Symphogear XV Infodump #1

The fifth season is almost here! As of yesterday, the official site has opened and the hype train wheels have started rolling. Let's break down what was included in the recent update and talk about what it means in the bigger picture based on the previous seasons.

Superb Song of the Valkyries: Symphogear XV

Create a history, with the light God could not know

In this hand that holds others…

…is the power to kill God (you). 

Prologue

The progenitor of mankind, Adam Weishaupt, sought the Power of God with the intent of using it to destroy God itself. He was ultimately defeated by the Alchemic Gold Symphogear that was transmuted through the power of the Lapis Philosophicus held by Saint Germain's team.

This event triggered the downfall of the Bavarian Illuminati, which has long maneuvered in secret. The few remaining members are being tracked down by government intelligence operations across the world. However…

The Bavarian Illuminati was not the only organization to face reprisal for its actions.

Although America once stood as a world superpower, it now grapples with harsh criticism, persecution and isolation from the international community over the fact that it launched a nuclear weapon at Japan. As it stands, strife with America could be the coals that stoke the flames of a new world war. In order to prevent this, many hoped to find a quick political resolution. However, the situation grew complex as each country moved fueled by their own motives, so very little progress has been made currently.

For its own part, Japan has laid out a policy of cooperation with America and made an appeal to amend their relations. However, the general mood of those actually involved is still standoffish and thus no firm agreements have been made.

The outlook for the world's future remains unclear.


And even here, tensions are high.

At a popular date spot, where every landmark of the city can be seen, two students from Lydian Music Academy ride in the gondola of a giant Ferris wheel. Their names are Hibiki Tachibana and Miku Kohinata. They hold in their hands a delicious serving of taiyaki, filled with red bean paste and mochi. The perfect balance of flavor, not too sweet, just like a bowl of zenzai soup.

However, an air of nervousness floats between them. Miku casually shoots a question in Hibiki’s direction. But Hibiki is left too stunned to reply. What exactly is running through her head?


From the past to the present, the threads of many stories shall all converge on XV.

A battle surrounds the Saint’s Corpse, forever in the midst of midsummer.

As the lake begins to split, the girl’s singing voices shall unleash their radiance.

Characters

Hibiki Tachibana (Aoi Yuki)

A formerly ordinary girl who was thrown into a series of cruel battles by happenstance. She is an optimist with a very bright personality that is so strong it even rubs off on the people around her. She was not a normal Symphogear adaptor at first, but rather a “medical fusion” with the "Gungnir" sacrist after pieces of it were stuck in her chest.

Ever since the Saint’s death was confirmed, Gungnir has spent over 2,000 years slowly gaining a unique power. Thanks to misconceptions, it now has the ability to kill a god in a single blow. As a result, Hibiki’s fist is now known as the “God Killer", not only out of fear, but hope.

Tsubasa Kazanari (Nana Mizuki)

She is a pop song artist who got her start in Japan, but has since branched out into England. Also a modern day sentinel. She has sharpened her combat skills from a very young age, making her a very reliable warrior who is unmatched on the battlefield.  (On the other hand, she has such a poor grasp on essential life skills that it’s almost adorable. In a word, she’s very messy.)

She dons the Symphogear that was created from fragments of the "Ame-no-Habakiri" sacrist. At one point in her life she lost an irreplaceable wing, which made her heart very fragile for a brief time. However, she overcame that sorrow and discovered the path she wants to follow. As a result, her resolve and her voice have reached a state of perfection.

Chris Yukine (Ayahi Takagaki)

An orphan who was raised in the Val Verde Commonwealth, a country in South America that was ravaged by instability and civil war. In the past, her frayed heart led her to fight against Hibiki and Tsubasa. However, after her feelings were laid bare, they were able to reconcile and now she is one of the team. She dons the Symphogear that was created from fragments of the "Ichaival" sacrist.

She is very kind and incredibly thoughtful to others, but in contrast her manner of speech and attitude can be quite crude. Her grades in school are at the top of the class, however perhaps due to her crudeness she is often not thought of as being that smart.

Maria Cadenzavna Eve (Yoko Hikasa)

She is incredibly bad at lying, but in the past she was forced to use lies to cover up her weakness and sense of justice in order to fight. She dons a Symphogear that was created from a mysterious sacrist. It has been unknown for a long time, but out of convenience and due to its silver shine, it started to be called “Airgetlahm”.

In addition to having a lavish appearance, she is a prodigy on many different levels. Although she is often out on the frontlines, her natural disposition is a mother figure whose work is mostly kept behind-the-scenes.

Shirabe Tsukuyomi (Yoshino Nanjo)

At a very young age she got caught in a traffic accident that took both her parents and left her as the only survivor. Due to that accident, she lost most of her memories and any documents that explained who she was.

She dons the Symphogear that was created from fragments of the “Shul Shagana” sacrist. Shul Shagana is a red blade that forms a pair with Kirika Akatsuki’s Igalima. The two blades have a special ability that drastically raises their power when used in tandem.

Her delicate features leave the impression of a girl who is quiet and well-mannered, but that’s far from accurate. In fact, rather than just rolling with the punches, she is the type who aggressively charges in and cuts her way through.

Kirika Akatsuki (Ai Kayano)

She was raised in an American research facility. At first intended to be a vessel for the soul of the pre-historic maiden known as Fine, she was later treated as a counteragent against the Japanese government.

She dons the Symphogear created from fragments of the “Iglima” sacrist. Iglima is a green blade that forms a pair with Shirabe Tsukuyomi’s Shul Shagana. The two blades have a special ability that drastically raises their power when used in tandem.

She is the super cheerful type who always sets the mood, but has an inner strength that makes her ready to face danger in times of crisis. However, she can be foolish when charging into situations by herself, as it usually ends with her not getting very far.

Staff

The entire main staff return from the previous seasons.

One important change is that Kaneko is only credited as "Script Supervisor" instead of "Script Writer", which is the same as AXZ. This likely means that after Kaneko drafted the overarching story individual writers were tasked with certain episodes before Kaneko ultimately went through and edited them all for consistency with his style.

Another notable change is that Fumiaki Kota is credited for "Alca-Noise Design" instead of simply "Noise Design". It seems likely the Alca-Noise will be playing a role in XV, similar to AXZ. He was also moved from Action Director to Assistant Director. This might be notable since as Action Director he was responsible for a lot of Hibiki's martial arts sequences.

The last note I'll make here is that XV will have 4 different Action Directors and 3 Main Animators. This is quite a bump up from previous seasons. Fingers crossed for the best production quality we've seen yet!

Notes

From the introduction page: This is mostly fluff so I didn't TL it, but it does say that “new characters” and “new songs” will be part of XV. It also officially states that AXZ and XV are directly connected in terms of the story (a first for this series). It also describes XV as being a “compilation” of the entire Symphogear series. It's vague as to what this means, but I suspect the intention is that it will close up threads that were left open from previous seasons and revisit events that were never fully explored. It also seems to provide an indication that this may be the final season (more on that in the "impressions" section below).

TL NOTE Saint’s Corpse: Aside from being a JoJo reference (part 7 spoilers!), this new term can refer to a few things, but based on context it seems to indicate the body of Jesus Christ. In AXZ, the Val Verde Documents revealed that Gungnir has the “God Killer” power. This is because it is a Philosophical Armament that gained its power from what people believe it to be. The documents explain that over 2,000 years ago the “child of god” was killed by a lance. That lance was believed to be Gungnir. Thus Gungnir can kill Gods. However, there are a number of interesting points here. Firstly, what was referred to as the “child of god” in AXZ is now referred to as a “Saint” in the XV character descriptions (see Hibiki's above). The same kanji is used to describe the corpse, hence why I chose “Saint’s Corpse” for the translation. More specifically, those kanji are part of Japanese word for the Shroud of Turin, the piece of cloth Jesus was buried with. However, it’s not clear whether the “corpse” here is meant to be that of the Saint or that of God. More importantly, in the world of Symphogear we know that the “Gods” as Adam and Fine knew them were the Custodians/Anunnaki. But then who is the “child of god”? Or even the “Saint”? Only time will tell.

TL NOTE Midsummer: I'm sure most of you are confused, since the character designs make it evident that XV will take place in the winter. Well, I can assure you that it's not a mistranslation and that the Japanese fans are equally as confused. It's just Kaneko being cryptic as usual. My personal theory is that perhaps some of the story will be taking place in the past, hence why this is inconsistent with the current day. For reference: S1 took place in spring, G in fall, GX in summer, AXZ in late summer to early fall and XV continues from there into winter.

TL NOTE lake begins to split: In Japanese it specifically says the "surface" of the lake, which may hint that something is coming out of the water. But because there are so many religious references I thought about what if the lake was being split in two, like Moses crossing the red sea. Perhaps there's something hidden at the bottom of the lake?

Impressions

The "kill God/You" tagline: I saw a lot of people get scared about this line because it's pretty dramatic, but I'll just point out that every season has had a dreary tagline: S1 - These girls' songs are stained with blood. G - Farewell, Gungnir. GX - There is a song to destroy the world. AXZ - The one that is all, shall bring light upon death. My favorite take on this so far is that the "God/You" the tagline refers to are the gears, which is why Hibiki and Miku are staring up at 6 colored shooting stars in the promotional image. I'm not sure how that would work out plot-wise, but I think we all know it's not actually referring to Hibiki killing Miku.

The final season: Ever since we got a look at the logo for XV there has been some talk about whether this season will be the end or not. It's hard to say for sure, but the marketing seems to hint that it might be. At the very least, it seems to suggest this will be the end of Hibiki's story. To be honest, I think Kaneko is the type who would like to end it ("In my opinion it is more important to provide a firm end to a story rather than worry about continuing it") but I also suspect that Agematsu doesn't want it to end (nor would the sponsors) so I think the series will continue in some form or another. In any case, we won't know anything for sure until XV is over, so my speculation will end there.

Shirabe's character bio: We finally got some details about her past that I don't think have been officially revealed until now. It's quite sad to read, but it makes me curious since it seems to highlight the fact that we have no idea who Shirabe really is. So, will her "true" identity be important in XV?

Maria's character bio: This is either an easter egg or a bombshell. It could be an easter egg in the sense that "Airgetlahm" took different forms in the Wild Arms games and nobody is sure what it was based on there either. OR it could be hinting that Maria's sacrist isn't Airgetlahm at all and will actually be revealed as something else with a new power (perhaps akin to Gungnir being a Philosophical Armament).

Prologue: There's some wording in the prologue that says a lot of things will "converge" in XV, notably from "past to present". What makes me curious is that I suspect this doesn't simply mean the time from season 1 and onward. I think it means the distant past, back in Fine's time, when the Symphogear story really began. It's also interesting to note here that the word "story" is used, which makes me think Kaneko is using XV to explore the side "stories" in his head that he's used to shape the mythology of the series, but never fully explored with us.

Other stuff: All the new designs are great. I really appreciate that winter clothes means they've actually covered up and not showing as much skin. Kudos to Dan-sensei for her wonderful aesthetics. Also noteworthy that Hibiki, Chris, Shirabe and Kirika all still have school uniform designs (albeit covered with coats), so that seems to imply there will be some slice-of-life scenes. Will anime-chan and company make an appearance? I sure hope so.

That's all for now. Expect another blog post when the second round of updates arrive. Thanks for reading!