BanG Dream!

BanG Dream! does not stray too much from the norm of others within the music slice-of-life genre. Although there is an attempt to add more drama compared to others within the medium and touch upon topics others tend to ignore with mental health, it does not quite land. The first season, as a result, ends up feeling rather bland, and while it did get a bit better as the season progressed, BanG Dream! did not do enough to differentiate itself from other series.

In fact, it follows the same story beats used before in the genre and rehashes similar character troupes. Kasumi Toyama is a perfect example of this, as she shares many of the troupes used by other main characters within the music genre space, such as Yui from K-On, as well as Honoka and Chika from Love Live.

The initial premise of the series is about Kasumi finding the "Star Beat" again, a feeling she experienced when looking at the stars one night as a child. During her first few days of high school, she looked into various clubs, but they didn't capture her interest. However, after witnessing Glitter Green at Live House Space, she finally feels that spark again—inspiring her to form a band.

The story then follows the standard story arc(s) of persuading others to join her band and everyone being initially reluctant to join. Overall, it is fine to go down this route, but BanG Dream! copies the same formula used before, specifically in Love Live.

Arisa Ichigaya is the first member to join the band after enough persistence on Kasumi's part. Arisa comes across as the typical tsundere, but she grows the most out of the cast of characters as the story progresses.

Rimi and Tae also join the band as the conflict and drama surrounding them resolve rather quickly. Although, Tae's episode highlights the biggest issue with the series: the drama. Surprisingly, the drama, for the most part, does not feel forced, but the problem is more so lying with the execution.

Tae's episode is particularly poor, as it centers around Kasumi spending time with Tae and Arisa becoming upset that Kasumi is no longer spending time with her apart from lunch. However, even then, she is talking about Tae the entire time.

The drama itself is nothing profound, but it makes sense for Arisa, as her first friend seemingly abandons her to spend time with someone else is quite believable as to why it would upset her. However, that drama is quickly resolved in just a few minutes.

Saaya's arc was handled the best, as it was given multiple episodes to build and resolve—essentially involving her giving up her hobbies and social life to help her family due to her mom being anemic. Despite her friends and family pushing her to join the band, it wasn't until her mom told her she needed to use some of the kindness she showed to others for herself.

Unfortunately, the interesting dynamic between Saaya, her family, and the band is never explored afterward. Saaya's mom is not suddenly cured, so assumingly, Saaya would want to continue helping at home, but the situation is never brought up again. Not only could it have added an interesting dynamic to the story, but it shows that the drama in the series holds no substance, as it is either resolved quickly or has no lasting impact on the story or characters.

Additionally, it was a bit odd that it took nine episodes before they began practicing or training. It specifically made their first audition for Space confusing, as it is unclear if their rough performance was due to a lack of practice or simply growing pains—since they essentially never show or mention them practicing until the ninth episode.

Obviously, the characters practicing does not need to be the focus, nor should it be. But there isn't an indication of the characters growing as musicians without it. Even a show like K-ON, where music was never the focus, would frequently show them either as a group or individually practice. Likewise, Love Live will show the characters briefly practicing or training every episode.

Regardless, the ending is pretty standard, with them getting over one last hurdle and performing live in front of an audience for the first time. It does briefly touch a bit more on mental health, with Kasumi becoming depressed after being called the weakest link of the band by the venue owner, as well as her pushing her limits to stand on par with the other band members.

While more time could have been used to explore the issue, it shows there is potential. Additionally, a positive from the show is that everyone is extremely supportive when someone else is growing through an issue instead of going down the melodramatic route.

Overall, the story was rather bland. It followed many of the story beats commonly found in other series within the music genre, specifically Love Live: the main character becomes inspired to perform, initial members join without much issue, last member has some sort of emotional/trauma-related issue preventing her from joining, and finally having one last conflict concerning the main character that the group has to overcome.

A major reason other series like Love Live can get away with being formulaic is simply due to fun-written and engaging characters. But due to the drama in BanG Dream! ultimately falling flat, it also hurts the characters.

Speaking of characters, Kasumi shares many characteristics with others in the music medium, like being overly cheerful, energetic, optimistic, and a bit naïve—albeit somewhat more extreme. Because of that, early on, she tends to reach the point of being obnoxious. However, as the story progresses, she does become more likable, and her arc shows that her optimism and naivety caused her to lose focus on her dream.

Arisa is the best character in the series. She does start off as the typical tsundere but has the most growth out of the five band members. Before meeting Kasumi, she would spend the majority of her time at home, which unsurprisingly makes her a bit socially awkward. However, as she meets and befriends more people because of Kasumi, she also begins to become more social and is able to express herself.

(Cute photo of Arisa)

As for Rimi, Tae, and Saaya, I am not quite sure what to say about them. Rimi can be boiled down to having anxiety and liking sweets. Tae may very well be a skinwalker attempting to depict human emotion. In other words, she is weird and random. The same goes for her mom.

(There is something wrong with this family)

Despite arguably having the best arc, there is not much to say about Saaya as a character. She has the potential to be a good character, especially considering her circumstances with her family, but that was not realized in the first season.

Ultimately, Bang Dream! has the potential to be a good series with a vast cast of characters and seemingly attempting to create a more emotional story. But the initial season falls short as the drama has no impact on the story, and the characters suffer as a result. Nonetheless, I'm excited to see what studio SANZIGEN can do with the other seasons and movies, as they did a good job with D4DJ.