"Fist 1, reason 0"
Such a simple statement, yet so Symphogear!
Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ is just utterly amazing experience for LA, from the first season's inconsistency but brimming with personality, to G going god damn crazy with it's plot and characters and was LA's personal favourite season of Symphogear to GX's still having it's own personality but felt less awesome in comparison to G and now AXZ comes into the fray and it's just as amazing...maybe even better?.
From character development of the majority of the main cast as well as developing the new villains in this season and world building on the Alchemist that it did
...
in GX, crazier battles, awesome music and cliffhangers that Symphogear is well known for in making us always guessing what was gonna happen next.
Character development happens to the majority of the characters, Maria gets one through her past even before G and her trying to get stronger to combat the new Alchemist threat with the help of Elfnein who has now joined SONG as a researcher of LiNKERs and general mission control (so bringing in world building through the knowledge of LiNKER), Chris gets one through new characters of Stephan and Sonia Virena voiced by Asuna Tomari and Natsumi Fujiwara respectively, as Sonia knew Chris' parents before their deaths. Kirika and Shirabe gets one through trying to open up to everyone as well as their self-deprecative personality (Kirika for being too naive, Shirabe for keeping things to herself). Character interaction also gets a boost in combating the new villains of this season which also means NEW styles from the Symphogears we've never seen before and crazier than ever seeing new ways of different duos fight Noise and the Alchemists. LA's favourite character has still been Chris since G, right next to Hibiki and Maria seeping into third place due to this season.
For the villains however we get a more sympathetic villain in the form of Saint Germain voiced by Minako Kotobuki however she doesn't show it at first, her along with Cagliostro voiced by Aoi Shouta and Prelati voiced by Rina Hidaka have a bigger leader in the form of Adam voiced by Shinichiro Miki who is the leader of the Bavarian Illuminati who had influences but separate goals to Carol in GX. Adam however is probably the least interesting villain for this season all due to his goal and his asshole demeanor not only to the Symphogears but to Saint-Germain as well, in comparison to Saint-Germain and her Alchemists especially Cagliostro. Cagliostro gets some amazing fight scenes as well as her being a rather unpredictable character as well as her personality. Prelati however gets shafted due to her character-centric episode being kinda a awkward breather episode in comparison to Cagliostro's however is redeemed in the penultimate episode. LA's favourite villain for AXZ would be a tie between Cagliostro and Saint-Germain, Cagliostro for her personality and Saint-Germain for making the plot interesting. Nonetheless the villains are great in AXZ and to be honest MUCH better from Carol if only because of Saint-Germain and the Alchemists.
The plot goes out all from the first episode immediately focusing on Saint-Germain's group and the Symphogears combating as well as finding their motive of why they are doing terrible things such as collecting life energy, the plot just never stops trucking along besides the aforementioned Prelati focused episode but that in itself was meant for Shirabe's character development. World building helps immensely as well as plot twists goes hand in hand as AXZ manages to reference events from ALL previous seasons (New Alchemists that tied into but no proper affiliation with Carol, Fine from Season 1 get referenced and Maria's past from G as well as some smaller events from G) that all ties up to AXZ's climaxes and plot threads. As for plot twists they do get explained later on and again even references back to previous season and although Symphogear is known for their asspulls, AXZ still had some but they did explain as much as possible and in certain cases there is enough suspension of disbelief that you can give it the grace it needs due to the awesomeness on screen that is happening. Seriously as bombastic and crazier, plot & character-focused AXZ has become away from the slice of life elements it had in the previous seasons to say that it's gotten even more serious, the writing is extremely clever like AXZ was the thread that was meant to tie up all 3 previous seasons together into one story that lead up to AXZ.
The animation done once again by Satelight is amazingly bombastic like it should, from it's crazier and crazier battles, slicker character designs and decent backgrounding. Satelight did seem to have gone all out though at rare times, felt like some certain scenes did seem derpy but LA just did not care, the animation was impeccably amazing right down to the character designs, battle animation and special effects, rare derpiness be damned to Hibiki's fist!
The voice acting is amazing as always, from Aoi Yuuki, Nana Mizuki, Ayahi Takagaki, Yoko Hikasa Ai Kayano, Yoshino Nanjo, Misaki Kuno, Minako Kotobuki, Aoi Shouta, Rina Hidaka, Shinchiro Miki and Hina Kino. Special mention would go to Ayahi Takagaki, Aoi Yuuki, Yoko Hikasa and Aoi Shouta for their amazing vocal range, battle cries and amazing dialogue, with Aoi Shouta crossdressing voices and doing it extremely well and Aoi Yuuki doing Hibiki like Hibiki as always and loving every time Aoi Yuuki's honed battle cries and battle dialogue are just fueled with adrenaline. Nana Mizuki probably gets best vocal voice acting through AXZ's OP "TESTAMENT" which was LA's favourite OP for Summer 2017 as well as Symphoear XD Unlimited's OP "UNLIMITED BEAT" (the mobile game's OP) as an insert song with heck even Ayahi Takagaki's ED for AXZ "Futurism" being great as well as LA never skipped the ED either. The voice acting and sound is AMAZING, expected from Symphogear.
If there were any flaws LA saw from AXZ however is that Miku Kohinata, Hibiki's best friend voiced by Yuka Iguchi along with many of the minor characters (Hibiki's three trio posse for instance) kinda got shafted a bit due to all the serious business in taking down the Alchemist were thus Hibiki and the gang couldn't go to school as much, however this flaw got a bit of grace as they utilized Miku at least during the last few episodes and it made sense either way. On speaking of Hibiki, Hibiki got less screentime in favour of Maria, Chris and the new villains of this season but thankfully she became important in the later half of the season and even connected with the villains (especially Saint-Germain) in some form or the other. Again Adam was probably the weakest villain in this season heck even to the point Carol had more promise than Adam did and again Prelati's focused episode was a breather episode but not much happened and Prelati got better by the final few episodes.
EVEN SO...
With these flaws, LA did see AXZ evolve even with all this, from the clever writing, character development that was VERY much needed to certain characters especially from Chris and Maria and the always bombastically musically fueled battles that never ceases to amaze LA time and again.
The finale, well holy shit, although the scale of the final battle wasn't as HUGE as G, however the final battle was nonetheless jaw-droppingly amazing, batshit frantic and crazy as is Symphogear's fashion, even though there are asspulls in this finale, it is explained later on but seriously this finale was jaw-droppingly WHAT THE SHIT IS LA WATCHING BUT IS FREAKIN' AMAZING and yeah because of that, the finale was done amazingly and gave a fulfilling finale all things considered. The final scenes of the final episode also hinted at something amazing as well that MANY fans wanted back and this hint may have been the ticket to it. Overall, this finale was amazing with many more to come due to the 5th season in the works and LA is even MORE hyped due to the revelation the finale gave us.
Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ is LA's favourite anime for Summer 2017 and heck AXZ has been topping LA's ALL TIME FAVOURITE ANIMES list during it's release. It was thee ONLY anime of the Summer 2017 season where LA got pumped up to see what would happen next every episode, repetitively watching previous awesome episodes' battles and speculating on the plot, AXZ in terms of Symphogear seasons ousted G from LA's favourite season all due to it's amazing plot progression, clever scripting, batshit crazier battles, character development and evolution, world building and and even grander spectacle of a finale than G.
Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ went out with a blast with enough fuel to keep itself going and LA loved every moment of it but with another season in the works, it's a great time to be a Symphogear fan!...
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Symphogear Axis
Japanese: 戦姫絶唱シンフォギアAXZ〈アクシズ〉
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
13
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jul 2, 2017 to Oct 1, 2017
Premiered:
Summer 2017
Broadcast:
Sundays at 01:00 (JST)
Licensors:
Discotek Media
Studios:
Satelight
Source:
Original
Duration:
23 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#15202
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#3791
Members:
37,938
Favorites:
300
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 5 / 5
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Your Feelings Categories Oct 2, 2017
"Fist 1, reason 0"
Such a simple statement, yet so Symphogear! Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ is just utterly amazing experience for LA, from the first season's inconsistency but brimming with personality, to G going god damn crazy with it's plot and characters and was LA's personal favourite season of Symphogear to GX's still having it's own personality but felt less awesome in comparison to G and now AXZ comes into the fray and it's just as amazing...maybe even better?. From character development of the majority of the main cast as well as developing the new villains in this season and world building on the Alchemist that it did ... Oct 1, 2017
Context: I am a rather big Symphogear fan who was extremely let down by GX, and considered not even watching AXZ after the train wreck that came before it.
And I am very glad that I didn't miss out on it. From the start to (almost) the finish AXZ has been nothing short of amazing. There's some weird metaphors and phrasing but it's Symphogear so I mostly expected that. Unlike the previous season, and even the first, every episode (with one exception) was fulfilling and enjoyable, with each making me more excited for the next one. The character development of each character was very natural and fitting, ... Jun 28, 2021
Man, Symphogear keeps getting better and better. And here I am writing another review for season 4, can't believe i made it this far and I enjoyed every single episodes of it. I'll start with the pros and cons of this show.
The pros : The animation this season is veeery good compared to the the last season and much much more than the first season. The battles are very cool and fluid, they're also much more action packed than the last one. Hell, even the final battle is cool. Also, the transformation scenes are fucking LIT, every time they transform I always get excited af. ... Oct 14, 2017
Synopsis:
Fourth series of Senki Zesshou Symphogear. (seriously MAL you couldn't find something else to put in here :D) Well basically there is a new threat to mankind and the girls are facing a new challenge with how to deal with this new enemy. Conflict, friendship, and explosions the perfect Symphogear formula Story (7/10): One line from episode 2 will summarize the whole thing "fist 1 reason 0" :D If you have watched the previous Symphogear seasons (and you probably did or else you wouldn't be watching the 4th one) you will see that this season offers you more of the same. Like i said in the Synopsis this season ... Dec 3, 2020
Like many other people, I thought thatSenki Zesshō Symphogear GX was just okay, so I had no real expectations, when jumping into the fourth season! But, lo-and-behold, I found that AXZ is the epitome of what every Symphogear series should be! It was so satisfying from beginning to end, and even when the series was already over, I was still cheering, "Oh my god! Symphogear is so cool!" So, yes, AXZ temporarily transformed me into an excitable, little child!
⚠️ This review will have spoilers ⚠️ —Story/Characters This season starts out strong, when yet again, Chris comes vis-à-vis with her personal demons. There's a strong scene when she ... |