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BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! dares to ask a single question: what if they made an idol anime that was actually good?

I've been watching idol anime for... what, like, a decade now? I've seen a bunch, from the okay to the completely dogshit. But unfortunately there's always been a single point of contention in most idol anime: you can't have female characters who have problems, because that might turn away potential consumers. Which you know. Problems lead to conflict and it's pretty hard to have a show without that!

Luckily in the past five years or so, starting largely with Project Sekai's popularity, it seems like ... idol anime has turned away from this trend. And thank GOD! It's so gratifying to see female led shows that have characters that behave like actual teenage girls, with the cruelty, the pain and the mess that involves. MyGo has autistic characters who deal with the isolation inherent in that experience, it shows what it actually would take to maintain a flawless sweet anime girl facade and the internal torment needed to maintain it, it has messy characters that hurt each other, and every moment of it feels so much more human for it.

Rarely is the grief involved in losing friendships taken so seriously as it is here, and it doesn't end with a perfect "everybody is happy now" ending, because in real life it doesn't. It's messy, it's complicated, we get hurt, we hurt each other, and we try to keep moving forward. And that's what the show is about - we're lost but we keep moving forward nonetheless.

Basically? Show's good. If you grew up watching idol anime like I did and you're looking for something that actually tackles with the tough times of being a high schooler I strongly recommend this show - one clearly created with care and love for the genre but also a desire to show the greater complexity of real life and resonates so much more deeply for that.