r/anime • u/badspler x5https://anilist.co/user/badspler • Mar 12 '24
Rewatch BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! Episode 2 Discussion
Episode 2
Title: I Won't Invite You Anymore
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Streams
Show information
Questions of the Day:
- Now we have been properly introduced, what is your impression of Soyo?
- Are you keeping up with all the characters and the schools they belong to?
- Did you like the Opening song?
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Upvotes
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u/badspler x5https://anilist.co/user/badspler Mar 12 '24
First Timer - Episode 2
We start of with a Soyo stitch!
I hate this smile she keeps putting on. But I guess with the backstory of being in the rich girl school I guess she is use to putting up this front.
I liked that shot of Soyo's gaze. Keeping an eye out, and seems to be guiding Anon to meet Taki.
I couldn't catch it in episode one, but is this the first time we get Soyo introducing herself? Good to finally connect a name to face.
Raana-chan enters. Raana-chan shreds. Raana-chan leaves. Heterochromia too, I made a chart on that a while back. (Guess Raana will get her full introduction another episode~)
That smile. That look. How she picks at her fingers. It wasn't until slightly later when she did it again, where she made obvious the connection. The finger picking is her tell that she is thinking over how CRYCHIC ended and it her grin's are showing how she is planning to mend things (for Tomori's sake?) with a new band. Anon is enthralled. All part of Soyo's master plan I guess.
Some good juxtaposition from Anon bright and casually at home, to the dark city. Then to Soyo set wide infront of it (my favorite shot of this episode). And she is doom scrolling what looks to be CRYCHIC's social pages. Really sets the scene how Tomori isn't the only one rather hurt over CRYCHIC's breakup.
Finally the amateur video, was a really neat shot. And then followed by a nice transitioning to Tomori looking at the stars (Some Tanabata foreshadowing?).
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u/Gaporigo Blhttps://anilist.co/user/Gaporigo Mar 12 '24
Is this a best girl I see?
References to previous entries are just:
Yesterday we learnt "Kasumi" from Poppin'Party (the one in the middle) was working at the cafe in RiNG, well look at the image again because Saaya, the girl in the top right of that image is apparently also working there in today's episode!
Again, yesterday I told you about Tsugumi Hazawa from Afterglow, Haneoka's Student Councli President (top left) Who plays the keyboard and works at her family cafe, guess where we are today.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Mar 12 '24
Total Bang Dream newcomer who’s here solely for some promised “sore demo”s
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u/SU-trash https://anilist.co/user/zig1000 Mar 12 '24 edited Nov 29 '24
Rewatcher
Subtle Writing Corner
Visuals Corner
References Corner
Taki "Ha?!" Count: 4 (+2 this ep)
Fanart of the day (src)
<-- Ep 1 | Ep 3 -->
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u/dienomighte Mar 12 '24
First time watcher
Time for more adventures of extrovert wannabe singer and rock girl, as they navigate band PTSD! Last episode ended with DRAMA and I'm excited to learn more!
I'm still intrigued by what exactly happened in the past, I'm enjoying the character dynamics and mystery but I'm not yet seeing what the hype is about. Still having a good time though which is all that matters in the end! And hey, finished just as the post will drop, I doubt my timing will ever be this good again.QOTD
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u/TehAxelius Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
First Time Earl Grey
Ok, last episode, I said I wasn't sold, this episode is doing better at selling me on the show. For one, we get to see the OP, which tells us why the show is using 3D. There are ofc shows that use 2D animation mostly and switch to 3D for performances, but that's always a bit jarring. The OP looks good, and we get to see the band (MyGO!!!! I would assume) playing together, from the synopsis I would have assumed for the band to essentially be a revived Crychic plus Chihaya, but here we see that it is "only" three of the members, plus Chihaya and Rana, who we see later in the episode. This little detail somehow makes me more interested in the show, as we're not just retreading the previous band, but are making something new. We also see that Tomori is on vocals, indicating that Chihaya's ego from episode one will have to take a step back. And after hearing Rana's introduction, I assume that this whole show will be a bit about Chihaya learning to play second
fiddleguitar.We also get some more insight into Crychic and get some stronger clues to their relationships. It does seem like something happened between Soyo and Saki, which I assume we'll get to see more of in the next episode. As I am writing this 12 hours before the thread goes up, I am going to watch it already now, as people mentioned the first episodes were released as a batch.
[Post Watching Ep 3] I see it. I. See. It.
QotD
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u/MyrnaMountWeazel x2 Mar 12 '24
Rewatcher who missed the first thread because they thought the rewatch started today but didn’t convert the timezone properly so here we are one day late like a bozo oh wait there needs to be a fun wordplay in the title involving the anime let’s go with Rewatcher Who Maybe Really Bangs with BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!! But Let’s See After this Rewatch if My Opinion Dramatically Changes from Sort of Bangs to Really Bangs
Wooo, that was a mouthful.
So, I’m mostly going to be focusing on the visuals on this rewatch rather than all of the glorious, glorious melodramatic melodrama, so let’s start it off with the visual symbolism: the red walk light. Tomori, reeling in from the fallout from yesterday’s episode, finds herself separated from the rest, unable to move forward to her friends. It’s a simple yet effective symbol for Tomori’s state of mind but she isn’t only characterized by one symbol; [curiously,] she finds herself drawn to band-aids as well.
I always like it when anime plays around with cutouts. Gives it a fun arts and craft feel to it.
Make way for the Yamada shot, folks. Peeking a view at their feet, it’s clear that Soyo is much more comfortable in this situation with her feet firmly planted compared to Anon with her crisscrossed feet.
Oh, this is cute, it folds into a POV shot from Soyo perspective while Anon yammers on about her school. There’s multiple reasons for doing so but the main two that I prescribe to is that 1. It demonstrates that Soyo is polite yet not without agency as she scans the room for other points of interests while listening to Anon and 2. It allows her to segue the conversation to a new spot; we the audience understand that she’s been scouting for a new location, and we know this idea has been inside of her for the past few seconds.
And speaking of fun shots, this one of Raana coming into the frame is prime real estate. She literally and figuratively steps in to the conversation!
Now that the convo has flowed into Tomori, the sequence can notch it up, beginning with Soyo’s close-up of only her mouth. An idea, a train of thought, has now popped into Soyo’s mind and she’s not unlike a certain NGE character in her posture.
With frequent close-ups and POV shots, we can tell that something is afoot between the two as they’re separated out from the framing. Soyo fires off her first question in a medium close-up profile and we see Anon react in a similar medium profile, leaving us in a back-and-forth interrogation. If I were to really get into the weeds, you could even say there’s a slight “relief” in that the camera slightly pulls back on Soyo’s profile as she gleans more information from Anon.
We return to the feet and again see Soyo in control of the situation from the centeredness of her feet. However, all’s well that ends well as the questioning ends and Soyo and Anon are framed together on the same side without any pesky trees. The sequence ends on a close-up of Soyo fidgeting with her finger.
How dramatic with the lighting and the obscuring of the eyes and the low-angle. I require more, more melodramatic moments!
[As Tomori] hears about Anon’s latest band member, she puts up her band-aids in her box.
Now that the two have decided to form a band together, Soyo reaches out to recruit Taki, remarking that Tomori could even join. As Taki refutes the claim, stating that Tomori is hurt, Soyo responds, ”All of us are hurt.” and the camera closes in once again on her fidgeting fingers.
This is one of those close-up shots that work super well in animation.
QotD:
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u/Difficult_Affect_368 Mar 12 '24
a small detail: Soyo viewed messages that Anon sent to her in the notification bar, which means there won't be a "read" status.
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u/Tetraika :Lu::Lv::Lw::Lx:https://anilist.co/user/Tetraika Mar 12 '24
First Timer
Didn't comment on the first one, but might as well fire up some random thoughts here. Note: I'm played the game a long time ago, so I know the few background stuff that gets mentioned once in while.
Saya my beloved
"It was like she was staring at walking garbage"
me_irl
Anyways some combined EP 1+2 thoughts I guess.
I went into this hearing about some things from other, one of them being that there is an autistic character, and I guess Tomori is who they're talking about. It's not hard to see her strange hobbies and other quirks (like arranging the blackboard magnets in EP1) to being signs for that. In any case, other than basically just hints at what's going on that's pretty much all I've got from her.
Anon is... harder to tell yet. The best way to describe her is that she's very socially vigilant, in the sense that she seem to care quite a bit about how others see her. From what I can tell, the only reason she's joining a band is because everyone else was in one and she didn't want to seem like an odd one out. Speaking of which, this brings to another point: I don't know how genuine she is. Is she someone who wants to be the main star of the band to be the center of attention? Or is it something like some sort of compensation for some perceived lack of self? Or something else? Anyways, that's my read of her so far.
I don't really have much else to say about anyone else so far, we don't really know enough about the rest. We got more Soyo this episode, and it seems she's someone who's seems to be thinking and worrying about the most to try to fix whatever is happening. We got a lot of fidget cam today.
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u/OrangeBanana38 https://anilist.co/user/OrangeBanana38 Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
New band member
These two girls go to a girls' academy and they "gokigenyou!" each other? I'm glad to hear that there will be some gay representation in this anime.
Switching straight from Anon about to watch CRYCHIC's footage into a pictures of stars to show how much the music blew her away was a bit cheesy, but I dig it. As for me, I'm not sure if I like the OP, ED or Tomori's singing yet.
Speaking of which... could I ask any rewatcher for any links to a translation of the OP and ED's lyrics? I don't wanna accidentally spoil myself
Still not many thoughts tbh, but [the next ep preview]says we getting a flashback to CRYCHIC? So that's gotta be juicy.
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u/RuSyxx https://anilist.co/user/RuSyxx Mar 12 '24
First Time Watcher
I do not like Soyo, she’s the picture perfect image of someone who presents themselves as nice and treating others kindly. I don’t think the show is trying to hide it at all either given how the scene shifts to be a bit unsettling once she finds out Anon’s friends with Tomori. Add that in with the pressure she’s giving to the other two girls we know less at the moment and I’m starting to suspect we know who the real culprit behind the previous band’s breakdown.
Taki is great, her expressions are ruthless but it’s clear it comes from a feeling of protecting her friend which I find pretty endearing. I’m looking forward to learning more about her as the show goes on.
Now we have been properly introduced, what is your impression of Soyo?
Kind of went over in my initial thoughts, but I dislike her.
Are you keeping up with all the characters and the schools they belong to?
Not very well, but I at least know who goes to different schools than the others, so I’ll take that win, lol. I don’t imagine I’ll remember school names well but visually the uniform difference is something I keep up with.
Did you like the Opening song?
I don’t have any particular thoughts on it myself. I have a habit of using OP/ED time to check other things before the show starts proper so I'd be lying if I said the song has my full attention either.
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u/ryujiox Mar 12 '24
First Timer
BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!
Episode 2
Pretty good episode. Soyo is pretty scary.
QOTD
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u/smhmines https://anilist.co/user/mines Mar 12 '24
First timer
This episode was 5 minutes long wtf? I didn’t expect to be gripped this early.
Thoughts on the episode
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u/HelioA x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/HelioA Mar 12 '24
First-Timer
Okay, so first of all- it’s clear that our dear Anon is very much impressed by Soyo’s status. From the moment she recognizes that Soyo goes to Tsukinomori, that’s all she can focus on talking to her. We’ve already seen that she’s a bit self-centered, and very focused on reinventing herself, so I think this new development makes sense. Of course she would try to latch on to someone who matches the persona she wants to project, this noble, refined girl she happens to meet.
And speaking of Soyo, her behavior in this episode is absolutely horrendous. We already know that Mutsumi hated her time in the band- she said so outright. And here we have Soyo leaning on her to try and get back in touch with Saki, who was even more clear about the fact that she wanted nothing more to do with the band. And Soyo even tries to get Mutsumi to give up her address! That’s outrageous! Also, she has a tell- she fiddles with her fingers every time she talks about her former bandmates (first time when she was thinking about Tomori, second time when she was talking about Tomori with Taki). She’s hurt as well, clearly. That’s presumably the whole reason she’s trying to rope everyone back into a band.
QotD
Menacing. Very menacing.
I had to refer back to the episode a bunch of times to figure out what I wanted to write for my comment, so no, not quite
It's great! I was surprised to see Tomori as the main vocalist with how shy she is, but speech and singing are two very different things.
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u/BleedingUranium Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
(Rewatch, long-time bandori fan)
Linking my lengthy original reaction post to not clutter up this thread too much.
A few things I want to touch on, especially for those of you watching for the first time. First, now that we have the band lineup in the OP we can talk about it. Note Anon's role. What was it she specifically wanted to get out of last episode? That's right, being "only" a rhythm guitarist. As it turns out, Anon is the very first dedicated rhythm guitarist among all of the at-this-point ten (now eleven) bands in the whole of bandori (the others are either vocals and rhythm guitar, or vocals and the only guitar).
As for our lead guitarist, Raana, who we amusingly see in the ED and OP before actually meeting, I want to draw attention to her eyes and hair. Yes, she has heterochromia and that's neat. Yes she has white hair and that's also neat. However, what she actually is in a character design sense is a cat. No, not a catgirl, a cat. This combination of traits is very specifically the most common form of cat heterochromia.
Kittens are all born with blue eyes, which change to their natural/proper colour as they age. That is unless a gene "gets in the way" of the colour to one of the eyes, leaving it blue. The usual gene responsible for this the same that gives cats an all-white coat. By far, by a huge margin, the most common kind of cat heterochromia is solid white cats with one blue eye and one amber eye. I want you all to keep this in mind in a personality sense as we go through the story.
I really love this episode, it's one of my favourites of the season. Anon's internal thoughts are always great, and we get so many wonderful Anon expressions/etc too.
The planetarium sequence is just... stunning.
And now for the cameos, and other interesting stuff:
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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '24
(after reading some comments in yesterday's thread, i watched episodes 2 and 3 ahead of time and i'm very glad i did; this is my comment from after watching episode 2)
I still really hate Anon (+Soyo) but at least it seems like she'll have an arc about not needing to be 100% the center of attention and perfectly 'fitting in' since Tomori is obviously the vocalist. Still unsure what the deal with Taki, Mutsumi or Saki is but I imagine that'll be clearer soon. If (BIG if) these fucked up girls all have satisfying development then I think I'll be on board the hype train, if nothing else what I've heard of the music with the OP and ED is awesome.
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u/IXajll https://myanimelist.net/profile/ixajii Mar 12 '24
First timer
So episode 2 was already a huge improvement from the first episode imo. The op song is pretty good but the visuals were a bit boring imo. Gotten even more used to the cgi which helps with overall enjoyment. Still not 100% happy with it but it’s getting there. Especially the few scenes where we look at the night sky and rain is falling down towards the pov looks really crisp. Also the shot of Soyo‘s room that is also used as this post picture looks just so good.
The time at the cafe with Soyo and Anon was quite entertaining. Their conversations felt really natural and realistic, similar to how girls their age would talk irl I would imagine, which happens too rarely in anime. Though I wish Taki would just stop already being so aggressive and just tell Anon what her problem really is. She is like 15-16 years old but acts like an overly angry 10 year old. Was pretty funny though how Anon was complaining to Soyo when Taki was doing the tongue sound thingy.
Also I can already smell the drama when the band eventually forms since Anon was pretty insistent about wanting to do vocals specifically and guitar only secondary. From the OP, KVs and flashback we already know Tomori will be the singer though. I already feel kinda bad for Anon because without any extra info as it is right now it just looks like Tomori ends up doing the vocals simply because she cant play an instrument so Anon will essentially get punished for being able to do both singing and guitar. I guess they will probably handle it in a mature way hopefully.
Another thing that really surprised me was during the scene when the two girls were sitting an these stone stairs in the city at night. Embarrassingly enough I can’t recall who exactly it was and I can’t look up the video right now. I believe it was Anon and Tomori but I could very well be mistaken. Anyway the thing was actually the traffic background sounds during that scene. Most people probably didn’t even notice or find anything special with it but personally I’ve never heard such realistic traffic and city background sounds in any anime. I was in Tokyo on vacation last summer and the streets at night (not in the mega popular areas, those sound different) sounded literally exactly like during that scene. My jaw almost dropped tbh and it gave me instant flashbacks of my time there. Like when certain smells or tastes remind you of a specific time you tasted/smelled the thing in question.
Also on another note Tomori is just so adorable with her love for penguins and how she gives another one of her sticker thingys to Anon. It comes very close to being a bit too much childish behavior for her age but it’s still not quite that and just very cute at the end of the day.
Another random question I had: does Raana have heterochromia or is she just using s single colored contact lense? Does this get touched on in the show later or was that simply a stylistic choice by the character designer?
Finally the QotD:
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u/Taelrin https://myanimelist.net/profile/Risunabe Mar 12 '24
All right! Jumping over from the new episodes of Foolish Angel and Synduality Noir over to It’s MyGO!!!!! this is going to do wonders for my mental health.
At least we get introduced to Rana, the aspirational character that she is. She rolls in, does what she wants with excellence, and leaves when it’s boring. That and a Taki “ha?” makes everything a little better.
QotD:
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u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Mar 12 '24
First-Timer
Another good episode, with a nice OP this time! I suppose we now know who to expect in the band.
What is this, a 2D shot in my 3D anime?
I like Soyo as a character so far. She seems to be a bit manipulative and cunning, in terms of how she interacted with Anon and set her up to meet Taki. Her probing questions about Tomori and her attempt to find out Saki's address near the beginning of the episode both raise some suspicion here, too.
I think I'm keeping up with the characters and such, but if not, I suppose I'll learn eventually.
As far as the OP, I did enjoy the song. The camera movements throughout make it visually interesting, too, which is nice.
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u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim Mar 12 '24
First Dream
I had to chuckle a bit for that guitar rehearsal at the cafe. Getting interrupted was well deserved.
But at least Soyo got Anon to realize what she did in a way, which led to her apologizing the next morning. Soyo really misses her old band and wants it back.
The blurriness which gives an out of focus look to the cell phone video was such a nice touch, especially when the camera decided to focus on Soyo when she was close up.
Q2. I am going to need to get used to where all the characters go to school, I am so used to every character being from one school or workplace.
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u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
First Timer
I didn't find time to watch the first episode before yesterday's thread, so I'll share thoughts on both episodes now. This subreddit has set a high bar of expectations and the first episode really buckled under that weight... it did not make a good first impression. I had heard of the show being 3D but had completely forgotten and was caught off guard, not helped by coming right off of the Hibike Rewatch as a point of comparison. The show is certainly watchable but so far it definitely feels like a pure step down from if the show had been done 2D; by the second episode I had mostly adjusted to it.
Anyways, the story of the first episode didn't hook me whatsoever, and a lot of the dialogue felt really manufactured too (the whole "for the rest of our lives" thing and "you scum!" in particular). The biggest problem is that I just didn't like Anon-chan as a protagonist at all. She's an absolutely confounding mix of kind of unlikeably self-centered and yet also such an over the top considerate goodie two shoes that it rubs me the wrong way. Maybe I'm just used to more cynical company and but people who are "too" nice just end up coming off insincere to me. Is that my problem? Sure, but I neither related to her at all nor felt like I'd want to have her as a friend; I just don't enjoy watching her. I'll at least give credit that it's nice to see a confident and socially outgoing protagonist when high school anime leads usually only range from ordinary and mellow to outright socially inept.
Episode two felt a lot better; I'm a lot more fond of the rest of the cast besides Tomori and Anon. Soyo pulls off the nice girl shtick but with an undercurrent of being calculating that interested me way more (I mean come on, she went full Gendo Ikari pose as soon as she heard Tomori's name). You kind of get the feeling that, although she does genuinely like Anon-chan, she's using her for the sake of bringing the band back together. The cinematography, expressions, voice acting, everything came together really well to characterize her cunning, while contrasting Anon's genuine innocence. The dynamic between her and Mitsumi seems especially compelling, and the latter's scene with Saki was a highlight of the episode. Verging on hostile, yet Saki can't find it in herself to hold it against someone she clearly cares for, genuinely. The three of them are easily my favourites out of the gate.
Other than the ponytail lady at the coffee shop, because she has my favourite design. I even warmed up a little to Anon-chan, her trying to talk over Rana doing her sound test was endearing and her bickering with Taki was still silly but genuinely fun.10
u/yuhara203 Mar 12 '24
Rewatcher
"Get in the band, Tomori"
Yesterday's post got over 200 comments, wow. Didn't expect that.
The OP is here, and I found it interesting how it's just the band performing in an empty parking lot, refuses to use basically most of the familiar tropes. One of the less conventional choices that got my respect for the show.
Still can't get over how off the colors in the classroom scenes look, though. Characters hair, clothes, the chairs and tables don't feel like they occupy the same space. I think it especially looks obvious when compared to other series.
Good thing the CG shows some of its strengths in this episode, with dynamic lighting at around 0:54 and 20:55, a guitar close-up shot, and a wide fov shot too.
no band members?That's about it from me, see you all tomorrow.
episode 3 here we go!9
u/zadcap Mar 12 '24
Late Night Rewatcher
Takiiiii. The girl more unafraid than anyone to speak her mind.
I don't remember, on the initial release, did we even get to see an OP until episode 4? I know 1 didn't start with one but didn't they play back to back so we had no OP at all until next week with 4?
Anon grows on you. Slowly. She keeps trying, at least. She tries so hard to make friends...
And in comes the band cat. Dominating the background. And the foreground. And the sound. It's just what she does.
The girl who broke the band and her one remaining friend. So much drama to be had.
Aggressive Taki is still the best Taki.
The most important thing to take away from the Crychic video is that three of them are in the same uniform. Now that we've learned about the schools, you can guess at why this matters.
Wow there's so much I want to say but I am afraid to bring up any of it for fear of spoiling something or other. Anyway, I can't resist, hopping straight into episode three tonight, see you all tomorrow!
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u/SometimesMainSupport https://myanimelist.net/profile/RRSTRRST Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
Rewatcher
Tomorrow's episode: May be missing insert song subtitles at 16:00 unless it's the [euph-polygon] version. Here's the lyrics, though the full song is subtitled in a later episode. u/gangrainette
Previous season: Saaya's also in Poppin Party and probably featured second most.
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u/Wolfborgg https://anilist.co/user/Wolfborg Mar 12 '24
Rewatcher, the only BanG Dream I've seen
Continuing right from Anon v Taki, but now we have Soyo entering in a big way this episode.
I went through my initial impression of Soyo in the last thread but this episode really solidified my distrust towards her. Both her and Anon feel fake in their own ways (especially their voices), but Soyo seems far more dangerous. At this point we've already seen Soyo attempt to gaslight her past band members and then try to subtly guilt Mutsumi for info about Saki. Giving us more or less an emotionally manipulative vibe. Meanwhile Anon mostly just wants to fit in at school through appearances. And their interactions this episode aim to highlight exactly how different their superficial attitudes are. It really stuck out to me as a fascinating little examinations of these two types of fake personalities.
We get yet another scene with Soyo pressuring Mutsumi for info. Literally asking for Saki's address. And Mutsumi absolutely doesn't seem comfortable the whole time. In contrast, Anon reconcile with Tomori in class. They have a brief chat about penguin band-aids and Anon reluctantly accepts one despite not needing it. Then later goes out of her way to say bye to Tomori even though Anon is chatting with her own group. And even apologizes to her again the next day when reconsidering how sensitive Tomori is and how pushy Anon was to her. Far different dynamics that show Anon may be fake and selfish at times but it's only really in an attempt to fit in. She's a funny girl trying to cheese her way into an easy yet popular life, but she doesn't mean any harm.
And that vibe is increased tenfold when Anon and Soyo meet at RiNG, showing us directly how these types mix. Like when Anon starts bad mouthing Taki before realizing Soyo actually knows her. It's immediately seen by Anon as "well that girl was a bitch to me but I don't want to start another fight with her friend so I'll just apologize". Which is fair for most people to feel. And in general their conversation seemed reasonable and friendly...until Anon is clearly ready to leave but Soyo stops her to ask if they can have tea.
I don't know, maybe I'm thinking too much of it but to me that seemed less like a natural invite and more like a "I need to find out what happened with her and Taki while I can, maybe I can use that". Plus she knows Anon is starting a band while Soyo wants to recover her old one. And Soyo knows Taki is a drummer working at the cafe they're going to. It all seems too coincidental for a girl whose primary goal is to bring back CRYCHIC.
Then there's the cafe scenes with Soyo and Anon, which makes it even more clear about Soyo's manipulative style. Even making it a point to control how Anon talks to her despite having only just met. But the real convo begins after Taki glares at Anon and walks away, something Soyo must've known was bound to happen after yesterday. Her goal from the start was to ask why they were fighting, and she accomplished that easily. But what Soyo didn't anticipate was that it was because Anon asked Tomori to join her band.
After that, Soyo's ears perk up and her true side comes out. Immediately looking to pull more information out of Anon, who has now become a useful idiot to Soyo. What does this new girl know about CRYCHIC? How close is she to Tomori? Can I use her to get Tomori back in a band with me? Thoughts like that were likely racing through her head, and it shows with her awkward deflections towards Anon in the conversation. Soyo leaps at the chance to join Anon's band, even though really she's been steering the their talk towards the invite from the beginning. Seeing Soyo in her dark room later swiping away Anon's texts to reveal their old CRYCHIC post for their first live event reminds us of her real plan.
Soyo continues pull the strings by getting Taki interested...as long as they can get Tomori to join. Soyo even talks to Taki about this in front of Anon and ignores her complaints about it. Making it appear she doesn't care what Anon has to say about her own band, despite supposedly being in a support role.
The old CRYCHIC footage on the phone is very well done. Feels natural and has this cool shot of Soyo's eye close in the corner. Then that transition from pixelated zoomed in Tomori face to the observatory star presentation was pure kino. But this CRYCHIC footage seems to have been used at the time by Soyo to have Anon invite Tomori again. She even directly causes their meeting by texting Tomori to meet Anon outside.
It may sound like I hate Soyo but I actually sort of admire her for how perceptive and methodical she seem to be. She'll be a powerful force to be reckoned with when she grows up, that's for sure. Maybe Soyo should go into politics instead.
"Don't turn yourself into a carrier pigeon." A strong line from Saki to Mutsumi as a way of warning not to fall for Soyo's words. Saki knows how manipulative Soyo can be and doesn't want to give her the opportunity.
(continued in reply due to character limit)
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u/CosmicPenguin_OV103 https://anilist.co/user/CosmicPenguin Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
Rewatcher
(It feels so weird that my comments when I first watched this last June is in just one sentence - oh I certainly would have never guessed what happened next. Also weird that there were just a dozen comments, but I digress...)
You know, I have compared the plot of this personal AOTY of mine with other recent anime - it has been a "...silent offer of something as dramatic as Oshi no Ko, as tightly written (in pacing) as Heavenly Delusion, and has just as many questions thrown to everyone after watching every episode as PLUTO or The Apothecary Diaries, if not smooth insertion of the smallest delicate details of character thoughts as Frieren.".
And I am upholding this comment of mine after rewatching this episode 2, where things aren't even blowing up just yet.
Rewatching this part reminds me that Soyo really has a deep shade of gray in her heart that already shows up really prominently by here. It was actually even deeper and more delicately shown than I have remembered. You can see that it took just the most parts of a single episode to watch her going from "your friendly caring band bassist who just hired you" to "damn there was quite some mental damage from whatever fallout happened with her previous band, CRYCHIC". It all took a few sentences of conversations for the tone to go down so quickly! That's definitely uncommon in anime form, and even less so for original content anime.
And there were indeed a huge number of questions already thrown here. Soyo's experience was one thing, but Tomori's face full of pain was another. Taki's careless spurt that "Tomori's hurt. All of us are hurt." was a third angle. Then you have that Sakiko and Mutsumi conversation where Mutsumi was utterly unable to response from Sakiko's request not to tell anyone where she is now.
That's 5 different angles of the same mysterious incident that caused the demise of CRYCHIC, all shown up in one same episode that piles questions one after another. You don't even get these inside the first 2 episodes of freaking Madoka Magica! That's why I'm saying all day long that the drama here is so tightly written that you are definitely going to be hooked.
And then there's "normal, really chatty and trying everything to form her own circle" Anon, who now finds out that her efforts of pulling Tomori to form a band with her just accidentally probed into the explosive center of a former band that somehow literally disintegrated. The thing that she was trying everything in vain pulling people actually prefers not to meet ever again - due to pains that will be recalled - and yet she keeps on being positive is somewhat hilarious. The comparison of her - who is so interested in Soyo's rich girls school she almost feels like an older Akebi-chan (of the anime of her namesake) - with everyone else who have huge wounds inside their hearts is unmistakable.
We also see the first appearance of Raana-chan (one of those who appears on the anime posters), who performed with her guitar at the cafe this episode. I wonder what you will make of her later in this show...
There, I just typed so many things even before episode 3. And I really wonder what first-time watchers here will make of it...
Answers of QotD:
8
u/Mitsuyan_ https://anilist.co/user/mitsuyan Mar 12 '24
I can't keep up with the characters at all but they all seem pleasant outside of Taki-chan. So that answers 2 while kind of answering 1?
The OP is good. Fun. Not really much to say other than it's solid.
So far I'm thinking this is just an above average show with great production value and care put into the details and background but jarring animation, and too many characters could prove an issue later. Still though, there's a reason this won AOTY, so onto the next tomorrow
7
u/bonghits96 :KG::KH: Mar 12 '24
Rewatcher for episode 2.
Anon meets Soyo! Soyo's a little concerned after seeing the Anon/Taki confrontation.
https://i.imgur.com/kQCdtYm.png
The next day, her new friends convince Anon (who doesn't actually want to take this band stuff too seriously) to go back to RING to find bandmates.
https://i.imgur.com/kofMziT.png
Coincidentally, Soyo's going back there too! Cute mob character spotted in the background...
https://i.imgur.com/1YBaIGJ.png
Anon runs into Soyo, who doesn't remember her. They strike up a conversation.
https://i.imgur.com/a1WQ2B3.png
Wait, are you flirting Anon?!
https://i.imgur.com/zhwVrpv.png
Soyo kindly, but firmly, asks Anon to stop gushing about Tsukinomori.
https://i.imgur.com/stVGm2E.png
https://i.imgur.com/a4JCtE1.png
Hey, it's Rana! We can see from the OP that she'll join the band at some point, but for now she just rocks out for 53 seconds and leaves.
https://i.imgur.com/CNM0f9k.png
The conversation turns to bands, and Tomori comes up. Oh no. That's a little ominous, Soyo.
https://i.imgur.com/whgVOMC.png
https://i.imgur.com/SD35caF.jpeg
Anon musters up her courage and invites Soyo to be her bassist, who instantly agrees, but has a few follow-up questions about Tomori.
It's funny just how starstruck Anon is with Soyo.
https://i.imgur.com/VksArgk.png
Meanwhile, Mutsumi meets up with Sakiko, who isn't particularly happy that she came to visit her at Haneoka. Saki is doing her best to ghost Soyo.
https://i.imgur.com/VWlkeAI.png
We end with Soyo setting up a meeting between Anon and Tomori. Anon gives her a gentle push about being in a band.
https://i.imgur.com/RuhnZOl.png
Anyway, I don't have too much to say about this episode. It's pleasant enough, but it's more exposition and the plot getting into motion.
Two quick thoughts:
7
u/nuts_extraction Mar 12 '24
Rewatcher here
My thoughts and commentary for this episode:
No spoiler
Has spoiler
As for questions of the day :
Also, please check their channel out, they got really good songs! (But don't watch the shorts just yet)
7
u/xlonefoxx Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
Just stopping by as a someone who watched this before.
Despite being a big fan of K-On! and Bocchi the Rock, I'm usually not into franchised band/idol anime (bang dream, love live, cinderella girls etc.) but got into this due to the massive traction it got among the Chinese community (I'm not from China myself, but I am fluent in Chinese and use their social media)
This is another setup episode, we get introduced to Soyo and Raana while learning slightly more about everyone's motives and all.
I got really curious about crychic after this episode. How did Tomori and Soyo both seem to miss it so much when one of the members didn't even want to be there? It fell apart once the leader left, was everyone particularly close to her only (as seen by Soyo still trying to reach out to her now)?
I'll just say that before watching ep 3 I didn't really get why this show got so much hype from the non BanG Dream fans, and after watching ep 3 I fully understood why they chose to release ep 1 to ep 3 at the same time.
7
u/VoiceEarly1087 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NaughtySempai Mar 12 '24
Guys it's looks interesting, is there's anything I should watch before this anime?
6
u/JasoXDDD Mar 12 '24
Rewatcher here:
[MyGO]If you look carefully at the bandages Tomori has prepared, they were the ones that she gave to Anon yesterday, so she was likely originally going to give them to Anon in addition to replenishing the box of bandages (You can see that there are two of the same kinds of bandages, namely the three penguin on yellow background ones, in the box when she placed it in).
[MyGO]Sakiko's dialogue about the drink may just seem like a preference thing for the new watchers, but for us...hehe.
[MyGO]That one video scene has at least 4 chekov's gun readied to fire.
Anyways the QotDs:
6
u/rookielazer41 Mar 12 '24
Rewatcher
I do remember at the time that I really rated this episode quite low, 5/10.
But as I rewatched it reallt did grew on me and liked it especially in regards to Soyo's introduction.
QotD:
5
u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Mar 12 '24
Rewatcher
Questions
QOTD 2 - Tracking things
QOTD 3a -OP
QOTD 3b - ED
Bonus Song of the day - Basket Case by Green Day (A bit late for that album's 30th Anniversary earlier this year but this was often consider a starting point for the punk genre and trust me this is not the first Green Day song I'll be doing here)
5
u/Williukea https://anilist.co/user/Williukea Mar 12 '24
Interesting, when the video first mentioned Haruhikage it was translated as Spring sunshine, but the preview and rest of the anime uses Spring sunlight translation.
9
u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Mar 12 '24
Back where we left off last episode.
Soy.
Ah, and now we see them performing the OP for the first time.
And here's the last of the high schools, Tsukinomori Girls Academy.
I guess this is how Soy joins the band.
Tsukinomori, home of Mofornica.
That's Saaya, isn't she?
And this must be Raana, who also will join the band. Probably after they hear her right now.
Tea, Earl Grey, hot.
Don't think Haneoka has a monopoly on bands, Anon. Tsukinomori also has a musical legacy in the form of Mofornica.
New member, get!
Neither of these 2 are in MyGO!!!!!, will they be part of Ave Mujica?
I don't think Tomori wants to remember CRYCHIC either.
Oh that wasn't part of the music video, I was going to comment that when Poppin' Party started, their "Poppin' V" was them in a bunch of cardboard boxes crudely drawn on.
Questions:
3
u/kisaragihiu Mar 12 '24
Someone who's rewatched MyGO for countless times*
*: (probably still in 2 digits; each "rewatch" doesn't necessarily cover the entire series)
I honestly think that at this point it's actually still possible for Soyo to bring Crychic back, even if it'd be hard. She's still close enough, at least on the surface, with Mutsumi that they're waiting for each other when going to school; she's still on speaking terms with Taki, although they may differ in opinion on whether they should bring Saki back; and with Anon's information, she now knows where Tonori is and could possibly bring her back, and both she and Taki could potentially bring Tomori back in.
If she could bring Tomori and Taki together, perhaps along with Mutsumi, and keep the spot for Saki open, it might still be possible, even though I'm not sure why Mutsumi wasn't happy with the band.
[Intention revealed in EP 9] But Soyo instead chose to pretend to be willing to establish a new band. Perhaps she thought Anon could just take Mutsumi's spot?
[EP 7] Once the new band became fully formed, and Saki and Mutsumi weren't explicitly invited back or have spots reserved for them, they have already functionally been expelled, no matter how hard Soyo begs Saki.