Kasumi Toyama was enthralled by the stars as a young girl, so when she discovers a trail of
star-shaped signs one day after transferring to a new school, she can't help but follow them. They
lead her to a shop run by the grandmother of one of her new classmates, and Kasumi finds something
that will change her life forever: a star-shaped guitar! And just like that, Kasumi knows that forming
a band is her destiny.
Of course, convincing Arisa and her grandmother to sell her the guitar won't be easy, and finding a
group of other girls who want to become musicians will be even harder. But when a girl has stars in
her eyes and a starbeat in her heart, there's nothing that will stop Kasumi from making her fantasies
come true!
(Source: Sentai Filmworks)
img(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/4d99d831-9f85-4199-928a-397a43693f01/dcxdrb6-8f40add1-aa21-4cbc-afbd-78dbbb477d9d.png) Bandori has a soul that is emboldened by its quest to discover music—and it's that initial encouragement that swept me along Poppin'Party's ride towards becoming their own band. After having seen this, I can say that while it may not be the most perfect show out there, it's still an origin story filled with plenty of sparkling and heart-pounding moments. To form the all-girl band called Poppin'Party, Kasumi—an oddball who has an energetic heart and a voice that blissfully melts my heart—has to meet the other members first, and earlier segments of the show introduce us to them. We have Saaya, a caring older sister who helps out with her family's bakery; Rimi, a timid choco-cornet-loving girl; Arisa, who is adorable because of her gap moe tendencies; and Tae, the dorkiest and most comical one of them all. At first glance, their tropey demeanors can come off as being too vanilla, but I'll assure you this. Those basic traits of theirs will eventually pave to way to some sincere development as they realize what lies ahead in their musical ambitions.
img800(https://i.ibb.co/myf1r2J/creat.jpg) Bang Dream is one of those anime that, unless you're familiar with its gaccha game, you'll probably have to dig through the bottom of the anilist charts to find and for good reason. This show is at such a massive disconnect with the word "creativity", and it feels like it has no idea what that even means. ___ img800(https://i.ibb.co/7bJyqfC/this-is-it-2.png) _No it isn't._ Watching this show felt as if every aspect of this anime had to be approved by some business man so they can get away with the most risk free, inoffensive product possible at the expense of anything innovative (that will also promote their mobile game because that’s all anyone ever cares for from this franchise right?). What they got away with making was an anime that wasn’t going to offend anyone and could technically be for everyone but not for anyone that powerfully. ___ Let’s start with the main thrust of this anime: __the characters__ All of them are about as lifeless as the CG performances they partake in. Let me break down the bulk of them: img800(https://i.ibb.co/cgy8HWk/kas.jpg) >Kasumi is the horribly obnoxious genki leader. img800(https://i.ibb.co/pXxjLsH/rimi.png) >Rimi is the Dandere. img800(https://i.ibb.co/xqt4cKH/arisa.jpg) >Arisa is the generic tsundere. img800(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41P5Kco5xjL._AC_.jpg) >And Saya and Tae are so loosely defined personality wise that they may as well just be the same character anyway. The interactions between every character, main or supporting, are soulless. Not a single moment of this anime can be watched without the feeling that it’s been copying and pasting ideas and tropes that have already become far too copied and pasted enough to enjoy for the 56th time. ____ img800(https://i.ibb.co/gW5y6Cp/Screenshot-2020-05-13-12-56-07.png) _Ironically one of the only decent shots in the anime._ Even the structure of the series is typical to any show that follows the same formula: 1) Some character wants to perform in a band. 2) More members need to be recruited. 3) A few will have some issue that needs to be sorted out before they can join. 4) Once the group is assembled, there will be some last challenge they have to overcome before the big performance at the end. But even if there are other shows like Love Live that essentially follow the same generic nature, at least watching that felt like the people behind it actually tried. img800(https://animeblurayuk.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/love-live-season2-dvd-screenshot5.jpg) The character designs are hard to not be endeared to, the music & animation (when it's not showing any CG dance sequences) are actually good. Bang Dream can hardly be said to have any similar appeal or any appeal that would distinguish it apart from the very minimum this sub-genre of anime had to offer. Even the music, which is supposed to be one of the main draws of these shows, is so uninspired; it's like it might as well have just been an afterthought to make sure an episode would properly fill its alloted 22 episode time frame. And aside from the obvious CG fumbles during some of those music performances, the animation throughout is just as unappealing. The backgrounds are stale and for whatever stupid reason, it isn't even aesthetically pleasing yet there’s this annoying glare effect that persists on basically everything in this anime, which makes everything look 20 times brighter and so much worse than it would be without it. img800(https://i.ibb.co/myJbYf3/shiny.jpg) _Shiny._ ____ img800(https://i.ibb.co/TvgM3Js/filler-f.jpg) What’s even more messed up is that no matter how hard you look, somewhere underneath all the fluff, you will only find more of it. Once you read the premise, there is absolutely nothing this show will offer that you can’t already draw out in your mind before you watch it. The entire anime focuses on replicating story beats that have been done to death, with little to add when there's so much that could’ve been done. It would have been possible to just watch the first and last episode and nothing worthwhile would’ve been missed out on unless the staff had actually cared enough to come up with something interesting, but as it is, Bang Dream is an utter embarrassment and ended in a whimper.
BanG Dream wasn't supposed to be on my watchlist, it wasn't supposed to be something I knew about, nor was it something I cared about, but one day, one of my friends recommended it to me, so I shrugged and said "It's like Love Live, right? Alright, I'll give it a try." Honestly, not much more can be said about that. The structure of this anime is layered like the Band they talk about. Every band needs a good rhythm, just like every anime needs a good plotline. The premise of BanG Dream isn't complicated: Win the audition, perform for the audience. Stripped down, its just like Love Live, but instead of performing as a national sensation, they're local celebrities at the local music venue. Honestly, I prefer this premise a lot more than the shoot-for-the-stars premise of Love Live. This plotline feels achievable rather than the one-in-a-million odds that Love Live went for. On top of that, the major conflict of this music venue closing down and making it a race against time to preform makes a rather unused twist on the music anime category that is very enjoyable. img220(https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/bandori/images/d/d3/SPACE_LH.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20190331115117) Now, what do we put on top of a rhythm, a good bass and harmony. BanG Dream has some of the cleanest animation I've seen. For one thing, you can literally see the stars shine in the characters's eyes, and the lighting makes everything super vibrant, creating a very upbeat atmosphere. It's extremely enjoyable. What makes it better is that the music reflects what they play. While Love Live gives you these pre-recorded tracks using anything from your average instruments to ones only achievable by mixing, the music here is "genuine". You can hear the sound of the piano, the bass guitar, or the accompanying guitar that each member plays, so you always know who's playing what and it that touch is just very well done. img220(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/97/BanG_Dream_GBP_first_title_screen.png) Now for the main melody. This is where the show unfortunately flops in my opinion. The characters were very hard to like. and there's one simple reason why: They didn't take a single step out of their tropes. Kasumi is so airheaded and ignorant to reality that you can't help but start distancing yourself from her the moment you lay eyes on her. She literally got her guitar by _holding it until Arisa—the guitar's then owner, decided to just give it to her for free._ One may argue that that's solid determination that swayed Arisa's opinion, but the latter side of it is that it is borderline theft. Oh, and did I mention that she **broke it like 5 seconds after?** Speaking of Arisa, she's your classic tsundere, she doesn't stop becoming a tsundere, nor does she become more tsundere, she's just... a tsundere As for the others... outside of their personal episodes, they're flatter than half a piece of paper. Tae and Saya used to be part of something, but seeing Kasumi being Kasumi, they just decided to shrug and help? I'd argue Rimi has the strongest personality, she's determined to match and surpass her sister's shadow, that's why she joined. But after that, she becomes basically irrelevant. Overall, the longer this anime went on the more of a tax the underdeveloped characters became. Its undeniably great, but as anyone in the music industry would know, mess up one thing and the entire song cascades.
__SPOILER-FREE!__
There is just no predicting the life of a franchise. Seemingly for no reason whatsoever, a certain
property can catch on like wildfire and take the anime community, or the larger media-consuming
public, by storm. Other franchises peter out into oblivion before getting their chance to shine, and
yet still there are some where their very existence is a jumbled mass of “What on Earth is going on?”
Especially given the sometimes-erratic nature of anime production, there are some buses that keep
starting and stopping.
_BanG Dream!_ is one such show that falls into that category. Originally released in Winter 2017 to
complement the video game, the animated franchise effectively underwent a period of dormancy for a few
years before its second season was released in Winter 2019. The second season itself was more a
functional reboot and re-writing of the rules, as it ultimately continued the series in a new kind of
direction both tonally and character-wise. In the meanwhile, it’s worth taking a look at this first
season since it stands apart as though it resides in its own universe, somewhat divorced from the
whole that eventually formed from it.
______
New high school student Toyama Kasumi is looking for something that will cause her heart to beat like
it did when she gazed at the starry sky as a child. After following a trail of starry stickers to her
classmate Ichigaya Arisa’s warehouse and fawning over the star-shaped guitar there, she and Arisa both
attend a Glitter-Green girl band performance at the SPACE club. The performance ignites the fire that
Kasumi has been looking for, and together with Arisa, a baking family’s daughter named Saya, the
younger sister of a Glitter-Green member named Rimi, and SPACE club staff member Tae, they form their
own girl band – Poppin’Party.
Despite the rather conventional setup, _BanG Dream!_ early on demonstrates a narrative awareness of
the genre and actively works to try and subvert it. Under normal circumstances, a show like this about
making a group (be it for a sports club or an idol troupe) would introduce the various members one at
a time, usually the result of being swept up by the main character’s charisma or presence. The series
doesn’t completely divorce itself from those standards, but here though, all five Poppin’Party members
are introduced and interact with one another early. The sense of familiarity with the various members
is allowed to germinate sooner than most other shows would, so by the time the group begins to form,
enough time has been taken to establish the dynamic. This holds true even though they are not all
brought into the group at the same time. It makes the overall sense of character camaraderie tighter
than it would be otherwise.
Though as far as the individual characters personality-wise are concerned, there is definitely a wide
disparity between which ones resonate as far as an enjoyable presence. Two characters best exemplify
this, with one being Arisa. She’s the group’s curmudgeonly character, and easily became one of my
favorites to see. Her reactions and quasi-tsundere tendencies are thankfully over-the-top enough to
get their comedic value without crossing the boundary into nauseating, and the fact that all of the
group members seem to know exactly how to push her buttons makes poking fun at her fair game at any
moment.
Yup, the self-proclaimed biggest Bandori fan is here, writing a review on the first season of her favourite show~ Now, before anyone says "This is gonna be *really* biased"... I've noticed that, with few exceptions, the first seasons of multi-season music anime seem to be just "decent." As you could probably tell from the summary, BanG Dream is *not* one of those exceptions. __Animation/art:__ A section I honestly never thought I'd need. I rarely notice differences between studios, artstyles and animation quality. But my ***gosh*** this... this is pretty bad. I think I've seen some people mention how Xebec is... not a good studio, to put it *very* lightly and... yeah. It's bad. When I came to rewatch it to fill out this review, I found it wasn't *as* ugly as I had thought, but nonetheless... For one, the shine on their hair is too huge, bright and not blended at all. And as a whole, the shading can look weird or bad at times... img49%(https://i.ibb.co/YyqZXWc/image.png) img49%(https://i.ibb.co/0rqhpjW/image.png) And the animation... it can be pretty stiff at times and freaking hell, some of the performances have barely any movement and emotion to them. At the very least, ep3's performance, which ends up as mostly stills, and ep5's performance, shown below, look so damn *lifeless.* ~~~img75%(https://i.ibb.co/T270fLB/bandori-gif-1.gif)~~~ Quite few of the performances, in fact, end up as literally just panning across a series of still images. Removing any tension, anticipation or excitement those scenes should have had. Though oddly enough, the performances in episodes 8 and 13 actually look quite fluid, though also kinda weird, though... same with the chorus of the opening. Even more strange is ep12 has a mix of that fluidity and the usual stiffness which is... kinda jarring. The game only released *while* s1 was airing, so *maybe* they weren't focusing their budget as much into getting good staff for the show as they should have... __Characters:__ First off, I'll bring up a seemingly common problem music anime have – a massive freakin' cast which is frivolously large as 90% of the cast have no focus, but nonetheless show up frequently and/or are "relevant." BanG Dream (mostly) avoids this problem by the comparatively absolutely *tiny* main cast, at least for this season. That said, I ain't a fan of the main band here – Poppin'Party has *some* good songs and... mostly boring members. For starters... oh Kasumi you annoying generic music anime protagonist. She's loud, annoying, bubbly, cheery and super-hyper-extroverted. Thus, a boring, annoying and generic protagonist. And... she's perhaps the most annoying of them. None of the other music anime protagonists I've seen *constantly* pester and bug everyone around them. Then there's Arisa. She's the best girl in Popipa, 'cause she acts as an in-story voice for those who don't like the wild, annoying airheads, like me~ And she's also the source of probably most of the scattered, actually funny jokes~ Then Rimi, the cute shy girl with stage fright who has... very little development. And Tae, another annoying airhead, again, with little development... Oh, right, Glitter Green and CHiSPA are mostly irrelevant and have a suitable lack of focus for their level of relevance~ Only one member of each has any relevance and the rest are just background. Though two of the irrelevant members of the former have *far* too wild personalities for their roles... And lastly, Saya. Perhaps the most developed character in the main band but... she's just never stood out to me for whatever reason. The reason for her hesitations is actually the best one given out and gives some well-written drama, but other than that... she doesn't stand out much. Anyway, that brings me to the next section... __Story:__ While this show avoids the aforementioned cast size issue... there is another issue this show suffers from – the fact everyone hesitates to join the band... despite everyone being in the opening and, even putting that aside, it's kinda obvious *these* girls who are basically the *only* ones not already in bands who you see Kasumi's interactions with, are gonna be her bandmates. I much prefer if it's either not blindly obvious who's gonna be in the group, or if the group forms quickly and pushes aside the "drama" of the hesitations. Though, I doubt the former exists. As I mentioned, the best reason for that hesitation is definitely Saya's – Rimi's is just simple stage fright, Arisa's is probably pretty similar and Tae... didn't really hesitate she just was introduced later. Saya's reason gets a whole three episode arc, from 6 to 8, about that. They explain why she hesitates in ep7 and that scene where she does is just...~ That scene even got me crying...~ And as a whole the drama around it is really good~ Taking half the season for good drama seems fairly typical of music anime, too, so it's not *too* much of an issue~ The drama that happens later, though... isn't as strong. It centres around Kasumi's whims and... yeah they didn't make the emotions around as strong as they could've. If you like her then yeah, it's still probably pretty good. But if you don't... it's still somewhat emotional but it *really* could've been better. The ending is quite a satisfying one, too, while obviously leaving more room for the sequels~ __Music:__ So, so few inserts... There is a *very* low quantity of inserts. A lot of episodes, especially early on, don't even any inserts. But, unlike other shows like that, the drama and/or comedy aren't good enough to fill up the spaces between performances. At least at the start. The inserts themselves are... of a reasonable quality. Not very *high* quality to *fully* make up for the low quantity, but they're consistently quite good~ The opening and and ending are pretty good, too~ The random background OST though... can be distracting at times. __Overall:__ *shrug* It's nothing outstanding, as far as *just* s1 is concerned. With the bad art and animation and a slow plot that doesn't get *particularly* emotional or interesting... it doesn't leave a good first impression of the series. But there are *some* good moments, such as ep7, the ending and a couple scattered jokes... and just... it's worth pushing through the mediocrity to get to season 2~ The following seasons improve on basically every flaw. While I may have focused a lot on the negatives here, I don't think this season is necessarily "bad" by any stretch. Just average, with a few good moments. My score might be slightly biased upwards, because it *is* my favourite series, but even if I try and remove that bias, the score would still be within what I consider "above average," though perhaps just the best "average" there is.
~~~img1440(https://i.imgur.com/xm1YVe7.png)~~~ _BanG Dream!_ does not stray too much from the norm of others within the music slice-of-life genre. Although there is an attempt to add more drama compared to others within the medium and touch upon topics others tend to ignore with mental health, it does not quite land. The first season, as a result, ends up feeling rather bland, and while it did get a bit better as the season progressed, _BanG Dream!_ did not do enough to differentiate itself from other series. In fact, it follows the same story beats used before in the genre and rehashes similar character troupes. Kasumi Toyama is a perfect example of this, as she shares many of the troupes used by other main characters within the music genre space, such as Yui from *K-On*, as well as Honoka and Chika from *Love Live*. The initial premise of the series is about Kasumi finding the "Star Beat" again, a feeling she experienced when looking at the stars one night as a child. During her first few days of high school, she looked into various clubs, but they didn't capture her interest. However, after witnessing Glitter Green at Live House Space, she finally feels that spark again—inspiring her to form a band. The story then follows the standard story arc(s) of persuading others to join her band and everyone being initially reluctant to join. Overall, it is fine to go down this route, but _BanG Dream!_ copies the same formula used before, specifically in *Love Live*. Arisa Ichigaya is the first member to join the band after enough persistence on Kasumi's part. Arisa comes across as the typical tsundere, but she grows the most out of the cast of characters as the story progresses. Rimi and Tae also join the band as the conflict and drama surrounding them resolve rather quickly. Although, Tae's episode highlights the biggest issue with the series: the drama. Surprisingly, the drama, for the most part, does not feel forced, but the problem is more so lying with the execution. Tae's episode is particularly poor, as it centers around Kasumi spending time with Tae and Arisa becoming upset that Kasumi is no longer spending time with her apart from lunch. However, even then, she is talking about Tae the entire time. The drama itself is nothing profound, but it makes sense for Arisa, as her first friend seemingly abandons her to spend time with someone else is quite believable as to why it would upset her. However, that drama is quickly resolved in just a few minutes. Saaya's arc was handled the best, as it was given multiple episodes to build and resolve—essentially involving her giving up her hobbies and social life to help her family due to her mom being anemic. Despite her friends and family pushing her to join the band, it wasn't until her mom told her she needed to use some of the kindness she showed to others for herself. Unfortunately, the interesting dynamic between Saaya, her family, and the band is never explored afterward. Saaya's mom is not suddenly cured, so assumingly, Saaya would want to continue helping at home, but the situation is never brought up again. Not only could it have added an interesting dynamic to the story, but it shows that the drama in the series holds no substance, as it is either resolved quickly or has no lasting impact on the story or characters. Additionally, it was a bit odd that it took nine episodes before they began practicing or training. It specifically made their first audition for Space confusing, as it is unclear if their rough performance was due to a lack of practice or simply growing pains—since they essentially never show or mention them practicing until the ninth episode. Obviously, the characters practicing does not need to be the focus, nor should it be. But there isn't an indication of the characters growing as musicians without it. Even a show like *K-ON*, where music was never the focus, would frequently show them either as a group or individually practice. Likewise, *Love Live* will show the characters briefly practicing or training every episode. Regardless, the ending is pretty standard, with them getting over one last hurdle and performing live in front of an audience for the first time. It does briefly touch a bit more on mental health, with Kasumi becoming depressed after being called the weakest link of the band by the venue owner, as well as her pushing her limits to stand on par with the other band members. While more time could have been used to explore the issue, it shows there is potential. Additionally, a positive from the show is that everyone is extremely supportive when someone else is growing through an issue instead of going down the melodramatic route. Overall, the story was rather bland. It followed many of the story beats commonly found in other series within the music genre, specifically *Love Live*: the main character becomes inspired to perform, initial members join without much issue, last member has some sort of emotional/trauma-related issue preventing her from joining, and finally having one last conflict concerning the main character that the group has to overcome. A major reason other series like *Love Live* can get away with being formulaic is simply due to fun-written and engaging characters. But due to the drama in _BanG Dream!_ ultimately falling flat, it also hurts the characters. Speaking of characters, Kasumi shares many characteristics with others in the music medium, like being overly cheerful, energetic, optimistic, and a bit naïve—albeit somewhat more extreme. Because of that, early on, she tends to reach the point of being obnoxious. However, as the story progresses, she does become more likable, and her arc shows that her optimism and naivety caused her to lose focus on her dream. Arisa is the best character in the series. She does start off as the typical tsundere but has the most growth out of the five band members. Before meeting Kasumi, she would spend the majority of her time at home, which unsurprisingly makes her a bit socially awkward. However, as she meets and befriends more people because of Kasumi, she also begins to become more social and is able to express herself. ~~~img1440(https://i.imgur.com/b0daega.png) (Cute photo of Arisa)~~~ As for Rimi, Tae, and Saaya, I am not quite sure what to say about them. Rimi can be boiled down to having anxiety and liking sweets. Tae may very well be a skinwalker attempting to depict human emotion. In other words, she is weird and random. The same goes for her mom. ~~~img1440(https://i.imgur.com/E4uAT0x.png) (There is something wrong with this family)~~~ Despite arguably having the best arc, there is not much to say about Saaya as a character. She has the potential to be a good character, especially considering her circumstances with her family, but that was not realized in the first season. Ultimately, _Bang Dream!_ has the potential to be a good series with a vast cast of characters and seemingly attempting to create a more emotional story. But the initial season falls short as the drama has no impact on the story, and the characters suffer as a result. Nonetheless, I'm excited to see what studio SANZIGEN can do with the other seasons and movies, as they did a good job with D4DJ.