Anime 55102

The first three episodes was a pleasant surprise. It’s hard not to compare when there are two girls’ band anime in the same season; so far I enjoyed Girls Band Cry more due to its polished screenplay and vivid characters.

Ep.1, serving as an intro, was quite rushed, a bit exaggerated, and somewhat clichéd. I understand that conflict is the heart of drama, but this 24-minute episode crammed in too much! However, the merit of efficient storytelling emerged in ep.2, with a much better viewing experience. The screenplay was so developed that a short dinner scene revealed the distinct personalities of three characters naturally, including new ... character Subaru.

Undoubtedly, main character Nina was the most impressive. I saw the unique vitality of adolescence on her - strayed, naïve, hysterical, yet filled with a contagious power. Her backstory wasn’t uncommon in anime characters, but Girls Band Cry was able to convey the "volume" of her trauma, rather than glossing over it lightly. Her paranoid and sensitive personality made her a "troublesome" character, but this vulnerability was exactly what adolescence looks like. Yelling at a random stranger while flinging a lamp? That’s quite rock’n’roll for a high school dropout. She needed to vent; she needed to make her scream heard. She needed to join the band.

There are some lesser satisfactory (but not detrimental) aspects. First, 3D animation wasn’t that enjoyable - the characters’ movements were unnaturally smooth, and there was always a greasy lighting on the characters. Secondly, Nina’s voice when singing lacked the rage and loneliness as shown in the anime; it was not bad though, I still enjoyed most of the singing scenes.

Hopefully Girls Band Cry will never turn into another “cute girls doing cute things” anime. According to the screenwriter Hanada Jukki, the anime aims to explore the story of young people floating between dreams and reality - and I hope it ends that way.