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Wild ARMs callbacks in Symphogear
Cross-posted from tumblr.
-The focus on stars can be a subtle callback to the first few game, which referred to space as the "sea of stars." There was a lot of focus on threats coming from outer space (e.g. the metal demons and the encroaching Kuiper Belt).
-Kanade Amou's story is similar to Raquel Applegate's in that they both lost their parents and little sister at a young age, wield long bladed weapons (since Raquel's sword can extend into a polearm), and who die very bittersweet deaths. Kyouko Sakura from Puella Magi Madoka Magica shares these traits as well.
-Nana Mizuki, Tsubasa's seiyuu, also voiced Rebecca Streisand in Wild ARMs 5 and sang the game's opening and ending songs.
-Tsubasa and Kanade's relationship can be compared to Garret/Jack and Elmina/Lady Harken's relationship. Although Tsubasa and Jack have completely different personalities, they both carry a sword and some form of trauma over the loss (or perceived loss in Elmina's case) over a red-themed warrior woman from their past. After closure with their respective losses, both of them are capable of looking up and moving on.
-Kanade's status as an artificial Symphogear user is the same as Kresnik's status as an artificial Gene Driver. Both of them suffered through various, painful tests to give them the powers they have, which takes a toll on their health and forces them to take stabilizing drugs.
-The above creates a parallel between Kanade and Hibiki and Kresnik and Jude. Just as Kanade and Kresnik have to obtain and maintain their power artificially, Hibiki and Jude obtain it naturally without their notice; Hibiki inherits Kanade's power when the shrapnel from Gungnir embeds itself into her chest and Jude is a natural-born Gene Driver because of Hauser's blood running through him. Likewise, Hibiki and Jude both inherit something from Kanade and Kresnik at the moment of their demise; Jude inherits the use of Kresnik's prototype ARM after the latter lets go and lets himself fall into the abyss.
-Tsubasa's entrance in episode 2, crashing her motorcycle into the giant Noise attacking Hibiki, can be perceived as a subtle callback to Kresnik crashing his motorcycle Javelin into a tentacled Wild ARM in the latter parts of WA4.
-Similarly, both Tsubasa and Kresnik sacrifice themselves in order for Hibiki and Jude to advance, although Tsubasa is seemingly revived and it's hinted in the ending that Kresnik might have survived the fall to bring back Yulie's music box.
-Tony Glazer, the representative from the English label Metro Music, is a reference to every Tony character in every installment of WA.
-The location Durandal was supposed to be transported to is called the Ruins of Memory. This is Jack's intro dungeon in the first game as well as an early (and later revisited) dungeon in WA3.
-The password Ryoko enters into a monitor before the Durandal escort job is Fulcanelli, the presumed pseudonym of a famous French alchemist. Fulcanelli was the Japanese name of the Elw leader in the first game, changed to Emiko in English; the name occasionally appeared as Fulcanelli as a localization error. Entering Emiko/Fulcanelli's name in the panel at the Ruins of Memory's entrance opens up a secret passage.
-Hibiki and Miku's relationship can sort of be compared to Ashley and Marina's from the second game. Hibiki is the hopeful heroine and Miku is the closest female presence she has while remaining a regular civilian; both Miku and Marina get upset and reject Hibiki and Ashley when they found out their respective secrets; Hibiki's secret job and Ashley's transformation into Knight Blazer. Of course, in both instances, the two of them make up afterwards and their bond only grows stronger from there on.
-Similarly, both Hibiki and Ashley possess a sort of alternate "form" more or less governed by the emotions they experience (the "berserker" Hibiki and Knight Blazer, both of which are themed black with red accents), which they learn to control (sort of, in Hibiki's case) over time. They also both possess a more refined alternate form clad in golden colors.
-When Tomosato hands Hibiki a warm drink, she says "あったかいもの、どうぞ" to which she responds with "あったかいもの、どうも". Basically, "here's something warm, here you go" and "thanks for the warm [drink]". This is a subtle dialogue callback to both WA2 and WA3, in Lilka and Clive's intros. Lilka is handed a hot drink by a boy's mom in the village she accidentally teleported to. Clive is handed a hot (and very bitter) antidote drink after he wakes up at his client's house after being poisoned.
-In episode three when Hibiki is too exhausted to work on her report, she says "へいき、へっちゃら" to which Miku responds with "へっちゃらじゃないよ". Basically "I'm fine, everything's cool" and "Everything's not cool". This is another dialogue reference to Lilka, who speaks the first line a number of times throughout the game, and then admits the second to herself in a moment of self-doubt.
-This is the most obvious one: Kadingir. The word is ancient Sumerian, meaning "gateway of the gods." It refers to a tower that reaches the heavens; in Symphogear, it's actually a massive ion cannon designed to destroy the moon. It is found in WA in several instances; originally mistranslitered as Ka Dingel, it's the second to last dungeon in the first game (and it rises from the ocean, similarly to how Symphogear's Kadingir rises from the ground) and was a monument built to reach the man-made moon Malduke (mistransliterated from Marduk, the patron deity of Babylon and often recognized as a god of weather - which then gets referenced in WA4 in a scene at the White Orphanage), which itself possesses a cannon that can be aimed at Filgaia. It appears again in WA3 as the last dungeon of the first chapter, but it is old, decrepit and devoid of advanced technology. It is namedropped by Weisheit in WAXF (more correctly addressed as Ka-Dingir) as an example of technology from a lost civilization born from Elw Borean technology. An additional but less obvious example is the tower dungeon Etemenanki in WA4, which greatly resembles both Ka Dingel dungeons in several ways; Etemenanki was the name of a ziggurat (a word present in the transformation sequences and the Swan Song) dedicated to Marduk (hint hint) in the sixth century BCE Neo-Babylonian dynasty. Of course, when Genjuro tells everyone to search for the meaning of Kadingir, Miku runs a search on her phone and says all she's coming up with are video game walkthroughs...
-Chris' initial antagonism, focus on Hibiki (the main character) and change of allegiance can be interpreted as a callback to Kanon from WA2, who is initially after Ashley's head for being the host to Lord Blazer. Both Chris and Kanon have suffered extensively in the past and had trouble opening up to others as a result.
-Ryoko's status as a genius scientist at the age of 34 and the way she refers to herself as a "capable woman" in her introduction (as well as the track that plays at the time, "The Capable Woman is 34 Years Old") serves as a callback to Labyrinthia in WAXF, an extremely intelligent but really quite quirky 34 year old who constantly reminds everyone: "I may not look it, but I'm actually quite the capable woman!"
-Ryoko's use of magic barriers to shield Hibiki and the Durandal in episode 5 can be perceived as a callback to Werner's use of barriers to protect Virginia in WA3.
-This is further reinforced by Finé's shielding technique Asgard (who Werner clashed with a number of times in 3), named after the citadel of the gods in Norse mythology. Asgard is the name of a golem throughout the WA series equipped with barrier generators on his arms, serving as an antagonist in 3 and XF, as an ally in the first game (and its remake) and 5, as one of Marivel's Force abilities in 2, and as Farmel's nickname in 4 due to her shield-based, defensive fighting style. Ryoko and Finé also bear some physical resemblances to Farmel (busty physique, violet eyes, glasses, golden blonde hair, in their early thirties).
-Kanade's spear Gungnir slightly resembles Granzamber, Zeikfried/Seigfried and Volsung's evil spear in design.
-The fact that the relic weapons are named Armed Gears can probably be seen as a reference to ARMs themselves, although the definition of ARMs differs from game to game (as ARMS is the name of a group in 2 and class-changing medallions in XF and are exclusive in use in the first game and 4).
-Finé's "final boss" form, equipped with the Nehushtan armor and Durandal combined with the mass of Noise brought together with Solomon's Cane, slightly resembles Legio Volsung, WA5's final boss, in design and general atmosphere.
-Synchrogazer, the combined attack between Hibiki, Tsubasa and Chris executed with Durandal and gathered from everyone's power, is identical in nature to Arc Impulse, the ultimate attack found throughout the WA series. Arc Impulse serves at the ultimate final blow to the final boss in both 2 and 4 (which kind of acts as a sort of Spirit Bomb, really).
-The way the three girls disappear for three weeks and are considered dead in the final episode can be connected to how the four main characters in WA3 go on the run and are generally considered missing and wanted in the ending, still occasionally popping up to save people before going back on the run again.
-Ryoko's mention of "pagan technology" may be a nod to ancient technology throughout the WA series as a whole, and possibly the "heretic engineers" of the fourth game.
-The way Chris yells "Snipe!" when shooting heat-seeking missiles at Finé and Kadingir may be a callback to Clive's sniping.
-When Ogawa pulls Miku along to run away from the Noise, he says "Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor!", which is a line often spoken by Arnaud when running away from battles.
-A Finé-specific track, "Holy Mother of Destruction," may be a callback to Mother from the first game, who referred to herself as such.
-Hibiki's new muffler and color scheme in G are reminiscent of Arnaud's overall design. In addition, her silhouette with the muffler in G's logo is reminiscent of the classic Knight Blazer pose in 2's first opening sequence.
-Maria and her crew bear some strong resemblances to Yulie and her brother Kresnik; they're described as "Receptor Children" who were tested on in a facility, presumably for Symphogear aptitude. The Ahtreide siblings and many other orphaned children at the White Orphanage were tested on for Gene Driver compatibility.
-Maria and Serena take this a step further by their dynamic being very similar to Kresnik and Yulie's, respectively, down to the older sibling being soothed by the younger sibling's song, the younger sibling showing superior Symphogear/Gene Driver aptitude, and the older sibling finding their determination (or conviction, cough cough) in their younger sibling.
-Nastassja's name sounds like a variant of Anastasia. WA2 featured Anastasia, the Sword Magess... who had the same hair and eye colors as Nastassja. Additionally, Nastassja has an eyepatch and hairstyle similar to Kanon, who is a descendent of Anastasia.
-Additionally, Nastassja is referred to as a heretical engineer, a term used by WA4 characters as stated in an earlier point.
-What's more, Nastassja is in a wheelchair. Another of Anastasia's descendants, Irving, has to use a crutch to walk after failing to extract the Argetlahm from the stone. If Nastassja's handicap is stemmed from an event with the relics, then...
-When Hibiki, Tsubasa and Chris sing FIRST LOVE SONG as they make their way to the falling moon shard, the colors and lights surrounding them are reminiscent of when Rudy, Jack and Cecilia use the transporter from Ka Dingel (Kadingir) to make their way to the artificial moon, Malduke (Marduk).
-The beginning of G's first episode is extremely reminiscent of WA3's opening, wherein the main characters are escorting an artifact known as the Ark Scepter (which seems to be another name for Solomon's Cane) onboard a train during a stormy night. The train subsequently comes under attack.
-The Ark Scepter, in WA3, is an artifact (or four of them, to be more precise) that is crucial in communicating with and summoning the Guardians. Solomon's Cane, of course, summons Noise and gives them commands.
-The cocoon-like object seen on Nastassja's monitors and in Serena's hand might be a callback to Mother's cocoon in the first game. Interestingly, the object has a "face" that strongly resembles Boomerang's.
-In G, Chris' attack cut-ins now incorporate roses and thorns on top of the wild west motif. This is very reminiscent of Virginia's own rose motif, on top of her gunslinging.
-Tomosato's gun makes the same sound effect as the blow landings in WA4 and 5.
-The focus on stars can be a subtle callback to the first few game, which referred to space as the "sea of stars." There was a lot of focus on threats coming from outer space (e.g. the metal demons and the encroaching Kuiper Belt).
-Kanade Amou's story is similar to Raquel Applegate's in that they both lost their parents and little sister at a young age, wield long bladed weapons (since Raquel's sword can extend into a polearm), and who die very bittersweet deaths. Kyouko Sakura from Puella Magi Madoka Magica shares these traits as well.
-Nana Mizuki, Tsubasa's seiyuu, also voiced Rebecca Streisand in Wild ARMs 5 and sang the game's opening and ending songs.
-Tsubasa and Kanade's relationship can be compared to Garret/Jack and Elmina/Lady Harken's relationship. Although Tsubasa and Jack have completely different personalities, they both carry a sword and some form of trauma over the loss (or perceived loss in Elmina's case) over a red-themed warrior woman from their past. After closure with their respective losses, both of them are capable of looking up and moving on.
-Kanade's status as an artificial Symphogear user is the same as Kresnik's status as an artificial Gene Driver. Both of them suffered through various, painful tests to give them the powers they have, which takes a toll on their health and forces them to take stabilizing drugs.
-The above creates a parallel between Kanade and Hibiki and Kresnik and Jude. Just as Kanade and Kresnik have to obtain and maintain their power artificially, Hibiki and Jude obtain it naturally without their notice; Hibiki inherits Kanade's power when the shrapnel from Gungnir embeds itself into her chest and Jude is a natural-born Gene Driver because of Hauser's blood running through him. Likewise, Hibiki and Jude both inherit something from Kanade and Kresnik at the moment of their demise; Jude inherits the use of Kresnik's prototype ARM after the latter lets go and lets himself fall into the abyss.
-Tsubasa's entrance in episode 2, crashing her motorcycle into the giant Noise attacking Hibiki, can be perceived as a subtle callback to Kresnik crashing his motorcycle Javelin into a tentacled Wild ARM in the latter parts of WA4.
-Similarly, both Tsubasa and Kresnik sacrifice themselves in order for Hibiki and Jude to advance, although Tsubasa is seemingly revived and it's hinted in the ending that Kresnik might have survived the fall to bring back Yulie's music box.
-Tony Glazer, the representative from the English label Metro Music, is a reference to every Tony character in every installment of WA.
-The location Durandal was supposed to be transported to is called the Ruins of Memory. This is Jack's intro dungeon in the first game as well as an early (and later revisited) dungeon in WA3.
-The password Ryoko enters into a monitor before the Durandal escort job is Fulcanelli, the presumed pseudonym of a famous French alchemist. Fulcanelli was the Japanese name of the Elw leader in the first game, changed to Emiko in English; the name occasionally appeared as Fulcanelli as a localization error. Entering Emiko/Fulcanelli's name in the panel at the Ruins of Memory's entrance opens up a secret passage.
-Hibiki and Miku's relationship can sort of be compared to Ashley and Marina's from the second game. Hibiki is the hopeful heroine and Miku is the closest female presence she has while remaining a regular civilian; both Miku and Marina get upset and reject Hibiki and Ashley when they found out their respective secrets; Hibiki's secret job and Ashley's transformation into Knight Blazer. Of course, in both instances, the two of them make up afterwards and their bond only grows stronger from there on.
-Similarly, both Hibiki and Ashley possess a sort of alternate "form" more or less governed by the emotions they experience (the "berserker" Hibiki and Knight Blazer, both of which are themed black with red accents), which they learn to control (sort of, in Hibiki's case) over time. They also both possess a more refined alternate form clad in golden colors.
-When Tomosato hands Hibiki a warm drink, she says "あったかいもの、どうぞ" to which she responds with "あったかいもの、どうも". Basically, "here's something warm, here you go" and "thanks for the warm [drink]". This is a subtle dialogue callback to both WA2 and WA3, in Lilka and Clive's intros. Lilka is handed a hot drink by a boy's mom in the village she accidentally teleported to. Clive is handed a hot (and very bitter) antidote drink after he wakes up at his client's house after being poisoned.
-In episode three when Hibiki is too exhausted to work on her report, she says "へいき、へっちゃら" to which Miku responds with "へっちゃらじゃないよ". Basically "I'm fine, everything's cool" and "Everything's not cool". This is another dialogue reference to Lilka, who speaks the first line a number of times throughout the game, and then admits the second to herself in a moment of self-doubt.
-This is the most obvious one: Kadingir. The word is ancient Sumerian, meaning "gateway of the gods." It refers to a tower that reaches the heavens; in Symphogear, it's actually a massive ion cannon designed to destroy the moon. It is found in WA in several instances; originally mistranslitered as Ka Dingel, it's the second to last dungeon in the first game (and it rises from the ocean, similarly to how Symphogear's Kadingir rises from the ground) and was a monument built to reach the man-made moon Malduke (mistransliterated from Marduk, the patron deity of Babylon and often recognized as a god of weather - which then gets referenced in WA4 in a scene at the White Orphanage), which itself possesses a cannon that can be aimed at Filgaia. It appears again in WA3 as the last dungeon of the first chapter, but it is old, decrepit and devoid of advanced technology. It is namedropped by Weisheit in WAXF (more correctly addressed as Ka-Dingir) as an example of technology from a lost civilization born from Elw Borean technology. An additional but less obvious example is the tower dungeon Etemenanki in WA4, which greatly resembles both Ka Dingel dungeons in several ways; Etemenanki was the name of a ziggurat (a word present in the transformation sequences and the Swan Song) dedicated to Marduk (hint hint) in the sixth century BCE Neo-Babylonian dynasty. Of course, when Genjuro tells everyone to search for the meaning of Kadingir, Miku runs a search on her phone and says all she's coming up with are video game walkthroughs...
-Chris' initial antagonism, focus on Hibiki (the main character) and change of allegiance can be interpreted as a callback to Kanon from WA2, who is initially after Ashley's head for being the host to Lord Blazer. Both Chris and Kanon have suffered extensively in the past and had trouble opening up to others as a result.
-Ryoko's status as a genius scientist at the age of 34 and the way she refers to herself as a "capable woman" in her introduction (as well as the track that plays at the time, "The Capable Woman is 34 Years Old") serves as a callback to Labyrinthia in WAXF, an extremely intelligent but really quite quirky 34 year old who constantly reminds everyone: "I may not look it, but I'm actually quite the capable woman!"
-Ryoko's use of magic barriers to shield Hibiki and the Durandal in episode 5 can be perceived as a callback to Werner's use of barriers to protect Virginia in WA3.
-This is further reinforced by Finé's shielding technique Asgard (who Werner clashed with a number of times in 3), named after the citadel of the gods in Norse mythology. Asgard is the name of a golem throughout the WA series equipped with barrier generators on his arms, serving as an antagonist in 3 and XF, as an ally in the first game (and its remake) and 5, as one of Marivel's Force abilities in 2, and as Farmel's nickname in 4 due to her shield-based, defensive fighting style. Ryoko and Finé also bear some physical resemblances to Farmel (busty physique, violet eyes, glasses, golden blonde hair, in their early thirties).
-Kanade's spear Gungnir slightly resembles Granzamber, Zeikfried/Seigfried and Volsung's evil spear in design.
-The fact that the relic weapons are named Armed Gears can probably be seen as a reference to ARMs themselves, although the definition of ARMs differs from game to game (as ARMS is the name of a group in 2 and class-changing medallions in XF and are exclusive in use in the first game and 4).
-Finé's "final boss" form, equipped with the Nehushtan armor and Durandal combined with the mass of Noise brought together with Solomon's Cane, slightly resembles Legio Volsung, WA5's final boss, in design and general atmosphere.
-Synchrogazer, the combined attack between Hibiki, Tsubasa and Chris executed with Durandal and gathered from everyone's power, is identical in nature to Arc Impulse, the ultimate attack found throughout the WA series. Arc Impulse serves at the ultimate final blow to the final boss in both 2 and 4 (which kind of acts as a sort of Spirit Bomb, really).
-The way the three girls disappear for three weeks and are considered dead in the final episode can be connected to how the four main characters in WA3 go on the run and are generally considered missing and wanted in the ending, still occasionally popping up to save people before going back on the run again.
-Ryoko's mention of "pagan technology" may be a nod to ancient technology throughout the WA series as a whole, and possibly the "heretic engineers" of the fourth game.
-The way Chris yells "Snipe!" when shooting heat-seeking missiles at Finé and Kadingir may be a callback to Clive's sniping.
-When Ogawa pulls Miku along to run away from the Noise, he says "Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor!", which is a line often spoken by Arnaud when running away from battles.
-A Finé-specific track, "Holy Mother of Destruction," may be a callback to Mother from the first game, who referred to herself as such.
-Hibiki's new muffler and color scheme in G are reminiscent of Arnaud's overall design. In addition, her silhouette with the muffler in G's logo is reminiscent of the classic Knight Blazer pose in 2's first opening sequence.
-Maria and her crew bear some strong resemblances to Yulie and her brother Kresnik; they're described as "Receptor Children" who were tested on in a facility, presumably for Symphogear aptitude. The Ahtreide siblings and many other orphaned children at the White Orphanage were tested on for Gene Driver compatibility.
-Maria and Serena take this a step further by their dynamic being very similar to Kresnik and Yulie's, respectively, down to the older sibling being soothed by the younger sibling's song, the younger sibling showing superior Symphogear/Gene Driver aptitude, and the older sibling finding their determination (or conviction, cough cough) in their younger sibling.
-Nastassja's name sounds like a variant of Anastasia. WA2 featured Anastasia, the Sword Magess... who had the same hair and eye colors as Nastassja. Additionally, Nastassja has an eyepatch and hairstyle similar to Kanon, who is a descendent of Anastasia.
-Additionally, Nastassja is referred to as a heretical engineer, a term used by WA4 characters as stated in an earlier point.
-What's more, Nastassja is in a wheelchair. Another of Anastasia's descendants, Irving, has to use a crutch to walk after failing to extract the Argetlahm from the stone. If Nastassja's handicap is stemmed from an event with the relics, then...
-When Hibiki, Tsubasa and Chris sing FIRST LOVE SONG as they make their way to the falling moon shard, the colors and lights surrounding them are reminiscent of when Rudy, Jack and Cecilia use the transporter from Ka Dingel (Kadingir) to make their way to the artificial moon, Malduke (Marduk).
-The beginning of G's first episode is extremely reminiscent of WA3's opening, wherein the main characters are escorting an artifact known as the Ark Scepter (which seems to be another name for Solomon's Cane) onboard a train during a stormy night. The train subsequently comes under attack.
-The Ark Scepter, in WA3, is an artifact (or four of them, to be more precise) that is crucial in communicating with and summoning the Guardians. Solomon's Cane, of course, summons Noise and gives them commands.
-The cocoon-like object seen on Nastassja's monitors and in Serena's hand might be a callback to Mother's cocoon in the first game. Interestingly, the object has a "face" that strongly resembles Boomerang's.
-In G, Chris' attack cut-ins now incorporate roses and thorns on top of the wild west motif. This is very reminiscent of Virginia's own rose motif, on top of her gunslinging.
-Tomosato's gun makes the same sound effect as the blow landings in WA4 and 5.