Symphogear XV Infodump #3

Big updates this week, folks! New PV, new characters, the whole shebang. Plus, the END of Symphogear?! Hit the jump for all the details and more.

OFFICIAL PV

The youtube description and the Symphogear twitter account describe this is as "the grande finale of the Symphogear TV series". The PV has no new text or story information, but previews the new opening theme "METANOIA" by Nana Mizuki. The definition of Metanoia is: "a change in one's way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion." Also if you take it backwards in Japanese: "Ai no ta me" which means "For Love". The ending will be "Lasting Song" by Ayahi Takagaki. The series will officially begin airing in Japan on July 6th starting at 1 am local time.

An event showcasing the first episode will be held on June 27th in Tokyo. Aoi Yuki (Hibiki), Yuka Iguchi (Miku), Yoko Hikasa (Maria) and Hideo Ishikawa (Genjuro) will be present at the event. A video digest of this event will likely be available on the first XV blu-ray volume. Tickets go on sale starting June 22nd at 10 am for the general public. Pre-reservations will open on June 12 at 11 am. The tickets cost 2,000 yen.

Opening Lyrics

Is that where the song in your heart lies?

A beat made through shouldering so many burdens

For who’s sake does it now resound?

You must forge your own path forward 

If you know true resolve then just belt it out

Unleash the melody that is second to none

NEW CHARACTERS

Vanessa (voiced by MAO)

The woman who currently leads the remnants of the Bavarian Illuminati. Although she acts as the head of the organization, it's not because she possesses great leadership skills or superior combat ability. She ended up taking the job simply because she felt a sense of responsibility as the most senior remaining member. It is a little unfortunate, but despite her soft tone of voice, she hides a rather harsh personality that enables her to do what needs to be done. Within the Illuminati, she served as an engineer who worked on the development of the Faust Robes. However, most of her original body was severely damaged due to an accident. She ultimately became an alchemic cyborg that uses the Faust Robe to supplant her missing body functions.

Millaarc (voiced by Aimi)

A member of the Bavarian Illuminati. She is a failed experiment created by the group in their attempt to reproduce monsters of myth and legend. This was all motivated by the organization's goal of obtaining the "perfect life". Thanks to her ability to fly she has impressive mobility and her enhanced physical strength can be used to great effect as a weapon. Not only that, but her eyes (known as "Stained Glance") can unleash a psychic radiance (called the "Mindflayer"). It can be utilized in a variety of offensive ways and can strike directly at an enemy's weak point. She often parades around as the villain, but only because she wants to keep her friend's hands from getting dirty as much as possible. Alternatively, when dealing with someone she doesn't consider a friend, she is capable of completely killing her emotions.

Elsa (voiced by Kana Ichinose)

A member of the Bavarian Illuminati. She was one of the organization's experiments, along with Vanessa and Millaarc. They were all scorned within the organization as being "filthy rustlings". Despite her bitter past she stands strong like a tree, a girl of unwavering optimism. Within the current remnants of the Illuminati she is the youngest, but very clever and perceptive. She serves as the little mediator of the group. Her beast implants give her a unique battle style, which is based on nerve enhancement. She has various tail attachments that can connect to a jack in her tailbone, which serve as her main armament. 

Notes

• Mindflayer is a reference to the D&D monster, presumably. Based on her design, and perhaps name, I would guess vampire she's based off of is a vampire.  
• Regarding "rustlings": The intent with this is that the experiments the Illumanti did were ultimately designed to create the lapis philosophicus, which glows a brilliant red, and these girls were all failed experiments of that, hence "rust" colored. 
• "Strong like a tree" in particular the Japanese cypress. This is totally Kaneko being Kaneko with his descriptions. 

Impressions

I find it interesting that the character descriptions of each new character seem to evoke one of the FIS girls. Vanessa is described as "soft, but harsh" which is similar to how Maria was introduced on G's website. Millaarc's profile says she goes out her way to make herself appear a certain way to avoid putting stress on her friends, which is pretty much what Kirika does. Finally, Elsa is a clever and optimistic girl with a bitter past... kinda sounds like Shirabe to me. Anyway this doesn't mean anything, but may give us some insight into how their relationships with the adaptors will play out. 

In general, I think the introduction of "remnants" of the Illuminati is just a huge distraction. They will of course play a role in the season, but I get the feeling they won't serve as the main antagonists because we have bigger fish to fry (custodians). However, it's interesting to note that all of them seem capable of combat without relying on a Faust Robe (though, I guess Vanessa kind of does), which probably means we won't be getting any new transformations/armor for them. 

Okay, so let's talk about the biggest piece of news out of all of this: Symphogear is ending. I've mentioned the potential a few times before, but I said I wasn't going to touch on it because it was pointless to speculate. Well, today's news confirms that season 5 will be the end of Symphogear as an anime TV series. Does that leave the possibility open for spin-offs or movies? Sure, I don't doubt we may get something down the road. But for the foreseeable future, this is going to be it and I have long suspected and wished for this to happen. It is my personal opinion that any good story must end and so many anime (or their respective manga) fall into the trap of extending their stories to capitalize on popularity and make money. Symphogear is a little different because it's anime original and has slowly grown in popularity over time. Contrary to popular belief, Kaneko and Agematsu have stated in past interviews that Symphogear was not designed or created to sell CDs. At its core Symphogear was created by Agematsu's drive to change music in anime, and a desire to have Kaneko tell his story.

Back in season 1, there was an interview in the Design Works book that describes how Symphogear first got started. One day I'll get around to finishing my translation, but for now here's the gist: Agematsu wrote down a bunch of ideas into a notebook. He gave this notebook to Kaneko and asked him to write a story. However, they only had 13 episodes to work with so Kaneko picked only some of those ideas to use. This included things like "a concert scene in episode 1 that gets attacked" and "a technique that puts the user near death and sometimes causes the MC to go crazy." Among the ideas that fell to the wayside were: "a team of 5 main characters", this was later picked up and used in G, when they created a team of 6. "Four emperor villains and a last boss", this was later picked up and used in GX with Carol and the Autoscorers. And finally a "beautiful form" which later became Adam's final form in AXZ. The only other ideas mentioned, but not yet adapted, are "a strange pet" and "a book of prophecy that relates to the mystery of the world." Will those appear in XV in some form? It seems likely.

Each season of Symphogear was created referring to the same base: Agematsu's original ideas. Of course, this all came with a mix of Kaneko's own flair. For example, G first introduced the term "Illuminati" which wasn't fully explored until AXZ. Of the few terms we have yet to explore is "Custodian", which will undoubtedly be covered in XV. My ultimate point here is that after 5 seasons, they've finally exhausted their "source" material and Kaneko has crafted the story to come to a definitive climax where (hopefully) all the loose ends will be tied up. There is no better time to end it. Not to mention that Kaneko and Agematsu also both have their hands in other projects.

So, what does this mean for the future? Well, it doesn't seem that XDU will be going away any time soon so there will be plenty of supplemental content there for fans to enjoy. There will also be another comic anthology being published soon. I also have no doubt a new set of Zesshoushinais will be on the upcoming blu-rays and, of course, we have Symphogear Live 2019/20 to look forward to. Plus, there are still a few avenues of content that I am hopeful for. One unexplored idea mentioned in interviews that I remember is a prequel idea Kaneko had featuring Kanade & Tsubasa. If they ever get around to doing a film adaptation of season 1, I'm certain that would be included. For now though, just sit back and enjoy the ride that will be XV. Stay tuned for more updates and as always, thanks for your support.