BanG Dream

I see we still won’t get our third season of K-ON! And in the mean time waiting for the next season of Love Live! Sunshine, here, have BanG Dream as your snack. Heh. When I first heard that name, I thought it was going to be some sort of ecchi fanservice laden anime. Yeah, it sounds so lewd. So this isn’t about some horny guy whose life goal is to bang every woman in the world? No? Okay. I suppose it has been some time we have an anime revolving around an all-girl band so what better way than to put on a few fresh faces and a new anime about a group of girls to pursue their dreams of reaching for the stars. Well, that glitter in the music sense, that is.

Episode 1
Kasumi Toyama is so excited on her first day at high school that she has to ‘harass’ her sister, Asuka up. The eager beaver quickly makes friends with Saaya Yamabuki who is also in the same class. So enthusiastic that Kasumi rants about her dreams like hearing the beat of the stars during her introduction in class. Either you laugh or start thinking she must be one heck of a weirdo. She tries out several clubs and despite looking like she’s having fun trying them out, none seems to have that oomph. Is she so bored that she has to bug Saaya who helps out her family’s bakery? On her way back, she spots several illuminating star stickers on the walls and poles like as though it is guiding her to somewhere. It leads her to a storeroom and she is caught red handed by Arisa Ichigaya who thinks she is a thief. Because Kasumi is so persistent, Arisa allows her to touch the electric guitar casing. She likes it so much that now she wants to go see a live house. Arisa tells her to do it herself. Too bad Kasumi took the guitar along! So no choice, Arisa has to help her find a live house. Just why? They find one, Space and that’s not the end of the embarrassment. Kasumi states her intention to play the guitar but this isn’t a practice studio. Then they have to pay a ticket admission to enter. At this point Arisa must be damn annoyed and Kasumi continues with her sparkly enthusiasm. The all-girl band, Glitter Green makes their entrance and starts jamming, wowing Kasumi. Now, you want to know what bugs me throughout this episode? The way Kasumi is holding the electric guitar the entire time! Do you know how freaking heavy an electric guitar is???!!! And for her to carry it on her chest like as though she is carrying a book makes no freaking sense!!! Aren’t her arms sore?! Must be so amazed by everything that she can’t feel a thing in reality.

Episode 2
As expected, Kasumi now wants to start a band. The problem is, she is hanging out in Arisa’s home and eating breakfast with her grandma! WTF???!!! Is this worse than stalking?! Yes Kasumi, you don’t have to tell the whole world you’re starting a band. Then she meets Rimi Ushigome whose sister, Yuri plays the guitar in Glitter Green. Although Rimi plays the bass, she isn’t in any band right now. Oh you guess it. Please join my band! Arisa thinks she can annoy Kasumi as she puts up that electric guitar for auction. Can you pay 300,000 Yen for it? And with sad Kasumi continue to bug her, Arisa had to tell her off about her getting close to her so she could get the guitar for free. Because Kasumi continues to stalk her, Arisa gives in. Can’t blame her. She is at her place every single day. She just wants the guitar, right? Sighs. She lets her touch and see for a few seconds. When Arisa learns how she followed the stars here, she remembers planting them when she was younger. Isn’t that public property vandalism? Arisa once played the piano but quit. Wait for it… Please join my band! Didn’t you hear her she quit piano some time ago? When Kasumi takes the guitar case, the handle breaks! Dramatic drama as she becomes so apologetic for damaging it. Well, conveniently they are able to find a music repair shop to restore the guitar. Though, the case is a goner. And I still can’t believe Kasumi carries the heavy instrument all the back like that. Arisa is ‘kind’ enough to withdraw it from the auction and sell to her at 540 Yen (the withdrawal charge). What if still no money? She’ll sell it to someone else. Arisa’s grandma gives her granddaughter the keys to their home’s own jamming studio. Kasumi has her first feel playing a plugged in electric guitar. Amazing, no? And you could say Arisa could have been a tsundere all the while as she joins her band and to use this room on condition that they eat lunch together. No wonder she’s so permissive with Kasumi.

Episode 3
Rimi tells Kasumi the bad news: She can’t join her band! But stupid Kasumi keeps stalking her for a reason! Kasumi keeps optimistic by applying to play for the school’s cultural festival. We know Rimi is a shy girl so she can’t say what she wants easily. It gets scarier for her when western tourists ask her for directions in English. Kasumi thinks she can help out. Though she can speak in English, she’s ‘promoting’ herself as a guitarist! WTF?! Finally Rimi got the guts to tell why she can’t join her band. In short, stage fright. She goes blank when people look at her. The girls are supposed to go check out another concert at Space. You know how freaking eager Kasumi is when she picks up Arisa way too early just to be there and check things out. As the concert gets on the way, Rimi gets news from her sister that her band may not make it in time because of a storm. Space has strict rules of not making the audience wait so the other bands agree to help buy some time. But as time passes, Glitter Green never showed up. I guess that’s it. The gig is over. The audience must be confused since they never turn up. Kasumi won’t let it end this way so she goes out on stage and sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! OMG! If that’s not embarrassing enough, she drags Arisa out to play the castanets as accompaniment! Not enough? Sing again! OMFG! But guess what? I think everybody here is crazy because they think it is funny (sure is) and love it but a lot of people would start thinking how weird this is. So crazy that Rimi has found the guts to go onstage and do play her bass accompaniment of the song! At the end, Glitter Green is here. They’ll take it from here. But you know what? They play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! OMFG!!!!! When will the madness end?! This time with full music accompaniment and they let the trio carry on playing. It’s hard to imagine that this is the song that propelled them for greater things. Now that Rimi has got a taste of this excitement, she really wants to join the band. Wow. This is really one mad episode.

Episode 4
Man. Kasumi is real proud of her pathetic amateur guitar skills. Let’s painfully watch her slowly play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! At least she’s still got the enthusiasm. Heck, even fellow classmate who is also a guitarist, Tae Hanazono thinks she is weird. And since everybody starts calling her weird, you mean Kasumi just realized she is just weird?! Don’t you even cry about it! Tae is kind and patient enough to give Kasumi some guitar lessons. From tuning and even learning some chords. Oh God. More Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I’m sure she is going to turn it into a masterpiece. Kasumi learns Tae once started out in piano but then she saw how cool her mom was jamming. Yeah, mom was a guitar instructor. More annoying crap from Kasumi as she tries to boast and show off her new chords to Asuka. Chord by chord! Guess what song? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! Yeah, it only uses major chords so it’s easy for newbies. At this rate, Kasumi can now decently play her favourite song. But all the practice comes with a price. As Kasumi hangs out with Tae more often recently, she realizes too late about Arisa. It is no wonder Arisa locks her out of her house! She forgot their promise to eat lunch together and is always rushing off for guitar practice. Heck, what about their band practice that she never turned up? Too late to regret now, Kasumi. To show Arisa isn’t a baddie, she lets her back in but must pay her back generously. I also think she might want to show off her new electronic keyboard she bought. Cool, no? But it is back to her usual breakdown because now that Tae is eating with them, there are 2 Kasumis now???!!! I don’t even… Kasumi is all excited for cultural festival. She even has big dreams after that to go for some audition. However it is time to get realistic. Tae puts her foot down and shoots her down that is impossible.

Episode 5
Tae explains that only bands whom Space’s owner approves get to play on stage. Tae has dreamt on going on that stage but is nowhere close to that despite watching various bands played here. Kasumi promises she will practise till she gets better. How long is that going to take? She’d better. Because Tae wants to feel that kind of excitement again. It never hurts from trying so when Kasumi requests from Space’s owner to play at space, she kicks them out. Owner is not joking and is passionate about it. She was once a band member and went on tours. She created Space to destroy the scary and dangerous image of live houses. So only those who has the same passion for music as her she will allow them to go on stage. After watching another performance, Rimi tells Kasumi and Arisa she made a new song with Yuri together. They hear her humming of My Love Is A Chocolate Cornet. Corny? Kasumi hopes they can try it out. But she can’t read notes. Tabs? Even Rimi has to painfully teach her? Oh, time to seek Tae’s help. See how cool she plays? Maybe they should replace Kasumi with her. So we’d rather have an expert like Tae teach an absolute rookie like Kasumi in hopes she can get better fast before the play? Whatever. Once ready, the quartet hold a mini concert before Arisa’s grandma, Yuri, Saaya and Asuka. It sounds fine and okay. I know it feels unbelievable that Kasumi can be so perfect now. At the end of the performance, they feel excited playing together. So Tae is officially part of the band now? As long as she is happy.

Episode 6
A year ago, Saaya was a member of a band as a drummer. Kasumi has been made the organizing committee for the school’s cultural festival. Quite chirpy as always, isn’t she? First order is to make Saaya her assistant! Wait. I thought they should vote? Well, everyone agrees too so whatever. They want to do a café for the festival and since Rimi suggests a bread café like Saaya’s bakery, why not? Yeah, so easy to just go ask for free breads, right? Kasumi is going to get busier because she too wants her own mini band to play at the festival. She hears Tae play a draft song she just wrote this morning and wants to play that. Is it me or does that song sound so much like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? Oh well, that’s their inspiration song, I guess. Kasumi and her friends converge at Saaya’s bakery to test the aprons they will be using. Saaya’s little bratty kid brother must be very shy with so many girls over since he can’t bully his little sister. Only Kasumi stays over to brainstorm for ideas. Arisa claims she isn’t an easy woman (whatever that means) while Rimi and Tae strangely go out for sukiyaki together (is there some sort of lesbianism brewing between them?). As usual, Kasumi puts up her sparkly optimism and Saaya just smiles. Next day as they put up posters, it seems Kasumi has decided that the band’s name is Poppin’ Party. Poopin’ Panty what? Just kidding. However she has also put Saaya’s name in the band. Did she say she wanted to join? Coincidentally, Saaya bumps into her old friend and ex-bandmate, Natsu. She sees Saaya’s name and is glad she is in a band. However Saaya’s fake smile is so obvious. It screams that she didn’t want to be in this sh*t. She denies so and says her friend wrote it by mistake.

Episode 7
Flashback shows Saaya and her ex-band were excited to play their first gig. However Saaya got a call from mom. Actually her little brother called and is frantic something happened to mom. The gig was cancelled as she rushed home. Although mom is okay, she still get panic attacks from that traumatic incident. I guess Kasumi realizes too late they don’t have a drummer. Time to go around looking for one. Apparently she tries Hinako Nijukki who is the drummer of Glitter Green. But she thinks there is someone better to fit them: Saaya. But talking to Natsu and other bandmates don’t seem to reveal clearly why Saaya stopped playing. Like in true Kasumi’s fashion, she goes to bug Saaya herself. She knows why she is here so they talk privately. But still, nope. Not going to play in your band. To cut short that burst of emotions from Saaya why she can’t play, she is worried mom might fall sick from overworking again. Kasumi even offers to help with her shop and school work but that’s not enough. Saaya blames herself that everyone prioritizes her first. Because of that, she believes she messed up everything and made everyone anxious. That won’t be fun, right? Don’t waste your efforts on her, says she. Saaya’s crying. Kasumi’s also crying too. Oh, now Kasumi is trying to impose on her not to decide for herself? Let’s decide together. WTF. This ‘quarrel’ is interrupted when Saaya’s little sister caught the crying bug thinking they’re fighting. Time to pretend to make up. So it’s over? Not yet. Since Saaya insists she won’t join, Kasumi says she’ll be waiting. Don’t hold your breath…

Episode 8
Arisa gets a rude awakening since Tae is kissing and hugging her! What kind of dream is she having? She is still probably in dream land or just rolling Arisa as she continues her unsolicited rape. Saaya has her own rude awakening. Mom is starting to have those again… Although mom is rushed to the hospital and her condition stable, Saaya is going to stay by her side and skip the cultural festival. This means Kasumi and the rest have to do their best and make it a success. We see them doing their shifts before going around and checking out other stuffs like the haunted house and Asuka’s maid café. Is Tae their unofficial photographer? Saaya receives 2 messages from Kasumi. The first one was a call to ask about her mom and others. But the rest tried to hijack her call so that’s where the second message came. It’s about leaving their newly written song in an envelope for her to read (if she wants to). The lyrics resonates with her because it made her cry. Cue for mom to tell Saaya to go and have fun. At first she is stubborn but there is only a limit to how long she can be persistent because the plot says she has to become a band member. And with that, off she goes, running her way to school while listening to the music. Want to bet she can memorize it all at one go? Poppin’ Party is next and they manage to play their Cornet song without a drummer. When Saaya reaches school, she bumps into Natsu. Before Saaya could apologize, Natsu says they had fun. It’s her turn now. Saaya makes her ‘grand entrance’, much to the delight of her bandmates. She tests the drum kit and shows off her awesome drumming that she hasn’t lost a single touch with. Then we hear their song, Star Beat. Kasumi introduces the band members at the end of it. While everyone is having fun, we end with a cliff-hanger as Space’s owner decides to close the live house down.

Episode 9
Saaya goes to check out drum sets. They seem pricey but hey, her parents can help pay the balance. So she settles for this electronic piece. So as they get eager to practice, Tae receives word that everyone in Space is out from a cold. What are the chances of that? Since Space can’t cancel the much anticipated Glitter Green and Roselia’s performance, thus they go volunteer to help especially Kasumi who is just bugging to help. Okay. Hey, you don’t get such free labour in the form of cute girls these days. Luckily owner is around to supervise or else the temptation to fool around is too great. Glitter Green arrives for rehearsal. Poppin’ Party wonders why their school’s student council president is here. The moment she takes off her glasses, they recognize her as Glitter Green’s keyboardist! OMG! Superman-Clark Kent effect here! Superman’s identity will definitely be safe in this anime! After that, Roselia makes their entrance for rehearsal. The event goes well. As they are cleaning up, Kasumi sees a band member of Roselia crying and everyone else trying to console her. Not sure if she screwed up or felt it wasn’t up to par but the owner hints it isn’t the end of the world. Poppin’ Party tries standing on stage for the experience. Soon, they get their own audition to see if they are fit to play there. Well, less than perfect. So when owner asks who thinks they did well, only Kasumi raises her hand with optimism. The rest just looked embarrassed. Anyway, owner can’t let them play here and they have to do better than that. Don’t worry. Kasumi will practice as long as it takes. You don’t say because Tae saw Space’s schedule and notices the latter half empty. Then she breaks the news to them that she is closing down Space.

Episode 10
Tae looks like she is going crazy and Kasumi is ‘missing’. But when Kasumi returns, she is as lively as ever as she has designed outfits for their outfit. Next time they go see owner for another chance at the audition, she tells them they’re not there yet. Natsu’s band, Chispa is here to audition. Cheese pack what? Despite being all over the place, owner asks if they think they made it. Natsu confidently answers they believe they did everything they could. Owner passes them. While Poppin’ Party is happy for them, it makes them think what they are lacking. Yuri says that there is no one correct music. The answer is different for everyone. So all of them especially Kasumi thinks really hard. Kasumi thinks she really got it so she goes bug owner that night just to tell her how much she loves Space and will definitely play here. Really? Owner shuts her up with this: She is the worst of the lot! Heck, even Arisa is giving her piece of mind if she is tired of it all. I mean, when does it end? After a flawless performance? After playing at Space? She is always looking like having fun but Arisa is thinking having fun isn’t what it’s all about. So is she hinting she isn’t having fun in Poppin’ Party? So everyone works hard by continuing to practise. Yeah, Kasumi goes the extra mile by practising so hard that a couple of picks broke! So the next time Poppin’ Party shows up for audition, owner lets them in. Everyone looks ready. But Kasumi looks she has doubts. At this time? And as they start off, suddenly Kasumi cannot sing! No, she hasn’t lost her voice since she can still talk. Somehow she just cannot sing.

Episode 11
Gloomy. Depressing. Hey, at least it’s quiet since she can only talk softly. Oh sh*t! She visits the doctor and nothing wrong was found. She is told to rest so I guess no band practice. Yeah, not even playing her guitar. Besides, they have one more chance for the audition. So no hurry. Wait. You better hurry before Space shuts down. Being a ‘mute’ has its perks. She doesn’t have to answer when the teacher calls her. Otherwise she is acting weird. Like walking home in the rain and kissing Asuka?! Yikes! Better get her voice back fast! As she talks to Yuri, if it is not nervousness causing this, it could be stress. Kasumi? Stressed?! What’s Asuka’s opinion about this? She thinks she might be in a slump. Next morning, Kasumi wakes up and realizes she has her voice back! Oh no. The craziness is back. Right away they head for practice. But wait… She still can’t sing! I guess practice is over. For added drama effect, Kasumi runs away to cry in the park. Her bandmates catch up. I guess Arisa has enough of it. She starts off harshly about this farce. Kasumi is the one who is least making any improvements so why is she suddenly so concerned now? After Kasumi reveals what owner said, Arisa continues her criticism. It sure is true since Kasumi drags everyone in without asking their opinions first. It caused everyone lots of trouble. Of course we now have to say good things she did like how she amazingly brought together a band and she did learn how to play the guitar quickly. Since she is still adamant she wants to play at Space with them, they all start taking turns to sing a line of a song. When it is Kasumi’s turn, she ekes out whatever she can. Sounding soft and out of breath. At least it’s an achievement considering her circumstances.

Episode 12
Kasumi gets this idea of designing their t-shirts for practice. But first they have to study for the tests. After that they continue practising. They have a sleepover at Tae’s place. So no pillow fight and turning in early? No wonder nobody can sleep (except for Tae) so they watch the sky anyway. Too cloudy anyway. So D-Day is here for Poppin’ Party. This is their last shot at the audition. And after a group rally, they start strutting their stuff. Kasumi can sing albeit I feel it is not 100% perfect. Once the song ends, Arisa starts crying! She realizes she made a few mistakes despite practising so hard. Infectious enough to affect Rimi as she cries about the same thing. Before more could be infected, owner asks that question but aimed at Kasumi. Her reply? We pulled through. After lecturing how people do music because they love it, she finds their performance satisfying and passes them. Okay. Time for a big group hug and let all those tears flow. Yeah, everybody watching outside can also cry too.

Episode 13
Kasumi is being her usual chirpy ‘harasser’. She even joins in with whatever yuri thing Tae is teasing Saaya with. As this would be Space’s last performance, we have Glitter Green, Chispa and Poppin’ Party gracing it. The place is packed with people even during the day rehearsal. Even Poppin’ Party’s families are here. So there’s lots of preparation and nervousness before the main event begins. Glitter Green goes first followed by Chispa. And so Poppin’ Party who is making their first live performance is ironically Space’s last performance. At first Kasumi introduces the band and how it all started. I guess they can be good stand-up comedians in a way since everyone is ‘criticizing’ how Kasumi dragged them all into forming this band although it was for the greater good. And with Kasumi giving that silly reaction, no wonder the crowd is laughing. And so here is their song: Dreaming Sunflower. Enjoy. Goodbye and thank you very much.

OVA
Time for some low quality fanservice. I guess it is boring to see girls studying. So what are they going to do for fun? Go to the beach! Oddly, the guitarists brought their guitars along. With all the excitement and hype, amidst the chaos Arisa somehow ended up getting dragged into Kasumi’s pace and holds her guitar while in the sea?! Be careful not to get it wet. And Tae just leaves her guitar unguarded on the beach before dipping in. Wow. So fun. So carefree. Eventually they find a kind beach house owner to help safe keep their belongings. Who would ever reject cute girls? Meanwhile the girls of Roselia are practising in a rented summer house nearby. Yukina Minato is having trouble writing the perfect song. So what Lisa Imai suggest? Go to the beach! So Poppin’ Party and Roselia bump into each other. Can we have fun together? Sayo Hikawa insists they are here on a training camp. Eventually everyone has to loosen up by playing beach volleyball. This is what is all about, right? Too bad the dramatic drama and screw ups overshadow the low quality fanservice. I’m not sure if it’s true but once Sayo changes her casual clothes into her swimsuit, her team plays better! Proof that beach volleyball is all about showing skin if you want to level up? Anyway, we don’t know who wins because nobody kept count (so as to avoid clash between Poppin’ Party and Roselia fans). Kasumi has this idea for them join forces and form a 10 woman band called Roselia Party. The beach house owner has Poppin’ Party do a sound check. They go on stage and strut their stuff. Because there are no drums, Saaya sings the vocals along with Kasumi. There is a recorded drum play but it’s so perfect that it makes me wonder do they really need a drummer. As expected, Poppin’ Party is so good that the audience loves them and this gives Roselia motivation to practice and Yukina has found the inspiration for her perfect song. You mean it wasn’t the beach volleyball that fired them up? Just kidding.

Crash! Boom! Bang! Keep Dreaming…
ZzzZZzzzZzzz… Oh… I see the season is over. Oh boy. I guess I’m not really cut out for this kind of shows anymore. So the only thing I was hoping that would salvage the entire season was why Space’s owner decided to close it down. She has been doing it for almost her entire life and I don’t see why she decides to shut it down now. It’s not like she hates music or got bored with it. Definitely not. Maybe her reasons are personal and if she doesn’t want to tell us, fine. Thus I can only speculate that Space’s closure is because she needed to push all those young girl bands to a better place. I mean, can’t be playing in this cramped space forever, can you? Because we see how ‘depressed’ Yuri was at first when the place was closing down. So with Space’s closure, hopefully all band hopefuls who dream of performing big or small would find a better space to play their music. If they love music, they can go anywhere. Also, Space’s closure is to push Poppin’ Party and make it look as though they have made it through the final hurdle in time. Mission accomplished in time! Hooray! Now they don’t look like losers. Other than that… Yawn… Even the beasts that were awakened to destroy humanity and the planet would immediately go back to its slumber. Oops… Am I too harsh?

Unfortunately I’m so bored that I couldn’t really feel connected and how deep the interaction and bonding of the Poppin’ Party members. In anime genres like this one, a small group of characters is supposed to drive the story and their character development but it is a sad thing that I don’t really feel that emotional feel it. Yeah, maybe I’m such a dead person… I know everything this season feels just like the beginning of everything, the discovery of stuffs and the motivation that is needed to pull through. I know that they are going to pull through somehow with all the drama and ‘obstacles’ in their way, I’m sure they will overcome it. From gathering the band members (it took more than half the season) to Kasumi losing her voice and finally passing the audition. All as expected. Yeah, I sound like an expert in watching this genre but I can assure you I’m not.

So I am going to blame primarily Kasumi for the ‘boring’ character development. Just like in K-ON! and both Love Live series, the leader must always be an airhead (such leaders are even expanded to other animes like One Piece). However as compared to the rest, Kasumi passes off as more annoying than anything. She really gets on your nerves. For one thing, she goes at her own pace and doesn’t listen to everyone and drags them all into her own pace whether they like it or not. She could be one of the world’s greatest stalkers thanks to her persistence. It might look like she is giving you a choice but you realize that there isn’t any options because the only way to stop her from bugging you is to conform to whatever she wants. And because she says and does everything with that sparkly silly smile in her face, it makes it all hard to turn her away. Case in point: Arisa. Poor girl. Thankfully everything turned out fine and thus Kasumi is a ‘heroine’. Had it turned out badly like for example if everything flopped real hard, no doubt she will bear the full brunt of the blame. Dream over. Break up. Depression. Lethargy. Regrets. Suicide. Woah! Too dark a theme for a series that is all sunshiny, cheerful and bright.

I know it is good to be optimistic and passionate but the way Kasumi is portrayed doing so feels a bit unrealistic. In the real world, she would have been shot down as being ‘meiwaku’ (annoying and troublesome) and ‘shitsukoi na’ (persistent). I want to punch her at times but seeing how cute she is, I realize it’s even wrong to punch anybody. If Kasumi wasn’t in this band thingy, she would be hell of a good saleswoman. To show that she is human, somebody grumpy had to point out her flaws and it really hit her. Imagine someone telling you off you’re the worst when you are still on your high horse. Not so fun anymore, eh? I guess once in a while you have to be brought down to earth. Another unrealistic thing about Kasumi is how fast she becomes a guitar master in a short space of time. Do you know how long it took me to get to that level?! Maybe Tae was a good instructor but the fact we see Kasumi making so little progress at first and then suddenly becoming a pro when it matters, it just makes it all feel unrealistic. Did she sell her soul to the devil or something?

If there had to be a favourite character of mine in this series, I would definitely go for Arisa. In short, she is a funny girl. Like in any other group, there needs to be one who retorts and this is exactly what Arisa’s role is for. Because the rest are like ‘zombies’ and pandering to Kasumi so we need Arisa as a voice of reasoning and objection sometimes. She is the other one besides Kasumi to have this lively personality. But unlike Kasumi whom I consider as annoying, at least Arisa is funny. One reason is that she is a tsundere and it clearly shows at times when she doesn’t really want to do it but does it eventually or tries to give excuse to justify it isn’t so but it is in reality. So Arisa, never change. Of course, to also at least to show she is also human, she also cries and makes mistakes especially in their final audition.

For the rest of the other band members, I feel that they are boring and don’t really stand out. Heck, I think they all feel the same. They all have their issues to deal with at first but once they overcome that, they start to feel the same. Like Rimi who was once a shy girl. Now no longer obviously shy, she’s such a good and happy girl. Tae is also an airhead and at her own pace like Kasumi but at least she is not as annoying. Being Kasumi’s guitar teacher at first, once Kasumi ‘graduates’, Tae is just a good and happy girl. Saaya as the last member to join thanks to her worrywart issues also becomes nothing but a good and happy girl once she has less anxiety. I don’t know when it happened but there seems to be some sort of close friendship struck between Rimi and Tae ever since the band is completed. Did I miss something there? Or maybe Tae is just a little yuri by nature…

As for the other supporting characters, I can’t say the same for them. I feel they hardly make an impact at all. Glitter Green has got their own track record so I don’t see the need for them to even intervene with Poppin’ Party. Though, Yuri sometimes gives advice. Owner might look like a grumpy old woman but I am sure she just wants the best from out of those bands who play at her Space. If they’re not going to take this seriously, they’re not going to take music seriously anyway and thus do not have the right to play. She has seen lots of bands come and go and hence perhaps why she isn’t amused by Kasumi’s overhyping reactions. She’s lived long enough to see it all. I thought there might be some sort of issue with Asuka since she has this gloomy and troubled looks at the start. As the series progresses, she shows less of it as she opens up to her sister. Maybe it is because of Kasumi as an annoying sister that she doesn’t like? If so, then aha! Told you Kasumi was damn annoying!

Art and drawing are okay. One reason why I kept thinking how this series reminds me of Love Live is because of how cute the girls are. Perhaps it was the factor that made me watch this series… Not only Poppin’ Party but those other band girls too have this very cute looks. They have this very cute idol looks but the only difference of them instead of prancing around on stage, they hold and play instruments. Thus if destiny did not make them pick up the guitar, keyboard or drums, they will don flashy idol outfits and start dancing on stage with cute (and sexy) choreography dance moves. I noticed that there is some CGI used in here albeit only limited to when the band plays on stage. However the CGI is not that bad and is almost fits seamlessly into the overall animation. You might not notice the difference but if you looks closely you can tell when the animation is a bit different than the usual.

Since this is a series on music, I can’t say that I really like them. I’m not saying that the songs suck but they don’t really resonate with me. There are a few decent ones but it didn’t make me go crazy over it. The opening theme, Tokimeki Experience somehow sounds so much like an idol song that could be sung by the idol group in Love Live. Just add some electric guitar to make it sound like they’re a rock band. Oh wait. They are. The same can be said for the ending theme, Kirakira Da Toka Yume Da Toka ~Sing Girls~. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star although is spammed in the first half, thankfully that is done away once they have their own music.

For the voice acting, I guess it feels okay. Having a good singing voice is necessary for this kind of series and Poppin’ Party does a decent job in that. At least better than mine. The main casts are Aimi Terasaka as Kasumi (Sherry in Plastic Memories), Ayasa Itou as Arisa (Alice in Milky Holmes series), Rimi Nishimoto as Rimi (debut role), Sae Ootsuka as Tae (debut role), Ayaka Ohashi as Saaya (Yayaka in Flip Flappers), Suzuko Mimori as Yuri (Sanae in Teekyuu), Yuka Ozaki as Asuka (Serval in Kemono Friends) and Mami Koyama as Space’s owner (Balalaika in Black Lagoon).

Overall, this isn’t a bad anime but it is just boring and sometimes unrealistic to me (even if it is just anime). I read there are many positive comments on this show but like music itself, everyone has different tastes and opinions about it. Annoying main character puts me off at the start but I still persevered like the band because I was hoping that things would change for the better. Okay, I’ll give them that since they’re making small steps at a time. At least this is realistic because you can’t have them suddenly playing at the Budoukan and selling record breaking sales all over the world. Well, no harm in dreaming about that. But still, you have to wake up and make it happen or it will still be a dream. Meanwhile I am dreaming how BanG Dream would be an awesome name for a porn title…