Girls Band Cry Episode 13 Discussion

Overall one of the best shows of the year so far, but for me it's just fallen short of the true greatness so many have said it is. These weak final two episodes are a big part of that, as the decisions they've made as a group here have kind of made me lose some of the respect I had gained for them throughout the show: at the very first big challenge they face as professionals, they throw in the towel because they know they can't win despite their whole thing being about taking on and beating Diamond Dust. They just cower out rather than facing the music, and that's just not at all satisfying however you slice it. Knowing that this anime has a gacha in the works, I'd have been much happier ending at episode 11 with them signing the contract as professionals, then leaving whatever comes next to the gacha story.

The other big issue I have with this show is the fundamental contradiction between its messaging and the reasons it exists in the first place. Throughout, this show's messaging has been about doing your own thing musically and not compromising to professional or commercial demands, but the show is primarily a vehicle for promoting a new multimedia franchise and professional band. In other words, the show is the very thing it's criticised from day 1 and it just makes the messaging feel more hollow than it should.

Still, some of the best 3DCG visuals and animation an anime has ever had and some fantastic characters and dynamics has made this a very enjoyable watch throughout despite the above issues.

A solid 8/10, but it could have been even better.

Been hearing a lot about this anime, but it was so mediocre.

Someone could probably make a whole 2-hour video analysis on Nina's self-destructive mindset (but that ain't gonna be me!). It's not that she's not working hard, she's just rushing too much and when reality hits her, she can't face it so she gets more desperate. The last two episodes are a prime example of this; did anyone in the show honestly expect TogeToge to ever have a change against Diamont Dust? Even Hina came to help Nina, but she wouldn't listen.

Lots of folks here are calling the ending rushed; no, I think they did a bold move by essentially giving us the Bad Ending on the very first season of their brand new show. Whenever S2 comes around they definitely have to adress Nina's emotional issues, though. Now that she has her father's acceptance, Nina ought to set herself straight and stop going after desperate measures. We saw shades of that when she was beginning to learn the guitar, but despite Momo's harsh words, she continues learning hoping to play in the band. All she wanted was for someone to pat her in the head for trying. "Look at me! I'm doing something!" I said in an earlier post how Momoka's self-esteem was lower than Nina's but now even Momoka is not afraid to tackle new ground, so that post is moot (whoops!). The only one left with serious issues is Nina and she needs help fast. Perhaps her newfound love with Momoka can help her, or perhaps this cruel defeat will gradually set her mind straight.

We could have gotten the Good Ending if Nina had not pushed for accepting the challenge and I can see why some people dislike her, but I think she's an amazingly well written character. She feels like the victim ever since she got bullied for doing what she believed is right. The whole world is her enemy and she just wants to be accepted, but being cute and having the power of friendship is not enough and we all saw what happend with that kind of mindset.

What a sleeper hit!

ps. Subaru best girl; God will not allow any other answer!

@Erebus25

> Been hearing a lot about this anime, but it was so mediocre.

GBC's BD/DVD purchases are certainly not mediocre: it has been selling 12-14,000 box sets per volume, in a market where any anime crew would offer child sacrifice for selling just 5500-6000 copies. The amount of GBC fan art / doujin also isn't mediocre, it's huge! In other words GBC is much loved and crazy popular wherever properly accessible (though the non-streaming digital purchase method in Amazon and Microsoft stores is apparently inconvenient for US audiences.)

@Tacsk0 Those numbers don't mean anything to me since I don't follow those, but let's assume they show popularity. So the question is why.
Why is this mediocre anime gathering such attention? Music is so generic I no longer remember any song from the anime. 3D is at "watchable" level, but it will never be remembered as good. Characters all have some tragic past which is just lazy writing, and story itself with someone is quitting the band every other episode got bored pretty quick.

The ending was not satisfying at all.

I just wish the anime was longer, that’s why I didn’t find it satisfying.

I can't believe it took this long for Nina to realize the truth behind why Hina joined DD lol

I know she is our protagonist, and I kinda like her sometimes, but for me Nina is still really stupid and stubborn.
I'll be honest here, we didn't really see much of her, but you know what, I think Hina >>> Nina in terms of personality, Hina was kinda mean but she always wanted the best for Nina, she cared for her even after they got separated, while Nina hated her, the school, her parents, DD... Nina just fucking hates everything and if someone says something she doesn't like she just fucking explodes, it's annoying.

I didn't really understand, did they quit the agency, or did they just reject the offering to play the same day as DD? Idk if it was because of the subtitles I used but it wasn't that clear to me, I guess is the 2nd one since they played the day after DD and Miura was there with them, but there is also that after they chatted with Miura in her office Nakata told them to come back years later and he will work for them for free, they also said they will just keep going on their own... I hope that isn't the case becuase that would mean Tomo and Rupa left their jobs for nothing 😭 and that Nina once more ruined everything.

I LOVED THIS SONG, AND THIS ANIME, HOLY SHIT THIS BETTER GETS A SECOND SEASON 😭 IT'S PEAK


I'll miss Subaru so much, I absolutely love her, the show was great but clearly she was the one carrying it ❤️


Since the 1st time I saw the ending I was waiting for her to cut her hair lol, but she never did, and they also never got the yellow van, maybe that's next for the 2nd season???

PD: I love how the "confession" from ep 8 was never ever mentioned again, goes to show how it wasn't a romantic one, yuritards.

@StallionXD
> I didn't really understand, did they quit the agency

Yes, they did and gave up their professional contract. Only the "collaboration" concert was held, with New Diadust performing on Day1 and TogeToge on Day2, because that already was fixed and couldn't be cancelled without financial penalty. Afterwards Togetoge became an "indie" band, working part-time and touring in their free time in the yellow submarine minivan. The ED animation shows their story afterwards, including Samson Subaru haircut and Miura as a friend caring for their pets while they are on the road, etc. Character designer Teshima Nari wrote about those in the booklet sold at Comiket 104 fair.

@Tacsk0 wow, that's crazy, that they have that much lore ready to even show it to us since ep1, even tho this is an original anime.

Well, it sucks that they quit the agency so soon, like Miura said, they not having their 1st song be succesful wasn't really their fault, they are a new band after all... they should've at least give it another try with a new song before quitting.
And the fact Tomo and Rupa quit their job, a job they clearly liked and cared for, just to end up with nothing is crazy, I blame Nina for that.
Their band going indie can work, sure, but without an agency they will never be able to get the monetary success they expected, they will have to play their cards really carefully, but then again, with Nina being the leader idk how that could work...

I hope we get a 2nd season, and they should make this post-anime plot more public so it gets even more fans interested, so a 2nd season can greenlight more easily.
I need to see Subaru with that haircut 😭❤️

Thanks for info, appreciate it.

Man I can't stand Nina, she is just so annoying and ignorant. What I mainly disliked about the show is how her behaviour is constantly being justified by the people around her, she is always in the right and can do no wrong, it made it really hard for me to get through the anime. The CGI was very wel done and made for some cute animations thought the series. Speaking of cuteness, the girls drip was on point thought out the show, Tomo was my favorite, she is just sooo cute!

I don't think I'm gonna miss this show, it was nice but Nina really ruined it for me. If this ever gets a sequel I hope Nina gets toned down and admits she is in the wrong sometimes!

What a show. It had some of the best natural dialogue I have seen in a long time.

But the ending... big oof.

TogeToge threw away their guaranteed pro income to become indie. What bothered me here was how Nina strongarmed this decision: it's clear that Tomo and Subaru had some ambitions of going pro, while Rupa just went with the flow. Rupa/Tomo quit their jobs because they thought they could now survive on the pro income. It's clear that Nina completely overreached here. I had enjoyed Nina's volatility throughout the whole show, but the last two episodes kind of made me go sour on her because she was too prideful. What it reminds me of is this video: "How to become a 37-year old broke loser". This guy had software developer job offers at Amazon and Nvidia when he was young. He rejected them because he couldn't stand the idea of living a corporate cubicle life, and wanted to freelance. Now his life is significantly worse than if he had simply taken the corporate jobs.

It also reminds me of the VTuber scene: Hololive is the golden job offer, and while there are popular indie VTubers, they are few and far between. Some Hololive members have left on their own terms such as Minato Aqua, but they achieved financial independence after being in Hololive for several years, and are using that to jumpstart their post-Hololive indie careers.

While TogeToge might achieve some success as an indie band, it is definitely the harder road, and the show made it come off as a "good" ending when it really isn't. Still, it's an overall great show, 8/10. However, my 9/10 music shows, Kono Oto Tomare S2 and Shine Post, had much more uplifting and positive endings.

-Beautiful anime with a medicore ending. Pacing was bad as well however i liked it much more than i expected
-Opening was so addictive as well

From the animes that i watched so far this one made me feel watching an anime that is like a hibike + paripi koumei mix

solid 8/10

I got everthing i want from this anime with ep 8 and ep 10 which are momoka's beating her fear and family reunion. I don't expect another season of this because it will only go down from this. The biggest development is done in ep 8 i don't think this anime can offer a development and build up like this one

Everyone has their own favorite music-related anime and I can proudly say that I found mine, Girls Band Cry. It was beautiful, charming, heartbreaking, underwhelming, unexpected... Just like life itself. Watching all 5 not only entertained me, also showed me how struggles can be a push-power for you to go on. Explaining themselves with music, especially rock was truly beautiful, already added all of the songs to my playlist hehe. To me, there won't be any music anime like this and I'm greatful that I've experienced this beautiful show before me 20's (I'll be 20 tmrw that's why xD) Only "bad" thing I can say about the show is how they rushed the Rupa and Tomo's characters and the band itself. Still It was a beautiful ride, a really good one. Thanks to everyone who worked GBC and made them a living project.

GIRLS BAND PEAAAAAAAAAK

peak animation and plot, go watch it

Ehhhh almost, but not quite there for me.

I agree with the criticisms here about Hina's "redemption," quitting the agency, the band dynamic, and the obsession with "defeating" Diamond Dust.

Now that I'm done with this, I feel like this is not really a music anime. It cares surprisingly little about the experience of writing and performing music in a band, "doing music" for a living, becoming better at music, and how exactly music reaches and moves people.

It's more concerned about using music as a tool to deal with personal problems and to "stick it to the man." It cares about the words being spoken through music, while the actual music is just kind of... there. It's all about the drama, and even then it's somewhat forced and incoherent.

The show obviously struck a chord with me, since I felt motivated to keep writing down my thoughts, but in the end it just didn't reach the heights that I thought it would.

I'd still like another season or a movie that would tell the full story...

Well, that was an ending. Can't say it wasn't inevitable, but it's certainly a sour note to end on.

Some hints: watch the GBC OP "Wrong World" and listen to it closely. You can see the band performing at the Budokan's circular arena and
I have to admit, GBC episodes 11,12, 13 move at a lightning pace and are often confusing. Studio Toei should have made the story 15 eps long, by purchasing unused TV time slots from other 10-11 ep animes airing in the same season. However, GBC badly over-run its budget even in 13 eps format and top mgmt tried to axe the project several times, so there was no way to approve financing for even more eps. Only on ep7 airing date and onwards did it become obvious that TOEI hit jackpot with GBC.

@Tacsk0 Pretty interesting comments throughout all the episodes. I haven't read into any of the behind-the-scenes ongoings so these are all new information to me. If there's anything I could say, it's that I wish Girls Band Cry were longer.

You know for a such music-focused anime, the songs in themselves weren't that good actually
the lyrics were always a priority then the performance but the melodies were non-existent, just random or generic background music

I enjoyed the drama and character development and even the visual style especially during performance
but let down every time they had a new "ED", always some visual story and wall of text lyrics and that's it

Anyway, Toei aren't really known for their music or OSTs or really anything outside their long-running series after all these years
so this was a pleasant surprise and wouldn't mind a 2nd season

Last two episodes were somewhat of a let down. After the peak they reached before. The whole point of going pro and then not is pointless just a setback for the sake. It make sense with popularity imbalance. But the rise they had why not double down on fairytale ending or don't do it. Whole thing with Nina past to prove a point with that pink girl don't fly with me.
The thing which salvaged this was the unity rest four shown and backed up Nina and went as far quitting the agency just to make sure Nina doesn't feel she is wrong. That was sweet.

If this had ended after the festival with a more promising open ending would have been better. Clearly the story needed to cook more. Ending was rushed. But discounting that it's an amazing anime. Drama & Music both were executed superbly for most part. Great charcters and as was their development. You just wanna root for these girls so much.

Probably no more continuation but was satisfying. Favourite music anime now and probably be for some time if not forever.