Symphogear
Senki Zesshō Symphogear, also known as simply Symphogear, is a Japanese anime television series produced by Satelight. The original season aired on Tokyo MX between January and March 2012. The second season entitled Symphogear G aired between July and September 2013, The third season, Symphogear GX, aired between July and September 2015, and the fourth season, Symphogear AXZ, aired between July and September 2017. The fifth and final season, Symphogear XV, aired between July and September 2019. A manga adaptation was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype Ace magazine between December 2011 and March 2013. A mobile game titled Symphogear XD Unlimited was released in June 2017 in Japan.
Plot
Two idols, Tsubasa Kazanari and Kanade Amō, collectively known as Zwei Wing, battle against an alien race known as Noise using armor known as Symphogear, which uses the power of music to counteract the Noise's destructive capability. However, Kanade sacrifices herself to protect a girl named Hibiki Tachibana, who ends up with a piece of Kanade's Symphogear relic, Gungnir, embedded in her chest. Two years later, Hibiki awakens the power of the Gungnir relic inside her body, gaining the same Symphogear armor that Kanade had. Using the power of song, Hibiki and her fellow Symphogear wielders must fight to protect the innocent and defeat those who would use the Noise for evil.Characters
Symphogear Users
Symphogear Adaptors are individuals capable of wielding a Symphogear, an powered armament system created by converting an ancient mythological artifact into a gem-like relic crystal, where each Candidate bonds with a ruby-like relic shard that generates their unique Symphogear through Phonic Gain, an energy source in the form of song; these Gears manifest a personalized weapon called an Armed Gear and can assume multiple forms by overcoming system locks, with the strongest form, the X-Drive, requiring immense Phonic Gain and excess energy to activate. Users may also unleash a Superb Song, a devastating attack that risks fatal backlash,; multiple users can combine their individual Superb Songs via S2CA to create a more powerful version where the harmonization prevents backlash by either transmuting the excess power into usable energy for counterattacks or enhancing into X-Drive. Although each relic is typically restricted to Candidates with high link coefficiencies with the relic, some bypass this restriction via the experimental drug "Linker" or by fusing with the relic.;Hibiki Tachibana
;Tsubasa Kazanari
;Chris Yukine
;Maria Cadenzavna Eve
;Shirabe Tsukuyomi
;Kirika Akatsuki
;Miku Kohinata
Supporting characters
;Kanade Amō;Genjūrō Kazanari
;Ryōko Sakurai
;Shinji Ogawa
;Aoi Tomosato
;Sakuya Fujitaka
;Serena Cadenzavna Eve
;Nastassja Sergeyevna Tolstaya
;Elfnein
Minor characters
;Yumi Itaba;Kuriyo Andō
;Shiori Terashima
;Komichi Ayano, Yuki Godai, Otome Kaburagi
;Ayumu Takasaka, Tōko Sabe, Ako Ōki
;Owner of Flower
;Tony Glazer
;Taketsugu Hiroki
;Masahito Shibata
;Akira Tachibana
;Yatsuhiro Kazanari
;Fudō Kazanari
;Sonia Virena
;Stephan Virena
Antagonists
;Finé;John Wayne Vercingetorix
;Carol Malus Dienheim
;Phara Suyuf
;Leiur Darahim
;Garie Tuman
;Micha Jawkan
;Saint-Germain
;Cagliostro
;Prelati
;Tiki
;Adam Weishaupt
;Vanessa Diodati
;Millaarc Cranstoun
;Elsa Bête
;Shem-Ha Mephorash
Media
On November 20, 2022, it was announced at the end of the "Symphogear Live 2020→2022" concert that a new project in the Symphogear franchise was being developed and would be released at an unannounced date.Manga
A manga series illustrated by Dan Yoshii was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype Ace magazine from December 10, 2011, to March 9, 2013. Its chapters were collected in three volumes, released from May 10, 2012, to July 10, 2013.A spin-off manga by Tsutanoha, titled Senki Kanshoku Symphogear: Shirabe Meshi, began serialization in Takeshobo's Storia Dash website on June 11, 2021. The series is set in an alternate universe where the characters who died during the events of the main series have come back to life. Its chapters have been collected into individual volumes, with the first one released on March 30, 2022. As of April 16, 2025, six volumes have been released.
Anime
The anime, produced by Satelight and Encourage Films, began airing in Japan on Tokyo MX between January 6, 2012, and March 30, 2012. Nico Nico simulcast the series in Japan. The opening theme was "Synchrogazer" performed by Nana Mizuki, and the ending theme was "Meteor Light" performed by Ayahi Takagaki, with multiple character and insert songs performed by Aoi Yūki, Nana Mizuki, Ayahi Takagaki, Minami Takayama, and Yuka Iguchi used throughout the season. Discotek Media released this season on subtitled Blu-ray Disc in North America on October 27, 2020.On September 5, 2012, Thomas Romain – an animator on the series – wrote on Twitter "for the ones who liked Symphogear, there will be good news soon!", later revealing on October 6, 2012, that production on a second season has begun. The second season, titled Senki Zesshō Symphogear G, aired between July 4 and September 26, 2013. The opening theme for the second season was "Vitalization" performed by Nana Mizuki, and the ending theme was "Next Destination" performed by Ayahi Takagaki, with multiple new character and insert songs performed by Aoi Yūki, Nana Mizuki, Ayahi Takagaki, Yōko Hikasa, Yoshino Nanjō, Ai Kayano, and Yuka Iguchi used throughout the season. Discotek Media released this season on subtitled Blu-ray Disc in North America on January 26, 2021.
A third season, titled Senki Zessho Symphogear GX, aired in Japan between July 4, 2015, and September 25, 2015, and was simulcast by Chernin-owned Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll also began streaming the first season on September 2, 2015, followed by Symphogear G on September 18 of that same year.
The fourth and fifth seasons were announced on February 28, 2016, at the Symphogear Live 2016 event in Japan. The former, titled Symphogear AXZ, began airing between July 1, 2017, and September 30, 2017.
The fifth and final season, titled Symphogear XV, was originally scheduled to premiere in April 2019, but the air-date was pushed back to July 2019 in order to further refine the anime before its release. The fifth season aired between July 6, 2019, and September 28, 2019. Its opening theme is "Metanoia" performed by Nana Mizuki while the ending theme is "Lasting Song" performed by Ayahi Takagaki. Medialink licensed the fifth and final season in South and Southeast Asia and streamed the anime in their YouTube channel.
Video games
Characters from Symphogear appear in Super Heroine Chronicle, a role-playing game developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita and released in Japan on February 6, 2014.A smartphone game developed by Bushiroad, titled Symphogear XD Unlimited, was released in Japan on June 26, 2017. An English version of the smartphone game was released by Pokelabo on February 14, 2020. However, due to mismanagement and lack of a large playerbase needed to maintain the game in the long run, the English version was shut down on July 31 of the same year, with all information about it purged from all official sites. The Japanese version of the game ended service on January 31, 2024.