Anime 54959 Bang Dream Its Mygo Reviews Filter Check 2

I really wanted to love this. Ends up more in the "like" column. Overall, this is a step in the right direction for music anime.

Yes this does a few innovative things... for a Bang Dream show. It has deep, complicated characters and relationships... for a Bang Dream show. It has fairly strong music... for a Bang Dream show. The plot itself is not terribly complex, which is not a problem if you have strong performances. Sadly, the voice acting is not up to snuff.

When you realize that Bang Dream was conceived as a money machine first and ... everything else a distant second, the seams in the product really start to show. Sure there's some appeal to having your anime characters jump out into real life and play an actual concert... but the anime suffers for it. Anon is the "leader" trying to form a group, but is lacking in charisma. Tomori is the group's emotional core, but her performance fails to capture the emotional depth to suggest she could generate the lyrics she writes.

A lot of the positives and negatives cancel out.
+1 for great concert animation
- 1 for really crap animation otherwise
+1 for Bang Dream fan service
-1 for yuri bait (Bang Dream is notorious for this)
+1 for real teenage problems
-1 for poorly acted teenage problems

Watch Bocchi the Rock instead. Watch this if you absolutely must have another music anime in your life. Otherwise, don't settle for scraps.

Let's start with my overall impression: The anime is great, but it is not for everyone.

The flaws are quite immediately obvious from the start. This is a 3D animated anime. For the most part it does not look good compared to most well-produced 2D anime. But credit's where it's due, as 3D animation goes, this is above average. The character expressions are done well, and the camera work is at times amazing, mainly during performance scenes. I can easily see many watchers turn away from this anime after the first episode or two.

The strength of the anime starts to show from episode 3. The entire ... episode tells the story about the previous band from Tomori's point of view. This is where I start to see the direction this anime is going. It is not a just a story about girls coming to form a band. It is also a story about dealing with the past. It is about conflicts happening due to personalities and motives.

For me, the greatest strength of MyGO is character development. The band members are all flawed in their own ways, and their flaws lead to them making mistakes and hurting each other. Sometimes events take a sudden turn that may surprise you, but once you consider their personalities and motives, it makes perfect sense that the event happened the way it did. And because the events are mostly character-driven, the story feels organic and flows well.

Pros:
+ excellent character development
+ character-driven story
+ the payoff is totally worth the long buildup
+ good use of 3D animation
+ music is good
+ stand-alone story does not require any knowledge about the Bang Dream franchise

Cons:
- 3D animation is done quite well, but it's still 3D animation
- the first two episodes are probably the weakest
- mixed feelings about VAs

Poppin Party, Roselia, Raise A Suilen and all the other bands that have been at the forefront of what made the Bang Dream franchise are all placed on the back burner. While, I can't say that the first season of Bang Dream was great, you saw a real struggle with the initial start of Poppin Party get started, along with the foundation, character development, growth that led into the group finding their success into the second season. You then sprinkle in the introduction into Roselia, Afterglow, Pastel Palettes, Hello Happy World, and Raise A Suilen and you get a sense of care added to ... the mix for a better second season. A second season that is good, but not great. Mixed with an ideal, backstory, growth, and a story line that was in my opinion a very insulting one to have overall. The third season takes shape to prove what the build up was supposed to be, after two seasons and knocks it out of the park. Then, here we are with MyGo and it is just not working out in the same stratosphere, I feel like I am just seeing something that is not working as a whole. I don't find any character to be enjoyable, the story feels so all over the place, and the characters we invested in for the first three are mentioned in passing in one regard, voices are heard, and it's not doing well for me. I am trying to invest my time and effort into a franchise that has great music, but some of it just does not bode well with the future of MyGo. Had it been Morfonica given a full on season, mixed with the previous groups I would enjoy it more. This is just me with four episodes in, just the lack of care, and feel of authenticity is lost here with this newest season. Right now this season is sitting at a current 5 out of ten for me.

UPDATED- 02/02/2024
I took a break from watching this anime for the sake of my mental health and well being. MyGo should have been titled Bang Dream: My God is this anime so Damn Slow starring MYGO!!!!!. If you want to find the cure for insomnia then this anime is just for you. If you are a respected fan of the Bang Dream franchise; and if your favorite bands are either Afterglow, Raise A Suilen, Hello Happy World, or Morfonica. They couldn't get a season devoted to themselves fully but this was launched instead. Please send Bushiroad a well addressed letter. The face palming you will do, the pausing of your laptop or if you are casting this on your tv and need a break to cringe more then strap yourself in for it. I have no sympathy or care for any of these new characters. There is supposed to be a new Bang Dream anime coming out in 2025. I have to watch that with probably a bottle of aspirin next to myself for the ensuing headache that is going to be coming from it if MyGO is the new standard. Pure awful and I am now finished as of this typing. Man of man this anime couldn't hook you and all it did was cause pain and suffering. In a terrible way this anime makes characters unaffiliated with the main problem getting hurt by proxy. It just felt like a slow painful watch as I had to binge it to get out of the way to end my suffering. This anime is the black sheep for the Bang Dream franchise.

Rock ’n’ Dull.

As someone who enjoyed the first season of D4DJ, I was looking forward to another music-centric story by Studio Sanzigen. BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!! again boasts the studio's wonderful 3D animation with expressive character models that move smoothly and naturally without feeling like they’ve been motion captured. The poor 2D-drawn animation stands out next to the 3D whenever it’s used for background characters, but it’s not used frequently enough to stand out for your average BanG Dream enjoyer. Overall, it is once again a very impressive production.

Unfortunately, where I felt hooked and entertained by the girls of HappyAround in the first couple ... of episodes of D4DJ, the girls of BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!! don’t even seem like they want to be in the story.
It’s not a story you haven’t seen before. Members of a band argue and then break up, leaving it up to the outsider protagonist to get the band back together. Simple story, but one that works. However, in the 3 and a half episodes I watched the tone rarely shifts for the better. The cast is miserable in episode one and by episode four they still feel miserable even though there are moments of levity.
I think the show's grey colour palette is a major contribution to this. The sky is always grey and feels grey even when it’s not, the school uniforms are grey, and even the first girl we meet, Tomori has purply-grey hair. It all bleeds together into this grey mesh of dullness and even when the show does show some colour it doesn't feel like it stands out in contrast. I also really do not like the pink-haired moé blob, Anon. Her personality feels a bit sus in the beginning, but it’s her voice acting that bugs me. It feels weirdly unengaging and fake as if the voice actor doesn’t even want to be there. That could also be said for Soyo, one of the other band members.

I can’t deny that BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!! left me disappointed. When they’re done well studio Sanzigen projects can be great and enjoyable, but I found it difficult sitting through this one. The fanbase for BanG Dream is surprisingly big and I’m sure they’ll enjoy this anime, but if you’re a newcomer to the series, I find it hard to recommend this one.

4/10 Disappointment.