Hi, people. I had taken a short break on publishing a new blog post until I have finally get around to write about the OP Slime anime. Since I have taken quite a lot of break last time, I will be writing as much as I could for the next few posts (including this post).

MUSIC TIME!!!!!

OK, time for the show!!! Oh, you've realized it? The animation is obviously different from the last season. You will notice it if you have watched BanG Dream season 2. Anyway, I dun like the English translation as it is not translated correctly (although I've to admit that that name makes it stand out a lot in weird ways, for some people).

WARNING:-

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't watched it and plan to watch it without anyone being the spoiler, please DON'T CONTINUE READING!!!

P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.

Introduction

Aww...the season 1 of Bandori.

Well, I have not formally introduced it, right? It was more like a brief mention of it. Anyway, it has since become a much bigger franchise. Of course, it is still a Japanese media franchise created in January 2015 by Bushiroad, with an original story by Ko Nakamura and character designs by Hitowa. There are multiple musical groups, other than Poppin' Party (short form: PoPiPa). I will tell you in the next segment.

The light novel volume 1...

The franchise has not only have increased the number of girl bands, but they also have a rhythm game for iOS and Android ever since the anime has aired. There is also the manga and light novel for it but I won't focus on them. As for the anime's first season, it is produced by Issen (OLM with Bushiroad) and Xebec and was aired between January 21, 2017, and April 22, 2017.

The manga...volume 1

As for the second season (which is what I'm talking about in this post), it was produced by Sanzigen instead and was aired between January 3, 2019, to March 28, 2019. Since it is a CGI animation studio (or just 3D animation), that's why there is a change of animation style for season 2. Apparently, they are also gonna be producing the third season, which will be air in January 2020.

Season 2!!!!

Oh yeah, I've forgotten about the spin-off series BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! ☆ Pico that Sanzigen collaborates with DMM.futureworks. It was a fun OVA. Oh yeah, there is also a spin-off, Pastel Life, which will be done by Studio A-Cat. And also, a new Bandori movie, BanG Dream! FILM LIVE, which will premiere in September 2019. And yes, I called BanG Dream as Bandori because the correct translation is Band Dream! Anyway, let's move on.

Nice pic...

Plot

The legend...

The story starts nine months after the end of the first season as Kasumi and her friends start their second year of high school. And well, life for Kasumi and her gang is as usual. Suddenly, they are invited to perform alongside with Afterglow, Roselia and Hello Happy World. The anime also started off by introducing the era of girls band in the anime using Pastel Palettes. Anyway, this is a very brief introduction of the anime. Let's move on....I'm joking!

The place where PoPiPa is gonna perform...

That announcement...

Anyway, PoPiPa (short for Poppin' Party) went to the concert to perform. When Roselia announce that they will perform their own self-sponsored live shows, PoPiPa also announces the same thing that Roselia has announced. With that, PoPiPa's journey to conduct their very own self-sponsored live show starts!

The usual light-hearted PoPiPa gathering

The journey starts off in a really light-hearted way (although there is some trouble that they did went through) until...Tae's childhood friend returns to town at a really critical moment where most of the PoPiPa members are busy preparing for the school festival and their live show performance during their school festival. There is where Tae started to join Raise a Suilen (RAS, for short) as support guitarist...and man, there is where is the one of the worst crisis (probably the worst crisis) that has hit them ever since the creation of PoPiPa.

This scene angered me and broke my heart...

From there, PoPiPa first missed the chance to perform at the school festival because of RAS' debut clashes with PoPiPa's performance in the school festival and Tae's hesitance to tell the rest of the RAS about PoPiPa's performance. This also compounded with the rest of PoPiPa members hesitance regarding this issue, causing this crisis to worsen and many fans to be very angry. I think many are angry at RAS but I'm actually angry at Tae herself. In fact, VERY ANGRY. VERY poor judgement from Tae. Seriously...she should have told RAS. Damn it, man.

This scene didn't infuriate me but it adds an extra to the story.

Anyway, leaving that aside. The thing that worsens the crisis is RAS officially scouting Tae as their official guitarist after Tae decided to quit to become RAS' supporting guitarist. The rest of PoPiPa members are hesitant after watching RAS' performance and Chu2 (leader of RAS) officially scouting for Tae. And of course, there will be drama but Tae's decision is to stay in RAS after the whole drama.

Looks like everything is all good again...

From that crisis, the bond between PoPiPa members becomes stronger. And also, cool! They got two new songs. And one of them is this amazing song that I will show it below this paragraph. Anyway, a happy ending with a little cliffhanger because of Chu2. Anyway, I'm not angry at RAS officially scouting Tae because it is out of their need. It doesn't make sense to be angry at them because this crisis didn't stem out due to the appearance of RAS, but because of Tae's indecision and poor judgement. Very obvious for all to see. Anyway, I will talk about this franchise once again when the movie is out. OK, let's move on.

The visual for the Bandori movie

Anime Rating

Season 1

Well, I've realised one thing: I didn't have a rating for BanG Dream in my previous post. So...here it is. Enjoy!

Story (Rating: 10/10)

The story is really good and consistent with the theme of Kasumi finding that "Star Beat" and also the aim of getting to perform in SPACE. The story flows really well and the pacing is good. The story is relatively easy to understand. The drama, light-hearted and funny scenes are well-executed.

The story is great...

Art and Animation (Rating: 10/10)

The art and animation are pretty good and really consistent. Although it is not the reason that I watch this anime, it does help me to continue watching this. Good animation and art? I'm taking that!

Beautiful stars...

Sound and Music (Rating: 10/10)

Good OP and ED theme songs. I like all of them, including the insert songs! I'm here for the music and growth of the band. Hehe...I like all of them!

Remember this?

Characters (Rating: 10/10)

The character development is very prominent. The character developments are mostly with the members of Poppin' Party and the strengthening of PoPiPa as a girl band. They are very important components of the elements of anime. The bonding of the girls is quite relatable as they are ups and downs like real-life relationships. Of course, a lot of the small details in this anime are not relatable to us obviously.

Team Kasumi!!!

Enjoyment (Rating: 10/10)

I enjoy watching it so much!!!! The funny scene, light-hearted scene and the drama are ALL so good to watch. Anyway, I would watch the anime again when I'm free. So much good memories and funny moments.

That scene again...LOL!

Overall Rating: 10 (10)/10