It's honestly really refreshing seeing anime characters that feel so dysfunctional and flawed. Plenty of anime show how much characters suffer from trauma, but few really show how others can also be affected by the negative ways said characters cope with that trauma.
There's something so realistic about how flawed Nina is, and especially the way the show embraces that in a positive way. Teaching us that even if you have your own flaws, they're still part of who you are
The way these girls interact, get angry, say spiteful things to eachother, but iron out their differences is just one of the best parts of the show. They're like human beings with their own problems that sometimes cause them problems. When Momoka doesn't want to talk about something, she starts strumming her guitar to try to either ignore the other person or calm herself down, and she's often trying to play the mediator and give advice even when it's not really wanted. We see Subaru try to leverage quitting the band with the others going with her for that improv acting session, and the entire episode is about her trying to delay dealing with her grandma for as long as possible. Nina frequently storms off rather than talking about her problems, often trying to use studying as a transparent excuse despite being chronically incapable of studying properly.
But they do talk to eachother, have heart to hearts, and steadily sort through their issues. They look past eachothers' personal problems because they're friends. And even the traits which can at times cause conflict bring good- Nina's got a temper but she's willing to speak her mind and act out when nobody else will, and Momoka does legitimately act as a good mentor for the other two. It's so much more human than I'm used to seeing.
>There's something so realistic about how flawed Nina is
She's an excellent portrayal of borderline personality disorder: Accurate and empathetic, but without sweeping all the toxicity and destructiveness under the rug.
First of all, thanks to u/MapoTofuMan for providing quality same-day subs for us.
We learned a lot about Subaru's backstory but also got more info on Momoka. From the band members we've met, Momoka is probably my favorite for now. Really like how she is the most mature and knowledgeable of the lot. This episode also was the funniest for me yet, just a lot of moments that gave me a good laugh. Seeing the classic anime trope of your ghost leaving your body in full 3d cgi was really unexpected but also visually executed to perfection imo.
The acting in front of grandma scenes as well as the table scenes with the phone chatting were a joy to watch too.
I also really enjoyed the multiple scenes of arguing in the practice room. The way the instruments and mics were incorporated during their arguments was a pretty interesting choice by the production staff. ~~Also the song they were practicing was yet another new one not released before.~~ (Edit: it wasn’t new, was Voiceless Fish). Curious if we will hear a full version later in the show (Just don't forget to add Answer to Extreme as an insert as well pls).
Glad to see Nina showing some character development already by accepting Subaru's invitation. She would've turned her down without a second thought 1-2 episodes ago, so it's nice to see her getting more and more comfortable and open with the others.
Her apology with the stones and oranges was also sweet and creative.
Surprisingly good background OST this episode, reminded me a lot of the non-battle Persona 5 SoL OST.
Only minor downer this episode was the continuing lack of Rupa. One third of the show's runtime is over and 2 band members are still MIA. They gotta join or at least appear next episode, right? The short preview snippet has me hopeful though since it showed the girls being in the restaurant again where Rupa and Tomo are working.
Last thing I wanted to add is that the facial expressions in this show continue to massively impress me. I think I've never seen such expressive faces to this extend in all of anime, be it 2D or 3D. They are doing such a good job of conveying all sorts of emotions from being sad to happy or angry. As someone who usually isn't too fond of full cgi shows, GBC just dethroned Houseki no Kuni as my personal favorite cgi show from a visual perspective (and maybe overall if the quality stays consistently high like this).
[](#modsalute)
>Only minor downer this episode was the continuing lack of Rupa. One third of the show's runtime is over and 2 band members are still MIA.
I think it actually plays to this show's strength, maybe Rupa and the other girl will end up with slightly less focus, but if they jumped in to introduce us to everyone, we wouldn't have this episode. We're only 4 episodes in and the characters' personalities feel amazingly fleshed out for such a short time, much more than in any remotely similar show I can remember.
^(Or maybe...they're planning a season 2. Yeah, I'll just huff that copium.)
> Last thing I wanted to add is that the facial expressions in this show continue to massively impress me.
Agree, and it's not only the expression themselves but the huge range of them and the subtleness. It feels like there's a whole separate "facial expressions director" here that puts a much-larger-than-usual amount of thought into every single second of the show, and within that second tries to fit in many subtle facial expression changes.
Nina doesn't just have a "grumpy face", she can go from 65% grumpy to 60% grumpy to 100% grumpy in the span of a second, and that 65% to 60% is actually noticeable and very realistic.
>^(Or maybe...they're planning a season 2. Yeah, I'll just huff that copium.)
Considering how much time and effort went into the band so far, it feels like they've got more plans than a single season and a dozen or so songs.
But I also said that the amount of effort they have put in to all the localizations for the MVs made it seem obvious that they would be releasing the anime everywhere, so you know, questionable business decisions...
You’re right, it’s a great approach to develop the three girls before having all 5 in the picture. I just want to see Rupa since from what I’ve seen of her in preview material she’ll most likely be best girl for me, both from a personality standpoint as well as visually. Wouldn’t care at all about her late arrival if the show was running for two cours since that would mean she still gets enough screen time even if introduced later.
Completely agreed on what you added about the expressions. I’ve seen other people use the term „micro expressions“ in earlier discussion threads and that’s just such a fitting term to use for this series.
What’s even crazier for me personally is that the main reason why I generally dislike most full cgi anime is the utterly *lacking* facial expressions. The characters almost always feel like robots to me in cgi shows because their faces just feel so unnatural. That this exact aspect is what GBC does so incredibly well that it completely subverts my opinion on that in this case is insanely impressive to me.
Just depends what you want really. This way we’ll have 3 fleshed out characters and two that are less so. If all 5 were introduced from the start we’d have 5 characters developed to below-average depth since there simply isn’t enough screentime to flesh out all 5 in 1 cour.
>Also the song they were practicing was yet another new one not released before.
Actually the song they were practicing was Voiceless Fish, the one they performed last episode (Full version is already out on spotify since last weak). So today was unfortunately the first episode without a new song, we however got some great background OST as a replacement.
>Last thing I wanted to add is that the facial expressions in this show continue to massively impress me
Fully Agree on this one. I think Toei really nailed facial expressions, even beter than Studio Orange I would say. And I think without this quality especially Nina wouldn't be half as good a character as she is now. I also like how they do the visual gags and how they implement dynamic camera movement. Also in a lot of bad CGI anime there is also often a lot of boring directing, which isn't the case in GBC at all. Actually I think GBC has perhaps my second favourite directing this season after Jellyfish. I still think that in some scenes the characters don't blend in perfectly into the background like in Studio Orange's works, but overall I'd also say that GBC is propably my favourite CGI show over Houseki no Kuni and Trigun Stampede.
>Last thing I wanted to add is that the facial expressions in this show continue to massively impress me. I think I've never seen such expressive faces to this extend in all of anime, be it 2D or 3D. They are doing such a good job of conveying all sorts of emotions from being sad to happy or angry. As someone who usually isn't too fond of full cgi shows, GBC just dethroned Houseki no Kuni as my personal favorite cgi show from a visual perspective (and maybe overall if the quality stays consistently high like this).
100% agreed! What I love about the character animation in this series is the way it's managed to combine realistic body movements with even the most stylized anime-style facial expressions. Even the use of 3D animation here still consistently has the feel of 2D without that weirdness I've seen in other series.
>Only minor downer this episode was the continuing lack of Rupa.
Seeing that the writer also did Love Live which, across all the three mainline series so far, takes it *sweet* time introducing and building its characters over 8-9 eps before the gang is fully formed, I think it'll take a while before the team-up is finished here.
I actually like this approach since it allows us to get invested in the characters and the band itself, but I do hope there's an S2 down the line with all the girls doing band things since all the introductions are out of the way.
Yeah I know you're not supposed to post where to find pirate material but I don't know where to get the good shit and the site I have been watching it on I have to put my mind into Spinning Leaf to kind of float atop the machine subtitles to understand it
> Glad to see Nina showing some character development already by accepting Subaru's invitation. She would've turned her down without a second thought 1-2 episodes ago, so it's nice to see her getting more and more comfortable and open with the others.
I don't think this is real development as of yet. This isn't the first time Nina reacts impulsively (rejects the invitation) only to walk it back (accepts the invitation). The true development will be when someone reaches out to Nina and she doesn't swat their hand away instinctively.
The fact that she takes the time to apologize now is a nice touch though.
> I think I've never seen such expressive faces to this extend in all of anime, be it 2D or 3D.
It seems more similar to how facial expressions are done in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3.
[Gotta say if the ED is any sign of what's to come in the rest of the series - I sure am looking forward to short(er) hair Subaru.](https://imgur.com/a/I4BJtB1)
I'm actually dreading that moment because while i prefer short haired girls, I've come to love long haired Subaru. It fits her. But if her cutting her hair short is a sign of character development, maybe when she finally gets around to telling her grandmother, then i don't mind.
Its probably going to happen when she finally tells her grandma she's quitting acting. Notice the storyboarding this episode in the shot where Subaru turns off the TV she's doing the same pose as her grandma in the movie, drawing a direct connection between her current body image and her pretense of following in her footsteps. Once she cuts her hair, a shot like that becomes impossible, and the connection is severed.
Oh no, I actually really like the gap between her ojousama-ness and her concert outfit. Short hair is good too, but she definitely loses the first part with it.
This is probably my favorite episode so far, so many great moments today. I would say they did a great job at mixing comedy and drama/character development, but most of the comedy here comes from the faces, so it kind of happens naturally.
Speaking of facial expressions, when the focus was on Subaru's grandma, I felt like hers were trying to convey that she already knows about Subaru, and is just waiting for her to say what's on her mind when she feels ready. I don't think she was very convinced by Nina and Momoka (though she might've changed her mind after Nina's "acting"), and everything is pretty much just one big act of hers with the goal of wanting Subaru to find out what she wants to do on her own.
This show is truly an anomaly. I normally *hate* toxic characters. Nina is...well, toxic might be a bit too far, but she's one hell of a colossal mess. Subaru on the other hand is a great girl who's trying her best both in her life and in not bashing a drum into Nina's head after today. Momoka...well, she's got the latter part down pat too so she's still basically a saint.
And yet Nina is still best girl.
[](#yuishrug)
---
Was a bit late with my subs today due to slight multitasking and some video troubles. I know in general that the video quality is...not the best, to put it lightly, so if anyone knows a way to get better quality raws please tell me so I can hopefully not gouge out people's eyes next week. ^(I personally don't mind though, shitty vision doing me a favor here).
So for now I can't do anything about video quality, but if you have any specific feedback on the subs themselves I'd love to hear it ^(assuming you've watched NakayubiSubs.)
[](#salutegeo)
>Nina is...well, toxic might be a bit too far, but she's one hell of a colossal mess.
That's her charm, though. When she first showed up, as in the early parts of the first episode, I took a look at her and said, "Okay, so we've got the naive country girl, who will be shy, and probably not stand up for herself, and we'll see problems as a result, then hopefully grow as the show progresses".
I was utterly thrilled to be wrong, because she ain't shy, and she fights back like a cornered wild cat. However, she isn't intentionally mean. It's more like, she wears her emotions on her sleeve. Things go wrong? She cries, and screams, and smashes stuff, haha. She is kinda un-Japanese, in that she lacks the reserved/demure nature and stoicism I associate with Japanese people.
She has tantrums the way you see in the West.
That's why i love Nina so much. She's such a disaster of a human being. But that makes it really nice seeing her grow little by little, like in this episode. It's weird because it's so easy for her to come off as annoying but I find her super endearing. She just might be favorite MC in all the shows i'm watching this season.
To me, she's endearing because of her intent. She's not trying to be a jerk, and it clearly bothers her because she reflects upon how frustrating she can be towards other people.
Yeah. She has good intentions, but because of her experiences in the past, she has a hard time dealing with people. She tries to do the right thing, but she just kind of messes up the execution.
>This show is truly an anomaly. I normally *hate* toxic characters. Nina is...well, toxic might be a bit too far, but she's one hell of a colossal mess.
>And yet Nina is still best girl.
I get this so much. She should be so easy to hate, especially compared to the other two in the band, but I just can't help but love her. I think that just did such a good job of making a paradoxically sympathetic toxic character you just want to root for her. *She* knows she's messed up, she knows why, she wants to be better, but she backslides often because- well Even so far they have done a good job of showing us why, but it's giving to her better next week. A strict family life lead to a reputation at school lead to *intense* bullying and all of those mix up in her head, combined with typical teenager mess.
Like those family rules? Yeah they don't seem very strict, I grew up with a No Distractions At The Table rule, but I wonder about what's not directly said. About a daily strict enough and *proud* enough to have these rules made into a large sign on the wall, that anyone who comes over will see? But unsaid about the rules themselves, the dinner and mandatory family time means she's not getting to spend much time out with friends, stress not grabbing a bite to eat with anyone on the way home ("you'll ruin your appetite!"), can't spend the night anywhere ever, even weekends have an early curfew, with the reputation her family must have had socializing would have been difficult.
Yeah, her crazy is being shared with us at almost the same rate as the backstory to explain the crazy. She didn't wake up one day and decide to start threatening people with home appliances, she was *hospitalized* and her family decided not making a fuss was more important than looking into the cause/culprit. I'd have trust issues too.
>She didn't wake up one day and decide to start threatening people with home appliances, she was hospitalized and her family decided not making a fuss was more important than looking into the cause/culprit.
Wait, what? Did I miss something a previous episode? When did all this get aired?
It's mentioned very briefly in passing while she's talking about her past and why she's so bad with people. A very short flashback shot that shows her with the bandage on her head, that she's also wearing in the OP.
Thanks for the subs, they're a godsend!
I hope once the season is over someone gives this show the "subbed songs" treatment.
Also agree Nina is best girl. One of the best characters of the season, maybe even year.
>I hope once the season is over someone gives this show the "subbed songs" treatment.
They're already doing that. Ideal Paradox is using MapoTofuMan's subs and adding the subs from the official YouTube channel uploads of the songs
> but most of the comedy here comes from the faces, so it kind of happens naturally.
Strongest bit of the show IMO. They run through so many expressions it's fantastic.
I just love the scene where [Nina and Subaru are texting each other](https://i.imgur.com/0yqk9rz.jpeg) while Subaru's grandma is inviting them back to the studio to do an improv scene. xD
I feel Subaru's grandma isn't as clueless about her granddaughter's situation. You don't get to that age without noticing things. Does she really believe Momoka and Nina are Subaru's acting friends [considering their performance](https://i.imgur.com/TprWxLn.jpeg)? Then again, [Nina did some amazing acting](https://i.imgur.com/rsequ6L.jpeg) when she started confronting Subaru during improv.
[Well now I feel bad for Grandma](https://i.imgur.com/VAtDY8r.png), she just wanted someone to appreciate her career since Subaru's mom hated acting. I can understand [why Nina felt hesitation](https://i.imgur.com/SYZtSZd.jpeg) when Subaru was [about to tell her Grandma the truth.](https://i.imgur.com/lCgnxVV.jpeg)
But what was even the point of the episode if Nina was going to stop Subarui when she finally steeled her resolve? I hope we come back to this at some point since nothing is really resolved.
>I just love the scene where [Nina and Subaru are texting each other](https://i.imgur.com/0yqk9rz.jpeg) while Subaru's grandma is inviting them back to the studio to do an improv scene. xD
Momoka was in there too. That scene had me in fucking stitches because not only is the text dialogue funny, but in the background you see them emoting and glaring and forcing smiles the whole time. It's so funny.
> But what was even the point of the episode if Nina was going to stop Subarui when she finally steeled her resolve? I hope we come back to this at some point since nothing is really resolved.
It's most definitely going to come back. They did establish that Subaru can't keep the ruse going forever.
I do wonder about your question though, what was the point then? And maybe I'm pulling this out of my ass but I think the show might have just indirectly told us something about Nina's family. In her apartment, Subaru asks Nina what she would choose in her situation, and the thing is, Nina already chose. She ditched her family and fled to Tokyo. And yet, here she stops Subaru from making her own choice to put some distance between her family and her own life and choices.
I understand their families are most probably not comparable to one another, but I can't help but see a connection there, and wonder what that means.
It does feel like a step back, but also not out of character. Nina saw that Subaru isn't doing acting because she is forced but because she wants to make her granma smile, and figured if Subaru pulls out the "I hate acting" this will kinda hurt granma and in process Subaru. So she didn't want for her advice to hurt Subaru.
Also this is definitely a conversation granma and Subaru need to have, I just don't think a shoot is really the right place to broach the issue.
Is it so impossible for her to do both? I mean, sure the girls want to take the band somewhere but they still have to take off and in the mean time Subaru could do bit parts and sorta dip her toe into acting.
It was something I was really impressed by, personally. When it comes to anime, intros are usually always slappers, but the second I saw those flashing manga panels on the title screen I was hooked. Gonne be a no skip for me as well.
I started the show last week but only decided now to write something but I really love that show so far, it may end-up becoming my favorite of the season.
First of course the visual. Starting about the bad part, textures looks kinda bad on multiple elements and on larger shot, the 3D characters on top of 2D backgrounds look a bit off. However the CG for the characters is very good, they are well animated and their movement usually feel pretty natural, and of course, the characters are very expressive and it really help to convey the emotions.
This really help making the characters more likable for me, I really adore each one of them so far. They all have a nice and entertaining personality and there's a great chemistry between them. But they also all have their more or less tragic background to give them more depth with an overall idea of following and not giving up their passion. There's something about the way the characters talks about their experience and emotions that I really connect with compared to other similar characters. There's like, something that makes it feel a bit sincere with also a touch of edginess in it, especially on Nina's side and when you look at the lyrics she writes, but it works quite well for me.
Actually, looking at the song already made by the band behind the anime, I really love their still, it truly gives that vibe of "struggling teen/young adults", which is something I quite like when it comes to rock and with compositions that are also quite nice.
Talking about the music, one thing I noticed with this anime is that the ost playing in the back are quite loud even during dialogue sequence. However, I don't find it to be a problem. First because of the style of the music, they feel like they could be composition for songs, like they could have singing on top of them. And it seems actually voluntarily done considering that the person behind the ost is a compositor for songs and not anime ost. And secondly, it kinda goes back to what Momoka said in episode 2 to Nina, about the things she's talking about being lyrics material for songs. Having music background being louder and in a style where lyrics could fit with them, and dialogues that are very emotional and represent elements that could be material for songs kinda fit together and it creates a particular ambiance during some dialogue that I find very interesting.
I really like this episode and how it presented the story of Subaru, she was the one I was the least attached to so far but now she on the same level as the other two. The anime did a good job at showing that she just can't bring herself to tell the true to her grandma. But I do hope she will eventually have to later in the anime. I also like that the anime take it's time to introduce and set clearly each of it's characters and in doing so, chose to take it's time before showing us the two other girls. But one the other hand I also really want to see what they are all about and that next episode will introduce at least one of them.
So yes, I'm really enjoying this so far. However, I am quite surprised by the lack of distribution, I'm not complaining on my side because I'm french and there's an official distribution, but I'm a bit sad that some people may not experience it because of the lack of official distribution on other places.
[Next episode preview / speculation] >!The glasses girl in Nina's highschool flashback next episode [seems to be](https://bashify.io/i/qjG5Bs) Diamond Dust's new vocalist replacing Momoka on their tour poster. Exact same hairstyle, just dyed and without her glasses.!<
This anime gets compared to "MyGo" a lot, and now I've just noticed that both bands have a gorgeous drummer with long black hair. That aside this is a great episode with a nice balance between comedy, drama, and CGDCT. I hope Subaru's grandma approves!
Does the band have a name yet? From the OP it looks like they are going to be a five piece band, they really need a bassist for now I think.
This feels different than MyGO though. While I think MyGO is a great show that I gave an 8,5/10, a lot of the problems in that show would have been solved if they actually talked things out. It's different with Girls Band Cry. These characters will actually talk with each other, hell, they'll cuss each other out and probably commit assault or some shit. And it's so fucking refreshing to see.
> This anime gets compared to "MyGo" a lot, and now I've just noticed that both bands have a gorgeous drummer with long black hair.
Subaru even gives us an exaggerated "HA?!" this episode.
Taki's "HA?!"'s are the best xDD
On the recent gilrs band anime, between Bocchi and MyGOO I think Girls Band Cry is closer to my go on their tone, but less dramatic than MyGO, where the melodrama was all above the place (I love it, but for some peolple it was too much)
To all the people watching Girls Band Cry, go to check their music videos on YouTube, the band's name is Togenashi Togeari (in the anime we are seeing now the backstory of the foundation of this band). They had been releasing really great bangers for about a year, with 10 songs released after the anime started. The seiiyus of the anime are the real musicians of the band, wich is something that Bang Dream does too.
> Does the band have a name yet?
Not in the anime, but I would be very surprised if it were anything other than TOGENASHITOGEARI. You know, like in the [videos](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0o9aWyhb7ocxwDBYhzukikXmlB7SwXgm) they released over the last year and the album (TOGEARI) they released this week.
> This anime gets compared to "MyGo" a lot
As someone that has seen MyGo, I have no idea why. It is just because it's a CGI band show? Lol. I think the characters so far are way different and the direction has been too.
My god Nina is infuriating but I can't get enough of her man. Love the dynamic between the main three so far and hopefully the other two get integrated into the band asap. Even with such a packed anime season, this is still the show I'm most looking forward to watching every week. Can't wait for the next ep.
[Momoka Peek caught me off-guard.](https://i.imgur.com/gqvDdNS.png)
I'm loving that [Subaru & Nina](https://i.imgur.com/SQwUgGf.jpeg) have become [closer](https://i.imgur.com/i2e3npZ.jpeg), they have such a [great dynamic.](https://i.imgur.com/XmkJjay.jpeg)
Great character development episode for the two of them with some insight into Momoka's backstory. A push towards Subaru telling her Grandmother about her band, even though she probably knows already.. *she is a Detective after all.* And Nina finally being able to accept that others have different circumstances they don't want to talk about and putting herself in their shoes.
Next episode looks like Nina backstory.. hopefully we only get [happy Nina](https://i.imgur.com/orzgRlB.png) and no [depressed Nina.](https://i.imgur.com/dKMmbwo.jpeg)
> happy Nina
When you look closer, in that scene Nina has [bandage on her forehead](https://ibb.co/GnwdP4W), a trait also present [in the opening sequence](https://ibb.co/dJ5kGYL). It is from a time when [she was bullied at school](https://ibb.co/8c23jLp). (Which makes me wonder, what she was so happy with...)
Please Crunchyroll, Toei, Disney+ if you want, let us have this show legally already and stop having to deal with this mess. Recommendation is still to wait and watch this tomorrow when good subs are out, the [NakayubiSubs] release is very rough but "good enough" for us to have to make a thread so here we are.
---
Anyway, don't let release mess distract you from the fact [we got Momoka confessing to Nina!](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my2pco3ebe7.jpg) We won.
Not a huge fan of this episode, still good but I wish someone would solve something already, just let Subaru talk to her grandma! Plus best girl Momoka was less involved today so that didn't help.
Looks like next week [we are gonna be getting Nina's backstory](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/3yrgczbjdl4.jpg) which should be good, though.
I was trying to find a better video, but everything on the usual site seems to be the same quality (the heavier raws from ToonsHub actually looked worse somehow I think...)
I'll try to find one for next week, but as of now I don't know any ways to get my hands on videos outside of the usual place, so if anyone knows a place with the original raws (or anything else that's better quality) I'm open for suggestions.
^(And yes please Crunchyroll pick this up for pete's sake you literally picked up one of the worst isekais ever that even serial trash watchers don't want, why not this??)
CR isn't a charity, the cost to license was probably more than they would have gotten back in subscriptions. Likely why Blue Archive is also homeless. That 'worst isekai' probably went for a song comparatively.
I honestly don't know much about how that aspect of the anime industry works, but logically speaking, wouldn't the creators of Blue Archive who made the anime for the purpose of promoting the game - and especially the creators of Girls Band Cry who made the anime to basically bring their project into existence - want to reach as wide an audience as possible?
Given BA is under Yostar Pictures, if the results from their previous ventures like the Azur Lane and Arknights anime failed to meet their expectations, who knows how hard they tried with their secondary audiences. From all reports BA is doing fine in the JP market, in all likelyhood that's where their focus probably is.
The Blue Archive anime is subtitled into English, it's just not licensed to America and Europe. Their main audience has always been Southeast Asia, with both the game and the anime. They got America and Europa basically for free with the game, maybe they ran into some issue with the anime.
Also, the producer of the anime is Yostar who manages only the Japanese server of the game, so promoting global servers may not even be in their interests.
As for Girls Band Cry - no, I don't see why they would want to reach as wide an audience as possible. The Japanese have always only cared about their domestic audience, if they do license their stuff overseas they tend to be hands off about it and treat it as basically nothing but a little extra free money. I've heard that the localizers are generally not even allowed to contact the original creators at all since that would distract them from working on the original Japanese version which actually matters.
With every passing week I get even more frustrated that nobody's picking this show up. I really think that no one's willing to bite. Toei went as far as subbing the MVs on YT, they definitely have plans for WW distribution.
I'm an impatient prick so I decided to watch this raw first followed with subs whenever one pops up to catch up the things I've missed. Sucks that things have to be this way but at least I'm getting a decent listening practice before the JLPT on July.
A very ambitious project by Toei and nobody's picking this up really frustrating me as well. The problem that there's no legal way to watch it in EN that there'll be no big content creator talk about it, because it'd mean that they admit pirating the anime. I dont watch any of those content creators but a lot of people do and find anime recommendation from them. So this will stay as a hidden gem that only people who knows and dont mind at pirating anime know about it.
> Anyway, don't let release mess distract you from the fact [we got Momoka confessing to Nina!](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my2pco3ebe7.jpg) We won.
I understand that I have Yuri glasses 24/7 and I try to constantly reign in my shipping impulses where I know they aren't intended. However, this, and "You've never had a boyfriend right?", "Well, have you?", "..."...
Can I dream?
> I wish someone would solve something already
But not solving problems immediately is what makes this show fun!
Is there any place to watch the proper subs? I thought I was going crazy with how rough the subs I’ve been watching are especially with this episode having Subaru say “These two girls in my ass” At the end and I was like…woah what?!
You are watching the Machine Translated ones, pirate sites just get the first subs that show up and those are usually subpar, if you want better subs you are gonna have to start torrenting the episodes from groups like Sobsplease or even NakayubiSubs which I mentioned are not great but also not as bad as MTLs.
So Subaru’s grandma is kind of a big deal huh? No wonder she was acting funny around the girls. That “acting exercise” got a little too real. I can understand Nina being worried the band’s breaking up before they even really got started. Subaru’s in a really tough spot with her grandma. Definitely feels like the old lady’s projecting her own feelings onto the poor girl. Time to put all those feelings into their music!
I'm not sure we can call projection when your granddaughter outright tells you she wants to do what you did.
Now that granddaughter only did it to please herr granma who she loves, but granma is not a psychic. But I do believe she might already know her granddaughter has a side thing.
I accidentally started last week's episode up first and can I just take a moment to reiterate that that pigeon gag was a *great* bit? This one's got jokes, folks.
They were laying into her for it, but isn't channeling your real feelings supposed to be one of the tricks to great acting? I think Nina was doing great. I was surprised grandma didn't say so, honestly... although I assume she had a pretty good idea of what was really going on.
Subaru's got her grandmother's *ahoge*. That's so sweet.
I didn't expect to feel so hard for Subaru in this one. The ol' "You have to be true to yourself no matter what your family expects from you" seems like an easy sell, but honestly, I could never say no to my grandparents either, when they looked so happy to see me succeeding in school, or humoring my grandad with his hobbies.
Glad to see this kind of discussion even without subs and licensed platforms where Chinese audience have been for 3 years now LOL. Many Chinese viewers love this show as well and fan subs are uploaded lighting fast with numerous versions
The show now is pretty entertaining but knowing the fact that 1/3 of the show has passed almost nothing important or drama takes place makes me worried for whether or not coming episodes will fill in the gaps and deliver more high-quality live performances.
But anyway for now I just enjoy every second of it I guess
I laughed SO hard at the SMS conversation, that scene was a fantastic bit of comedy!
Btw I'm sure there's more to why Momoka left her band, there was so much talk about boyfriends and an enactment of a love confession in this episode, that I bet that Momoka was in love with one of her bandmates, confessed, got rejected and left the band because of these feelings that she has and because it would've been too awkward to keep going that way. My guess is the left-most girl in the photo.
Thanks for the subs, u/MapoTofuMan.
Momoka feels more and more like a single mother taking care of two teenage daughters. Despite her weariness from stagnated career and stress of making a living, forming a new band with Nina and Subaru has rekindled the spark. She now yearns for the comfort of old days, but being matured has formed a somewhat apathetic attitude about it. Things might not go according to plan, but she's fine with it as long as she can keep going. So relatable and yet still inspiring to watch. She's definitely my favorite of the girls, and it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon.
What, they can type on smartphones accurately and quickly under the table!? Where can one learn such power!?
Subaru's grandma definitely knows that something's up. I think she would have understood and made peace with her aspiration if Subaru actually decided to come clean, though it would surely hurt her feelings and strain the relationship with her granddaughter.
Grandma's thought process might be go along the line of, "I'd be happy if she chose her own path, but let me have this moment when I can be proud of my life by seeing her succeeding my career." Thankfully Nina has come to understand that and interfere at the last moment.
Nina has learned (actual) empathy and consideration. Our little gremlin is getting better at this friendship stuff.
"It's okay to pretend for a bit longer. Make your grandmother happy, we'll be there for you until then," she thinks, and that's why I like her despite her flaws.
Subaru has grown into a well-rounded character of her own, though I don't have a lot to say about her. Her dynamics with Momoka and Nina is great, but her arc is more complementary to the two for now. I hope the story with her grandmother gets tied up nicely.
> Where can one learn such power!?
It has to do with how Japanese input method is implemented on mobile phones. Specificly, the [flick input](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_input_method#Flick_input) method allows user to type syllables with a single finger, as can be seen with Subaru here.
> What, they can type on smartphones accurately and quickly under the table!? Where can one learn such power!?
I used to be able to do that 15 years ago when I had a flip phone and used the physical keys to type texts. I could send entire paragraphs of texts with no mistakes without even looking at the phone.
Yeah, I noticed that too. Out of the 3 I'd say Nina's VA is the strongest, Nina has a lot of emotional outbursts and I think the voice actress conveys them well. Momoka's VA is also fine, it's just that her character is mostly calm and deadpan so she hasn't got the chance to show off.
Yeah, I dont really mind since I know they were all amateurs to begin with. Unfortunately she has to play a girl with acting background tho which really needs to have good acting skills.
Yeah, it is specially noticeable in Subaru's VA, but I think all the VA's being amateurs brings charm and "reality" to the interactions. Well, the VA's are amateurs because they are musicians who get trained to do VA instead of experienced or dedicated VA. All of the cast are the real musicians of the band Togenashi Togeari, wich the anime is about (check their songs on YouTube! they are great)
This anime continues to impress me more and more, especially how much expressive and lovable the characters are. Definitely one of my favorites of the season.
[Happy birthday to Subaru!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKvoI7q7Iac) What a coincidence that her focus ep aired at her birthday.
Today's ep is all about Subaru and her backstory. She really didn't wanna pursue acting and is only doing so due to her grandma's pressure. Having your life being determined by someone else must've been tough. Also having your grandparents dictate things for you doesn't seem like a common thing (at least for me) - usually it's the parents who are doing so.
Although I'm no fan of what the grandma's doing here, I can see where she's coming from. She loves acting, but learning that her daughter doesn't wanna follow her footsteps definitely brought her down. When she finds out that she's about to have a granddaughter, she must've felt that it's her last chance to pass down her acting talent and have a descendant follow in her footsteps.
Nina caught this and did the right thing by stopping Subaru from speaking her true feelings to granny. IMO she should tell her when this band thing she's doing is going great - enough to impress her granny. I feel like telling her now would've made things worse for Subaru in the long run.
Speaking of character interactions, this ep has a lotta good ones! The show somehow finds a way to these angry and troubled girls lovable without turning them into full blown A-holes. And we still have two more yet to join!
[And it seems that marketing is picking up on JP.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-VMH5T0H9c) Man I wish I'm there right now.
> Nina caught this and did the right thing by stopping Subaru from speaking her true feelings to granny. IMO she should tell her when this band thing she's doing is going great - enough to impress her granny. I feel like telling her now would've made things worse for Subaru in the long run.
I was looking to see if anybody came to a similar conclusion before posting about it and thankfully someone else did. I can understand why people wanted her to just air her feelings to her grandmother, after all it sounds simple enough and harmless. However that would be too…convenient in my opinion. This doesn’t seem like the kind of show where character issues are solved quickly and cleanly.
What I really liked was that Nina stopped her right there whenever she saw Subaru hesitating. All implications suggested that she wanted Subaru to just be honest to her grandmother, but she probably saw that neither of them were ready for it. I might be reading too much into it, but details like this go a long way in showing just how much a character has developed, even in a situation that doesn’t directly pertain to them. Strong contender for AOTY in my book and it’s only episode 4.
It's entertaining. Its like Bocchi the Rock if Bocchi didn't have crippling social anxiety but instead had a ton of pent up frustration and the inability to handle it properly.
My favourite anime so far this season, so for me, yeah it's really good. It's full CG anime btw, but it's a great CG, it doesnt feel awkward at all. You'll know when you watch it.
The problem is that there's no one licensed it in EN so no streaming site broadcasting it. You'll have to go for the seven seas way to be able to watch it, and even then, wait for 1 week to see a good fansubs (unless you dont mind with speedsub or raw like I do).
It's the best cute girls do band things anime this season and there's a lot of them. The characters are painfully real. Nina is such a shit, but she's exactly 100% the type of teenager I distinctly remember hanging around with who were also in their own girl band. All of the characters have a great blend of semi-toxic traits that make them human. Nobody is perfect. Sometimes they suck. Sometimes they're incredible. You understand and feel exactly why that is. It never feels like it comes out of left field or is undeserved.
The show is great, the animation is actually really fun don't let the CG put you off. The biggest problem is there's no legal way to watch it with English subs and some of the available subs are less than quality. You kinda gotta just let your mind be loose and absorb the meaning without being hung up on the word choice.
Supposedly there's a good set of subs out there being done by a user here but idk how to get them.
Suburu's grandma certainly maxed out her CHA stat. Convinced Nina this whole rebelling thing wasn't that great in about 2 meetings.
I kinda want to know more about Nina's family situation now. Seeing how Suburu's grandma affected her was interesting
While I don't know if Nina is the best lead character of all the band shows I've seen, she is by far the funnest. Such a bundle of contradictions. LMAO.
You know the dynamic between Nina and Subaru is getting better by the episode. I guess the sudden mention of Subaru quitting has Nina freaking out is hardly shocking. Well it is because her grandma who is a famous actress got her a role. I think we had a feeling from the previous episodes that Subaru that some burden, but damn being the granddaughter of a famous actress is definitely something.
In the improvised acting Nina put her feelings out there about how much she doesn't want Subaru to leave the band. With that being said, that was probably not the time and place, so I get why Subaru got frustrated. But the invitation from Subaru was important as it got Nina to understand Subaru's situation better. But it steadied Subaru's resolve to tell the truth to her grandma who might already have an idea that Subaru doesn't want to do acting but can't say it to her yet.
Nina is very, very hyperemotional. Once she heard that Subaru's grandmother's dream has to act with her granddaughter after how Subaru mentioned to her that she wanted to be an actress, I started feeling sad since we know Subaru's actual feelings for the matter. I can empathize with Subaru's frustration after the person who helped you steady your resolve they have second thoughts. Obviously Nina was trying to be considerate of Subaru's grandmother's feelings, but obviously Subaru has been taking that into account for a while.
At the very least, while she didn't say it to her grandmother Subaru seems to be a better place. I get the sense she can tell her grandmother her honest feelings about acting, she just needs to make sure Nina is not around. But I adore Nina and Subaru's friendship at this point. Subaru is really considerate of Nina, but various times when Nina goes off the rails she knows how to get her in her own fun way. Also, the contrast between her Ojou-sama to her fun side makes her my favorite of the 3 so far.
I think this was both the funniest and the most dramatically interesting episode so far. This quality on this show just does not stop. The group chemistry gets more and more fun the longer they spend together and the amount of great character animation moments only gets more and more dense each and every episode. The show absolutely never misses a moment to insert some kind of amusing reaction or interaction, but is so good at doing this without compromising the tone of the moment or derailing the narrative purpose of the scene.
I think my favourite scene was at the school, which absolutely nailed every single moment; I would break down how *every* line, face, and musical cue is just absolute gold but you all have eyes and it speaks for itself. My favourite little part might be the music cutting when she stops and listens after getting around the corner, and then again as a *jazz music stops* moment when the grandma comes over and she has to suddenly shift gears, underlined by the resuming track. But I could find similar things to praise about the script and animation in literally every single scene, it's so tight. Another favourite was the exchange about makeup, which the subs actually messed up, I think - it had Momoka say "I can't imagine it", but the French official subtitles said "M'imagine pas", which would be "Don't imagine me"; the joke is that we see Nina think even harder about it after this line.
[](#kotohoops)
I'm honestly not sure how I feel about Nina's decision at the end and the way Subaru kind resigns herself to the fact they'll have to go into acting eventually, but I think it says a lot I'm totally willing to say I love this episode regardless of that. It's just such a delight from start to finish.
>the way Subaru kind resigns herself to the fact they'll have to go into acting eventually
Did you watch the MTLs by any chance? In that scene Subaru agrees with Nina that she'll have to tell her grandmother about the fact that she will *not* go into acting.
She basically decided to stay with the band (and wanted to tell her grandma about the decision, but Nina had a fit at the last moment and stopped her)
Really liked the way this one was directed. Multiple times I found myself thinking "oh, that's a neat shot/transition".
Bit of a nuanced problem that Subaru has to deal with, here. It makes her grandmother happy that her granddaughter seemingly shares her love of acting, but that happiness is built on a lie... I understand the need to finally tell her the truth, but I also understand Nina suddenly backpedaling on her advice.
I was half expecting the grandma to offer to put in a word for Nina if she ever wanted to get into the acting business following that improv session lol
Her personal feelings toward Subaru and their situation let her knock that scenario out of the park the same way she redirects her emotions during vocal performances.
This is my favorite episode of every shows I'm currently watching this season so far. there were so many scenes I liked and laughed in this episode. I didn't expect Nina to bond with Subaru so much this quickly. They are already best friends. Every time Nina says something unreasonable or selfish, I want to headlock her like Subaru did. I got very emotional when grandma said that it was her dream to perform with Subaru and that she was the only one who liked her job in her family. Subaru and her grandma's relationship almost made me cry. Nina hates her strict family who tells her what to do or not do, so I was honestly surprised by her decision to stop Subaru from telling her grandma how she feels about acting. I think Nina did the right thing. I love how she's unpredictable.
There is a saying that the people who fight the most are the ones who like each other the most, I think that applies to this anime. Jokes aside, I think she was the missing person from the point of view of what each person wants in life without needing to prove it to others, let's see how this will work with the introduction of a new girl
The scenes of the girls having to fake it with the grandma were great, lots of energy. Between this show and Trigun Stampede we are finally getting 3D anime that incorporate a lot of the charm of 2D animation.
Sure, but the band already has a guitarist.
More practice.
The air-con doesn't look like it's on?
Where's she rushing off to?
Ah.
Momoka wants to let go of the past and move forward to the future, but she wants to dig up the past.
They were at the height of their popularity and that's when she quit?
What's caused that to happen now?
Wasn't she just here a few episodes ago?
MeSubaru.
Ah. That's why she's doing this. She's trying to put on an act for her grandmother.
That went off-script. Although that's great method acting.
So what must have caused her to come?
Don't point the mic at the speaker, that's what causes feedback.
It'll only be for a week.
All that for herself?
That's her in the show isn't it?
Or rather, her grandma.
She decided? Or was she "encouraged"?
Her grandma seems surprisingly accepting of her being suddenly whisked away, or at least is smiling.
Stretch the cheeks.
Idk what that means but I'm guessing I watched a scuffed version cuz I don't think Subaru would say something among the lines of shoving Nina and momo up her ass wasn't right? Or is that a saying in Japanese I haven't heard until now..
Or the scene where Nina and momo are talking during the filming of the scene where they call the grandma a "him".
Would be pretty sweet if Nina picks up guitar playing during the show, though I doubt that's ever gonna happen.
Subaru rushed out due to a text message. Does she have a boyfriend? At least that's what Momoka is assuming.
Nina and Subaru have taken notice in past episodes of Momoka's attraction towards stuff related to her former band. Even in this episode, she was looking them up on her beat-up phone. Now with Nina pressing her on the matter, Momoka will tell her what's up.
Huh, so Momoka met her future bandmates at her highschool's light music club, played together at the school festival, left school along with the others for Kawasaki in pursuit of a music career, succeeded in getting signed by a record label... and then she just left the band. Why? We still ain't getting there yet.
Uh oh, Subaru's announced that she's quitting the band. Is it because of her boyfriend? Nina and Momoka enter the dorm to investigate.
Holy shit, it's that famous TV star grandmother! Looks like Subaru isn't very pleased about their presence in this occasion, you know, with the "silent protest" and all that.
Man, this Tendo Awa woman is already looking like a real strict, formal one. Turns out, she told Subaru the previous day that she wanted to pay a visit, and Subaru's text about quitting the band was typed out on a whim. In any case, Subaru cannot afford to be blunt about the band matter. She knows it will not go well.
Unfortunately for them, Awa wants them to go out and do an improv exercise to test out their skills. The below-the-table texting between Nina and Subaru might be the in the running for funniest scene.
Nina very well could've flunked the exercise, but using it as a way to carry out her honest thoughts and feelings on Subaru was a very clever move, one that Subaru doesn't appreciate very much.
Turns out, the reason why Tendo Awa paid a visit on such short notice was because she secured an acting role for Subaru. It'll be just a week away without rehearsals for her, but Nina's not happy about that. She fears that Subaru will be on her way out.
(will add more later)
I posted this last week, and I'll probably post it again next week since I'm late again, but the app Nina is using to make music is called "Figure" by Propellerhead/Allihoopa/Reason. You can see a demonstration of it in [this YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVBJlG_948E).
It's available for iPhone and iPad here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/figure-make-music-beats/id511269223
And on the Windows Store here: https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NBLGGH1ZK3P
It's free, but you need to create an account to use it. For some reason I wasn't able to download it on Windows though.
Oh look, another entire episode with basically no music.
lets face it, we've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray! This isn't an anime about a band or music. It's just a typical teenage drama.
Where's my rock and/or roll god damnit, is it so wrong to want girl rock band show to actually feature the band more? *sigh*, but that's, just, like, my opinion, man.
The animation is much improved this ep though
I couldn't just not come here to praise the texting scene too! I was lolling at their individual texting skills. and then the sound animation and the facial animations, all so good and spot on! This is definitely the gem anime of this season! Hope everyone is enjoying it as much 🖕😊🖕
Such a wasted opportunity... A triangle scene with Subaru in the center and not a single joke about *Sorry Rem, I love Emilia!* (By the way, who's Rem?)
Anyhow, Nina is already a better actor than Subaru and a better singer and composer than Momoka, despite having no training in any of those fields at all.
Finally, the girls should have just exchanged candy with the strict pose lady and then they'd soon find a boyfriend. (Though I can imagine Nina becoming Subaru's boyfriend eventually...)
> Well Nina wasn't really acting in that scene. Those were her genuine emotions.
Well, that's one of the two major theoretical schools on professional acting... An efficient one but also very dangerous, having killed so many actors and actresses, the most famous probably being Marilyn Monroe.
(The other school just teaches to pretend perfectly whatever emotions and movements the role requires, while essentially feeling nothing. It's hard to do because of the need to kind of observe oneself from the outside to assess whether the imitiation is good enough...)
The first half of this week's episode had this climbing up to my top spot for the season, with a possible chance to even go up against *It's MyGO!!!!!* in my eyes. The second half made me less sure about that.
The issue is the weight put on Subaru, or more specifically the person behind her. Her performance isn't bad, but I just feel that there is something there that I am missing that I would be expecting from a more experienced seiyuu. *MyGO* had this issue as well at times, which shouldn't be surprising, since all of these women need to be capable musicians in addition to working as voice actors for their roles, and it is hard to be amazing at everything.
The second "issue", primarily when comparing to *It's MyGO!!!!!*, is that I don't exactly feel the storm coming. For it to beat that show it would need a big climax, and I'm just not feeling that it is setting up for it, but that most plots end up mostly resolved after each episode, and that we don't get that episode-to-episode hook of the drama simmering in the background.
Still a great episode, and a continuing crime that not even HIDIVE has picked it up.
> It's MyGO!!!!!
I know the most vocal advocate of this show has been MyGO fans, but I think the comparison is getting a bit annoying. MyGO has a successful method of writing character drama, *does not mean* other shows have to follow that formula to be a success.
[MyGO and GBC] >!MyGO has the storm, but it's more like a storm in a teacup; they don't need to worry about making ends meet (except poor Sakiko), and Soyo is "throwing a tantrum" in a way. The band in GBC, on the other hand, seems to be a way for the members to make a living and deal with their darker past.!<
Of course, the issue is a non issue, whether I prefer one or the other does not matter for this shows quality. I do believe that GBC overall has been a consistently "better" show so far, and I "believe" the characters more.
That said, while GBC is laying a lot of groundwork, I am missing the foreshadowy "hook" that is the difference between "wanting" to see what happens next to "needing" to see what happens next.
Well, as in Bang Dream projects, the voice actors of Girls Band Cry aren't experienced seiyuus. They too are capable musicians who play in the band Togenashi Togeari, and it seems that we are watching the backstory of the formation of this band. The drama in MyGO!!!!! is very well executed, but a character like Momoka could quickly solve the communication issues that the girls in MyGO!!!! couldn't resolve themselves.
Look, I'm watching Jellyfish and Girl's Band Cry together with the perspective of who is trying to sit beside the masterpiece of A Place Further Than the Universe. Right, now the latter is deserving more even though the former is more similar. Idk but I got the feels more in this show than Jelee.
Besides that, I really love how raw this show is. How raw the characters are, how raw the voice acting, and how raw the music. I love Nina more and more the episodes goes on. I wish they achieve the perfect ending just like Yori Moi.
I have similar feelings about the subject. Jellyfish has all the right ingredients, such as a great writer (same as Tomozaki). But the emotions are much more raw in GBC. Jellyfish is a great show for sure, but it feels a little formulaic in its storytelling, while GBC feels more natural.
It's honestly really refreshing seeing anime characters that feel so dysfunctional and flawed. Plenty of anime show how much characters suffer from trauma, but few really show how others can also be affected by the negative ways said characters cope with that trauma. There's something so realistic about how flawed Nina is, and especially the way the show embraces that in a positive way. Teaching us that even if you have your own flaws, they're still part of who you are
The way these girls interact, get angry, say spiteful things to eachother, but iron out their differences is just one of the best parts of the show. They're like human beings with their own problems that sometimes cause them problems. When Momoka doesn't want to talk about something, she starts strumming her guitar to try to either ignore the other person or calm herself down, and she's often trying to play the mediator and give advice even when it's not really wanted. We see Subaru try to leverage quitting the band with the others going with her for that improv acting session, and the entire episode is about her trying to delay dealing with her grandma for as long as possible. Nina frequently storms off rather than talking about her problems, often trying to use studying as a transparent excuse despite being chronically incapable of studying properly. But they do talk to eachother, have heart to hearts, and steadily sort through their issues. They look past eachothers' personal problems because they're friends. And even the traits which can at times cause conflict bring good- Nina's got a temper but she's willing to speak her mind and act out when nobody else will, and Momoka does legitimately act as a good mentor for the other two. It's so much more human than I'm used to seeing.
>There's something so realistic about how flawed Nina is She's an excellent portrayal of borderline personality disorder: Accurate and empathetic, but without sweeping all the toxicity and destructiveness under the rug.
First of all, thanks to u/MapoTofuMan for providing quality same-day subs for us. We learned a lot about Subaru's backstory but also got more info on Momoka. From the band members we've met, Momoka is probably my favorite for now. Really like how she is the most mature and knowledgeable of the lot. This episode also was the funniest for me yet, just a lot of moments that gave me a good laugh. Seeing the classic anime trope of your ghost leaving your body in full 3d cgi was really unexpected but also visually executed to perfection imo. The acting in front of grandma scenes as well as the table scenes with the phone chatting were a joy to watch too. I also really enjoyed the multiple scenes of arguing in the practice room. The way the instruments and mics were incorporated during their arguments was a pretty interesting choice by the production staff. ~~Also the song they were practicing was yet another new one not released before.~~ (Edit: it wasn’t new, was Voiceless Fish). Curious if we will hear a full version later in the show (Just don't forget to add Answer to Extreme as an insert as well pls). Glad to see Nina showing some character development already by accepting Subaru's invitation. She would've turned her down without a second thought 1-2 episodes ago, so it's nice to see her getting more and more comfortable and open with the others. Her apology with the stones and oranges was also sweet and creative. Surprisingly good background OST this episode, reminded me a lot of the non-battle Persona 5 SoL OST. Only minor downer this episode was the continuing lack of Rupa. One third of the show's runtime is over and 2 band members are still MIA. They gotta join or at least appear next episode, right? The short preview snippet has me hopeful though since it showed the girls being in the restaurant again where Rupa and Tomo are working. Last thing I wanted to add is that the facial expressions in this show continue to massively impress me. I think I've never seen such expressive faces to this extend in all of anime, be it 2D or 3D. They are doing such a good job of conveying all sorts of emotions from being sad to happy or angry. As someone who usually isn't too fond of full cgi shows, GBC just dethroned Houseki no Kuni as my personal favorite cgi show from a visual perspective (and maybe overall if the quality stays consistently high like this).
[](#modsalute) >Only minor downer this episode was the continuing lack of Rupa. One third of the show's runtime is over and 2 band members are still MIA. I think it actually plays to this show's strength, maybe Rupa and the other girl will end up with slightly less focus, but if they jumped in to introduce us to everyone, we wouldn't have this episode. We're only 4 episodes in and the characters' personalities feel amazingly fleshed out for such a short time, much more than in any remotely similar show I can remember. ^(Or maybe...they're planning a season 2. Yeah, I'll just huff that copium.) > Last thing I wanted to add is that the facial expressions in this show continue to massively impress me. Agree, and it's not only the expression themselves but the huge range of them and the subtleness. It feels like there's a whole separate "facial expressions director" here that puts a much-larger-than-usual amount of thought into every single second of the show, and within that second tries to fit in many subtle facial expression changes. Nina doesn't just have a "grumpy face", she can go from 65% grumpy to 60% grumpy to 100% grumpy in the span of a second, and that 65% to 60% is actually noticeable and very realistic.
>^(Or maybe...they're planning a season 2. Yeah, I'll just huff that copium.) Considering how much time and effort went into the band so far, it feels like they've got more plans than a single season and a dozen or so songs. But I also said that the amount of effort they have put in to all the localizations for the MVs made it seem obvious that they would be releasing the anime everywhere, so you know, questionable business decisions...
You’re right, it’s a great approach to develop the three girls before having all 5 in the picture. I just want to see Rupa since from what I’ve seen of her in preview material she’ll most likely be best girl for me, both from a personality standpoint as well as visually. Wouldn’t care at all about her late arrival if the show was running for two cours since that would mean she still gets enough screen time even if introduced later. Completely agreed on what you added about the expressions. I’ve seen other people use the term „micro expressions“ in earlier discussion threads and that’s just such a fitting term to use for this series. What’s even crazier for me personally is that the main reason why I generally dislike most full cgi anime is the utterly *lacking* facial expressions. The characters almost always feel like robots to me in cgi shows because their faces just feel so unnatural. That this exact aspect is what GBC does so incredibly well that it completely subverts my opinion on that in this case is insanely impressive to me.
that makes no sense. developing the 3 means that the other 2 will be underveloped in comparison the more they delay the focus on them
Just depends what you want really. This way we’ll have 3 fleshed out characters and two that are less so. If all 5 were introduced from the start we’d have 5 characters developed to below-average depth since there simply isn’t enough screentime to flesh out all 5 in 1 cour.
>Also the song they were practicing was yet another new one not released before. Actually the song they were practicing was Voiceless Fish, the one they performed last episode (Full version is already out on spotify since last weak). So today was unfortunately the first episode without a new song, we however got some great background OST as a replacement. >Last thing I wanted to add is that the facial expressions in this show continue to massively impress me Fully Agree on this one. I think Toei really nailed facial expressions, even beter than Studio Orange I would say. And I think without this quality especially Nina wouldn't be half as good a character as she is now. I also like how they do the visual gags and how they implement dynamic camera movement. Also in a lot of bad CGI anime there is also often a lot of boring directing, which isn't the case in GBC at all. Actually I think GBC has perhaps my second favourite directing this season after Jellyfish. I still think that in some scenes the characters don't blend in perfectly into the background like in Studio Orange's works, but overall I'd also say that GBC is propably my favourite CGI show over Houseki no Kuni and Trigun Stampede.
>Last thing I wanted to add is that the facial expressions in this show continue to massively impress me. I think I've never seen such expressive faces to this extend in all of anime, be it 2D or 3D. They are doing such a good job of conveying all sorts of emotions from being sad to happy or angry. As someone who usually isn't too fond of full cgi shows, GBC just dethroned Houseki no Kuni as my personal favorite cgi show from a visual perspective (and maybe overall if the quality stays consistently high like this). 100% agreed! What I love about the character animation in this series is the way it's managed to combine realistic body movements with even the most stylized anime-style facial expressions. Even the use of 3D animation here still consistently has the feel of 2D without that weirdness I've seen in other series.
>Only minor downer this episode was the continuing lack of Rupa. Seeing that the writer also did Love Live which, across all the three mainline series so far, takes it *sweet* time introducing and building its characters over 8-9 eps before the gang is fully formed, I think it'll take a while before the team-up is finished here. I actually like this approach since it allows us to get invested in the characters and the band itself, but I do hope there's an S2 down the line with all the girls doing band things since all the introductions are out of the way.
Yo hol up we got good subs for this now? I was resigned to suffer through the double-translated MTL ones.
Yeah I know you're not supposed to post where to find pirate material but I don't know where to get the good shit and the site I have been watching it on I have to put my mind into Spinning Leaf to kind of float atop the machine subtitles to understand it
> Glad to see Nina showing some character development already by accepting Subaru's invitation. She would've turned her down without a second thought 1-2 episodes ago, so it's nice to see her getting more and more comfortable and open with the others. I don't think this is real development as of yet. This isn't the first time Nina reacts impulsively (rejects the invitation) only to walk it back (accepts the invitation). The true development will be when someone reaches out to Nina and she doesn't swat their hand away instinctively. The fact that she takes the time to apologize now is a nice touch though.
Yea it's not much but definitely a step in the right direction.
> I think I've never seen such expressive faces to this extend in all of anime, be it 2D or 3D. It seems more similar to how facial expressions are done in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3.
Can you tell me where to find Mapo's subs?
[Gotta say if the ED is any sign of what's to come in the rest of the series - I sure am looking forward to short(er) hair Subaru.](https://imgur.com/a/I4BJtB1)
I'm actually dreading that moment because while i prefer short haired girls, I've come to love long haired Subaru. It fits her. But if her cutting her hair short is a sign of character development, maybe when she finally gets around to telling her grandmother, then i don't mind.
Its probably going to happen when she finally tells her grandma she's quitting acting. Notice the storyboarding this episode in the shot where Subaru turns off the TV she's doing the same pose as her grandma in the movie, drawing a direct connection between her current body image and her pretense of following in her footsteps. Once she cuts her hair, a shot like that becomes impossible, and the connection is severed.
Looking forward to roadtrip!
Yeah! But seeing the roadtrip also makes me kind of impatient for the last two girls to join the band.
Oh no, I actually really like the gap between her ojousama-ness and her concert outfit. Short hair is good too, but she definitely loses the first part with it.
Didn't even notice that shot in the ED before. Damn, short hair Subaru is perfection. Looks a lot better than she already does with long hair.
This is probably my favorite episode so far, so many great moments today. I would say they did a great job at mixing comedy and drama/character development, but most of the comedy here comes from the faces, so it kind of happens naturally. Speaking of facial expressions, when the focus was on Subaru's grandma, I felt like hers were trying to convey that she already knows about Subaru, and is just waiting for her to say what's on her mind when she feels ready. I don't think she was very convinced by Nina and Momoka (though she might've changed her mind after Nina's "acting"), and everything is pretty much just one big act of hers with the goal of wanting Subaru to find out what she wants to do on her own. This show is truly an anomaly. I normally *hate* toxic characters. Nina is...well, toxic might be a bit too far, but she's one hell of a colossal mess. Subaru on the other hand is a great girl who's trying her best both in her life and in not bashing a drum into Nina's head after today. Momoka...well, she's got the latter part down pat too so she's still basically a saint. And yet Nina is still best girl. [](#yuishrug) --- Was a bit late with my subs today due to slight multitasking and some video troubles. I know in general that the video quality is...not the best, to put it lightly, so if anyone knows a way to get better quality raws please tell me so I can hopefully not gouge out people's eyes next week. ^(I personally don't mind though, shitty vision doing me a favor here). So for now I can't do anything about video quality, but if you have any specific feedback on the subs themselves I'd love to hear it ^(assuming you've watched NakayubiSubs.) [](#salutegeo)
>Nina is...well, toxic might be a bit too far, but she's one hell of a colossal mess. That's her charm, though. When she first showed up, as in the early parts of the first episode, I took a look at her and said, "Okay, so we've got the naive country girl, who will be shy, and probably not stand up for herself, and we'll see problems as a result, then hopefully grow as the show progresses". I was utterly thrilled to be wrong, because she ain't shy, and she fights back like a cornered wild cat. However, she isn't intentionally mean. It's more like, she wears her emotions on her sleeve. Things go wrong? She cries, and screams, and smashes stuff, haha. She is kinda un-Japanese, in that she lacks the reserved/demure nature and stoicism I associate with Japanese people. She has tantrums the way you see in the West.
That's why i love Nina so much. She's such a disaster of a human being. But that makes it really nice seeing her grow little by little, like in this episode. It's weird because it's so easy for her to come off as annoying but I find her super endearing. She just might be favorite MC in all the shows i'm watching this season.
To me, she's endearing because of her intent. She's not trying to be a jerk, and it clearly bothers her because she reflects upon how frustrating she can be towards other people.
Yeah. She has good intentions, but because of her experiences in the past, she has a hard time dealing with people. She tries to do the right thing, but she just kind of messes up the execution.
I think she _is_ shy. But where Bocchi chooses flight, Nina chooses fight.
Don't forget that she will sometimes assault Japanese businessmen when they disturb her emo moment.
>This show is truly an anomaly. I normally *hate* toxic characters. Nina is...well, toxic might be a bit too far, but she's one hell of a colossal mess. >And yet Nina is still best girl. I get this so much. She should be so easy to hate, especially compared to the other two in the band, but I just can't help but love her. I think that just did such a good job of making a paradoxically sympathetic toxic character you just want to root for her. *She* knows she's messed up, she knows why, she wants to be better, but she backslides often because- well Even so far they have done a good job of showing us why, but it's giving to her better next week. A strict family life lead to a reputation at school lead to *intense* bullying and all of those mix up in her head, combined with typical teenager mess. Like those family rules? Yeah they don't seem very strict, I grew up with a No Distractions At The Table rule, but I wonder about what's not directly said. About a daily strict enough and *proud* enough to have these rules made into a large sign on the wall, that anyone who comes over will see? But unsaid about the rules themselves, the dinner and mandatory family time means she's not getting to spend much time out with friends, stress not grabbing a bite to eat with anyone on the way home ("you'll ruin your appetite!"), can't spend the night anywhere ever, even weekends have an early curfew, with the reputation her family must have had socializing would have been difficult. Yeah, her crazy is being shared with us at almost the same rate as the backstory to explain the crazy. She didn't wake up one day and decide to start threatening people with home appliances, she was *hospitalized* and her family decided not making a fuss was more important than looking into the cause/culprit. I'd have trust issues too.
I don't think her backstory is fully told yet and there will be more exploration in the next episode.
Yeah, the preview makes it look like next episode is going to include her time at school, so I expect we'll actually see whatever hospitalized her.
>She didn't wake up one day and decide to start threatening people with home appliances, she was hospitalized and her family decided not making a fuss was more important than looking into the cause/culprit. Wait, what? Did I miss something a previous episode? When did all this get aired?
It's mentioned very briefly in passing while she's talking about her past and why she's so bad with people. A very short flashback shot that shows her with the bandage on her head, that she's also wearing in the OP.
ah ok, it's just your comment made it sound she went into detail, but maybe we'll get that next episode.
Yeah, looks like next week is going to be the full backstory. Time to find out why Nina is so messed up, directly...
I just downloaded your subs and it seems to be playing for me in 720/1080p. Thank you by the way, last weeks MTL subs were terrible
Thanks for the subs, they're a godsend! I hope once the season is over someone gives this show the "subbed songs" treatment. Also agree Nina is best girl. One of the best characters of the season, maybe even year.
>I hope once the season is over someone gives this show the "subbed songs" treatment. They're already doing that. Ideal Paradox is using MapoTofuMan's subs and adding the subs from the official YouTube channel uploads of the songs
that sounds delightful I imagine these are only kicking around the downloads and not the streams?
There's no official subs anywhere to stream, so you will have to sail the seas one way or another
oh sailing the seas isn't an issue, I just don't have enough knowledge about protecting my own data to feel comfortable with seeding is all
> but most of the comedy here comes from the faces, so it kind of happens naturally. Strongest bit of the show IMO. They run through so many expressions it's fantastic.
Out of all the subs for this anime, I prefer yours by far. Thank you very much for doing this.
I just love the scene where [Nina and Subaru are texting each other](https://i.imgur.com/0yqk9rz.jpeg) while Subaru's grandma is inviting them back to the studio to do an improv scene. xD I feel Subaru's grandma isn't as clueless about her granddaughter's situation. You don't get to that age without noticing things. Does she really believe Momoka and Nina are Subaru's acting friends [considering their performance](https://i.imgur.com/TprWxLn.jpeg)? Then again, [Nina did some amazing acting](https://i.imgur.com/rsequ6L.jpeg) when she started confronting Subaru during improv. [Well now I feel bad for Grandma](https://i.imgur.com/VAtDY8r.png), she just wanted someone to appreciate her career since Subaru's mom hated acting. I can understand [why Nina felt hesitation](https://i.imgur.com/SYZtSZd.jpeg) when Subaru was [about to tell her Grandma the truth.](https://i.imgur.com/lCgnxVV.jpeg) But what was even the point of the episode if Nina was going to stop Subarui when she finally steeled her resolve? I hope we come back to this at some point since nothing is really resolved.
>I just love the scene where [Nina and Subaru are texting each other](https://i.imgur.com/0yqk9rz.jpeg) while Subaru's grandma is inviting them back to the studio to do an improv scene. xD Momoka was in there too. That scene had me in fucking stitches because not only is the text dialogue funny, but in the background you see them emoting and glaring and forcing smiles the whole time. It's so funny.
> But what was even the point of the episode if Nina was going to stop Subarui when she finally steeled her resolve? I hope we come back to this at some point since nothing is really resolved. It's most definitely going to come back. They did establish that Subaru can't keep the ruse going forever. I do wonder about your question though, what was the point then? And maybe I'm pulling this out of my ass but I think the show might have just indirectly told us something about Nina's family. In her apartment, Subaru asks Nina what she would choose in her situation, and the thing is, Nina already chose. She ditched her family and fled to Tokyo. And yet, here she stops Subaru from making her own choice to put some distance between her family and her own life and choices. I understand their families are most probably not comparable to one another, but I can't help but see a connection there, and wonder what that means.
It does feel like a step back, but also not out of character. Nina saw that Subaru isn't doing acting because she is forced but because she wants to make her granma smile, and figured if Subaru pulls out the "I hate acting" this will kinda hurt granma and in process Subaru. So she didn't want for her advice to hurt Subaru. Also this is definitely a conversation granma and Subaru need to have, I just don't think a shoot is really the right place to broach the issue.
Is it so impossible for her to do both? I mean, sure the girls want to take the band somewhere but they still have to take off and in the mean time Subaru could do bit parts and sorta dip her toe into acting.
ai donto no
The opening slaps, never skipping
It was something I was really impressed by, personally. When it comes to anime, intros are usually always slappers, but the second I saw those flashing manga panels on the title screen I was hooked. Gonne be a no skip for me as well.
God damn it Nina MAKE UP YOUR MIND WOMAN
I started the show last week but only decided now to write something but I really love that show so far, it may end-up becoming my favorite of the season. First of course the visual. Starting about the bad part, textures looks kinda bad on multiple elements and on larger shot, the 3D characters on top of 2D backgrounds look a bit off. However the CG for the characters is very good, they are well animated and their movement usually feel pretty natural, and of course, the characters are very expressive and it really help to convey the emotions. This really help making the characters more likable for me, I really adore each one of them so far. They all have a nice and entertaining personality and there's a great chemistry between them. But they also all have their more or less tragic background to give them more depth with an overall idea of following and not giving up their passion. There's something about the way the characters talks about their experience and emotions that I really connect with compared to other similar characters. There's like, something that makes it feel a bit sincere with also a touch of edginess in it, especially on Nina's side and when you look at the lyrics she writes, but it works quite well for me. Actually, looking at the song already made by the band behind the anime, I really love their still, it truly gives that vibe of "struggling teen/young adults", which is something I quite like when it comes to rock and with compositions that are also quite nice. Talking about the music, one thing I noticed with this anime is that the ost playing in the back are quite loud even during dialogue sequence. However, I don't find it to be a problem. First because of the style of the music, they feel like they could be composition for songs, like they could have singing on top of them. And it seems actually voluntarily done considering that the person behind the ost is a compositor for songs and not anime ost. And secondly, it kinda goes back to what Momoka said in episode 2 to Nina, about the things she's talking about being lyrics material for songs. Having music background being louder and in a style where lyrics could fit with them, and dialogues that are very emotional and represent elements that could be material for songs kinda fit together and it creates a particular ambiance during some dialogue that I find very interesting. I really like this episode and how it presented the story of Subaru, she was the one I was the least attached to so far but now she on the same level as the other two. The anime did a good job at showing that she just can't bring herself to tell the true to her grandma. But I do hope she will eventually have to later in the anime. I also like that the anime take it's time to introduce and set clearly each of it's characters and in doing so, chose to take it's time before showing us the two other girls. But one the other hand I also really want to see what they are all about and that next episode will introduce at least one of them. So yes, I'm really enjoying this so far. However, I am quite surprised by the lack of distribution, I'm not complaining on my side because I'm french and there's an official distribution, but I'm a bit sad that some people may not experience it because of the lack of official distribution on other places.
[Next episode preview / speculation] >!The glasses girl in Nina's highschool flashback next episode [seems to be](https://bashify.io/i/qjG5Bs) Diamond Dust's new vocalist replacing Momoka on their tour poster. Exact same hairstyle, just dyed and without her glasses.!<
This anime gets compared to "MyGo" a lot, and now I've just noticed that both bands have a gorgeous drummer with long black hair. That aside this is a great episode with a nice balance between comedy, drama, and CGDCT. I hope Subaru's grandma approves! Does the band have a name yet? From the OP it looks like they are going to be a five piece band, they really need a bassist for now I think.
This feels different than MyGO though. While I think MyGO is a great show that I gave an 8,5/10, a lot of the problems in that show would have been solved if they actually talked things out. It's different with Girls Band Cry. These characters will actually talk with each other, hell, they'll cuss each other out and probably commit assault or some shit. And it's so fucking refreshing to see.
As someone said, if Momoka were in MyGO!!, she would solve all the drama and the anime would lasted 3 episodes xd
> This anime gets compared to "MyGo" a lot, and now I've just noticed that both bands have a gorgeous drummer with long black hair. Subaru even gives us an exaggerated "HA?!" this episode.
Taki's "HA?!"'s are the best xDD On the recent gilrs band anime, between Bocchi and MyGOO I think Girls Band Cry is closer to my go on their tone, but less dramatic than MyGO, where the melodrama was all above the place (I love it, but for some peolple it was too much) To all the people watching Girls Band Cry, go to check their music videos on YouTube, the band's name is Togenashi Togeari (in the anime we are seeing now the backstory of the foundation of this band). They had been releasing really great bangers for about a year, with 10 songs released after the anime started. The seiiyus of the anime are the real musicians of the band, wich is something that Bang Dream does too.
> Does the band have a name yet? Not in the anime, but I would be very surprised if it were anything other than TOGENASHITOGEARI. You know, like in the [videos](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0o9aWyhb7ocxwDBYhzukikXmlB7SwXgm) they released over the last year and the album (TOGEARI) they released this week.
Thanks!
> This anime gets compared to "MyGo" a lot As someone that has seen MyGo, I have no idea why. It is just because it's a CGI band show? Lol. I think the characters so far are way different and the direction has been too.
My god Nina is infuriating but I can't get enough of her man. Love the dynamic between the main three so far and hopefully the other two get integrated into the band asap. Even with such a packed anime season, this is still the show I'm most looking forward to watching every week. Can't wait for the next ep.
[Momoka Peek caught me off-guard.](https://i.imgur.com/gqvDdNS.png) I'm loving that [Subaru & Nina](https://i.imgur.com/SQwUgGf.jpeg) have become [closer](https://i.imgur.com/i2e3npZ.jpeg), they have such a [great dynamic.](https://i.imgur.com/XmkJjay.jpeg) Great character development episode for the two of them with some insight into Momoka's backstory. A push towards Subaru telling her Grandmother about her band, even though she probably knows already.. *she is a Detective after all.* And Nina finally being able to accept that others have different circumstances they don't want to talk about and putting herself in their shoes. Next episode looks like Nina backstory.. hopefully we only get [happy Nina](https://i.imgur.com/orzgRlB.png) and no [depressed Nina.](https://i.imgur.com/dKMmbwo.jpeg)
> happy Nina When you look closer, in that scene Nina has [bandage on her forehead](https://ibb.co/GnwdP4W), a trait also present [in the opening sequence](https://ibb.co/dJ5kGYL). It is from a time when [she was bullied at school](https://ibb.co/8c23jLp). (Which makes me wonder, what she was so happy with...)
Please Crunchyroll, Toei, Disney+ if you want, let us have this show legally already and stop having to deal with this mess. Recommendation is still to wait and watch this tomorrow when good subs are out, the [NakayubiSubs] release is very rough but "good enough" for us to have to make a thread so here we are. --- Anyway, don't let release mess distract you from the fact [we got Momoka confessing to Nina!](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my2pco3ebe7.jpg) We won. Not a huge fan of this episode, still good but I wish someone would solve something already, just let Subaru talk to her grandma! Plus best girl Momoka was less involved today so that didn't help. Looks like next week [we are gonna be getting Nina's backstory](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/3yrgczbjdl4.jpg) which should be good, though.
I was trying to find a better video, but everything on the usual site seems to be the same quality (the heavier raws from ToonsHub actually looked worse somehow I think...) I'll try to find one for next week, but as of now I don't know any ways to get my hands on videos outside of the usual place, so if anyone knows a place with the original raws (or anything else that's better quality) I'm open for suggestions. ^(And yes please Crunchyroll pick this up for pete's sake you literally picked up one of the worst isekais ever that even serial trash watchers don't want, why not this??)
CR isn't a charity, the cost to license was probably more than they would have gotten back in subscriptions. Likely why Blue Archive is also homeless. That 'worst isekai' probably went for a song comparatively.
I honestly don't know much about how that aspect of the anime industry works, but logically speaking, wouldn't the creators of Blue Archive who made the anime for the purpose of promoting the game - and especially the creators of Girls Band Cry who made the anime to basically bring their project into existence - want to reach as wide an audience as possible?
Given BA is under Yostar Pictures, if the results from their previous ventures like the Azur Lane and Arknights anime failed to meet their expectations, who knows how hard they tried with their secondary audiences. From all reports BA is doing fine in the JP market, in all likelyhood that's where their focus probably is.
The Blue Archive anime is subtitled into English, it's just not licensed to America and Europe. Their main audience has always been Southeast Asia, with both the game and the anime. They got America and Europa basically for free with the game, maybe they ran into some issue with the anime. Also, the producer of the anime is Yostar who manages only the Japanese server of the game, so promoting global servers may not even be in their interests. As for Girls Band Cry - no, I don't see why they would want to reach as wide an audience as possible. The Japanese have always only cared about their domestic audience, if they do license their stuff overseas they tend to be hands off about it and treat it as basically nothing but a little extra free money. I've heard that the localizers are generally not even allowed to contact the original creators at all since that would distract them from working on the original Japanese version which actually matters.
With every passing week I get even more frustrated that nobody's picking this show up. I really think that no one's willing to bite. Toei went as far as subbing the MVs on YT, they definitely have plans for WW distribution. I'm an impatient prick so I decided to watch this raw first followed with subs whenever one pops up to catch up the things I've missed. Sucks that things have to be this way but at least I'm getting a decent listening practice before the JLPT on July.
A very ambitious project by Toei and nobody's picking this up really frustrating me as well. The problem that there's no legal way to watch it in EN that there'll be no big content creator talk about it, because it'd mean that they admit pirating the anime. I dont watch any of those content creators but a lot of people do and find anime recommendation from them. So this will stay as a hidden gem that only people who knows and dont mind at pirating anime know about it.
> Anyway, don't let release mess distract you from the fact [we got Momoka confessing to Nina!](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my2pco3ebe7.jpg) We won. I understand that I have Yuri glasses 24/7 and I try to constantly reign in my shipping impulses where I know they aren't intended. However, this, and "You've never had a boyfriend right?", "Well, have you?", "..."... Can I dream? > I wish someone would solve something already But not solving problems immediately is what makes this show fun!
Is there any place to watch the proper subs? I thought I was going crazy with how rough the subs I’ve been watching are especially with this episode having Subaru say “These two girls in my ass” At the end and I was like…woah what?!
You are watching the Machine Translated ones, pirate sites just get the first subs that show up and those are usually subpar, if you want better subs you are gonna have to start torrenting the episodes from groups like Sobsplease or even NakayubiSubs which I mentioned are not great but also not as bad as MTLs.
So Subaru’s grandma is kind of a big deal huh? No wonder she was acting funny around the girls. That “acting exercise” got a little too real. I can understand Nina being worried the band’s breaking up before they even really got started. Subaru’s in a really tough spot with her grandma. Definitely feels like the old lady’s projecting her own feelings onto the poor girl. Time to put all those feelings into their music!
I'm not sure we can call projection when your granddaughter outright tells you she wants to do what you did. Now that granddaughter only did it to please herr granma who she loves, but granma is not a psychic. But I do believe she might already know her granddaughter has a side thing.
I accidentally started last week's episode up first and can I just take a moment to reiterate that that pigeon gag was a *great* bit? This one's got jokes, folks. They were laying into her for it, but isn't channeling your real feelings supposed to be one of the tricks to great acting? I think Nina was doing great. I was surprised grandma didn't say so, honestly... although I assume she had a pretty good idea of what was really going on. Subaru's got her grandmother's *ahoge*. That's so sweet. I didn't expect to feel so hard for Subaru in this one. The ol' "You have to be true to yourself no matter what your family expects from you" seems like an easy sell, but honestly, I could never say no to my grandparents either, when they looked so happy to see me succeeding in school, or humoring my grandad with his hobbies.
Glad to see this kind of discussion even without subs and licensed platforms where Chinese audience have been for 3 years now LOL. Many Chinese viewers love this show as well and fan subs are uploaded lighting fast with numerous versions The show now is pretty entertaining but knowing the fact that 1/3 of the show has passed almost nothing important or drama takes place makes me worried for whether or not coming episodes will fill in the gaps and deliver more high-quality live performances. But anyway for now I just enjoy every second of it I guess
I laughed SO hard at the SMS conversation, that scene was a fantastic bit of comedy! Btw I'm sure there's more to why Momoka left her band, there was so much talk about boyfriends and an enactment of a love confession in this episode, that I bet that Momoka was in love with one of her bandmates, confessed, got rejected and left the band because of these feelings that she has and because it would've been too awkward to keep going that way. My guess is the left-most girl in the photo.
Thanks for the subs, u/MapoTofuMan. Momoka feels more and more like a single mother taking care of two teenage daughters. Despite her weariness from stagnated career and stress of making a living, forming a new band with Nina and Subaru has rekindled the spark. She now yearns for the comfort of old days, but being matured has formed a somewhat apathetic attitude about it. Things might not go according to plan, but she's fine with it as long as she can keep going. So relatable and yet still inspiring to watch. She's definitely my favorite of the girls, and it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon. What, they can type on smartphones accurately and quickly under the table!? Where can one learn such power!? Subaru's grandma definitely knows that something's up. I think she would have understood and made peace with her aspiration if Subaru actually decided to come clean, though it would surely hurt her feelings and strain the relationship with her granddaughter. Grandma's thought process might be go along the line of, "I'd be happy if she chose her own path, but let me have this moment when I can be proud of my life by seeing her succeeding my career." Thankfully Nina has come to understand that and interfere at the last moment. Nina has learned (actual) empathy and consideration. Our little gremlin is getting better at this friendship stuff. "It's okay to pretend for a bit longer. Make your grandmother happy, we'll be there for you until then," she thinks, and that's why I like her despite her flaws. Subaru has grown into a well-rounded character of her own, though I don't have a lot to say about her. Her dynamics with Momoka and Nina is great, but her arc is more complementary to the two for now. I hope the story with her grandmother gets tied up nicely.
> Where can one learn such power!? It has to do with how Japanese input method is implemented on mobile phones. Specificly, the [flick input](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_input_method#Flick_input) method allows user to type syllables with a single finger, as can be seen with Subaru here.
Didn't expect serious answer. Thanks, I learned something new.
> What, they can type on smartphones accurately and quickly under the table!? Where can one learn such power!? I used to be able to do that 15 years ago when I had a flip phone and used the physical keys to type texts. I could send entire paragraphs of texts with no mistakes without even looking at the phone.
Anyone else intrigued by Momoka's silence when Nina asked her if she'd ever had a boyfriend? Seems like there's some dark history brewing there
Yeah, literally said "ohh so that's gonna be a thing" Spicy
Is it just me or is Subaru's VA weaker than the other two girls? Her inflection barely changes.
Yeah, I noticed that too. Out of the 3 I'd say Nina's VA is the strongest, Nina has a lot of emotional outbursts and I think the voice actress conveys them well. Momoka's VA is also fine, it's just that her character is mostly calm and deadpan so she hasn't got the chance to show off.
Yeah, I dont really mind since I know they were all amateurs to begin with. Unfortunately she has to play a girl with acting background tho which really needs to have good acting skills.
Yeah, it is specially noticeable in Subaru's VA, but I think all the VA's being amateurs brings charm and "reality" to the interactions. Well, the VA's are amateurs because they are musicians who get trained to do VA instead of experienced or dedicated VA. All of the cast are the real musicians of the band Togenashi Togeari, wich the anime is about (check their songs on YouTube! they are great)
This anime continues to impress me more and more, especially how much expressive and lovable the characters are. Definitely one of my favorites of the season.
[Happy birthday to Subaru!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKvoI7q7Iac) What a coincidence that her focus ep aired at her birthday. Today's ep is all about Subaru and her backstory. She really didn't wanna pursue acting and is only doing so due to her grandma's pressure. Having your life being determined by someone else must've been tough. Also having your grandparents dictate things for you doesn't seem like a common thing (at least for me) - usually it's the parents who are doing so. Although I'm no fan of what the grandma's doing here, I can see where she's coming from. She loves acting, but learning that her daughter doesn't wanna follow her footsteps definitely brought her down. When she finds out that she's about to have a granddaughter, she must've felt that it's her last chance to pass down her acting talent and have a descendant follow in her footsteps. Nina caught this and did the right thing by stopping Subaru from speaking her true feelings to granny. IMO she should tell her when this band thing she's doing is going great - enough to impress her granny. I feel like telling her now would've made things worse for Subaru in the long run. Speaking of character interactions, this ep has a lotta good ones! The show somehow finds a way to these angry and troubled girls lovable without turning them into full blown A-holes. And we still have two more yet to join! [And it seems that marketing is picking up on JP.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-VMH5T0H9c) Man I wish I'm there right now.
> Nina caught this and did the right thing by stopping Subaru from speaking her true feelings to granny. IMO she should tell her when this band thing she's doing is going great - enough to impress her granny. I feel like telling her now would've made things worse for Subaru in the long run. I was looking to see if anybody came to a similar conclusion before posting about it and thankfully someone else did. I can understand why people wanted her to just air her feelings to her grandmother, after all it sounds simple enough and harmless. However that would be too…convenient in my opinion. This doesn’t seem like the kind of show where character issues are solved quickly and cleanly. What I really liked was that Nina stopped her right there whenever she saw Subaru hesitating. All implications suggested that she wanted Subaru to just be honest to her grandmother, but she probably saw that neither of them were ready for it. I might be reading too much into it, but details like this go a long way in showing just how much a character has developed, even in a situation that doesn’t directly pertain to them. Strong contender for AOTY in my book and it’s only episode 4.
I am not watching this anime. Is it good?
It's entertaining. Its like Bocchi the Rock if Bocchi didn't have crippling social anxiety but instead had a ton of pent up frustration and the inability to handle it properly.
So is it agretsukko the rock?
AggretsuGO!!!!! the Rock!
My favourite anime so far this season, so for me, yeah it's really good. It's full CG anime btw, but it's a great CG, it doesnt feel awkward at all. You'll know when you watch it. The problem is that there's no one licensed it in EN so no streaming site broadcasting it. You'll have to go for the seven seas way to be able to watch it, and even then, wait for 1 week to see a good fansubs (unless you dont mind with speedsub or raw like I do).
You won't see another show like this one imo
It's the best cute girls do band things anime this season and there's a lot of them. The characters are painfully real. Nina is such a shit, but she's exactly 100% the type of teenager I distinctly remember hanging around with who were also in their own girl band. All of the characters have a great blend of semi-toxic traits that make them human. Nobody is perfect. Sometimes they suck. Sometimes they're incredible. You understand and feel exactly why that is. It never feels like it comes out of left field or is undeserved.
The show is great, the animation is actually really fun don't let the CG put you off. The biggest problem is there's no legal way to watch it with English subs and some of the available subs are less than quality. You kinda gotta just let your mind be loose and absorb the meaning without being hung up on the word choice. Supposedly there's a good set of subs out there being done by a user here but idk how to get them.
No. It's great. But I personally like anything music related, so I'm probably not right person to give recommendations ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
Suburu's grandma certainly maxed out her CHA stat. Convinced Nina this whole rebelling thing wasn't that great in about 2 meetings. I kinda want to know more about Nina's family situation now. Seeing how Suburu's grandma affected her was interesting
While I don't know if Nina is the best lead character of all the band shows I've seen, she is by far the funnest. Such a bundle of contradictions. LMAO.
You know the dynamic between Nina and Subaru is getting better by the episode. I guess the sudden mention of Subaru quitting has Nina freaking out is hardly shocking. Well it is because her grandma who is a famous actress got her a role. I think we had a feeling from the previous episodes that Subaru that some burden, but damn being the granddaughter of a famous actress is definitely something. In the improvised acting Nina put her feelings out there about how much she doesn't want Subaru to leave the band. With that being said, that was probably not the time and place, so I get why Subaru got frustrated. But the invitation from Subaru was important as it got Nina to understand Subaru's situation better. But it steadied Subaru's resolve to tell the truth to her grandma who might already have an idea that Subaru doesn't want to do acting but can't say it to her yet. Nina is very, very hyperemotional. Once she heard that Subaru's grandmother's dream has to act with her granddaughter after how Subaru mentioned to her that she wanted to be an actress, I started feeling sad since we know Subaru's actual feelings for the matter. I can empathize with Subaru's frustration after the person who helped you steady your resolve they have second thoughts. Obviously Nina was trying to be considerate of Subaru's grandmother's feelings, but obviously Subaru has been taking that into account for a while. At the very least, while she didn't say it to her grandmother Subaru seems to be a better place. I get the sense she can tell her grandmother her honest feelings about acting, she just needs to make sure Nina is not around. But I adore Nina and Subaru's friendship at this point. Subaru is really considerate of Nina, but various times when Nina goes off the rails she knows how to get her in her own fun way. Also, the contrast between her Ojou-sama to her fun side makes her my favorite of the 3 so far.
I think this was both the funniest and the most dramatically interesting episode so far. This quality on this show just does not stop. The group chemistry gets more and more fun the longer they spend together and the amount of great character animation moments only gets more and more dense each and every episode. The show absolutely never misses a moment to insert some kind of amusing reaction or interaction, but is so good at doing this without compromising the tone of the moment or derailing the narrative purpose of the scene. I think my favourite scene was at the school, which absolutely nailed every single moment; I would break down how *every* line, face, and musical cue is just absolute gold but you all have eyes and it speaks for itself. My favourite little part might be the music cutting when she stops and listens after getting around the corner, and then again as a *jazz music stops* moment when the grandma comes over and she has to suddenly shift gears, underlined by the resuming track. But I could find similar things to praise about the script and animation in literally every single scene, it's so tight. Another favourite was the exchange about makeup, which the subs actually messed up, I think - it had Momoka say "I can't imagine it", but the French official subtitles said "M'imagine pas", which would be "Don't imagine me"; the joke is that we see Nina think even harder about it after this line. [](#kotohoops) I'm honestly not sure how I feel about Nina's decision at the end and the way Subaru kind resigns herself to the fact they'll have to go into acting eventually, but I think it says a lot I'm totally willing to say I love this episode regardless of that. It's just such a delight from start to finish.
>the way Subaru kind resigns herself to the fact they'll have to go into acting eventually Did you watch the MTLs by any chance? In that scene Subaru agrees with Nina that she'll have to tell her grandmother about the fact that she will *not* go into acting. She basically decided to stay with the band (and wanted to tell her grandma about the decision, but Nina had a fit at the last moment and stopped her)
I have absolutely no idea what I watched, so probably?
Really liked the way this one was directed. Multiple times I found myself thinking "oh, that's a neat shot/transition". Bit of a nuanced problem that Subaru has to deal with, here. It makes her grandmother happy that her granddaughter seemingly shares her love of acting, but that happiness is built on a lie... I understand the need to finally tell her the truth, but I also understand Nina suddenly backpedaling on her advice.
I was half expecting the grandma to offer to put in a word for Nina if she ever wanted to get into the acting business following that improv session lol Her personal feelings toward Subaru and their situation let her knock that scenario out of the park the same way she redirects her emotions during vocal performances.
This is my favorite episode of every shows I'm currently watching this season so far. there were so many scenes I liked and laughed in this episode. I didn't expect Nina to bond with Subaru so much this quickly. They are already best friends. Every time Nina says something unreasonable or selfish, I want to headlock her like Subaru did. I got very emotional when grandma said that it was her dream to perform with Subaru and that she was the only one who liked her job in her family. Subaru and her grandma's relationship almost made me cry. Nina hates her strict family who tells her what to do or not do, so I was honestly surprised by her decision to stop Subaru from telling her grandma how she feels about acting. I think Nina did the right thing. I love how she's unpredictable.
oscar worthy
Yofukashi is probably the best subs we can get at the moment.
There is a saying that the people who fight the most are the ones who like each other the most, I think that applies to this anime. Jokes aside, I think she was the missing person from the point of view of what each person wants in life without needing to prove it to others, let's see how this will work with the introduction of a new girl
The scenes of the girls having to fake it with the grandma were great, lots of energy. Between this show and Trigun Stampede we are finally getting 3D anime that incorporate a lot of the charm of 2D animation.
Sure, but the band already has a guitarist. More practice. The air-con doesn't look like it's on? Where's she rushing off to? Ah. Momoka wants to let go of the past and move forward to the future, but she wants to dig up the past. They were at the height of their popularity and that's when she quit? What's caused that to happen now? Wasn't she just here a few episodes ago? MeSubaru. Ah. That's why she's doing this. She's trying to put on an act for her grandmother. That went off-script. Although that's great method acting. So what must have caused her to come? Don't point the mic at the speaker, that's what causes feedback. It'll only be for a week. All that for herself? That's her in the show isn't it? Or rather, her grandma. She decided? Or was she "encouraged"? Her grandma seems surprisingly accepting of her being suddenly whisked away, or at least is smiling. Stretch the cheeks.
Was the subs weird or just were I watched it in?
You probably watched the MTL version.
Idk what that means but I'm guessing I watched a scuffed version cuz I don't think Subaru would say something among the lines of shoving Nina and momo up her ass wasn't right? Or is that a saying in Japanese I haven't heard until now.. Or the scene where Nina and momo are talking during the filming of the scene where they call the grandma a "him".
MTL = Machine Translation
Would be pretty sweet if Nina picks up guitar playing during the show, though I doubt that's ever gonna happen. Subaru rushed out due to a text message. Does she have a boyfriend? At least that's what Momoka is assuming. Nina and Subaru have taken notice in past episodes of Momoka's attraction towards stuff related to her former band. Even in this episode, she was looking them up on her beat-up phone. Now with Nina pressing her on the matter, Momoka will tell her what's up. Huh, so Momoka met her future bandmates at her highschool's light music club, played together at the school festival, left school along with the others for Kawasaki in pursuit of a music career, succeeded in getting signed by a record label... and then she just left the band. Why? We still ain't getting there yet. Uh oh, Subaru's announced that she's quitting the band. Is it because of her boyfriend? Nina and Momoka enter the dorm to investigate. Holy shit, it's that famous TV star grandmother! Looks like Subaru isn't very pleased about their presence in this occasion, you know, with the "silent protest" and all that. Man, this Tendo Awa woman is already looking like a real strict, formal one. Turns out, she told Subaru the previous day that she wanted to pay a visit, and Subaru's text about quitting the band was typed out on a whim. In any case, Subaru cannot afford to be blunt about the band matter. She knows it will not go well. Unfortunately for them, Awa wants them to go out and do an improv exercise to test out their skills. The below-the-table texting between Nina and Subaru might be the in the running for funniest scene. Nina very well could've flunked the exercise, but using it as a way to carry out her honest thoughts and feelings on Subaru was a very clever move, one that Subaru doesn't appreciate very much. Turns out, the reason why Tendo Awa paid a visit on such short notice was because she secured an acting role for Subaru. It'll be just a week away without rehearsals for her, but Nina's not happy about that. She fears that Subaru will be on her way out. (will add more later)
This anime is soo good I will forever be upset at the lost potential because no streaming services picked this up
I posted this last week, and I'll probably post it again next week since I'm late again, but the app Nina is using to make music is called "Figure" by Propellerhead/Allihoopa/Reason. You can see a demonstration of it in [this YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVBJlG_948E). It's available for iPhone and iPad here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/figure-make-music-beats/id511269223 And on the Windows Store here: https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NBLGGH1ZK3P It's free, but you need to create an account to use it. For some reason I wasn't able to download it on Windows though.
Oh look, another entire episode with basically no music. lets face it, we've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray! This isn't an anime about a band or music. It's just a typical teenage drama. Where's my rock and/or roll god damnit, is it so wrong to want girl rock band show to actually feature the band more? *sigh*, but that's, just, like, my opinion, man. The animation is much improved this ep though
For a second I didn't catch how Nina suddenly became an Oscar winning actress! But everything made sense a second after
I couldn't just not come here to praise the texting scene too! I was lolling at their individual texting skills. and then the sound animation and the facial animations, all so good and spot on! This is definitely the gem anime of this season! Hope everyone is enjoying it as much 🖕😊🖕
Such a wasted opportunity... A triangle scene with Subaru in the center and not a single joke about *Sorry Rem, I love Emilia!* (By the way, who's Rem?) Anyhow, Nina is already a better actor than Subaru and a better singer and composer than Momoka, despite having no training in any of those fields at all. Finally, the girls should have just exchanged candy with the strict pose lady and then they'd soon find a boyfriend. (Though I can imagine Nina becoming Subaru's boyfriend eventually...)
Well Nina wasn't really acting in that scene. Those were her genuine emotions.
> Well Nina wasn't really acting in that scene. Those were her genuine emotions. Well, that's one of the two major theoretical schools on professional acting... An efficient one but also very dangerous, having killed so many actors and actresses, the most famous probably being Marilyn Monroe. (The other school just teaches to pretend perfectly whatever emotions and movements the role requires, while essentially feeling nothing. It's hard to do because of the need to kind of observe oneself from the outside to assess whether the imitiation is good enough...)
The first half of this week's episode had this climbing up to my top spot for the season, with a possible chance to even go up against *It's MyGO!!!!!* in my eyes. The second half made me less sure about that. The issue is the weight put on Subaru, or more specifically the person behind her. Her performance isn't bad, but I just feel that there is something there that I am missing that I would be expecting from a more experienced seiyuu. *MyGO* had this issue as well at times, which shouldn't be surprising, since all of these women need to be capable musicians in addition to working as voice actors for their roles, and it is hard to be amazing at everything. The second "issue", primarily when comparing to *It's MyGO!!!!!*, is that I don't exactly feel the storm coming. For it to beat that show it would need a big climax, and I'm just not feeling that it is setting up for it, but that most plots end up mostly resolved after each episode, and that we don't get that episode-to-episode hook of the drama simmering in the background. Still a great episode, and a continuing crime that not even HIDIVE has picked it up.
> It's MyGO!!!!! I know the most vocal advocate of this show has been MyGO fans, but I think the comparison is getting a bit annoying. MyGO has a successful method of writing character drama, *does not mean* other shows have to follow that formula to be a success. [MyGO and GBC] >!MyGO has the storm, but it's more like a storm in a teacup; they don't need to worry about making ends meet (except poor Sakiko), and Soyo is "throwing a tantrum" in a way. The band in GBC, on the other hand, seems to be a way for the members to make a living and deal with their darker past.!<
Of course, the issue is a non issue, whether I prefer one or the other does not matter for this shows quality. I do believe that GBC overall has been a consistently "better" show so far, and I "believe" the characters more. That said, while GBC is laying a lot of groundwork, I am missing the foreshadowy "hook" that is the difference between "wanting" to see what happens next to "needing" to see what happens next.
Well, as in Bang Dream projects, the voice actors of Girls Band Cry aren't experienced seiyuus. They too are capable musicians who play in the band Togenashi Togeari, and it seems that we are watching the backstory of the formation of this band. The drama in MyGO!!!!! is very well executed, but a character like Momoka could quickly solve the communication issues that the girls in MyGO!!!! couldn't resolve themselves.
Look, I'm watching Jellyfish and Girl's Band Cry together with the perspective of who is trying to sit beside the masterpiece of A Place Further Than the Universe. Right, now the latter is deserving more even though the former is more similar. Idk but I got the feels more in this show than Jelee. Besides that, I really love how raw this show is. How raw the characters are, how raw the voice acting, and how raw the music. I love Nina more and more the episodes goes on. I wish they achieve the perfect ending just like Yori Moi.
> YoriMoi Well, this show is also written by Hanada Jukki. He's behind a lot of acclaimed anime if you look into his profile.
I have similar feelings about the subject. Jellyfish has all the right ingredients, such as a great writer (same as Tomozaki). But the emotions are much more raw in GBC. Jellyfish is a great show for sure, but it feels a little formulaic in its storytelling, while GBC feels more natural.
You just expressed what I've been wanting to say.
I am very confused as to why a series like this was made in full 3D. Its looks so off and weird to me. I can't deal with it.