In 2015, Bushiroad started developing a multimedia franchise known as ''Bang Dream!''. It started with a manga of 5 teenage girls coming together to start a band. Then in 2017, an anime was made with new character designs and story. And in the same year, we also got the Bang Dream! mobile game, which is now a huge success with over 9 million players, but how good was the anime that started it all?
Story:
The story is about a girl named Kasumi who decides to start a band out of inspiration when seeing a band perform live. She makes friends with other four girls to form
...
the band, ''Poppin' Party''. I'm a sucker for music anime with this kind of story, as I enjoy watching the characters grow and improve on their skills in the band. What makes the story interesting is the character arcs that our girls have to go trough, but other than that, the story is quite simple and even predictable at times.
Art:
Bang Dream's art isn't anything too impressive compared to what we get in anime nowadays, but I certainly wouldn't call it bad, but I also wouldn't call it great. One thing I do admire about Bandori's franchise is the character designs, Popipa defiantly has the most natural colored hair out of all the bands in the franchise and it makes sense since the characters were based off the seiyuu hat voice them. Background art is... alright. There are some nice places in the anime that have some nice designs, but a lot of the series also takes place in a school, so don't expect anything too ground breaking with the scenery. Characters can be quite expressive, but can also have a bit of ''derp' faces from time to time. The CGI is... average. It definitely looked strange at times, but thankfully, season 2 got a different studio who have experience with CGI so the animation looks ten times better. The CGI is only used in music sequence scenes so you won't see them too often.
Sound:
Listening to the soundtrack, it has nice tracks, but it's a very standard slice of life anime OST. Nothing too much stands out in the sound, but what I can praise Bang Dream! for is the music. Back when the first anime came out, Poppin' Party didn't have much songs, but even with the little amount they had, the songs are pretty good! The music has always been my favorite part of the franchise and it gets better and better as time goes on.
Characters:
The 5 girls of Popipa might be very standard character cliches when you look at them first, but they become much stronger and better characters as you go trough the show.
Kasumi Toyama is the very cheery denki girl who's looking for more excitement and thrill in her life which inspires her to start a band. Kasumi is a very standard protagonist who's very optimistic about everything and never gives up. While she still has flaws and not the best leader, you can see how her character grows and improves. Whether her optimistic personality becomes annoying or not depends on the viewer, but I love Kasumi for how hard she works.
Rimi Ushigome is the shy one of the group, looking up at her big sister as an inspiration in music. The character arcs in bang dream are always so satisfying as you watch the characters grow and that's also very apparent with Rimi. While she still struggles a bit with her shyness as the series goes on, you can see how she battles with her fears and becomes a more confident bass player.
Arisa Ichigaya is the tsundere. Constantly being annoyed by some of Kasumi's actions and attitude towards things as well as being easily flustered. I can see how Arisa can be annoying to some, but the brutally honest personality is what I like about her character. As the series goes on, she also opens up with her feelings more and starts to really get attached to everyone in the band.
Tae Hanzono is a very... interesting character. She's the ''airhead'' of the group, but the same could be said for Kasumi. Tae is my personal favorite of the girls, as she's so unpredictable and bizarre with some of her words and actions. She is the most skilled one in the group and the one most passionate about her instrument. She's a joy to watch throughout the show.
And that leaves us with Saya Yamabuki. Saya is kind-hearted and the most mature, bu she doesn't get as much screen time due to her joining the band much later in the series. I won't spoil much, but she has the most interesting arc during the end of the series which makes her a great character.
There are also some other minor characters, but they aren't as interesting to talk about. The best way to experience these characters is actually trough the Bang Dream! mobile app. As you read the games stories, you really see more of the characters that the anime doesn't explore, but that's recommend if you really want to get into the franchise. (The app does have a global release).
Enjoyment:
I personally enjoyed the anime. I think my love for the franchise is because of the mobile app and just how much the app offers in terms of content. I enjoyed watching the characters and their interactions, and how they grow as a band and friends. You can really see how much they end up caring for each other and it might be cheesy as hell, but I love it.
Overall:
Bang Dream! isn't fantastic, nor is it awful. I feel like not enough fans of the bandori app give the anime a try because of it's animation, not even realizing that the anime does a great job at developing Poppin' Party as a band. I would definitely recommend the second season and game over the first season, but if you have interest into a music anime about a group of friends, give this anime a try.
All (22)FriendsEcchiGodMamsterMeriuMeinokoibitoThe_Golden_WitchLorelynwinddevil1LIQfilmsYuri-CrusaderKazumi_Akarinorahgami
Also Available atRSS Feeds |
Jun 2, 2019
BanG Dream!
(Anime)
add
In 2015, Bushiroad started developing a multimedia franchise known as ''Bang Dream!''. It started with a manga of 5 teenage girls coming together to start a band. Then in 2017, an anime was made with new character designs and story. And in the same year, we also got the Bang Dream! mobile game, which is now a huge success with over 9 million players, but how good was the anime that started it all?
Story: The story is about a girl named Kasumi who decides to start a band out of inspiration when seeing a band perform live. She makes friends with other four girls to form ... 
Jun 5, 2017
Noragami: Shuuishuu
(Manga)
add
Do you like Noragami? Are you stressed out from all the crazy stuff happening in the main manga and just want some fun comedy chapters? Then this manga is for you!
Noragami: Shuuishuu (also knows for it's English title, ''Noragami: Stray Stories'') is a spin-off manga of the popular Noragami series. As of this review (June 5th, 2017) there is only one volume with seven chapters. The story is different in each chapter. One chapter is a Christmas special, another is about Yato taking over Hiyori's body (again) and many more. Each story is filled with great character moments and fun comedy. There is something great ... 
Apr 1, 2017
Noragami: Awase Kagami
(Manga)
add
The story is about how Yato met Rabo. If I'm not wrong, this manga was included in one of the Season 1 limited edition Blu-ray's. Rabo was an original character made for the anime, so Adachitoka decided to make a small backstory manga about him.
The manga is really short, only 2 chapters, but it's enough for an interesting backstory for Yato' character. The characters in Noragami are really likable and interesting. The art is still as detailed and nice as always. With good backgrounds, character expressions and action. I can definitely recommend this for any Noragami fan. Story: 8 Art: 10 ... |
