The character animation is easily the best I’ve ever seen in CGI and even gives traditional 2D animation some steep competition. Every character is so emotive and reactive with each of their expressions in a way that’s still what you’d expect from anime but takes the quality up another notch. Everything flows smoothly and the animation itself gives enough reason to watch this show in a character drama, or all things.
That character drama is also really well done. Each character gets their moment to have their backstory explored and build on a theme of regrets and your past haunting you, but each taking their own unique spin on it. While one of the five band members did not get her own dedicated episode, each one had their time to at least understand what is going on behind the scenes in their life. They all behave and act in a different way that feels intuitive from the life they’ve led up to this point. These stories help them come together to form this band and embrace the underdog story of a new indie band trying to make their big break. Also, their interpersonal dynamics are wonderful; their quirkiness reverberates off each other endlessly for great comedy and more endearing moments.
The music is all performed by the same band that voices the actual characters and the quality rings through. There’s at least four unique songs throughout the series that all bring really high energy rock that I had to instantly save on Spotify. The catchiest of them all is the opening.
Overall, this show was an absolute delight. The main five girls are diverse and memorable. The show’s animation and music make everything you experience thoroughly satisfying. The season leaves off with a lot of things wrapped up but just a little bit of a feeling that things are hanging out unresolved. It’s hard to tell if that’s to leave room for hopes of another season or just a lack of time to close the season out. Either way, the journey was more important than the destination in this one and I say it’s a must watch for any music fans. People who don’t watch music would probably get a great starter show out of this or anyone who just wants a high quality character-driven show will find things to love here.
