Senki Zesshou Symphogear: so bad yet so good

A monstrous threat to humanity known as "Noise" have appeared. Not much are known about the Noise, except that they vaporize humans and the frequency of their attacks are increasing. Select humans can activate lost technology via song to combat them. Set against a backdrop where global noncooperation and infighting seem common, the future doesn't seem so bright.

Senki Zesshou Symphogear, First Impressions: Good parts? Umm, a really cool transformation scene. Bad parts? Maybe the rest of the show. The entire premise (magical girl armor) is pretty unoriginal, and the singing part is horribly desynced with the animation. In fact, the animation is pretty poor in general and they interrupt most of the special attacks with annoying freeze frames and labels (kind of like Batman: BAM! POW!). Many of the characters also seem largely uninterested in what they're doing, so it's hard for the audience to take of any of it seriously. Well, I guess it's hard to act with any sense of urgency since the Noise are just a bunch of punching bags. This show really reminds me of a really bad version of Mai-Hime. But yet, I find this all strangely intriguing.

Despite everything (and I mean everything), the pacing seems solid and watching the characters fumble around gives me some sense of enjoyment. It doesn't hurt that Tsubasa's angry, cold-shoulder bit towards the rookie gives it some spice. This anime feels like it will rate poorly, but it'll have my attention for the near future.