§ Season 1 Overview
It's about Toyama Kasumi getting inspired to establish a band — Poppin'Party — and the struggles she and her bandmates faced.
§ Franchise Overview
Whilst Poppin'Party is the main band of the first season, considering the material of other entries in this franchise, it's a franchise about how different girls with different personalities and backstories come together to create their own bands. Each band has their own story to tell. Regardless of how they came to be, it's a celebration of their ion for musick.
§ Notes
1. At first, the characters in the first episode don't seem to stand out. No one seems to stand out, except for Kasumi. Her hair is styled to resemble cat ears. So far, she is the most genki character I have ever seen. If you've ever seen Ruby of Oshi no Ko and Emilico of Shadows House, even combining the genkiness of Ruby and Emilico would fall short of how genki Kasumi.
Of course, this can be polarising. Some people will be annoyed, but others like me welcome Kasumi. In fact, the way she acts keeps the anime from being boring. It also helped me remain interested despite the first four episodes being cringe-worthy.
2. This anime's first season tends to have some drama that makes you feel so low only to compensate it with something peak during the next episode. Since I told you that the first four episodes are cringe, Episode 5 is....guess what!
3. Despite the presence of some drama, I don't see it as mostly drama, unlike the later entries of MyGo and Ave Mujica. It's CGDCT in the manner of the current Spring 2025 seasonal Food for the Soul.
It's not like K-On! though and, as far as I'm concerned, it's the better anime compared to K-On! though it may be inferior to K-On! in some aspects of art direction. Some notice the CGI as glaring though it doesn't seem as bad.
4. Kasumi's bandmates — Arisa, Saaya, Tae, and Rimi — are interesting in their own right. This season has done an adequate job of giving them a character arc, though one can't help but feel that it could have been better.
5. Poppin'Party's performance is great. After some awkwardness in their practice, we see the fruit of their efforts. Others with a critical ear might feel meh, but for me, it's good enough at the very least.
6. One can say that it's not the best band anime. It's probably not even the best in the franchise, but I give it a ing score for its sincerity, and this sense of sincerity is enough. It's about a girl's dream to be a performer and her sincere intention to be a performer despite her doubts and despite starting late.
§ Conclusion
I enjoyed this first entry of the BanG Dream franchise. Perhaps if I had watched this when it was first released, I would feel that the franchise has so much potential.
I'm just giving it a ing score because 1) of the cringe first four episodes, 2) I'm not a fan that much of the dramatick parts.
NOTA BENE: A rating of 5 out of 10 means that 1) I find this anime to be average, 2) I enjoyed it to some extent, but it has some flaws. 3) Or simply, I rank it below my 6's but above my 4's.
A 5 means a ing score. If you think that a score of 5 out of 10 means TRASH, YOU'RE AN IDIOT!
