Show By Rock!!

This anime season has given us many great anime to choose from Show by rock has not really been discussed at all or if it has then very little as the season is shortening and alot of the anime in the season are ending it is only right to say I believe show by rock!! is one of the most underrated anime of the entire season. The story is kinda weird in the beginning but then everything else is something you probably cannot predict it is fun, super nutty and a really easy watch that is worth it. Girl tries to join a band but withher shy personality she pushes it off and randomly gets sucked into a world where music is the soul of the city new friendships begin confidence builds and monsters must be defeated through the shear power of music and stuff. The art is definitely something that just pops out it is super vibrant really colorful cute character designs and also great character designs i find it to be very "I cant take my eyes off it" But at times during most of the episodes during when something big is happening characters turn into cute little animals and totally changes the animation into cgi which catches you by suprise but with the unpredictability of the anime. Some will love it and others who like the gritty art work and a dark color scheme will not be drawn to it but one thing you cant say is that it doesn't stick out. Music is the main theme of the entire show so the music is great a really catchy opening as well as an ending. The music theme is rock so with the japanese rock music the ost is great everything is on point especially since its a rock music anime everything just fits and works. The characters range from super adorable-Hilarious-Dark and possibly more but from what i have seen you get a cute girl band where all the characters have different personalities but they are all bonded as the show progresses and build a stronger bond. A boy band with super funny guys and again all different personalities but are bonded and the enemies who are trying to corrupt the city. Alot of variety in the cast of characters and everything i wanted i got. I enjoyed the anime alot and had some of my favourite moments from the anime season with this show also anything that gets me emotionally invested by the end is something i love the ending was super feelsy and could potentially make your eyes water so get the box of tissues also the very end leaves you with a sense of satisfaction. 8/10 - 2nd most underrated anime of the season for me.

Edit: Some changes have been made to the score now that the show has been finished. When reading this review, expect to see a few spoilers. After 12 episodes of good ol' rock, I can confidently say that Show By Rock has been a very good watch this season. To show an example of what kind of anime it's like, imagine a quirky moe anime that turned out surprisingly fun to watch despite being a bit weirder than other shows of the same category. It's as if you're watching a bizarre fairy tale incorporating catchy rock and cute girls without becominga K-on! clone. It's spontaneous, absurd, wacky and easy to watch as you witness four adorable girls and a sexy visual kei band hone and develop their skills while bonding together to become the very best band while protecting their precious world from shady monsters. Characters- 8/10 A shy girl who wishes to join a band gets to meet other cute girls and have fun together. Sounds simple right? Well imagine that girl suddenly being sucked into a world where producing music is essentially the true meaning to life. Add a twintailed megane tsundere, a cheerful alien, a gorgeous bunnygirl, a talking guitar, an egg for a manager and this absolutely hilarious boyband and you have all the materials you need for an unforgettably interesting show. For the most part, the characters are very attractive and charming and yes, very crazy. If I were to nitpick about character flaws, it would have to be how the director chose to stick with tropes. It does kind of lead the viewer into being able to predict some character's future actions somewhat based on their behavior contrary to how I said that this show was actually unpredictable. Nonetheless, the story is able to make up for some of the character's predictability Story- 6.5/10 (CAUTION: This part has a few spoilers!!) One of the key strengths of this anime is that you never really know what's going to happen in the next episode because each episode gets more and more ridiculous as the story progresses which is mostly due to the characters acting nonsensical but being able to be very likable at the same time. So then this brings us the question: why did I choose to introduce the characters first and give the story the lowest score? After completing the anime, I realized that there are a few flaws in the main plot. Despite being centered around Cyan, Show By Rock! unfortunately happens to focus a bit too many of its episodes on Shingancrimsonz to the point where they outshine Cyan and the other members of Plasmagica. The characters themselves are actually quite fine; they are all intriguing to some degree and are very charming. However, the 2-3 episodes that revolve around Shingancrimsonz seemed to de-rail the story progression at times and halt the character development within Plasmagica. Furthermore, this results in moments of awkward pacing. Essentially, rather than the problems having to do with the characters themselves, the anime situated itself in a troublesome and awkward angle where Shingancrimsonz became the main characters and caused an awkward transition back to the main story afterwards. This was something that I simply could not ignore. On the other hand, in spite of the story becoming off-track, the entire anime itself isn't horrifically affected from those episodes (they were quite enjoyable to be honest). For the most part, the story is actually quite good. It does in fact move forward even during those Shingancrimsonz episodes and actually has a lot of relation to the upcoming events (especially the foreshadowing). Though they were seemingly redundant at times, they were very enjoyable regardless of the weakening in the overall plot. The story is still very bizarre and I can assure you that it won't really get in the way of your enjoyment when watching this show. In fact, I can tell you guys right now, expect to see some crazy stuff going on in the last two episodes! Art- 8/10 This is actually a controversial topic since many viewers seem to have divided opinions about the rather unique usage of CG animation. While the characters will be drawn in a traditional style that's at least similar to most animes most of the time , there will be times when a sudden transition will occur which then turns your beloved characters into extremely distorted animal forms. It is an abrupt process that can seem "off balance" to many people. My opinion however is that this transition is so ludicrous and over-the-top that it actually goes well with the entire show since the entire thing is supposed to be eccentric anyway. Other than that, I can definitely say that the art is nice looking for the most part as Bones Studio utilizes an appealing style of colorful, stylish designs as seen from their previous works such as Space Dandy. The characters move fluidly and the guitar playing seems to match with the songs for the majority of the show. Well what else could you expect from Studio Bones other than a great performance? Sound- 8/10 This is definitely a major asset of the entire show. An EXTREMELY addicting opening and a catchy ending song along with the numerous insert songs that will get you fired up as if you're in an actual rock concert, I guarantee that you will like this show if you enjoy J-rock to some degree. Hopefully, there will be more crazy guitar solos and shredding in the future episodes because the songs are great so far. The only thing that can possibly make this better is if they add some heavy metal to it. Yeah that would be totally kickass! EDIT: The background tracks in some parts of the anime are ominous sounding enough where it actually becomes metal! Also, though many parts of the show are light rock, all of the tracks are very melodious to the ears. I highly recommend trying to get a sample listening of the entire soundtrack because it is definitely GLORIOUS. The insert songs are just fabulously good! Enjoyment- 9/10 I really shouldn't have to explain any more about this part. From what I've described already, you should be able to imagine how much of a wild experience this show will be. I would like to point out that despite Sanrio (the studio that apparently made the original rhythm game) stating that the characters were based for an older male audience, the show can definitely be enjoyed by people of all ages. Both male and females can easily enjoy this show since there is some degree of subtle fan-service (super moe level from Plasmagica and manliness from Shingancrimsonz) though there definitely isn't an excessive amount. I must emphasize once again that every episode is weird enough to make you want to see more. This show is definitely far from being generic as possible. I mean, it's no Legend of the Galactic Heroes but I can say with confidence that this show is insane! It would make Dante from Devil May Cry very proud if he ever saw these lovable girls rocking their socks off while battling monsters to save their world. Overall- 8/10 I'm extremely content with the results that Bones has produced in 2015. If you're hesitating to watch this show because of the low score on MAL, stop everything you're doing at the moment and think about giving the show a try. It's seriously better than what you would expect in the first place. I've been watching other shows from Spring 2015 and I can confidently say that this show has been better than otherwise cliche animes (pointing at a certain twin-tailed greek loli goddess and an almost 9-year old loli android who works in an office). This show is definitely a good recommendation for those who want an anime that's easy to follow yet far from generic as possible.

Hey! I picked up Show By Rock!! on accident. I decided, after the very first episode, that it was an extremely happy accident, not to be ignored in the least. Show By Rock!! is a quirky, wacky, sometimes just plain silly anime about a girl who gets trapped in a magical, musical world with the goal of exterminating the "shadow monsters". Leaving out the talking guitar, cat ears, alien sheep, and the music, you might think you should take this anime seriously. Don't. I warned you. Even the first episode has an alternate theme song animation that tricks you into thinking it's a K-ON clone. It really isn't. My Reactions ToThe First Episode: Okay, weak female protagonist is too shy to join a band. Okay, fine. Now she's home playing a song. Good. Now she's playing a cool rythmn game. Something suspicious happens with her phone. //what the heck is going on// *adorableness overload* SPOILERS AHEAD Story: //7// Show By Rock has a very intriguing story, though it is simple, and for the most part, straightfoward. No next-level crap or complicated plot twists here, just "play music to get to the top and be cool and famous" with a little bit of "defeat these horrible shadow monsters". I'd have to say, my favorite part was when I realized that Strawberry Heart (aka Mr. Berry) was the Grateful King himself. That was the closest I got to surprised, though I couldn't predict where the story would go, due to the unpredictable nature of the anime in general. I did find that it got a little slow towards the middle, which is dangerous for anime, as that's when I'm most likely to stop watching. Aside from explaining the plot itself, there's nothing much else to say here. END SPOILER Art And Presentation: //8// I found the art style in general very enjoyable and easy to look at. One interesting part of this particular anime's art style is the fact that it also has a pretty hefty chunk of three-dimensional animation. I, for one, loved that particular aspect of the series, as it was something I hadn't seen yet. (and the 3-d models were all super adorable) The show presents itself nicely, and there were very few moments where I thought the animation looked awkward, though I'm not usually one to notice animation errors. The dub was actually well done! This made the show so pleasant to watch, even for someone who usually will watch the subs first. I actually watched a couple episodes near the middle subbed to see how it was, and I actually really wanted to go back to the dub! That doesn't usually happen for me. Sound: //8// Mostly, I didn't pay particular attention to the background music, but the songs in the anime were catchy and fun-sounding. As far as the balancing of volume, I thought it was well-done. Not much to be said here. Characters: //9// Oh boy. Characters usually make or break an anime for me, and I suspect that is the case for many others. I have to say, though I rated Characters a 9, that the main 4 characters actually have fairly predictable character development, maybe besides Moa. The real reason I rated characters a 9 is for the awesome cast of zany supporting characters that I found enjoyable, and many times relatable. The other bands have interesting characters, often extremely wacky or exaggerated, but they don't get repetitive. Little details like one band selling mineral water and one band having yokai members really made the experience enjoyable for me. I am glad, however, that there actually was character development for the main characters, unlike some anime. *cough cough* I did find it disappointing that Moa, who like I mentioned was the most unpredictable, got less character development than the others. Overall, I enjoyed this anime a lot, and I think I'm going to re-watch it soon with my sister, who I'm sure will enjoy it. Something I do have to say, though, is that if you don't think you'll like it, still try it. You might actually like it!

(This has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!) There’s this game series that is pretty popular, or at least, it was during its heyday. This video game is called “Guitar Hero.” I was never a music guy myself – I couldn’t play brass instruments, the “cool” drums, or jam out on an acoustic. But I had “Guitar Hero,” where playing was simpler, screw-ups were okay, and I got to have fun with a whammy bar. I got so good at the game that I managed to beat “Through the Fire and Flames,” considered one of the best “boss battles” in gaming history. I wascapable of making music, albeit dumbed down, but it was music nonetheless. With it brought happiness and plentiful memories that I’ll never forget. Show By Rock!! looks at “the power of music,” but unfortunately becomes tone-deaf along the way. STORY Rock stars (pun intended) Cyan Hijirikawa, a young girl too nervous to join her school’s band club. One night, she finds herself magically whisked away to Midi City, the land where music is king. Alongside ChuChu, Retoree, and Moa, “Plasmagica” aims for the top of the sound-filled metropolis. Music is a pretty crazy phenomenon when you take a step back to look at it. There’s a lot that goes into crafting tones, beats, and melodies, but music doesn’t always have to be so involved. If you take a bunch of pebbles and put them in a cup and shake it around, you just made music. It might not be very good or worth listening to, but it is music nonetheless. No matter how rudimentary or intricate a musical piece becomes, everyone can understand the sounds that are produced. Music is like math in a way; it’s a “universal language” that people of any background or creed can speak with. One doesn’t have to live in Japan to appreciate their style, and the same goes for other places. Countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia have their own methods of producing fun-loving music, and while someone might not get the culture or even the notes themselves, he or she can still understand the emotion or message those musical pieces are infused with. This is what Rock tries to show. Bands like “Plasmagica,” “Shingancrimsonz,” and “Criti Crista” each has a signature style and distinct personality, but they are able to connect with one another and the fans that follow them through the very music they play. What’s even more profound is the effect their performances have. The joy they bring, the tighter bonds they establish between each other, and the inspiration they instill; music does so much more than simply reverberate in our ears. There are instances in the show that demonstrate this thinking. There’s Aion’s descent into negativity cured by his duo with Crow; Chuchu’s true motivations being known thanks to a simple practice session; and Cyan’s nighttime singing bringing her group closer than ever before. Many events mirror these – showcasing music’s strange ability to strengthen relationships – reinforcing the idea that music is a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately for the anime, there are two issues that persist throughout the season and become apparent by the show’s conclusion. First is providing the aftermath of what music brings. It’s nice seeing the lead up and eventual culmination, but the show oddly refuses to use the bands and their relationships to further the narrative. Something simple is using the smaller groups visited and helped later on to impact the plot’s direction, but the show doesn’t include them. This can also be seen in the finale; it isn’t music that saves the day, but a covert operation led by a rat girl and something akin to Cupid’s bow and arrow that protect the city. Music fixes the conflicts but never seems to be used to the extent to which the anime places emphasis on. Speaking of conflicts, the second issue that Rock faces is sustaining dramatic tension. The separate scenarios usually occur and finish in the episode in which they are introduced. Those three previous examples brought up a couple of paragraphs ago are each resolved over the course of a single episode instead of being elongated. Introducing one conflict after another is an okay approach, but such a tactic prevents the show from feeling as dire as it intends to be. This is especially true for Rock, considering how it doesn’t use the aftereffects of its conflicts to its advantage and how it isn’t designed as a slice-of-life offering due to the overarching dilemma. ANIMATION Glancing at Rock’s art style leaves one in a state of wonderment. Midi City and the surrounding areas are rife with color. The buildings are mostly blue due to the “electric” feel of the place, but the signs, the venues, and the various nuances take on quite the vibrant hues that make the environments shine brilliantly. But what Rock does better than almost any other anime is its CG usage. The locations vary by theme (depending on the band in question), but it’s the characters and their designs that give it an appropriate feel. Essentially, they appear to be plastic models, making them feel out of place but in a way that strangely fits the style and tone of the show. When the characters are not in three-dimensional mode, the designs maintain high quality. Each cast member is, more or less, an animal of some kind; Cyan is a cat, Chuchu is a bunny, etc. Their animal backgrounds provide them with small details – such as Moa’s fluffy hair (since she’s a sheep) and Rom’s spotted cloak (since he’s a cheetah) – but the show goes beyond such symbolism. They all have their own distinct colorings, accessories, instruments, and clothing that separate them not just from individual bands but from their own group members, too. Actual animation remains somewhere close to average. What’s interesting is that the CG segments are actually quite above average in execution, and it appears that they will be used regularly. Sadly, the show doesn’t use this element as much as it could and even as much as it should have. During the two-dimensional scenarios, which comprise the majority of the show, the anime surprisingly doesn’t have the bands perform their music, mostly saving it for the extra dimension outings. Besides feigning the need to animate at times, there is a lot of standing around and talking, with the occasional trek through the forest or walk down the sidewalk to bring about variance, but nothing too extravagant. CHARACTERS Rock is another anime that actually has a larger cast size than at first perceived. While it does try to give different members their own time in the spotlight, many of them are quite weak, mostly due to time constraints and focusing on one character in particular only to then forget about them later on. This happens specifically to the major members of “Plasmagica.” Starting with Moa, she is technically an alien from another planet, visiting to gain information about the one she’s on now. Even with the uniqueness of the festivities around them, she is still an outlier. But the show doesn’t divulge into this side of her after the band comes together, and in fact her presence is minimal near the end. Retoree follows the same trend; there is an episode dedicated to her and her difficulty in holding friendships with others. However, following her realization that the people closest to her now are the very friends she was seeking, she isn’t looked at in-depth again. Chuchu fairs a bit better, but not by much. Chuchu’s backstory and mannerisms indicated a certain amount of jealousy towards others. She saw herself as the best, so when Cyan came along and “stole her thunder,” she slowly but surely became a bit agitated with her new band mate. Her selfish desires – of wanting to be the best, doing whatever it takes to reach the top even if that means ditching her companions – comes to light, but Cyan, Retoree, and Moa aren’t particularly phased. They understand that everyone is a little selfish from time to time, but that doesn’t mean that Chuchu’s actions didn’t help them and the band out. They accept Chuchu for who she is – as a fellow band member, a person, and most of all, as a dear friend. As for Cyan, her character is one of the worst that the show has to offer. It’s rather unclear what her character’s purpose is besides acting cute, fighting the bad guys, and being the fourth person of “Plasmagica.” The very beginning of the season painted her as someone with self-esteem issues, as a girl without the courage to do what she really wanted. For the rest of the season, the show then places its focus on the other girls, other bands, and even other characters that don’t directly influence Cyan and her development. She’s quite passive, being nice and saying kindhearted words to those around her on occasion, but never really standing out as a person let alone as the main character of the anime. In other words, she never seems affected by what happens, instead acting and speaking as she regularly does, going about her business the same way as always. It’s not until the conclusion that she finally decides to muster the courage to do what she could not, but without the proper build-up, it happens too suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere. It makes sense that her character would progress to this point, considering where she started, but nothing in the middle indicated that she was heading there. There are other character issues as well, such as Rom and Shuuzou’s past relationship not being fleshed out enough or having little to go off of in regards to Yaiba (the “hence” guy) and Maple (the president of “Banded Rocking Records”). But the worst is Dagger, the villain of the series. He’s a business tycoon who wants only the best of the best “working” for him. His main goal is to be the ruler of Midi City, but in similar fashion to Cyan, he doesn’t do much of anything. He normally sits on the sidelines, having his underlings do most of the work. When he finally decides to take part in the action, his motivations and actions aren’t very rational; he had Grateful King make him the best written song ever, which took the entirety of the season to compose, but it’s never used by him or anyone else. Even his original goal is strange, given how popular and successful his company already is. As a villain he fails, and as a character he fails even harder. SOUND The opening theme is a pretty fun song overall, with the English words, clapping, and quick beat. Some of the vocal segments aren’t too pleasing to the ear and it’s not too catchy, but it at least maintains the rock-n-roll vibe that is prevalent in the series. The ending theme, on the other hand, is great. It’s still a fun track, but manages to mix up its tone and instruments enough to make the piece feel special. The lyrics and beat are likewise easy to follow, making it a nice piece to listen to both here and outside of the show. The rest of the soundtrack is most notable for its plethora of insert songs. Each band has approximately one song they are known for, each with their own style. “Shingancrimsonz” is brooding, “Tsurezurenaru” is all about their Japanese culture, and “Trichronika” is more pop than rock. As standalone pieces they’re fine, but nothing entirely impressive. The rest of the soundtrack consists mainly of variations of the OP which are largely forgettable. Voice acting is somewhere around, to slightly above, average. Special shout-outs are deserved for Ayane Sakura as Moa for her constant “Pyuru!” and high-pitched yet non-grating voice and Hiroyuki Yoshino as Grateful King for his cool rocker accent and way of speaking. ENJOYMENT I really liked this one when it first started. The comedy was making me laugh, with Retoree’s overreactions to Cyan’s cuteness, Moa’s affable happiness, and the members of “Shingancrimsonz” looking up to Rom as a leader and a “working man.” Watching very well-done CG animation was refreshing, too, since most anime have such a hard time in that department. The more it went on, though, the more it lost its charm. I love “moe” shows a lot, but there were a number of factors that kept reducing the entertainment it provided for me. Cuteness began to wane as drama took precedence, the importance placed on other cast members that weren’t “Plasmagica” wasn’t enticing, and the show playing up the “dark monsters” but only using them sparingly prevented the anime from using the CG that it demonstrated it could nail. On top of all this, while the anime didn’t necessarily feel “repetitive,” it didn’t try to do anything new once it did what it wanted. The same jokes, the same performances, and the same lines were often had, depleting the show’s ability to keep me hooked. Show By Rock!! is definitely a show about rocking (and rolling), using music in nearly everything that it does. The art and animation can be splendid to see at times, but it isn’t enough to make up for the problems plaguing the narrative and the characters being weak in their execution. It even struggles slightly in the sound department, ironically enough. It can be cute and it can be musical, but as the ED lyrics allude to, it’s a decrescendo from start to finish. SUMMARY Story: Bad, nice theme of music’s “power,” but missing proper follow-up of events and dramatic tension Animation: Good, nice art style, nice character designs, average actual animation Characters: Bad, Chuchu’s development is fine, but the rest of the cast, including Cyan and Dagger, are either explored improperly or not enough to warrant worthiness Sound: Fine, okay OP, good ED, okay insert songs, bad remaining soundtrack, average VA work Enjoyment: Fine, starts rather strong but continually loses its appeal right up until the finale Final Score: 4/10

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