modern achievement of the Alchemists that represents their newly obtained knowledge.



Spell Caster

A converter unit that releases the power of the Lapis Philosophicus and reforms it into an equippable Faust Robe. It has been specially tuned for use with each alchemist. For Saint Germain it takes the form of a gun, for Cagliostro a ring and for Prelati a kendama.



Château de Tiffauges

A large device constructed to dissect the world. It is known as a World Destructor. It was mainly utilized by the Alchemist Carol during her involvement in the Magical Girl Incident, however it is believed that Prelati also had a hand in its construction (mainly the design). This is supported by some of what Prelati has said and done in the series thus far, but there is another main reason. In the past, Prelati committed atrocious acts of evil for pleasure in a castle that shares the same name.



Gold Transmutation

A technique to create gold that involves a conversion of chemical elements via nuclear fusion created through incredibly high temperature and pressure. The cold fusion theory commonly referred to in Alchemy was originally discovered and established by the highest level Alchemists in the Bavarian Illuminati. However, in order to make it a reality an unrealistically huge amount of magic power was necessary. The dream of advancing the theory forward was left as nothing more than academic chatter. But, the director Adam Weishaupt has access to magic that goes far beyond unordinary limits and had no problem bringing forth enough power to make the theory a reality. Despite the huge amount of energy he expended to create the "gold" it amounted to no more than a pitiful amount that sat in the palm of his hand. As the name implies, "transmutation" is an act that changes the chemical makeup of an object and the extraordinary amount of energy required makes it a technique with terrible cost performance. However, being able to amass that much energy boasts tremendous power and Adam did not use it simply to create "gold" but rather as a strategic show of his capabilities.