Here I was all ready to write a review for BanG Dream! 2nd Season, but it turns out there are thirteen episodes as opposed to twelve. Well, whatever: I’m always happy to have more BanG Dream! in my life.
All that drama between O-Tae and RAISE A SUILEN may be behind Poppin’ Party now, but they still have a self-sponsored show to prepare for.
Practice goes well for Poppin’ Party
We start with Poppin’ Party practicing their new song, ‘Returns’. They are happy with the way it has turned out, and O-Tae even makes a comment about how it feels like she has come back home to PoPiPa.
Aya and Chisato from Pastel * Palettes
Of course, with the other bands playing at their show, Poppin’ Party need to get their setlists so they can prepare everything accordingly. The first to hand theirs over is Pastel * Palettes – Aya, Chisato and Eve join them for lunch.
Hello, Happy World! has a very unique setlist
Misaki and Kanon from Hello, Happy World! join the girls during lunch, and they bring their setlist as well. It’s certainly a unique take on a setlist, yet Kasumi has zero problems identifying each song. They ask Kasumi if she wants to join Hello, Happy World!, but Poppin’ Party aren’t letting that happen any time soon.
Tomoe and Ran from Afterglow
Poppin’ Party pop over to Galaxy, where Ran and Tomoe hand them Afterglow’s setlist for the show. Their setlist looks much better than the one that Kasumi writes up for Poppin’ Party…
With Pastel * Palettes, Hello, Happy World! and Afterglow having handed over their setlists, that leaves just one more band: Roselia.
Yukina from Roselia
There is some doubt about whether Roselia will want to play at Poppin’ Party’s show after what happened at the cultural festival, but that turns out not to be an issue at all. Roselia agree to perform; the offer had been made before the festival, and they had all been preparing for the show anyways.
CHU2 & Pareo from RAISE A SUILEN
After arranging a few more things at Galaxy with the help of Lock, Poppin’ Party bump into CHU2 and Pareo outside. Tae makes it very clear that whilst she valued the experience of playing with RAISE A SUILEN, she can’t be with them as she is Poppin’ Party’s lead guitarist.
PoPiPa take their leave afterwards, and CHU2 is not left in a great mood. Pareo seems more than willing to let her take her anger out on her, though.
Asuka doesn’t seem too happy that Rokka rocks up to her house with Poppin’ Party, when her own invitations go ignored
Moving on, Poppin’ Party gather together at Kasumi’s house in order to pull an all-nighter to prepare for their show. They even bring Rokka along, much to the chagrin of Asuka. Any invitations Asuka has extended to Rokka before have been rejected, because she was worried about her being a PoPiPa being found out. Yeah, I think Asuka’s reaction to hearing that is spot on.
Just Kasumi being her usual self
As the night goes on, Rokka falls asleep so the girls put her to bed. Kasumi also has another new song that she was working on, besides “Returns”, so she shares it with the rest of her band. They like it.
Poppin’ Party’s rehearsal
After a few days of preparation, the time for rehearsals arrive. Before they go on stage, Tae decides to make a small change to the lyrics of “Returns” – a song that Kasumi will be singing, even though Tae wrote it.
Everyone’s rehearsal goes well, and even Yukina has a smile on her face after seeing PoPiPa’s rehearsal.
I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. All the drama is behind us, so now we can just focus on the bands doing what they do best: playing music. I also like how it neatly tied up the whole thing between O-Tae and RAISE A SUILEN, though we do still have one slight loose end.
RAISE A SUILEN are currently without a lead guitarist. Coincidentally, Rokka still is not part of a band; even turning down an offer to join Poppin’ Party. We do still have one more episode, so perhaps CHU2 will discover Rokka at Poppin’ Party’s show in some way.
BanG Dream! 2nd Season continues to entertain, and that’s all I really ask for from it. It has certainly delivered that for the most part. Next week, a review for the show – I think.
Rory Muses 