In case you take a look at the credit, essentially the most direct connection to Woman band Cry is the Love life! Franchise. Fundamental Writer Jukki Hanada served in the identical function for 3 of the 4 main anime initiatives and director of that franchise Kazuo Sakai has beforehand collaborated with Hanada Love life! Sunshine!!The broad strokes of the present – a bunch of ladies forming a musical challenge and concluding their emotional journey with musical performances within the universe – are utterly consistent with the world of highschool idols. Nevertheless, these similarities fade away when you watch even one episode, as a result of GBC instantly profiles itself as a special beast.
A variety of it comes right down to tone and setting. The women of Love life! They undergo their troubles, however in the end embrace an nearly supernatural positivity of their tales. GBC is instantly extra grounded, much more cynical, and loads nearer to what it might be like to begin a band in your late teenagers. The characters are a mixture of school dropouts and twenty-somethings who work part-time jobs to maintain issues going whereas additionally self-funding the band, enjoying small-scale gigs at no matter music venue will give them the time of day. There’s a small plot level involving music copyright, with Momoka signing away the rights to her unique songs after leaving her earlier band, and now having to observe them flourish on the success of her work. GBC goals to discover the realities of existence as an expert musician and the fixed rigidity between making artwork and getting cash.
Likewise, the character drama is fueled by worry and optimism which can be always at odds with one another. Nina and Momoka’s dueling character arcs take up a lot of this season’s drama, always clashing and bickering in a method that solely extraordinarily passionate bandmates can. Nina is fueled by the necessity to show she was proper to maneuver out on her personal and take the laborious path—and exhibits that it was higher to take care of her sense of justice than to compromise with the bullies and adults who let her down. Momoka is sucked into the power of her offended pupil however can’t escape the guilt of her personal previous selections—personally accustomed to the sting of failure that may include holding on to your beliefs within the cutthroat leisure world. They pull one another nearer and push one another away on the similar time. Whereas Nina urges Momoka to embrace her anger over the injustice completed to her, Momoka tries to guard them each from the detached and uncompromising music business.
Which may make the present sound like a relentless drama, however the actual key to GBC‘s allure is the way it combines all that angst with sharp humor. There is a smorgasbord of bodily comedy to be present in each episode, from Nina attacking a passerby with a lamp to bassist Rupa catching a beer can thrown at her head and gleefully consuming it down in seconds. Drummer and actress Subaru offers a seemingly countless provide of bizarre, foolish, and all-around fantastic faces – enhanced by about half of them being bitingly sarcastic. Nina and Momoka get into shouting matches each different episode – and the selection to set this in crowded eating places provides the proper stage of awkward absurdity, as numerous strangers witness these two ladies throwing drinks and making dramatic statements whereas their bandmates groan in embarrassment or attempt to slip out of body. There’s a lot grade-A slapstick on this present that completely enhances the heavy drama.
Talking of slapstick, the present’s strategy to 3D animation is a little bit of an acquired style, however one which works completely for its dramatic, comedic, and musical targets. The characters are endlessly expressive and transfer with boundless power. Nevertheless, they’re additionally equally able to small, delicate appearing selections which can be uncommon even for better-known CG productions from Studio Orange or SANITIZEThe most important criticism of CG anime on a TV stage is how stiff and unusual it could possibly really feel in comparison with conventional 2D, however Woman band Cry is vibrant, emphatic, and general improbable in relation to character animation. There are a couple of drawbacks: the backgrounds and environments are sometimes flooded with monochromatic colours or gentle filters to make the composition extra plausible, however this blurs the body. Momoka’s unnaturally smooth cat is essentially the most seen tough edge, and a lot of the background characters aren’t significantly better. However general, Sakai’s route makes all the things click on to the purpose the place you utterly neglect you are watching a 3D sequence till the digital camera does one thing frantic that no 2D manufacturing might. Coupled with a robust, rock-driven rating, GBC can effortlessly change between comedy, drama, tragedy and all the opposite feelings you’ll anticipate from an novice musician.
The place the present’s aesthetic actually shines is within the musical performances. Whereas there isn’t a brand new music for each episode, the band’s appearances are frequent and nearly all the time function spectacular punctuation to the characters’ present battle, offered with the aptitude of a full-fledged musical. Togenashi Togeari‘s music is stuffed with the identical angst and rise up as its members, who gracefully specific the ache and loneliness of their characters as they stubbornly insurgent in opposition to all of it. That power is completely matched by the polished, fashionable rock manufacturing that borrows from each typical J-Rock and extra indie, on-line music scenes—particularly in relation to the route of those performances. There’s an excellent cause why the official YouTube account hosts all of those songs as particular person music movies—even out of context, they’re thrilling, dynamic shows. In context, they’re a few of the most dramatically satisfying anime moments you’ll see all 12 months. They’re epic spectacles deployed with laser precision to make you cheer and cry—most likely each on the similar time.
As visceral and emotionally satisfying because the present is, there are some obtrusive unfastened ends after the credit roll. Nina and her story are wonderful, portraying the feelings of a younger girl who’s equal elements lovable and unbearable. She’s a grumpy ball of pent-up emotion that makes her excellent as a rock singer, but in addition an enormous (and entertaining) ache within the ass who solely step by step grows out of her worst instincts. Her story is well-developed and layered, however the creators really feel it takes up a lot time that the remainder of the forged is left with scraps. Momoka is well-served as a result of she’s integral to Nina’s story, however everybody will get at most one episode to develop their story earlier than they fall by the wayside—and Rupa doesn’t even get that. Likewise, there’s loads left unsaid concerning the group Diamond Mud’s rivals—notably Hina, the previous girlfriend with whom Nina had an advanced falling out. There’s loads of story left to inform, however there’s no room for it within the remaining episode. Possibly that’s a very good downside to have: an indication that the present’s characterization is powerful sufficient to demand extra. However with no announcement for a sequel as of this writing, it feels extra like wasted potential than something.
There may be additionally the problem of how to take a look at it. On the time of writing, Woman band Cry is just not legally accessible on any English language streaming service. The one approach to get it in North America is by way of digital buy by means of a handful of on-line storefronts, primarily Amazon Prime and the Microsoft retailer—for someplace between $8-10 USD for the complete season. Whereas that is not an enormous outlay in comparison with, say, a month of a extra customary streaming service, it is nonetheless an pointless barrier to entry. You need to think about this laborious, half-hearted try at a global rollout making sense for somebody on ByeNonetheless, it is a unusual sight for the typical anime viewer.
That stated, the present is in the end price the price — or it is price getting a library card to observe particular person episodes by way of Heap. It does not matter in the event you’re a fan of the rising “Women Band” subgenre or simply somebody who enjoys music usually, Woman band Cry is an emotionally stirring present with a improbable forged, uniquely sturdy animation, and fist-pumping songs. In case you miss it, you may miss top-of-the-line anime of the 12 months.
