Talking about the story, there's no other way to cut it. Let me reiterate, if you have absolutely no background whatsoever, you will be very confused watching this. Furthermore, the first few episodes are basically an advertisement for each of the 5 bands that we can see in the game. The story only picks up towards the end, and even then, the upcoming third season will probably wrap things up the story.
For the art, before watching this, I've heard many people characterize CGI anime as being bad. After watching this, my perception of CGI anime has improved greatly. The animation is fluid and doesn't seem out of place. In other franchises such as Love Live, the CGI causes the quality of the anime to sink. However, with BanG Dream, the fact that it's fully CGI makes it consistent and beautiful.
The sound is as expected from a music franchise, where, if you've played the game before, you'll recognize most pieces played in this anime. If you haven't, it'll be refreshing depending on your musical taste. For someone who's watched the anime and played the game, I was mainly anticipating new songs, and BanG Dream delivered on that anticipation.
With a not-so-great story, I'd say that the character development in this iteration of BanG Dream was weak. However, it is important to note that most of the character development happens in the game. Also, even though I'd characterize the development as weak, there was some development with regards to Poppin' Party, which was probably the only band that had any character development.
Overall, if you do enjoy music anime, I'd suggest picking up the first season and playing the game. However, if you're not willing to put the time in, you probably won't enjoy this anime as much.
