BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! Roselia Stage is the manga adaptation of Roselia’s story from the BanG Dream! Girls Band Party mobile game, illustrated by Dr. Pepperco. TOKYOPOP licensed the manga series for English release.
This first volume focuses on how the five members of Roselia came together, and contains chapters one through to five.
Front cover of the first volume of BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! Roselia Stage, featuring Lisa Imai, Yukina Minato and Sayo Hikawa
After her father’s dreams of making it big in the music industry crumble, Yukina Minato is determined to make him proud by forming the “perfect band” of her own. But first, she’ll have to find the right members!
Future World Fes is the biggest music event of the year, a world-famous spectacular that showcases only the best of the best. Do five high school girls have what it takes to rock their competition and secure a spot on the main stage?
Here we have Roselia’s origin story in manga form. When it comes to the BanG Dream! bands, Roselia definitely give more powerful performances – something that Yukina has been doing, even as a solo vocalist.
Of course music plays a vital role in this story, and I particularly enjoy the way that Dr. Pepperco draws those performances whenever they happen. Those scenes really capture the power that Roselia gives off; often with double-page spreads. Conveying the sound of music must be pretty tough when drawing a manga, but Dr. Pepperco’s approach works very well.
As for the story itself, it all stems from Yukina’s desire to do what her father could not. And since this is early Roselia days, some personalities are a little… rough, I guess. Yukina and Sayo are the biggest culprits for that. Yukina is obsessed with music, to the point that she completely refuses to talk about anything else. Then we have Sayo, and her behaviour towards her twin sister, Hina… yeah, still do not like that inferiority complex plot, even if it is a part of Sayo’s growth. She can be downright antagonistic towards Hina at times…
But this story is not about Sayo and Hina’s relationship. It is, of course, about Roselia, and the remaining three members – Lisa, Ako, and Rinko – are all fantastic. We get some nice Yukina x Lisa and Ako x Rinko stuff from this manga – I wouldn’t expect any less from Dr. Pepperco, who gave us the Goodbye, My Rose Garden yuri manga.
Sayo’s personal issues aside, this is an enjoyable take on Roselia’s story from BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!. If you’re curious to see how one of the most powerful bands in BanG Dream! got their start and don’t want to invest time into the gacha game, then this manga is certainly a great alternative. This is only the beginning of Roselia’s story, too; there’s a second volume, which means they have more obstacles to overcome as they chase after Yukina’s dream.
Rory Muses 