Symphogear G episode 2

Because I felt like writing about this. No summary of events this time, but still spoilery.

Picking up where the previous episode left off, we get to see Tsubasa in action again. I like her costume's redesign too. Less "busy". Also cool is that her twin fiery swords get quite a bit of use this time. They weren't very prominent in the previous season.

Maria gets to show off some of her fighting style, and so far it's at least neat to look at. The way she uses her cape for attack and defense is very... Kamen Rider Knight. Except that spinning it doesn't turn it into a drill weapon... so far.

Her actual Armed Gear, which is a spear like Kanade's only appears briefly.  It is a lot like Kanade's, appearance-wise. It also shoots a beam. I'm a little perplexed at why Tsubasa seemed to initially not believe her Gungnir is the real deal. Hers and Hibiki's are both just fragments, and it's not hard to believe they both ended up with separate pieces.

More importantly, this episode introduces a few new characters. Shirabe and Kirika are Maria's teammates, and it's very, very blatant that they're not actually evil. It would hardly be surprising if they end up joining Hibiki and the Second Division later on. There's a three-on-three battle after their introduction, and it shows off a nice variety of fighting styles.

While Kirika and Shirabe don't do horribly in action, I'm reminded again of the main problem I have with the Gear outfits in general. Why does the center of the torso look so sheer? Why do their navels have to be oddly visible? But I guess tight super hero(-esque) outfits tend to look like they're just painted on anyway.

There's a "swan song" in this episode by Hibiki, Tsubasa and Chris. And it's a little underwhelming, considering that it doesn't seem to cause physical strain to any of them. But "zesshō" doesn't really mean "swan song", and the three of them have greater mastery over their Gears than they used to, so it's not really a disappointment. And Hibiki's new punch attack is pretty cool. If there's going to be a Figma of her in the redesigned Gear, I hope the figure will have parts to recreate this. Ogawa (Tsubasa's manager) explains that pulling together power from the three of them like that is something only Hibiki can do, because her Armed Gear is her "ability to hold hands". On one hand (heh), it's consistent with what was said in the previous season. On the other, that line didn't sound like it was supposed to be literal, so Ogawa's explanation is more than a little cheesy. 

Maria doesn't directly witness Hibiki and co.'s show of power, but from what she did see, she's clearly intimidated.

This episode still doesn't tell us anything about the Finé group, and what relation they might have to Finé herself. Dr. Ver is seen holding Solomon's Cane, so he's probably involved.

Interestingly, Hibiki now seems to have some sort of backstory which might be explored. It's only somewhat alluded to, but it most likely involves something tragic.

Senki Zesshō Symphogear G is © Project Symphogear G, which I assume means "Satelight and others".

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And oh yeah, the opening and ending sequences debut in this episode. I'm not completely sure what to say about the OP, but I think I prefer "Synchrogazer" from the first season. Not really sure about the ED either, but the footage is at least better in that it doesn't make the show look like a Madoka Magica knockoff.