BanG Dream!

When Kasumi Toyama was out camping as a child, she heard the rhythm of the "Star Beat" while admiring the starry night sky. This sparkling, heart-pounding sound left a lasting impression on her, and since then, she has constantly been seeking to rediscover that exciting thrill.

Now, as a newly enrolled student of Hanasakigawa Girls' High School, Kasumi is more determined than ever to find that long-lost sensation again. She attempts a myriad of school club activities, and even considers taking up a part-time job, but none of these feel suitable for her. That is, until she chances upon a star-shaped guitar in the storage room of an old pawn shop. It leads her to a live house, where she is captivated by watching a live performance for the first time. Spurred from the adrenaline, she instantly decides to form a band without even really knowing why. However, such a venture requires her to confront various hurdles with new friends she makes along the way, all in her pursuit to encounter that twinkling, heart-throbbing ardor once more.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

BanG Dream! is a part of the "BanG Dream!" multimedia franchise, which was developed by Bushiroad in January 2015.

The franchise also released a mobile rhythm game, titled BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! for iOS and Android, which was developed by CraftEgg and published by Bushiroad. The Japanese version was released in March 2017, and the English version in April 2018. As of July 30, 2018, the game has surpassed 10 million downloads worldwide.

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Kudou, Haruka
Japanese

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Staff

Chino, Takatoshi

Producer

Iwasaki, Atsushi

Producer

Shioya, Yoshiyuki

Producer

Nakajima, Yasuhiro

Producer

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Opening Theme

"Tokimeki Experience! (ときめきエクスペリエンス！)" by Poppin'Party

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Ending Theme

	1: "Don't be afraid" by Glitter*Green (eps 1)
	2: "Kirakira Da Toka Yume Da Toka: Sing Girls (キラキラだとか夢だとか ~Sing Girls~)" by Poppin'Party (eps 2-13)
	3: "Tear Drops" by Poppin'Party (eps 2-12)

Reviews

Aug 7, 2021

splatongus

Recommended

I'm reviewing this from the standpoint of someone who's been a huge fan of the BanG Dream mobile rhytm game for some time before I decided to start watching the anime.
I'll do my best not to be biased, but I think BanG Dream is an amazing, expansive media franchise, combining good music with great characters and every part of it has been more or less enjoyable for me. At the moment there are 7 bands and the first season of the anime focuses on the main band of the series, Poppin'Party.

The anime does a great job adapting Band Story 0 from the game, which is ...

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May 10, 2022

ZNoteTaku

Mixed Feelings

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. The story also gives her enough moments to show that, despite all of that, she still has fun and will go those extra steps for her friends.

Kasumi’s character is unfortunately at the opposite end of that spectrum, at least at first. As could be expected from an overly-enthusiastic character which comes dangerously close to being a nuisance, she doesn’t necessarily have the greatest sense of personal space, and already wants to be on given-name bases with nearly everyone that she meets. Her presence produces the rather strange effect of both wanting to see her dream of Poppin’Party realized, while also seriously wishing that she would, at times, dial it back, and not just a little bit. It never got to the point where I didn’t want to see her on-screen, however the writing seemed to channel her energy in a hundred different directions that took too long to find its way. This does partially get rectified in the second half of the season when she faces a shift and can demonstrate restraint and unease.

Part of this shift is due to being at the mercy of the shift in narrative tone – at first, "BanG Dream!" tries to straddle the line between wanting to and not wanting to take itself seriously. Kasumi roping in the other members of Poppin’Party reads as light-hearted, yet cannot quite coalesce since the show’s anchor is teetering on the edge of being a frustration. Halfway through the season we come across the first genuine conflict of the show, but it does have the problem of being almost too serious in contrast with more or less everything else that came before. It’s one of those circumstances where juxtaposition works in theory, yet the actual impact feels more ham-fisted and artificial since the dissonance is so stark.

The end of the season, however, manages to settle into its proper rhythm – if the previous arc went a little bit far with its gravitas, the final few episodes manage to find a decent middle ground between them. The problem facing the group is serious to be sure, but feels more akin to an actual problem that a real band would be facing if they were trying to become known. By getting a cold dose of reality splashed in their faces, it allows the group to show their true mettle and tackle their challenge head-on. It therefore makes the season’s climax read as deserved.

The look of the show itself is not terrible, but it does leave something to be desired. Despite coming out in 2017, "BanG Dream!" season one feels as though it came out of the late-2000s with its character designs. The compositing however is its weakest element – there is an awful lot of sunshine in the course of the series, which unfortunately gives too many scenes a bit of a glare and whitish hue. Quite a few locations are recycled, which is perfectly fine, although certain things like the warehouse rehearsal space are rather blank.

Gratefully, if the visuals were lacking in some respect, the music does help to make up for a lot of these shortcomings. Though, given the Poppin’Party songs that were available at the time of the anime’s release, I do have to wonder why they chose “Tokimeki Experience” as the OP song. The track itself is not bad as a standalone piece of music, though it lacks the kind of exuberance that the story seemed to be striving for. That said, all the choices for insert songs within the thirteen episodes themselves were good picks, and the rare occasions where there was original material contributed to an earnestness that was pleasant.

And “earnest” more or less is what defines the first season. In the midst of its heavy-handedness and occasional times where it wasn’t that funny, this did feel like a group of five girls who cared about what they did and about each other. There’s a kindness in the series that made it seem like this band was worth following. Did I like this season? I can’t say that I did, but I was intrigued by it, which is more than I can say for a lot of other things I’ve seen in the course of my anime life.

"BanG Dream!" season one is an odd duck. It seems to keep itself tied up when it wants to let loose, and when it does indeed let loose, it gets a little bit crazy. It manages to find some semblance of balance in the second half by introducing some rather practical conflicts and allowing the group as a whole to combine in a way that feels strong. It may be at times rather uneven, but it was fun when I wasn’t necessarily buying it or laughing with it. It’s kind of in its own quirky little corner of the anime music world…

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Jun 20, 2022

90shentaigirl

Not Recommended

Like many others, I discovered BanG Dream! when it was a fresh app that had just come out. I consider myself extremely well versed in idol anime especially those that have spawned from mobile rhythm games. When I saw an anime had been made, I was looking forward to it because other idol anime like Love Live! and Cinderella Girls had been successful. However, this was not the case with Bandori.

It is extremely bland and seems like it was a fast attempt to catch up to other idol anime that had been successful and making tons of money. None of the characters are multifaceted, ...

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The official website of the BanG Dream! project announced a new anime series titled BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! on Sunday, revealing the main cast, staff, the o...read more

Apr 9, 2023 8:47 AM by Hyperion_PS | Discuss (8 comments)

BanG Dream!'s Morfonica Band Gets Anime Project in Summer 2022

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Mar 19, 2022 2:37 PM by Vindstot | Discuss (13 comments)

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Poll: BanG Dream! Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Apr 22, 2017	51 replies	by Strahan »» Mar 31, 8:21 PM
Poll: BanG Dream! Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Feb 4, 2017	55 replies	by VivaceRex »» Mar 25, 1:51 AM
Poll: BanG Dream! Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Jan 21, 2017	63 replies	by combi2015 »» Dec 29, 2023 11:15 AM
Poll: BanG Dream! Episode 2 Discussion Stark700 - Jan 28, 2017	39 replies	by DuduRibeiro »» Oct 29, 2023 5:19 AM
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