Girls Band Cry

Everyone yearns to find their true purpose in life. This is also true for Nina Iseri, a 17-year-old girl looking to enroll in a good university, but the world always seems to work against her. On her very first day in Tokyo, she gets lost, ignored, and locked out of her new apartment. However, an unexpected opportunity arises when Nina meets Momoka Kawaragi, one of her favorite guitarists.

After Nina joins Momoka for a street performance, Momoka decides they should start a band together. While Nina initially hesitates, her determination grows as they start acquiring more bandmates—the beautiful drummer Subaru Awa, the aloof keyboardist Tomo Ebizuka, and the intelligent bassist Rupa. The five girls face challenges both in the music industry and within themselves, but their shared passion for music never lets them give up on their dreams.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Iseri, Nina Main

Rina Japanese

Awa, Subaru Main

Mirei Japanese

Kawaragi, Momoka Main

Yuuri Japanese

Rupa Main

Shuri Japanese

Ebizuka, Tomo Main

Natsu Japanese

Hina Supporting

Kondou, Reina Japanese

Nakata Supporting

Kanuka, Mitsuaki Japanese

Rin Supporting

Urushiyama, Yuuki Japanese

Ai Supporting

Miyashiro, Momoko Japanese

Nana Supporting

Matsuoka, Misato Japanese

Hirayama, Tadashi Producer

Sakai, Kazuo Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Miyoshi, Keiichirou Sound Director

Imura, Kenji Episode Director

Reviews

Dec 18, 2024

Kyou_Ryuu

Recommended

THE GOOD:
The show displays some incredible CGI: the expressiveness of the MCs is as good as the best traditional productions, with a touch that only 3D models can give (e.g. hair physics, dynamic shots, etc.). Then we have the concert sequences: their visuals, animations and direction are nothing short of impressive. This anime is definitely worth a watch for those alone.
Music production is also quite decent... It's a series centered on a band, the opposite would have been a disaster. :)
The main characters are well written: they all have their unique personality and motivations, and most of them showcase an interesting growth. Some don't get ... the development they deserve, like Rupa, and Nina is a royal PITA up until ep. 10, but their banters and interactons are enjoyable.

THE MEH:
No matter how well they are done, CGI models still appear stiff and unnatural at times. Moreover, the use of these models alongside traditionally animated characters in some scenes can be jarring.
From writing perspective, the pace of the show varies wildly, with some tight and emotional episodes followed by others that look like filler.
Nina's motivations are well presented, but the backstory supporting them is confusing: they could have simplified it and made it clearer without losing any impact.
Also, the plot deflates spectacularly in the last 2 episodes, with an unsatisfactory anticlimax. Granted, this development triggers more character growth, but it leaves a bad taste in your mouth: when episode 11 feels more of a closure than the last episode, you know there's something wrong in the script.

THE BAD:
For a series focused on an indie band with "rebel" vibes, the showrunners chose to stay on the safe side.
There's nothing "rebellious" in Toge-Toge's pieces: lyrics are pretty generic, with some forced and "fake" rage sprinkled here and there. The music follows suits, with basic pop/rock progressions. Ironically, they sound as mainstream as their mainstream rival band. I would have loved something more ambitious: dissonances, weird tempo changes, wild modulations, strong lyrics that hit you like a punch... alas, Toei wanted to please a wider audience. Maybe they already had Spotify playlists in mind?

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Good show carried by aesthetics and production value. The story has issues but it's not without merits. Pity that the "rebellious indie band" ends up being as safe as K-ON.
And I'm sorry Rupa: you slap really hard, but Mio is still the best bassist girl around. :)
A must watch for those who really like "girls doing music" series, and recommended also to people who enjoy character-driven stories, provided that they can stomach the MC.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 3, 2024

SleepingDragon01

Mixed Feelings

In the premise that this is a music anime, this definitely is good as the songs and how they present the song is done well and was made purposely to please the viewers eyes.

Onto the character side, the MC's personality is definitely something that pisses me off, typical DIVA in the making and though I appreciate that somehow there was an improvement somewhere episode 10 onwards, MC already ruined my viewing experience so much so that I can already say that I hate her. If they do plan on making a sequel I do hope that they change her personality or focus more on the ... other bandmates.

Story side, plot is a little cliché, country girl trying to make it in the big city, meets supporting characters and proceed with their goals. One thing that I like is the responses of each character to another. It became a little bit more realistic especially at the end part.

Definitely would have been an easy 9 or 10 if MC was not made to be like that.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 7, 2024

Tacsk0

Not Recommended

I spoiler-free don't recommend watching Girls Band Cry (GBC), for two main reasons:

1. It's the kind of story you'll either hate (because of the 3D-CGI animation or how unreasonably unsufferable the MC is or any misc. reason) or you'll fall for the experience right away and become addicted. If you'd hate it, why watch it? If you become addicted, you'll waste your life by re-re-watching it and searching for or creating fanart and buying merch - in stark contrast to what the series' theme song says!

2., Girls Band Cry is like the cursed apple tree standing in the middle of the Garden of Eden. Eat ... from it, says the snake and your eyes will open, suddenly seeing the whole television anime industry is naked... 99% of seasonal produce are always poorly drawn partial animation at a mere 7-13 fps and giving "hand-made 2D" look a bad name. For bonus, there are uninspired and uninteresting plotlines and pro seiyuu who cater to assumed "high-pitched loli maid" expectations of the otaku, rather than expressing anything meaningful.

GBC entered such a market, shining with 30fps of often motion-captured but always expressive and continously fluid 3D-CGI animation. (Nota bene: as much as possible within sub-Hollywood budget allocated to a freely broadcast original TV show lacking LN / manga source support.) Yet script-writing and episode directing are stellar for both comedy and drama, music hits are memorable, non-music hits also... Main characters have personality, strong presence and very real emotion, even though the show uses no seiyuu, per se. All five members of Togenashi Togeari are voiced by teenage rock musician girls, whom Studio Toei and Universal Japan label recruited to form a real-life band and gave them a crash course in voice acting for anime - based on the reasoning talented musicians have good ears so they'll quickly get the hang of it. The producer was right: Nina's and Momoka's VAs are super talented, even star-crossed and Subaru sounds refreshingly realistic, they are easily par for their beautiful visuals. You've found your angels, even if they are fallen ones with just cardboard wings...

After you've witnessed all those miracles, you get expelled from Paradise: post-GBC the japanese animation industry still continues to roll out the same garbage as before, this past summer, this autumn, coming winter season. With your newly opened eyes it becomes gruelling labour to watch the poorly drawn partial animation, the mockery of hand-made 2D style and digest the soulless and all-around juvenile and/or cynical plotlines, while listening to seiyuu who try to sound like chipmunks. You may even give up on anime or at least be unable to (re)watch anything you haven't seen and accepted pre-GBC!

Is it worth discarding your whole anime baggage for the sake of a singular show projected from Paradise? It's not a trivial decision, but a surprisingly large number of japanese otaku voted YES enthusiastically (and many foreign fans as well, even though GBC wasn't legally available for them until August and not conveniently available until Nov 2024. Fansubs ranged from evil-memed MTL to highly controversial regarding a crucial scene). More than half a year later GBC disc sales are still crazy high and TogeToge live shows are 25x overbooked. Even the famous BanGDream / MyGO franchise went to GBC for a collab, which helped them through difficulties of delayed game development. Maybe, maybe the industry will see the light and begin to change - but in the meanwhile you'd lose 3 to 5 years of anime enjoyment. Decide for yourself whether it's worth it!?

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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	Poll: Girls Band Cry Episode 4 Discussion IzanaSolos - Apr 26	45 replies	by StallionXD »» 10 hours ago
	Poll: Girls Band Cry Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 ) IzanaSolos - Apr 19	73 replies	by StallionXD »» 11 hours ago
	Poll: Girls Band Cry Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 ) IzanaSolos - Apr 12	84 replies	by StallionXD »» 11 hours ago
	Poll: Girls Band Cry Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) KANLen09 - Apr 5	163 replies	by StallionXD »» 11 hours ago
	Would you accept an "endless eight" season 2 as stop-gap continuation of Girls Band Cry on TV? Tacsk0 - Dec 22	3 replies	by T-A-N-V-I-R »» Yesterday, 1:27 AM