BANG DREAM!

DESCRIPTION

CAST

OVA MusicBanG Dream!: Asonjatta
ANIME ComedyBanG Dream! 2nd Season
MANGA MusicBanG Dream!: Girls Band Party! - Roselia Stage
MANGA ComedyMotto! GaRuPa Life!
TV SHORT Slice of LifePastel Life
TV SHORT ComedyBanG Dream! Garupa☆Pico
MUSICSTAR BEAT!: Hoshi no Kodou
MUSICHappy Happy Party!
MUSICYes! BanG_Dream!
MANGA ComedyBanG Dream! 4-koma: Bandori!
NOVEL MusicBanG Dream!
MANGA MusicBanG Dream!: Star Beat
MANGA ComedyBanG Dream!
ANIME DramaARGONAVIS from BanG Dream!
MUSICBLACK SHOUT
MUSICNeo-Aspect
MANGA ComedyBanbandoridori
MUSICHashiri Hajimeta bakari no Kimi ni
MUSICLive Beyond!!
MUSIC Slice of LifeIntroduction
MUSICSprechchor
MUSICSenkou
ANIME DramaBanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!
TV SHORT ComedyRebirth

REVIEWS

• 

  OVERPOWERED99

  71/100
  Kira Kira Doki Doki is in the heart of Poppin'Party—and their development into a lovable band makes them even brighter.

  

  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.

  

  Before I get into the character development though, there are points throughout the show where the story gets quite shaky. Like the creators know how the plot points will chronologically line up, but didn't put in enough effort to make them flow more naturally. As a result, some scenes—mostly the sedated humdrums—feel out of place when they're shoehorned in the storyline. And those scenes can be distracting, considering the character development here rely a lot on nuances and subtleties.

  It's not to say all these small interactions are meaningless. In fact, most of them are genuinely enjoyable to watch, and not just because they're heartwarmingly cute or humorous. With the constant focus on how the girls' dynamic with each other evolves through their actions, thoughts, and exposure to music, their flaws and personal issues are slowly revealed, and this is where Bandori sparkles the most.

  Because the show is grounded with no overly ambitious goals, the changes Poppin'Party go through feel realistically intimate. Everyone has their own worries to deal with, as is the case with Rimi's anxiety, Arisa's social awkwardness, Saaya's burdens from her past, Tae's general apathy, and Kasumi's optimism causing her to become oblivious of her own self. And it's through the start-up of their band—with support from each other and their family—where they learn that they can overcome these things that are stopping them from seeking out the beat they've been looking for. As they practice, they discover more about themselves along with the wondrous prospect of being in a band together—and it's a development that's very fulfilling to see.

  

  Art-wise, even though I find it could've been done better, the vibrancy at least works well enough with the narrative elements. There are stills and pan shorts here and there, with some odd-looking eye placements, but there are also scenes that look beautiful in the character-defining moments. The CGI isn't half bad either, as outside of the occasional off-model ones, it captures the fun energy from Poppin'Party's performances

  Speaking of performances, the musical direction taken by this show is mostly low-key, with soundtracks that complement the relaxed atmosphere quite nicely. The insert songs are definitely the most notable ones, considering they characterize who Poppin'Party is as a novice band. It helps that the creators chose to go with a raw live feel rather than using the version from post-production as it makes their songs sound even more authentic to the ears. From a rough and basic start to a more delightful result, their music resonates together with their development as a band.

  Looking back at everything once again, Bandori might have started off feeling uncertain, but its direction took for a better turn with its evolution towards an emotionally engaging story on Poppin'Party's origin. They sparkle from their meaningful development and friendship. They make my heart pound when they perform. And I'm definitely proud of what they've learned before becoming such a lovable band.

  
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• 

  CureWink

  100/100
  This is my first review

  

  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.

  ---

  

  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:

  

  Kasumi is the horribly obnoxious genki leader.

  

  Rimi is the Dandere.

  

  Arisa is the generic tsundere.

  

  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.

  ---

  

  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.

  

  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.

  

  Shiny.

  ---

  

  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.

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• 

  superp2222

  75/100
  No, you're still in Idol Hell, don't fool yourself by saying that they're a band.

  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.

  

  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.

  

  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.

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