The Better Ave Mujica - BanG Dream! Season 3 Rewatch Reaction

I've gone over my dislike of the Ave Mujica anime at length. It's a massive departure from what gives Bandori its own unique identity. However, something that I noticed, and something that may have colored my opinion of Ave Mujica, is that we've already had Ave Mujica's story in Bandori.

In many ways, the journey of RAISE A SUILEN mirrors the one of Ave Mujica. And, in every single meaningful way, RAS executes things infinitely better than Ave Mujica does. So, with all that said, let's go blow-by-blow through the third season of Bandori, and hopefully I can effectively explain what makes it such a classic.

Episode 1

Marina Tsukishima, who you might recognize as an important staff member at the live house CiRCLE, has a proposal for a girl band competition called "BanG Dream! Girls Band Challenge". A bit cheesy, to be sure. Calling an in-universe competition "BanG Dream" would be like if Love Live created an event called the "School Idol Festival". As if that would ever happen.

Jokes aside, the competition seems to already be at the end stages of planning. Already on board are the Tokyo Live Music Association, the local music store Edogawa Music, and ESP Guitars. In attendance for this meeting are several representatives from Bandori's music scene, including one of the recurring staff members from Galaxy, Yoshiko, and one Shifune Tsuzuki.

You might know her better as the Owner of SPACE back in S1.

She may be retired, but she's just as difficult to impress as she was before.

"Is this the best you can come up with?"

So, Marina comes up with a plan to up the stakes: booking Budokan for the finals.

Before we go much further, I have to give a special shout-out to the OP for this season, "Initial". Of the many opening themes that Bandori has had over its five seasons and several other mini-series so far, this one is by far my favorite.

It's been about four months since the end of the events of S2, and we're deep into autumn. Rokka is continuing to balance her work and school lives, still without a band. PoPiPa are still PoPiPa, fully recovered from the drama from last season.

As for CHU2 and RAS, they still haven't found themselves a guitarist who matches CHU2's expectations. They're still popular, sure, but CHU2's ego isn't going to allow them to keep using a backing track forever. That wouldn't make for a perfect performance.

As PoPiPa make their way from Yamabuki Bakery to Arisa's basement to practice, they stop by Galaxy and run into a poster for the GBC. Kasumi is excited at the prospect of a new event, and Tae is excited at the prospect of Budokan.

At CiRCLE, Afterglow and Ako spot another poster. Afterglow are pretty into the idea, given that Budokan is their primary goal. Yukina, interestingly, isn't interested. Roselia have preparations to make for Future World Fes, and apparently not even Budokan itself is enough to draw her away from that.

As PoPiPa leaves, Masuki (MASKING) walks in, and Rokka learns that she attends Shirayuki Academy, a very prestigious private school with programs from elementary up to college. Masuki may look like a thug, but apparently she's actually a refined young lady. Not that she tries to farm that image.

CHU2, for some reason, is reviewing the footage of Roselia performing at the joint culture festival. As she does, she also catches a video of Rokka's solo performance from the festival.

Then, she sends PAREO to work.

PoPiPa, Rokka, and Roselia are all invited to a RAS show at dub. The studio is as packed as ever. At the conclusion, CHU2 has two announcements to make. First, RAS is going to participate in the GBC (including an explicit callout to PoPiPa and Roselia). Second, Rokka is being scouted to be RAS's new guitarist.

This is, of course, the first Rokka is hearing of this.

Episode 2

Rokka instinctively denies CHU2's scouting request without meaning to. We know how CHU2 is from S2, and we have 11 more episodes to fill, so I think you can tell that this isn't the last we'll be hearing from CHU2.

PoPiPa, meanwhile, debrief about what they just witnessed and what they're planning to do next. Kasumi, who apparently missed the part where CHU2 once again promised to beat them to a pulp, is still all-in on participating in the GBC, to the surprise of none of the other members. Roselia, likewise, also haven't changed their stance of not participating, still focused on Future World Fes.

Remember when I said that wasn't the last we would be hearing from CHU2? That was a bit of an understatement. She shows up to Haneoka to once again extend her offer. This time, however, Asuka steps in to defend.

It probably won't surprise you that this, too, was a popular screenshot in the shipping community.

Rokka uses Asuka to stall for just enough time to get into the school building, and CHU2 is once again polite enough to not cross the gate without an appointment. Unfortunately for Rokka, getting an appointment isn't particularly difficult. She and Rokka meet again in the student council room. Council president Hina Hikawa is characteristically entirely okay with the situation, while vice president Tsugumi Hazawa is characteristically uneasy.

Fortunately for Rokka, afternoon classes cut the meeting short. Unfortunately for Rokka, afternoon classes have to end at some point. Apparently Asuka's swim club experience doesn't give her enough stamina for ground running, so Rokka is mostly on her own at this point. CHU2 is also not particularly athletic (I imagine music production isn't a particularly high-intensity activity), but she has PAREO to help her out.

Hina provides some helpful advice.

Sorry, did I say "helpful"?

Meanwhile, Tsugu breaks the news to Afterglow that the GBC finals take place on the same day as a local shopping district festival. Apparently that's all it takes for them to decide to miss Budokan, which, I remind you, is the primary goal of the band.

It's amazing how Bandori's writers completely fumble Afterglow at every possible opportunity.

Their rooftop meeting is interrupted by the noisy chase happening in the courtyard below. Tomoe and Moca provide some helpful advice.

Sorry, did I say "helpful" again?

In case you forgot that Hello, Happy World! exists, the chase goes by one of Kaoru Seta's performances, where she unintentionally provides some helpful advice.

I keep saying "helpful", don't I?

CHU2 and her loyal puppy make it to Kitazawa Meats, where Hagumi Kitazawa is minding the storefront. Hagumi, being Hagumi, nearly gives the game up immediately, but manages to hold it together long enough for CHU2 and PAREO to give up, at least momentarily.

Rokka is caught by PAREO just outside the Asahi Bathhouse, although CHU2 isn't with her. CHU2, instead, is having trouble with the vending machine and is forced to accept help from Yukina, who just happened to be passing by. As they chat, Yukina elaborates on her snub of CHU2's music in the last season.

"It's because Roselia isn't a stage for you to showcase your music."

This is somehow beyond CHU2's understanding.

"I shouldn't have to compromise my vision to create a band with the perfect sound and members!"

I don't think I need to say that CHU2 is a very self-centered person. She has her vision of how a band should be, and she can't fathom that anyone wouldn't be willing to cheerfully go along with it.

It might seem like a bit of a stretch to compare this to MyGO and Mujica, but bear with me for a bit. Sakiko had a very specific image in mind for Ave Mujica when she started the band, and she wasn't willing to compromise on it at all. When Nyamu removed the masks and when Mutsumi's second personality became a hit, Saki decided to resist the change rather than trying to flow with it and make it work.

If you're still not convinced, don't worry. There will be more meaningful parallels soon enough.

Yukina is not the type to do things on impulse, but after she and CHU2 part ways, she throws Roselia a curveball: in addition to Future World Fes, they'll also be participating in the GBC. When pressed for an explanation, her answer is simple.

"We're alike."

If you aren't familiar with Girls Band Party, Yukina was this kind of self-centered person in Roselia's first band story. She formed Roselia initially for the sole purpose of reaching Future World Fes herself, without any consideration for what the rest of the band wanted. She was even willing to consider selling out the rest of the band when a better offer came to her (even if she was never willing to actually go through with it). Even Roselia's second band story shows that Yukina's bad habits aren't entirely gone, even if she's trying to be better.

Yukina Minato has never been the kind of person to compromise anything in the pursuit of perfection, and she understands the self-centered attitude that CHU2 has.

At Galaxy, Rokka finishes cleaning the stage before getting a little practice in. Masuki walks in as Rokka is playing and witnesses firsthand just why CHU2 was so interested in her.

So she kidnaps Rokka.

At CHU2's studio, Rokka plays an audition, and while PAREO and Rei (LAYER) are on board, Masuki feels something is off. CHU2 makes her decision.

"I don't need music that censors itself to comfort other people."

CHU2 had asked Rokka to play all-out, and instead she played to fit in, to match the other members.

"You fail."

Episode 3

It's an interesting reversal of roles we have here. Rokka, after experiencing playing alongside the rest of RAS, now really wants to join the band, and CHU2 no longer wants her.

Meanwhile, the GBC has begun. Galaxy doesn't have any live shows scheduled, so Yoshiko and Rokka end up with the task of helping out at CiRCLE for Roselia's performance.

To give a quick explainer on how the GBC actually works, basically the participants just have to put on performances and garner as many audience votes as possible, with voting open for one hour after the conclusion of the performance. Bands can perform as many times as they would like throughout the event period, so the format naturally favors bands with more time to grind out multiple performances. The bands can choose to perform at any participating venue they like, presumably with the venue and the event sponsors picking up the bill. The top two bands transfer to the final round at the Budokan.

Roselia jumps to an early lead, with RAS trailing, despite their enthusiastic fanbase. It seems that the lack of a guitarist is just too much of a handicap to overcome this early on.

PoPiPa, meanwhile, are preparing for their first performance of the event, which they decide to hold at Galaxy. Arisa wants to write a new song to kick things off, which is quite a bit of work given the time crunch. O-Tae, meanwhile, heard from Rei about Rokka auditioning with RAS. She visits Rokka at the bathhouse, where Rokka explains that she failed. When Tae shares this with the rest of the band, Saya has an idea.

When the lights go up, Rokka and Asuka can tell that something is different with the formation, with Saya on a standing drum set and Arisa on a keytar. It turns out that PoPiPa have dedicated their new song, "Step by Step", to Rokka.

Mid-performance, Rokka leaves early, running all the way to the station, only to miss the train. Fortunately, Masuki is there to give Rokka a ride on her bike the rest of the way to CHU2's penthouse.

While CHU2 refuses to give Rokka a second audition, Rokka digs her heels in.

"I always wanted to be in a band... I wanted to perform alongside people who I thought were special. The other day, I felt like I was beginning to understand exactly what that means... Maybe it's too late... but I want to perform with RAS! I want to put my entire heart and soul into it!"

The speech is enough to change CHU2's mind, although she makes it clear that this is her last chance.

This time, Rokka doesn't hold back.

"Bands are so... Bands are so... freakin' awesome!"

CHU2, however, still isn't willing to make Rokka a full-fledged member of the band, naming her as RAS's temporary guitarist. However, she clearly sees potential in the girl and legitimately wants her to succeed.

"Rokka Asahi, I order you to become a guitarist worthy of my band."

Rokka is in, albeit not quite in the way she would have liked.

Episode 4

Temporary member or not, CHU2 has exacting standards. A new guitar (same model; different color) and a costume fitting for the band's music video (temporary member or not, Rokka isn't excluded from the marketing) are the first things on the docket. Additionally, PAREO sends over the sheet music and backing track for RAS's upcoming new song, "EXPOSE 'Burn out!!!'" CHU2 handled all the arrangements herself, much to Rokka's surprise.

"You're good at everything, aren't you?"

Based on CHU2's reaction, that was not the correct response.

With Roselia as the points leader in the GBC, CHU2's plan to counterattack is to use the new song and accompanying MV to boost RAS's fanbase. A bigger fanbase means more potential votes.

Speaking of votes, PoPiPa, likely due to choosing to perform at Galaxy, which is a smaller venue, currently sit in 286th place with 83 total votes, well behind Roselia, who lead with 2615, and RAS, who sit in a distant second with 1254. In short, PoPiPa have to step up their game if they want a shot at Budokan.

Rokka's RAS costume is actually just O-Tae's from her time with the band, just altered to match Rokka's proportions. With fitting out of the way, the gang makes their way to a famous film studio to shoot their MV.

One way RAS and Ave Mujica are similar is cost. CHU2 and Saki both spared no expense on either members or promotional gimmicks to make their bands a success. RAS puts focus on things like the MVs and member introduction theatrics, while Mujica relied on the melodramatic acting performances between songs, but the goal is the same for both. They both want rapid success, and they're willing to use whatever resources it takes to get it done.

During the lunch break, Rei mentions that her parents' work took her to Nagoya in an attempt to bond over Rokka's Gifu dialect.

"Look at them lil' octopus sausages!"

I think you've already been able to tell, but despite her "cool girl" look, Rei is a bit of a dork.

Speaking of parents, PAREO explains that CHU2's are involved in the music industry, although both are overseas, leaving CHU2 to live alone at the moment. Despite being only 13 years old, she skipped several grades and is currently a high school second-year. Talk about a prodigy among prodigies.

By the way, PAREO, who is a full 22 cm taller than CHU2, is also only 13.

CHU2 is satisfied with the filming, and announces that the recording of the song itself will be in two days. This is also when she will decide whether to lift Rokka's "temporary" status.

Unfortunately, on the day of recording, CHU2 isn't satisfied with Rokka's performance.

"Rokka Asahi, why do you insist on playing alone?"

This feels like the opposite of the advice she gave Rokka during the audition, so what gives?

CHU2 calls it a day, leaving Rokka wondering what exactly she did wrong. Rei and Masuki see Rokka sulking, and Masuki drags Rokka to a ramen shop. It turns out the owner of this specific shop used to play in a band with Masuki's father (who, if you remember from last season, currently owns Galaxy).

Another thing you might remember is that Masuki is a bit of a loose cannon on the drums, earning herself the nickname "Mad Dog" before CHU2 scouted her. She gives Rokka some much-needed encouragement.

"Remember: There's no way CHU2 would've let you join RAS if she thought you'd drag us down."

CHU2 is a perfectionist, and encouragement isn't her thing. Her criticism is rarely constructive, so you have to just keep powering through and improving with her.

Rokka returns to the studio and begs to go again. CHU2 is surprised enough by the initiative to allow it.

Bright and early the next morning, CHU2 calls everyone together to watch the MV.

To put it simply, it meets CHU2's expectations.

Rokka, meanwhile, brought along rice balls for the group. Even CHU2 has to admit that she likes them, in her own unique way.

"You should fill these with jerky next time, LOCK."

Rokka is surprised.

"Wait... CHU2-san, how did you know my nickname's Rock?"

Remember when I said that Rokka's nickname would be relevant again much later? I wasn't kidding.

If you aren't familiar with the L/R problem in Japanese-English localization, this exchange might not make much sense to you. In Japanese, there aren't really equivalent sounds to what English speakers know as the "L" and "R" sounds. Instead, there is one sound that sounds more like a combination of the two. Because of this, native Japanese speakers sometimes have issues pronouncing words that contain the English letters "L" and "R". This issue sometimes extends into written localization as well as spoken. For example, there are still diehard Love Live fans that refuse to refer to Eli Ayase as anything other than "Eri". Sentai Filmworks themselves actually completely fumbled this in the official subtitles for S2 of the anime, referring to Rokka as "LOCK" instead of her actual nickname, "Rock".

In this case, however, CHU2 actually means "LOCK". This is Rokka's stage name, and you can guess what it means: Rokka is recognized as a full-fledged member of RAS by CHU2.

The stage names are an interesting parallel between RAS and Mujica. Both bands used them, but for different purposes. RAS uses them just for the aesthetic factor and makes no effort to actually obscure its members identities. You might remember Maya from season 2 (and even Ako from episode 1 of this season) referring to Masuki as "King" during RAS's performances, showing that her fans followed her to become fans of RAS itself.

Mujica, meanwhile, refused to take advantage of its members fame, instead using masks to obscure its members' identities (at least until Nyamu unmasked them). I won't say CHU2 is a better leader than Saki, but she at least seems to have a better business sense than Saki did.

Regardless, Rokka is finally a member of a band, 17 episodes after her introduction, and RAS is finally a full band. They can now truly begin to focus on surpassing Roselia in the GBC rankings.

Episode 5

RAS's MV finds its way into PoPiPa's strategy meeting, and they are once again left to consider just how out of their depth they are.

The publicity stunt seems to have worked. Roselia still lead by a wide margin with 5542 votes, but the gap is closing, with RAS sitting at 4921. PoPiPa have also improved... to 231st place. They're only performed twice, so they have a long way to go to catch up.

So, naturally, Kasumi decides the best course of action is to make a PoPiPa MV. A PoPi-V, if you will (courtesy of O-Tae).

This is not the most efficient possible use of PoPiPa's time, but everyone seems excited to get started.

At least until Arisa reminds them that none of them actually know how to make an MV.

Rokka, meanwhile, is getting a boost in popularity as RAS's MV makes the rounds of Haneoka, much to Rokka's embarrassment. It also turns out that she forgot to let Ako and Asuka know about her new gig. Whoops.

Arisa and Rimi decide to pick the brains of Aya and Chisato about Pastel*Palettes' MV for the song "Luminous Once More". A corporate idol machine with corporate idol machine money might not necessarily be the best place to get ideas from, but they do at least get some behind-the-scenes commentary about the shoot.

Rokka provides Kasumi and Tae some books she found at the library about making MVs. I'm barely convinced that Kasumi and O-Tae are literate, but it's a nice gesture nonetheless. She also gives the pair a bit of advice that she picked up, although the only thing Kasumi seems to have taken from the conversation was the part with the shattering glass boxes.

So, PoPiPa find themselves with a pile of cardboard boxes and a borrowed camera. Saya assigns herself and Rimi to camera duty and nominates Arisa for the role of director, a job that Arisa seems a little bit too into.

To put it simply, the first draft is a total disaster.

During the footage review, Tae and Arisa make the mistake of saying the word "smile", summoning Kokoro Tsurumaki and locking the group into a day of performing alongside Hello, Happy World! at a preschool and retirement home.

Stopping at a park on the way back, Rimi and Arisa review some pictures that Rimi has taken of the members of PoPiPa over the past year and a half. Kasumi, Saya, and Tae jump in on the reminiscing, and Rimi has a flash of inspiration.

PoPiPa spend the night compiling pictures and videos of their favorite things and the next day getting even more pictures and videos of their friends. Once they have enough content, Arisa and Rimi get to work on the editing. They pull an all-nighter, and the next day the PoPi-V for "Poppin' Shuffle" is presented to the group.

It's not the most perfect or high-quality MV in the world, but it's very PoPiPa, which is the most important thing.

After much waffling, PoPiPa upload the video to the Internet to critical acclaim.

Again, as long as they're happy, that's the most important thing.

Back at CiRCLE, Roselia are finishing up the day's practice. As Yukina and Lisa begin the walk home, CHU2 shows up to gloat about the success of RAS's MV. Yukina, naturally, is not impressed.

"Sorry, haven't seen it. Besides, Roselia doesn't need an MV. We are competing based on our live performances."

CHU2, surprisingly, takes this in stride.

"Then let's compete!"

"I propose a battle in front of everyone to prove which of our bands is the champion of this era!"

Yukina is a professional, but even professionalism has limits.

"I accept."

Even CHU2 seems surprised at how easy that was.

Episode 6

The list of dates that CHU2 has suggested, either by accident or design, are just before the "Over the Future" concert, which Roselia planned to take part in to judge their readiness for Future World Fes. Sayo urges caution, but Yukina is not concerned about the potential distraction. If anything, she seems happy to play along with CHU2's game.

"Precisely because it's before an important show..."

Despite the budding rivalry, Ako and Rokka are still very friendly about things. CHU2 and Yukina seem to be the only ones at odds in this battle. Asuka, meanwhile, decides she wants to attend the show, much to both Rokka and Ako's delight.

The location for the battle of the bands is once again dub, effectively giving RAS home-field advantage. With Marina's reluctant approval, the GBC voting system is the metric that will be used to declare the winner, since no other bands are scheduled to perform on the night of the duel. Recency bias means that the second band to perform will have a tactical advantage, but both CHU2 and Yukina are confident enough to not be bothered, so the order of performance is decided based on a popularity survey at the venue entrance, with the more popular band getting to go second.

Yukina decides that Roselia will prepare two set lists: one for going first and one for going last. This means potentially double the number of songs, double the stage preparations, and double the practice. Additionally, with "Over the Future" so close, they have to make sure not to get things mixed up with that set list, and they still need to practice for that performance.

Sayo is generally very loyal to Yukina. The two of them operate on similar wavelengths, and Sayo respects Yukina's talent and leadership a lot. However, even her respect has limits.

"I don't understand why you're even entertaining this nonsense."

"Is this competition truly in Roselia's best interest?"

Yukina doesn't give Sayo a response. Lisa tries to intervene and smooth things over, but both Yukina and Sayo realize that nothing productive can come from practicing under the circumstances. Sayo walks out, and Yukina lets her go.

Of course, practicing at home for Sayo means Hurricane Hina can make landfall at any point. In a display of character development (at least if you were following the mobile game from the beginning), Sayo actually shares her concerns with Hina, who suggests paying CHU2 a visit.

Turns out Hina's plan is to ring the doorbell and see what happens. We shouldn't have expected anything more.

You might remember that our first sighting of PAREO was at one of Pastel*Palettes' concerts back in S2. So, when Hina Hikawa shows up at the door, it's an understatement to say that she's absolutely ecstatic. It helps that Hina recognizes her as well.

Sayo, meanwhile, wants to debate philosophy with CHU2. As ever, dialogue sometimes just speaks for itself, so bear with me for a bit.

"Declaring a winner at our upcoming performance has no bearing on the quality of our music. One band is not objectively superior or inferior to the other."

CHU2 fundamentally disagrees.

"Beating you in a competition would serve as evidence that my band is better than Roselia, and this is my chance to do it."

Sayo tries another angle.

"This grudge of yours is completely unwarranted."

"Viewing Roselia as your enemy is a mistake. Try to focus on improving your own band, instead."

Back in Roselia's first band story in the Garupa mobile game, Sayo's establishing scene involves her quitting a band because she doesn't think they're dedicated enough to practicing and improving themselves. She's softened a bit since then, but her ideology still remains mostly the same. This is part of the core reason why she disagrees so strongly with Yukina about the purpose of this competition, but she also sees it as a strike against RAS's own dedication to the art of music.

CHU2 does not appreciate Sayo trying to diminish the rivalry between herself and Yukina.

"'We don't need a producer.' That's what Yukina said to me."

"I'm going to make her recognize my talent! I'm going to defeat Roselia and prove I was right!"

There's more to this rivalry than just plain ego, but more on that later.

In order for two people to have a meaningful debate, both sides need to have some base that they agree on. When both sides perceive reality in entirely incompatible ways, there can be no constructive argument. Sayo realizes that there's nothing else to discuss here.

"Hina, we're leaving."

Like Sayo, Rei also disagrees about the head-to-head competition with Roselia. She discusses it with Masuki, but Masuki is too caught up in the hype of comparing just how close she can get to Roselia's level to be concerned about any potential ramifications. She doesn't really care about winning or losing; it's just about the thrill of measuring just how good you are.

As for Rokka, she just wants to be in a band with the kind of close bond that PoPiPa has. She isn't really concerned about the outcome of the competition itself; she just has a pure desire to perform.

Regardless, Sayo returns with a new perspective after her talk with CHU2. Distraction or not, she's on board with the competition.

RAS arrive at the venue and make their way to the waiting room to be met with an... interesting sight.

I feel like we've done this before...

Once Roselia have been revived, they admit that they overworked themselves preparing for the show, especially since they had two set lists to practice and prepare for. As Yukina herself puts it, quite an embarrassing moment of weakness. Regardless, preparations continue for the show later in the evening.

Really feel like we've done this before...

Rei, Masuki, Rokka, and PAREO enjoy some light refreshments with Roselia before CHU2 interrupts the fun to provide the results of the pre-show survey. Roselia take the stage first, giving RAS the advantage of going last.

Despite Rokka collapsing at the end due to nerves, CHU2 is satisfied with RAS's performance. She even praises Rei for her performance.

The final voting results come in, and RAS takes the win. CHU2, of course, wastes no time taking the microphone and gloating.

"With this, we've established our raison d'être and proven our music worthy of the crown!"

The microphone, however, doesn't pick up everything.

"Even if I can't play it myself..."

Episode 7

Sayo does not take the loss to RAS particularly well, although she channels it constructively enough by dedicating herself to more practice. Even Hurricane Hina weakens slightly and gives Sayo space.

CHU2, meanwhile, is over the moon. PAREO, naturally, feeds off the energy of her master. The other three are more subdued, although Rei seems to be taking it worse than Rokka and Masuki.

PoPiPa have made a big jump in the GBC standings, up to 22nd with 1283 votes. Roselia currently sit at 6495, and RAS have actually leapfrogged them, sitting at 6961 votes. For the first time since the GBC began, Roselia finds itself in second place. Remember, the top two advance, and third place has 5811 votes, so it's still a two-horse race at this point, but we've reached the point where pride is on the line more than simply a ticket to the Budokan.

In the student council room, Sayo catches Arisa looking at the GBC standings, and she and Rinko explain Roselia's current situation. The loss to RAS has them going back to the drawing board on the quality of their performances, especially with the "Over the Future" concert still right around the corner.

Ako, meanwhile, is as cheerful as ever, hanging out in Rokka's room along with Asuka. Masuki drops by as well, responding to Ako's "demon lord" introduction in the way only she can.

"Why are you so damn cute?"

"Actually, I was aiming for more of a 'cool' vibe..."

Regardless, Ako, Rokka, and Masuki don't seem too torn up about the results of the competition.

At Edogawa Music, Rei and Lisa run into each other. There are parallels between Rei and Lisa. Both got into music because of their childhood friends, Tae for Rei and Yukina for Lisa. Lisa, however, ultimately got to be in a band with Yukina, while Rei was only able to play a few performances with Tae in RAS. Maybe in another timeline, one where Kasumi hadn't found that star sticker and met Arisa all the way back in S1 Ep 1, things might have been different.

Afterglow runs into Roselia after both practices finish for the evening. Moca, much to Ran's dismay, reveals that Ran voted for Roselia in the pre-show survey against RAS. People even wrote messages to Roselia on their voting stickers.

Ran has a simple message for Yukina as she leaves.

"This doesn't end here. You know that, right?"

Of course Yukina knows that. But it's good to hear her number one rival say it.

Arisa, meanwhile, is fully dedicated to dragging PoPiPa to Budokan one way or another. 22nd is a big improvement, but they're still well off the pace for catching the big two. She's done the math on the voting numbers.

The live house dub, where RAS performs all of their shows, has a capacity of around 1000 people, and they've performed seven shows, meaning they're picking up nearly a perfect 1000 votes per show. Roselia has made CiRCLE their home base, which has half the capacity, but they've been doing twice as many performances to pick up the slack. PoPiPa have chosen Galaxy as their main hub, primarily to support Rokka, but it only has a capacity of around 100. The only way to make the math work is to do ten times as many performances as RAS, and even then that's only breaking even.

Arisa's plan is daily performances on weekdays, plus four additional sets on the weekends. Assuming they fill every performance and get every vote, that's 1300 votes per week. A lot of work, to be sure.

Unless, of course, PoPiPa catches a break and something happens to the other two bands.

Unfortunately, PoPiPa catches a break.

Roselia is working hard in preparation for the "Over the Future" concert, and none harder than Sayo. However, she's worked herself too hard and collapses during a break in their practice.

I mentioned in my rewatch of Mujica some of the ways that the anime showcased Saki's poor leadership skills, and one of those was Saki failing to notice Mutsumi's degrading mental state. Yukina has found herself falling into the same trap with Sayo's physical health. As far back as the post-practice meeting with Afterglow, where Sayo was still getting in some extra practice, there were signs that she was struggling, and Yukina completely failed to notice. Her dedication to beating RAS, in addition to the extra preparations for the upcoming concert, has made her blind to the well-being of her fellow bandmates.

Normally, Yukina is a pretty good leader, but no one is immune to temporary lapses in judgment.

Yukina orders the rest of Roselia to solo practice, but Ako and Lisa read Yukina's mind and insist on tagging along on her visit to the Hikawa residence to check on Sayo, with Rinko tagging along as well.

Not that Sayo isn't in pretty good hands already. Hina jumps at the chance to dote on Sayo (maybe a bit too enthusiastically).

Once the rest of Roselia arrives, Sayo, of course, is mostly concerned about how her illness is disrupting Roselia's practice schedule. Lisa distracts Hina with food preparations, and Ako and Riko help out as well, leaving Yukina and Sayo alone.

Neither of them is very good at small talk, so Sayo gets down to business.

"I couldn't shake my feelings of regret towards our last performance. And I found myself overwhelmed with guilt because of the messages in the pictures Imai-san sent us... Those messages made me realize exactly how much our fans were looking forward to our performance. I wasn't able to live up to their expectations... I knew there must be something I could've done better..."

Like I said earlier, Yukina and Sayo operate on similar wavelengths, which means they make the same mistakes and fall into the same traps. The difference is that Yukina seems to recognize it sooner and figure out how to keep it from happening again. This makes Yukina a great mentor character to Sayo, who usually needs someone to spell her mistakes out for her. The Garupa event "Umbrella for the Autumn Rain", where Yukina helps subtly push the plot along and helps Sayo and Hina reconcile. Another example is here.

"Personally, I was happy. Seeing the stickers and messages made me happy. If Aoba-san hadn't... if Afterglow hadn't shown us those pictures, we would never have known."

Moca is more clever than she lets on, so it's hard to tell for certain if this was accident or design.

"Besides, we gained something as a result of that performance. We came face-to-face with an audience we've yet to reach."

"In my eyes, the concert was an opportunity for Roselia to grow through an experience we otherwise wouldn't have had on our own, in order to aspire towards even greater things."

The confrontation with Sayo could have been avoided if Yukina had just said all this in the first place, but no one's ever accused Yukina Minato of being good at communicating. Plus, there's a reason she's the mentor and Sayo is the mentee.

Of course, Sayo is back up in time for "Over the Future".

Episode 8

An emergency signal goes out to all of the members of the shopping district youth group. The old ladies who usually run things (who you might recognize from the GoGo Fes in episode 6 of last season) have thrown their backs out, and they urgently need the kids... to go on a hot sping vacation.

This is what we in the business call a "breather episode".

In attendance are PoPiPa, Roselia, Afterglow, HHW, and three of the five members of RAS, represented by Rokka, Masuki, and Rei. PasuPare are busy with variety show filming and cannot attend, Asuka chose to sit out to study for mock exams, PAREO was too far away to attend in a timely manner, and CHU2 has a complete aversion to baths. In a sea of Hanasakigawa and Haneoka uniforms, Masuki's Shirayuki uniform and Rei's complete lack of a uniform kind of stand out.

As it turns out, the location of PasuPare's variety show is the exact hot springs that the gang is staying at. Hina, naturally, wastes no time tracking down Sayo before being dragged back off by the rest of her band.

As room assignments are handed out, PoPiPa are assigned to the "Poppy" room. RAS is assigned to the "Suiren" (waterlily) room, while Roselia end up with the "Rose" room. HHW gets the "Happy" room, and Aftergloe have the "Moonflower" room. Convenient.

This episode is mostly watching characters who wouldn't otherwise interact and seeing how 28 large personalities mix together. It's useful for getting some additional insight on the thoughts and personalities of the various characters, but not really much plot relevance.

To end things on a positive note, PoPiPa's MV has hit the 10k views milestone. People really do like it.

Episode 9

Rokka drops off some souvenir manju buns for PAREO and CHU2. CHU2 doesn't appreciate that the others went on vacation without her (even though she was explicitly asked to come along), nor does she like them hanging out with PoPiPa and Roselia, although she does appreciate the snacks.

PoPiPa, meanwhile, are gaining momentum from their MV, and they've begun their "Three Weeks Live" concert series to pick up the slack in their voting numbers. Arisa, dedicated as ever to dragging this ragtag group to Budokan, suggests adding even more shows at bigger venues. Unfortunately, most of the venues are completely booked, but Arisa has two potential targets. The first is the most familiar, CiRCLE.

The second is dub.

Remember, CiRCLE is Roselia's territory, while dub is RAS's turf. No one wants to go head-to-head with the juggernauts, which is the only reason those two venues have openings.

Masuki happens to overhear the conversation and decides to give PoPiPa a hand.

With her help, PoPiPa lands a slot at dub. Kasumi is all-in on the idea of playing at not only dub, but also CiRCLE, so Arisa does her best to make sure the whole group is pumped up for their big final push.

By the way, final exams are coming up.

So, Arisa not only needs to drag this group to Budokan, but also drag Kasumi and Tae to avoid remedial classes.

Arguably, this is the more difficult task.

To add even more onto their plates, HHW ask PoPiPa to perform with them at another retirement home, which PoPiPa agree to.

At CiRCLE, Roselia are rather accommodating of PoPiPa invading their territory. Yukina's main concern is if they'll be able to perform properly with all the pressure they're under.

That doesn't mean she's going to accept losing to them, though.

By the way, Yukina also has final exams coming up.

PoPiPa manage to score 28 votes at CiRCLE, which is at least 28 more than they would have gotten otherwise, but it doesn't really move the needle much.

At dub, CHU2 is much less accommodating, although the other members are much friendlier. They even end up helping out at PoPiPa's next performance at Galaxy, much to CHU2's chagrin.

Speaking of that performance, at the conclusion of the first week of the "Three Weeks Live", PoPiPa have a special surprise for O-Tae: it's her birthday.

After a grueling week, PoPiPa have clawed their way up to sixth in the GBC standings. However, they're not the only movement: RAS has dropped back into second, with Roselia retaking the lead.

Remember, the top two advance, but CHU2's ego won't let her settle for anything lower than the no. 1 seed. She does take the news shockingly well and quickly comes up with a counterattack: taking a page out of PoPiPa's book and performing at other venues to boost the voting numbers.

She also claims complete control of their schedules, forbidding contact with other bands and ordering them to cancel any non-band-related plans.

No one appreciates the oversight, but Masuki takes it particularly poorly.

"How petty... This is why we're gonna lose to Roselia."

CHU2 takes this about as well as you might expect, which isn't to say particularly well.

"We've already beaten them once, haven't we?! And if we fought them a second time, we'd absolutely do it again!"

Rei isn't so sure that's true, which doesn't help CHU2's temper.

"If you aren't willing to commit, then get out of my band!"

Masuki is the first to walk out, with Rokka chasing after her. CHU2 herself leaves next along with PAREO.

The breakup is the key way RAS and Mujica are both alike and different. It's not rushed in RAS's case; we've spent nine episodes seeing things build. Instead of dragging on across more than half of the season, the resolution has just enough time to breathe. This is pacing done properly.

PAREO, ever the loyal puppy, does her best to remain supportive of CHU2.

And CHU2 lashes out and kicks the dog.

"Being stuck with you is completely useless!"

The ED, "Straight Through Our Dreams!", doesn't quite feel correct after an episode like this.

Episode 10

By the way, Ako also has final exams coming up.

Rokka, however, is more depressed than even Ako, given what just went down the night before. Ako shares the situation with Roselia, but Lisa concludes that there really isn't anything they can do.

"Well... A band has to work out their problems themselves, you know?"

This was another issue I had with Ave Mujica: it relied way too much on the members of MyGO to solve Mujica's issues. Here, RAS got themselves into this situation, and it's up to RAS to get them out of it. They can't rely on others to orchestrate things to help resolve the issue.

Yukina, of course, isn't going to hold back, even against a weakened opponent.

"Our only option is to show them Roselia's true strength."

Rokka runs into Kasumi as well and explains the situation to her. Kasumi's advice is delivered in the way only she can.

"No giving up!"

"Ask the others what they want to do."

So many issues in anime could be easily resolved if characters just talked to each other. Kausmi has experienced that firsthand, and her advice is to try to avoid it happening to RAS.

"Being a band means working together."

So, Rokka heads straight to Shirayuki Academy.

Unfortunately, Rokka is not subtle, and a Haneoka student showing up and shouting about a rock band at the gate of a high-class Catholic school makes for a bit of a scene.

As it turns out, Masuki wasn't actually planning on quitting RAS; she just needed a little time to herself, although she's a bit embarrassed about storming out. With a bit of encouragement from Rokka, she agrees to go back to the studio.

Rei, meanwhile, has a chat with O-Tae, who is working part-time at Edogawa Music. CHU2's tirade made Rei reconsider if she was really taking music as seriously as she thought she was.

O-Tae give her response in the way only she can.

"Vocalists are like... stars."

"When it's dark outside and you're beginning to think you've lost your way, you can always count on the stars to shine like a beacon in the sky."

"The path that you choose is the path RAS will take."

Surprisingly eloquent from someone who thinks about rabbits 90% of the time.

By the time Rei makes it to the studio, Rokka and Masuki are fighting with the elevator's facial recognition system, which is refusing to open for them.

Apparently, neither of them thought to check with the concierge at the front desk.

Once inside CHU2's apartment, the three of them discover a dead body.

Or, rather, a CHU2 experiencing jerky withdrawal.

Once revived, CHU2 begins preparations for the evening's concert, dodging the question of where PAREO is.

"If she doesn't show up, we'll use a backing track."

Despite the lack of a keyboardist, RAS's performance still hypes up the crowd as ever, although PoPiPa manage to wrangle nearly 350 votes, a big windfall for them and a big fumble from RAS.

CHU2 is not very helpful, so Masuki and Rokka take a trip to Kamogawa to search for PAREO.

We've had enough pieces to put together the story of CHU2 for a while, but this episode adds in a few extra details, so let's break it down.

Chiyu Tamade is the only daughter of Miu Tamade, a world-famous violinist. From a young age, she played a wide variety of instruments. Despite her parents' encouragement, she never really believed she was good at any of them, which was probably not helped by her mother's talent and fame.

"Doting words and empty praise mean nothing to me."

So, if she didn't have talent herself, she decided she would find other people with the talent to play the instruments for her. That's what led her to Roselia, and that's why Yukina's rejection became a slight that she never recovered from.

It was yet another rejection of her talent.

Rei once again shows up at the penthouse and asks Chiyu to join the search for PAREO with Masuki and Rokka.

"Masuki and LOCK... they have this intense desire to play in a band. And PAREO's always looking out for the rest of us. I, on the other hand, practically joined RAS on a whim. My voice is the only thing I've contributed this entire time."

"But that alone isn't enough to call someone the frontwoman of a band. Thanks to you and your hard work as our producer, I got to concentrate on singing and performing."

"CHU2... I'm sorry for being selfish."

"The vocalist who only does what she's told is gone. From now on, we act in the best interest of RAS, even if that means arguing with each other!"

"With the way things are now, our band is done. Are you happy with that?"

"I want to protect RAS."

Something something dialogue speaks for itself.

Episode 11

Masuki's plan is simply to circle the entire city of Kamogawa until they find PAREO.

Apparently she never considered just asking someone for help until Rokka suggested it.

Unfortunately, Masuki scares away every student they come across.

Despite all odds, the duo manage to find Kamogawa Central Middle School. No one seems to know the name PAREO, nor does her description ring any bells, but a picture gets them the name Reona Nyubara, although even then the students aren't convinced that it's the same person.

Rokka and Masuki stop by the Nyubara residence, but while they're trying to decide whether to knock or not, PAREO shows up. Upon seeing the pair, she flees.

Eventually, they manage to corner her, and we finally get the backstory of Reona Nyubara.

Reona is the model student: smart, pretty, athletic, and kind. That created high expectations from her parents, teachers, and classmates. On top of that, she's very self-conscious of her image. The one thing that brought her joy was idols, particularly Pastel*Palettes. She recorded and uploaded videos of herself playing piano covers of ParuPare songs, to little success.

Then CHU2 saw one of her videos.

At Reona's audition, Chiyu's feedback mirrored her initial impression of Rokka's audition: she was holding herself back.

"I don't need an honor student. Even you must be getting tired of that schtick, right?"

Chiyu, despite her harsh attitude, was able to draw Reona out of her shell, giving her cute clothes to wear and giving her the stage name PAREO.

"'One who conceals her emotions and desires.' It's the sort of theme that came to mind when I saw you."

And now, just as quickly as Chiyu drew her out of her shell, she's pushed her back in.

"PAREO isn't necessary in order for RAS to perform."

Masuki's attempts to bring Reona back aren't particularly successful, so Rokka intervenes with everything she's learned from PoPiPa over the past two seasons.

"RAS is only RAS with five members! LAYER-san and Masuki-san, and CHU2-san and me and PAREO-san! One of us going missin' means RAS is done for!"

"PAREO-san... don't you enjoy playing in a band with the rest of us?"

It's reminiscent of what PAREO herself said to Tae during season two when trying to convince her to join RAS.

"Hana-san, didn't you have fun playing in a band with us?"

Rokka's words do get through, but it's Chiyu herself showing up that truly changes things.

"Please forgive me."

Reona can't really stay mad at Chiyu.

It's fortunate that Rei and Chiyu showed up, because Masuki didn't have a plan for transporting Reona back to Tokyo.

Back at Chiyu's studio, the gang reunites in time for the clock to strike midnight on Chiyu's birthday, and RAS has the only gift anyone seems to be able to give in this universe: a song.

Like "Returns" before it, the episode 11 version of "Beautiful Birthday" has its own charm compared to the fully mastered version.

Of course, despite everything, Chiyu is still not willing to accept second place. The GBC is starting to come to a close, and anticipation grows even higher as the event starts hiding the point standings until the end.

Once the GBC preliminary round finishes, the standings are revealed, and Roselia have hung on to the top spot. And in second... is a tie between RAS and PoPiPa.

How convenient.

Episode 12

Apparently, the "BanG Dream" committee didn't actually come up with any regulations for a tiebreaker, so they decide that both RAS and PoPiPa will participate in the GBC finals at the Budokan.

Also, as an aside, Asuka has started volunteering for the GBC staff, much to Kasumi's delight and Asuka's embarrassment.

Arisa, as it turns out, has been working on a new song since the start of the GBC, and she showcases it to the rest of PoPiPa, who decide to perform it for the finals. Likewise, Sayo wrote a song for Roselia during her fever, which they will also perform for the finals.

Neither of them have figured out the stage setup, either. The Budokan stage is unique, a circle that rotates with the crowd seated all around it. As it turns out, Masuki and Rei have actually performed at the Budokan before, so PoPiPa visit to pick their brains.

Unfortunately, Masuki and Kasumi are on similar wavelengths, but Rei is able to provide some actually useful advice.

Chiyu and Arisa are on similar wavelengths as well: they don't like physical activity, which is a problem when RAS and PoPiPa decide to hold an impromptu training session to prepare for the Budokan stage.

Kasumi finishes the lyrics to PoPiPa's new song, "Miari Train". However, O-Tae randomly comes up with some chords that the others like, and Rimi insists on playing that song as well. It turns into a full collaboration between the three bands, who agree to the suggestion.

You probably recognize the song, but we'll get to that in a moment.

The dress rehearsal at CiRCLE gets all three bands into the same room, and we get some neat interactions, but nothing exceptionally notable. That night, however, Asuka and Kasumi have a chat, and we come full circle to Kasumi's "star beat" and the camping trip they went on as kids. By now, Kasumi has certainly found countless "star beats".

In any case, it's finally time for the GBC final round.

Episode 13

A year and a half ago, Kasumi wandered into a warehouse behind the pawn shop called "Ryuseido" and found the Random Star. Now, after all this time, PoPiPa find themselves headed to Budokan, all stemming from a single gold star sticker.

Crazy how things work out.

There's not a ton of time, but the bands prepare for their sets in their own ways, making sure the lighting and sound are tuned correctly for the biggest performance of their careers.

Once it's time for the performance, PoPiPa are up first. Rimi has been acting oddly over the past two episodes, and she finally voices her feelings.

"I... don't want to go."

The grueling grind to the top of the GBC standings was probably the most PoPiPa has ever performed, and despite the hard work, Rimi enjoyed every minute of it. And now they've reached the final step of the journey.

"The second we stand on that stage, everything comes to an end..."

Unfortunately, this isn't really explored or resolved very well. The stage goes up, interrupting Rimi's speech, but the power of friendship and the encouragement from the crowd simply resolve everything. I see the intent, but I wish there had been a slightly more explicit resolution.

Regardless, PoPiPa's performance of "Mirai Train" goes off without issue. Next up is RAS, who debut the polished version of "Beautiful Birthday". Finally is Roselia's new song, "Avant-garde HISTORY".

This is still a competition, mind you, but before the final results are revealed, Owner has a final speech to give.

"You've shown me quite the performance. Each of you... did a fantastic job."

Calling that high praise would be an understatement, but it also makes sense, given how much work it took all three bands to get here. Regardless of the quality of the performance, the effort goes a long way in Owner's book.

It shouldn't be too surprising that Roselia takes home the win.

And for once, Chiyu actually takes it quite well.

Then, out of nowhere, RAS takes home a title for "best performance", while PoPiPa gets "best band".

Pretty cheesy, but after everything that's happened, I think this season has earned a pass.

Remember that collab song? It's "Straight Through Our Dreams!" with all three bands performing together.

Conclusion

It's telling that the best season of Bandori is the one with the least focus on PoPiPa. I can't really imagine any other band being the protagonists of the franchise, but at the same time the narrative improves when they aren't in the spotlight. Not that they aren't major characters here, but here they have to share airtime with RAS and Roselia rather than being the main focus, and the parts that center around the other two bands are more interesting than the ones that focus on PoPiPa.

RAS and Mujica have a lot of similarities, stemming from their leaders both being extremely exacting perfectionists that push too hard and have to deal with the consequences. This season, however, is paced much better than Mujica was, and Chiyu's redemption arc feels a lot more earned than Saki's was. RAS is forced to deal with their own problems rather than letting other people solve them.

Overall, this season is a great balance between the melodrama of modern Bandori and the roots of S1. It's not perfect, and it's loaded with plenty of obvious tropes, but I think the comedy and emotional beats more than make up for anything that's lost.