"Are you prepared to fully devote yourself to Roselia?"

I must say, it took me some time since I was finally able to watch the Roselia movies but I can't say I regretted not watching it when each movie came out individually. I have just finished both movies in one sitting and it was the best experience I've ever had, with not only just BanG Dream!, but the best experience I've ever had watching anime. I am a huge fan of the Bandori franchise, I've watched almost everything so far, play the game and everything. So when they announced a whole 2 part movie series of my favourite band, it was only natural for me to watch it. I expected it to be good, but it completely exceeded my expectations by far and in every way.

(Obligatory spoiler warning)
I'll be talking about both parts, Promise, and Song I am. in this review.

Summary

It starts off with Yukina and Lisa in their childhood practising together and having a lot of fun. We are even being introduced to the first and only ever male character in the entire Bandori franchise I believe, Yukina's father, who is a well known musician. Fast forward and now we're in high school, but before Roselia came to be. It was quite a strange sight seeing Ako bumping into Sayo and apologising as if they've never known each other. Anyways, Lisa and Yukina are still friends and hanging out, however Yukina has a goal in mind: Conquering the stage of the FUTURE WORLD FES to accomplish what her (now retired from music) father couldn't, and thus she is looking for band members that are on her level to accomplish that goal. It is basically the story of how Roselia came to be. If you've played the game, and also read all the in-game band stories, you might be familiar, or at least have a baseline of understanding about how Roselia was created. However, the movie series gives everything so much more depth and emotion, what slightly animated 2d characters of course couldn't. Once Roselia was finally formed, the band rose up quickly but had a downfall just as fast, followed by a major hardship for the band. So the first part took care of the question about what makes a band, a band, if you catch my glimpse.

After eventually finding a way back together (thanks to our dreamteam AkoRinko) and making their Promise in part I, we will now watch Roselia reaching their goals. However another Hardship arrives for the band, but this time only a minor one, yet taking care of another important question:

"Once we've reached all our goals, what does Roselia do next?"

Their goals were what held them together thus far, but now that their goals are so close, Ako can't help but wonder what will happen next. The answer is: Song I am. If that doesn't make sense to you then worry not, I'll explain that asap.

Music

Of course music is the most important part in a show/movie, that is about girlbands. And I expected nothing less from Roselia. They are my favourite Band from the Bandori franchise after all. I loved every single song they played. There are a few songs that are more important though. There are 4 key songs they've played throughout the entire movie series. First one: Neo-Aspect. Neo-Aspect is the result of the first hardship, which is seen in the lyrics, as well as in the stage costume. A clock has been added. Why a clock? Because the moment Roselia came back together after that massive hardship and formed a bond together, it felt like the time froze. Before, Roselia was just a superficial band, everyone chased that goal everyone shared, but in their own way. Now, friendships and bonds have been formed, and of course, that reflects in the song and performance as well!

For their final performance at the FWF they've created a very powerful setlist, with 3 very important songs as well...
LOUDER - A very important song and basically Roselia's foundation. Yukina inherited that song from her father and it was since then a very very important song going forward. It represents Roselia's past. It was also the last time they played LOUDER in order to leave their past selves behind.
Yakusoku - While this song has its roots in Lisa's and Yukina's childhood, it represents the present. Roselia came back together because they realized they all love music... They all love Roselia! And this song is the promise they made.
Song I am. - "We fold the map on our past selves and take a new step forward!" it represents the future of Roselia, leaving everything behind and look what lies beyond the horizon. A new future.

The ending song also made me ball my eyes out, In combination with these beautiful credits. I'd recommend this song to anyone!

Visuals

Granted, full cgi is not for everyone. But if I compare the 2nd season for example with this, I definitely feel like SANZIGEN has made quite a bit of improvement in that department. I definitely feel like a lot of effort has been put into the live shows, because wow... Especially the last performance was so powerful. Also some of the scenery looks very beautiful, but that's all there really is to say about it.

Another thing I do need to mention though are references. If you've played the game, you'll find yourself thinking "hmm I've seen this somewhere", that's because there are a few moments that reference unit cards in the game, and I think that is a very neat detail.

Conclusion

I did watch some movies already, that some people might call a masterpiece, but I've never had the feeling of having watched one... up until now. When the ending credits rolled I've had an immeasurable amount of emotions mixed inside of me, resulting in simply... a loss of words. I had to contemplate a whole night about what I just saw and I never could have thought that an anime could have that effect on me. It was too beautiful and too sad at once, whilst latter is because of the thought that something I thoroughly enjoyed, had just ended.

I am sorry if the ending of my review feels very rushed, but I want to put this to an end since I could talk about this movie series forever! And I didn't want to recite everything and stuff since it would definitely be waaaaaay too much xD

Anyways, thank you very very much for taking your time to read my review about something I was so passionate about. Please do not hestitate to talk to me. Feedback is very much appreciated, or just talking about it!