"Once you give up, it's joever!"

Introduction

Girls Band Cry, a 3D original anime which didn’t even get an English license. A show that had everything set on hard mode from the very beginning, and yet, it delivered. It delivered so well that I, a person who always reads reviews and writes small comments about shows here and there got urged to write a review because of how well this show delivered.

Going into this show all I knew about it was that it was animated in CGI and that there were music elements to it. I actually saw a clip from the song in episode 3 and after seeing it I knew I had to start this show.

Story (8.5/10)
The story of Girls Band Cry starts with a lone girl running away from home to the bustling city. She goes on to meet Momoka, one of the artists from her favourite band and eventually starts a band with her. They go on to eventually make a group of 5 and go through the trials and tribulations of being a band with a bit of character drama along the way.
As this show is part of the Slice of Life genre you couldn’t really say this show followed an overarching story or really had a concrete goal until maybe halfway into the season. That never took away from it though. Through all the character interactions, drama, and music that was produced throughout this story, it either had you glued to your screen listening to these mesmerizing performances or tearing up from some of the emotional backstories that these characters had.

Characters (9/10)
So the plot of the show isn’t its main driving factor, then what are we here for? The characters, we’re here for the characters. The characters in this show are a very enjoyable group to watch and mesh together very well through their interactions. Something you might notice that sounds a bit off is the voice acting, and this is because it’s done by the actual band members from Togenashi Togeari. As this is all of their first-time voice acting you might find sometimes that it feels a bit off but it gives this feeling that it’s so much more real than traditional anime. Some might find this a positive while others might see it as a negative but I think this enhances the show greatly. Overall, the set of characters in this show gives us a fun chaotic group which somehow balances itself out with each of their respective traits and because of this they fit together perfectly.

Music (10/10)
Let me be outright, the music in this show is phenomenal, it’s how I got into this show and one of the driving reasons for why I love this show so much. This show isn’t just like any music show which produces one if not maybe two songs throughout the show. No, this show gave us seven, yes SEVEN songs throughout its 13-episode duration. This isn’t just Toei throwing out random tracks at us either, since this show is based on the actual band Togenashi Togeari, each song was energetic, loud, and really gave off the rock band vibe that they’re going for. You can really feel this right away from the first track VOID that is shown in episode 1 which is my personal favourite.

Other than the music that the band produced, we also have to look at other things like the background music. The background music is fun and upbeat when it needs to be to put you in a good mood, light and mellow when characters are having casual conversation and it can be touching and emotional in scenes where you need to feel emotionally connected to some of these characters. One thing I really like about the background music in this show specifically for these emotional moments is that sometimes the music is just the opening of the anime but slowed down and played with a strong focus on the piano and you might not notice unless you really listen for it but I find that incredible that such an energetic and upbeat song for the opening can be changed to be used in such emotional moments in the show with such effectiveness. I thought that this was used very effectively in a lot of moments especially episodes 8 and 10.

Animation (10/10)
Now we all know the stigma that comes with CGI. It’s always worse, hand drawn is better, only use it for background effects, is what they all say. CGI in itself doesn’t have all that good of a track record either besides some specific titles. Girls Band Cry however, takes all of those stigmas and flips them right over on its head. This show has redefined the use of 3D animation in anime and all the credit is due to Toei Animation for this. This show displays some of the most unique and fluent CGI I’ve seen in anime and I think this is really a hard selling point for this show. It’s able to be goofy with facial expressions and give us some real comedic effects because of it.

While at the same time it’s able to give us some incredibly beautiful shots like this.

I also really love the effects that are used in the anime at times that really give off more personality and emotion to how the characters are feeling like Nina’s thorns.

I could probably talk about the animation in this show forever and provide so many different screenshots and clips on why I think this show outdid itself many times over but alas I have to continue on with my review so I’ll spare everyone the photo dump and conclude that I think this unique animation is one of this show’s selling points and really redefines the use of 3D animation as a whole.

Overall Enjoyment (10/10)
All ratings are subjective at the end of the day and I personally think it’s very important to gauge how much you liked the show whenever you review something. It may be an incredibly deep and thought invoking show that dives into themes which aren’t explicitly written out to the viewer which is a 10/10 to the critic while it could be a mere 7/10 to the average person who’s just watching shows for their personal enjoyment but didn’t really understand the point of the show in general. With that being said, I absolutely loved every second of Girls Band Cry. From the amazing characters, music, animation, and story, everything about it dragged me in further and further each episode and left me wanting more whenever it ended. It’s very simple and easily watchable for anyone and for viewers wanting more there’s quite a few easter eggs here and there which elevate the show when you notice them.

Conclusion
Overall, I think this show was the hidden gem of this season by far and would’ve gone so much further if it had an English license. While I’m sad that it might not have reached that many people, for the people it did reach, I think most of us can say that this show was amazing in so many different aspects. The animation, music and characters were the key standouts to me and I think it will be looked at in the future as the start of hopefully more amazing CGI anime to come.

If you made it this far thanks, for reading my review as it was the first one I’ve ever written. For anyone who just scrolled to the bottom to see my rating, lets all flip them off together!