The S.O.N.G. Crew
Man, this show has too many good characters, I’d feel really bad skipping over the supporting cast. So let’s look at some of the key members of the Squad Of Nexus Guardians.
Genjuro “Eat, Watch Movies, Sleep” Kazanari
Like, Genjuro, the commander (voiced by Hideo Ishikawa - Ryoma from the Getter Robo OVAs), tucks his tie into his shirt pocket, can fight a Symphogear with his bare hands, and learned everything he knows from movies. Some of his best scenes are the training montages, which are essentially Drunken Master reference after Rocky reference after Bruce Lee Reference all while he sings the Police Story theme song with Hibiki in the original Cantonese. His commentary from the control room is always over-the-top dramatic, and the few times he actually steps into the fight on his own are some of the most immediately impactful moments in the entire show. But he’s not all rough-and-tough all the time; he cares deeply for the girls under his command, and he’s always there for them when they need a jumbo-sized hug to let them know that things will be all right. He is truly anime’s best dad.
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Yatsuhiro “Tsubasa’s Real Dad” Kazanari
On the government side, there’s Yatsuhiro (voiced by Kazuhiro Yamaji - the dub voice of Jason Statham and Hugh Jackman), who slices through red tape like Tsubasa’s sword cuts through Noise. His sharp, borderline-illegal political maneuverings have earned him the title of “The scariest Kazanari brother” from Genjuro. He’s Tsubasa’s real dad and I’ll hear nothing to the contrary.
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Shinji “An Actual Ninja” Ogawa
Ogawa, the manager of Tsubasa’s musical career, is also secretly a modern-day ninja (voiced by the unmistakable Soichiro “OYAKATA-SAMAAAAAAA” Hoshi, no less). And he’s darn good at it, too, given that most people don’t realize something’s up until he literally starts running on water. He’s very close with Tsubasa, keeping her room clean, teaching her his ninja moves, somehow managing to land her gigs (and reality show appearances) despite about a 50% “everyone in the audience is brutally murdered” rate, and doing his best to keep her spirits up despite how much the world seems to love dumping on her. Like Genjuro, he rarely goes into battle himself, but every time he does, he makes it memorable.
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Elfnein
Elfnein? Well, she’s just the cutest smallest homunculus bean ever to unlock the secrets of alchemy and become the group’s science officer (voiced by Misaki Kuno, who I know as Kate from Seikai Seifuku but you probably know as the piggy from Seven Deadly Sins). While she carries on the S.O.N.G. science officer tradition of having the season’s villain embedded in her DNA, she’s been nothing but the purest cinnamon roll working overtime to help the team and give them the power-ups that have made them so unstoppably OP. As the safekeeper of the memories her “other half” Carol burns as alchemical fuel, Elfnein’s emotional arc with Carol delivers some of Symphogear’s biggest payoffs and heartstring-pulls. She deserves every headpat she gets.
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Tomosato and Fujitaka
And last but not least, Tomosato (Asami “Chihaya from Chihayafuru” Seto) and Fujitaka (Kenji “Producer from Idolmaster” Akabane), despite being mere mortals in the presence of these superpowered anime personalities, are the immovable foundation that holds the team together during battle. You need someone to watch your back so you don’t get ambushed by Noise? Infiltrate a South American military complex to spy on the Illuminati? Update K2’s Wikipedia page when you knock it down to the 3rd highest mountain in the world? They’ve got you covered.
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