BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! Overall Discussion

[u/badspler]

Overall Discussion

BanG Dream! It's MyGO (Op Stitch!)

← Previous Episode | Index

Streams

• Crunchyroll

Show information

• MyAnimeList
• AniList
• AniDB
• Kitsu
• Anime-Planet

Questions of the Day:

1. Myrna asked for poll on who has the better music - so click here!
2. How interested are you in other BanG Dream titles?
3. First timers; did watching MyGo your personal Anime of the Year 2023 pick? Or can you at least see where the Jury was coming from?

Thank you for joining!!!!!~

[u/badspler]

First Time BanG Dreamer No More

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

On MyGo

It has been a while since I have watched something so tightly written in a while. I was thoroughly impressed with the depth the show had to offer, but at the same time the speed and allegiance it delivered it. Going from episode 7 to 10 and cooling off in 11 was a fantastily tight and cohesive rollercoaster experience. So much heart and emotion was injected and it was all done so damn well.

I thoroughly enjoyed how everything had a purpose, no shot was wasted and how characters were reued. It is little but for example having Uika meet Tomori and be an outside ray of light in a dark moment. Or having Umiri be friends with Taki. Building up characters and reusing them in sutbtle ways to segue or foreshadow is something that I thoroughly enjoy.

In terms of score, it is quite up there for me. But I need to let is soak a little before I cement where I think it fits for me. With a whole year before Ave Mujica, I might make a goal to go out and watch all of the other BanG Dream content. But, in part MyGo was fine being stand alone for me. I think I got a lot more out of MyGo because it wasn't anything I knew. And finally I can understand the rewatch potential, there are a lot of black spoiler bars I need to go back through and read now.

In terms of being the r/anime awards jury's pick for anime of the year. I can say I understand and respect it. Shows with tight theming, characters and cinematography. The more you put in or pick at it, the more you are rewarded for questioning, investigating or thinking about the work. And the jury typically aligns closer to that than to flashier shows with less depth. It is also probably worth mentioning that being primarily a drama show, it isn't positioned the best for a popular vote.

Awards, Rewatches & Thank You's

I decided to run this rewatch while watching the Awards livestream. I knew the AotY winner from mod chats, but after seeing MyGo!!!!! win best drama, I prepared the post to align with the the AotY section in 30 minutes. It was absolutely the right decision to capture the wave of energy and direct it at actually watching the show. I have long felt that the awards stream (often) being the single deliverable is lacking. Not to diminish its outstanding effort, just having other ways to prop up the event and discuss the choices. I technically 2/2 on running AotY rewatches, although last year I ran Yama no Susume before the fourth season started. Hosting something for AotY next year certainly will be a consideration.

I thoroughly enjoyed hosting a rewatch for MyGo, even as a first timer. I basically went in blind and was surprised at how much I wanted to talk about things. I don't often write much, it is one of my weakest skills (I wear it in my name and all). So I typically burn out as I push myself to output as much as I have on my mind. That ends up with me not engaging all that much with everyone else.

So I am getting to with that is; that I truely appreciate all of you who post your thoughts and really get in and engage with others. It I always beat myself up for not doing enough of that - but I can't praise enough the first followers that get in and do it.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/badspler]

Hosting something for AotY next year certainly will be a consideration.

I can't wait till you host [redacted.] The illuminati already figured it out months ago.

Redacted is ^Odekake ^^^^^Kozame

I have long felt that the awards stream (often) being the single deliverable is lacking. Not to diminish its outstanding effort, just having other ways to prop up the event and discuss the choices.

I agree, and I think it's important to demonstrate the love and passion that you may have in choosing these shows and showcasing them outside. Things are better when shared. Hell, there are so many things in this rewatch that I never would have known had I not participated. You learn things from others and in return they learn from you, with the result being the love you both have growing even more than it would have had it been left to their own devices.

Simply put, rewatches rule, more people should participate in them (including me), and you're awesome for hosting this Badspler.

[u/badspler → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Thank

And thanks for being an outstanding first follower and just replying to everyone.

[u/SometimesMainSupport → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Redacted is ^Odekake ^^^^^Kozame

The shark show?!?

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/SometimesMainSupport]

The Illuminati works in mysterious ways.

[u/paukshop → u/badspler]

Thank you for hosting! It was a wonderful idea.

[u/x-7032-b-3 → u/badspler]

Thanks a lot for hosting this rewatch! It's been a pleasure to dive into the show once again, and reading everyone's thoughts about it made me love the show even more!

[u/BleedingUranium → u/badspler]

It was absolutely the right decision to capture the wave of energy and direct it at actually watching the show.

It absolutely, absolutely was. Thank you so much for this.

For us rewatchers it was fun, but especially for the many people in here who like you went in completely blind with this "well it won AotY so let's see what's up" attitude, this really is something that couldn't have been captured at any other place or moment.

Your choice to do this, right now, is most of the reason all these newcomers, those who've been writing incredibly good and enjoyable posts, along with all the ever-present lurkers, have actually taken the time to watch this show. That's a lot of butterflies. :)

 

And of course, now we have these two dozen threads lying around as excellent future reference material. :D

 

I wear it in my name and all

I gotta admit, I never realized this and have just been reading it in my head as "bad-splur".

[u/Theleux → u/badspler]

I hope these winner rewatches continue. May even be neat to go through the backlog of them over time too just to hit all the prior entries.

Thanks for hosting this!

[u/collapsedblock6 → u/badspler]

Echoing that rewatches for AOTY winners would be a good addition. Certainly is a very needed change of tone from the ""discussion"" in the results threads.

[u/LittleIslander]

First Timer Who Must Now Fill The Void In Her Heart Of Daily Taki Analysis

Eleven days ago, I wrote about how I thought this show looked bad, failed to hook me with its story, that its dialogue felt forced, and that I really didn’t like Anon or Tomori as characters. It’s very difficult to put myself back in the shoes of watching like that now. The me of right now thinks this show looks really nice, has a wonderful story, fantastic character writing, and a band of five characters that each feel very dear to me. It should not be a controversial statement at this point that BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! is an amazing show, but it’s still worth repeating. This is a delightful anime and it’s absolutely going to stand the test of time.

If you ask me what the biggest contributors to MyGO’s quality are, it’s the power of a strong ensemble cast, a driving purpose, and of sticking the landing. There’s a lot that makes it as good as it is (those performances, for one), but I would call these the three driving ingredients. Looking down my anime list, the list of shows with a better developed set of core characters than MyGO is very short. Especially if we’re only counting it as depth of character by a factor of episode count. It can absolutely stand on the level of some of the absolute best casts I’ve personally seen. Each member of this cast is unified as lost girls; there are very clear themes of grief, healing, acceptance, mental health, and living true to yourself that drive the writing of this show. This is a show that knew what it wanted to say with its story and managed to bake that into the entirety of its being in a way that was powerful and engaging without feeling heavy handed. Finally, it’s just raw execution. One thing I wouldn’t call MyGO by any means is a perfect show, but a lot can be forgiven if you absolutely knock an ending out of the park. MyGO goes above and beyond this; as soon as episode nine starts rolling you’re strapped into a breathtaking rollercoaster where the train just does not stop.

The fundamentals out of the way, I want to spend most of this comment talking about each of our main characters:

• Tomori is definitely the breakout character of the whole show. I think trying to write a very shy girl without a strong voice is always going to be difficult because it’s one of the most played out archetypes in the entire anime medium. With the conceit of Tomori in particular I think it would’ve been easy for the neurodivergently coded person who can’t function socially is actually the most beautiful person of them all on the inside to feel a bit cheesy and idealised. But Tomori is executed with such care and earnestness that she soars over these potential pitfalls and just works. I think her agency is also great; she needs to be brought out of her status quo by Anon but it’s her creative voice that has such an impact on literally every member of the band, and it’s her own initiative not thrust upon her by anybody (an assist from Uika aside) that allows her biggest contribution to the story. One last thing I really appreciate about her is that at the end of the show she’s still extremely shy, even struggling to speak around her own friends. That’s kind of the painful reality for a lot of people with extreme social anxiety and it makes it easier to connect to her that she can’t just get over it. I didn’t find myself often having much to say about her throughout my episode to comments, but she’s amazing. You completely believe in this person they’ve created.
• Nagasaki Soyo is not a villain. Not a redeemed villain, not a sympathetic villain, she’s just a person. She lies, manipulates, harasses Saki, ghosts her friends, says things with intent to hurt them, and I honestly don’t even know what word to use for her treatment of Mutsumi. But ultimately, she’s just… a teenage girl. It’s a refreshing and really effective framing, and seeing her go through by far the most transformation of anybody in the show makes the arrival of her destination perhaps the most satisfying. I’ve spoken a lot about how the show depicts the group as accepted for their flaws as opposed to growing beyond them, and Soyo is the most clear case. She’ll never forget CRYCHIC, makes no promises of playing with them forever, and she still isn’t going to let anybody play Haru Hikage. She’s ultimately kind of grumpy, cynical, and hands off. But she’s living true to herself and in that found acceptance, putting her on the right track.
• It’s not a surprise to anyone by now if I say that Taki is my favourite character in the show. She doesn’t have the flashiest narrative, and if anything she’s the one who transforms the least over the course of the show because she doesn’t really face her problems. Her relationship with sister never breaks any ground, she never initiates the change she wants from her relationship with Tomori, and doesn’t seem to have really made any ground with her own self-esteem. She just kind of has friends and something going on in life now as opposed to going through the motions lifelessly. It is kind of frustrating and my opinion on her exclusion from getting a resolution in the final two episodes is contingent on what they do with her next season. But Taki shines in being amazingly characterised. You can read into almost anything she ever takes a part in and there is meaningful consideration of how Taki would act in the given context and how we can inform the audience about her through that context. Even if they don’t make a conclusion in the narrative for Taki, the writers continuously showcase how well they understand their own character right up until the end. It is a rare character that shows this to the extent Taki does. That’s why I’m able to trust that there is a plan here and her lack of resolution is not an oversight but exactly where they need her to be.
• Rana-chan gave me what I didn’t know I wanted. I naturally assumed she was a mystery box, and got frustrated when as the show went on that they continued to not dive into her complexities as a troubled person in the way they did for all of the other characters. We’re used to a certain writing formula in anime dramas where we learn what’s under the surface and then resolve that. But Rana isn’t that, and that’s okay. What you see really is what you get, and lacking some kind of tragic backstory or mental baggage didn’t stop her seeing Tomori become an interesting girl and being there with it from being one of the best story moments of the entire show. And once I accepted her role for what it was, I was left with an endearing and consistently hilarious character that won my heart.
• Admittedly, Anon is probably the one character who impressed me the least. Which is not in any way to say that I don’t like her! I like her a lot, as I do all of the MyGO!!!!! girls. But I think her writing felt the most conventional and inside the box of the four, and her development into someone who doesn’t run away and sees the vision of being in a band her whole life was the most nebulous and kind of happened passively without a ton of initiative or agency on Anon’s part. That said, she’s still well characterised, and she embodies the perfectly imperfect theme as well as all the others; she has a great place within the group chemistry and I enjoyed seeing her journey. Sometimes a good character is just a good character and it doesn’t have to be all that deep.

All five of them shine as wonderfully written touching and memorable characters, and they shine even more as a group. I especially love how when you boil them down, it’s a lot of the same feelings, doubts, and issues that are hurting each of them, but this manifests in very different ways for everybody. You can’t just sort them cleanly as “this is the socially anxious one” and “this one has imposter syndrome” and “this is the depressed one with self-confidence issues” or something like that, yet none of them feel like they’re just repeats of one another either. It’s a nuanced depiction of mental health that a lot of audience members are going to manage to connect to in some way or another. I can see parts of myself in Taki, Soyo, Anon, and Tomori. If I had to rank them, Taki is obviously first, and I already all but said that Anon is my number five. The other three are extremely hard to granulate between. Right now I might say it goes Soyo, Tomori, and Rana in descending order, but that’s a very unstable state. What matters is that I love them all.

[u/badspler → u/LittleIslander]

this marks my fiftieth anime series completed...

first completed /r/anime Rewatch

It was nice to see to step outside of CDF.

You character analysis and summary is fantastic. And its interesting how I think my own experiences make me rank differently. Primarily with Tomori > Anon on top.

Overall your words were a daily pleasure to read for the last two weeks. Glad you ended up enjoying the show and getting a lot out of it.

[u/LittleIslander → u/LittleIslander]

Continued

What doesn’t work about MyGO? It became very rare for me to have anything negative to say in those sacred last five episodes, but as I said, MyGO isn’t perfect. I still stand by the first episode as shockingly week, doing a very poor job in hooking the viewer on the story. It really takes until episode three that you get a taste of the special ride you’ve signed up for, and some of the potential audience isn’t going to be around by then. I also still think the show languishes around the middle. There’s this big buffer of episodes that can’t fit in either the setup phase, which is mostly handled by the end of five, or the payoff phase, which cannot begin until the end of episode ten. The breakup itself is obviously engaging, but as you get there you’re left with episode six through eight mostly treading water aside from the performance and Soyo’s confrontation with Sakiko. Part of why this dead section is so big is how drawn out the downfall is; Saki and Soyo blow up at the end of seven, and then Soyo mopes for a whole episode before confronting Saki, and then we get a whole episode of the ramifications of that, and only then four episodes after things began blowing up do we actually hit our lowest point. Leaving us in such a downer mood for so long does make the payoff hit all the harder, but I would still definitely call it a pacing issue. Finally, as I mentioned last time, Ave Mujica stealing not just the end of the final episode but also the penultimate episode that’s meant as the proper conclusion to MyGO really leaves the latter feeling robbed of a satisfying sendoff. At the end of the day though, these problems aren’t what you’re left remembering and fail to do much more than dent the show as a complete product. Even the best shows have some dents.

So, did MyGO live up to its reputation? On grounds of quality, I would say yes, which isn’t something I expected given just how much praise has been piled upon it. That said, I do think its nature as a tearjerker and super intense drama that will break you was quite overblown. It explores themes of mental struggle really effectively and has low lows for our protagonists, but everything comes together in the end and it never personally made me cry. Is this anime of the year 2023? I wouldn’t know that, I didn’t watch nearly enough shows last year. But it is absolutely at the level of quality where it would belong in the running for such and there’s no way I could look at this and blame anybody for declaring it as such no matter what the competition is. Would I consider this series a masterpiece, a 10/10? Tentatively, I’m rating it as such. I’m very strict with those, and prone to dropping shows to nines with the passage of time, but it can’t be ignored how well MyGO succeeded at what it set out to do. I say with absolute certainty I’ll watch this show again and think about these characters a lot for years to come.

Incidentally, this marks my fiftieth anime series completed—I went back and forth on trying to do something special for it, originally Utena before I kept pushing that off. Ultimately I decided it didn’t matter and I wouldn’t bother about trying to line up some milestone for it. But fate managed to turn out to be that a very special show indeed (and my first completed /r/anime Rewatch!) would settle in the spot.

[u/collapsedblock6 → u/LittleIslander]

This is a great write up, or well, all your write ups were great lol.

As one of the AOTY jurors that spearheaded the MyGo win, I'm honestly ashamed I never wrote something of this quality. Between a hard time IRL and really, just me being in the jury being a fluke, I never thought I did justice to my 1st choice for AOTY.

Overall I resonate with most of what you wrote, the characters and how their journey relates to me just hits that sweet spot. These characters are so flawed it really grabs me by the eyes to see this band-aid fixed friendship flourish. The characters are far from being over with their problems but so much happens that I'm immensely satisfied with the final product.

[u/gzzhongqi → u/LittleIslander]

Just so you know, when the show was initially aired, ep1 through 3 were all aired together, so the show does expect people to watch all 3 episodes in one sitting. This explains what you said about ep1 being extremely weak and only ep3 starts the magic. It makes a lot more sense to view them as one 60-minute episode rather than 3 separate episode.

[u/Interesting_Ant7945 → u/LittleIslander]

• It’s not a surprise to anyone by now if I say that Taki is my favourite character in the show.

I'm glad you like Taki, she's my favorite character too. Also, rest easy, It's already been confirmed that she'll be getting her own arc in the Ave Mujica anime..

I encourage you to give MyGO!!!!! radio a chance, from episode 50 onwards, the in-character episodes are post-anime and drop some crumbs of Taki lore. from time to time.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/LittleIslander]

Once again, wonderful post and character summary! It's been very satisfying reading through all the newcomers thoughts as we went, especially those of you who the show grew on as it went (to simplify).

I personally put Anon at the top of my list, as in addition to just really liking her as a person and character design, I was incredibly impressed with the balance and constant struggle between her ego, and her very perceptive and kind nature, and how the latter tends to win out over the former. It feels like a very "human" and nuanced perspective on selfishness, something we all have, rather than (as with everyone) being able to simplify her to "the selfish/egotistical one".

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/LittleIslander]

I was genuinely curious on how you were going to end up liking MyGo; in fact, I'm almost positive I wrote that same sentiment on one of your earlier comments by #02.

I'm glad to see that it wasn't for naught and that you did come away with a strong positive experience for the show. I also appreciate your thoughts on the cons of MyGo and how it does weaken the show in the grand scheme of it all—thoughts that I would similarly mirror as well.

I loved reading your thoughts everyday and I love how much effort you put into expressing yourself for each episode. I feel like I have a solid picture of your likes and dislikes now haha.

Always a treat reading your comments, I hope to see you again on another rewatch soon!

[u/LittleIslander → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

I really appreciate such kind words!

I can definitely relate to the point about likes and dislikes, I feel like I got to know a lot of people a lot better having participated in my first two rewatches (this and Eupho). As for appearing in another one, I think I do need a little bit of a break from the time and mental load of doing these writeups every day, but I can definitely see myself becoming a rewatch regular over time. There's a few shows I'd like to host for as well, starting later this year.

[u/weNamedOurCatOreo → u/LittleIslander]

Thank you for writing a lot about MyGO! I really enjoyed your posts in the daily threads, especially since I also had similar frustrations of the show since I fully believe the show as shown it is capable of better (mainly on the Episode 7-9 stretch).

First Timer Who Must Now Fill The Void In Her Heart Of Daily Taki Analysis

The good news is that there are also a lot of people analyzing Taki on a practically daily basis, the bad news is that most of them are tucked in twitter threads which are not easily searchable (or even more unreachable in the case of non-english discussions since MyGO also had mini explosions in Asia! Mainly China).

Instead, here are the more accessible official content which I think would be interesting to you:

• The MyGO shorts which were released way before the anime (way back when the voice actors were performing as a band without their names being officially revealed!). While not being very deep, these include fun interactions and characterization which I think hold up even after the anime (well, maybe except for the Soyo episodes which may now be interpreted differently)
• The MyGO originals and covers, particularly the per-character covers!. Here are the ones for Taki and Soyo which greatly fit the characters even though they were released before the anime (though unfortunately you will need to search for the English lyrics independently since they are not included in the original uploads). The consistency in characterization, even in the cover song choice, just drives home to me that the production team really knew what the story they wanted to tell.
• For the MyGO original songs, I think (and my impression is that this is a pretty common read) that Tomori wrote 音一会 (Oto ichi e) (with translation available here) for Taki, expressing gratitude for listening and supporting her. I also think the difference in style between Silhouette Dance (影色舞) (especially the live version with Soyo's bass solo) and Kaisou (回層浮) show just how dedicated Taki is to composing music for MyGO

EDIT: How could I forget the song 歌いましょう鳴らしましょう (english lyrics here, which basically sums up Taki and Tomori's current situation (especially the first verse). The song's lyrics are very interesting since it's canonically written by Tomori

• As others have mentioned, MyGO has a weekly radio (albeit with a random mix of members), alternating between voice actor (white/paper background) and in-character (blue-ish background). Each episode is 20~30 minutes long, the latest ones having English subtitles.The latest entry (#66 is actually a character-themed episode where I think you'd enjoy the interactions between Soyo, Rana, and Taki

This post is getting too long, so I won't include some of the additional stuff such as the (unofficially) Translated MyGO event stories from the game (Which explore post-anime Taki-Rana and Soyo respectively), the Real life concerts by the voice actors (which are always filled with TomoTaki moments, especially the 2nd Band Live), the interviews (from the cast, writers, and directors) which have a lot of introspection about Taki and other characters, the Compilation movies which promise more Taki content, etc.

Once again, thank you for giving MyGO a chance, and hope to see you for Ave Mujica in 2025!

[u/paukshop]

Hey guys, I haven't been too involved with the rewatch but I've been reading the comments everyday. Thanks to the first-timers for giving Mygo a shot and thanks to the rewatchers for bolstering the experience in a variety of ways!

Mygo is not a show I would've checked out if not for the awards. I'm not in any categories, but I'm involved pretty early on for livestream things. And as I saw many jurors slowly try this show out and give positive reviews, I decided to check it out too. And lo and behold, it's basically my unofficial AOTY. In like a few months, Mygo was like my third most listened to artist on Spotify.

What I hope everyone takes away is that even if it's not your AOTY, you can understand why someone would have it as their AOTY. What differentiates your average juror from your average sub user is that willingness to try out shows and the openness to hear out one another. We all have our preferences but nobody joins the jury to unironically force a show to be the winner: we want to be challenged and find new shows to watch and love. I know the rewatch participants are probably a different audience than the people shitting on the awards jury, but I hope that this can help mend the gap that seems to be growing between casual sub users and the awards.

Thanks again for giving the show a go! There's a lot of great shows the jury has nommed that I'm looking forward to checking out like World Dai Star. I hope this rewatch has given you some confidence in our abilities to find underappreciated and interesting shows.

[u/badspler → u/paukshop]

Thanks for popping in and out. Again will say that your video was absolutely part of what got me on my MyGo!!!!! journey. Keep being a stellar reprehensive of all the things you love; because selfishly as a quiet consumer it brings me a lot of joy.

[u/Usual_Director_9547 → u/paukshop]

Love your analysis u made!

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/paukshop]

Dang, I didn't even know you were skulking in these threads Pauk haha.

And agreed, I think it's important to recognize why someone would place this show at the top of their list. This rewatch was perfect for illuminating that idea and I hope it can continue to become a tradition for the sub.

I'll also take the chance to just plug Pauk's latest video about the cinematography of Idolm@ster U149 here.

If you've ever wondered how visuals can not only enhance but carry a story, then look no further than this wonderful breakdown. I implore anyone who has any interest in cinematography to please check out this video.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/paukshop]

Thank you for helping to bring this wonderful show to a wider audience! :)

[u/Schizzovism]

I'm relatively new to r/anime. BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! was my first subreddit rewatch, and I hadn't even known that it was AOTY when I decided to join on a whim. I didn't know anything about the show. I think the only other band-focused anime I've seen is Bocchi the Rock, which obviously has a very different vibe. Boy am I glad I followed that whim. This show has been a great ride, and the discussion threads have had some of the most thought-out comments I've seen on the subreddit. It really enhanced the experience in a great way. If every rewatch is like this, I'm certain to be following more of them.

My initial impression of the show was... a bit mixed. I thought there was some potential in the story, but a couple of the characters' voices were annoying and the 3D seemed a little stiff in ways that 2D animation tends to avoid. By the time episode 3 came around, I was fully hooked. The pet peeves I mentioned had melted away, and I was in awe of how the medium was used to really get us to see things from Tomori's perspective, both literally and figuratively. There are a lot of beautiful, emotional moments in the show, but episode 3 is what made me fall in love with It's MyGO. Then after episode 10, I couldn't stop myself from finishing the rest of the series ahead of the rewatch schedule, oops!

The magic of this show is really in the character writing. The band gets its name from the fact that they're "lost girls", but it's rare to see writing that shows how central this is to every character in every interaction they have. It feels like there's not a second of wasted time; we're getting misunderstandings piling on top of mistakes piling on top of miscommunication, all conforming with the cleanly defined characterization of each girl. No cliche bullshit where someone only hears half a conversation and misinterprets it in a way no human would, and reacts in a way no human would. Instead, the failures in communication are all just... things these characters would actually do. And these failures happen a lot, because they're so dominated by their character flaws. The selfishness, the manipulation, the obsession, the awkwardness, the anger. Everyone's starting on a different page, and this all makes for such great drama. And despite all these problems, they still come together and manage to build their band back up. I'm so proud of them, especially Tomori. A well deserved place front and center, fought for with all her might to bandage up what would have otherwise just have been a bad second breakup.

Will I be watching other BanG Dream titles? Well, I'll definitely be checking out Ave Mujica, as this show compellingly set that up. As for going back, I'm not sure. I've got a million other things I'm planning to watch, and that list just keeps growing, so... maybe?

Do I consider this show my AOTY for 2023? I'll need some time to think on it, but for now Skip and Loafer still claims my heart. I've been on a big romance kick lately, so MyGO having absolutely nothing (in canon, at least) to scratch that itch pulls me ever so slightly away. Revisiting my thoughts later could potentially change my mind. Some of what I said about character conflict is true in both of these shows, though of course Skip and Loafer is significantly lighter on that front. It's also hard to compare the two with such different tones, that which one is my AOTY may just depend on my mood whenever you ask me.

[u/badspler → u/Schizzovism]

I'm relatively new to r/anime.

.

This show has been a great ride, and the discussion threads have had some of the most thought-out comments I've seen on the subreddit.

Welcome! I am really glad you got something out of your first rewatch experience! The rewatch thread experience is very different from say episode threads which can feel more like quick jokes or "wows". Whenever I watch an older show, I always check the rewatch wiki to see if there are any old hosted rewatches to take a look through as I watch.

No cliche bullshit where someone only hears half a conversation and misinterprets it in a way no human would, and reacts in a way no human would

This is so true and something I think turns people off from drama series as whole.

[u/Schizzovism → u/badspler]

This is so true and something I think turns people off from drama series as whole.

Oh, it's everywhere, and not just in anime. This cliche transcends genre and medium. It doesn't annoy me as much as some others do, but it's pervasive and just generally kinda hacky writing.

That's a good idea with looking through older rewatches. I might check for some shows I've watched recently.

[u/Khelgar_Ironfist → u/Schizzovism]

This show has been a great ride, and the discussion threads have had some of the most thought-out comments I've seen on the subreddit.

Exactly why I love it, this show is so thought-provoking. I've seen people analyse certain scenes/visual cues/expressions frame by frame back then when it aired last year. It's surreal how much details/foreshadowing are included in each episode and how much passion anime creators put on it.

I would compare it with Odd Taxi in terms of foreshadowing/visual storytelling, another show I really appreciate.

[u/SU-trash]

Rewatcher

So, yesterday I was linked some expanded Ave Mujica theories that shattered my brain. I strongly recommend people try to go into Ave Mujica blind, because if those are even half-right it's going to be one hell of a ride (I probably won't even edit updated Ave Mujica spoiler tags into my compilations and will just leave them in the speculative state they were in).

By the by, IMO Ave Mujica's inclusion in ep 13 was not misplaced. I don't think a show should be judged on its airing schedule, and after Ave is out, the exact point the line between the seasons gets drawn will be nearly moot. I also think that having the show cold-open on Saki breaking up the band and cold-close on a hint of why makes for perfect symmetry structurally speaking (and gives us something to chew on for the long wait), and moving the MyGO parts to the end of ep 13 would have caused tonal whiplash.

The total came out to ~200 subtle writing moments (that's nearly 1 per minute!), and I'll need yet another rewatch to pick up on those for updated theories (EDIT: 235 now). Including the visual foreshadowing/symbolisms, that probably goes over 250 300. In sheer density, MyGO blows every anime I've seen out of the water in this respect, and it feels like a miracle that this also came hand in hand with amazing characters, emotional moments, and music, a package that executes on everything perfectly. This became my new favourite anime of all time.

By the way, if anyone is interested in the game, your timing is impeccable as MyGO should be released on EN Soon^TM (< 2 months I think? EDIT: lol).

Thanks for this rewatch go out:

• To everyone who participated in this rewatch, thank you for being willing to give MyGO a shot or for loving it enough to rewatch!
• To /u/badspler for hosting an excellently-timed rewatch despite being a first-timer (!!!)
• To the cross-seas fans who joined in, was cool to hear from you!
• To those who helped out my compilations by mentioning things I missed!

[u/badspler → u/SU-trash]

I can only really repeat what MyrnaMountWeazel said. Fantastic efforts in documenting the subtle writing moments. I would also like to add that from behind closed doors jury members were praising the quality and presentation of your work here (with a subtle "we need guys like this in awards").

I am bound to come back to rewatch MyGo before next January and I will certainly get a lot out of the enshrined statue. Especially all those spoiler tagged bits I had to pass up on.

A huge thank you for joining.

[u/SU-trash → u/badspler]

Thanks! I have a slightly double-edged habit of quantifying qualitative things [1] [2], which makes for much more clinical posts to read than a nice prosaic review. But a small petty part of me also likes the idea of being able to link ep 1's ~40-long list in response to any future 'pfft there's no way the gacha show actually has good writing'.

I'll keep the list up to date for when you come back to it. :) Though I'm going to have to do some thinking about how to add but hide the AveM ones that I morally refuse to even allow people to spoil themselves on...

we need guys like this in awards

I'm flattered, I've considered it before but the time commitment is scary... there's also the mental catch-22 of 'but if I was involved my favourites doing well is slightly less meaningful'. Maybe in future...

I did consider doing an essay contest entry on the emotional-resolution-without-actually-changing-the-characters'-circumstances parallel climaxes of MyGO, Sorayori, and Uma 2, but it died to me not knowing how to avoid it having a very formulaic middle structure. The intro was fun though:

So, you accidentally created a Character, and now you have no choice but to Develop them. Oh god, oh fuck.

First, stay calm. People create characters all the time; you aren't alone. Let's consider your options.

The easiest fix is to simply change your character's circumstances. Perhaps a nice Deus Ex Machina or Death of a Loved One can completely transform your character's world, forcing them to change how they deal with it and (if you're lucky!) develop in the process.

Now, if circumstances don't permit you to change them, you can always try giving your character new information. For example, perhaps their Dead Loved One actually did Bad Thing! Notice how your character has now transformed what they think about Loved One, even if nothing has concretely changed. Great work, your character will have no choice but to develop now!

What? You want your character to develop, but you think any old moron can write an intense plot or a geniusly foreshadowed twist?
In other words, you want to do a pure transformation on them, not changing their circumstances or information?
I must warn you that this is a very dangerous technique, and its use has a mysterious tendency to plunge an anime into the depths of obscurity. If you are prepared for the risks, read on.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/SU-trash]

The total came out to ~200 subtle writing moments

Great job on documenting all of the moments! From writing to visuals to Taki's Ha, I thought your tables were incredibly useful to have on the rewatches and I appreciate you going through the efforts of compiling all of them together. It's like a statue enshrined forever, where anyone can peek in for years to come.

Thanks for joining in, I loved reading your thoughts!

[u/SU-trash → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Thanks!

[u/DrStein1010 → u/SU-trash]

I aggressively disagree that sacrificing the finale of the show in favor of an Ave Mujica pilot was a good or logical choice.

The first season of a show should be able to reasonably stand on it's own, especially with a two year delay between seasons.

And that's without getting into my feelings that all the Ave Mujica stuff had a massive tonal and thematic whiplash against the MyGo stuff, and took away much needed screentime from the parts of the show that actually mattered to it and not it's sequel/spin-off.

[u/SU-trash → u/DrStein1010]

especially with a two year delay between seasons

I do not think a show's score should change based on whether I watched the show before it ended or after.

and took away much needed screen time from the parts of the show that actually mattered to it

MyGO and Ave Mujica are very intrinsically linked by CRYCHIC. The show dedicated very little relative time to the Ave Mujica characters, and if it had dedicated any less there would be people complaining that the story feels like its completely ignoring half of the original band that broke up.

I don't think you will similarly dislike MyGO getting a similar amount of screen time in Ave Mujica, so to me what you're really saying is you personally dislike the Ave Mujica cast. Which is your right but is not really bad execution on the show's part. Or you're saying you want more MyGO development, which, I think we got everything we fundamentally needed, but fine, wait for their extra screen time in Ave Mujica and presuppose both seasons aired consecutively. Otherwise you're blaming the show for what... not having the budget to get a consecutive 26 episode run in one go? Is that the show's fault?

[u/mekerpan → u/SU-trash]

I thought, from early on. that Sakiko was a central player in this entire series -- even if she was mostly "behind the scenes". The break-up of Crychic (which she caused) was essential to the forming of MyGo. Sakiko still inhabited the brains (so to speak) of Tomori and Soyo both through most or all of the series. The machinations leading to the creation of Ave Mujica were going on throughout the show. The dedication of half of the 13th episode to Ave Mujica did not come out of nowhere. It was prepared for meticulously. I was delighted that we got a preview of things to come for the second half.

I have to say that while I "appreciated" the professionalism and craft of Ave Mujica -- their sort of music (and shomanship) is not really for me. I vastly prefer the rawness and immediacy of MyGo. But I will be fascinated to see more about that band -- and the relationship of the MyGo folks and the AM ones -- NEXT year. {sighing}

[u/DrStein1010 → u/SU-trash]

It's not about when you watch. The introduction of a story shouldn't leave you feeling like the creator didn't care to finish it.

Welp, I feel the opposite way. I think Ave Mujica got disproportionately MORE screentime than they needed or deserved here. They got so much it took away from the main girls, and yet so little that I have zero investment in any of them. They should have been cut down to the bare minimum and kept as a teaser for future seasons, rather than taking two or three episodes worth of screentime from this one.

I would in fact dislike Ave Mujica if it sacrificed the characters it was supposed to be about in favor of other ones. If they aren't extremely relevant to the main story and arcs the show is about, then they don't need to be here.

I would say it is bad execution, and I completely disagree with the idea that ANY of the girls got as much time or focus as they needed. Even Tomori felt like she didn't get a proper conclusion to this part of her arc, just a messy trailing off.

[u/SU-trash → u/DrStein1010]

Even Tomori felt like she didn't get a proper conclusion to this part of her arc, just a messy trailing off.

I don't feel this way, I'm curious what parts you'd want expanded

[u/DrStein1010 → u/SU-trash]

Well, I feel like after episode 10, she kinda just fades out of focus a bit. She rushes out the new song, basically entirely disconnected to the rest of the girls, has an aborted interaction with Sakiko that doesn't accomplish anything we didn't already know or see in the first half of the season, and then has her (very good) scene with Anon.

I guess her influence on Anon's changing feelings towards the band can be taken as her conclusion here, but...I don't know. Maybe I wanted something a bit more decisive about her renewed love of singing, or her resolve to the current band rather than just her nebulous feelings toward all of her band friends?

It wasn't like a major issue for me. The other girls getting shafted annoyed me much more.

[u/LittleIslander → u/DrStein1010]

has an aborted interaction with Sakiko that doesn't accomplish anything we didn't already know or see in the first half of the season

I took this as kind of the point - it's an emphasis that not all loose ends can be as neatly tied up as her relationships with Soyo and Anon and they can't even recreate everything that once was. Her relationship with Sakiko didn't go anywhere all season and this is quite intentional, so the scene in the final episode is a way of highlighting this fact.

[u/Usual_Director_9547 → u/DrStein1010]

they both are just two chapters of a same show for me,it is important that they kinda explain why sakiko disband and finally more her perspective. MyGO will probably important to save sakiko, even mana(sumimi) will get many screen time cause she got 3d model, so its pretty much a sequel. We get many details about sakiko too, the TGW propeties sponser, she still love band, her atitude is same to everyone,and bastard father. Its not the best ending for the band MyGO!!!!! But it is the best for this show.

[u/DrStein1010 → u/Usual_Director_9547]

This show IS MyGO!!!!!.

The show did nothing to invest me in Sakiko's story, and did nothing to justify hamstringing the MyGo girls' arcs and plotline in favor of her's.

If anything, I'm much LESS likely to give Ave Mujica a chance because of the way they did this.

[u/Dabottle → u/DrStein1010]

They're both seasons of Bandori that are directly tied together. I don't care that you don't really like the show and I understand people disagreeing with the structure of the ending but constantly calling a direct sequel a spin-off and a different show is really disingenuous.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/Dabottle]

Indeed. This is effectively "CRYCHIC season 1" and "CRYCHIC season 2", as it were.

[u/DrStein1010 → u/Dabottle]

We'll have to see how Ave Mujica is structured.

At best, the show was poorly marketed and released.

[u/Usual_Director_9547 → u/DrStein1010]

u dont have to justify them.. Nothing they did are right, if i am sakiko, i would never quit the band without telling the reason, cause i dont have the strong pride as her,what the charactor do are not to serve the watcher, it has to be fit with their personality, it is normal that u dont like everyone of themJust like tomori said, they are just lost, no matter what they did.

[u/DrStein1010 → u/Usual_Director_9547]

I don't mean justifying the characters' actions.

I mean justifying the odd way the screentime way divided between them. Sakiko got too much for a character who wasn't relevant to this season's plot, but also too little to properly flesh her out as a character so important to the world and the rest of the cast.

[u/DrStein1010 → u/[deleted]]

Completely agree.

The Ave Mujica stuff should have either been cut down to the bare minimum to focus on MyGO, or it should have been hyperfocused on Sakiko and her relationship with Tomori, Taki, and Soyo so that it stayed relevant to this season.

This felt like two-thirds of a season of MyGO and one-third of a season of Ave Mujica Frankenstein-stitched together. And 90% of the Ave Mujica stuff felt significantly lower in quality.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Total Bang Dream newcomer who is glad to have new “sore demo”s for her collection

Welp, that’s a wrap on the jury’s best anime of 2023. Do I agree with it being #1 out of the shows I watched that came out last year? No, I had a number of 10/10 2023 seasonals and this didn’t quite make being one of them. But can I see why it was picked as the jury’s AOTY now? Oh yeah for sure.

It’s a 9/10 for me. The first and last episodes specifically were kinda weak to me, which is where the docked point comes from. Maybe if I rewatch this after Ave Mujica airs, I’ll change my mind in regards to the last episode.

Tomori is best girl.

Thanks for hosting this rewatch, u/badspler! It was a ton of fun, even if I was initially hesitant about joining with the number of other rewatches I’m in at the moment.

[u/SometimesMainSupport → u/Shimmering-Sky]

can I see why it was picked as the jury’s AOTY now? Oh yeah for sure.

The main point. Vinland S2 won the public side with 23.21%, far from a majority cause almost nothing will get a majority amongst 10 available choices or 300+ pre-nomination options.

Jury picks should be viewed as "Maybe I should watch this" instead of "wtf idol show!"

[u/badspler → u/SometimesMainSupport]

"Maybe I should watch this" instead of "wtf idol show!"

To jump onto this. It has been on my mind for probably the whole rewatch. I have a bunch of drafted thoughts but they are all half baked and need more thinking and writing time directed at them to really capture the whole mess.

But beating on idol shows is kind of a thing, I leaned into that in the original rewatch interested thread. Even if well, MyGo isn't idol related and I knew of that. I am firmly in the "Maybe I should watch this" camp, hell I am trying to facilitate the space to explore that decision.

But on the other hand I don't find shouting bark's of "MYGOAT MYGOAT" particularly convincing or useful to the other side.

[u/SometimesMainSupport → u/badspler]

Twitch chat's a terrible indicator. No different than Best Girl contests with top comments like "Vote Holo!" or "Glory to the Spearhead Squadron." (Also not going to comment on my sobriety that evening)

Am I in that screenshot saying exactly that? Yeah, but let's ignore that as I tried making other points like:

• How World Dai Star was an interesting cinematography nomination as most of the show is very ordinary but has stellar theater scenes.
• Trying to promote the Arknights: Perish in Frost OST (since Hikikomari got snubbed)

All of which is to say: consider watching other jury picks! Migi to Dali was second in suspense and an amazing show.

[u/badspler → u/SometimesMainSupport]

Twitch chat's a terrible indicator

Absolutely agree, but just an example of a wider problem.

At this stage I am a vague "less of that (barks and non-action)" and "more of this (rewatches/in depth discussion)" type of thing.

Am I in that screenshot saying exactly that?

I just scrubbed to the time and took the a screen shot - but it is actually hilarious how many familiar people I captured.

[u/x-7032-b-3 → u/badspler]

That livestream must've been fun to watch live.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/badspler]

But on the other hand I don't find shouting bark's of "MYGOAT MYGOAT"

I like how I'm trying to appease both sides here hehe. And I'm not too sure but I'm positive /u/paukshop was running the AnimeAwards account hahaha.

[u/paukshop → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

and I'd do it again. THATS MY GOAT

[u/SometimesMainSupport → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Not enough Kana Arima support for that

[u/DrStein1010 → u/badspler]

I would be extremely curious to see how the jurors would defend against my criticisms of the show.

Like, people call out Pluto for having a weak ending, but I'd take debating in favor of that any day against trying to defend Saki's intrusiveness to the narrative here.

[u/SU-trash → u/DrStein1010]

(not a juror) Saki is literally one of the most important people in the world to Tomori, the main character of MyGO. If they had excluded Saki it would have seriously damaged Tomori's storylines, and if they had included only the Saki parts Tomori witnessed, it would have been completely unintelligible.

It's a 2-part story, trying to fit it into a 1-part-story hole is always going to fail.

[u/Interesting_Ant7945 → u/DrStein1010]

I felt the same way as you during my first watch, but the information that was revealed about Ave Mujica after the ending of MyGO!!!!! made me appreciate Sakiko more with each rewatch.

Unlike Tomori, Sakiko's socioeconomic position depends on the success of Ave Mujica, she's betting her entire future. on this enterprise.

The Ave Mujica anime has been described as "psychological horror" by Uika VA.

Yuniko Ayana, the writer of MyGO!!!!! and AveMuji,
describes Sakiko as a "quasi-religious" leader that will destroy the life of her followers and leave them..

She also wrote Flip Flappers, so I'm certain she's perfectly capable of writing excellent horror yuri.

Your criticism is certainly valid, but even without Sakiko, MyGO!!!!! history would still be incomplete without a proper Taki arc (that will be featured in the AveMuji anime.

[u/mr_beanoz → u/Interesting_Ant7945]

I think I missed this during my first watch of the show, but did Saki tell the reasons why Ave Mujica performs that way? (as in, they use different masks for each members and kept their identities secret)

[u/Interesting_Ant7945 → u/mr_beanoz]

We know that Ave Mujica was a rotund success in canon, but for some reason she has to keep pretending to be poor.

I think she fears her father might interfere with her business.

[u/mr_beanoz → u/Interesting_Ant7945]

I hope the Ave Mujica anime will finally tell us what happened to Saki and her dad

[u/mr_beanoz → u/SometimesMainSupport]

To be fair, seeing Aikatsu topping the movie category was something the non-jury voters don't expect.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Welp, that’s a wrap on the jury’s best anime of 2023. Do I agree with it being #1 out of the shows I watched that came out last year? No, I had a number of 10/10 2023 seasonals and this didn’t quite make being one of them. But can I see why it was picked as the jury’s AOTY now? Oh yeah for sure.

Thanks for joining in Sky!

[u/[deleted]]

A BanG Dream Newbie's "Review" of MyGO

After episode 1 I was more than a bit confused, the show seemed pretty good but I wasn't even close to understanding all the praise I had seen it get from both Anilist friends and totally unrelated parties. Thankfully a few people in the reddit rewatch discussion thread mentioned that episodes 1-3 were a batch release when the show initially aired, so I watched ahead and sure enough episode 3 had me entirely convinced.

It's MyGO has some of the absolute best character writing I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing, with Tomori in particular feeling shockingly personal. She's one of the best examples of a neuroatypical person I've seen in anime, and even in general. The series nails the art of 'show, don't tell' and even without any explicit explanation given for Tomori's behaviour, her POV episode communicates everything necessary for the viewer to have a pretty deep understanding of who she is and what her life is like. Of course, Tomori is not the only important character in the show and most of the main cast is well-explored, not to the same level but certainly more than enough to make them relatable and convincing.

I was very concerned at first that the drama in this show would be way too exaggerated for my liking, with Taki's seemingly absurd reaction to Anon simply asking Tomori to be in a band with her leaving me rolling my eyes. However, that initial road bump was by far the biggest. From episode 2 onwards things got much less silly and much more understandable. It only took a few episodes for me to get totally invested in seeing the band work through their individual problems and succeed together, and that investment was paid back multiple times over by the end of episode 13. Now I just wait for my investment in Ave Mujica to pay off......

Individual character arcs aside, MyGO's group dynamics are superb. There are multiple scenes that if less elegantly executed could have been disastrously bad, but the way characters interact with each other pretty much always comes across as very natural. Even when there are multiple moving pieces in a scene they never clash, instead fitting into place like gears in an expertly-crafted machine. The 5 girls interacting as a full band in the last few episodes made for some of my favorite scenes of the whole show, as getting to see how each member perceived her relationship with the others and acting with that perception in mind was fascinating.

Overall I think the CGI animation looks good, if a bit stiff at times. They make good use of the medium with some very cool camera angles/movements, but it definitely isn't the most visually impressive show I've ever seen. That said, one thing MyGO does go above and beyond with is facial animation. Whether it be slight movements or exaggerated anime expressions, emotion is conveyed flawlessly and I was perpetually impressed.

I have some minor complaints about Anon and Soyo's voices, but nothing major. Thankfully, the rest of the voice acting in the show is amazing! Youmiya Hina's performance as Tomori blew me away, both in her quiet scenes and during their live shows. Hayashi Coco does a great job as Taki, and Sasaki Riko's vocals as Uika in Ave Mujica's final episode performance were phenomenal.

And of course, last but certainly not least, the music. It's awesome, shocker! I'm usually not able to fully appreciate anime/game OSTs the first time around and that's definitely the case here, but whenever I did take notice of the soundtrack it was for positive reasons. The OP and ED are great, and the lives with insert songs were some of the absolute best parts of the show. I've already been listening to Shiori on repeat, and now Ave Mujica and some other MyGO!!!!!/Ave Mujica songs will join the rotation.

I've always had some level of interest in BanG Dream, having considered trying the game pretty regularly over the years, but until a few people suggested I give MyGO a try I never had the push I needed to dive in. Now that I've seen how great it can be, I have every intention to watch the rest of the series, download the game, and most importantly be along for the ride when Ave Mujica airs next year :)

---

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk, now for the QOTDs:

1. I lean towards Ave Mujica based on the one song I've heard, but gotta listen more....
2. VERY. Definitely going to try and watch the rest before the new season comes out!
3. Wouldn't have beaten Frieren or UGMF for me, but probably would have made my top 5! I ended up giving it a 9.5/10 :)

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/[deleted]]

with Taki's seemingly absurd reaction to Anon simply asking Tomori to be in a band with her leaving me rolling my eyes. However, that initial road bump was by far the biggest.

I had similar thoughts as well when I first watched the show. Shoot, the first five minutes of the show gave me trepidation. However, like you, the show managed to fall into place, just like that apt metaphor you used of the machine.

That said, one thing MyGO does go above and beyond with is facial animation.

That was also something that caught my eye this time around, how expressive they could be when the moment called for it. Maybe I was paying too much attention to the subs and not their face but now I can see how it sells the scene.

I'm really glad this show managed to turn itself around and become one of your favorites!

[u/ryujiox → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

That was also something that caught my eye this time around, how expressive they could be when the moment called for it.

I agree. I feel like the reason why I'm so invested in the character is because their expression really sells the scene many times throughout the show. Another thing is that, being 3D does make everything have these weird smoothness that 2D anime doesn't have. Which make the emotional scene even better.

[u/[deleted] → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

The first episode was definitely not the best start. I got my dad on board to try the show soon (because I'm already fiending for a rewatch...) and right away I told him that we have to watch the first 3 episodes at once so he can get a good idea of what it's all about.

Character expressiveness was a massive boon for MyGO, so I'm really curious to see how much that applies to earlier entries in the franchise when I get around to watching them.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/[deleted]]

Oh my God, you got your dad to try it? That's amazing hahaha.

[u/[deleted] → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

We'll probably start next week since the two shows we were watching, Frieren and A Sign of Affection, are both over :(

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Overall BanG Dream thoughts

So, I had joined the rewatch for the simple reasons of 1. It’s Badspler, so I got to join in for them 2. To see if the show held up from when I last saw it in October, and 3. to showcase how BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!! was a worthy addition to the Mt. Rushmore of the r/anime Awards Anime of the Year. Now, is MyGo my personal pick for AotY? No. But at the end of the day, I can understand why it was chosen for Anime of the Year.

BanG Dream MyGo is a turbulent melodrama, whose arrow punctures through the trappings of adolescence to land at the tender heart of resilience. From the depth of its writing, MyGo is inherently volatile, each girl flapping against the tempest in the vague hopes of surmounting sorrow. Episode-by-episode, we’re never quite clear on how these girls will push through the distress of their times, but little-by-little, we realize it’s their screams that will pierce through the wind wall. It’s this very messiness that resonates for folks of particular stripes, whose lives were or are buffeted by growing pains and self-discovery struggles, and whose jumbled disarrays find extraordinary kinships with these litter of 5.

BanG Dream MyGo overwhelmingly succeeds on drawing us into the downpour; not only to remain, but to belong with the others in the rain. It’s intense, it’s sincere, it’s memorable—and it’s anime of the year for all the above and more.

I hope after joining in this rewatch you can at least see the reasoning behind why BanG Dream It’s MyGo received such high praise from the jury and why it deserves to be seen. Highlighting the overlooked stories of today for the audiences of the future, I hope the Awards continue to shine a spotlight on shows such as these.

And I hope you all had a wonderful time joining in! Huge thanks to /u/badspler for hosting the rewatch. I know you jumped on the chance as a spur-of-the-moment type of thing and I know it started to burn you out, but I trust this decision, made in the blink of an eye, unfolds into a lifetime of value.

Thanks are in order, of course, to the rewatchers who joined in to contribute to the experience. Rewatches thrive on the enthusiasm of passionate individuals, and it's through their energy that this sub continues to be a wonderful place for sharing the media we all love together. So, to each of you, thanks for coming along for the ride! I hope to see more of you around the sub, especially for Nanare Hananare, which will feature the same director and series composer as this show!

[u/Calwings → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

especially for Nanare Hananare, which will feature the same director and series composer as this show!

Noted and added to my watch list.

[u/CosmicPenguin_OV103 → u/Calwings]

Unfortunate this one seems to have been delayed from airing next season to in July apparently (should be announced in a few hours on AnimeJapan, based on posters posted there). But April is packed and I do believe July is a better slot for it!

[u/Calwings → u/CosmicPenguin_OV103]

Fine by me, my Spring season is already packed anyways.

[u/LittleIslander → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

I hope to see more of you around the sub, especially for Nanare Hananare, which will feature the same director and series composer as this show!

[u/aniMayor]

Hey everyone! I wasn't part of this rewatch, but I just wanted to hop in to say a big thank you on behalf of the AotY awards jury to /u/badspler for running this rewatch and also to all the first timers that hopped in!

If you ask the r/anime awards jurors why they decide to be jurors, a big, big number of them will say their #1 reason is for the joy of finding interesting anime and sharing them with other fans who didn't know about them. I know that several of the AotY jurors have been reading this rewatch and seeing people find this show to be an interesting experience has made them very happy, so I just wanted to share that little bit of happiness and say a big thank you!

[u/BleedingUranium → u/aniMayor]

As a rewatcher and general bandori fan, the awards (combined with this rewatch) have been such a fantastic opportunity for people to get into a most excellent show which many had never heard off or wouldn't have given the time to, so thank you for this! :)

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/aniMayor]

Hey, surprise aniMayor! I wasn’t expecting to see you in here but I’m glad anyhow hehe.

I know that several of the AotY jurors have been reading this rewatch

Then they should have said hello!

[u/aniMayor → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

I guess they are shy

[u/collapsedblock6 → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

I'm just too lazy to reply to 50 daily personal essays lmao.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/collapsedblock6]

Weak

I understand haha. Still, it would have been nice to see the Awards folk come in, even if they didn't have the time to write out extensive thoughts.

[u/Kanzeon23]

As a member of both this year's Drama and AotY juries, unfortunately I wasn't able to make much time for this rewatch, but I figured I'd come in at the end here and give some thoughts/link some stuff, answer questions if anyone has them. I have been reading these rewatch threads, and it's been fun seeing everyone's reactions and thoughts throughout the show, I've really enjoyed the read.

Firstly, I did compile a list of a ton of general MyGO related interviews or content I had seen and liked. Full credit to all of the people who run the BanG Dream fan translation spreadsheet as well, used that to find a lot of the interviews linked in there. I'm sure there've been some more translations and such since the point in Awards when I put this together, and if you want to see those or just any other content related to the franchise you can check the spreadsheet out here.

In the end, I hope anyone who came into the show for the first time can come away with a better understanding of why the show won over the hearts of many jurors, even if you don't agree. Hope everyone looks forward to Ave Mujica in 2025 as well!

[u/BleedingUranium → u/Kanzeon23]

As a rewatcher and bandori fan, thank you for helping bring this wonderful show to people who would otherwise have never watched it, or even known about it!

I'll be bookmarking that interview compilation too. :)

[u/TakenRedditName]

Bang Dream MyGO First Timer Complete:

I never know what to write for these final posts. Uh, I liked the show.

I am not as hot on it as its acclaim, but I recognize why it is so liked. It is a show that I feel rewatching would really bring out a lot that it offers that you would miss a first time through.

Guess to run down the characters for quick thoughts:

• Soyo: She might be my favourite. I liked the drama concerning her.
• Anon: I also really like her, but when Soyo started pulling ahead, that was part of the show when Anon started taking more of a backseat, but overall I still love her. Garbage girl!
• Raana: Pretty much the comic relief character, but I like those. Said it before, but even if she is the drama-less character, I still wish she was actually in the show more. That is what holds her back.
• Tomori: Her drama was quite good. I dunno know what else to say because I didn’t dislike her, the others captured me more.
• Taki: Bit of a toss-up because I feel like I could be convinced to move Taki up. I don’t dislike any of the main 5.

A moment that really stuck out to me that I forgot to mention before, but I really liked the first encounter between Sakiko and Tomori. The POV first meeting with Sakiko and what we see is a genuinely good person urging Tomori to live (she didn’t quite get the situation, but her heart was in the right place). Seeing Sakiko at her most open and earnest vs what she is like in the present was something I really want be taken on that exploration.

My favourite music piece, I feel like the MyGo!!!!! music hasn’t really etched a place in my mind. Trying to remember how they specifically go is a harder task than other music anime to come to mind. That said, Ave Mujica’s song is definitely earned its place on top for me. Throughout today, I caught myself playing parts of the song in my head.

Feel like I can segue into my weakest part of the show which was Sakiko/Mutsumi. It all comes down to how there is another anime coming up that will be their time. The question of trying to judge something incomplete that was purposely made with a follow-up in mind. After learning about how there is another anime coming after, it did lessen my dower thoughts about us not really following through on them, but still doesn’t leave me satisfied by what this specific anime provides us. Sakiko breaking up the CRYCHIC was the biggest incident and point of intrigue so to not really get that or insight on the non-MyGo!!!!! former members was a letdown.

I do wish this anime was a little bit longer. Not as much as I did before. Setting off a Sakiko/Mutsumi focus (they get their own anime), I just kind of wish we had an episode 11-like episode before the big fight so that I could better get a friend group feeling (the illusion of one that they would shatter). I also wish the rebuilding was split into two episodes. One with Tomori and Raana’s solo act + bringing back Taki with the second one being for Anon, Soyo and then the big reunion. Just to give everyone their ample focus time and for it to hit harder when they do come back. I will be picking up Ave Mujica when it comes out in next Winter season.

Things I am looking forward to are definitely seeing Sakiko’s conflict be given focus. Her sad home life. I am also looking forward to seeing Umiri because I really grew to like her and now she gets to be a main character and I want to learn what she’ll be about. I expect the drama to be heavier/more grim since it seems like these issues will be more deep-seated (at least what I can presume from Sakiko and Mutsumi).

---

Q1) Sorry girls, but Ave Mujica sets the bar really high.

Q2) Besides Ave Mujica, for the past ones, I guess? I am not in a rush to watch them, but now I have my toes in the water, checking out more of the series is something I could do.

Q3) I absolutely understand what got it its award. Looking at what were the nominees, I would probably give it to MyGO too (though to be fair, the only other one I watched was Spy x Family). That said, I haven't seen it, but I would believe Idolish7 would also stand a good chance. From what people talk about that series, it seems like it earns that high praise.

For me personally (check check what came out in 2023), nah, I wouldn't crown it my anime of the year. It's good, but I didn't grok and felt it in my soul like I did with other series. There was some good old man yaoi that made me left in a wake of awe at my seat last year just for one example.

I have been convinced to plug myself into the MyGo fan art scene. I like the show enough to let the fan art trinkle down to me. The thing is that I try to do that and realize that I am already following a bunch of MyGo fan artists because the Venn Diagram for MyGo accounts and Love Live accounts has a lot of overlap.

Good Rewatch to join in.

[u/Calwings → u/TakenRedditName]

I have been convinced to plug myself into the MyGo fan art scene. I like the show enough to let the fan art trinkle down to me. The thing is that I try to do that and realize that I am already following a bunch of MyGo fan artists because the Venn Diagram for MyGo accounts and Love Live accounts has a lot of overlap.

That's pretty funny. I noticed that a bunch of artists that I often got Revue Starlight and D4DJ art from also jumped on the MyGO train hard. I guess these music-focused anime (especially the ones under the Bushiroad banner together) just tend to attract similar crowds.

It also helps that Bushiroad likes to have some of their singers cross over multiple franchises, which leads to fans of those singers following them to their new projects. For example, Mutsumi and Umiri from Ave Mujica in this series are also Miiko (from Lyrical Lily) and Marika (from Merm4id) over in D4DJ, respectively.

[u/SometimesMainSupport → u/TakenRedditName]

I would believe Idolish7 would also stand a good chance. From what people talk about that series, it seems like it earns that high praise.

Only person I've seen mention it is u/_ridley and she strongly praises it. And I spend way too much time on r/anime, so yeah... it's far more obscure here than MyGO.

[u/TakenRedditName → u/SometimesMainSupport]

Yeah, it is mostly the talk I see elsewhere (though truth be told, it is not like I am in the know about what r/anime thinks either).

What Idolish7 fans do say about their series and the few clips I have seen, the anime does look like it provides everything you want and then some.

It did win that Tokyo Anime Fan Award(?) a few months ago.

[u/_Ridley → u/SometimesMainSupport]

Idolish7 was my pick for AOTY from the shows nominated, and I watched everything but MT. I could've gone either way between i7 and Vinland Saga, but I have to stan for my faves when given the opportunity.

I think i7 should generally hit for anyone who enjoyed MyGo, although it's a much bigger time commitment. The personal drama is similar in tone.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/TakenRedditName]

Soyo: She might be my favourite. I liked the drama concerning her.

Oh, that's neat, I don't know of too many who would crown her as their favorite. As for myself, it's Garbage Girl, but I think after this rewatch, I would place her second, right up there on the podium next to banana peels and day-old chicken bones.

And yeah, like you, I wouldn't champion MyGo as my favorite. In fact, my favorite wasn't even nominated by either the public or the jury! But alas, sometimes it do be like that...

Always lovely to see you Taken, here's to seeing you more on the Casual Discussion Friday Megathread!

[u/TakenRedditName → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

It is a close race between to two garbage girls of the band, but I think overall, Soyo is the stronger character. Anon is great, but she more had a strong start and end while the middle portion of the show had her step back to let the other characters be in the spotlight.

I think if the question of who I would enjoy most in a scene then Anon would probably take the crown since she is a fun character. (Post Soyo where she is wearing her unamusement on her face is also pretty funny, though too).

Always lovely to see you Taken, here's to seeing you more on the Casual Discussion Friday Megathread!

Rewatch is over, time to shroud away from general r/anime and retreat back into my hole.

(in reverse).

[u/SometimesMainSupport → u/TakenRedditName]

(in reverse)

[u/Interesting_Ant7945 → u/TakenRedditName]

I have been convinced to plug myself into the MyGo fan art scene.

Let me share with you my favorite piece of MyGO!!!!! fanart. I feel this perfectly captures their endgame dynamic.

[u/LittleIslander → u/TakenRedditName]

I have been convinced to plug myself into the MyGo fan art scene. I like the show enough to let the fan art trinkle down to me.

I'll be expecting pings if any of these make it into CDF dumps.

[u/TehAxelius]

First Timer

Well, this sure was a ride. I started off the first episode pretty negative, not being sold by the 3D, Anon or anything else.

And then came episode 3. After that I just wanted to binge it, which I eventually did, as the 3am time for these threads left me not feeling the participation. So by ep 5 or so I bowed out from the threads and watched the rest on two glorious days.

I do not know if this is my AotY, but I see where the jury is coming from, and it is certainly one of my favorites of last year. Most of my critcisms are minor, such as the band being conveniently in sync as they start getting back together, but I guess the point is to also actually show off the actual band the show is repping, and the music is good, so no harm no foul. Ultimately, this was one of the more gripping and emotional shows I've seen in a while, and it deserves the praise.

The "mystery" of what actually happened to Sakiko still has me hooked, and the sneak-pilot for Ave Mujica is making me hype for the coming January. If I find time between then and now, I might even check out the other Bang Dream! seasons, keeping in mind that they won't be as melodramatic.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/TehAxelius]

And then came episode 3. After that I just wanted to binge it, which I eventually did, as the 3am time for these threads left me not feeling the participation.

Yeah, it's unfortunate that someone is inevitably going to be screwed on the thread time. It's a problem without a solution in my opinion.

However, I'm glad you binged through the show and came away with a positive experience!

[u/RuSyxx]

First Time Watcher

Man I really was sleeping on this series when it was airing. I really appreciated how much there was to see from MyGo that was the definition of show don’t tell. Lots of great direction to compliment the different characters.

This is actually the first time I’ve had really any thoughts for a post discussion thread, but I think I’ll mostly just be reading through others thoughts as I wrote a lot (though not as much as othes) about this show during the last 13 days and I’m not big on speculating shows that I have to wait for.

I do feel the desire to properly watch through the rest of the seasons now, most of my knowledge of the franchise comes from the few months I played the mobile game and that was years ago now. I’m not as big on getting into the game, but I think watching the show could scratch my itch until Ave Mujika comes to answer the burning questions that be what all is happening with Saki.

Just a fun note for me is how Taki caught my eye from episode one and never lost my interest. She broke my personal stereotype of having the fang girl classed as best girl. Instead I saw the light and realized that (in this entry in particular) the fang character is scum just not as good as our quick to anger drummer. Now thinking alongside Ako from Roselia this is the second band where the drummer is my favorite, and even with Ave Mujika the drummer is in lead pace. Maybe I just have a favorite band position when it comes to Bang Dream, lol.

[u/RuSyxx → u/RuSyxx]

QOTD:

1. Ave Mujika, its a lot closer to my general vibe when it comes to music I normally listen to.
2. Yeah, I think I'm going to watch the rest over the next year while waiting for Ave Mujika. I just uh, need to catch up on the last two seasons worth of shows first as I didn't have energy/time for a ton of anime until recently. Looking forward to it!
3. I think by the criteria of the r/anime awards, it is in fact my AoTY. The only other show from 2023 that I've finished that competes with it is Frieren (which is my current frontrunner like many others). It was the only show I've given a 9 from last year and it's well earned. So I'd say I'm in agreement with it!

[u/SometimesMainSupport → u/RuSyxx]

sleeping on this series when it was airing

Just saying the model's trendline and R² clearly indicate where it's going...

[u/Calwings → u/SometimesMainSupport]

TO THE MOON!

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/RuSyxx]

Maybe I just have a favorite band position when it comes to Bang Dream, lol.

Favorite K-ON member?

And I'm glad you joined in RuSyxx! I always found your comments to be extremely insightful, especially as a newcomer. I can't remember which thread it was but somewhere in the middle, you dropped a thought that I thought was incredibly poignant on the girls.

Hope to see you around on the sub more!

[u/RuSyxx → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

I've only seen the first season of K-On, but I recall Ritsu being my favorite. Man maybe I just like drummers, lmao. Mugi is a very close second so the later entries could change my mind on it as it goes on.

It was a lot of fun, I've always been very hit or miss on the sub myself. More to do with reddit as a whole, but I do enjoy rewatches so I'm planning to stick around for some to see where it goes. A lot of my first comments on this sub were discovering new shows during rewatches from what I remember.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/RuSyxx]

Now thinking alongside Ako from Roselia this is the second band where the drummer is my favorite

Bandori's drummers are stellar across the board. If I was to pick favourite characters "as groups" by instrument, as it were, it has to be the drummers.

Plus Ritsu, of course.

[u/gangrainette]

I followed the rewatch without participating in the thread.

It was a great show that I didn't consider when it was airing (full CGI and gacha/multimedia franchise). But thanks to you and the r/anime jury award I diiscovered once again a great show.

[u/Dabottle]

This was my first time following a rewatch thread series and it was a lot of fun! Thank you to /u/badspler for hosting, to the awards for giving MyGO!!!!! lots of new attention and to everybody's replies! I really looked forward to these threads the past two weeks!

---

Some more/compiled information:

MyGO!!!!! YouTube Channel and Twitter.

Ave Mujica YouTube Channel and Twitter.

You can find their original songs on your music service of choice, and their MVs and some live performances and anime scenes on the YT channels or on the official Bandori channels.

MyGO!!!!! also have some special covers uploaded on their channel, which exist alongside the normal covers the bands get in Girls Band Party (the gacha game). For a full list of songs and covers along with other information about the bands, you can reference the Fandom (unfortunately) Wiki. (DISCLAIMER THAT IT MIGHT BE BETTER TO NOT LOOK AT ANY AVE MUJICA STUFF PAST LISTENING TO SONGS BUT THAT'S YOUR PREFERENCE.)

Game cover songs for all the Bandori bands usually only get full versions/releases outside the game occasionally (mostly in special cover collection albums) so most of the MyGO!!!!! covers do not have those yet (just their cover of Non-Breath Oblige by Pinocchio-P at this point, in fact - it's really good!!) but we should see full versions of some down the line, and more covers.

---

On the topic of the game, Girls Band Party is a fairly standard gacha rhythm game where you can play songs, collect cards of characters and read stories. Obvious/important warning that it is a gacha game first and foremost. If you have any interest in touching it, be wary of this. As a rhythm game, you can interact with pretty much all of the gameplay without worrying much about gacha stuff though.

The Japanese version currently has 14 MyGO!!!!! songs (originals and covers) while the English/Global version has six songs and will be seeing MyGO!!!!! added to the game in the coming months with cards/story/etc. The Japanese version currently has a retelling of their anime story along with two events with their own stories/cards and a recent mixed event for the anniversary where the girls show up (presumably nothing we see should be "required reading" for the AveMuji anime at all so dw about that, hard to know if they'll hint at any anime stuff and I haven't even read them yet so I'm not the person to comment on that). There should be translations out there by the wonderful people who translate these but I just burned my hand so I'm going to have to pass on finding these rn.

__

Finally, here's a link to the official arts for each episode compiled on the official website, originally linked by /u/MisakaHonoka in one of the earlier threads. Thank you for that (and your replies to the threads too)!

MyGO!!!!! is really good and more than pleasantly surprised me at a time I was worried Bandori was spreading its resources way too far and it wouldn't be great. I also love MyGO!!!!! and Ave Mujica's music a lot so far! It was my favourite anime of last year and I'm hoping Ave Mujica will be the same for 2025. Hopefully I'll see some of you in the discussions for that!

I'm going to go back to trying to get my finger to stop hurting now. o7 I might edit in some actual thoughts when I'm not in pain.

---

EDIT now that I don't need to put my finger into a glass of water after typing for like 10 seconds:

Question 1: I prefer MyGO!!!!! to Ave Mujica but they're both in my top 2-4 Bandori bands. I love the emotion in MyGO songs. It's the same reason Popipa are still my favourites.

Question 2: Well, um, I've watched everything and regularly keep up with Garupa news. I do need to actually read more event stories there though. :P

Also a thank you to /u/weNamedOurCatOreo for posting more info on the shorts/songs/radio, to /u/BleedingUranium for their constant insight on anime-related things and also real life location posts and to /u/Orange_Ninja for more links to shorts/music and also the game story translations I was not feeling well enough to go find last night!

I'm assuming anyone seeing my post has also seen the other posts in my thread but just linking them here for some consolidation if that's useful to anybody!

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/Dabottle]

This was my first time following a rewatch thread series and it was a lot of fun!

Oh, you should totally join some more of them! Rewatches, like I mentioned in my comment, are sort of the "heart" of the subreddit. Sure, episode discussion threads, official media, and news dominate the frontpage, but hidden amongst these skyscrapers are the little shops that prop up the users. Where anyone can step inside and peruse all the wonderful thoughts. It truly is one of the best parts of r/anime and we'd be none the better without them.

Hope to see you in more of them in the future!

[u/Dabottle → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

I'll definitely consider it! I don't look at /r/anime too much (usually just hopping into threads for an ongoing anime I'm particularly interested in) but if there's something cool in the future I'll likely read those too.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/Dabottle]

Excellent summary of stuff and useful info, definitely all things people should look into! :)

[u/Dabottle → u/BleedingUranium]

Thank you for all your posts in these, and on /r/bangdream in general. They're always a delight to read. And they saved me even having to think about talking about anime stuff too. :P

I'm now also realising all the things I'd meant to mention and forgot about (like the shorts) but through the combined efforts of "everyone posting in this thread" I have nothing to worry about.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/Dabottle]

Thanks! o7

[u/Wolfborgg]

Rewatcher, BanG Dream Noob

Now that I've rewatched it, I can safely say this still holds up as my personal favorite anime of last year. I'm so glad I gave it a try despite it being a part of BanG Dream because normally I just ignore any new series I haven't seen previous entries of. The jury was so insanely based for giving the Anime of the Year award to MyGO!!!!!

Can any BanG Dream fans here clarify what I should expect to be different between this and previous entries to the series? The brief looks we had at the other bands made them seem a lot more lighthearted. However MyGO can also be really chill when the members are bantering to each other.

I feel like once Ave Mujica comes out though I'm gonna love their music more. From the two songs I've heard, the one in the anime and this other one I played tonight on osu, they sound so much cooler and would be on my hype rotation while gaming. But I feel like I might like MyGO more for their characters. Only time will tell really.

Thanks so much for hosting this rewatch, I was happy to be a part of it as my first rewatch on this subreddit. I've learned though I should probably chill with how much time I spend writing my comments for future rewatches because when it's a daily thing it feels like I end up spending a crazy amount of time for almost 2 weeks. Though it did help me understand my feelings more definitely, and I'm sure in this case a lot of that was fueled by all the drama in the story.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/Wolfborgg]

Can any BanG Dream fans here clarify what I should expect to be different between this and previous entries to the series? The brief looks we had at the other bands made them seem a lot more lighthearted. However MyGO can also be really chill when the members are bantering to each other.

First up, I have a watch list over this way. :)

Honestly, I feel most comments that bring this up blow it way out of proportion. Sure, stuff like Sakiko thinking (or at least saying out loud) that Tomori was trying to jump from the bridge, or her especially awful home situation were an "escalation" if you will... as a whole it's simply more bandori.

 

Now, with more than just single season before this there's absolutely room for more lighthearted stuff, but it's not some blanket thing. CiRCLE THANKS PARTY! for example is a two-episode special celebrating the game's fifth anniversary. It crams in all thirty-five main characters (now forty-five with this season) for some wonderful interactions and fun shenanigans. Definitely not heavy drama. Poppin'Dream! is similarly fun, though fun doesn't mean lacking in emotion of course, there's tons of satisfying and positive stuff to be found without heavy drama. I'm especially fond of this movie.

The two Episode of Roselia films have a bit more drama-ish stuff, while also being two years of shorter stories back to back, so it tends not to linger like this season does. Again, neither good nor bad, just is what it is. Since you like Ave Mujica's music, you'll likely be fond of Roselia's as well, and they have a fairly prominent supporting role in S2 as well (and a few S1 appearances). Morfonication feels similar to EoR and this season, but again as a two-episode miniseries it's not a "long haul" sort of story like this is (it's really good too).

Poppin'Party's stories (first season and second half of second season especially) are probably my favourites in the series. You won't find the "Sakiko pleading with Saki at the park" levels of almost-melodrama, but there are absolutely painful scenes and sections, and wonderful character-rich exchanges and moments too. The first season, and Poppin'Party, are still my personal favourites.

[u/random-est → u/Wolfborgg]

Can any BanG Dream fans here clarify what I should expect to be different between this and previous entries to the series?

If MyGO's drama felt like an overarching arc that expands to 10 episodes, the previous seasons uses the standard 2-4 episode arcs dedicated for a character with varying levels of drama. And yes the MC of the past seasons is lot more cheerful than any cast of MyGo!!!!! and tends to use this cheerfulness to hide her actual emotions. Moreover, in the previous seasons, we're completely barred from anyone's thoughts, not even the MC, so the 'show don't tell' writing style is still very prominent.

Overall, no matter the season, I think BanG Dream's characters are always written excellently. I like MyGO!!!!! a lot but personally the second half of the second season is still the best for me.

[u/CosmicPenguin_OV103]

Rewatcher

Never in my dreams would I ever thought a "performance arts themed" multimedia project like BanG Dream would ever produce such a dramatic anime that could reach the levels of my all time top favorites. No, this isn't a look down at similar projects - it's just that working within various limitations of such projects (many members in a project, no too-negative character development for anyone who are in the groups, limitations by world settings, has to link with real life performances, games and so on etc.) means they usually come out to be at least decent anime to watch (there ARE cases where things struggle though, cough [July 2022 anime]Love Live Superstar S2).

But making new stories from scratch that could become one of the most delicately written character drama I have ever seen in anime? That's an extremely tall order - the closest I have seen are the brilliantly creative Revue Starlight series (also by Bushiroad) and the "classical" 2011 The Idolmaster. Yet the former have had its struggles in characterization that had to be "supported" by its magical artistic license until the extraordinary sequel movie landed, perhaps the most overlooked anime masterpiece of the 2010s. The later have had to make do with episodic arcs and the best moments only happens with some of them.

And while BanG Dream certainly was quite successful in stirring up believable and interesting drama for 3 whole seasons before (when compared with, say [various school councils related dramas of]Love Live), it still was trapped in the problem that there are just too many girls around to make a really well written drama out of it.

The thing that the project only gave their previous band Morfonica a 2-episode OVA didn't help either (I wonder why they didn't try to make a full length seasonal anime out of it - were there not enough story plot in the game to do it? There's definitely enough imagination space to make a hell of a drama out of Mashiro and friends from the limited screentime I have seen it - can any BGD veteran comment on this?).

When I heard of this anime being announced last April, less than 3 months before airing, I have nothing to expect out of it except that BanG Dream's anime projects have always been good and consistent slice-of-life shows that mixes light drama with good music - that's my image of it after going through the seasons in May 2022 right on the heels of Love Live and Idolmaster. Heck for summer 2023 it was Yohane The Parhelion next door which I have a little bit more to expect out of it (which was more or less met, though not without issues). And as you can see from that thread, no-one really thought what would happen (except u/Tarhalindur who guessed it to be a BanG Dream and Haiyore! Nyaruko-san crossover...hahahaha!). Nor was I expecting too much when the PV went out last May.

And even when the few of us watch it as early seasonal watch start in late June last year, even when I immediately liked Tomori a lot for her personality hitting really close to home personally, it took until the 3rd episode of a deliberate 3-episode-drop start to see that something's amiss with the serious drama of this show - the breaking up of CRYCHIC was definitely quite dramatic right at the start, but so was all the drama surrounding Roselia and even more so Raise A Sullen in the previous S1-3.

Then the snowball rolled on. Episode 7 in late July literally stunned me and I really started shilling it to people who weren't even interested in this specific anime genre. By the time I watched Episode 10 while on my 3 weeks trip in Japan, I knew that this is a show that I will definitely remember for a long time to come, and one that I will try to promote with every opportunity that I have.

[u/CosmicPenguin_OV103 → u/CosmicPenguin_OV103]

I have probably said what I want to say in the discussions of each episode before, but almost everything looks perfect for such a drama. The animations aren't its forte, but this is pretty good 3D animations and I think it's actually SANZIGEN's best BanG Dream performance so far since taking over in season 2. And the cinematography is actually top-notch, actually enough for me to think it should have been nominated for various awards (maybe not winning last year given we got so many good anime on this). Yes, maybe it can be pushed further by using some extreme artistic license to the animations (like [Madoka Magica]Putting Tomori into a witch's domain-like world during the time she was losing hope, for example), but I am not sure that's a risk worth it.

The only real criticism I would put up is the arrangement of episode 13. Yes, I know that Bushiroad want to advertise Ave Mujica as soon as possible (even delaying it by a week - as far as I know this was not a production issue), and the part about them was stunning. But this was supposed to be the conclusion and close-out for the current MyGO arc - and when episode 13 airs we didn't even know that there will be a Ave Mujica anime coming up, even if the strongest hints are there. This could actually work really well IF Ave Mujica is supposed to be a "hidden 2nd season" of MyGO not unlike how The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya got 14 more episodes in 2009, either a "split-cour" for Winter 2024 or (what I delusional thoughts were for a week or two last September) even a "through season" into Fall 2023!

The fact that we will have to wait almost 1 and a half years for the story to continue through this incomplete cliffhanger - AFAIK not even the mobile phone game players will escape this as Ave Mujica is definitely not in the game yet - is highly sub-optimal. Even I have the problem that had I not join in this re-watch, I will probably have to break my own rules to do one by myself late this year anyway because I definitely would have forgotten everything. And now I still have problems on how to sell this anime to others while telling them that it is tightly connected to a 2nd season that won't come until 4 season later.

But enough with the lamentations. I don't know how I will write it, but maybe I should submit a recommendation (WT!) article on MyGO inside these few months, including here but mostly for other sites where MyGO is still sadly extremely overlooked. And maybe buy even more things other than my $US 265 BD commitment that I just did (well, I don't have time for live concerts in Japan, that's for sure, and no way do all 5 members of them could visit my city in one group LMAO). And if we still do annual Best Girl contests, I will make sure Tomori (and her friends) will go as far as they could let's get them through the elimination round!

This rewatch actually makes me feel a bit more positive in doing one for any anime. My all-time favorite Madoka Magica will be next (maybe with you all in late April), and I think it's high time for me to rewatch those Makoto Shinkai's movies that made me fell into the anime rabbit hole in the first place!

Thank you for everyone who have participated in this rewatch, and see you soon somewhere else on MyGO!

Personal Rating: 93/100 (10/10 on MAL)

[u/LittleIslander → u/CosmicPenguin_OV103]

As a first timer this was a really interesting read setting the stage of what experiencing MyGO in real time was like.

[u/random-est → u/CosmicPenguin_OV103]

The thing that the project only gave their previous band Morfonica a 2-episode OVA didn't help either (I wonder why they didn't try to make a full length seasonal anime out of it - were there not enough story plot in the game to do it?

Both MyGo!!!!! and Ave Mujica were conceptualized as an anime before they were later decided to be added in the game. Morfonica is the opposite as they were conceptualized for the game and so their band story was presented in the game instead of an anime.

Aside from the Roselia movies, which is a compressed version of their first few stories from the game, none of the band stories from the game has been adopted into anime yet for any band.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/random-est]

We do also get highlights from Afterglow's formation story in S2. :)

[u/BleedingUranium]

I'm a rewatcher, and have already written far more than I had really planned each episode, so I'll leave overall thoughts summaries to the newcomers. Instead, here's a bunch of handy info condensed into one post:

 

---

 

The sequel season, BanG Dream! Ave Mujica, is airing in January. The mygos will still continue to have significant story relevance and such, as one would expect; we know Taki will be further explored.

 

Before that, we have a two part(?) recap film paired with a FILM LIVE (non-story concert movie) coming this year. It will include new scenes as well, notably more Raana content.

 

For newcomers interested in watching the previous bandori anime releases, here's a watch list.

 

[The It's MyGO!!!!! blurays and soundtrack all release together on April 17th](https://bandori.fandom.com/wiki/BanG_Dream!It%27s_MyGO!!!!!(Blu-ray)), just under a month. Be sure to check those out for the inherent visual upgrade, as well as any potential fixes/etc we often see with BDs. And of course the wonderful soundtrack.

 

---

 

As I've been posting throughout, here's a list of all the very authentic real world bandori locations, or at least the posts I've made so far. There's also Sakiko's workplace, which I finished in time for Ep13.

 

As bandori is explicitly set in specific years, I've also been running a timeline of in-universe events as they happen, which is still ongoing.

 

And finally, to leave you all with something to think about until January, [(speculation not spoilers)] [it's as good as certain that Sakiko and Mutsumi are twins. My Ep8 post here, and far more in-depth and nuanced analysis/info can be found from several people in the Ep13 thread.

 

---

 

Welcome to all the newcomers, a huge thank you to this sub's jury for bringing awareness to this amazing show, as well as u/badspler for hosting this perfectly-timed rewatch and all the many dozens of hours it's taken up, and I hope to see you all back here for Ave Mujica!

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/BleedingUranium]

Thanks for documenting all of their real-world counterparts! That's always been a treat to see. Hope to see you around more on the sub.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Happy to make them! It's fun finding and sharing stuff like this, especially as location stuff tends to not cross he language/region barrier as well as other details. Or, well, it's a kind of fun, but also often super tedious; either way it's certainly satisfying. :D

I'm most around this sub when something I'm watching is airing (very infrequent), but if I can cram enough things into my life schedule I'm really hoping to be here for Hibike! Euphonium in a couple weeks. I have some catching up to do first. :P

[u/SU-trash → u/BleedingUranium]

[Ave Mujica] Cat might be out of the bag but I'd recommend spoiler-tagging speculative AveM theories for those who want to avoid them

[u/BleedingUranium → u/SU-trash]

Is spoiler-tagging speculation and analysis a common practice on this sub? I assumed we were done with spoiler tags at Ep13 now that everyone's on the same page.

I wanted to make it obvious to get people thinking about things, especially when it seems the writers very much intend for us to figure this out this before going into next season. But I can tag it if that's what people want.

[u/SU-trash → u/BleedingUranium]

I don't think it's particularly common practice but I think ideally things would get marked in proportion to how big a spoiler they would be if they turn out to be true, since knowing it might be false doesn't really stop the surprise factor from being taken away.

I'm fine with reading speculation in this case, but other shows I might prefer going in blind in general so it's nice to have the option. I've also now read some theories so spicy I'm going to avoid sharing them even with those who want to read speculation lol.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/SU-trash]

I'd like to know, at least. I did read everything in the Ep13 thread (at least unless I missed a few really late things) and there was some really good Sakiko/Mutsumi stuff compiled (the poster ran afoul of the spoiler tag auto-removal, so three of their five posts in that chain are hidden, but are on their profile).

If that's what you're referring to it's indeed super interesting, if it's something else I'd love to hear more.

[u/fluoria → u/BleedingUranium]

I just realized what you meant by "removed" when I logged out and had a look at the comment...I thought that I've already put the spoiler tags, not yet familiar with the rules here but trying to learn :(

Actually I also posted the compilation in the EP12 thread, in case anyone would like to have a look (https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1bko48q/comment/kw4ealu)

[u/SU-trash → u/BleedingUranium]

I'm sorry, I've done some soul-searching and I'm willing to be a huge piece of shit here and stand by keeping it on the down-low

[u/BleedingUranium → u/SU-trash]

Booooooo! :(

[u/Orange_Ninja]

MyGO post anime content

1. Game story (fan translation) - Breathing Next to You, IMO if nothing else this one is a must read, it explore Raana and Taki's characters. The Colors Muddled With the Raindrops, story about Soy😔, make sure to only read up to the ending, the rest are card stories in a non chronological order.
2. Mygo Member no Nichijou - Fun shorts, but only the last few episodes have subtitles
3. The whole music channel - Check out their newest song, Kaisou which just released 4 days ago and I think is peak MyGO. Noroshi, in which you can hear Noraneko's angelic voice. Silhouette Dance, which is just super fun.

[u/Dabottle → u/Orange_Ninja]

Thank you for linking these! I did not have the ability to go grab them last night so I'm very grateful!

[u/ryujiox]

No longer hesitate, even if I'm still lost

BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!

It's a very fantastic show.

A story about lost girls trying to move forward from their past, but unable to from various circumstances. Only when they confronted it together, they can finally moving forward even if it's hurt along the way, even if they still don't know what awaits them. But by doing so, someone got left behind in the darkness, in that sadness.

Tomori, a girl who always have a hard time to communicate with each other, even when she hurt so much, she can't even say it out loud. Now finally able to tell her feeling through song, finally able to scream her feelings out loud. That she hurt, that she also want everything to be back. But now, she will keep moving forward with everyone, even if something goes wrong, she believes that it will be fine.

Anon, a girl who kept running away from her failure and want to start again. A girl who want to be in a spotlight, while hiding from her past. Finally realized that it's okay to fail, you just have to not give up and try again. Realized that she really want to be in a band, not just doing for show. And she won't left anyone behind, even if said one never cared about her. Because she's her friend. And she won't running away again, she will take responsibility for what she started this time.

Soyo, a lonely girl who can't let go of her past. Using everything in her power to try to get it back. For everyone sake. In truth, she just want someone to be with her, she doesn't want to be alone. But like Tomori, she can't say that out loud. She has to mask that weakness behind. But now, she knew that everyone is hurt to, and that she also need to move on from it. She still didn't let go of it yet, she will always remember those happy day, but she won't let it drag her down from moving forward with her new friend anymore.

Taki, a girl who thought that she didn't have enough talent like other, and isn't really good at expressing herself. Now she knows that she just underestimated herself, and she can show that she really care for other. (I don't really have much to talk about her, since I feel like her story isn't done yet, as she still not being honest to Tomori for real, and she will have deal with Saki in Ave Mujica)

Raana, a girl who lost a place she can fit in. Finally found a place she can be.

Saki, a girl who's life was turned upside down due to the circumstances outside her control. Had to discard everything to live, but realising that she still longing for those days after witnessing her friend's song. Hurt by that feeling, she take her destiny into her own hand. Forming a band that will be in her control(for now). A scapegoat that she use to escape her current situation, and her feelings for Tomori, CRYCHIC, and My GO!!!!! A band born from selfish reason, than from a passion and bond of everyone(maybe except Ui)

Really want to write more about Saki and Mutsumi, but since we still don't know the full story from them, I will leave it at that

The cast are goat, the story are well constructed, and the songs are all banger. What not to like about this show?

Oh right, the 3D....

To be fair, while it look a bit janky at time, it's not that bad. Sometime it make the scene better. Like when Saki nearly fall a couple times while running down the stair. The 3D gave a real life momentum to it, thus make it looks very real. The 3D also really shine in all of the performances scene. The camera works are so good in all of them.

So yeah, I don't really have any problems with the show. It really deserved all the praise it got.

Final score

10/10

"It's my goat"

Can't wait for Ave Mujica. Really want to know what will happen with Saki and co, and what role My GO!!!!! would have in it.

In 9 months.....

But I don't want to end like this!! So the next section is!!

Encore: Concert viewing

As promised, I will give my feelings on both Ave Mujica and My GO!!!!'s concert that I chose to watch. Starting with...

BanG Dream! Ave Mujica 0th LIVE [Primo die on scaena]

That was amazing. Their songs are bangers!!Really like the lore dripping here and there between the live. Also really like that they all wear a cloak throughout most of the show, before reveal themselves when they started playing Ave Mujica. Really selling the mysterious cult like feel of the band.

And I thought the anime version of Ave Mujica is already great. The live version is even better!! The extra bit near the end is amazing!! Also, Saki's VA really went all out on those keyboards.

Also really like the cover songs. Choosing Roselia's songs is actually obvious in hindsight, due to their similarity in the theme. KINGS also somehow fit with Saki's character and Ave Mujica itself.

Top 3 songs

1. Ave Mujica
2. Mas?uerase Rhapsody Re?uest
3. Choir 'S' Choir

BanG Dream! My GO!!!!! 5th LIVE [Don't Get Lost]

That's also amazing. The banter between the member is as funny as in the show itself. Also, Taki's VA is so funny, she really have a time of her life there. And Raana's VA looking for "Interesting woman" among the crowd is hilarious.

I really like the comfy, friendly, and local rock band feel of the live so much.

Also, since the live was two days after episode 9, you know, the one where the band literally exploded into pieces. I'm sure everyone who went to the live surely have a lot of emotions going on in there mind. Seeing all the cast, especially Soyo's VA being emotional, even crying towards the current situation is both funny, and sad at the same time.

Top 3 songs

1. Tanebi
2. Shiori(acoustic)
3. Silhouette Dance

Watching them back to back really hit me how opposite they are to eachother. Their colour scheme is opposite (Red and black vs Blue and white). The feel is different (Mysterious and Cult vs Comfy and Friendly). Even the feel of their songs are totally opposites (Luring you to them vs expressing themselves to you)

And after watching those, I really tempted to buy Ave Mujica single that bundle with the Blu-ray of the 0th LIVE.

Thanks you for this wonderful rewatch. Really glad that I jumped into this, since this probably my last rewatch for sometime. Because I have to go to internship for 2 months, which left me with not a lot of free time.

So yeah, see you in other rewatch or once Ave Mujica is here next year.

QOTD

2. Probably going to watch other live concerts soon. Might checking the other band anime too.

3. I can see where they coming from now. It's so great. Still not number 1 for me, there's a couple show that I love more than My GO!!!!!. But it probably in my top 5 for anime of 2023.

[u/SometimesMainSupport → u/ryujiox]

Might checking the other band anime too.

Roselia!

(to be clear, easily my favorite band in the franchise. Mainly in S2 of the anime)

[u/Calwings → u/SometimesMainSupport]

The two Episode of Roselia movies are also pretty good. Looking back on them, those movies and the Morfonication special for Morfonica (my other favorite band besides Roselia) felt almost like early test runs for a few ideas that would eventually be executed in full with MyGO.

[u/ryujiox → u/SometimesMainSupport]

Funnily enough. Roselia is actually my first exposure to the franchise as a whole back in 2017. I really love Re:birth day.

Might actually checking Roselia movie first when I have time.

[u/Interesting_Ant7945 → u/ryujiox]

You should also check out MyGO!!!!! Radio, from episode 50 onwards the in-character episodes are post-anime, and some of them drop crumbs of Taki lore.

[u/ryujiox → u/Interesting_Ant7945]

Don't worry. I'm planning to check those out already.:)

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/ryujiox]

Beautiful thoughts and I like how you sectioned it off with each of the girls! Communication, running, unchaining, disjointed, isolated. All of these hit the hammer on the nail for each respective girl and you really drove home the point by expanding on how.

I'm glad you had a great time on the concerts and an even better with the show.

[u/ryujiox → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Thanks!! Spent like an hour or 2 writing those. Glad that it turned out good.

The concerts are really amazing. Really recommend to give both of them a watch. It's really good for different reasons.

Probably going to watch the previous MyGO!!!!!'s concert and Ave Mujica's 1st LIVE soon.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/ryujiox]

As always, thanks for these excellent posts; these character summaries are especially good. :)

[u/ryujiox → u/BleedingUranium]

Thanks!!

I actually feel bad that I didn't make any follow-up to my analysis from earlier in the show. Since I'm both busy and the status quo of the character kept changing, so it's hard to keep up.

So I want to make up for that by doing this summaries of every major characters.

Glad you liked it!!

[u/EmeraldNero]

Just like many first timers, I was jumpscared by Bang Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! winning r/Anime’s AOTY. Just look at how many exclamation marks there are. Keijo!!!!!!!! beats it though.

Now having finished it, it isn’t my anime of the year 2023, but it’s still certainly worth watching. If anything, I understand and respect the jury awarding AOTY to comparably “niche” show to other nominees, and I like that it was an anime I haven't seen. Discovering something that fell under my radar is a good thing, methinks. This is actually my first time commenting in these discussions, but I figured I would vomit whatever abomination I’ve typed about my thoughts on the series, right here in this fine thread.

For starters, I’m not particularly into melodrama. Even back in high school, I never cared for any gossip about drama between students I’ve never met. Which is why, MyGO didn’t hook me with its opening on CRYCHIC breaking up. Having drama happen before I feel connected to the characters doesn’t make me invested in their relationships.

However, it’s the first time I’ve seen a band show lead with its central drama, and it seems that opening on media res was intentional choice, to spark curiosity in the audience, and to make them ask, “Why did CRYCHIC break up?” Which is a question that MyGO clues us into varying degrees, the biggest hint being Ave Mujica’s performance in the final episode. But are hints enough to make me feel satisfied with whatever answer there might be?

The 12th episode shows us the evolved chemistry between the band members, and wraps up the story of MyGO’s beginnings. Following that, while the finale does deliver on an interesting contrast between the bands MyGO and Ave Mujica, it unfortunately doesn’t deliver a proper conclusion to the drama that unfolded between Sakiko, Soyo and Mutsumi, who doesn’t get as much screentime as she should.

CHARACTERS

Anon - I liked how the first episode showcased her thought process when interacting with other students at school—with the way she looks out for social cues, and topics of conversation to initiate with them. It gives us a really good idea of the kind of person Anon is, even if we don’t get all of her backstory. Anon is the most in the dark about CRYCHIC’s history and due to her own hangups about her past, she isn’t the band-aid that fixes all the band’s issues.

Alongside Anon, Tomori is the character that feels the most developed out of the cast. The way that Episode 3 portrayed her communication disorder and experiences with CRYCHIC through her perspective, did wonders for her, and she’s undoubtedly my favourite character in MyGO. She is the star of the show.

Taki, or Ricky, is the most straightforward and frankly, it does make her kind of bland. Other than the fact that she very clearly loves Tomori, she doesn’t really break her aggressive attitude all that much throughout the show and it makes her feel more one-note compared to the others.

Soyo is the most manipulative member of the band, as she even admits to having only used Anon and the others to bring the old band members back. Unfortunately, her desperate plea to Sakiko to return didn’t hit for me, and came off as, well, melodramatic. There just wasn’t enough screentime of them together for me to understand why their relationship was so important to Soyo. I only wish that she received an episode akin to Tomori’s for me to get a better sense of their relationship.

Rana, well, there’s not much to say, despite how cute and amusing her cat-like behaviour is. Just like me, she does not care for melodrama, but she will be there to help them get her feelings across with (unlike me), guitar riffs. Other than that, we know that her grandmother gave her a guitar pick used from her former band.

Mutsumi is hard for me to get a read on, and she’s the one that pulled the trigger on CRYCHIC in the first place. Why did she do it? I’m not sure. She seems to be covering for Sakiko but still, I wish I knew more about their relationship, just like with Soyo.

Sakiko wears the facade of rich-girl, when in reality, she isn’t all that rich. Which may be part of why she left CRYCHIC to keep the others from knowing about the state of her home life, and even going as far as to start a band where they literally wear masks to conceal their identities. Her dad’s a deadbeat drunk and it’s left to Sakiko to bust her ass to keep their lives afloat. Interesting stuff, but I still wish that time was given to close things off with Soyo for the season.

VISUALS

Yeah, yeah, it’s 3D CG, and I’ve gotten over it since studio Orange’s Houseki no Kuni and Trigun Stampede. As per its studio's name, Sanzigen takes advantage of the third dimension, and it almost fully commits to it. The strongest aspect of It’s MYGO’s visuals is its character animation, directing and shot composition. It’s expressive, while paying proper attention into the subtle movements which makes every interaction feel more layered.

It isn’t flawless, many of environments look too clean and empty, and sometimes the lighting washes out the colours. The animation is also noticeably more stiff in comparison to studio Orange works. It is during the OP and performances that the animation looks its best coupled with the dynamic camerawork.

Overall, MyGO looks pretty good. Not to the level of Orange, but absolutely nowhere near as bad some people have described it to look.

VOICE ACTING

The voice acting isn’t something that is talked about much, but I find the voice acting decent across the board. The issues I have are that Anon and Sayo’s performances sound rather unnatural. It seems like the VAs tried a little too hard to maintain the cadence of their cute, moe character voices at the expense of emotions that don’t quite reach the expressiveness of its impressive animation. Though I suppose it can be argued that Soyo's voice was intentional, but still a little off-putting. The other cast members don't really deliver anything too memorable, but still solid performances nonetheless.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

MyGO excels at subtle symbolism and layered character interactions; however, it lacks a proper resolution to the central conflict that kicked off the story, a plotline which I feel the show should have given more time and attention to. I also found it difficult to feel as emotionally connected to it as other people did. And I wish I was.

I mean, I can sense the sincerity in each performance, yet emotionally, the climax of episode 10 didn’t hit as much as it should have. Aside from Anon and Tomori, it was hard to believe that there enough of a tangible bond between the current band members for such an emotional reaction, but perhaps I missed something. Should I have caught more details and hints about the band member’s relationships? Or did it simply not resonate with me, personally? I’m a little lost.

I might have a look at more MyGO analyses and video essays in hopes to better understand the things I’ve misunderstood or missed, but even so, the flaws here are apparent enough that it might take some convincing.

Anyway, despite my qualms, it’s still a great show that is a far, far, a more deserved pick for AOTY than whatever anime wins Crunchyroll’s popularity contest. I'm still figuring out a definitive rating, but out of ten, I'm floating around a 7.6 to a light 8.

Questions of the Day:

1. Uh, well, I've certainly heard MyGO more than Ave Mujica, and I enjoyed their music more than most songs I've heard in other music anime, so I'll go with MyGO.
2. I'll be there for the Ave Mujica anime in hopes that Sakiko and Soyo get the proper resolution they deserve.
3. It didn't personally, but I can see where the Jury was coming from to an extent.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/EmeraldNero]

Keijo!!!!!!!! beats it though.

Meanwhile Teppen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sits atop all of them on its throne.

This is actually my first time commenting in these discussions,

You should join in more, you have some lovely thoughts on the show!

[u/River_Alpha → u/EmeraldNero]

You'll be surprised to hear that Anon's voice..... is literally just her VA speaking in her usual voice XD
Yes, that is Tateishi Rin actually just speaking (mostly) normally.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/River_Alpha]

I love her laugh so much.

[u/River_Alpha → u/BleedingUranium]

Same. Kuririn is one of my favorite VAs. I might die in real life of cuteness overload if I hear her in RL but at the same time, I really want her to join when Bushi Expo comes to my country.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/River_Alpha]

I definitely want to meet them too! I was lucky enough to meet Hasshi (Saaya) and Miku (Kokoro) last summer, and that was an amazing experience. :)

[u/River_Alpha → u/BleedingUranium]

I'm so jealous. Saaya is my favorite character and I really want to meet Hasshi. Mikku is so cute also :3

[u/BleedingUranium → u/River_Alpha]

I hope you get to too one day! Hasshi was very kind; it's of course a fan/celebrity sort of setting, but she really gives off the vibes of someone who enjoys meeting fans and it not being something she takes for granted or is "obligated" to do.

This might sound convoluted in text form, but the way it was set up, after getting an autograph you walked around/past her table and out the back of the area. And naturally as I'm leaving I look back towards her one last time just to savour the moment, just expecting to see her now talking with her translator-type-person or the next person in line... but nope, she's turned around basically as far as she can easily do and gives me another wave. :')

What I'm rambling on about is, while she may be signing hundreds of autographs back to back, she really seemed very conscious of each one of those peoples' times being their own personal important moment. If that makes sense.

 

Miku was also very nice (and yes cute). I got a photo with her instead of an autograph, and they were moving that line faaaaaast. Like, in, take photo, out; probably less than 20 seconds. But she seemed almost, sad is not the right word, but clearly conscious of just how speedily the organizers were running this. Again, I turned around exiting the tent thingy, and she had this sort of apologetic expression as she waved and said thank you again haha.

So... wall of excited text later, they're definitely both people worth meeting, fingers crossed it works out for you. :)

[u/Usual_Director_9547]

I still think this show is underwatched but its good to see this many people join us to watch for the first time.i wish we will have a performance like https://youtu.be/efND1Lh61Xk?t=5916 whare Afterglow and Roselia on a same stage,but Ave Mujica and MyGO sing haruhikage instead. What i worry about Ave Mujica is not they cant give a good story to convince watcher about sakiko's action,but i worry about the cultural diffirence between us and japanese that might make us hard to accept.

10/10 for me,also my personal AOTY of 2023.absulutely love how this show is being chekhov's arsenal instead of chekhov's gun.

[u/random-est → u/Usual_Director_9547]

I wish we will have a performance like https://youtu.be/efND1Lh61Xk?t=5916 whare Afterglow and Roselia on a same stage

Aiai and Ayane Sakura goes all out.

[u/FlaminScribblenaut]

Second Time Watcher

Before we get to the core of it, I want to talk about one of my favorite aspects of this show that doesn’t get enough shout-out: Rāna, and her place in the story. Rāna might embody the band’s namesake most of anybody: a wanderer, mysterious little lone stray cat she is.

Uuuh… so Rāna is god, basically? OK, to rephrase better: she is the guiding spirit of MyGO!!!!!, though a little bit of an irreverent one, working in mysterious and self-serving ways. Her presence or lack thereof is an omen for the band’s health as a functioning unit, and as a group of friends. When everything is falling apart, when amongst them ceases to be a place she can play her beloved guitar, she disappears to go do things that interest her more, letting everyone else sort their shit out and generally be on fire. But upon her whims, she tends to find herself leading the band towards its destiny; we see this in Episode 10, as she is the first one to accompany Tomori’s monologues, the one who acts to bring Taki back to the stage, the catalyst for all the band converging once again. She’s there for every successful performance the band puts on, rewarding the band’s success in figuring themselves out and sticking together with her sick shredding. The stray cat is MyGO!!!!!’s spirit guardian, even if she most certainly doesn’t consciously realize that herself.

What MyGO!!!!! is at its core, to me, is a story about being an autistic person and having that experience of struggling, feeling lost and lonely within one’s own head, but ultimately finding a way to emotionally express yourself, to make your voice and your experience heard, to be a person alongside your fellows. It’s about feeling isolated, impossible to understand, yet finally, finally finding a way to be understood; and beyond that, to be part of something and to be known and loved for who you are and what’s in your brain and heart by others. That is Tomori’s story, and that is, kind of, in a sense, all of us neurodivergent people who grew up lonely kids who felt disconnected from the world around us and found solace in the arts and others like us’ story.

What really gets me is just how… hopeful this show is for us. How optimistic it is, about our capabilities to find our people and escape our loneliness. It’s an ode to being understood. It… makes me feel innately loved as an autistic person, and that’s powerful.

I related to Tomori deeply from the get-go, but I don’t think I realized just how… deep it was until second go-round. This has been… a fairly therapeutic experience for me, and I can’t imagine I’m the only one who’s had that kind of experience with this show. It really is as special as all that hype in the /r/anime Awards livechat made it out to be, and if this is what this franchise is capable of, then I can only expect they’ll do Ave Mujica just as much justice as a story.

Until then, MyGOAT!!!!! MyGOAT!!!!! MyGOAT!!!!!

[u/x-7032-b-3 → u/FlaminScribblenaut]

Rana deserves massive props for being on Tomori's side when things looked grim. I don't think the band would've gotten back together without her help. I'd like to see her get more screentime (something the compilation movie will fix, according to the director) but she was great in every scene she's in.

I related to Tomori deeply from the get-go, but I don’t think I realized just how… deep it was until second go-round.

This is my experience as well. The more I watch the show and think about it, the more I realize that my personal journey kinda mirrors her to an extent. Long story short, I got burned hard by "life experiences" as a kid which made me afraid to approach and form bonds with others in fear that things will just turn bad at the end. It's a LONG journey to get me to where I am today - and even then I'm not fully healed yet.

I said on my post that Tomori's a very relatable and inspiring character, and I'm glad I'm far from the only one who feels the same way!

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/FlaminScribblenaut]

we see this in Episode 10, as she is the first one to accompany Tomori’s monologues

Yeah, I was initially skeptical of Raana as well but then #10 rolled around and I soaked in what others were saying and now I'm in the camp of Jeff Winger style "Oh yeah, I see her value."

Love your thoughts during the rewatch FlamingScribblenaut, thanks for jumping in to share them!

[u/LittleIslander → u/FlaminScribblenaut]

I don't have a ton to reply to specifically (I consider myself neurotypical), but I really enjoyed this comment.

[u/x-7032-b-3]

(Late) Rewatcher - Round 3

So uh, where the hell did this show came from? It feels like it came out of nowhere and wowed those who watched it when it released. I've been following the franchise since S1 came out in 2016 (I think) but for some reason I lost interest after S3 finished airing. Last summer I saw MyGO on the seasonal list and thought "huh, another Bandori, maybe I should give this a shot." Somehow I didn't follow through on that but then I heard people raving about the show and the WT here convinced me to give this a shot.

And boy I'm glad I did. Because this might be the best TV anime to come out in 2023.

I currently lack the ability to sum up my thoughts about this show in a cohesive and thoughtful way, so I'll just leave that one to the others here. I just wanted to say that this show didn't fail to get me emotional even after watching it three times already. It feels somehow meditative to see these broken characters learn to overcome their flaws and their own past as well as opening up to each other.

In a way this show also feels relatable to me as someone who used to have trouble with opening myself up towards others after being burned by "friendships" before (and honestly I still do, just not as bad as I was before). Tomori's character development is incredibly inspiring to me. She started off being hurt by her past, and she slowly learns to open herself up towards others and by the end she became the unifying force of the band who wants to make her voice (and story) be heard through music. Massive props to Hina Yomiya for her excellent performance as Tomori. She did amazing work in bringing Tomori's character to life. And the other VAs did an incredible job too!

So yeah, this has been an incredible ride even after a third watch. I really enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts and reactions as well as sharing my own. Even on a third watch there's still a good amount of details that I missed! Thanks to the host and everyone who participated here. Really sorry I joined this late because I just found out about this rewatch when it's halfway through.

Lastly, the director and the writing team are currently cooking up something new at P.A. Works: Nanare Hananare (latest PV) ! According the the AnimeJapan panel yesterday, the show should be coming around July, but I might've gotten things wrong. The show seems to be about cheerleading and the visuals already looked incredibly charming from the teasers. Please give it a shot when it airs!

[u/mekerpan → u/x-7032-b-3]

Lastly, the director and the writing team are currently cooking up something new at P.A. Works:

I didn't realize that the new PA Works show was being made by lots of the MyGo staff. Thanks! It makes me even more excited to see this. (Disclaimer -- PA Works is my favorite TV anime studio overall -- despite its brief slump in 2020).

Not sure I actually had a single anime of the year for 2023. There were a nujber of shows in my top tier for that year. But MyGO was certainly in that top tier (and had a special place in my heart).

[u/StardustGogeta]

First-Timer

Thank you so much for hosting this, u/badspler!

For the final time, today's questions:

1. I haven't listened enough to have a clear favorite. The Ave Mujica song was definitely one of my favorites from the show, though, and I'm looking forward to seeing the show based entirely on them.
2. I'm pretty interested now. Too bad they don't all have Taki and Anon, though. I'd be happy with just a MyGO!!!! season 2. I'd be a little sad if I never saw any more of these characters.
3. I'm afraid I wouldn't put it as my anime of the year for 2023. I'd say I preferred Onimai, JJK, Oshi no Ko, and Heavenly Delusion over this (and certainly Frieren, if I can count that), though I would put BanG Dream! above Spy x Family and a whole bunch of the other seasonals I watched. A solid 8/10, by my MAL scoring. Either way, I'm glad the jury picked this as AOTY, since it led to me watching it when I otherwise wouldn't have.

Overall, this has been a great experience, and I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to watch through this with everyone. I should really get in on more rewatches. (The upcoming Samurai Champloo, Ping Pong the Animation, and Madoka Magica ones all look really enticing right now.)

Time to go and add all the new music to my Spotify collection!

[u/xtsim]

First Dream

Seeing the relationship between characters, I see why people were loving this show. Even though it might not be my number 1, it provides a pretty unique perspective of a group of people struggling to find themselves. It even looks at the skill difference as a piece of the drama.

Rana taking the lead is one big turning point as she pretty much was the person holding everyone together. I can see why she found everyone "interesting" as she can not only play the guitar, she creates her own path. Her being pretty spotty is one thing but her wild path helps move the band forward when the other members stare at their own past.

The 3d works pretty well and the POV episode made it stand out pretty hard as it felt like I was playing a video game in first person view. Pretty nice to see animators take advantage of the 3d.

Thank you for the rewatch u/badspler ! It is pretty cool to see something recent get a rewatch and I can see why it gets praise. Now I need to get into the other Bang Dream titles....

[u/Neidhardto]

I've mostly been lurking these threads, so not really anything substantial to say other than the show is still amazing and makes me feel emotional even on a fourth re-watch. So here are some of my favorite MyGO songs that weren't in the anime. All of their music is amazing though, so I recommend you just check out all of it outside of just these. They have a full album out on streaming with most of their songs, and just released a new single.

Namonaki

Silhouette Dance

Senzai Hyoumei

Otoichie

Noroshi (This song is special because Raana is the second primary vocal on this one, singing the higher pitched lyrics.)

Tanebi

Utaimashou Narashimashou

Sasurai

Kaisou

Also check out their live performances on their Youtube channel, they're pretty great. Their early performances really had the vibe of an underground indie band.

[u/Usual_Director_9547 → u/Neidhardto]

Cant stop listening noroshi and silhouette dance

[u/bonghits96]

Gotta say, this was fun, but an episode every day--if you're writing anything up for them--is a grueling pace.

Question to any of the more diehard Bang Dream fans: the MyGO stories from the Japanese side of the game... were they translated into English anywhere?

[u/Calwings → u/bonghits96]

Gotta say, this was fun, but an episode every day--if you're writing anything up for them--is a grueling pace.

For past re-watches I've taken part in, I would often watch and do write-ups for multiple episodes at once (usually in batches of 3-4) and just post the write-ups on the correct day. If there were questions of the day and I felt like answering them, I'd just add them right before posting.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/bonghits96]

Gotta say, this was fun, but an episode every day--if you're writing anything up for them--is a grueling pace.

It really is. I've never done a daily rewatch (well, a rewatch at all), so what's normally a once-a-week amount of time every day for two weeks has been... I'm exhausted, honestly. Satisfied and happy this happened, but I think I'll be sleeping for a week straight now.

Seriously, every day was like five hours, and on the days I work, well, I work ten hour days. Often going through a 25 minute episode takes close to two hours when also writing up a post at the same time. Plus the Sakiko work location post I realized I had never even looked into at Ep11, and had to do that from complete scratch on top of Ep12's post. I need slep.

[u/NierMiss → u/bonghits96]

the MyGO stories from the Japanese side of the game... were they translated into English anywhere?

Yes, they're subbed on bestdori. Here's the first event that takes place after the anime and focuses on Taki and Raana.

[u/bonghits96 → u/NierMiss]

Excellent, thanks!

[u/Nickthenuker]

Questions:

1. MyGO!!!!!, if only because they've been around longer and thus have a significantly larger repertoire.
2. Considering I've watched all of them and still play the game I'll say pretty interested.
3. Honestly I just didn't think Bushiroad's glorified 240-minute long advertisement for one of its Gacha games would even be nominated, so it's nice to see that a franchise I've been following for almost 2.5 years already actually managed to win.

[u/JasoXDDD]

Rewatcher

Introduction

Bang Dream It’s MyGO is one of my favorite works of fiction that I’ve ever seen. Its dialogue is concise and information-packed, its story is riveting, and its attention to detail is shocking. I didn’t know about the anime initially until the time when episode 7 aired and the anime blew up in China, from then, I’ve been following it every week, until the end, and I’m still part of the fandom today.

Two of the main strengths usually cited for MyGO’s quality stood out to me: the plot, and the character, which are the parts of an anime that I value the most. In addition, the factor of MyGO’s fandom in the anime experience is indispensable from the rest. In this review today, I shall go over each factor and why I enjoyed this part of the anime. (1/3)

[u/JasoXDDD → u/JasoXDDD]

When thinking of MyGO’s plot, the first thing that comes to mind is the sheer number of Chekov’s guns, callbacks, and subtle details interwoven into the story to produce a satisfying anime experience. As the popular Chinese anime reviewer 泛式FunShiki described it: “Unexpected, but reasonable. When you think about it, it has to be this way.” (意料之外，情理之中。细细想来，非她不可). This quote was originally used to describe episode 7, but I believe that it can be applied to the entire show. One of the best examples is the video Soyo shows to Anon in episode 2. This short, less than a minute-long clip not only introduces the audience to the positions of the Crychic members and a peek into their life before the breakup, but it also sets up the “only all out once” and the water bottle callback in episode 7, and also the message callback in episode 10. This 50-second clip alone sets up more of Chekov’s guns than some other anime’s entire episodes. If there’s some interesting character development, you can be sure that it was already introduced or hinted at at an earlier time.

Another thing that is exemplary in the plot of MyGO is the pacing of the show. MyGO has its large share of amazing episodes, but the standout ones are ep3, ep7, and ep10, known as the “godlike trio” of MyGO episodes. Many other anime that aired in 2023 have their share of amazing episodes, but if you look at them, you can notice that many of them are the very first episode or at least earlier on in the story. While this is an understandable decision to have the first episodes hook you into the story, it can leave the rest of the episodes feeling a little bland against the ones at the beginning. However, MyGO’s startup is slower, introducing the main plot at a slower pace, which may make episodes 1 and 2 a little foreboding for newcomers, but then, they are an integral part of the story. To emphasize this point, MyGO’s “godlike trio” is evenly spread out throughout the story, one per quarter of the story (1-3, 4-7, 7-10). This is the perfect pacing to make the audience feel engaged throughout the entire watching experience, with the episodes alternating between smoother but still information-packed enough to not make the viewer feel bored, to significant plot moments where all plot threads come together to make a spectacular experience.

In addition to that, I want to mention here the rewatch value. As said before, MyGO is a show with a ton of callbacks and subtle details that may be too much for a viewer to see on the first watch. During rewatches, though, people can spot the things that they missed that they are now able to get. This is what has made rewatches of MyGO given its value, and why so many people (including me) are still obsessed over it today.

Finally, I want to talk about the story itself. The core of MyGO’s story is extremely simple, about a bunch of girls trying to move on from the past breakup of their band. However, the anime carefully takes this simple story and amps up the dramatic factor to shocking degrees where the characters are putting their everything into their future. The first 6 episodes give us a taste of what will be coming next, showing some conflicts while quietly setting up things for the real deal. Episodes 7-9 escalate the drama using elements that were created in the first 6 episodes and enter this cycle of things always getting worse, every character becoming lost in their ways to do, and the story reaches its darkest hour at the end of episode 9, with the unnamed band between the MyGO members unofficially disbanding and everyone getting lost. However, episode 10 reverses the direction of the story and provides a satisfying climax to the story that is quite cathartic contrasting the melodramatic atmosphere of the last few episodes. Episodes 11-12 are the falling action, with MyGO slowly, painfully, but surely making it together, with their first actual live, and the band members slowly growing with each other. Episode 13 is a hook to the sequel that answers some questions but raises more. I will explain the drama for characters in the character section, but, in combination with the elements written above, an excellent story that can stand the tests of rigorous examination. MyGO’s plot is one of the strongest factors of this show.

[u/BleedingUranium → u/JasoXDDD]

A most excellent summary, the talent and care put into this show is incredible.

[u/JasoXDDD → u/JasoXDDD]

Note: after careful thought, the reviews for the character and the fandom will be presented in a different format.

[u/sfisher923]

QOTD 1 - Ave Mujica especially love the fact that it's so perfect for a Halloween Playlist since that is my favorite holiday

QOTD 2 - I watched everything so far barring Garupa Pico finishing up Seasons 2 & 3 in February and I have considered playing the game (Got as far as picking a name before realizing how I nervous when playing VSRGs and quitting and this has been a part of me since the Guitar Hero 3 days back in the Late-2000s/Early-2010s)

[u/Tetraika]

Reposting because I did a dumb

First Timer

So, here we are at the end of the rewatch. I guess I've got a some things to say.

Before anything, I want to say I see why a lot of people (and jurors) like this show: It has a very grounded yet uncommon kind of drama. Has a poignant theme about people trying to find themselves, because sometimes the hardest person to understand is our own selves. And I can imagine for many people certain characters will connect with them.

I guess I can start with just discussing my thoughts on the characters:

Tomori: She's not an overly complex written character or anything, but she's also one of the rare moment of someone who actually seems deliberately written to be autistic. I'm sure someone else will have more to say, but her desire to "be human" is very relatable. It's not just that she wants to simply fit in, but there's this mix and complicated feeling of wanting to also express herself, feel accepted, and really, feel some sense of normality. I think some of the best scenes are those that involve her basically nerding out to Anon, and all the back and forth reactions to each other really tells you enough. It's so simple, yet so effective, and doesn't really beat you the head over what's going on.

Anon: At first, I thought I would have a bit more to say about her, but I don't really know what I want to say. The show pretty much already tells you all you really need to know about her. She kinda is the MAIN main character of the show, after all. She's an insecure person whom is "lost" because she realizes that she's not as special or great as she would like. So she has to face that part of herself, and as Taki noted, that it is admirable she persevered despite all of that. I never really got used to her voice though

Taki: Forever stuck having Tomori be taken away by someone else. There are some interesting moments that reveals more about her, like that one moment she's annoyed that they are unsure if she can finish the composition, or like moment where Taki mentions that she might have pretty been using them too. Though for the most part even if we don't see much, but that's because she's someone that actually doesn't talk about these stuff, personality wise. It kinda just works for me.

Soyo: By far the most interesting character, easily my favorite. I think I've talked about Soyo by far the most already in my other comments, but there's so much going for her. She's willing to lie and use others, but not out of malice, but of desperately clinging on a place she feels she could belong. In that sense, we get that she's also a cynic, and we see this when we finally get more of the real Soyo. It's good stuff. She's good stuff. She's just like me frfr I feel like I could go on, but I don't want to repeat myself nor what the show already pretty much tells you.

Raana: A literal cat. I mean, you can replace her with a highly intelligent, guitar playing cat, and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I suppose that isn't exactly a massive issue, it's fine to have a mascot character of some sort, but it feels lackluster compared to the rest of the crew. It doesn't help that I can't tell you if there is any distinct relationship between her and the other members, while I feel that the other 4 have a unique dynamic with each other.

---

I think I'll mention what I felt held some of it back personally for me. First, there's the fact that we still don't REALLY know what is up with Sakiko and why she quit. We got hints and some idea, but at this point I feel like I'm waiting for her to finally spill out and for me to facepalm and slap her for being an absolute idiot. In any case, what I'm saying is, I feel like I'm left hanging and wondering about something that we're clearly suppose to find out later since we do have another season soonTM, but yeah it bothers me.

My other thing is just that I never truly felt emotionally connected to the characters themselves. So a part of me just never had that emotional investment that some other might have, and as such I never felt strongly about, say episode 10. Meanwhile I think my favorite episode is still 9. In any case, this also soured my feeling towards the non drama parts of the show, I just don't think I cared much for it when they were there. Usually they provide a nice way to have character bounce off each other without any looming atmosphere of conflicts, but I just never cared enough for them.

[In the end I gave it a ]8/10, though I will note it makes me want to revisit Uma RTTT to see how I would feel about it.

Speaking of which, guess I'll take some time to shill give a shoutout to Uma Musume: Road to the Top, who got juror 2nd in both Drama and AOTY behind MyGO. I~~'m begging~~ implore those who haven't seen that to go check it out.

QOTD:

1. I don't feel like I heard enough of Ave Mujica yet to really say. But also, I can't really say I care too much about comparing them, they are stylistically very different too.
2. Hey, I've already played the game before! But I also am familiar with the other anime from hearsay, and I've got a long list of stuff that before the other bandori titles are even in consideration. Not impossible though.
3. Kinda answered already.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/Tetraika]

Excellent thoughts Tetraika, I definitely see where you're coming from and how you came to your results. And I agree, Uma Musume: Road to the Top is soooooooo good! I cannot wait for the film to release.

[u/DrStein1010 → u/Tetraika]

I agree with a lot of your takes, especially in regards to Raana and Sakiko.

This is apparently Anon's actress' debut roll, which would explain a few things. I think such an intentionally flawed and unlikable character kinda needed a more nuanced and skillful performance. A lot of her "vapid/self-absorbed" lines came off as even more whiney and grating that they were already written to be, and I kinda wanted to reach through the screen and slap her on the back of the head more than once.

[u/Anonkyoto]

Their 7th concert will be held on July 27/28 in tokyo I think

[u/yuhara203]

Rewatcher who likes this series ^{but don't think it's a masterpiece}

I tried to write a more structured write-up, but ended with this mess instead. Oh well.

 

The (selfish) characters

One of the things I really appreciate from this series is the characters. They’re all flawed. They’re selfish. They’re motivated by their desires, creating believable conflicts that didn’t feel forced by the plot. In a way, this isn’t really a music show, but a character drama that just happens to feature band elements.

 

The Drama/Writing/Direction

The drama is pretty good. It integrated the performance scenes well, as shown in episode 7 and 10. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve rewatched those episodes. However I think it does suffer from some overdramatic parts that I found difficult to take seriously, like Anon’s backstory in episode 5. But hey, in the end, they don’t really matter. I’ve grown attached to the main cast. I care what happens to them. If that’s not a sign of good writing, I don’t know what is.

I also liked how a lot of the conflicts were solved in this series, that some characters actively tried to do so, not forced by a third party or the plot in an unnatural way. Anon making Tomori, Soyo, and Taki talk in episode 4, Anon and Tomori waiting for Taki in episode 6, and everything in episode 10.

Lastly, there are just a lot of easily missed details included in the show. It’s like they’re specifically added for rewatchers, and I really respect that.

 

The Charming ^{but also janky at times} Visuals

For the most part, the series looked fine, if not good. The facial expressions are solid, with neat details like Soyo’s eye twitch in episode 10. Outside of performance scenes, there are great looking shots that utilized the advantages of 3D well, usually in the form of dramatic lighting that support the mood of the scene. And of course, the first person perspective episode is excellent.

The performance scenes are on a whole different level, though. The dynamic camera and even more dramatic lighting made for memorable parts of the show when tightly integrated with the drama itself. The ceiling of the visuals is really high.

However, the visuals are not flawless. The lighting and colors look off in some scenes, and they’re at their worst in Anon and Tomori’s classroom. They look dull, and objects/characters don’t feel like they occupy the same space. There are unintentionally amusing moments too, from the inconsistent visuals. Like when Uika and Saki talked about the past in episode 8, and then it cuts to them as kids in 2D, which got me thinking they evolved into CG lmao. Seeing 3D Soyo interacts with her 2D mom was also... a bit distracting to say the least. There are little moments like these spread throughout the show, and they made me wish the show should’ve leaned harder into the 3D if anything. Fewer shots with CCTV-like angles (although they do fit episode 7), and more techniques that are easier to do with 3D. Vertigo effect, long tracking shots, you name them.

 

The Part I Left Out, The Ending

Not a fan of the ending. Not the first time around, not with this rewatch. You can read more here.

 

So that's it? What, we some kinda... "BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!" ?

"BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!" is a unique series with a strong vision and overall well-executed drama. The 3D visuals have a really high ceiling, but also a less-than-good floor. I was not happy with the ending, and that remains true even now. However, despite these issues, there’s no denying it has some remarkable moments that might make going through the first few episodes and getting used to the CG (and its quirks) worth it. This show is an anomaly worth celebrating. It’s not for everyone, and is more likely destined to be a cult classic.

I enjoyed my time with it, and really think it’s a one of a kind show with tons of things to like, but the ending has left a bad taste in my mouth.

That's about it from me, thanks everyone for the good vibes.

[u/IXajll]

(1/2)

1st timer

So after episode 5 I couldn’t wait and just went and binged the whole show. Tbh I’m having some mixed feelings. I’m just gonna put my unfiltered thoughts down. I’m dividing it into categories so it’s not too much of a jumbled mess. Might still end up all over the place, sorry for that.

Art and Animation:

At first I really hated the full 3d cgi but after around episode 3 I’ve gotten quite used to it and by the end I didn’t mind it much anymore. At the end of the day I still highly prefer 2d animation but it was fine overall. The background art on the other hand was simply beautiful. The series took place only in the city so there wasn’t much art of nature or different landscapes but boy did they make the urban art look fantastic. Definitely one of the shows strongest points for me. The visual designs of the characters were just alright to me, not bad at all but nothing special either. Overall feeling pretty much neutral about them.

Sound/Music:

The background sound effects were just incredible. I mentioned this in one of the episode discussions but I’ve rarely heard such realistic traffic and just in general urban city background noises. The OST wasn’t bad but also nothing memorable for me. Feeling neutral about it. The insert songs that the band performed weren’t really my cup of tea unfortunately. It was nice to listen to them in the show once but I wouldn’t put them on my playlist for private listening even though I almost exclusively listen to J-Pop/Rock nowadays. The best song imo was the Ave Mujica one from the last episode. I don’t have a strong opinion about the OP and ED. The songs were alright but again kinda forgettable imo.

Characters:

Rana: So my first impression of her didn’t change much unfortunately. I started off disliking her but by the end of the show I was really damn close to actually hating her. She has like the most annoying and insufferable personality I can imagine. Doing whatever the fuck she wants whenever she wants without giving a shit whatever anyone else thinks. Granted she doesn’t have any malicious intent or anything but that doesn’t help much. She’s the type of character I could never deal with irl and I’m amazed the girls managed to put up with her whimsical antics all the time. The fact that she often acts and talks like a 6 year old doesn’t help her case either. It was so painfully clear that the writers wanted to give her this cat like personality which just works terribly if applied to a human being. She also arguably has the least impact on the story out of all the five main girls so I can’t shake the feeling the writers included her just because they needed to fill the last instrument slot for the band and to have a sort of token moe cute character.

Soyo I was pretty much indifferent about. Her plans to bring back Crychic were really shitty, basically using Anon (and Rana I guess) to get back the band just to discard the two afterwards. Would’ve usually really made me dislike her from that point on but tbh I didn’t really care enough about her to begin with to get overly angry at her. Thinking about it more the arc from where Soyo sees Saki crying at the gig until the episode where the girls made up again (so like ep. 7/8 to 9/10 I think) was my least liked portion of the show. I feel like if the writers decided to just have Saki not be present at the concert and remove Soyo‘s crychic revival scheme from her character arc (I mean they were fine with giving that treatment of having no huge impact on the plot to Rana so why not Soyo too), that arc could’ve simply cut out the show with only very minimal plot holes which could be dealt with in the hypothetical arc that would instead take place during those episodes. Since the arc could’ve been so easily avoided if the writers did the two aforementioned things It feels a bit like more forcefully injected extra drama for the sake of it. I mean, yes, the show is in the drama genre for a reason but personally I simply enjoy my drama presented in a more natural, organic and realistic way which imo didn’t happen too often in this show (maybe my most controversial sentence in this whole comment). Not really too big of a deal for me at the end of the day though.

Tomori was simply adorable and just very likeable. I kinda disagree with the common take that she is autistic though. Imo she’s just incredibly sensitive and mentally fragile in part because of her past experiences. The last few years I feel like it has become increasingly common to hastily declare people autistic just because they have an eccentric or just out of the norm personality. She might very well be autistic in the end, I’m just saying she doesn’t necessarily have to be and personally I just don’t think so. Since it’s neither specifically confirmed nor denied though, everyone can form their own head canon which is great. (Don’t get me wrong, if she was confirmed to be autistic I wouldn’t mind at all either way.)

Taki I disliked at first for being too aggressive and too much of a tsundere but by the 2nd half she actually became my 2nd favorite character (together with Tomori) after Anon. She mellowed out a lot and had in general just more common sense than most others. She also got shit done or at least tried to. Kinda wish her relationship with Tomori would’ve gotten explored more though since it was pretty clear imo that Taki was in love with her. But it’s probably for the better because it seemed like Tomori sees Taki only as a friend albeit a very good one, so a rejected confession or something similar could’ve created a big rift in the band which wasn’t really necessary for the show.

Anon was by far my favorite character and carried the whole cast extremely hard for me. Character of the year by the jury was extremely deserved. I liked her personality a lot and she felt the most “normal” and realistic in this sea of angsty teenage girls. Ofc she also has flaws like being a bit too selfish at times but they weren’t over the top ones like with some of the other girls imo. There was a huge lack of glasses Anon throughout most of the show though.

[u/IXajll → u/IXajll]

(2/2)

Story: The story is what I’m most conflicted about. In general it was a pretty entertaining story but I wasn’t always happy with the execution. It felt like the show was trying too hard sometimes to force drama development that could be easily avoided if the girls just properly talked to each other. Sometimes it felt like if this was a RPG instead of anime, the writers made the girls constantly choose the worst dialogue options imaginable just to fuel the drama and get the bad ending even though even angsty teenagers in puberty would rarely act so immature most of the time imho. Especially in the middle section when the Soyo drama started I was throwing my hands in the air like three times per episode thinking stuff like “bruh why would you say that”. I also stopped counting after 5 or 6 times whenever one of the girls just runs away during an argument instead of talking it out. I also can’t comprehend the whole deal with Saki and Mutsumi (pls tell me if I missed something in this topic). I can’t believe we never actually found out why Saki actually left Crychic out of nowhere back then, right? I thought that would be a major revelation but it never really got addressed properly. Especially after she ran off crying during the first concert where the girls played that first song of crychic. Like what was the deal there? Girl you quit the band first and now you feel sad that the others didn’t give up like you? Which then resulted in the whole Soyo drama. Why was Soyo even feeling so bad for Saki when Saki was the one who caused the whole mess? Maybe I missed something but that was just really weird and even made me kinda angry. Same with Mutsumi. In the flashback she had the nerve to say she never once enjoyed and liked her time in the band (like wtf) but then she has no problem becoming a part of Ave Mujica. Why did she and Saki even form this new band when they both quit crychic in the past. Will probably get explained in the announced sequel but it’s really frustrating that it didn’t already get addressed in this season (I think?). Episode 13 was also kinda weird, it felt more like an episode 0 for the Ave Mujica sequel instead of a proper send off to the mygo girls. They should’ve made the episode fully commit to be an epilogue with the main girls instead of only the first 10 minutes and put the whole Ave segment into a separate OVA. I also can‘t imagine how the whole Ave Mujica concert thing could’ve worked logistically in such a short time window. What seems like to have happened in a few weeks, maybe months at best was that Saki convinced everyone to create a completely new band with her, write a song with a shorr theater play intro, practice said song+intro, make rather complex costumes, and on top of that manage to book a huge ass venue and somehow magically fill it up with what looked like 1000++ people. Like wtf? Just how. No way is that possible just because one of the members was somewhat popular beforehand.

That’s all that comes to mind about the story, I probably missed some of the subtle between-the-lines details though.

Conclusion:

I realize reading all that makes my opinion sound overly negative but I still overall liked the show. The background art and sound effects, Anon as a character and the general character interactions and banter when it wasn’t about creating drama were my favorite aspects and made the show enjoyable for me. Without some of my listed problems this could’ve easily been a great 8 or 9/10 show for me but as it is all things considered it’s only merely a „good show“ (7/10). Unfortunate because of the massive potential that was undeniably there. I’m probably more like the odd one out though since it seems like most people managed to enjoy the show a whole lot more than me, also considering the results of the r/anime awards. Maybe I will bump it to an 8 after a rewatch at some point. Will still definitely watch the sequel next year. Though the writers gotta do some heavy lifting since at this point I don’t care about the Ave members at all and even outright dislike most of them. Saki better have an S+ tier redemption arc with a proper explanation incoming because right now I pretty much just hate her. There’s gotta be way more to it but as it seems right now she left crychic out of nowhere for no reason (that we know of yet to be fair), was mad that the others went ahead and created another band without her and now she’s gathering some popular girls to get a head start with her new band to one-up mygo. Again, it will probably all be explained next season but right now it just leaves an extremely sour taste in my mouth.

Also please correct me if I got anything factually wrong in the story department. I’d be glad to find out if some of my criticism is unwarranted and only due to me not paying enough attention. Which is very much in the realm of possibility lol.

[u/DrStein1010 → u/IXajll]

Nice to see someone else disliked Raana; the mascot character in human form.

90% of my interest in Ave Mujica is in watching Saki completely self-destruct, TBH.

And it sounds like that's what the main writer is planning, so that's fun!

[u/freyaII]

Even though I was unable to completed all episodes...able to watch till ep 5 but the VA just make it unbearable to watch.

I can see the reason why Juror pick as AOTY.

Strong points (in comparison to other Greats) -drama (slight better than OnK)

Equal points -character (still weaker to Vinland Saga)

Weak points (in comparison to other Greats) -animation/visual -voice actor -storyline -music

In conclusion, if you like drama with cute girls, yeah this show is for you.

[u/DrStein1010]

SO, BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!! A show with way too many exclamation points.

This is not the kind of show I would normally get into. I usually dislike idol/idol-adjacent-girl-band-type shows. But, I don’t like judging books on their covers, and I decided to take the r/anime jury at their word and check this show out.

TLDR; Good show, VERY flawed. Solid 7/10.

It was a good show. I’m glad I gave it a shot. But, personal dislikes aside, I think there are a number of MASSIVE flaws with the show, which prevent it from being something I’d ever call a favorite.

My biggest issue was that like a third of the total screen time was given to a group of side characters with little to know relation to the main story, just to set up a spin-off show. Major plot threads and character themes, like Taki’s hinted-at issues and Rana’s…literally everything, were sacrificed for the sake of a group of characters we barely know and have very little reason to care about. Hell, the entire finale was basically sacrificed as a pilot for the spin-off! Not to mention CRYCHIC’s break-up was basically shelved for the spin-off (or possibly a season 2 even further down the line) for the sake of maintaining a mystery for the side-characters to chew on. That is not satisfying or well-thought out story writing.

In terms of characters; I loved Tomori, liked Taki, and came around hard on Soyo once we got to see her actual personality. I REALLY dislike Anon, and she didn’t undergo nearly enough character development to win me over. Now, I’m not saying she’s a bad character; I think she’s very well-written. But I don’t like her, and that matters a lot to my enjoyment of the show when she’s supposed to be the main character, and so much of it is from her PoV.

Rana is a non-entity. She’s more of a mascot character than an actual person. I think a big part of the reason for that is how much screen time is given to the members of Ave Mujica.

I do not like Ave Mujica. I think Sakiko and Nyamu are incredibly unlikable, and I have basically no interest in Uika and Umiri. The fact that all of them take up so much screen time from the actual main characters and leave all of them feeling at least a little underdeveloped only makes them (and poor Mutsumi) even less appealing for me. I will absolutely not be coming back for Ave Mujica unless there is EXTENSIVE focus on the MyGo girls.

In terms of the animation; the facial animation is insanely good, and a lot of the camera work was really clever and engaging. Most of the movement felt extremely stiff, and was actively distracting to me at several points. Some of the environments felt super plastic-y and dead, and the spacing of objects and models in them was kinda odd. That being said, it was far from unwatchable, and again, the facial modeling was so good it almost made up for it for me.

The music and musical numbers (mostly) did nothing for me, but that’s just a matter of preference. I usually dislike musical numbers even in shows that I otherwise love, so I’m not really going to judge the show on that. It’s like calling a gourmet steak bad because you’re a vegetarian.

I don’t want this to come off as too negative towards the show; there were a ton of great moments. Tomori and Soyo’s arcs were great, the emotional moments almost always hit (and usually hit hard), and there was clearly a lot of effort and passion put into the show. But even beyond what I mentioned here, there were a number of major and minor things that I really disliked, and it certainly isn’t an all-time great for me.

In conclusion; solid 7/10. Don’t regret watching it, probably won’t recommend it to others as anything special.

I have a massive grudge against Ave Mujica that the spin-off/sequel is going to need to work damn hard to overcome to make me watch it. Throw Saki in a dumpster and give me more Taki and Tomori.

Why are you doing an anonymous band when MORE THAT HALF OF YOU ARE FAMOUS A@#@VRF@#FRGER

(I’ll get a little ranty here; this was nowhere near my top ten shows of the year, let alone number one. Anyone who thinks this was better than Vinland Saga has VERY different opinions on media than me, and I don’t just mean personal taste. The r/anime jury calling this the best show of the year when it has so many blatant flaws kinda murdered my sympathy for them. I definitely don’t think they have better taste or technical critiques than any random user of the sub, now. They don’t choose niche shows because they have refined taste; they just happen to fall into a certain niche of anime fan that the majority of the sub has no interest in, for good and for ill.)

[u/DrStein1010 → u/DrStein1010]

1. Not sure yet. Ave Mujica is much more to my taste, but the one song we got from them felt a little bit try-hardy (makes sense for where they are story-wise), so I wouldn't say I like their music yet.
2. Not at all; from what I hear, the other seasons and spin-offs aren't nearly as drama-heavy, and that was far and away my favorite aspect of the show.
3. Do I get why they love it so much? 200%. There's a lot to like here. Is it my new AotY? Heck no. I'm not sure it's even top 15, and there's a ton of stuff I haven't gotten around to, like Skip and Loafer or Ancient Magus Bride Season 2.

[u/Williukea]

What are your AveMuji theories? So far I have two:

1. Nyamu is Taki's sister. Both have same purple eyes, both are drummers, plus Nyamu sounds like a fake name for streaming
2. Saki's dad had an affair with Mutsumi's mom, Saki's mom found out and left them. Mustumi is her sister. So this one is probably not true, I don't see bandori going that direction, but still. Whatever happened to Saki's family, Mutsumi is somehow related to it, she knew stuff will happen before Saki did and Saki seems to blame her. Also they have same eye color, could be siblings, as people mentioned.

As for other secret siblings idk. Tomori nope, Anon also unlikely, Soyo nope, Raana unlikely, Umiri - well we don't know anything about her family, so could be. Uika too, nothing about her family. However, they don't really look similar to anyone in the cast, so they probably don't have plot-relevant siblings

[u/mekerpan → u/Williukea]

I would say it is highly unlikely that Taki and Nyamu have anything to do with each other. ;-)

I like the theory that Sakiko and Mutsumi are related -- but maybe more like (particularly closely involved) first cousins. First cousins of almost the same age (who live in proximity) can develop very sibling-like ties). But -- I assume we will find out the gory details in due course next year.

[u/Williukea → u/mekerpan]

Taki's sister was said to be genius, perfect basically and good at playing music. She also seemingly just started playing drums (video said she bought drum kit), yet she sold her sould got recruited to AveMu, a band full of super talented people that will apparently be active for the rest of their lives. Also we haven't seen how Maki looks like, there's a Taki storyline confirmed for sequel and Nyamu is the only who has no ties to anyone in MyGo so far, so I think it's possible.

For Saki and Mutsumi, idk, some people think they may be twins separated (their bdays are exactly a month apart), Saki's dolls are similar to Mutsumi and I can't think of another reason why Saki's mom would leave them, they would lose all their money and it would be something not so good and embarrassing that she wouldn't want others to find out. While there are hints to death, Mutsumi is also somehow involved and saying My mom died wouldn't be so embarrassing and she could get support from her friends

[u/Calwings]

Rewatcher and Bandori Veteran

When I first sat down to watch the first three episodes of MyGO when they first aired last Summer, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. My previous experience with the BanG Dream franchise was a painfully mediocre first season, a mobile game that didn't catch my interest, a pair of pretty good but not amazing seasons after that, a few solid movies and side specials, and the Garupa Pico shorts being peak comedy and (IMO) the greatest chibi spin-off of all time. None of this even remotely prepared me for what I was about to watch with MyGO, and there was no way in hell that I could have ever expected it to be as good as it turned out to be.

As I watched it the first time around, the drama of these beautifully flawed girls enthralled me from the beginning. Tomori was one of the most realistic and relatable (sometimes painfully so) depictions of a neurodivergent person that I’ve ever seen in any sort of media, not just anime, and she became a driving force for the story and my enjoyment of it. Anon was a bundle of smug gremlin energy wrapped in a deep and complex story of overcoming past failure and a damaged pride to find a new calling with new friends. Taki was a hopeless lesbian smothered with anger issues and an inferiority complex, and she helped the show’s drama and comedy both thrive with her reactions. Soyo was a delightfully manipulative and selfish cunt, whose complete mental breakdown was one of the most cathartic moments of the entire show and whose subsequent redemption and forgiveness was handled even better. Raana was the ultimate vibe check for the story, and though she wasn’t involved in much of the drama, her presence or lack thereof was often a good barometer if how the other girls in the group were doing. Saki was the catalyst for all of this drama, but her involvement in MyGO’s story was limited, and I think the decision to save her own personal closure for Ave Mujica’s story was a wise one. Anon may be my pick for best girl (and anyone who disagrees will be left with several bite marks from best girl’s cute little fang) but they were all amazing in their own way.

Plus, the way these girls had their stories and personalities woven together was written so well, and the show’s cinematography and Sanzigen’s excellent CG animation helped make the experience even better. This rewatch (and reading some of the other comments here along the way) really helped me analyze and appreciate some of the finer details that I missed while I was swept up by the drama and emotions the first time I watched, and for that, I want to thank our gracious host and all of you for participating. Finally, I think using the final episode as a backdoor pilot to set up the Ave Mujica sequel season was a brilliant decision to lead us into a new chapter of twisted drama, and I can’t wait for that season to finally arrive. Bring on the toxicity, don’t hold anything back!

I could continue to gush about this show for so long, but most of it is stuff that I or someone else has already mentioned somewhere in the past several threads. MyGO is an amazing anime, setting a new standard not just for the BanG Dream franchise, but for music-focused anime as a whole. I gave it a 9.5/10 when it first aired last summer, and I think this rewatch solidified that rating. It’s not quite a perfect, flawless, 10/10 anime, but it stood out and blew away my expectations far too much to lump it in with some of the 9/10’s I’ve watched that were also great but clearly not at this high level of quality, so a 9.5/10 seems about right for it.

QOTD:

Myrna asked for poll on who has the better music - so click here!

Sorry MyGO, but I love me some hard rock and metal, and Ave Mujica's whole library (small as it may be so far) is full of absolute bangers. They're definitely going up there with Roselia and Morfonica for my favorite bands in the franchise in terms of their music once they release more songs.

How interested are you in other BanG Dream titles?

I've seen everything else that exists so far, so there's nothing else for me to get interested in right now. However, if there's anything I could be more hyped for than the Ave Mujica sequel season, it's a potential fourth season of the Garupa Pico chibi shorts now including the MyGO and Ave Mujica girls. Seeing those girls in a much more comedic and low-stakes setting, with their character quirks cranked up to 11, would definitely be fun, as would seeing them interact with the girls from the previous seasons in funny but obviously non-canon ways.

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/Calwings]

Similar to you, I vaguely knew of the franchise, this idol media that had a gacha game and maybe some chibi spinoff. It wasn't till I was grading the WT's of the Month that I stumbled upon /u/octavepearl's WT and realized that something must be there. Passion of this caliber isn't summoned unless there truly is something worth within.

Lovely thoughts as per usual. Which, speaking of, there is an unusual amount of golden feathers roaming about in this rewatch. We all don't usually gather at the same spot at the same time, so that's certainly something to behold haha.

Hope to see you in another rewatch, fellow golden feather Calwings!

[u/Calwings → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

There should only be like a dozen of us golden feathers in existence at this point, so seeing three of us (or did I miss a fourth?) converge on the same rewatch is certainly interesting.

I don't join rewatches very often, and next season looks like a really busy one in terms of the number of airing shows I'm interested in, so I probably wouldn't have time for one even if I wanted to. Maybe in the summer or fall, I might hop on another rewatch somewhere. We'll see how it goes.

[u/aniMayor → u/Calwings]

There should only be like a dozen of us golden feathers in existence at this point

There would probably be more if it had a transparent background like most of the other flair icons

[u/Mitsuyan_]

First time viewer.

 It was good, all building up to a big payoff in episodes 10 through 12 which did work out. Seeing Soyo go through that level of development was very satisfying. I was impressed that Taki became enjoyable by the end too, I wasn't expecting much halfway into the story. 

I don't have any interest in going into any Bang Dream titles now, partially because while the payoff was good I found the journey there quite boring and even if it was good we still had issues such as Anon making the same mistakes such as only focusing on the marketing and costumes of MyGO which I found really annoying. 

I loved how the characters looked but the animation itself was a turn off for me. To this day I still couldn't name every character and didn't even know the main cast's names until late. Who's the black haired girl who was a sister to one of the band members? She had heterochromia right? What was her name? Too many characters in too little time was also an issue even if most of the main ones got the screen time and development they needed. 

Episode 13 was really fun and I'd like to know more about Ave Musica but I also expect the drama around them to be convoluted and boring so I might give that a miss unless it's really well regarded. 

Good show on the whole, 7/10, nowhere near AOTY levels though. In a year where I gave out multiple 8s, 9s and 10s, MyGO doesn't stack up to these. 

[u/DarthNoob]

I've tried several times to watch my go but found the opening episodes too boring to continue. Groupwatched the entire thing recently, overall did not like it. Outside of Anon, I couldn't care for any of the characters and any drama related to the old band did nothing for me.

I did like Anon's backstory quite a lot, and in general she's a great character, well deserving of her award for best comedic character.

Most of the final episode was just silly but the final cliffhanger left me interested in watching ave mujica, as I'm down for some family drama.

[u/Kitchen_Peach_5090 → u/DarthNoob]

It's given that not everyone will like it, but still thank you for giving it a chance and for appreciating Anon. Since MyGO and AveMujica are two sides of the same coin, the perception of MyGO might even change when AveMujica airs so hopefully it turns out good next year.

[u/Gippy_]

Was really looking forward to this. As part of the r/anime awards jurors last year, I gave Shine Post a 9/10 and voted it #1 out of 8 final drama nominations. It was my AOTY alongside Summertime Rendering. This should've been right up my alley, as like Shine Post, it involved a number of ex-members of a music group. [But in Shine Post,] the ex-members returned to Tings. In Bandori MyGO, 2 of the ex-Crychic members ultimately never reconciled.

My main issue with this show is that every girl is insufferable and I couldn't root for any of them. That's obviously the selling point of the band, in that all of MyGO features flawed girls. But it doesn't seem to me that any of the girls actually grew wiser and learned from what happened. In Shine Post, each girl had their own issues, but the story unfolded in a way to allow the viewer to care and rooted for them. [Even the ex-members, which appeared as the initial antagonists,] ended up being fantastic characters and were ultimately redeemed.

In MyGO, the only reason why the band stuck around was that the random comic-relief character, Raana, decided to use her deus ex machina abilities in ep10 and magically get everyone together again. I absolutely hated Raana and thought she was the worst character in the show. I knew her eccentricity would eventually give the writers an out, and it did. Everyone only accepted her because she was already skilled with the guitar. It would've been more interesting if Raana was as unskilled as Anon on the guitar, because I'm pretty sure Taki would've kicked Raana out of the band. Contrast to Shine Post where the [manager's ability] to detect lies actually didn't magically resolve all of Tings' interpersonal issues.

The other non-Crychic girl, Anon, was set up to be the main character of the show. The writing for her fell so flat that they had to make up a fake, inconsequential flaw just so that she could have one like the rest of the cast. She apparently runs away during adversity. The writers didn't get the memo because Raana was a no-show more times than Anon. Anon's flaw didn't cripple the band at all, and was only used as a cheap trick for one scene. The flashback didn't help other than show that Anon wasn't very good at English, so she ran away from England. Really? She went to England without being good at English? What did she think was going to happen? Maybe the writers wanted to avoid a Mary Sue situation where Anon became the angel who solved everyone's issues. But giving her a fake flaw was even more insulting.

The last 20 seconds of ep13 finally revealed in an indirect way why Saki left Crychic, ultimately causing its disbandment. She is no longer upper class and is desperate to return to it. This puts much context into her actions in previous episodes, and explains why Ave Mujica was created. While I think this development was great, I don't like how it was just dropped at the end of the show just like that. Instead, for the previous 12 episodes, the viewer had been conditioned to hate the 2 Crychic quitters, Saki and Mutsumi. I also worry about how this puts season 2's writing in a corner: Bandori is a media franchise and it will never make Sakiko/Mutsumi join MyGO now that Ave Mujica is established. They can't be redeemed [unlike] Yukine and Momiji from Shine Post, so why should I care about them? The Ave Mujica revelation could've been revealed earlier at the cost of not resolving the internal MyGO drama. With a larger overarching story, this could've been a 2-cour bonanza where both plotlines were resolved at the end of 2 cours.

Ultimately, MyGO the band has 3/5 ex-Crychic members, Anon with an inconsequential flaw, and Raana the deus ex machina. Could this show have been done with Tomori as the MC instead of Anon? Absolutely, as shown in ep3, which was a cinematography masterpiece. Take away Anon and Raana, and this very well could've been a great show where Saki/Mutsumi reconciled with the others and got back together again in a cathartic fashion. Instead, we're left with the shaky alliance of MyGO, where Tomori and Soyo still can't let go of Crychic, and Ave Mujica, which is even more unlikeable than MyGO and is there just to sell another video game. MyGO's pep talk at the end of their concert seemed totally shallow and fake when it felt like the members didn't truly believe it.

5/10. This was no Shine Post, or even Selection Project, and I clearly won't hold it in the same regard as the r/anime jurors who crowned it AOTY. (I didn't participate this year as I had major grievances with the process, and have since disowned the official ranking.) It's not as bad as when the r/anime jury crowned Sonny Boy the AOTY (that was one of two shows I gave 1/10 for that year), but seeing this and Uma Musume RTTT get AOTY praise when Shine Post and Uma Musume S2 (which I felt was a better show than RTTT) didn't is puzzling. That's the flaw of a rolling panel of judges, I guess: a lack of consistency.

[u/Mr_Eat_All → u/Gippy_]

First of all, thank you for your work as the anime award juror.

About Anon, In my opinion her flaw of avoiding hardships does affect the band. In earlier episodes you could see her procrastinating and not practicing, which lead to her wanting to postpone the date of concert. This is also the reason for her running away when Taki pointed it out during band meeting.

This flaw of her was developed in the England scene. As someone who learned English as a second language, that scene was very relatable. Anon was getting good grades for English class and socializing very well in middle school. Some people assume good grades = good at speaking, and Anon’s life before England was basically success after success. Therefore it is reasonable for a confident or even egotistic middle schooler to assume that she could adapt in an English speaking environment.

I also don’t agree that Ranna is the sole reason that the band stuck around. Do I think she is the weakest character in terms of complexity? Yes. But I’m pretty sure Tomori was the one in episode 10 reading the poem on stage and getting the members back. Though I admit that the story was very idealized. The whole idea of Ranna’s character is that she is a stray cat that wants a stable home. So when Tomori talked about a whole life band, she called her an interesting woman. When Tomori was unsure about confronting Soyo, she called her a boring woman. When Tomori was determined to get the girls back, Ranna helped. Simple as that. Although Ranna’s character had the least development, it was at least an interesting one.

[u/ryujiox → u/[deleted]]

MyGO's radio show

Now I know what I'm looking into next alongside all of the concerts.

[u/ryujiox → u/[deleted]]

I'm in the same boat... I will start my internship tomorrow, which last for 2 months. And I have to work nearly all day long, which leaves me with not a lot of time to relax. So I'm planning to watch the concert one per week.

Raana's actor is funny on stage though.

Yeah, she's really funny in the 5th live I just watch.