For episodes eight and nine of BanG Dream! 3rd Season, the bands are getting some relaxation. That is followed up by Poppin’ Party getting straight back to climbing their way up the rankings.
Ran smiling when she overhears girls praising Roselia is good
First up, episode eight sees almost every single member of the cast take a trip to a hot springs inn. This gives a chance for the bands to intermingle, as well as some new friendships to be formed.
Pastel * Palettes are filming at the hot spring inn
Poppin’ Party, Roselia, Afterglow, and Hello, Happy World! are all in attendance. It seems that Pastel * Palettes might not make it, but actually they are filming at the very same inn so they get to join the fun as well.
Only three members of RAISE A SUILEN are able to make it: LOCK, MASKING and LAYER. It would take PAREO three and a half hours to get there, and CHU2 refuses to take a bath.
Arisa makes some pretty interesting expressions in this episode
So for this episode, at least, the BanG Dream! Girls Band Challenge is put to the side for the time being. This one is all about the interactions between the bands. Much like the second season’s school festival episode, I also believe that this is one where every character who is in a band gets at least a single line of dialogue. It all flows naturally, too.
With six bands with five members each, that is a lot of characters (and that is only going to grow with recent reveal of Morfonica).
Yukina stays exactly like this for the majority of the episode
Rimi, Eve and Himari join three members of Hello, Happy World to search for Michelle
All the interactions between the girls in this episode are fantastic, and definitely brought me a lot of joy. Rimi and Himari immediately tracking down Kaoru was fun, but I’d say the highlight of all the interactions comes about as a result of Kanon almost getting lost.
The drummers hang out together
Saaya, Ako, Tomoe, Maya, Kanon and MASKING all get together. They are the drummers of their respective bands, and they pretty much talk about how they have grown due to being part of their bands. MASKING also gives the impression that there is something the other bands have that RAISE A SUILEN lacks, but that will come to the forefront in the next episode.
Seems that the PoPi-V is making a big splash
That brings episode 8 to an end, and it was a really fun one. Almost everyone got involved, giving us plenty of really fun interactions and perhaps demonstrating to certain members of RAS that they don’t quite have the same camaraderie as the other bands.
Poppin’ Party perform daily for three weeks
Moving on to episode 9, Poppin’ Party’s PoPi-V is only increasing their popularity. This gives them the big wave they need, and they immediately seize the opportunity to ride it. This includes taking their performances to more venues: more specifically, CiRCLE and Dub, where Roselia and RAISE A SUILEN reign supreme respectively.
Arisa puts Kasumi and Tae through their paces for their upcoming exams
After an episode with every band getting involved, this one puts a greater focus on Poppin’ Party and RAISE A SUILEN. First, Poppin’ Party decide to take on even more shows in an attempt to climb up the rankings. Their PoPi-V was merely the beginning.
This is Yukina acknowledging Poppin’ Party
Seems like Kasumi and Tae are not the only ones who have exams to worry about, though Yukina quite literally runs from that problem when Lisa brings it up. I’m going to go ahead and guess that ultimately it won’t be a problem. It could be funny, or perhaps tragic, if that does end up being the case, though.
CHU2 is not happy to see the members of RAS getting along well with PoPiPa
Poppin’ Party take the fight to RAISE A SUILEN territory when they go to perform at Dub (after a little push from MASKING). Now, I like CHU2, but this episode definitely showed us some of the more negative parts of her character.
Things are going very well for Poppin’ Party, but the cracks are really starting to show with RAISE A SUILEN.
Poor PAREO…
Bringing us our drama as the end of the season creeps up on us is RAISE A SUILEN. CHU2 is more determined than ever to defeat Roselia, so much so that they she attempts to take control of her bands’ entire lives.
Naturally that doesn’t sit well with them, particularly MASKING. CHU2’s desire to win is probably her worst aspect, especially if it makes her like this. She definitely crosses the line with what she says to PAREO.
However, there are still a few episodes to go, and I can see RAISE A SUILEN patching things up – I suspect PoPiPa might be instrumental in helping that come to be.
CHU2 made some terrible decisions in this episode, but there is still a chance for her to redeem herself.
I’m confident it will work out in the end, and perhaps CHU2 will come to appreciate being part of RAISE A SUILEN in a way that she never had before.
As for the episode, it was good. Seeing Poppin’ Party continue their rise up the rankings, even against formidable opponents like Roselia and RAS was satisfying. The drama that RAS are going through is quite simply something that they need to overcome to grow even closer as a band.
BanG Dream! 3rd Season continues to deliver everything I love about the franchise.
Rory Muses 