Another finale arrives. I certainly expected an over the top action finale and we certainly got that this week. It was different from the last ep from the previous season in that the action was put more into the first half here and the latter part of the episode was saved for aftermath and a bit of epilogue. Not an unusual way to go about it. Some might feel the first half was a bit rushed, but I overall didn’t get that feeling. It was going pretty quickly that’s for sure, but it kept things entertaining and didn’t leave things hanging for long without something either awesome or hilarious happening. In terms of an action packed finale this week we definitely got a lot of that. They made sure to keep it busy and continuing upping the over the top aspect of this show. It’s hard to even cover how much crazy stuff was going on there.

The X-Drives once again were great and this time they got to get a bit creative with their use. At the very least there was definitely some fun team play involved throughout this thing. Not sure you can do anything but smile and laugh at the awesome combo that Kirika and Shirabe unleashed in this one. I have no idea what to call that thing. It was like some kind of buzzsaw bettle mech XD. Gotta love how much fun the writers just have with this show. The mech that Shirabe had last season for her X-Drive was fine, but they said “let’s have some more fun with this.” And thus you have that weird thing unleashing havoc across the battlefield with Kirika steering that thing around.

The fun hardly ended with the weird mech that Kirika and Shirabe were using out there. Couldn’t help laughing at the idea that Maria was actually using funnels out there XD. It was basically a copy of the kind of funnel/dragoon action you’d see in Gundam series. After all…why not XD? Might as well do as many over the top attack sequences as they can since it was the last battle. The docking attack for Tsubasa and Maria was also pretty funny. It didn’t do as much damage to Carol as one would have hoped, but it was a fun attack sequence. The only shame is that it felt like Chris was kind of left out of the action a bit. She did get a few attacks off, but not that much focus. I suppose since we’ve basically seen the kind of spam attacks her gear can do already that there wasn’t anything new to show off.

The big showdown though came when carol basically used those strings to create this giant Zoid XD (eat that Doflamingo). Then things got pretty tough with everyone uniting to blast the hell out of it before Hibiki was set up to hero their way to the win XD. Makes sense for it to wrap up with Hibiki powered up by her friends (very mahou shoujo style) and charging straight through to take down Carol. In the end Hibiki found her way through this series and solved this very simple issue with a very large fist XD. I did like that it fit Hibiki to make the effort to save Carol right to the end and even using the Ignite Module while in X-Drive mode to try to get to her and shield her from the blast. Was very much a class of wills and mindsets with Hibiki and Carol. Right to the end Carol was obsessed with murdering miracles and being spiteful towards the cast for getting in her way. If she couldn’t have her way then she’d make sure their songs couldn’t save her life.

It’s interesting to look at the last episode and what they did with Carol. In some respects you could argue there was some attempt at redemption and a focus on trying to ‘save her’, but on the other side I’d say that despite those wishes she really wasn’t saved. In a sense Carol was right, their songs couldn’t save her. All that Carol did, all the harm she caused, she didn’t get away with it. There was no saving Carol really from what she had done. She burned away so many of her memories that she was practically an empty shell by the end of the battle. Once she reunited with Elfnein there was basically nothing of her left. And then she basically downloaded Elfnein into her body more or less erasing what remained of Carol. Now maybe she’s in Elfnein’s mind somewhere or her subconscious, but as of now you can say that Carol truly died.

And in a sense I’d say that was the right thing to do. Carol harmed untold numbers of people on the path of her selfish revenge and tried to murder the entire planet. There is no need for her to receive a happy ending there. Even at the end when she had chance after chance to turn around, she refused. Even realizing her own memories of her father were telling her to stop and that she was wrong, she just burned up those memories and moved forward. She may have taken Hibiki’s hand at the last moment, but in the end the only one really saved through that was Elfnein. Elfnein got a new body and was saved. That’s all they really accomplished there. But that’s ok I think. Carol was selfish right to the end and refused to consider other options and she paid for that.

I can understand the cast wanting to help her. I think Chris covered it the best. Almost every Symphogear user in this group was a villain at some point. Only Hibiki and Tsubasa were on the ‘right side’ from the start. Chris was an enemy in season 1, Maria/Kirika/Shirabe were in season 2. They had a reason to want to try and save Carol because they themselves were saved. They had a reason to believe it was possible to save her and that it was worth attempting. I think it was pretty fitting how things turned out. Carol who until the last second refused everyone around her was defeated and basically erased, while Hibiki who accepted help from those around her won out and got a pretty positive result to her path.

I did appreciate some time given to the aftermath of the fight and setting things up going forward. It was kind of nice to see the moment of weakness for Hibiki. An acceptance that despite how strong she is, there is just some things she can’t personally deal with. Miku did serve as a good bit of support though it is a bit of a shame she wasn’t all that important this season outside of that kind of role. Things did turn out pretty well for Hibiki. It’s a long road ahead in terms of her family coming back together, but a good first step here. In a sense Hibiki will have to be that connector between her mother and father in the short term. Pretty hard to just accept his return and I can’t blame his mother for being pretty on the fence at this stage. In the end so long as her father was willing to take on the tough role of reaching out then Hibiki was willing to step forward as well. She doesn’t want to lose that family again and will hang onto them both for as long as it takes.

The rest of the cast had their little moments so we can see how they are doing. Things are back on track in terms of careers for Maria and Tsubasa who are still solid friends after all that has gone on. A bit of a funny bit with Chris, Kirika, and Shirabe still hanging out. Chris getting to show off her scores and snap a bit when she gets the “she’s actually smart?” kind of reaction from the other two. Though even she herself said that it was despite appearances XD. If we do get another season I’m curious to see how things turn out for that trio. As a whole everyone is doing pretty well for the moment.

For the last episode I thought it was solid. It concluded the fight in an over the top spectacle that this show can always be counted on, things were resolved in a mixed way for the main villain which is probably appropriate, and they spent a bit of time resolving things for the main cast and showing where they are now. Elfnein will now be a nice part of the support staff going forward, probably being a good source of upgrades for their gears when necessary. For a last episode I think it did a lot of things right and was satisfying. A fun way to leave the show until hopefully another season might come our way. There is no guarantee, but the sales are looking good, the CDs are selling pretty well, and they have room to keep on going if they want. For now we will have to wait and see.
Score: A

Final Thoughts:

Symphogear GX has been an interesting ride. As a whole you could probably say the second season was smoother a ride overall. There was less peaks and valleys. Though personally I would argue that GX was overall a better show. It had more low points, but the high points were pretty darn good. I enjoyed the start of this show quite a bit. It had an insane first episode and set up the villains. We had a group that the Symphogear girls couldn’t handle. They fought well but in the end they were just crushed here. The Alca-Noise were a surprise that definitely could have ended the main cast if there was a desire to kill. An enemy they took lightly and were taken down by. Then you had a few episodes where they were just on the run and couldn’t successfully fight back.

When the tide turned and the counterattack was signaled it was a lot of fun. Chris and Tsubasa kicked some ass and then Hibiki joined in when Carol made her move. The first use of the Ignite Module was awesome. This power that you just didn’t have a good feeling about, but was necessary to fight back. It became clear they were playing into Carol’s hands but didn’t have much choice. Now the downside was that the middle portion did get overly similar. Character episode, revelation, Ignite Module, dead Autoscorer. I don’t think the character arcs themselves were bad, but it was an iffy move to have that pattern repeat too much. Might have been better to just have Maria’s episode (which was good) and then maybe a big showdown with the remaining 3 Autoscorers. Just re-write things so you get those character moments in there but it doesn’t feel as weird.

But the show came back really well in the last episodes. When the final arc hit they kicked things up. People can debate on Hibiki’s father stepping up too quickly, but I think it was paced well enough. It was nonstop awesomeness for the last 3 episodes. The action was great, Carol singing was really good, and the last fights were really entertaining. The show really did a good job in those final episodes and I think that deserves props.

Now how good the show is as a whole I suppose depends on the person. For me the middle part wasn’t that bad and I enjoy the start and finish too much. If you are going to do anything right in a show, start well and end well. They did that here. The action was good, the songs were great, and it was a lot of fun. This wasn’t a show that will challenge your views on society or anything, but it will entertain and tell a story you can have fun with. I give this show a bit more praise because I think it did a few things better. No offense to Ver, but he’s a better secondary villain or anti-hero than purely a villain. Maria was terrible in season 2 and this season really brought her up a level. I think Carol was closer to Fine-levels and was an interesting character with how utterly messed up she was though very calculating at the same time. Garrie deserves special mention since she was the most evil and enjoyable of the Autoscorers. That was one twisted doll. How I feel on the series will probably depend on rewatching it later. But I think season 3 did well.

I am going to miss this show. It had some ups and downs, but it was a lot of fun. The story was interesting for me and I couldn’t complain about the last arc. I think it could have been smoother and they are dealing with the tricky nature of a cast with a lot of main characters, but it was still really good. I’d been waiting on this show since the third season was announced and honest I’m not disappointed. Now to work on the review which will be something new, a review of the Symphogear franchise as a whole. Something to look forward to.