Ichaival

Ichaival
Kanji	イチイバル
Romaji	Ichībaru
Debut
Anime	Episode 7
Game	Super Heroine Chronicle
Relic Information
User	Chris Yukine Chris Yukine (Another) (XDU Only)
Armed Gear	Bows

Ichaival (イチイバル, Ichībaru^?) is the Symphogear system created from a fragment of the second classified Relic, Ichaival. Its user is Chris Yukine, who obtained it through Finé. Its classification number is SG-r02.

Though the Symphogear is originally derived from the relic of a bow, the imagery formed in Chris' mind causes her Armed Gear to often manifest instead as various types of guns and missiles. In the XDU event Wasō Ranbu, Ichaival's traditional gear exclusively uses an archer's bow as a weapon.

Etymology

The term "Ichaival" ("yew-vale") is a rough translation or modification of "Ýdalir", "yew-dales", the home of the Norse god Ullr. Ullr is often recorded and depicted as a god of archery, hunting, and the winter, whose name (which means "glory") people invoked during battle in hope of aid. Ichaival is often claimed to be a name for the bow of the god Odin, but this has no historical basis (few myths account for Odin possessing a bow of any kind, much less a named one), and the name is not Norse, but Japanese.

In Japanese, ichii ('イチイ' or '一位') is a term that refers to a yew tree, specifically the Taxus cuspidata. Yew wood was preferred over other trees to make bows with. There is speculation that the val/baru part of Ichaival could be a warped pronunciation of ichii no tani (イチイの谷, ichii no tani^? "Yew Valley"), the Japanese name for Ýdalir. Others speculate the val could come from the ballista, a giant crossbow-esque weapon.

History

At a point during World War II, Japan was facing a losing war and tension was running high. In the interest of researching something that might help to turn the tide, Ichaival was obtained from Germany. However, ten years prior to the events of season one of Senki Zesshō Symphogear, Finé stole Ichaival from Section Two while the headquarters were being constructed. At this point, the commander of Section Two was Tsubasa's grandfather, Fudo Kazanari. He resigned as a result of the scandal over Ichaival's disappearance, and a young Genjuro, who was working as a Public Safety officer at the time, was assigned as the next commander in his place.

Eight years later, Finé gave Ichaival to Chris, and trained her until her coeffiency link was high enough to produce the sufficient phonic gain to awaken Solomon's Cane, allowing Finé full control over the Noise. This training took half a year to complete. However, Chris refuses to actually use Ichaival in battle because of her guilt over awakening a weapon used for destruction, as well as her hatred of songs caused by her refusal to accept the deaths of her musician parents. Because of this, and to hide the existence of Ichaival from Section Two, Finé gives Chris the Nehushtan Armor to use in the kidnapping of Hibiki.

When the Nehushtan Armor proves useless against Tsubasa and later Hibiki, Chris abandons it in favor of the immediately-more-effective Ichaival. Finé then takes the Nehushtan Armor back and abandons Chris, forcing Chris to have to use Ichaival to fight and defend herself. Chris later comes to terms with the use of her song and uses it to help save the world from the blast of Finé's Kadingir, her sacrifice buying Tsubasa enough time to destroy Kadingir and foil Finé's plans.

Holy Chant

Holy Chant	Character
Killter Ichaival tron	Chris Yukine

Transformation

• S1
• G
• GX
• AXZ
• XV
• Ignite Module

SG-r02 Ichaival

Battle Songs

• Makyū Ichaival
• Tsunaida Te Dake ga Tsumugu Mono
• FIRST LOVE SONG (With Hibiki and Tsubasa)
• Bye-Bye Lullaby
• Hajimari no Babel (with Hibiki, Tsubasa, Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika)
• RADIANT FORCE (With Hibiki and Tsubasa)
• TRUST HEART
• BAYONET CHARGE (With Tsubasa)
• Gekishō Infinity (With Hibiki and Tsubasa)
• GUN BULLET XXX
• Change the Future (With Maria)
• Axia no Kaze (with Hibiki, Tsubasa, Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika)
• Rikka Ryōran (with Hibiki, Tsubasa, Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika)
• Take this! "All loaded"
• PERFECT SYMPHONY (with Hibiki, Tsubasa, Maria, Kirika, Shirabe, and Carol)
• Xtreme Vibes (with Hibiki, Tsubasa, Maria, Kirika, Shirabe, and Miku)
• SAKURA BLIZZARD
• SONG FOR THE WORLD

Gallery

• Official artwork design
• Screenshots

• S1
• G
• GX
• XV
• XDU

Ichaival artwork in XDU (Alternate Chris)

Ichaival's Aufwachen Waveform

Full view of Chris' Ichaival in Vitalization.

Full view of Chris' Ichaival in Vitalization (MBS Ver.)

Chris' Ichaival gets destroyed

Video

Symphogear Chris Ichaival Transformation

Senki Zesshou Symphogear G - Chris Yukine Ichaival Transformation

Symphogear GX Transformation - Yukine Chris

Symphogear AXZ Transformation - Yukine Chris

Symphogear XV Chris Transformation

Symphogear XV Chris Transformation 2 Ep6

Trivia

• Ichaival was originally written as "Ichii-Bal" in S1, except for in the lyric booklets where it was spelled as "Ichaival". Later seasons consistently name the relic as "Ichaival".
• Crunchyroll mistransliterates the transformation chant as "Killiter Ichaival tron".
• The use of Ichaival in Symphogear is likely a reference or tribute to Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, a TRPG published in 1996 that featured a character using a legendary bow named Ichaival (also translated as "Yewfelle"). Ichaival's rather odd naming pattern is common to the game, which features many weapons and characters based on modifications of Norse names and terminology.