Show by Rock!! Stars!!

Show By Rock Stars is what Show By Rock # should have been. Rather than try to make up a grand plot and rehash the previous season Show By Rock Stars is a celebration of Show By Rock and the many bands that have stared in the anime throughout its many seasons. Stars carves out a nice balance between the slice of life band growth focus of Mashumairesh and the band celebration and focus that it’s aiming for. It even has a hint of a plot as a homage to the first two seasons. And personally while the two areas of focus can be ... at odds at some times I think Stars does a good job of satisfying the both of them.

The focus on Mashumairesh the band was quite good. While the highs from the last season aren’t able to be met the content covered in this season is still quite strong. The strong characters are still on display and their charm is still in full force. However the focus shifts a bit to Delmin and Ruhuyu rather than Himeko and Howan. This was nice as they didn’t get as much focus in the previous season so it was nice to see them take center stage this time around and have their own issues and relationship explored deeply. They already were pretty decently developed but I loved seeing them get closer. It was definitely one of the highlights of the season. I also liked the general issues of their band’s growth and place in grand scheme of things. They utilized the stardom of the other bands quite well to contrast their own weak standing, making the situation feel quite realistic and not over-dramatic. In general it was nice to see how they reacted to seeing all of these bands. For example it was nice to see Himeko get to interact with Criticrista the band that she admired for so long. Overall I’m quite pleased with what they were able to cover with the main band. My only issue with what was covered is that sometimes too much time was taken away from the main plot of focus of the episode so sometimes the situations felt a bit more rushed than they should have been.

The focus on the bands was also quite nice. All of the main bands from the previous seasons were able to play a decent role in the season and each got their own episode to shine in. The content and focus of those episodes shifted from band to band but I think worked well with the charm points of the bands. For example a band like ShinganCrimsonZ focused more on humor and had one of the funniest episodes the season while Bud Virgin Logic focused more on development of its lead member and her growth after the events of #. Across various avenues of focus each of the previous bands got ample time to shine in the spotlight. It was nice to see all of these bands that we knew and loved back doing their normal band activities and just enjoying their music and lives. Ultimately I think ironically the only band that didn’t get their time to shine this season was Plasmagica who ended up being utilized as a recurring supporting cast rather than a band getting much of a focus themselves. And while it was nice seeing the end result of their growth and their future coming into full bloom they never really had a strong focus in any of the episodes and never really had time for their characters to be revisited again which was a shame. This again sort of goes back to the issue of having limited run time. There’s only so much content they could do with the bands while also focusing on the main two bands from the previous season. Ultimately choices had to be made, and while I don’t agree with all of them I do think that they did a great job of including all of the main bands and letting their fans see them another time.

Art and sound both were pretty great. The music in Show By Rock is great as usual. The bands are a treat to listen to and I really enjoyed the OST and the way it utilizes the various openings from previous seasons and incorporates them into the soundtrack. The performances were great and there were a lot of great new songs introduced in the season which were very nice. Art wise it looked great with the same style and charm that fills Midi City and the world of Show By Rock. While I do miss the Studio Bones style for some of the characters the overall art looked consistently great throughout the season.

Overall while it doesn’t live up to either original Show By Rock or Show By Rock Mashumairesh, Show By Rock Stars is a very welcome addition to Show By Rock. There is enough meaningful content to make the season well worth while and a good lot of band cameos and focus to really celebrate the bands of Show By Rock. Ultimately I think it’s a great watch for fans, and one that at least this fan enjoyed very much.

"Show by Rock!!" is back! With the fourth season "Stars!!" we finally get to see our beloved bands performing together. The focus is on our two female bands "Plasmagica" and "Mashumairesh!!", who are already very well known to us from the previous seasons.

"Midi City" is the capital of "Sound World". Every band has the goal performing on a big stage in front of many fans there one day. But this path is rocky and difficult, the competitors never sleeps either. If you want to be at the top there, you have to invest more than the others.
Our band "Mashumairesh!!" has to face a lot of ... setbacks in addition to their beautiful moments. In this season, the journey of our four young girls begins practically in jail, after they were initially held responsible for the destruction of the city. Fortunately, this turned out to be a mistake and thanks to the help of "Plasmagica" they were released. Their first meeting and also their first performance together were magical moments, the perfect chemistry between these two bands could be felt directly. Together, both bands want to improve even more and are ready to make sacrifices.
We mainly experience the story of "Mashumairesh!!", how they completed a secret training deep in the mountains or were on the home island of Delmin and held a concert there under difficult conditions. In the end, it can be said that the hard training has definitely paid off!
Occasionally we also experience an episode with a focus on the male bands and well… they are already known for their stubborn actions.

The special harmony of the individual characters is already well known from the past. In "Stars!!" the focus is mainly about the teamwork of the bands "Plasmagica" and "Mashumairesh!!“. They put goals together and achieve them hand in hand. The relationship between Cyan and Howan is particularly striking here. Our two "bell-bearers" get along very well. Their close connection certainly contributes a large part to the overall success. It's great to see how well our characters get along. Even with the members of the other bands there is a good atmosphere, although they are actually rivals. Yet they encourage and help each another.

The art style is directly linked to the third season "Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh!!". With "Kinema Citrus" we also experience the same studio that was responsible for the third part. The characters are all very colorful and designed differently. Each of them differs from the others, their personal characteristics are well highlighted. While the female band members are portrayed in a sweeter way, the male ones look extremely cool. We also get to see the chibi versions of the band members on stage, these also go with the whole thing.
The design of the city really stands out, their world is full of music and colors. Such a design already conveys a good mood. Of course, we can’t forget our "egg" managers, their shape is a highlight.

The "Show by Rock!!" franchise is known for its variety of bands and different music. With that in mind, it is not a wonder that we don’t only hear the music of "Plasmagica" and "Mashumairesh!!" in this collaboration season. The other bands like "Criticrista", "Bud Virgin Logic" or the male band "ShinganCrimsonZ" have songs ready for us as well.
The OP "Doremifa Stars!!" is sung by our two main bands, while the ED is a song from "Mashumairesh!!". The "good mood" music can be felt directly in both parts and also reflects their style of music. All the people who just like good music can’t do anything wrong with "Show by Rock !!". In addition to their songs, which we get to hear listen in the anime, they have also released many beautiful singles.

Exactly one year ago in the winter season 2020 we got introduced to the new band "Mashumairesh!!". Their anime was already enjoyable to watch and with their beautiful music they pulled us under their spell. Now exactly one year later, it's nice to see them again. With "Plasmagica", a well-known band returns as well. It's simply a lot of fun to follow their everyday life and enjoy the different styles of music.
I find particularly good about "Show by Rock!!" is that you don't have to watch the previous seasons to like and enjoy the new one. Of course, it is advisable to watch the three previous seasons first before starting “Stars!!”, but even without this prior knowledge, the characters and bands are in such a way that you still will like them a lot. Even there was no separation of the male and female bands before, I still think it makes sense to separate them and not have both appear in one anime. Although it was known from the begin that in "Stars!!" male bands will perform again and I'm certainly not a fan of them, I still wanted to listen to all the female bands and their music. So, the male gigs bothered me a bit, but I have to honestly admit that their music is good.
In "Stars!!" we experience the typical peculiarity of "Show by Rock!!" as well: the variety of the bands. No matter what music taste you have, there is for sure a band you will love!

In the end, I am convinced that we will certainly see a fifth season. The successful bands will surely rock us even more!

I've already gone on at length about Show By Rock is one of my favorite guilty pleasure anime even with its flaws, so I won't belabor the point here. Season 1 was fine, though nothing special, season 2 I feel is a massive improvement, season 3, Mashumairesh, was the weakest season IMHO and made no effort to reach any highs, and season 4...is kind of in the middle. Basically, Show By Rock Stars takes place right after where season 3 left off, having the Mashumairesh girls be invited to Midi City by Banded Rocking Records to join them, and showing them interacting with the other ... bands, along with a new villain threatening to mess up the big festival everyone is preparing for. That premise, while cliche, is fine on its own, and Stars could have done a lot with it. Unfortunately, having seen Stars now...SBR really deserved better, and I think a lot of this season's flaws come from the change in production companies, from Bones to Kinema Citrus. Stars does reference the first two seasons a lot, making sure to keep the characters in character, replicate the setting, and throw in a lot of details that are sure to make hardcore SBR fans happy. However, I think in the process of the change, nobody from Bones told the Kinema Citrus staff about previous plot threads that had been established at the end of season 2.

One particular plot hole Stars has is...well, Cyan's presence. Specifically, how the hell did she manage to get back to Sound World after being sent back to the human world at the end of season two?! Stars provides absolutely no explanation for this! Did the Kinema Citrus staff just forget that Cyan is a human from Earth?! You can't just throw a character back into a fantasy world without a solid explanation as to how she even got back there in the first place! But this is only one example of the continuity issues that are plaguing this season. Remember in the second season how Ogasawara manipulated Uwasanopetals to come with him to the Unicorn Virtual Music building, setting up a potential plot thread? Not only does Stars completely ignore this, one stinger at the end of episode 11 shows them back at their countryside town, continuing to whine about how they can't go to Midi City...Even though season 2 established them as having been able to go and, I don't know, LAND A FRIGGIN HUGE RECORD DEAL THAT COULD ENSURE THAT THEY COULD GO THERE!!! Oh, and do I even need to mention Ailane suddenly going evil in this season for no reason at all, even though in the second season she was shown to have broken away from Dagger's control?

Of course, continuity issues aren't the only problem plaguing this season. For one, the characters don't really develop much here. A lot of the show is just the Mashumairesh girls interacting with the other bands. Granted, the exceptions to this rule are Delmin, whose backstory gets explored in more depth, and ironically enough, Dokonjofinger, who I absolutely hate, and yet this season actually manages to make them somewhat more tolerable. Granted, they're still cliche and a knock-off of the much better Shingancrimsonz, but I do appreciate that Stars made an effort to flesh them out a little bit, even if it still doesn't make them anything more than bland as white toast. On the other hand, other characters who really could have benefited from having their backstories fleshed out, like Himeko, are still given the shaft, and a lot of the show spends its time on comedic band shenanigans that are completely unnecessary. Say what you will about the first two seasons of Show By Rock, but at least they knew to balance out the comedy with its more serious moments, knowing to use the former as either levity after a particularly grueling moment, or actually flesh out the characters more. Stars' comedy is just...not funny, and the fact that it prefers doing that over fleshing out its characters is one of its biggest detriments as a season.

For what it's worth though, the animation and the music are still good, even if the songs in this season aren't as good as the ones in previous SBR seasons. I'll give Kinema Citrus credit for not only keeping the character designs in tact (Save for one of the Uwasanopetals girls, though that's insignificant here), but the setting and the overall look of the show, so kudos to them for that. But seriously, couldn't the writers for the previous seasons have left notes for the Kinema Citrus staff letting them know about those important plot threads that I mentioned above? Consistency shouldn't be this hard, people! Ah, well. Show By Rock Stars tried, but in my opinion, it didn't reach the highs that seasons one and two did, squandering continuity in favor of unfunny comedy. Maybe SBR will get a fifth season down the line, but at this point, I'm not sure, though I'd be happy to watch more SBR should more get made. If only the SBR mobile games came to the US, though. Someone once said online that they feel Show By Rock works better as a comedic slice-of-life anime than a fantastical epic about saving the world from an evil entity, as they feel the former premise does more to make you care about the characters. I don't feel that's true in the case of SBR, because both Stars and Mashumairesh rehash common comedic cliches just for the sake of it, rather than trying something new with them or even using them as a means to flesh out their characters. A more urgent save-the-world plotline, as cliche as it can be at times, works better with this because it forces the characters to grow as people in their journey to ensure that their world and everyone in it is safe. Because Stars preferred to be more of an epic comedic crossover, it ultimately still comes off as a shallow imitation of the first two seasons rather than trying to stand on its own two feet.

So yeah, you're not missing anything by not watching Show By Rock Stars. Even as a big SBR fan, this season fell short of expectations, so don't go into this expecting anything grand.