I was not impressed by either CGI (Bang Dream looked way better) or songs based on promos but the actual thing looks and sounds pretty good. Also a nice touch that instead of just animating the performances they make it more MV-like with special effects and such.
The only bummer is no official English subs and decent fansubs come out super slow.
Bang Dream is traditionally animated though?
The MV-like performances are indeed spiffin'
Edited by fillerdude on Apr 20th 2024 at 2:43:07 AM
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Only the first season, everything else was made in full CGI by different studio.
Edited by Nachtwandler on Apr 20th 2024 at 2:49:51 AM
Ah I never did see anything past the first season. I'll have to look at the CGI for those then.
Personally I liked S2 and S3 way better. Plus you can jusat watch 2 FILM LIVE movies, each is literarly just one big gig.
Nice, the Film Live is on Youtube, so it's easy to watch
It does not have encore songs but you can find them separatelly probably.
This show really is something special. I think it has the best 3D CGI I've seen in an anime - it's super fluid and really well done.
Characters are definitely interesting. I was expecting Nina to be a slightly introverted and inexperienced high-school girl, but I was not expecting her to be a prickly trauma ball who lashes out at people and does before thinking. Also love Momoka's older sister dynamic she has with Nina, especially in ep3 both when Nina quits the band and comes back one second later, and Momoka's pep-speech before the performance at the end of the episode. Subaru grew on me in ep3, and yeah I agree that she pretty much dragged Nina kicking and screaming into the friend group, although her relationship with acting school was also pretty interesting.
The music is a banger. It's fast-paced and exciting, definitely gives that head-bopping vibe. As with most songs like this, the lyrics are pretty depressing - the song Nina sings at the end of ep3 is basically "I'm so desolate that I've stopped believing in God", or so I think.
Super good show. Wish that we didn't have subbing issues, though. Sucks having to man the sails just to watch this.
Side question: do we have a page for GBC yet?
Edited by AirplaneNiner on Apr 21st 2024 at 10:47:33 AM
Clear prop!
Nina would be difficult to hang out with in real life, but she is absolutely an entertaining main character to follow.
And no, I don’t think we have a page yet.
Keikonii Izaki
Let me know when the page is up.
CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOO CHOO YOUR FOOD SPONGY BOI Also known by many other names, mainly by Keikonii Izaki
Episode 4: I feel like all this hullabaloo could have been avoided if Subaru had clarified she’d be gone for like a week. Then again Nina has abandonment issues too soooo.
but they did not drag the situation. And I liked the resolution with "screw it, you can pursue both for now".
Ep 4 was great, showing us a bit more to Subaru and her acting. Some highlights were the panicked messaging under the table, and Momoka Giving Up the Ghost after Subaru elbows her. I also love that Subaru and Nina are starting to open up more, and now act like bickering siblings, which is a step up from episodes 2 and 3. I do wish we get to see those two other girls who are meant to be joining, and I hope it's next episode.
I did see a post on Tumblr which suggests that actually, Nina is kind of an ass and pretty hypocritical this episode, mostly around trying to get Subaru to tell her grandmother that acting isn't for her, and then doubling down just as she's about to do it. And yeah, I kind of see it, especially when Nina pesters Momoka about her past and Momoka eventually replies with "If you don't want people bringing up your past, don't bring up theirs". The post also suggests that even though Nina is being a bit of an ass, it's because as stated, she does have abandonment issues, and she's doing it because she cares about Subaru and doesn't want her to leave. Basically, she wants to try and keep the band together in her own way, but that way is a bit messy. And hey, she is a teenager with heavy emotional baggage, so I can understand why.
Yeah Nina being an ass is entirely consistent with her characterization so far
Episode 5: The best one yet.
Nina continues being a goddamn riot between her prickliness and naivety. She seriously did not know about the proper way of selling tickets. At least the girl she handed a free ticket to became a fan! I also love that she's constantly using the double pinky gesture, meaning she's saying "fuck you" to a lot of folks.
I audibly gasped when Nina hugged Subaru. AWWW. They are freaking friends.
Speaking of Nina, there is a terrible surprise waiting for her this episode— her former friend, who seems to have abandoned her to the bullies, is now the lead singer of her favorite band, Diamond Dust. This leads to her arguing with Momoka, and we finally hear the deets on why Momoka left DD. It's nice to air out all these grievances! I liked the framing of why Momoka left, too. Her former members weren't jerks and they did try their best to get her to stay, but she was the one who couldn't get over the creative differences.
One detail I liked: the new Diamond Dust's version of the insert song in episode 1 sounds flatter and more pop-y. I can see why Momoka didn't want to go that route for her music.
Edited by fillerdude on May 3rd 2024 at 7:09:28 AM
I though the new vocalist will be the bully herself at first.
And I also wonder if the whole Diamond Dust plot is an attempt by the produsers to say "heard about Bang Dream, we do not approve such approch to girls J-rock bands". I do have a bit of a greep myself with it as they made their bands look more idoly lately and the songs are so overproduced that they had to simplify some of the harder songs of their most popular band (Roselia) so the girls could actually play iot live.
Though, for my taste the new M Cs song was pretty "light" also, though, not as much. And I am not sure how much input the girls from GBC have in their songs (I am not aware if they even play them on lives, at least most of Bang Dreams girls do).
Edited by Nachtwandler on May 4th 2024 at 2:26:50 AM
Not sure if this episode is referencing anything in particular, but it's a common issue in the music industry for producers to be pushing their talents to make more mainstream music.
Yep, it is just that:
1. Bang Dream is a good example of a rival franchise that has this exact poliocy despite posing itself as heavily anti-idol. Love the franchice and I won't call a lot of songs by Raise a Suilen, Roselia or Ave Mujika that mainstream. But their bands are overly produced (most of the girls don't even play their parts for studio recordings) and their recent outfits look more idoly. So the comparison is writing itself.
2. I am still not sure if the Diamon Dust position will be criticized in the plot or if they say that both paths are fine as Momoka tried to put it this episode.
Edited by Nachtwandler on May 5th 2024 at 4:58:20 AM
Well as Momoka put it, prioritizing the survival of the group, even if it means compromising on their artistic vision, could be considered the "right" way to go. Hell, she would have already called quits in the music biz had she not run into Nina.
Yep, but we do not know yet what position GBC team supports. And the main girls try to go another path so far.
Ep 5 was definitely the best so far:
- The sections about tickets, live houses, leaving bands because of commercialisation, makes me feel like I'm watching BTR again. I know that obviously these are experiences synonymous with up-and-coming bands with drama anyway, but I'm getting that feeling again, and I love it a lot.
- The little hug Nina gave Subaru...aww
- Turns out Diamond Dust's new vocalist is an old friend of Nina?! My guess is that Nina's trust/anger issues somehow caused a massive falling-out between them. Loved both the rage effect becoming a lot more pronounced, plus Nina's flipout, complete with Angrish that was either translated as "incomprehensible goblin noises" (MTL) or lots and lots of very not-so-nice words that would make any Twitter user proud (hand-TL from the GBC discord).
- The live house concert was very well done! Super catchy song too. Nina's choice of outfits was awesome lol
- Looks like we'll be seeing the other two next episode!
The hug was everything. And so were Nina's gremlin noises!
Regarding Nina's trust issues... Nina clearly grew up in a strictly regulated household. She was probably the quiet type, and probably only had that one friend. Then my guess is that for one reason or another, Nina started getting bullied, which she took quietly until she couldn't anymore, and flipped her top. Then the teachers and her parents probably criticized her outburst, then the bullying got worse, and the friend stopped associating with her, or hell probably even supported the bullies.
Now that you put it like that I think she has every reason to always be so angry lol
You mixed up things. Actual normal subs used *incomprehenshible gremlin noises* as in actual audio she just made some gibberish noises instead of cussing. It is the meme machine translation that used actual cuss words in that scene.
Edited by Nachtwandler on May 5th 2024 at 10:54:44 AM
An anime that started airing in Spring 2024 about cute girls starting up a rock band. Not exactly the most original premise, but it's slowly grown on me for two reasons:
Some people might get turned off from the show being full CGI, but the animation has been, in my opinion, great. The characters aren't stiff models robotically moving from pose to pose, they bounce and swing and make all sorts of funny faces.
Another interesting thing: the band themselves seem to have been around since 2021! They have some music videos out on Youtube you can check out, and I'm excited to encounter those songs in the show proper.
Episode 3: It's a good thing Subaru is a tough nut, otherwise she wouldn't be able to drag Nina kicking and screaming into her friend circle. Also late to realize that the two future members of the band were the ones working at the Yoshinoya Nina and crew usually dine at.