This review contains spoilers. Any spoilers beyond the first episode are marked with spoiler tags. Its also my first anime review plz dun hurt me nbsp Overall Thoughts / TLDR Symphogear is a fun musicheavy anime that blends a lot of generic action elements together in a new way. Though it has some darker moments it is overall a light fun anime that can be enjoyed by anyone who can read subs obviously it would be difficult to sub an anime where the characters sing for a massive portion of the anime. I would only recommend avoiding this if you dont care for Japanese singing. First Impressions I found the first episode to be a strange mixture of happy scenes and disturbing dark scenes. Particularly the initial transformation sequence of the main character at the end of the episode invokes a kneejerk gag reaction due to the body horror involved. Luckily this is the only time that brutal sequence is shown. I wondered if the series was trying too hard to be tragic. I had heard the music was good but even so it exceeded my expectations. Animation and art seemed pretty decent quality too. The first episode managed to hook me in despite the aforementioned shortcomings. I wondered if it may not be so trashy after all. Setting Sympogear is set in a moreorless modern Japan. The primary differences are the existence of powerful relics which can be awakened through song and the existence of eldritch abominations called Noise. The noise are impervious to conventional weaponry and turn humans to ash on contact so battle songstresses wielding relics manifested as weapons and armor do battle with them. Anime being what it is only gradeschool girls are compatible with relics. Major Characters In order of introduction more or less. Names written in Last First format. 120https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/senkizesshousymphogear/images/f/f5/MikuInfobox.png/revision/latest/scaletowidthdown/300?cb=20170825083945 Kohinata Miku Hibikis roommate and close friend. Tends to serve the token normal girl and emotional support roles. Has several small yuri moments with Hibiki if youre into that sort of thing. 120https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/senkizesshousymphogear/images/c/cf/HibikiPJs.png/revision/latest/scaletowidthdown/185?cb=20170624125645 Tachibana Hibiki The main protagonist. Although shes not exactly a reluctant hero Hibikis primary motivation is to protect her normal life. Although she has no qualms about mowing down Noise she becomes distressed if her opponent is human attempting to reason with them and only fighting if forced to. Although powerful she is not a Mary Sue character as she has her weak points just dont expect them to get in the way too much unless diverted by villain plot armor. 120https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/senkizesshousymphogear/images/a/ac/TsubasaGear.png/revision/latest/scaletowidthdown/300?cb=20170821161336 Kazanari Tsubasa The first relic user who wields a swordthemed relic. Cold exterior due to seeing herself as a human weapon rather than a human being. Also seems especially hostile towards Hibiki . 120https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/senkizesshousymphogear/images/b/b0/KazanariGenjuro.png/revision/latest/scaletowidthdown/300?cb=20160119144049 Kazanari Genjuro Commander of the Noisefighting organization and a fatherly figure to the relic users that work for it. A training maniac that appears to have an obsession with Bruce Lee movies hes so ridiculously strong he could easily have been the protagonist ace or primary antagonist of a shounen anime. 120https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/senkizesshousymphogear/images/9/93/ChrisNehushtan.png/revision/latest/scaletowidthdown/185?cb=20170624130437 Yukine Chris The first human antagonist introduced. An underling that works for Fin she appears to have the ability to summon and control the Noise. Tsundere personality. 120https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/senkizesshousymphogear/images/d/d2/FineCasual.png/revision/latest/scaletowidthdown/300?cb=20161011094732 Fin The primary antagonist. Her plan is initially unclear but seems to both require relics and can be impeded by them. Can summon and control the Noise. Character Quality Although I cant call the cast original by any means theyre certainly fun. In other words though the originality is low the execution was very good. I believe most audiences can empathize with them well enough to care about them even the villains to an extent. Character development is at an acceptable level for a show of this length but nothing to rave about Character Score: 82/100 Plot This is the main area the show suffers in. However it is not terrible simply rather generic. The blandness is somewhat offset by the characters dealing with events in a reactionary manner for most of the show: the protagonists dont know who their enemy is and thus have to react to threats as they appear. However this is somewhat diminished once the primary antagonist shows her face aside from a few small hiccups the plot becomes more or less predictable. However excluding the ending there is virtually no deus ex machina and they dont use too many cheap plot devices. Plot Score: 52/100 Animation A good point for the show. Animation is fairly smooth without any noticeable inconsistencies. The concert in the first episode and the battles throughout the series stand out in particular. Its not on the level of say Unlimited Blade Works or Onepunchman but its definitely up there. Animation Score: 85/100 Sound As expected from an anime called more or less Swan Songs of the Valkyries Symphogears music is simply phenomenal. Particular tracks worth noting are ORBITAL BEAT Gyakk no Flgel and Gekis Gungnir. Music Subscore: 100/100 Music isnt the only component of sound though. Sound effects are about average. Nothing to complain about but nothing that stands out from the crowd. Voice Acting is a little harder to judge. On one hand the seiyuus are excellent. They have to be in a show where the characters sing as they fight. On the other hand the writers made the always questionable decision to use English for foreign characters... and proceeded to fail miserably. So badly I suggest having your finger over the mute button for some episodes. Thankfully this only happens in a couple episodes and the later installments in the franchise drop Engrish in favour of magically making everyone speak Japanese much to everyones relief. Voice Acting and SFX subscore: 85/100 Sound Score: 90/100