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Symphogear is cheesy. It’s a story where at it’s core is about friendship, protecting your loved ones and believing in your own strength. Like I said in my previous post about it, Symphogear is like animated Tokusatsu with music as the main motif. It’s silly, but frankly a lot of shows could learn a lot of things from Symphogear. You know what? I feel like breaking this down in the classic way by categories. Let’s start with the most important/the best part about Symphogear.

The sound department. You know how music can affect a story greatly? Sad music will make you feel sad, happy music will ... make you feel happy, but it can also affect the tone of the story. Spooky music will make the scene/story spooky, intense music will make a battle intense and so on. Well, thanks to one Motoyama Satoshi Symphogear has one of the best music uses I’ve seen in a show my entire life. Everything about the music and it’s execution made this show way better than it could/should be. Because of the music and it’s execution all other elements of the show that are affected by it get this boost of energy and tone which they wouldn’t necessarily achieve solely by themselves. The voice acting is also worth mentioning. The VA’s in this show give some of the best performances I’ve seen them give. It’s easy to forget how important sound can be in a show. Symphogear does well to remember it’s importance.

The art department. I’m just going to outright say it: The art in this show is beyond superb. Whether it’s the amazing Symphogear designs (shoutout to my favorite desgin: Yukine Chris) or the detailed backgrounds. It’s amazing. Even the simple enemies are unique and stand out on their own. And the animation in this show is downright fantastic especially in battles. For a modern anime this has some of the best fights I have seen. The art department in this show have done an amazing job and barely cut any corners.

The story. This one here is a mixed bag. On the one hand the story is similar to a cheesy B movie, but because of the important role the music has and how much it supports the story, the story ends up being better than what it actually is, which is a cheesy B movie plot, but in the end of the show the whole story comes together in an enjoyable way and it actually feels like something was accomplished by the end of it. And despite it being so cheesy in it’s way Symphogear ends up being a lot better than quite a few AAA/S titles. A lot of the story elements in Symphogear are just the right enough amount of cheesy to make me smile with joy. I like cheesy/silly stories, they are the ones that end up being the most enjoyable. So, yeah despite being cheesy Symphogear has a very good story, with some slight pacing issues.

The characters. The characters in Symphogear is another one of my favorite parts. A lot of the ideals that the characters represent are ideals I can get behind. Friendship? I’m all for friendship. Protecting your loved ones? Heck yeah I can get behind protecting one’s loved ones. Believing in your own strength? At this point it could be considered pandering. Sure you might call them cheesy, but these characters are in the end loveable. The main villain is one of the best villains I’ve seen in a B movie esque story. The whole “What is giving you your strength” lack of comprehension on the villains part is so incredible. And of course I can’t go talking about the characters without mentioning the one, the only Kazanari Genjurou!. One of the most likeable side characters I’ve had the pleasure of liking.

Symphogear may not be for everyone. But it is for me. I like, no I love Symphogear a lot, and I love it enough to consider it one of my favorite shows. So, as per usual, do I recommend Symphogear? Absolutely. Go watch it. If it doesn’t click with you completely right away the same thing that was with me, but you still want to give it a try episode 6 is where it finally clicked with me, and it was only uphill from there.

D-Frag is a show where everyone is practically insane except the Protagonist, so naturally he needs to react to all of them.

When watching this show I'm reminded of Cromartie High School (What I consider the Citizen Kane of delinquent tropes). A lot of the tropes are similar only they are used in different ways. Nothing too new or innovative yet it still feels fresh.

The slice of life aspect of the show doesn't fall short of other SoL's. It's pretty everyday stuff (hanging out, having fun with friends) with the occasional overarching plot (all the times people try to shut them down, a few competitions).

In terms ... of characters D-Frag! Does something interesting. It shares the spotlight with a lot of side and minor characters and yet almost all of them either have some sort back story or some sort of depths yet all of them are insane in some way or the other. The main character is the only one sane so he pretty much shouts out punchlines and such at anything that won't make sense. My only beef in the character department is, I'd wish this show was one episode longer, so it could give me the back story of Sakura (Pink hair) who is by all accounts the most and only underdeveloped character.

Nothing stood out in the soundtrack department, for good and bad.

To sum it up; I enjoyed this show a lot and recommend it if you're a fan of delinquent tropes mixed with game (video and physical) tropes.