Sympho-Saber: Song of Swords

Behind the Scenes Special

[Initial Planning and Concepts]

At one point Symphogear XDU (the Mobile Game) had a short lived English release. Crunchyroll temporarily uploaded Season 1 through GX of Symphogear for free to their Youtube channel as promotion for it. Considering it was on Youtube and I dislike most other web players, I jumped at the chance to view a series that had kind of been on my radar for a bit before that point. I watched the available seasons, and also went out of my way to watch their OVAs. The result, I was hooked to this series now that I had gotten that far in. I then proceeded to suck it up, go to CR's website to watch AXZ, XV and then elsewhere for the remaining OVAs. And now I am a Symphogear fan.

Afterwards my brain had a thought, and that was to check out Fanfiction, specifically if there were any Kamen Rider crossovers. Because of course that was my first thought. Surprisingly that seems to be the most crossed over thing with Symphogear when I look around. So I ended up reading a few and then I had the thought of, "Hey, I should get in on this".

I'd sit on this idea for a while since I wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. I wanted it to sort of stand out in comparison to most Rider crossovers I read, and I wanted to avoid treading familiar and repetitive territory. So it was very much me getting constant ideas for different Riders but nothing really working out in the end.

I knew I wanted the Riders to have a healthy amount of forms. It was mainly so they could grow with the Wielders throughout five seasons without stalling too heavily. I also wanted a series with a good amount of Riders in order to have some interesting cast dynamics, and to keep the Rider side relevant.

The first idea was a Kamen Rider Specter focused story of all things. It was mostly because of his generous amount of forms available alongside forms I could borrow from given how easily swappable the Damashii are. Not to mention there were a decent amount of Riders in Ghost that I could use without using Ghost. But that didn't really end up going anywhere beyond breaking down when each form would show up.

A second and more short-lived idea was Kamen Rider Build which kind of had ideas thrown about but that was even more barebones than the Specter idea. I didn't even make a document for it like I did with Specter and the next Rider.

I'd eventually revisit the workbench with Kamen Rider Zero-One and this had quite a bit more planning to it, a few beta summaries of S1 chapters, a more solidified Rider/Form debut list, etc. But it wasn't really working the way I wanted it to so I went back to the drawing board.

[Planning Phase: Project Sympho-Saber]

Kamen Rider Saber was next in regards to ideas, and it mostly just started out as another idea that I wanted to see if I could use. Though the more I thought about it, and the further Saber continued, the more it started to click. While mystic in a sense there was still some technological aspects to the series, it was a good enough mix. Of course I didn't fully solidify this idea as something I wanted until Elemental Dragon's debut which pushed away any doubts. Everything made sense with how Touma was able to achieve the form, how the form has two hands clasping together, Touma just reaching out trying to get others to understand his views, it just fit so perfectly.

So I started penning up ideas, and as I watched the series come towards its conclusion, I knew that I'd be able to pull this off and fully went in on the idea. The first was deciding that it would be a Fusion style of Crossover since I could create some interesting results alongside mixing and expanding the lore of both series. Of course with Saber's catalog of Riders and Forms I had to be very meticulous with planning as a result of that.

As everything was under way, I knew I needed a name, and man I am bad at names. The Project Sympho-Saber was originally because I wasn't sure on the title. Eventually I thought of Song of Swords but I figured I'd make it a bit more unique by combining the beta title and newly thought of title together.

[Season Breakdowns]

[S1 Preamble]

-From the start I knew that I couldn't have the entire cast of Saber and Symphogear co-existing for this story. When it came to cuts though it was pretty much just on the Rider side. While I absolutely adore Mei, Miku ended up filling the role quite nicely. Likewise I knew that Riders had to be cut down and merged with existing characters in Symphogear. This led to the early cuts of Ren, Ogami, and Bahato for Ogawa, Genjuro and Kanade respectively.

-Original plans included having Kento as part of Section 2 but that meant I had to debut his respective forms on top of Saber and Blades alongside me already planning Genjuro as Buster to show up at the end of the season. This also meant pushing every Wonder Combo so early that I'd likely have to use Dragonic, King Lion, and Jaou in G and that just didn't jive too well with me.

-Another major but changed plan was to have Touma lose access to transforming at the same time as Chris confronting the others for the first time. As well as him going to Avalon to get King of Arthur and that somehow spilling into the fight where Durandal is activated for the first time. But I realized that was rushing things too much so that ended up being pushed back and reworked for G's mid-game plot.

[S1 Breakdown]

S1:EP01 – Awakening of the Dragon

-When it came to this chapter, mostly everything from the original draft stayed the same. Except for the opening scene. It was a lot closer to the actual opening of S1 but with Touma in addition to Miku. After some changes later on, this scene was redone to make it a bit lighter and hint that something was off.

S1:EP02 – Of Swordsmen and Wielders

-At first I wasn't sure what status I'd have Touma's parents under and eventually I decided out of country as the base explanation here. This was mostly in case I wanted to use them for later which ended up working very well for me as a result.

-This chapter also ends up starting one of my favorite running bits of S1 which is Daishinji's rivalry with Ryoko/Finé. It was always fun to write scenes involving the two bantering back and forth.

-Introducing the term Kamen Rider as something somewhat buried by history but others would know (Touma, Genjuro) was a fun bit of world building I knew I wanted to do.

-Speaking of World Building, here we have what I later clarify from Finé as her fudging with history and lying. In that the Seiken were created to try and control the Great Book and split it. This was mostly from me still trying to figure things out as I thought of a potentially different backstory before settling on a similar enough one to canon the further we got into Saber's endgame.

S1:EP03 – Gungnir and the Grasshopper

-The prospect of a month time skip that I could fit stuff into easily was too golden to pass up. It allowed me to space out Touma and Rintaro utilizing different Ride Books alongside some fun character interactions.

-More fun stuff during these early episodes was writing Hibiki's lack of fighting skill. It was neat to work it in with the others who were at a higher level than her, and seeing what I could do to have the Riders help offset her inexperience.

S1:EP04 – Hunting Grounds of Megid

-While it was rather vague, these intermediate chapters had me hinting at Kento's eventual appearance alongside the FIS. I have the Megid mention Finé's multiple connections several times as well as allude to Kento pretty heavily during this chapter in particular.

-Desast facing Tsubasa was very deliberate here, it taking the place of the Buster fight from the show since Genjuro had yet to debut as Buster. But it's also here to set up the semi-frequent rivalry between Tsubasa and Desast, while also showcasing how deadly Desast is.

S1:EP05 – Collapse of the Starry Night

-I always enjoy syncing things up thematically, and this is one such instance. Whether it was Touma and Hibiki's wakeup calls during their respective fights or Rintaro and Tsubasa pushing themselves to the edge while their emotions overtook them as Section 2 takes a decent loss this chapter.

S1:EP06 – A Much Needed Restart

-This season had me playing around with Tsubasa's flashbacks, comatose dreams, and general hallucinations of Kanade. I always tried to subtly hint at things being off and changed parts to more emphasize Kanade's return from the ashes as Falchion, especially starting with this chapter.

S1:EP07 – Operation D: Rising Flames

-Having Touma train his swordsman skills instead of him just blindly rushing forward with instinct was something I knew I needed for this story. While it ended up working in Saber with him learning on the fly, with Symphogear it's constantly stated that in order to improve you should train. So I figured to have him not be outclassed by everyone that he gets his training in early as a result.

S1:EP08 – Recovery and Revelations

-When it came to Desast, the further Saber went along as I planned this I knew I had to give him some kind of buddy of sorts. While Tsubasa could emulate the fighting aspect of Ren and Desast's relationship, I needed someone who could share a lot of downtime and connect with him. That's where Chris came in, and their dialogue is still some of my favorite to write so I'm glad I made this decision.

S1:EP09 – The Breaking Point

-Certain moves I have characters perform end up being a direct homage to something cool I saw. In particular this season saw me drawing heavily from Dynazenon. Whether earlier on where Touma's first ascent in Dragon Eagle resembles Dyna Soldier Wing Combine's startup sequence or later where I have Genjuro as Buster pull off a special leg grab/throw like Dynazenon pulled off in Episode 3 of its show. In this case it was pulling from Episode 7 where Touma spins Hibiki around before tossing her at Legeiel for a dropkick like how Dynazenon did something similar with Gridknight.

S1:EP10 – Hunting a Traitor

-When it came to Chris recuperating I decided to shift it from Flower to Fantastic Bookstore Kamiyama. I mainly wanted to show that despite Miku's anger at her friends she still trusts Touma enough to use his shop as a safe spot. Not to mention I really wanted Chris and Touma's conversation to cap off everything before the attack.

This chapter also emphasizes one thing I really wanted to push for in this crossover, both groups of heroes can handle the base threat of the other. I've noticed some crossovers tend to make the Rider monsters absurdly sturdy and too strong for the Wielders to handle for some reason. Meanwhile Riders can usually easily deal with their monsters alongside the Noise. While I can understand some cases, I feel like the Symphogear Wielders should be able to fight a base monster normally like a Rider should, especially since their power grows and evolves with time. Thus I have fights where Hibiki and Chris take care of the remaining Piranha Megid, while Touma deals with the Boss Noise.

S1:EP11 – A Fantastic Return to Form

-Tsubasa knowing Kamikawa was one of those fun details I was able to do because of a fusion like this. It also gave me a way for Tsubasa to lighten up on the Logos Sector once the truth came out about Kamikawa and his role in her past and at the Zwei Wing Concert.

-Tassel's inclusion into the story was something I didn't really decide until this point in time. I was still juggling with whether or not I was to fully include him or go a different direction. But eventually I decided to fully debut him in this chapter.

S1:EP12 – Warriors United by Blade and Song

-Luna was another character who I was admittedly unsure on when it came to implementing during the early stages. I was potentially going to just have her entirely absent but when she got her aged up appearance in Super Hero Senki and the final Saber Episodes, I was able to craft a solid direction for her. Also while she doesn't appear often, I try to make it to where she has some level of prominence compared to her canon counterpart.

S1:EP13 – The Earth Quakes, the Moon Shudders

-Genjuro as Buster was definitely what I consider a highlight moment for the season. Both in writing and in big events occurring. His debut while short, I made sure to pack a punch. It was also here where I realized I needed to alter Finé's confrontation with him. This was to give Finé a chance given what Genjuro was able to do to her in canon, and because I couldn't have a newly christened Rider taken out of the fight so easily. Calibur and Desast running interference basically helped on both ends and were perfect as a distraction.

S1:EP14 – Wonder of Symphogear

-I knew I had to squeeze in Dragon Bremen into the debut lineup as a last minute minor form. But then a spark of inspiration occurred as I realized what scene I was writing it in. That eventually drew me in the direction of making Bremen no Rockband one of the most important books due to the nature of the series Saber crossed over with. I realized it didn't have to be a one-time thing or even be relegated to Slash's standard arm change. It being able to sync up with and amplify music, and in turn phonic gain is something that's come in clutch quite a few times past this point.

S1:EP15 – Meteorites Fall and Burn Away, Then…

-So the first major change here I'd like to address is Reika's introduction alongside Ryoga's in that it was entirely different. So by now I'm pretty sure everyone reading this story is aware that Reika… isn't really Reika but Serena in how I've described her appearance, and what I've done with G's plotline.

-This actually wasn't the case and Serena being Reika and in turn Sabela was an extremely late addition that didn't happen until I was a few chapters into writing GX. By this point I had to consider how I'd approach RXU in terms of stories since it was next. Then I realized it was sort of unfair that Tsubasa was able to get Kanade back while Maria was left hanging and while giving her a bone via a brief alternate universe trip in RXU was an idea, it was a temporary idea.

-My supervisor Josh was the one who suggested it and it eventually spiraled into me going full force with the idea. This basically resulted in me having to redo every single scene involving Reika and Serena to make sure they fit and giving 'Reika' a few extra scenes as well to help a bit more.

-The second major change was that the ending was originally planned to go like Season 1 where the OG Trio is seemingly lost defending the world from the meteorite. I then proceeded to read Symphogear X2 by EpicLinkSam and upon seeing what he did with his S1 Ending, and finding out that it was based off XDU's variation, knew I wanted to utilize the same route.

S1:SP – Acquire the Book of Ruin!

-This was an interesting write-up since it was a pseudo-adaptation of the Book of Ruin Theatrical Special. Mostly in that there would be a similar premise but the main plot of the Book being activated, alongside Emotional Dragon as the climax would be cut. Mainly because those would end up tying into G's endgame. But I knew I wanted to set up the Book of Ruin as an object to be used.

-This is also when I start utilizing XDU Exclusive attacks for the characters. If I can find a spot to fit it in, then I'll use it to spice things up during fights with the Wielders.

-Kanade's long black coat she wears in her newly revived form was inspired by Tsubasa Inuzuka's from Donbrothers.

S1:OVA – Non-Songs of the Valkyries

-I originally wasn't sure if I wanted the OVAs to be a thing, especially given the very goofy tone some of the canon ones have. But I ended up coming up with enough original bits to try my shot at them. Plus added character interaction and little teasers for the next seasons are always fun to do.

-Utilizing Swan Song and switching to Superb Song here was decided upon once I figured I wanted to do this chapter. Touma working on trying to figure out a new name for Swan Song alongside having it fit with S2CA Tri-Burst was one of the first skits figured out as a result.

[G Preamble]

-There's admittedly not a lot to talk about aside from the length of the season. Given how little I was planning on introducing here (3 Riders, all frontloaded) I figured I wouldn't need extra chapters. The same occurred with GX as a result of me not having as many Rider related debuts, which caused both of their main chapter counts to stay the same.

-Aside from that, there were two failed April Fools attempts I gave up on that would have gone up April 1st 2023 right before SoS G's finale.

-The first would have been a weird AU where Chris is the main character, Touma's her support/boss and she uses Ride Books for attacks/forms (a fun teaser for things to come) with her using the Daishogun Momoichiro Book to summon Den-O's Momotaros and DonMomotaro for wacky hijinks against a Megid.

-The second attempt was a non-canon chapter where all the active Riders and Wielders (sans the FIS Trio) would have hung around Touma's bookshop while discussing who the MVP of SoS was so far. The winner would have been Miku due to her being instrumental in saving Hibiki from Gungnir's encroachment with some wink, wink, nudging towards Mikuspada being a thing.

[G Breakdown]

G:EP01 – A New Song of Battle Begins

-One of the fun parts of making this story is utilizing certain things that Symphogear might not touch too heavily on. In this case it's the base attack in which Solomon's Cane is whisked away. I decided to showcase it instead of the train defense mission in order to have Slash properly debut while also still having Hibiki and Chris show their new moves.

-One of the original plans for the concert battle was to have the remaining Ahiru Megid show up to get detonated during the course of the fights. Eventually I decided against it since while Section 2 would have 8 Combatants in total, the FIS already had 6 with their Wielders, Calibur, Espada and Desast and I figured some matchups could benefit from two on one fights.

G:EP02 – A Thunderous Performance

-While I could have easily put Ogawa's debut in the last season due to Hayate not needing any real repairs, I saved him for now due to wanting to pace out the Kamen Riders showing up and felt having him show up at the end of S1 would've pushed things a bit much given I had 5 different Riders debut throughout S1.

-Touma and Rintaro awkwardly transforming in a bathroom during this encounter is a direct reference to Madan Senki Ryukendo in which the three main heroes do the same thing.

G:EP03 – Cornered by their Prey

-I really wanted to showcase how different Master Logos was from his canon counterpart and his opening scene allowed me to do that perfectly. Contrasting the esteemed leader of an ancient organization is a mysterious man watching various battles through a set of boxed televisions all stacked on each other. Said setup is based off the same one the villains from Garo Versus Road used as I dug that aesthetic and I felt that fit the vibe for this version of Master Logos.

G:EP04 – The Place They Call Home

-One of the highlights I consider of this season in particular is Daishinji's duel against Maria. Daishinji's my favorite Rider from Saber so getting to have him show off a bit more than in the show was something I couldn't pass up. It was also fun to sort of go on the idea of Daishinji deciding to go after Maria because she's Finé's reincarnation, sort of reigniting that rivalry between him and Ryoko from S1. At least until the duel occurs and he realizes something's off about her.

G:EP05 – Bloodstained Challenges

-I think it's funny how I've had a sort of running bit throughout the story. Touma usually ends up fairing alright or doesn't get too harmed while Hibiki or the others end up hitting a hard loss.

G:EP06 – Avalon's Treasure and Gungnir's Curse

-The fight of Berserkibi against Falchion, Espada, and Chris was a fun one to think up of once I decided to switch who was active and able to fight in the prior chapter. It's such an unorthodox yet enjoyable team-up to write.

-I always thought random fire man was a bit weird for a test in Avalon, so I decided to change it up. It's why I decided to go for black knight armor animated by blue flames.

-This chapter was also the very start of the Mikuspada hints as I was very intentional in making Miku's favorite book One Thousand and One Nights, which has a Ride Book in Saber in Arabiana Nights.

G:EP07 – Truth of the End

-Sometimes due to certain events taking place later, things have to be contextualized differently. I knew that I couldn't have Touma get scared by King of Arthur's power due to him already having accessed a Phonic Gain enhanced Crimson Dragon. Thankfully the deteriorating situation around the time of him obtaining King of Arthur allowed me enough wiggle room to where Touma would be too distracted with Hibki to properly draw out King of Arthur's true power.

G:EP08 – New Deals and New Paths

-This chapter and the next have even stronger hints with Ikazuchi purposely reacting towards Miku, one that I brush off a bit due to it potentially syncing up with a potential Attuned. It was a believable way to potentially throw people off given how I've had Seiken react positively to Phonic Gain like with Bremen and the powered up Wonder Combos in S1's finale.

G:EP09 – Preparations for the Final Voyage

-Kento defecting alongside Shirabe was always the plan, especially since the Megid and Calibur help add numbers to the FIS meaning they won't get overwhelmed immediately by how many active fighters Section 2 has.

G:EP10 – Convictions of Rider and Wielder

-While I was tempted to alter the fight between Hibiki and Miku to maybe include Touma I eventually decided against it. I figured it'd be best to let it play out like it did while focusing on King of Arthur's full unlocking.

G:EP11 – The Ark that Guides the Future

-We have a bit of a sequence break here, Desast being the one to assault Calibur while he's holding off the Wonder Combo finishers instead of Storious being the one who interrupts. While it showed how cruel Storious was in the show, it was a bit weird he decided to interrupt the big final clash like that. But it also worked since I wanted Desast as a free agent earlier, and killing Calibur wasn't going to work out since I still needed some plot beats from Q1 Saber to play out. It was a weird sequence of events but it allowed me to free up Desast and cut how much firepower the Megid had.

G:EP12 – Return of the Striking Spear

-While I hinted at it before, this chapter features the full reveal of Luna as an ancient priestess alongside actually having known Finé. It's another fun little bit of world building I was able to do thanks to the story's nature as a Fusion Fic.

G:EP13 – When Stars and Emotions Became Music…

-Making Emotional Dragon for Saber his equivalent of X-Drive was something I realized I could do to give off similar vibes to how it acted in Saber. Mostly in how rarely Emotional Dragon shows up, though I also decided to make it a more permanent transformation of the Book of Ruin than the show did where it only occurred a couple times.

-If anyone was uncertain about it before but this chapter, not only in having no sign of Ghost Serena but also having Reika's reaction to Maria singing Apple, should have been enough to make people realize this Reika is actually Serena.

G:SP – Uncertain Thunder

-This special (and G's movie to a lesser extent) was mainly devised as a way to get more time with Kento as Espada for obvious reasons. I wanted to show people trying to reach out with him, with what Chris and Tsubasa want to do. But despite that I wanted to show that Kento is a very stubborn guy, which shows in his confrontations during GX.

-I also want to try and use as much of Saber's content as I can when possible, and that includes Alter Ride Books. While no suits exist for a lot of the Megid that have books, I figure imagining up some new designs would be the least of my worries in order to give the Megid a grander feel.

G:Movie – Manifest a Script that blinds even the Greatest Director

-The title being like that is a reference to the subtitles the various seasons of Symphogear get.

-The entire reason this ended up even getting fully made was because I loved the bit of Touma and Miku roasting the heck out of Cinema. Not to mention Cinema being bad at movies is something I wanted to be intentional. He's a movie themed monster yes, but he is the villain of a musou game, two entirely different things.

-Cinema was also something I also wanted to try a crack at because Battride War 2 is my first Rider game. And also because I feel he got cheated out of a cool boss fight by being created during Gaim and not a year later in Drive. His boss fight in the game is just him possessing Bujin Gaim, and this is just me capitalizing on really wanting Cinema to possess Lupin to fight. Especially considering the two's motifs, while not entirely perfect, line up a lot better than what they tried to do with Bujin Gaim.

-Originally Kamen Rider Rey from the Kiva Movie was supposed to be in the Rider Villain line-up. Eventually I decided to save him since these Riders came from Ridewatches and I've hinted at a potential connection to Roze. His appearance would have replaced Poseidon's second fight with Poseidon dying during the opening fight.

-The Sympho-Saber here was just a fun idea to pair with the already exclusive form Ultimate Bahamut. I thought it'd be fun to kind of showcase a very early hint towards the inevitable creation of the Xross Saber.

G:OVA – Non-Songs of the Valkyries 2

-The original content was definitely a lot harder to figure out this time, which is why I included a lot more of the actual segments from the G themed OVA than did for S1's. But when I got inspired, I absolutely got inspired, such as the brief clash between Touma and Tsubasa.

[GX Preamble]

-It would probably be best to talk about this here instead of the respective episodes since it heavily encompasses the latter half of GX and is a major plot point in canon. That's the big change I did by introducing Touma's father in place of having the Akira plotline of GX as well as altering that entirely.

-So let me drop the bombshell and say that I actually did start writing the GX plot for Akira like normal. In fact there are old drafts in which I play it fairly straight with the most additions there being the Rider side's (especially Touma's) distaste for him. When I got to adapting Episode 11 of GX however… I hit a metaphorical wall in which, I just did not like writing nor did I want to write the plotline to its original conclusion.

-It's no secret that a lot of people don't like the way Akira and Hibiki's plot stuff was handled in GX. I'm one of those people and I thought maybe if I just had a bunch of the Riders push back against it while going through with it, it'd be alright. It was not and it left a bad taste in my mouth by the time I started on the adaptation of GX 11.

-So I talked it out with Josh and eventually it dawned on me that I had an actual option. Touma and his family were a key part of Hibiki's backstory now. So why should it be only Hibiki that got help? That's why I eventually went with the idea of Hansuke helping Akira after seeing how bad the harassment was.

-This resulted in me stopping my writing so far and going through every single chapter to change them appropriately so that I could properly continue. I also don't regret altering the plotline, especially since I still got to touch on Rintaro's family issue stuff which was what I wanted to do to begin with.

-There is one set of connected scenes I find a slight shame won't ever see the light of day. I dub them "Rintaro Undercover" as during Hibiki's first meeting with Akira I would have had Rintaro in the same restaurant. The twist was that he disguised himself with his vacation gear from the prior chapter. This would result in some comedy of him having to stay transformed as Blades for extended periods around Hibiki and the others due to events in the chapter until he could change to keep his cover.

[GX Breakdown]

GX:EP01 – The Approaching Darkness

-The opening to GX is an uncontested wild ride that is a really cool set piece to show off how cool the Wielders are. I knew I couldn't compete with that, but I wanted to try something different anyway. Which is why I had it to where there were a few alterations to the rescue mission, and it was a lot of fun to write. Whether it was Hibiki and Touma's banter, or King of Arthur's comical usage at points.

GX:EP02 – Shrouded Phoenix No More

-Starting this chapter, every other chapter I have a flashback to Kanade's final moments before the Zwei Wing Tragedy. I thought it was finally time to see exactly how Master Logos managed to revive her. Originally Master Logos giving Eternal Phoenix to Kanade was going to be Reika before I decided to make her Serena. This was the last scene I ended up writing for the original version of Reika before switching things around

GX:EP03 – A Brief Respite

-This was very much where I was able to fully release my limiters when it came to the tech of the story. Daishinji is mentioned to be able to maintain the Gears decently enough, but he can't fully repair them. Meanwhile this chapter is Elfnein's introduction and implementation into SONG. And considering what I have them work on together, there's a reason I call GX the major turning point for the story in certain ways.

GX:EP04 – Convictions that Pierce Through

-When events line up they really line up, I knew that I wanted Kento taken out early on in GX and thankfully that was able to hit at exactly the same time as Hibiki's resolve returning only for her crushing defeat to occur.

GX:EP05 – Carrying those Feelings Onwards

-Ao3 is a really cool sight with tons of fun formatting options. But FF gives me one advantage and that's that there is no big automatic chapter title at the beginning of a chapter. So that means like with stuff such as me deciding to put the title later on in the chapter as a cut, it hits harder on FF.

-I had considered briefly delaying Kento's inevitable death by darkness like canon had I realized that it wouldn't really fit the tone. Everyone needed that big loss before bouncing back again, and Kento being consumed by darkness after the Ignite and Dragonic debuts that didn't fit too well.

-When it came to Tassel and Carol knowing each other, it was something that dawned on me after simply wanting to replicate one of my favorite scenes in Saber. It's where Master Logos dramatically calls out for Viktor only to reveal its Tassel before cutting to black with a heavy sting. After thinking on it further it ended up working out so well that I went full in on Tassel knowing Izak and Carol.

GX:EP06 – Dragonic Ignite

-I purposely had Touma use Lamp Do Alangina and Ikazuchi in the prior chapter alongside Dragonic Knight's special Espada attack in this one because I knew I wanted to do something different for the final battle between Calibur and him.

GX:EP07 – Those Shining Feelings that Dwell Within

-Starting this season I knew I wanted to have the Megid hijack Carol's plan during GX's endgame, but I was trying to figure out how they'd do it. Thankfully the answer came easily, having someone other than a Wielder in Ignite deal with the Autoscorers. I figured I'd cement and allude to this big change by having Garie go out by way of King Lion Dai Senki.

GX:EP08 – Darkness Extermination

-So there was actually an original plan cut once I realized I wanted Rintaro in the city with Hibiki when Carol confronted her again. Rintaro was originally supposed to be the guy who went with Chris' Team. Likewise this would have made the confrontation of the Goblin Megid this chapter into one where Slash would face his and utilize Kobuta 3Kyodai against it. But once I knew I needed Rintaro in the city I had to push his Goblin Megid confrontation to this point instead.

-Another original plan was Saber dealing with Micha on his own while Kirika and Shirabe defeated Calibur on their own instead of dealing with both of them at once for the finisher. This was changed due to plans in the next chapter.

GX:EP09 – Reignited Wings

-I wanted two Autoscorers defeated by the proper Wielders using Ignite, and two defeated by the Riders. Tsubasa was originally going to have her fight in Ignite against Phara. This changed however once Revice got to Evilyty Live's debut and inspired me to add extra Ride Gear Forms to the Symphogear Wielders with the first so far being Eternal Habakiri.

GX:EP10 – The Final Sword's Story

-Of course with Phara fully dead due to how Tsubasa and Kanade's fight ended, I was kind of stumped on how I wanted to proceed with some of the exposition. Thankfully Master Logos was someone who I could see appearing to the heroes and casually letting them in on what was going on.

-Saikou, while intended to show up in GX's endgame, wasn't planned to appear this early. I eventually decided to save SONG the trouble of getting a new submersible though and have him appear to end off the chapter.

GX:EP11 – The Strike that Pierces the Fog

-One of the first moments I had planned out for Miku's tenure as Espada was the reveal of her utilizing Ikazuchi's elemental properties against an attack by Sabela.

GX:EP12 – Approaching the Resolution

-Fun Fact, did you know that Yuri was born in Kievan Rus' which has connections to Ukraine. Second Fun Fact, Maria and Serena are both from Ukraine as well. Third Fun Fact, I wrote Maria being the first to wield Saikou without knowing those previous fun facts. I only found out about it afterwards and man was that a fun realization.

-It was actually a bit hard figuring out at first how to get everyone where I needed them. In the original plans Genjuro, Daishinji and Ogawa were going to sit out the finale due to being too far. Of course thanks to me changing up how Phara's fight went that allowed me to get the necessary pieces in place for me to bring them in easily.

GX:EP13 – Believe in Justice and Hold It Close

-I initially wasn't sure if I was going to add in Miku's talk with Hibiki and expand upon it or even Touma's talk with Maria at all. Eventually I decided to put both in, as it helped give the chapter a bit more meat but also helped set up for later events.

GX:SP – An Unknown Stage Draws Near

-This is the big highlight of the season for me, purely because of me managing to keep RXU a secret and continue on like AXZ will be next only for it not to be. This chapter compared to the other Special Chapters is very much setup the entire way through. Whether it's the Megid's plans starting to shift, the Phantom Megid and Gaze's presence, or even Miku accepting the offer to become Espada.

[Questions Not Yet Answered]

SonoZafuru Asked:

1. (I forgot to ask in Roze from Remnant, but is there a hashtag you'd want us to use on Twitter for fanart for these stories?)

Answer: Being entirely honest, I don't know. I've never really thought of it that long and hard and never really saw the need for a hashtag with either story.

2. (If it's not answered in the BTS, what made you decide to extend Q1 of Saber over three seasons of Symphogear?)

Answer: It all comes down to timing and pacing alongside content. While I didn't get deeply into details, I think most can agree when looking at Q1 of Saber, that it's a lot. You've got 7 Riders, alongside various form changes, upgrades, miscellaneous items or books, etc and that's not counting stuff like the theatrical special within Q1. Trying to fit all of that within even S1 of Symphogear would just bloat it too much and even S1 + G is pushing it. So I decided to focus on most of everything for S1 and G, with GX being where I brought in the power-ups alongside bringing in other Riders in finally.

3. (Aside from the extra Wonder Ride Books, would the Geah be form change compatible with any of the Riders' personal books, or is Eternal Habakiri a Zwei Wing exclusive?)

Answer: The Ride Gear System is very specific as there are only certain Ride Books that resonate with a certain Symphogear. More than one Ride Book can sync with a Gear but its only specific books. I'd like to imagine at most the various Symphogear are compatible with two books. The remaining Ride Books can still be used but it's only for attacks or boosting attacks.

MaskedRide Asked:

1. (How many seasons will SOS have? Considering Saber Q1 toke 3 Symphogear seasons to be complete, and you having to do an original season or seasons to cover the rest of the events of Saber.)

Answer: As of now, 6 Seasons, S1, G, GX, RXU, AXZ, and XV are planned. Depending on if I want to make it a separate season or a story an RXU 2 is under consideration though that'd likely be post XV. I've said in the past but G and GX are the only seasons as of planning that have their base episode counts intact. The other seasons that aren't RXU (since it's original) have all had their episode counts increased.

2. (Why didn't list the songs of the girls singing during the battle? I feel like you could at least write short sentences of lyrics the girls are singing.)

Answer: It's probably just a tad bit of laziness/decision on my part since while I do insert songs on my other story, Roze, they don't play ever chapter/multiple times a chapter like they would in Symphogear.

3. (What's your favourite part about writing your stories?)

Answer: Slight laziness on my part since while insert songs make their way into Roze, they aren't as constant and overwhelming to me in number as Symphogear's inserts. Plus there's the original content I have that makes it a wonder of "what should I put here" so I settled for only putting (Insert Song) indicators during important moments.

4. (Will you do more art commissions for your work? Cause your stories deserve a fandom of it's own.)

Answer: I'll be entirely honest in that I'm not sure what you're referring to by this question. The story covers that are made for the different seasons of SoS (and what little are made for Roze) are made by me utilizing Photoshop CS2. I've never really done art commissions, or approached anyone about them. I don't really have that kind of money to spare, plus it's just hard for me to approach people on certain subjects due to my socially anxious and introverted nature. Especially in regards to me commissioning art for a story I make on the internet, I'd rather not go into an entire ramble on that, that's for sure.

Pugman Asked: (Who is the hardest character in SoS to write?)

Answer: We have a tie for first place as it is actually, Touma, Hibiki, and Miku. They definitely feel like the hardest characters to write at times, especially with how central they are to the story. With Touma it's trying to write him as he should be despite greatly altering his age and backstory to fit in the Symphogear world. Likewise with Hibiki I try to balance a fine line between her reluctance to fight and needing to fight due to how many threats Riders pump out on a weekly basis. Meanwhile there's Miku who while initially having the same role in the story and being a proxy for Mei, has now grown beyond her initial role due to recent developments.

Please look forward to how I somehow manage to handle these characters going forward because it's definitely a lot haha.

SymphoSavior Asked: (What's one aspect of this story you've enjoyed the most?)

Answer: While it might seem like an obvious answer, in general it's the fusion aspect that binds the whole story together. It's an entirely different feeling crossing over two franchises like in Roze and fusing two franchises together here in SoS. The result creates some unique chances for world building and character interactions on both sides.

[The Ins and Outs of RXU as a Season]

These little bits are mostly here to give you all an idea of what to expect out of RXU since this is unknown territory that's approaching. Not a lot of people know about the mobile game, and only so much of XDU has been translated at that. So let's talk a bit about what exactly RXU will entail.

Structure: The way I've structured RXU is different from most of the adaptations I do of the seasons of Symphogear. It's a lot more segmented with various mini-arcs that have clear start and stop points, even though there is an overarching thread of sorts.

Length: This is the longest season at this point of writing/planning with around 20 or so chapters not counting the OVA. The OVA is also the only extra chapter since I'm already pushing out a lot of unique content and the OVA is meant to take the place of GX's since that got interrupted by RXU.

Content: While RXU does involve potential multiverse shenanigans, I'd keep hopes about very blatant crossovers to a minimum. The main idea I want to toy with for this season is the base parallel worlds concept that XDU put out in the table.

XDU's Influence: XDU has very minimum influence when it comes to structuring plot beats alongside adaptation related stuff. I'm mostly taking inspiration from the mobile game alongside minor bits and pieces. Like I said earlier, not everything is translated so I'm taking certain liberties and creating my own spin on parts of XDU's lore.

[Final Words]

Not too long but production for the most part has been smoother and shorter than Roze so it's to be expected. But let's do a little housekeeping here as well, with some fun bits this time. Now in terms of a return date we'll be hitting the usual Sunday upload schedule again, returning on March 3rd. The schedule will still be bi-weekly of course, so expect an upload every other week. Of course I will have a schedule up on my profile before the end of February.

I do have to mention that this story now has a TV Tropes page, it's very recent so there's not much but please check it out and potentially edit it, I'd appreciate it. Like usual you can find me on my writing twitter Zero's Workshop under the handle ZeroEnchiladas. But I also now have a Discord Server for my writing where readers and fans can come and hang out with the link to it on my twitter.

I'm honestly glad for all of the support I've gained for this story. Every comment, favorite, kudo, follow, bookmark is always pleasant to see and I appreciate it. I never thought I'd make it this deep into this story, but it feels nice to be this far in. Again, thank you and I'll see you all next time.