BanG Dream! Ave Mujica Episode 12 Discussion

Welcome to Shodoshima! Where's Takagi-san?

Uika Hatsune: Saki-chan daisuki ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
F that Togawa old man Sadaharu. He should be the one who moved to Switzerland. He just did everything just for himself, not Sakiko. Gladfully, finally, Sakiko ran away from him.
In the end, we haven't got any chance to meet the real Uika.

Same bus stop

Love it,not other word just love it.if Togawa group want messing with them Hatsune just need ask help her senpai Tsurmaki Kokoro to dealing with Togawa Group for messing with Tsurumaki Family

@AkeZZZ Let me guess, Hatsune is still in limbo, and we don't get an answer to either where the real Uika went (I highly doubt Hatsune killed her, but still) or what we're supposed to do with all the previous yuri bait if Hatsune was eventually confirmed as Sakiko's close relative?

@Aleksu I also had this crazy idea that Uika was pretending to be Hatsune pretending to be Uika, but in the end it was obviously a crack idea since her father clearly recognized her. But either way, I would rather prefer they get a more or less solid happy ending at the end than have this parade of crazy over the top twists continued.

@RobertBobert
She returned to the mainland. It was said in the episode. So that's why we never got a chance to see her.

DESUWA. Sakiko thinks she's Kira

We never get to meet the real Uika, I was coping until the very end that THAT was the real Uika pretending to be Hatsune, but lol.

Sakiko decided to just forget everything and continue moving forward, that's her, Oblivionis.

I felt something lacking, like things just ended midway unresolved, but I guess... we can see their future story in the game itself. I just want to see them happy for real!!

Excited for the Final Episode, a joint concert with MyGO!!!!! based on the PV!!!

@Aleksu Yes, this season is practically a one big prologue. What it conclusively did however, is exposing the true nature of these girls.

@rookielazer That would be too simplistic and somewhat disrespectful to the creators of anime. I would rather view the game as a new season or even a sequel, as Revue Starlight did back in the day. At least for me, it's hard to imagine a game including arcs that would surpass these two series in terms of significance and plot heaviness.

Such a relieving episode, but is this the proper ending we needed? At least the girls are smiling again.



A lot of things left hanging and I hope the game story can execute the continuous neatly... or maybe if they consider to make another season which I think will never happen.

The next episode seems to be concert-focused, along with a little closure for this series, just like MyGO.

@AkeZZZ Let me guess, Hatsune is still in limbo, and we don't get an answer to either where the real Uika went (I highly doubt Hatsune killed her, but still) or what we're supposed to do with all the previous yuri bait if Hatsune was eventually confirmed as Sakiko's close relative?

@Aleksu I also had this crazy idea that Uika was pretending to be Hatsune pretending to be Uika, but in the end it was obviously a crack idea since her father clearly recognized her. But either way, I would rather prefer they get a more or less solid happy ending at the end than have this parade of crazy over the top twists continued.

Couldn’t they have just used their platform to expose what was happening to them? Their fans would not have stayed silent, they could’ve brought down the Togawa group if they leaked the scandal. And couldn’t Sakiko just had herself legally emancipated? There were so many more realistic options to have taken

An amazing work penned single-handedly by none other than the legendary Yuniko Ayana herself with all her signature hallmarks like a small cast, deep internal monologue plus her favorite: complex relationship between girls. (I feared we might not see a true Yuniko episode after hearing her split from Bang Dream project, but this episode proved me wrong. Better late than never.)

It sure feels much improved from the previous episodes since it now has a “big bad” this time (which should’ve been the main plot in the first place). Not some band members’ random problems appeared out of nowhere, but a true puppeteer that has been pulling the strings all along.

Seeing at the end both Sakiko and Uika broke free by directly confronting Sadaharu and getting the band back together again make me cheer (even Sakiko’s dad, Kiyotsugu, showed sign of sobering up). Combined with everything Yuniko excels at littered throughout the episode, I can say this is the kind of story I wanted to see.

The downplaying of Uika’s fate worked in Hatsune’s favor, since showing her does no good for Hatsune (unless Uika somehow reconciles with Hatsune). I knew they were going to address it in some way, even feared of an intense Uika-Hatsune face off or Uika’s death, but I forgot sometimes it’s better to let it go. It's a tasteful treatment.

Using ED as OP is more fitting as the lyrics are incredibly fitting to the scene (an the theme in general); and OP as ED also got me so excited since there is nothing better to signify their rebirth other than KillKiss, their first song where it all begins. Plus, Sakiko’s proud proclamation as Oblivionis of Ave Mujica and a Togawa then immediately cut to KillKiss is extremely powerful.

The next episode is not a joint concert like I previously anticipated but rather they are going their separate ways (judging by the size of the backdrop, Ave Mujica in a concert venue, MyGO in a livehouse). Ave Mujica needs a good show to mark their return and MyGO needs a good final send off. (I hope Mana is doing well going solo.)

(Side note: in the end credits it still says “Uika”, not “Hatsune”. Guess they will go with that.)

After this episode, we still don't know where is real Uika & her mother about. And it's really become the real plot hole point to be solve.

Like doesn't real Uika feels betrayed by her own sister as Hatsune finally becoming idol, taking the popularity, but she don't be it's. More, doesn't she feels annoyed that her sister taking her identity.

Her mother? it's still be mystery as she become the important point for this scandalous issue of Sadaharu. But doesn't she have feeling try to involve on Hatsune issue?

Yes Ave Mujica's member problem almost all been solved, but there still riddle to solve on whole Togawa family & Uika though. Or it's just not important anymore after Sakiko use her authority, Idk. It's still mystery to me.

"A normal closing chapter and with its yuri skills. It seems that Sakiko and Hatsune are aunt /niece no matter, we already know how the Japanese are hahahaha. Little more to say and I suppose What is the last chapter will be Mygo and Ave Mujica playing music

@Hormigo To be able to say what matters and what doesn't, they would at least have to have some kind of canonical romantic or completely platonic relationship. Which was never established, Sakiko simply acknowledged her as her authentic childhood friend. As for the Japanese, they will ship even literal twins with each other, although Bushiroad has semi-seriously tried to promote other ships instead.

@shiro1006 In another show, this would be questionable timing, but to me, they overused the drama so much this time around that a quick and easy ending seems like a great decision. Although I will agree that the ending feels a bit too idealistic after showing us almost the entire group severely broken mentally. It's quite ironic now to remember how the scriptwriter, back during MyGO, promised the most realistic writing possible.

@RobertBobert I am not very consumer of Yuri, so I do not control the genre much. But what I have seen in this chapter is not friendship, even that of Aunt/ niece/ . Not even Sakiko affected him that Hatsune told him that she was the daughter of his grandfather. Platonic love? Romantic love canon? simple friendship with Yuri bait? No idea

@Tamunomo She was still listed as the story writer in this episode, though not the scriptwriter. As for Hatsune's name, I can only assume that it was done spoiler-wise. Especially considering that in the episode itself, Sakiko sort of accepted her as Uika, which freed them from having to rewrite the character despite all the problematic implications and frozen questions that decision would have. I mean, are they really telling us that the best way to solve the problem of hard lies is to accept it as truth? This will not solve Hatsune's mental problems with lying and doesn't erase her original personality and the past she hid through it.

UPD. Ah, it seems I dug too deep and some people are telling me that the fake Uika's identity was kept as her public persona while Sakiko still fully accepted her past and real identity.

Clearly not a fan of this episode. My biggest issue with Uika's backstory is that it comes out of nowhere. They dumped a ton of information in the last episode with such lazy storytelling that it feels like a last-minute attempt to justify all the nonsense that happened before. The whole thing about her taking her little sister’s name just to follow Saki is weird af, and the island storyline feels completely forced. There was no buildup or foreshadowing in previous episodes, so I don’t see the point of introducing all this backstory now. I’m all for a concert episode for the finale, but the nuanced writing about mental illness and split personalities has been replaced with a shallow, overly convenient resolution to everything.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I've never heard of the term "story writer" within the concept of anime.

The official website credited Yuniko Ayana as the sole screenwriter ("脚本", aka scriptwriter) for this episode, contrary to the shared writing credit for episode 1 (with Midori Goto). She remain listed as the series composition ("シリーズ構成"), but I doubt how much actual control she has over the series due to her departure from Bang Dream project. Her credit as story concept ("原案") was not present in the entire Ave Mujica, but was present in MyGO (except in episode 13 where she is "MyGO/Ave Mujica story concept", which was subsequently removed from BD release of this episode).

Regarding the name, it really doesn't matter, come to think of it. At the end of day, it's just a small part of the Bang Dream multimedia project and Bushiroad will do anything they can to profit from that, even if it does make some people feel uneasy. (Plus, you don't want all you past merchandise to carry a "wrong" name, right?) And since in the series they did not show real Uika and everyone seemed to accept Hatsune-as-Uika, the can pass it off as ambiguity, both logically and morally. If that doesn't work, they can just recon it with a few line of code for website (click Uika and it will turn into Hatsune) & game or change it in the BD release.

@Tamunomo Either way, she's credited and that's all we can do with it. She probably didn't write the episode itself, but she still came up with the general development.

The show's director has already stated that they have drawn some line between MyGO and Ave Mujica and the rest of the bands, keeping the overall continuity but not directly interfering with them. It wasn't said word for word, but I think they wouldn't want the new bands to change the positioning and IP of the old ones.

I don't know why you're against introducing real Uika in the future in one event or another, but I think it could work and be lore-wise if done right.

@Okami_doge You think so? In my opinion, it's not so much that they forgot about the other subplots, but rather that they just closed them too quickly and superficially. Even if they still have a game for it.

@sharoro Yeah. Uika did foreshadowing whenever things even slightly reminded her of it.

@awokadoser I suspect I know where you got that from. 4 flowers can indeed imply permanence, especially in their context. The problem is that people are never given an even number of flowers because flower etiquette considers it a funeral tradition. Especially in Japan, where the number 4 is a symbol of death. I assume that this sequence meant, coupled with their dialogue afterwards, that Sakiko reaffirmed her affection for Hatsune even after her past was revealed.

@RobertBobert

I rewatched the episode and you are probably right about Yuniko Ayana not writing the episode entirely. Something's off after the initial yuri stuff, and the discrepancy is more obvious later into the episode. (I will probably do a longer write up in the morning)

I take MyGO/Ave Mujica as a soft reboot succeeding the main series (though oddly wiki refers to them as "spin-offs"). There are nods and easter eggs here and there, random old band members popping up in places. There may be changes, but those feel like natural progression rather than heavy handed retcon.

The reason why I am against real Uika showing up is the fact that she is a hot potato. The undeniable fact is that Uika is a victim of an identify theft perpetrated by Hatsune, with Sadaharu acting as a accomplice. To "do right" means at least Uika has to reconcile with Hatsune and forgive her, which requires a lot of willingness for the girl who got her name, life and dream taken away (plus convincing the audience while doing so). I doubt if it will ever work, but I have faith in the wisdom of the writers.