Girls Band Cry Episode 13 Discussion

The ending felt incomplete might have to do with the upcoming movie sequel, also my first time liking a 3d style of animation in anime.

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.