Symphogear AXZ has been giving us duets between the six Symphogear users – Chris & Maria were first, followed by Tsubasa and Shirabe. Following on from that progression, it is only fitting for Hibiki and Kirika to get a turn.
Saint-Germain intends to sacrifice herself for Adam’s plan
We begin the episode with Saint-Germain, who has decided that she will be the one to be sacrificed during the ritual to open the divine gate. She is joined by Adam and Tiki, where it is revealed that the counting she has been doing all this time is the number of sins she bares.
Miku is grateful that Hibiki was able to keep her promises from earlier on in the series
Kirika interjects, and says that they should hold a party to celebrate Hibiki’s upcoming birthday – this episode is set two days before it. Hibiki’s birthday is the 13th of September. It was Chris who told the others.
Chris gets pretty embarrassed about remembering Hibiki’s birthday
But enough worrying about Hibiki’s birthday, the girls have to get to HQ to discuss the enemy’s plan. They realise that Saint-Germain intends to open a divine gate, which could result in a deity being released. As such, the power to kill a god – deicide – will be required.
The fact that Adam destroyed the documents from Val Verde and the former Kazanari HQ suggests that there is something out there that possesses that power. Tsubasa and Maria speculate about it being Gungnir.
Kirika continues to insist on holding a birthday party for Hibiki
Chris calls Kirika out for being naive, which makes Kirika recall her earlier battle against Cagliostro. People ended getting killed as collateral damage during that battle.
Saint-Germain begins the ritual
Saint-Germain and Tiki make their way to the shrine, where Saint-Germain continues to increase the number of sins she has to bare. Once everyone has been dealt with, Saint-Germain throws aside her clothes and begins the ritual to open the divine gate.
Hibiki promises Miku she will be back before she knows it
The ritual starting doesn’t escape the notice of S.O.N.G, so Hibiki is contacted. After reassuring Miku she’ll return as quickly as possible, Hibiki heads off.
The shrine association already has a countermeasure in place to put a halt to the ritual, and they do so. Hibiki and Kirika arrive momentarily afterwards.
Hibiki and Kirika, transformed
Ideally, Hibiki doesn’t want to fight, but she’s left with no other choice. Of course, with Kirika at her side, we get another duet. Hibiki and Kirika’s song is called “Hitsuai Duo Shout”, or “Certain Love Duo Shout” according to the wikia.
As ever, the Symphogear users put up a spectacular fight against their opponent.
Two Shouts, One Love
Saint-Germain is defeated, though she manages to survive the encounter. Of course, Hibiki knows that not everything can be solved by her firsts, so she reaches out to Saint-Germain.
Hibiki reaches out
However, before Saint-Germain can grab Hibiki’s hand, Adam arrives. He continues the ritual using the life of the stars, and reveals that he was just using Saint-Germain. He also decides to give them a taste of divine power.
Kirika sings her swan song
Remember swan songs? Kirika sings hers to have enough power to protect Hibiki and Saint-Germain. The reason? Well, she wants Hibiki to live to see her own birthday – and since Kirika doesn’t know her own, other people’s are all the more important to her.
Kirika overdosed on LiNKER to suppress the swan song recoil. However, that left her in desperate need of medical attention.
Saint-Germain and Hibiki join forces to confront Adam
With Kirika unable to battle, it is left to Saint-Germain and Hibiki to face Adam. We’ll see how that encounter goes in the next episode.
I’m sure I’ve already said this once or twice, but Symphogear is so good! This was a great episode – I enjoyed the small HibiMiku moments. The Hibiki & Kirika duet is also my favourite of the duets we have seen.
The fight against Saint-Germain was fun to watch as well – enhanced even more by the aforementioned duet.
And of course, Saint-Germain allied herself with Hibiki. That certainly seems like a far better prospect than being sacrificed for Adam’s sake, especially as it seems like it would have been a pointless sacrifice.
The possibility of Gungnir being used for deicide is certainly an interesting prospect, and perhaps that will tie into this season’s finale. I don’t know what will happen, but since this is Symphogear, I have no doubt we will be in for quite the spectacle.
I have a message to people who are ready to open their mouths to whine about a “cop-out” should Kirika survive…”FUCK YOU!” Symphogear already killed off one of their heroes. We don’t need another one.