Bangor Dreams! This is my GO! ! ! ! Seems to be a very niche anime that has largely gone unnoticed this season. In fact, despite 3 episodes airing simultaneously in Japan last night, there is no synopsis for the show on MyAnimeList as of this writing.
Still, I’m intrigued. You know me, I’m the kind of person who can take almost anything, so I decided to give it a try.
Wow. I was very pleasantly surprised. Let’s get into the first episode!
content
The episode begins under a gloomy, rainy sky. We see some footage of people walking in the rain, and despite the gloomy weather, everyone goes about their day. In the midst of it all, we find a girl named Soyo Nagasaki in the recording studio, her eyes drawn to the rainy curtains of the outside world. There are three other girls living in the room: Tomori Takamatsu, sitting on the floor engrossed in her diary; Taki Shina on drums; and Mutsumi Wakaba, a girl with a pink guitar.
Suddenly, a girl named Saki came in, Zhaoyang was relieved and rushed to her side. Soyo expressed her concern over Saki’s recent absences and silence via text message. When she walked over to wipe the raindrops off Saki’s clothes, Saki backed away suddenly. Saki shocked the band by announcing that he was quitting the band CryChic. Drummer Taki, outraged by the news, berates Saki for being irresponsible.
Then we turn our attention to Anon Chihaya, the pink-haired girl in the airport. Appearing anonymously in an interview at an all-girls high school, we learn that she was the student body president at her previous school. She is looking forward to a fresh start at her new school. As she walked, Anon noticed Tomori collecting stones. After joining a new class and making some semblance of friends, she observes that everyone carries an instrument, a sign of the school’s thriving band culture.
After emphatically declining an invitation to join the band, Arnon reflected on his desire to excel, not only as a guitarist, but also as a vocalist. She met Saki, a former member who quit CryChic, by chance in the piano room and invited her to form a band. Saki immediately refuses, leaving Anon to think about his next move. The next day, Anon saw Tomori taking out the trash and decided to invite her to join his band. Anon ends up tripping over Tomori’s trash, so Tomori runs to get her a Band-Aid. Tomori, however, strayed off course, and when Anon found her, Tomori was staring at a pile of Band-Aids, not knowing which one to give Anon. Anonymously chose a penguin, and Tomori started dumping information about the penguin.
In the astronomy room, Anon found Tomori’s abandoned works in the notebook, revealing her past experience in the band. Anon tried to convince Tomori to form a band with her, but Tomori turned her down, saying their efforts would inevitably fail. In order to relax, Anon suggested that they go to karaoke. Saki watches them mysteriously from a nearby window as they leave.
The scene cuts to the scene where former band members Mutsumi and Soyo meet. Sodai asked Mumisaki if she had contacted her, and Mutsumi shook her head, “No”. Soyo regrets not listening more seriously to Saki’s concerns, believing she could have prevented her from leaving. Then we see the drummer Taki, now working as a barista, showing difficulty talking to customers.
Finally, at the karaoke place, Anon booked a room for two. She tries to encourage Tomori to sing, but Tomori is unwilling. Anonymous inquiries about Tomori’s past lead to an abrupt end to their merry evening. Anon seems to be making progress with Tomori, and says that just because her past band failed doesn’t mean the next one has to fail too. Tomori says “she will ask”, which confuses Anon. Tomori then asked Arnon if she would spend the rest of her life in the band. Anonymous laughs out loud at the question, causing Yuri to rush out of the karaoke room.
Anonymous chases after Tomori, and while they talk for a while, Taki rushes from a nearby barista job to protect Tomori. Anon explains to Taki that they are friends, but Taki is very hostile, calling Anon “the worst” after inviting Tomori into the band. At the end of the episode, Tomori is walking alone on a dimly lit street.
Opinion/Analysis
I really, really liked the first episode, but let’s talk about the elephant in the room – the animation is terrible. so terrible. It’s not even stylized, it looks like the animation was made in Yandere Simulator.
It blows my mind that the animation is so well written despite the terrible visuals. Also, VA has had its ups and downs. The voice actors for Tomori and Anon, both first-time voice actors, are fantastic. Especially Tomori’s. But Soyo’s voice actor annoys me.
Let’s talk about Tomori — Tomori is a very, very autistic person. It’s not explicitly stated – in fact, Arnon’s classmates just mention that Tomori is a “fool”, but little things like divulging information about penguins or collecting rocks and putting them in her pocket make this One point becomes very obvious. Tomori finds joy in doing things that are different from “normal”. This may also be why Taki is so protective of Tomori. The fact that Tomori’s voice actor is a mature, older woman rather than a squeaky chibi-style VA also suggests a lot of careful and thoughtful planning into Tomori’s character.
They must have exhausted their visual effects budget, and since the rest of the show was so elaborate, it’s impossible to believe they didn’t care.
I don’t even like musical anime, but this one. I like this.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
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