Wednesday 4 March 2020

The Harmony Of Hope And The Dirge Of Despair: Part 1 (Senki Zesshou Symphogear) [1.2]

(Continued from 1.1)

(TW: blood)

Part 2: Tempo Of Tsubasa


Enough teasing from me. It's not. It's really not. Though a Dirge of Despair is playing now, the Harmony Of Hope is muffled in the background. What does that mean? It means that there's a hopeful utopian idealist show hiding here in this grim, practical, despair-filled world. To find it, I want to shift gears just a bit. Starting from the end of Episode 2, Symphogear's structure becomes quite efficient. The major conflicts between various characters in the series are layered together, such that as soon as one gets resolved, another one will come out of nowhere, or intensify, to replace it and keep things tense. In some ways this is an obvious bit of plotting, as you want a central conflict or tension to maintain audience excitement and curiosity. It's in analyzing each of these interpersonal conflicts, though, that we can find the heart of Symphogear. The thesis statement, if you will. One of the major ones is something I've glossed over in my mini-synopsis of Episode 2's status quo setup; the conflict between Hibiki and Tsubasa. Tsubasa, you see, was incredibly fucked up by Kanade's sacrifice and her own failure to protect her dear partner. This has led her to become a cynical individual, shutting out her own feelings and focusing solely on becoming a powerful Symphogear user to defeat the Noise. Indeed, as we'll find out later, she doesn't even see herself as a human being any more. She is, in her own mind, a sword. A tool for killing Noise.



Then comes Hibiki, bearing the shards of Kanade's relic. Wielding her power, but as a complete and utter novice. Hibiki, an optimist, only wants to help out and declares that she and Tsubasa should fight together. Tsubasa smirks, and agrees... before raising her sword to Hibiki. "Yes. We should fight together." Tsubasa cannot accept Hibiki as worthy. It's an unfair spot for Hibiki to be in, and it's one several anime protagonists have found themselves stuck in to their own despair. They are simultaneously one of the only people qualified to fight against the monsters threatening the world, and so lacking in experience that it leads to nothing but scorn and nonacceptance from their monster-fighting peers. Hibiki cannot even manifest her Armed Gear (which is basically a relic's weapon: Kanade had the literal spear Gungnir, and Tsubasa wields the sword Heavenrend, for example) and can do little more than punch any incoming Noise. Hibiki makes a big big mistake after the fight is broken up, declaring with her boundless optimism that she'll get better at being a Symphogear user, and replace Kanade. That is absolutely the worst possible thing she could have said to Tsubasa, and it earns Hibiki a furious slap to the face for it. Later, of course, Hibiki will understand how much Kanade meant to Tsubasa, and realize just how much that sentiment hurt Tsubasa... but for now, the pair just can't work together. Hibiki, the inexperienced optimist, and Tsubasa, the cynical and wounded expert. Before we can resolve that, though... here comes a new challenger.


Episode 4 ends with Hibiki and Tsubasa encountering a mysterious and hostile girl clad in Symphogear-like armor, and Episode 5's opening is a flashback involving Kanade's own transformation into a magical girl. Kanade's vengeful desperation is shown here in the past, as she undergoes the same horrific transformation that Hibiki did, vomiting up a shitload of blood as she resonates with Gungnir. This sheer determination passed itself on to the Tsubasa of the present, as she faces down the mysterious magical girl. In more needling, it turns out that the girl is using the power of the Nehustan armor; the very relic whose power backfired during the Zwei Wing incident, which vanished in the chaos. The very thing Kanade fought and died for, something Tsubasa considers a symbol of her own weakness and failure at that time, standing before her... and the remnants of Kanade stuck inside Hibiki at her side as well. How poetic, Tsubasa muses. It's here, before Tsubasa and her opponent go all-out, that we finally hear the first notes of the Harmony Of Hope. Hibiki pleads with Tsubasa not to kill this girl, because she's human just like they are. Notably, both Tsubasa and her opponent rebuke that at the same time before they get to their big and flashy battle with one another.


JESUS FUCK.
It's quite the spectacle, but the part that matters is Tsubasa's desperate final move. Remember, she sees herself as a sword, and she sees her own failure of Kanade in the armor her opponent wears. With all that in mind, the despair-filled Tsubasa sings her swan song, ready to burn herself away in order to right the wrong and make up for her own failure. Her opponent gets blown away, but manages to escape... and Tsubasa, bleeding profusely just like the vengeful desperation of Kanade in that earlier flashback (and now I'm mirroring you, FUCK), collapses. Unlike Kanade, though, Tsubasa manages to survive her swan song... albeit at death's door and requiring extensive medical attention. Hibiki's the only active Symphogear user now, and she begins her own training in order to grow stronger. Now that she knows replacing Kanade is the wrong move, she works to better her own strength. If all she can do is fistfight the Noise, she'll just have to undergo martial arts training!


We will deal with Hibiki's associated conflicts while Tsubasa is out of commission, but I want to focus on Tsubasa's arc here. This is key to understanding the reason that Symphogear hit me as well as it did. Over a handful of episodes, Tsubasa dreams of Kanade, wondering just how Kanade saw the world, what she fought for... and what Tsubasa's renewed purpose can be now. This is not just an arc about healing from the physical injuries of Tsubasa's near-death swan song. Tsubasa's arc is about healing herself and learning to find a new appreciation for the world. Hibiki's optimism lit the spark of that self-discovery, allowing Tsubasa to frame it in the context of her own despair, but her journey will continue as we go on. As we'll see in a moment, by the time Tsubasa is conscious and walking again, Hibiki will have her own strengths and weaknesses. She's gotten good at fighting, thanks to her training... but there are multiple conflicts and anxieties gnawing at her. Far from being the cold and unaccepting grief-stricken sword she once was, Tsubasa is supportive and accepting of Hibiki now. More than that, she urges Hibiki to remain her optimistic self, to not fall into the same pits of despair and self-loathing that she herself did. It's advice Hibiki absolutely needs to hear at that time, but Tsubasa's final act of self-healing comes when she decides to take part in a concert after she recovers.


Tsubasa has learned that the power of her song can be used to heal hearts as well as hurt the Noise, and so this choice of concert is a chance for her to finally move on from the past. The venue, you see, is the same as Zwei Wing's final concert. After her song, she gives a little speech to her fans about how she wants to sing her song for the world and accept an American record deal. There are quite a few things going on here. The idea of an international scope is important to the political ramifications of the main plot. There's also the idea of a Symphogear user's song being able to heal as well as hurt. I mentioned it briefly with the intro to episode 1, but as Symphogear users fight, they sing. Their songs all reflect their personalities, feelings, and where they are in their personal arcs.  In Tsubasa's case, we have her healing symbolized by the fact that she sees her song, and herself, as more than just a weapon for killing Noise; it's something to be shared with the world. This will all become very important later, but Tsubasa is an excellent example of how Symphogear plays its hand. It started as a story of pure despair and negativity but the shining beacon of utopian idealism, of learning to accept and love one's self, has come through and helped Tsubasa find herself. Now that we have explored the arc of Tsubasa, let's go back a bit. Back to the mysterious armor-clad girl she almost killed with her swan song. It's time to talk about Chris.







(Continued in 1.3)

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