BanG Dream!
 

http://bang-dream.com/cms/wp-content...top_visual.jpg

Mixed-Media Project BanG Dream! by Bushiroad is getting a TV anime in 2017.

The first single, "Yes! BanG_Dream!", was released in February. The 2nd single is planned for August.

Yes! BanG_Dream! - Promo



http://yaraon-blog.com/archives/87610
http://bang-dream.com/

PV

Preview #2

Another series licensed by Sentai: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...-anime/.109866

Well that wasn't too bad actually. I'm with Triple_R and can definitely see where the studio picked up a lot of cues from Love Live to build their K-On inspired girls band story. I can already draw parallels to Honoka and Yui for the main character and I also see some trappings of Kanan in the baker girl and all that with some more than acceptable production values.

I'm game with this. It probably won't be memorable but it's a nice riff on a mix of genres I find particularly interesting.

Thanks! And yeah, this is also my take on BanG Dream's first episode. There's a few moments that remind me a lot of Love Live, and there's also a good helping of K-On inspiration here. The lead girl Kasumi does indeed seem to be a mix of Honoka and Yui, which is a good thing in my view, but it's also good that her overall character design is distinct enough to ensure she doesn't get caught in any character's shadow. Also, Saaya makes me think of a more mellow Eli Ayase - What Eli might have been if she never had student council President responsibilities, and possible school closure issues, weighing on her mind.

BanG Dream probably won't be as memorable as K-On or Love Live are, but it does a decent job of blending the two, and I'm definitely happy to see a decently competent show of this type. I'm certainly looking forward to more! :)

Well a nice start Kasumi seems to be an energetic girl and just so scatterbrain walking around with guitar

The main protagonist seems to belong to the same archetype of personality as Honoka and Chika. I wonder, will Genki Girls become the standard for the "generic idol anime protagonist"?

Well, obvious comparisons are obvious, so let's just put them over to one side.

Quite liked the opener, and I did like the idea of setting up an actual venue so it's wider than the usual high-school setting. Hopefully the show can differentiate itself more by concentrating more on the music and less on the tea and cake.

That's been the standard since at least Idolm@ster's Haruka, likely before. Energetic cheerful ditz has been the default idol character for a loooong time.

First episode and I already have a big problem... ponytail or twintails??

Kasumi for now seems like the typical idol mc, although I have to confess something... I haven't watched K-On! but I believe that this will be an advantage, since I can't make comparisions with this one.

Interesting for now at least, with LL vibes but in a more "musical" enviroment

Ep 01

Count me in among those who actuallh kinda liked the opening episode. A decent start, and will give the next ep a try to see where things are headed.

At best, I feel the first ep was "ok". I am ambivalent towards seeing their performances. I can't take this as a good sign. This is a mixed media project, the show's backers need the viewers to be interested enough to buy their CDs. If they can't drum up enthusiasm for the music from the get go, the whole project could be in jeopardy.

I think that's inevitable. Because only a genki girl would dive headfirst into these things without knowing (or caring, sometimes) about the full effort required to succeed in the venture. And only that genkiness will keep them going in the face of the obstacles in their way.

Others would take too long to get started, never get off the ground or plain go through it with all the enthusiasm of a wet blanket. In short, not interesting enough.

To me it is like longriders. Nothing really spectacular, but for a saturday/weekend show it is fine. Wonder how many japanese people will go out to find an esp rs, i don't think they make them anymore.

The bonding between Kasumi and Arisa was amusing to watch, and it became very cute and sweet by the last few minutes of the episode. Kasumi is extremely likable to me so far, and watching her dauntless dogged determination gradually thaw tough tsundere Arisa was a real treat!

Bang Dream might not be the boldest show, but it has a lot of charm and good pleasant vibes. There's also a certain smoothness to the show, and its character interactions, that reflects good competent work by the Director, writers, animators, and seiyu.

I hope more people give it a try, since I feel it might be a little underappreciated so far.

In this episode, the Genki Girl protagonist stalks a Tsun Pianist until the Pianist caves in and joins the Genki Girl's vision.

I think this might be another emerging genre convention for School-based Idol shows. The second episode would always involve the Generic Idol protagonist stalking a Pianist through multiple refusals until the Pianist is won over.

That being said, that premise was sufficiently competently executed, and the main protagonist received some level of needed depth to her characterization.

This episode illustrates your point. It probably takes a particular personality to persist in securing reluctant individuals into the group. And reluctant individuals seems to be a very easy source of generating early conflict, during the recruitment phase of a School-Idol show.

It ain't a school idol anime, unless the Pianist get's stalked by a crazy girl.

Yeah, but she still tops every other girl I've seen in the same role. When you start feeling scared at the psychopathic behavior on the screen, the writer went overboard (well, the fact the entire thing used an entire episode was already so).

You're right that Kasumi took it farther than any other girl in the same role. For a brief moment, I found it creepy. Maybe the writer did take things a little too far. But some things to consider:

1. Arisa's grandmother was a total enabler here. Which begs the question of "why?" I think there's a subtle implication that Arisa needed to come out of her shell some and make some friends. It goes unsaid, but it makes sense considering how friendly and generous Arisa's grandmother was towards Kasumi. So there is a framing here that's important - A framing of "Arisa would benefit from having a close friend".

2. Kasumi did in fact help Arisa in moving things around. Which provides practical immediate justification to the decision made by Arisa's grandmother.

3. Kasumi wasn't entirely self-centered here. This is where the guitar accident is important. Kasumi's tearful and apologetic response to that shows considerable empathy on Kasumi's part.


I'd certainly still say "Don't do this at home, kids!" when it comes to Kasumi's actions. :heh: Because yes, in real life, this sort of stalking usually means serious severe trouble. But Kasumi is a special case. In chats elsewhere, I read someone compare Kasumi to a puppy dog. That the way she gets attached to other people, and interacts with them, is kinda like a puppy dog. And honestly, that does seem to fit! If we perceive Kasumi as being like a friendly uninhibited puppy dog, I think the cuteness and innocence of her actions will shine through.

Well here's the problem with this show: it's competent, extremely so. The voice work, the music, the animation and character designs, pacing, writing... everything is extremely well made. You can tell that there's some major professionalism in execution here but that's the problem: with the insane amount of shows that come out each year it gets difficult to draw viewers in unless you have something special to stand out from the crowd and I just don't see anything of the sort here.

It is however very very competent. I'd take 10 Bang Girls over plenty of other stuff that airs season after season. It's just a shame that most people here in the forum probably won't pick this up :/

Bang Dream shares some striking similarities with certain idol anime, but we should remember - It is a rock band anime.

So it's taking much of the spirit and style and tone of a modern idol anime, but putting it into a rock band show. That itself is potentially special, in my view.

Idol anime is increasingly common in recent years, but I honestly can't think of that many rock band anime (though ironically we kinda have at least two this season in Bang Dream and Fuuka). Other than Bang Dream and Fuuka, I haven't seen a rock band anime since... White Album 2, probably? So I think there's some potential here for Bang Dream to stand out.

However, it does depend a lot on Kasumi and her band actually being good and performing some good rock music in the show itself. If and when that happens, maybe interest in Bang Dream will pick-up. If it doesn't happen, then yeah, Bang Dream probably won't gain much more interest than it already has.

Kasumi really dosnt give up going over to Arisa's place but all less she gets a free breakfasts out it

In this episode, a genki brunette jumps on a tsundere pianist to convince her to join her group.

...wait, am I watching the right show? :heh:

Jokes about similarity aside, this a pretty nice episode, mainly because of Arisa's slow but sure mellowing towards Kasumi, whose persistance I must praise, even if the method is a bit... uncomfortable, lets say :heh: Also, Kasumi bursting into tears over a broken string was a bit forced, but I guess it was to show how much she cares about it, and it certainly worked.

On another note, I'm glad Kasumi decided to help Arisa move stuff, otherwise the end result would have felt very awkard.

And it turns out the shy one might give us even more trouble than the tsundere, and there doesn't even seem to be caused by the older sister given her reaction. Next week should be fairly interesting.

"looks at Glittter Green's outfits" ...is it? I mean, rock bands often have special outfits, yes, but these are way more idol looking than anything HTT ever used. I know its a shallow remark, but when you combine it with the beforementioned tsundere pianist and genki brunette, it gives the impression this is (so far) more idol than band. Granted, that could change in time, and I hope it does, since it would be more interesting that way.

Even then, the rock band wasn't the main point of WA2, just the means by which the protagonists connect.

Pretty much, yeah. I'm not gonna ask for Don't Say Lazy, but at least give me Start:Dash, or should I say Fuwa Fuwa Time instead?

When talking about outfits, it should be noted that HTT almost always performed in their school uniforms. I only ever remember costumes for the OPs and EDs, and those don't count.

Yes, you are.

I'm in general agreement with this. While a good presentation can attract my attention, it shouldn't detract from what I'm actually here for: good rock music. Just simply set a casual theme in regards to clothing that all band members can agree on, and that's it.

As a point of reference, here's a picture of me with some of my friends during a jam session we had yesterday - if we actually do decide to form a proper band, which is pretty unlikely, these are the clothes we would most likely wear while gigging. Something practical, and something that would reinforce the idea that you don't need to look fancy to make music.

I don't even like Nico, and I'm still using a variation of her Nico-Nico-Niiii shtick.

Looking back on Kasumi's motivations, though, I can imagine why their stage outfits would be more of the idol-style uniforms - it's about recreating that shining experience and, well, idol uniforms do make their wearers stand out. As such, I'll let the uniforms slide for the time being, although I am expecting really good music later on in the show.

If they can give me a song similar to "Sore wa Bokutachi no Kiseki", I'll be satisfied.

Random observation is random: based from what I can make out, the neck pickups in both the Random Star and the bass, and the bridge pickup in the Stratocaster (copy) appear to be Seymour Duncan pickups. To be exact, the pickup in the Stratocaster appears to be one of the Hot Rail models, and I am confident in saying that the neck humbucker in the Random Star is NOT a Seymour Duncan Distortion humbucker - I have one installed in my Telecaster knock-off, and the Random Star's neck pickup has a brighter and more versatile sound than the Distortion.

Honestly this still feels pretty much like an idol anime with a rock band skin to add some differentiation. Requiem-x makes a good point about the idol'ish setup for Glitter Green. All the tropes are the same as the typical idol show and the only difference is that they will probably replace dance practice with band practice unlike Fuuka which is clearly a romance show first and furthermost. In the end maybe we should just rebrand the genre as Pop Music Anime and call it a day no? :heh:

PS: I really, really, really have to hit play on White Album 2 on my crunchy queue. I've been postponing it for far too long.

Decided to take a look at this one because of Triple R's interest in it. It was enjoyable enough, but I think it suffers from being a late launch. Anime seasons are getting really crowded these days, and a lot of viewers may have a pretty full plate already by the time late comers like this one come to the table.

As for the band aspect: I like it, and I think its a unique wrinkle. However I agree the costumes seem very idol like. So I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how to classify this. :heh:

Good points. Bang Dream did premier very late, after some other Winter 2017 anime shows already had two episodes out there, IIRC. That definitely could be a factor in Bang Dream not gaining more initial interest. But hey, interest does seem to be picking up some now! :D


Dextro may well be right about the usefulness of a Pop Music catch-all term.

Please someone stop giving Kasumi drugs!! She's so hype that's the only explanation I can think of :)

In my case it was good it started so late as I've already dropped a couple of other shows and it could have gone unnoticed if it weren't the case.

I like it so far. Maybe this time I will do as usual and the tsundere pianist will win best girl ranking instead of the more mature ponytail one...

The late launch basically ensures that BanG Dream would be more likely to be picked up only by fans of Idol anime genre in particular, rather than the general western anime audience. I wonder though whether the late launch might end up being fatal for sales in Japan though.

I suspect the SoL/Moe show crowd has already been claimed by Kobayashi Maid Dragon, Little Witch Academia, and Demi-chan. The music anime fans may already be locked into watching Fuuka.

That's pretty much my top 3 for the season, yes :D I've heard and know way too much about Fuuka to give it a shot, though.

ESP (japan) are cashing in ^_^ (well they got a small BanG Dream! banner on their page)
http://www.espguitars.co.jp/
Kind of odd that they are trying to sell something that has been out of production for a while.

So far I'm enjoying it. Kasumi is all kinds of energetic, but in a good way. Plus it is her sincerity and strong feelings that does get Arisa on her side. That is some real dedication just sticking with her day after day and helping out like that. Though no doubt it was how upset she was about dropping the guitar that settled things.

Still room as well to further develop Arisa. After all they mostly just settled the issue of her and Kasumi becoming friends. Not so much the fact that Arisa spends as little time at school as she has to and is pretty isolated outside of this new friendship.

Did take me a while to actually sit down and watch the first two episodes. Maybe that late start the show itself had somewhat played into it, had to find time to watch it :).

LOL, this girl...

She's so hyped and aggressive.


"YEAAAAAA~~~ LET'S DO IT"



Also, goes into people house and their room and taking their Beds off.
Only girls can do this, if a guy did this... well.. the show is a Bad End (unless it's a different type of genre and show... hehe)

Episode 3 was very nice, especially the 2nd half.

Kasumi/Arisa continue to have a highly amusing comedian/straight-man thing going on, and Rimi's story here was well-handled.

I'll grant that the music hasn't been that impressive yet, and the visuals have the occasional QUALITY moment, but I'm very much liking just about everything else. The major characters have truly diverse and likeable personalities, and there's just such a feel-good charm to everything.

This show's narrative also strikes me as very carefully-wrote, hitting just the right balance. For example, it's good for a pop music-based anime to have its lead group or band perform by the end of Episode 3, given how impatient some of us anime fans can be at times. :heh: But pulling this off in a believable and emotionally compelling way is important, and if you can't pull it off that way in Episode 3, it might be better to save it for a later episode. The way Bang Dream Episode 3 handled this was great.

Kasumi, Arisa, and Rimi's performance was nice, but not too nice. I can buy Kasumi taking the plunge like that (given the circumstances), I can buy Arisa and Rimi responding to it the way they did, and I can buy the audience response to all of this. Nothing felt overdone. It was suspenseful and even a little magical, but it didn't harm my suspension of disbelief. The basic quality of their performance wasn't too good to be true.

So Kasumi and friends get a nice little victory, but it didn't seem too big for this early on. There's still plenty of room to grow, and I'm looking forward to watching it. :)

I am still uncertain about this series. But they did away with the OP for this episode because they needed those 1 minute 30 seconds for more story. They can be flexible. So, maybe, just maybe, this might work out.

And, would that count as a first live?