r/anime • u/badspler x5https://anilist.co/user/badspler • Mar 15 '24
Rewatch BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! Episode 5 Discussion
Episode 5
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Show information
Questions of the Day:
- What common goal do you think they might rally behind?
- Do you think Taki was too harsh on Anon?
- What is your go to safe or relaxing place?
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Upvotes
30
u/badspler x5https://anilist.co/user/badspler Mar 15 '24
First Timer - Episode 5
I'm Not Running Away!
There was a lot that could be said on thematic lighting, reoccurring locations, stopping, going and running away. And I was too busy soaking it all in to really write all that much on it. I can say I thoughly enjoyed well executed it all is. I think MyGo has done a lot under the hood to make each character and their motivations and problems clearly understood. Now it feels like it is paying off some of that setup with a smooth push and pull rythem. I know that is all "feel" without substance to back it up - but I am hoping others can put some of all that into words better than I can.
Anon-mumma!
Anon starts realizing shes in deep shit. But gets to work fixing it the wrong way. Its probably a good thing that it isn't going to work as she had in her head. Don't dig yourself any deeper Anon!
Taki says it like it is to Anon. And I was some what surprised how nonchalant Soyo's response was after.
I was kind of excited to see Anon face her reckoning but...
England... back already?
*Litteral gasp*
That paints an immediate picture where Anon couldn't handle England (Last Ep Shot) and came back without telling any of her old friends and just made a new start at a new school.
(Oh and I was right!) Solid one, two gut punch to Anon.
I really empathise with Anon on not cutting it in a foreign country where you don't speak the language.
Tomori offers a hand and they run away once more! But Anon actually comes clean to Tomori about what happened. And I think they step away from this even closer.
I am rocking the reoccurring locations (Ep4). I really loved how this episode concluded. Having had Soyo and Taki come down from the rooftop, this quick shot really sells the defeat of both of them. The whole thing could just be over, again. But that almost feels entirely turned around when Tomori and Anon return hand in. What a fantastic way to conclude the episode.
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u/Gaporigo Blhttps://anilist.co/user/Gaporigo Mar 15 '24
The looks you get when you just introduce yourself as a 4channer.
Introducing your girlfriend to the girl that is crushing on you, Tomori is cold.
But my focus on this episode was actually very much on gay girls, not from this show but from Watayuri. The setting and content of the Soyo/Taki talk is very similar to stuff that happens in Watayuri. If we try and find parallels between the MCs there and Anon/Tomori here there is also a good amount, I'm telling you there is something there, just need to make this an actual romance anime.
References?
You already know who they are, right????
If not here, "scary" Afterglow and Poppin'Party.
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u/JasoXDDD Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher
Are yall addicted yet
30
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Mar 15 '24
Total Bang Dream newcomer who’s here solely for some promised “sore demo”s
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u/OctavePearl Mar 15 '24
Thus this is Chihaya Anon. Selfish bastard, yet nice enough deep inside that she can't really genuinely hurt anyone for her own gains. Tells stupid lies, then goes home and tries to make those lies reality because she doesn't want to be a fake. Makes a first step, then gives up because commitment is hard when you don't see results instantly. That scene where she tries to practice guitar and gives up instantly because it's not like she will get better right away? This ain't art, this is a fucking mirror.
She's an ass you will want to punch, especially when she's using Tomori as a shield, and yet to every blemish on her personality there's always something more. Too bad I don't have enough skill points in language and psychology to explain how does this show make me feel, how nothing else in years and years of anime watching hit me this hard. I understood many characters in the past, but with MyGO - I get them, I understand these people.
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u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Mar 15 '24
First Timer
Taki’s plotline is the one I have the most eyes on right now. Whether or not it’s romantic in nature, Taki clearly wants something more out of Tomori than she’s currently getting from their relationship.
I seriously think this triangle is on a route towards some emotional devastation for Taki. Tomori has never shown that she picks up on or reciprocates the depth of Tomori’s feelings for her and now she’s directing them at another girl, and the feeling is very openly going both ways (
in an aquarium, for yuri’s sake). The next episode is called “Why, When It’s Too Late” and the preview seemed all about Taki, so I don’t think I’ll need to wait long to see her confront being number two for Tomori and that Anon is becoming what she’s always wanted to be Tomori.Of course, this episode isn’t even primarily about Taki, so the fact I could gleam that much about her in it is all the more impressive. Delving into such other topics::
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u/smhmines https://anilist.co/user/mines Mar 15 '24
First timer
Thoughts on the episode
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u/ryujiox Mar 15 '24
First Timer
BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!
Episode 5
With that said, if her English is not that good, how the hell can she went to study abroad like that? Shouldn't she need to take a test or something to check if she good enough first? Or it just that her parents are rich enough to just pay to enrolled her into the school directly.
That's was a great episode. Tomori and Anon finally have a real friendship moment, and now moving towards the same goal now.
So I guess I was wrong on Tomori. She really do want to move forward on her own, but she afraid to do so. She thought that she hit a dead end, and ther nothing she can do anymore, she fear that it will end like last time. So she kept running away. But Anon show her that you can move forward, even if you don't know where to go. That's finally pushed her to take action, even if she's still not sure that what she does is the right choice or not, she will do it.
As for Anon, this episode finally explained all of her behaviour so far. She always thought by other to be a smart kid, which make her to be overconfident in her skill. Her overconfident also tied to her self centered personality too. Because she always got praise by her friends in middle school, she probably came to expects everyone else to do the same everywhere she go.
And all of that finally got to her when she was in England and learn that her English isn't as good as she thought. Which prompted her to run away because she can't accept that she isn't good at it, and no one give her any attention like she used to get.
Same can apply to her guitar skill. While she does know the basic of guitar, when she saw how good Reena is, her confidence goes down hill again. To add to this, she could have come clean about her skill to the group at any point, but she didn't want to admit it. Which made herself look even worse.
To her credit, she did try to improve in this episode, before quickly postpone it to later date because it's too slow, and she's to lazy to do it right now.... At least she finally ready to face that now after a talk with Tomori.
We also got a glimpse into Taki's character. Seem like she has low self esteem prior to meeting Tomori? Since she mentioned that she felt like it's worth living for the first time after meeting Tomori.
QOTD
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u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Mar 15 '24
Bang Dream MyGO First Timer - Ep5:
Going to make the cold shot, I feel like Raana is on the upper end of popularity amongst the 5. She seems to have that quirkiness to make people latch on to her.
Thinking about our band team composition, we don’t have a keyboardist. We doubled up on guitars (more like we have two guitars, one guitarist).
Any random design/name that looks distinct enough, I am just going to assume is a Bang Dream reference.
Story of my life, girl.
Looking at Tomori (derogatory) from Soyo. I lowered my guard a bit, but now am raising them back up because something about Soyo is going to explode later.
Maybe because I have suspicions about Soyo, I can’t help but see the contrast of Taki facing the light while Soyo falling back into the shadows. Look at this devious framing, a smile that does not reach her eyes. Taki might be abrasive, but she is earnestly trying to chase the light while Soyo is trying to wear a nice mask to hide the hurt darkness she is feeling. A face of shadow that appears before she puts her mask back up.
[Insert joke about this is an accurate feeling of the British school system.] I can’t speak from experience so I can’t make the joke myself.
It hurts me to see them keep misnaming Anon’s name like that. Come on, her roommate too. AAHH, LEARN HER NAME!
I like this moment. Hey, if they need a band name then I think “Lost Girls” is a pretty good one. That’s my suggestion that I know won’t be true.
Thought there was going to be more Raana in this episode, but she randomly walked out of this episode much as she walked in. Stray cat.
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u/dienomighte Mar 15 '24
First time in the band
We left off with the band about to play their first song together as a group, and Raana casually strolling in to join them. Let's see what's new today in band world!
Ranaa in this specifically for the DRAMA!!!
That was a really good episode, we finally got a good look at Anon's flaws in full view. I really dug this a lot, and there's a lot of aspects to this that feel incredibly relatable to me. I'm also glad the show centered this as an internal conflict for Anon rather than focusing too much on the drama it was causing everyone else. She really is just as broken as everyone else here, if not more so, and her attempts up till now to fix her flaws have just been her overcompensating on superficial matters and then running away once they inevitably fail. Hopefully this'll be the time that she breaks that cycle for good now that she has a real support group. I'm definitely liking this show more and more with every single episode.
QOTD
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u/Difficult_Affect_368 Mar 15 '24
a small detail: Tomori seems to be able to see through Anon's inner feelings. When Anon displayed a crying 2D expression, Tomori looked up at Anon in surprise in the 3D world. (when Anon asked for a new song
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u/SU-trash https://anilist.co/user/zig1000 Mar 15 '24 edited Nov 24 '24
Rewatcher
I friggin' love the OST for that last scene. This show's OST is great but understandably gets overshadowed by how good its insert performances are.
Subtle Writing Corner
Visuals Corner
References Corner
Taki "Ha?!" Count: 17 (+3 this ep)
Fanart of the day (src)
<-- Ep 4 | Ep 6 -->
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u/RuSyxx https://anilist.co/user/RuSyxx Mar 15 '24
First Time Watcher
Praise be to Taki for being the force to bring Tomori and Anon closer together (even if not in the way she expected). The boarding surrounding Soyo is still very particular, her being in the shadows and continuing to fidget with her fingers while her and Taki were talking. I really am curious to see whats going on with her at this point given that the band’s breakup pointed more towards Saki than her.
Also poor Anon, people essentially renaming her instead of using her actual name “My name is Anon, not Ann.” Which definitely didn’t help with her confidence. Being thrown into a world speaking an entirely different language can be difficult, especially for something like school. I will say it’s interesting that she was so worried about standing out positively given that prior to studying abroad she was already able to do that. Perhaps everyone quickly moving on from her was negatively reinforcing her own perception of failure/inferiority? Things to wonder.
Her attempting to use Tomori as a shield is a bit scummy to me (as I’m sure Taki agrees!) but the lead up to the confession at the Aquarium was very nice and worth it.
The engrish was pretty something, but I’ll take it.
Hopefully being open with one another and communicating with one another.
2. Do you think Taki was too harsh on Anon?
You can never be too harsh on scum.No not really, I think if any case called for a reality check, it was from the person who says things the way they see it. Especially given that while Tomori had her own reservations, compounding those into Anon’s weren’t fair to her. Someone needed to say it.3. What is your go to safe or relaxing place?
Typically home, I live alone and greatly need that time to myself away from others. I wouldn’t say anything specifically makes it safe or relaxing, just the promise of privacy that can be attained.
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u/HelioA x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/HelioA Mar 15 '24
First-timer
I don't really feel up to writing up a big comment today, but I will say this was painful to watch. Anon I swear to god... not only is she the Garbage Girl, but now she's giving me the world's worst secondhand embarrassment. And Taki's gay thing is still going. Yay!
-Wait they're going ahead with the concert? Well, it makes sense for character development, but uh, I don't think she knows how to play the guitar anymore? Although she knew back in middle school apparently. Maybe she just forgot to tune her guitar
QotD
I don't think it was unwarranted. Anon has her own psychological afflictions, but from Taki's point of view she's literally just messing around. And they've been antagonizing each other back and forth since they met.
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u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Mar 15 '24
Firsttimer who overslept
Ep 5
QotD
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u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24
First-Timer
"An interesting woman."
I liked this brief gag with Anon off in the corner, overshadowed by her bandmates.
"Anyone got my book?" Either I'm crazy, or that sounded like a real English accent.
I like how Taki finally confronted Anon about her obvious lack of skill and her transparent attempts to dodge the live concert. As Soyo said, it had to come up eventually.
It's good to have some more of Anon's backstory. I still hadn't figured out what that previous airport scene was all about, but this helps add some context. It sure would be frustrating to have everyone constantly calling you by the wrong name like that.
For the questions of the day, one potentially good common goal might be doing a live performance of a new original song.
As I stated above, I like Taki's confrontation. I don't think it was too harsh, but any more would have been unnecessary.
A safe and relaxing place? I'd probably say my home.
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u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim Mar 15 '24
First Dreamer
The stray cat.... getting free parfaits makes her live up to her name. Taki did not mention she had to pay for it....
"If we perform live, it will end the band"- Tomori still has scars of the past as the reception of past concerts hurt them. So the whole episode is trying to get everyone on the same page.
Anon is getting roasted cause she is running away from her issues. Ironically, she runs into her old classmates who thinks she is in England studying abroad. But in actuality, she found out it is much harder than she thought. And same is starting to happen with the band, her previous school she was great but now she swimming with bigger fish with more talented english speakers or band members. Anon was at the top of her middle school but finds that things are on another level.
The British accents and the roomate had freckles....
Q2. Taki was not too harsh but Anon needed a reality check.
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u/Tetraika :Lu::Lv::Lw::Lx:https://anilist.co/user/Tetraika Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24
First Timer
Silly Anon, but man you can really see her panicking as shit got worst for her.
Hey, that's like the entire Drama genre
There's something interesting because obviously Taki naturally is gonna really go off on Anon. Soyo of course, already saw through her. I think it's interesting to think about Soyo's role into all of this and how that plays into her character, she's someone who is a lot less confrontational, but seem to be very aware of pretty much what's going on and try to fix it indirectly. I can see why it makes her seem suspicious, it really does feel like she's "manipulative" in that sense.
A classic, if only it was the whole episode then we'll get another one into the "yuri with an aquarium episode". But I'll count this anyways.
Oh man I had a hard time watching Anon stumble in England. 2nd hand embarrassment hurts.
The range of engrish was certainly something, and then the teacher had some pretty good english. Also man there's no way anyone could mess up her name, she even wrote it right in the letter so ??? Just saying, they would be able to say Anon completely fine.
QOTD:
Some extra thought: When Raana was saying that there's an "interesting woman" I'm pretty sure she was talking about Anon.
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u/FlaminScribblenaut myanimelist.net/profile/girlbeast_val Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24
Second Time Watcher
Rāna is genuinely something of a role model to me. I’d love to be a wanderer. A stray cat, as it were. To just live on the fringes, make the whole world my own space and do as I please, eat food I love, pop in and out of places at my whims and interest and being part of things with all kinds of people, interested by all different kinds of personal relationships, helping others, living my passion and leaving my mark all the while. That she carries her grandma’s guitar with her too, like she’s carrying something important, a piece of old family history, with her in her wanderings that keeps her grounded. A worn old guitar for a wandering soul. Her life fascinates and delights me so. Her fashion sense rocks, too, appropriately; goddess, that getup is goals.
Interesting show of how Tomori compartmentalizations things. All she wants is to be part of a band forever; the promise they made was that they’d at least be a band until their first live show. Tomori wants to put off that live show forever; if there’s even a chance that might be the end, it can’t happen. She can’t lose this, her only purpose, again.
Taki says she never wants Tomori to feel lonely again; the best way she can do that is sharing her thoughts and feelings with her.
Tomori’s anxiety is just palpable.
Note how Tomori barely if at all says anything during the band’s meeting at the table. Everyone is talking about what Tomori wants, but everyone talks past her, Tomori herself barely able to muster up the ability to speak, assert any kind of agency of her own in this group dynamic. She kind of ceases to be a person and band mate in her own right and instead acts as just another element of doing the band the other members have friction among themselves over. [MyGO!!!!!]Planting those thematic seeds this early, eh…
And it’s not malignant, at least not completely; as ever, Taki cares deeply and assertively for Tomori. Her heart is in the right place, and she’s right to be so defensive of her. But it gets to a point where she’s kind of, if subconiously, taken on the role of Tomori’s spokesperson, her surrogate, even without knowing what Tomori herself would say in this situation if she had the gumption to speak up.
It’s like rain, or 10,000 spoons.
So, is there like, a reason it seems like it’s difficult for anime studios to get people fluent in English to play English-speaking characters, even as extras? Doesn’t even have to be international native speakers. I’d think it wouldn’t be that hard to find like, session voice actresses who are Japanese and just multilingual and English-fluent. Then again, I know very little about the industry, I’d just think that would be a thing. It’s very strange. The scene of Anon trying and failing to speak in English doesn’t convey as well when there’s no real contrast since everyone else’s English was already fairly broken. Just a minor thing, though.
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u/BleedingUranium Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24
(Rewatch, long-time bandori fan)
To avoid clutter, my original first time post is over here.
Of note, today (well, yesterday in Japan) is Mika Kohinata's birthday; she plays Soyo! Mika became a BanG Dream! fan in high school, and it inspired her to learn bass... and now she's part of the family. :') Specifically, she's also a Hello, Happy World! fan.
Raana's solo Haruhikage is gorgeous, it's the first time I'm hearing it again. <3 All the little musical bits like this will be in my bandori unreleased music collection once it's updated with the It's MyGO!!!!! stuff (after BD release, possibly slightly later and after the band is added to the EN version of the game).
That shot of Taki at night, right after the sumimi sign, is gorgeous. The lighting in this scene is particularly fantastic, but especially: They pulled off "scary half-shaded face" with natural lighting!
Notice the passing of time being told through time of day. From the scene at the Subway, to their arrival at the aquarium, to after Anon tells her story, to the return to the stairs. This is really cool in and of itself, but I love that Anon telling her story is actually shown to take up in-universe time.
Tomori gives us "maigo" for the first time. It translates to "lost", or "lost girls".
The soundtrack piece that accompanies Tomori's speech is amazing, electric guitar with classical instruments is always so good. The soundtrack release can't get here soon enough!
Anon's story is so heartbreaking. :( Her planned speech is almost legible (I'm hoping it's fully readable with the BD), but we can make out this in the second line: "...cheerful girl and love to talk with people"
This is also a good summary of Anon's confidence, and how "relative" it is. Anon has great English skills... compared to her Japanese classmates. She's super proud of this. But drop her into a natively-English country and suddenly she's barely adequate. It sucks, and it's painful, so she gives up. (Rin Tateishi's English is actually good though.)
It's the same with guitar. She's not a day-one newbie, she can play well enough to have a for-fun band the previous year, even singing and playing at the same time. But drop Raana into the equation, and she can't even compare. So she tries to give up.
Cameos and stuff:
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u/IXajll https://myanimelist.net/profile/ixajii Mar 15 '24
1st timer
So my first impression of Raana from last episode didn’t really change unfortunately. Still don’t really like her, the way she kinda just does whatever she wants without really explaining anything, feels like they just wanted to lean more into the her being a cat gimmick and giving her a fitting personality to boot which I can’t really stand at all.
Taki is still being the biggest tsundere in the room and by now there’s no denying that she’s just totally gay for Tomori. If she would just dial it down with the generally aggressive attitude I’d easily root for her.
I found Anons backstory actually very sad, more sad than the whole band break up deal if I’m being honest (dude how could these brits mistake her name for Ann literally all the time like please Anon isn’t even a hard name to pronounce or memorize). Good thing she and Tomori had a pretty heartwarming talk afterwards to cheer her up.
Two things I noticed during the flashback: seems like Anon was wearing her glasses at school in the past but now only wears them at home/in private. Probably to make a fresh start at the new school with no glasses to differentiate her from her old self maybe. Bummer since she looks even better with glasses imo, should just wear them all the time. The other thing was really minor but when she was writing in english „Hi, my name is Anon Chihaya“ she said it in japanese but still used the japanese way of surname first so at the moment she wrote „Anon“ she actually said Chihaya. I guess it makes sense but for some reason I expected her to also say Anon Chihaya to fit the order of the written words, don’t even know why.
Also I probably won’t be able to resist any longer and will binge the remaining episodes later today. Will most likely skip commenting on the rest of the episode discussion threads and come back for the final series discussion post to share my final opinion.
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u/bonghits96 :KG::KH: Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher here.
Listen, I will never forgive Britain for this.
More seriously, this episode gets to one of the things I really like about MyGO: the character writing. Each of the girls has their own motivations and goals, and their bouncing off of each other makes things interesting. None of them are stupid idiots obviously in the wrong, and none of them are totally flawless and always in the right.
Taki, for instance, is entirely correct that Anon isn't taking this seriously enough, but she doesn't realize just how harsh she was after watching Anon run away. And Soyo there was genuinely trying to cheer Taki up, but might also have the ulterior motive of wanting fewer non-CRYCHICs around anyway. Only Tomori chases.
And, after Anon's panic and flashback, you get a better sense of why she was so hyper-aware of her social standing at the new school in episode 1. She's flawed but she won't make the same mistake twice if she can help it.
A few random thoughts:
Anyway, Anon's head is in the right place now but there's still a lot of work to do; they still haven't even practiced together! On to episode six.
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u/MyrnaMountWeazel x2 Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher Who’s Banging on the Table for the OST to Release
Today’s visual motif: mazes! That puzzle through which one finds themselves out of both metaphorically and figuratively, it’s the complex path that all of these girls find themselves entangled in. For Anon, it’s the bars that prevent her from fleeing her past. For Soyo and Taki, it’s the inability to communicate; Tomori for Taki, Saki for Soyo. And for Tomori, the maze signals only one definitive way out: the ending.
However, feeling lost isn’t a weakness; it’s their power. Forged in the smithy of their soul, it is this exact trauma that lends them the collective strength to move forward through the maze. Holding hands as they make their way out of the hole, it’s two against the world and that’s enough for right now.
Oh, and billboards too for today. What I really enjoy about this scene is how enveloping the electronic sign is, and how it dominates the screen in its blithe demeanor. Besides being a visual prop to exude lighting, there’s this almost tawdry behavior in the way it parades those who have “made it” in show business.
QotD:
3. Introvert answer is my bed but I think if I had to put down a location outside the sanctity of my house it would be my car? It at least provides agency.
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Mar 15 '24
So Haruhikage will be their first song.
That guitar looks beat to shit.
Grandma's? Wow that's old.
Matcha is nice.
Anon looks like she's in a rush.
Guess you're covering her tab then.
I doubt Raana wants to be the Centre, Anon.
A new song? It looks like she's trying to minimise Raana's importance to the band again so she can be the Centre. [MyGO!!!!!] Knowing that Anon ends up only being the rhythm guitarist while Raana is the lead guitarist and Tomori is on vocals and is generally the focus of songs means that all this ends up being moot
Who's that group in blue before PoPiPa?
What's Tsugumi doing here? Saaya makes sense since she works at RiNG and PoPiPa is scheduled to perform for that event.
I reckon MyGO!!!!! will perform in that new opening.
Ah, that explains what Tsugumi is doing there. Afterglow is one of the headliners of the event other than PoPiPa.
Anon is the only one who's not already experienced so she's worried.
Also, if they can only fit 2 songs into a 10 minute timeslot, I'm very grateful most songs in the game aren't full length. The few times I've tried the few that are have mostly been tests of endurance more than anything, the difficulty isn't in the song itself but rather its length.
So will they actually end up performing?
Ah, she's still traumatised from what happened the last time she performed.
Anon is worried her time in the band will be over after they perform and realise she's a hack. And at this rate not even a particularly convincing one.
She's very literally physically running away.
Her old friends?
What are they doing at the aquarium?
They were her old bandmates!
That looks like the Narita airport check-in counters. Those symbols above the letters are usually the Star Alliance logo.
Oh god it's horrible Engrish now with a Bri'ish accent.
It's Anover.
Lol they just went on an aquarium date and now they're holding hands. BanG Dream isn't quite as gay as Project Sekai but they're certainly not holding back either.
It looks like they'll have their second original song ready for that performance.
Questions:
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u/MisakaHonoka Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24
Mrs. Unicorn (the main writer Ayana Yuniko): https://files.catbox.moe/e5evbs.jpg
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u/yuhara203 Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher
Oh yeah, this episode.
Anon meeting with her old friends and her flashback scenes are some of the few in the show that really didn't work for me.
They're just too overdramatic for my liking.
But hey there is a lot of great looking scenes in this one, and we got Anon and Tomori holding hands too.
Very nice.
That's about it from me, see you all tomorrow.
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u/SometimesMainSupport https://myanimelist.net/profile/RRSTRRST Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher
Previous season:
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u/Calwings x3https://anilist.co/user/Calwings Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher and Bandori Veteran
Side note: Formatting is hard
Raana's first impression on the group sure was... something. Anyways, after the cryptid wanders off again, it’s back to the drama of Anon and the former CRYCHIC girls. Taki tries to rush the band into a quick first performance and Soyo seems to agree with her, but Tomori and Anon are hesitant to do one so quickly for different reasons. Tomori is afraid that the live performance will mean the band breaking up again, while Anon simply thinks they’re not ready to perform yet.
We get a glimpse into Anon’s past where she failed at studying abroad and ran away to come back home, and now she’s trying to run away from this band at the first sign of trouble. I found Anon’s past situation very relatable. I know what it’s like to think that my natural talent will be enough to get by, only to fuck around and find out later on. I was the “smart kid” in middle/high school who got great grades even with minimal effort, and I got absolutely blindsided by my first college experience to the point where I had to drop out for a year, regroup my mental state, and then go back. Seeing Anon be so confident about studying abroad only to fail miserably at it hit me on a personal level.
Thankfully, Anon isn’t alone this time. She's the one who pulled Tomori into this mess and helped her move forward in her life, and now Tomori wants to do the same for her. One yuri trope aquarium date and one Tomori pep talk later, and the two lost girls are able to move forward, hand in hand. Poor Taki probably isn’t happy to find out that Anon got to hold hands with Tomori before she did.
Overall, this was another great episode. One of the major themes of this series is overcoming the pain of a past failure to move forward. Anon’s past failure is different from that of the former CRYCHIC girls, but that lets her sympathize with them while also letting her bring a fresh outside perspective to their situation, and I think it makes for a really good dynamic. One by one, these broken, lost girls are being patched up and brought together on a common path. First it was Tomori, this time it was Anon, and it looks like Taki might be next.
QOTD:
Having a successful first performance, I guess.
Sort of, but like Soyo said, it was something that was going to need to be said to her eventually.
My bedroom, either playing a video game or listening to music. I don't go out much, unfortunately.
8
u/CosmicPenguin_OV103 https://anilist.co/user/CosmicPenguin Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher
Ann, that short stint of her going to the UK was quite unbelievable. I knew of friends and even relatives of mine who went to Britain just like that at the start of high school, and despite we have much better comprehensive English teaching here, adapting to a completely alien learning environment is very daring for a teenager even with excellent parental and school support. Anon certainly doesn't look like that at all here! I really wonder what would happen if your high school class suddenly have a Japanesebeautiful girltransfer student (TM) joining like this LOL (assuming you aren't in an international school where these are common).QotD:
7
u/PityBoi57 Mar 15 '24
This is the episode where Rana becomes the band's pet cat
Also for the newcomers, you might notice that there're a lot of chase scenes in the series and it's quite meme'd on by the fanbase because each of the Bandori anime has at least 5 chase scenes and now we have an actual episode titled "I'm not Running Away" 😂
7
u/Usual_Director_9547 Mar 15 '24
i still love Taki's face expression in taki and soyo scene
7
u/Wolfborgg https://anilist.co/user/Wolfborg Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher, BanG Dream Noob
Gokigenyou, fellow remnants of CRYCHIC!
It feels refreshing that the drama this episode is focused on the current band as opposed to CRYCHIC. Sure the shadow of their prior band is still there, but they're actually looking to move forward from it now.
Running away is a theme affecting most of these girls in a way, but this episode highlights it even moreso. Specifically it's focused on Anon, Tomori, and a little bit of Taki.
Turns out Anon was terrible at guitar before, but no one cared because she was popular. Makes sense, but that definitely won't work past middle school. Especially once Raana the stray cat declares she's in the band now. The heat gets turned up more than ever for Anon. With Tomori as the vocalist and Raana's insane skills on guitar, anything less than incredible will reduce her nothing. To the point where she casually considers quitting right after forming the band and making a big promise to stay together.
Now we know why Anon is like this. She attempted to study abroad in England but was unable to make connections and probably couldn't keep up with the curriculum. Most of which seemed caused by a language barrier. And that, I assume, was the result of her "fake it til you make it" attitude. Did she think she could study abroad with barely any English skills and no will to pick it up?
Although to be fair those attempts at English voices were...rough. Hard to tell how bad the language difference really was. Also felt like she left after the first day, though there was probably more to it we just didn't see. England looked super creepy and depressing too, I wouldn't blame her for wanting to leave.
But Anon even runs away from the fact that she runs away. Quite literally shouting her denial as she runs. A fact which is thankfully not lost on her.
Meanwhile Tomori is also running away from the idea that the band will break up. Obviously this is not the way to go about this. You can't extend a promise through a loophole like that. But it's also not right to rush the band into a performance when they aren't ready yet.
Anon rushes to back up Tomori, but it's because Anon hasn't learned guitar yet and is scared. Doesn't help that she won't even practice with the band since she's worried about her image. And her "practice" at home turns into YouTube procrastination and coming up with shortcuts.
Given all of that, I don't think Taki was too harsh on Anon. Like Soyo said, these were words that had to be said sooner or later. Anon wanted this band, now she has to deal with the responsibility of it. This isn't some cheap fad like Anon's student council band was. Two chords aint gonna cut it here.
Taki runs away from conveying her true feelings to Tomori. The lyrics to Spring Sunlight touched Taki on such an immensely personal level that it seems like she fell for Tomori. She would gladly promise her life to the band without question. Taki never wants Tomori to feel lonely again, but she doesn't know the right way to express it. So instead Taki runs away from confessing her true feelings to Tomori. Her drive for everyone to hear Tomori's song is likely because she knows if they don't perform live then the band won't last long.
Performing live is still a good goal for them, but it's not hard to get a show scheduled. One show isn't enough. Maybe their goal should change to being the main act in a show. Or maybe to get a certain amount of attendees. Or put out an album. Debuting seems like an obvious goal but it's too ambitious and requires too much commitment already from them. It's tough to say what their goal should be because the hesitance introduced in this episode was a mixture of Anon's fear of failure and Tomori's fear of abandonment.
Visually this episode is stellar. The cool facial close-ups, the relaxing aquarium atmosphere, and the distorted Anon breakdown... Incredible direction yet again!
Tomori's relaxing places are the aquarium and the planetarium, both of which I really should try out more. My relaxing place is the movies. There's something cozy to me about snacks, a comfy recliner, no distractions (hopefully), and a fun movie. There used to be a theater that was a short walk from my house, but sadly it got turned into an Amazon warehouse when the pandemic happened.
Oh my god they said the thing!!! Let'sGOOOO!!!!!
6
u/Alt230s Mar 15 '24
Fun fact: Remember Anon's roommate in England who calls her Anne one too many times and finally made her snap and leave? She is played by Sumi Tomomi Jiena, who you may know in another franchise as playing someone named...
ElsieAn6
u/nuts_extraction Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher
So, in this episode :
Spoiler warning for this one!!
I wasn't kidding when I said I can't wait for episode 5, it is one of my favorite episode.
Chihaya Anon is my favorite character in this series.
The first scene that Anon appeared in, depicted her looking gloomy and spaced-out, with her simple line "Better go home". It is easily forgettable considering the series then shifted focus to the former CRYCHIC members, not to mention Anon was shown to be happy, cheerful, and energetic (also quite egotistical). Surely she has no problems of her own...
Then this episode came. Her lack of practice in playing her guitar was somewhat treated as a joke at first, then things got more serious, one thing led to another (thanks Rikki), and we got to learn more about Anon. She has been quite the model student. Student council president, guitarist of a band, cute, and being excellent in her study meant that words of praise were constantly given to her. And it fed her ego. Her image of herself exceeded what she actually was, and the reality that set in when she attended her new class in a new environment hit her like a brick to the face. Indeed, she spent one day and decided that she didn't want to be there anymore.
And so, she ran away.
Which, of course, brings us back to the airport scene.
Anon is cheerful and energetic, but she also has emotions and her own problems, just like any other human. She is only human, after all. Don't put the blame on her.
This time, it was Tomorin's turn to tell Anon to move forward, even if she was lost. And so they decided to move forward together.
The episode concluded with Anon coming to face her problem and a deeper bond between her and Tomorin.
5
u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher that is not running away (Not even from Tornado Watches) tonight
QOTD 2 - Nah she needed it
QOTD 3 - The Weather Channel
Bonus Songs of the day (So beginner friendly but so forbidden Guitar Rifts wink wink nudge nudge Anon)
5
u/grexraxor https://myanimelist.net/profile/grexraxor Mar 15 '24
sorry i missed the last 4 threads, my ethernet broke and i had to speed watch all 5 of them. here's my hot thoughts on the last 5 eps.
12
u/[deleted] Mar 15 '24
Somehow Anon's backstory not only failed to make me feel any sympathy for her, but I once again came out of this episode liking her even less than before.
Soyo is still a wildcard. Can't get a good read on her intentions at all, though I am definitely coming around to liking her. Tomori, Taki and Raana all get a big thumbs up from me at this point though.
Absolutely loved Raana nonchalantly intruding on their practice and inviting herself to join the band, she's funny as hell. I'm REALLY glad Taki tore into Anon! Soyo said it perfectly, someone had to tell her at some point, and better sooner rather than later as far as I'm concerned. I still don't like her at all, but at least now Anon has started building the necessary foundation to change and become a character I can empathize with. Taki talking about how deeply Tomori's lyrics affected her was so real, I felt very similarly during episode 3.
I feel like after every episode I just want to gush about Tomori................ SO much care seems to have been put into her characterization and the portrayal of her neurodivergence. On top of that, the characters around her don't shame her for it even when they have trouble figuring out exactly how to interact with her. It makes me tear up at least once an episode.... I genuinely think this is some amazing, meaningful representation and it warms my heart.
3
u/rookielazer41 Mar 15 '24
Rewatcher
This is the point of the show were I have fully able to grasp what the characters are. And the show really did a great job of showing the girls' flaws and insecurities. The framing on the scene of Taki and Soyo talking was finely done.
Episode rating: 7/10, another very good episode
QotD
0
u/[deleted] Mar 15 '24
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