I’ll start this post by saying that there is a whole bunch of music available from BanG Dream! on Spotify; songs from Poppin’ Party, Roselia, Afterglow, Pastel * Palettes and Hello, Happy World!.
As for the second episode of BanG Dream! 2nd Season, Roselia will be putting on a show.
Rokka talks about the recent show at Galaxy with Asuka and Ako
We kick things off at Haneoka, and Rokka studying a book about coding a website. Asuka and Ako soon join her, and they get to talking about the show at Galaxy. Rokka used to be in a band, and seems to be quite eager to get back into playing music. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have anyone she can form a band with; at least not yet. Oh, and Rokka gets quite a shock when she discovers that Asuka’s sister, Kasumi is in Poppin’ Party.
We get our opening theme after that; this time around it is “BRAVE JEWEL” performed by Roselia.
Poppin’ Party discuss their upcoming live show
At the end of the previous episode, Kasumi announced that Poppin’ Party would be putting on their own live show, so naturally the band takes the time to discuss what they should do for it. Kasumi has some quite… interesting ideas.
Sayo, Rinko and Arisa talk about preparations for a self-sponsored show
Arisa has student council duties to take care of, so she departs from rest of the band. Of course, Roselia also announced that they would be putting on a show, and Sayo and Rinko end up going into detail about all the preparations that they have to make beforehand. There is a lot, and Poppin’ Party will potentially have to be facing the same kind of thing. Their conversation ends with Sayo and Rinko suggesting that Poppin’ Party play at Roselia’s show.
Yukina won’t accept any half-baked performances at the show
Kasumi, Arisa and Rimi drop by a rather familiar venue – I’ll get to that in a second – to meet with all of Roselia. They need Yukina’s permission to perform at Roselia’s show. Yukina officially invites them after they promise to give it their all.
Rinko and Ako are great
Anyways, that “familiar venue” I mentioned – it is CiRCLE, which comes straight from BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!. We even get a cameo from Marina.
Marina makes an appearance
Unfortunately for Marina, she pretty much just gets ignored. As for the show, Roselia are making all the preparations. All Poppin’ Party needs to do is quite simply practice.
Kasumi hugs Rokka
Moving on, Rokka decides to stop by Hanasakigawa, accompanied by Asuka, to try and catch a glimpse of Poppin’ Party. Rokka is quite a fan, and getting hugged by Kasumi is quite an experience for her. Of course, Poppin’ Party tell Rokka and Asuka about their performance at Roselia’s upcoming show, and Kasumi invites them along. Rokka eagerly accepts the invitation, even though its on the same date that she promised to hang out with Asuka.
Poppin’ Party get in as much practice as they can before the show
The day of the show rapidly approaches. Naturally, Poppin’ Party spend their time practicing for the show, and it seems that they are getting better and better. When the day arrives, they get to the venue and have a surprise waiting for them.
Roselia might have not had enough sleep
They discover all five members of Roselia completely passed out. Once they have woken them up, it turns out that they have been working very hard to get everything prepared for their show and as such haven’t had much sleep.
Well now, here’s a character that stands out in a crowd…
With preparations underway for Roselia’s show, we check in on Asuka and Rokka makin their way to the venue. We also get focus on another girl, who I am certain we will be meeting properly later.
You know what? I ship Asuka and Rokka already.
I’m going to skip over the soundcheck and other such preparations, briefly mention that I think Asuka and Rokka fit right in with the other yuri couples present within BanG Dream! and dive straight into Roselia’s show.
I adore Kasumi so much
So the show kicks off, and Poppin’ Party are met with a fairly decent reception after their performance. However, when it is Roselia’s to perform, the crowd grows substantially.
Yukina Minato
Roselia perform “BLACK SHOUT”, and Poppin’ Party are left absolutely in awe at how good they are. Afterwards, Yukina tells Poppin’ Party that they are nowhere near ready to put on their own self-sponsored show.
The episode ends there. Yukina may have been harsh towards Poppin’ Party at the end of this episode, but she’s not a bad person, I promise. Of course, having played BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! I’ve gotten to know her a little better than someone who has only watched the anime.
If Yukina doesn’t seem all that great now, I say give her a chance – especially if we get to see her less serious side.
It seems that this second season of anime will focus mostly on Poppin’ Party and Roselia, with the other bands putting in appearances here and there. That’s fine with me, particularly as I feel that Poppin’ Party and Roselia have the best original songs in BanG Dream!.
I wouldn’t mind being wrong, though, because Afterglow, Pastel * Palettes and Hello, Happy World! all have some pretty good stuff too.
I mentioned it up above, but I’ll be shipping Asuka and Rokka. I know we are only two episodes in, and things might change, but they were cute together in this episode.
On the subject of ships, Kasumi and Arisa is one I’m particularly fond of. From Roselia, Ako and Rinko are well worth keeping an eye on, as too are Yukina and Lisa.
A lot of people like to ship Sayo with her sister Hina, but an event in BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! gave us the ship between Sayo and Afterglow’s Tsugumi Hazawa, which I prefer.
This episode also firmly established a connection to BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!, with that meeting taking in place in CiRCLE and Marina making a brief appearance. Talking of brief appearances, we also caught a glimpse of Hello, Happy World!’s Kokoro Tsurumaki and Hagumi Kitazawa whilst Arisa was talking with Sayo and Rinko.
Yukina being critical of Poppin’ Party aside, this was an episode that I enjoyed a lot. The character interactions provided plenty of amusing moments, and the music is top notch.
Rory Muses 