Girls Band Cry Episode 13 Discussion

The ending felt incomplete might have to do with the upcoming movie sequel, also my first time liking a 3d style of animation in anime.

Overall one of the best shows of the year so far, but for me it's just fallen short of the true greatness so many have said it is. These weak final two episodes are a big part of that, as the decisions they've made as a group here have kind of made me lose some of the respect I had gained for them throughout the show: at the very first big challenge they face as professionals, they throw in the towel because they know they can't win despite their whole thing being about taking on and beating Diamond Dust. They just cower out rather than facing the music, and that's just not at all satisfying however you slice it. Knowing that this anime has a gacha in the works, I'd have been much happier ending at episode 11 with them signing the contract as professionals, then leaving whatever comes next to the gacha story.

The other big issue I have with this show is the fundamental contradiction between its messaging and the reasons it exists in the first place. Throughout, this show's messaging has been about doing your own thing musically and not compromising to professional or commercial demands, but the show is primarily a vehicle for promoting a new multimedia franchise and professional band. In other words, the show is the very thing it's criticised from day 1 and it just makes the messaging feel more hollow than it should.

Still, some of the best 3DCG visuals and animation an anime has ever had and some fantastic characters and dynamics has made this a very enjoyable watch throughout despite the above issues.

A solid 8/10, but it could have been even better.

Been hearing a lot about this anime, but it was so mediocre.

@Erebus25

> Been hearing a lot about this anime, but it was so mediocre.

GBC's BD/DVD purchases are certainly not mediocre: it has been selling 12-14,000 box sets per volume, in a market where any anime crew would offer child sacrifice for selling just 5500-6000 copies. The amount of GBC fan art / doujin also isn't mediocre, it's huge! In other words GBC is much loved and crazy popular wherever properly accessible (though the non-streaming digital purchase method in Amazon and Microsoft stores is apparently inconvenient for US audiences.)

@Tacsk0 Those numbers don't mean anything to me since I don't follow those, but let's assume they show popularity. So the question is why.
Why is this mediocre anime gathering such attention? Music is so generic I no longer remember any song from the anime. 3D is at "watchable" level, but it will never be remembered as good. Characters all have some tragic past which is just lazy writing, and story itself with someone is quitting the band every other episode got bored pretty quick.

The ending was not satisfying at all.

I just wish the anime was longer, that’s why I didn’t find it satisfying.

I can't believe it took this long for Nina to realize the truth behind why Hina joined DD lol

I know she is our protagonist, and I kinda like her sometimes, but for me Nina is still really stupid and stubborn.
I'll be honest here, we didn't really see much of her, but you know what, I think Hina >>> Nina in terms of personality, Hina was kinda mean but she always wanted the best for Nina, she cared for her even after they got separated, while Nina hated her, the school, her parents, DD... Nina just fucking hates everything and if someone says something she doesn't like she just fucking explodes, it's annoying.

I didn't really understand, did they quit the agency, or did they just reject the offering to play the same day as DD? Idk if it was because of the subtitles I used but it wasn't that clear to me, I guess is the 2nd one since they played the day after DD and Miura was there with them, but there is also that after they chatted with Miura in her office Nakata told them to come back years later and he will work for them for free, they also said they will just keep going on their own... I hope that isn't the case becuase that would mean Tomo and Rupa left their jobs for nothing 😭 and that Nina once more ruined everything.

I LOVED THIS SONG, AND THIS ANIME, HOLY SHIT THIS BETTER GETS A SECOND SEASON 😭 IT'S PEAK


I'll miss Subaru so much, I absolutely love her, the show was great but clearly she was the one carrying it ❤️


Since the 1st time I saw the ending I was waiting for her to cut her hair lol, but she never did, and they also never got the yellow van, maybe that's next for the 2nd season???

PD: I love how the "confession" from ep 8 was never ever mentioned again, goes to show how it wasn't a romantic one, yuritards.

@StallionXD
> I didn't really understand, did they quit the agency

Yes, they did and gave up their professional contract. Only the "collaboration" concert was held, with New Diadust performing on Day1 and TogeToge on Day2, because that already was fixed and couldn't be cancelled without financial penalty. Afterwards Togetoge became an "indie" band, working part-time and touring in their free time in the yellow submarine minivan. The ED animation shows their story afterwards, including Samson Subaru haircut and Miura as a friend caring for their pets while they are on the road, etc. Character designer Teshima Nari wrote about those in the booklet sold at Comiket 104 fair.

@Tacsk0 wow, that's crazy, that they have that much lore ready to even show it to us since ep1, even tho this is an original anime.

Well, it sucks that they quit the agency so soon, like Miura said, they not having their 1st song be succesful wasn't really their fault, they are a new band after all... they should've at least give it another try with a new song before quitting.
And the fact Tomo and Rupa quit their job, a job they clearly liked and cared for, just to end up with nothing is crazy, I blame Nina for that.
Their band going indie can work, sure, but without an agency they will never be able to get the monetary success they expected, they will have to play their cards really carefully, but then again, with Nina being the leader idk how that could work...

I hope we get a 2nd season, and they should make this post-anime plot more public so it gets even more fans interested, so a 2nd season can greenlight more easily.
I need to see Subaru with that haircut 😭❤️

Thanks for info, appreciate it.

Man I can't stand Nina, she is just so annoying and ignorant. What I mainly disliked about the show is how her behaviour is constantly being justified by the people around her, she is always in the right and can do no wrong, it made it really hard for me to get through the anime. The CGI was very wel done and made for some cute animations thought the series. Speaking of cuteness, the girls drip was on point thought out the show, Tomo was my favorite, she is just sooo cute!

I don't think I'm gonna miss this show, it was nice but Nina really ruined it for me. If this ever gets a sequel I hope Nina gets toned down and admits she is in the wrong sometimes!

Watched the whole season. It's pretty good. There's some snot, some drama and even some realism.
It's pretty easy to watch. Not a lot of boring, drawn out moments. The music is okay. It's about a 7/10, depending on your love of girly overcoming. "Bocchi" is better, so is "K-on". I think the title lacks a bit of the comedic element. It's a bit too serious. I can't believe that five young maidens didn't goof off.
Here's an interesting observation. In this anime, the band is fighting against the system. It's funny that the anime itself is almost a model of the system itself. There is no fan service. And so a whole set of marketing techniques. Cliché upon cliché. Target audience - mostly girls, young, high school age and students. The author has done a lot to make someone say 'she's just like me'. I don't know if this is deliberate or not.

@LacingMaster

> There's some snot

Bokuyaba s2 ep2: hold my running nose...

> Target audience - mostly girls, young, high school age and students.

If so, then Toei Studio has the worst mis-aligned rifle scope in the world...
Fanbase of GBC / Garukura consists mostly of guys (late teens and adults) as shown by Comiket attendence lined up to buy chara designer Nari's doujin. Girls are just too embarrassed to associate with the dysfunctional TogeToge band - the hysterical, grating, butthurt vocalist Nina and her idol, the utter life failure drunkard Momoka. Modern girls don't rebel, they are consumed by consumerism, pop-culture and a very poshy life, especially in Japan. Meanwhile, guys are busy shipping NinaHinaMomoNana or just wish "Marry me Subaru!"

> I think the title lacks a bit of the comedic element. It's a bit too serious.

Original series title was to be "Girls in the Cry" and the 5 members of TogeToge band were part time rockers, part time eco-tenorists, blowing up a giant powerplant smokestack which towered over Enoshima island. The whole project was apparently softened up a lot and stuffed with comedic content over the 5 years it spent in the making. Btw, the whole mixed media venture is called "Project Alnair" in-house by Toei Studios.

> There is no fan service.

GBC actually had an anti-fan service moment: during the sauna scene, viewers spotted Momoka having more under the towel than she does when clotched and complained. Thus, in the Blu-ray release she got breast reduction for that scene.

GBC staff wisely left "fanservice" creation to fan artists and doujin circles. There is a huge amount of yuri content on Pixiv and various ...boruu sites. There is even R34 content, mostly about Subaru.

> And so a whole set of marketing techniques.

After GBC has just ended airing, the series director posted on Twitter literally begging viewers to buy merch to have any hope of continuation. That's because the high-quality project had a huge cost but was aired on free-to-view TV in Japan, thus having almost no fixed revenue. In other words, somewhere during the 5-year project marketing aspects fell off the radar or the staff just became too obsessed producing something excellent vs selling it.
Luckily, fans reacted in stride and bought 12000 disc sets (note that 5500 is measure of great success nowadays) and 30x overbooked concerts and any kind of merch is flying off the shelves. Outside Asia it's hard to grasp the immense and enduring grassroots popularity of GBC, because Nina's "unbusinesslike" wretched personality prevented the show from achieving a breakthrough in the West.

@Tacsk0 idk Subaru and Rupa are the only likeable characters in this anime. Tomo is necessary for Japanese people cuz they never speak up, so character who lets it all out should make them do some effort to change themselves.
Random yuri moments with Momoka and Nina make me sick, how much better would the series be without their participation? I guess it goes back to the mental problems Japanese girls have because they never speak up and don't talk things out.

@Tacsk0 idk Subaru and Rupa are the only likeable characters in this anime. Tomo is necessary for Japanese people cuz they never speak up, so character who lets it all out should make them do some effort to change themselves.
Random yuri moments with Momoka and Nina make me sick, how much better would the series be without their participation? I guess it goes back to the mental problems Japanese girls have because they never speak up and don't talk things out.

What a show. It had some of the best natural dialogue I have seen in a long time.

But the ending... big oof.

TogeToge threw away their guaranteed pro income to become indie. What bothered me here was how Nina strongarmed this decision: it's clear that Tomo and Subaru had some ambitions of going pro, while Rupa just went with the flow. Rupa/Tomo quit their jobs because they thought they could now survive on the pro income. It's clear that Nina completely overreached here. I had enjoyed Nina's volatility throughout the whole show, but the last two episodes kind of made me go sour on her because she was too prideful. What it reminds me of is this video: "How to become a 37-year old broke loser". This guy had software developer job offers at Amazon and Nvidia when he was young. He rejected them because he couldn't stand the idea of living a corporate cubicle life, and wanted to freelance. Now his life is significantly worse than if he had simply taken the corporate jobs.

It also reminds me of the VTuber scene: Hololive is the golden job offer, and while there are popular indie VTubers, they are few and far between. Some Hololive members have left on their own terms such as Minato Aqua, but they achieved financial independence after being in Hololive for several years, and are using that to jumpstart their post-Hololive indie careers.

While TogeToge might achieve some success as an indie band, it is definitely the harder road, and the show made it come off as a "good" ending when it really isn't. Still, it's an overall great show, 8/10. However, my 9/10 music shows, Kono Oto Tomare S2 and Shine Post, had much more uplifting and positive endings.

-Beautiful anime with a medicore ending. Pacing was bad as well however i liked it much more than i expected
-Opening was so addictive as well

From the animes that i watched so far this one made me feel watching an anime that is like a hibike + paripi koumei mix

solid 8/10

I got everthing i want from this anime with ep 8 and ep 10 which are momoka's beating her fear and family reunion. I don't expect another season of this because it will only go down from this. The biggest development is done in ep 8 i don't think this anime can offer a development and build up like this one

Everyone has their own favorite music-related anime and I can proudly say that I found mine, Girls Band Cry. It was beautiful, charming, heartbreaking, underwhelming, unexpected... Just like life itself. Watching all 5 not only entertained me, also showed me how struggles can be a push-power for you to go on. Explaining themselves with music, especially rock was truly beautiful, already added all of the songs to my playlist hehe. To me, there won't be any music anime like this and I'm greatful that I've experienced this beautiful show before me 20's (I'll be 20 tmrw that's why xD) Only "bad" thing I can say about the show is how they rushed the Rupa and Tomo's characters and the band itself. Still It was a beautiful ride, a really good one. Thanks to everyone who worked GBC and made them a living project.

GIRLS BAND PEAAAAAAAAAK