BanG Dream! 3rd Season Episode 1: Shoot For Your Dreams!

Poppin’ Party, Roselia, Afterglow, Pastel * Palettes, and Hello, Happy World! return for the third season of BanG Dream!. Let us not forget RAISE A SUILEN, either, who I suspect will be playing a much bigger role than they did in the second season.

Now there’s a familiar face, back from the first season

In the first episode of BanG Dream! 3rd Season, we establish firmly what most of the bands will be striving towards this time around: Budokan. Well, except for Roselia who are preparing for FUTURE WORLD FES.
RAISE A SUILEN are also seeking out a new guitarist, and a video from a certain cultural festival happens to catch CHU2’s eye…

Rokka Asahi/LOCK

This first episode of BanG Dream! 3rd Season was standard length, but I feel like they managed to squeeze in quite a lot. Things kick off with Rokka recapping what she, and the bands, got up to during the summer.

Poppin’ Party

I play BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! practically every day (only taking a break when events aren’t running), but even so it is an utter delight to see all these band lesbians back on my screen again. There’s just so much energy coming from them, and that is infectious.

PoPiPa’s chant

I guess I main plot point for this third season is the BanG Dream! Girls Band Challenge. Arisa mentioned before how she wanted to perform at the Budokan; this event may just be PoPiPa’s opportunity to do just that. The Girls Band Challenge catches the attention of the other bands, as well.

CHU2 & PAREO make a fun couple

On the RAISE A SUILEN (or RAS for short) side of things, CHU2 is holding auditions for a new guitarist. Seems nobody can quite live up to her standards though. I’ll take now to mention that I absolutely adore the way CHU2 peppers her sentences with random bits of English, and she and PAREO have a really fun dynamic, too. CHU2 is kind of obsessed with Roselia, claiming she is studying her enemy. I wonder about that…

I adore Kasumi so much

I said earlier that the bands would be participating in the Girls Band Challenge, but we only saw Afterglow expressing an interest in the poster (they’ll probably enter). For the time being, we don’t know about Pastel * Palettes and Hello, Happy World, but it is probably safe to say that they’ll participate too.

PAREO delivers a message

If there is one thing about this first episode that disappoints me somewhat, it is that we don’t get a full performance from any bands. Instead, we get to hear a snippet of Roselia’s “Determination Symphony” and the end of RAISE A SUILEN’s “R・I・O・T”. I was hoping a new season would mean some new music, but looks like we’ve got to wait.

Yukina and Lisa also received invitations to RAISE A SUILEN’s show

The last part of this episode sees PAREO visiting both PoPiPa and LOCK, and handing them invitations to a RAS show. Roselia also received multiple apparently. Poppin’ Party, Roselia and LOCK were all invited for very specific reasons.

CHU2 throws down the gauntlet

Poppin’ Party and Roselia were invited so CHU2 could announce that RAS are going to beat them to a pulp at BanG Dream!. I don’t think anyone has let her know that Roselia have no intention of competing…
Though saying that, perhaps CHU2’s provocation will convince them.
That covers PoPiPa and Roselia’s reason for being there, but then we have LOCK.

CHU2 wants LOCK to join RAISE A SUILEN

I imagine that CHU2 scouting Rokka doesn’t come as a surprise, but, hey, its nice to see how RAISE A SUILEN came together, I guess.

So, BanG Dream! is back, and off to a great start. I’ve already mentioned my gripe with not getting a full song in this episode, but I feel like there was plenty of other content packed in here that I can overlook that. Besides, we’ve got a whole season with plenty more opportunities for songs.
For now, I’ll be satisfied with listening to BanG Dream! songs on Spotify.

I also find it pretty amusing that the end goal for BanG Dream! 3rd Season (presumably that goes on for the entire season) is to get to the Budokan, as there is another music themed anime where the goal is the same airing this winter 2020 season.

Plenty of fun stuff in this first episode, and I am looking forward to seeing what else is to come.