BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!

''BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!'' is a Japanese anime television series created by Bushiroad and produced by Sanzigen. It is a spin-off of the main ''BanG Dream!'' anime series, serving as its chronological sequel. The series aired from June to September 2023. Two compilation films recapping the events of the series with some additional scenes were released in September and November 2024. A manga adaptation written and illustrated by Yuama with story by Yotsuji Haibuchi, titled ''BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! Swaying in the Rain, Looking for the Sunshine'', began serialization in Bushiroad's magazine ''Comic Growl'' in December 2024.

The series received generally positive reviews. Critics and fans have praised ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' for its plot, role design, visuals, and depiction of interpersonal relations and mood disorder as well as its unconventional approach to the realm of music anime. A sequel focusing on the characters of the band Ave Mujica, ''BanG Dream! Ave Mujica'', was broadcast in 2025, and a sequel to both ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' and ''Ave Mujica'' has been announced.

Premise

The series follows the formation of the titular band MyGO!!!!!, one of two bands, along with Ave Mujica, that were founded following the breakup of the band Crychic. Haneoka Girls' Academy student Tomori Takamatsu is approached by recent transferee Anon Chihaya, who aims to recruit her in building a band upon seeing most of the school being in bands. Tomori hesitates to accept her invite as Anon learns and becomes involved in the drama of Tomori's former band alongside Tomori's bandmates Soyo Nagasaki and Taki Shiina and outsider Rāna Kaname that threatens the growth of their fledgling band.

Characters

MyGO!!!!!

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:A first-year at Haneoka Girls' Academy, she often sees things differently from others and has trouble making friends. Despite her introverted nature, she deeply cares for her friends and bandmates and accepts them for who they are despite their flaws. She was part of the all-girls band Crychic with four others, where she was the vocalist. Following the band's hostile breakup during middle school, she once again became reclusive and hesitant to join bands. She later joins the band, later named MyGO!!!!!, led by Anon, and sees it as a second chance to overcome her trauma from Crychic's breakup. Tomori also has many quirky habits, including collecting objects she finds aesthetically pleasing, such as rocks, notebooks, and bandages featuring animal designs, and arranging objects neatly.
:Director Kōdai Kakimoto said he wanted to depict Tomori as a "punk band vocalist" and embody punk itself through her character's inability to get along with people in daily life, making her a manifestation of miscommunication.
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:A first-year at Haneoka Girls' Academy who recently transferred in after studying abroad in England. She can be proactive, trendy, does well academically, and while she was popular in her middle school, she distances herself from how she acted back then. She leads the effort to create a band, later named MyGO!!!!!, to become popular after seeing much of Haneoka's student body being part of bands despite overstating her own skills at guitar and eventually convinces Soyo, Taki, Tomori, and Rāna to join, and becoming the rhythm guitarist of the band.
:According to writer Yuniko Ayana, Anon was chosen as the point-of-view character for the beginning of the series so as to more easily introduce the audience to Tomori and the inciting incident of Crychic's breakup without overwhelming the audience with such a complex and emotionally heavy plot point at the beginning of the story.
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:A student at Hanasakigawa Girls' Academy, in her third year of middle school, she is eccentric, appears frequently at the live music venue RiNG, has impressive skills at playing the guitar, and is clear about what she dislikes and likes. She later joins the band MyGO!!!!! as its lead guitarist, though she acts on her own accord and appears at the band's practice sessions infrequently. It is later revealed that she is Shifune Tsuzuki's granddaughter, and she aspired to join a band to find somewhere she can belong after the closing of Space.
:Ayana stated that Rāna's character and her connection to Space was conceptualized early in the development of ''It's MyGO!!!!!'', as the story was initially planned as an interquel set between the events of the first and second seasons of the anime series.
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:A first-year at Tsukinomori Girls' Academy who plays the double bass in the school's brass band club. She has a reputation for being kind to others, and was previously the bassist for Crychic. She is friends with Mutsumi, and she regularly updates her on the wellbeing of their former bandmates following the band's breakup. Underneath her calm facade, she attempts to reform Crychic through convincing Sakiko and Mutsumi to rejoin. She later joins the band MyGO!!!!! in order to achieve her goal.
:Kakimoto said that the production team set her character's keyword as the " mother of the group". This not only stems from her gentle personality but is also related to her complicated family background.
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:A first-year at Hanasakigawa Girls' Academy, she works part-time at RiNG and likes being alone, causing her to be antisocial and abrasive towards others, especially Anon. Despite this, she is caring and is good friends with Tomori, whom she is highly protective of following Crychic's breakup and looks up to with admiration, and she has an older sister. She was formerly the drummer for Crychic, and later joins the band MyGO!!!!!.
:Ayana said that the motive of designing Taki was to emphasize Tomori's amazing talent as a genius lyricist. Kakimoto stated that the relationship between Taki, Anon, and Tomori is one of the key focuses in the anime's creation.

Other characters

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:A first-year at Haneoka Girls' Academy, who often plays piano at the school's music room. She was formerly the keyboardist for the band Crychic, which consisted of herself, Mutsumi, Tomori, Soyo, and Taki. However, she quit the band for unknown reasons, which led to her friendships with Tomori, Soyo, and Taki becoming strained. She later forms and becomes band leader for Ave Mujica, which is introduced at the end of the series, and takes on the alter-ego "Oblivionis".
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:A student at Tsukinomori Girls' Academy and formerly part of Crychic, where she played guitar, who is bad at expressing how she feels. She is friends with Soyo and Sakiko, and she tends to act as their intermediary regarding their individual motives. She later joins the band Ave Mujica and takes on the alter-ego "Mortis."
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:A first-year at Hanasakigawa Girls' Academy who is skilled at playing bass and participates in a large number of bands. She is a friend of Taki and they engage in friendly banter regarding their respective bands. She later joins the band Ave Mujica, using the alter-ego "Timoris." Yuniko Ayana stated in an interview that Umiri's character was inspired by a social media post she had seen from a real life teenage bass player, who claimed that they were at one point been a member of ten bands simultaneously.
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:A first-year at Hanasakigawa Girls' Academy and classmate of Taki and Umiri, who is the vocalist and guitarist in an idol unit called sumimi. She is childhood friends with Sakiko and later joins her band Ave Mujica, using the alter-ego "Doloris."
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:An online influencer who Anon frequently watches. Nicknamed "Nyamuchi," she mainly posts videos about beauty and make-up, and is later shown to be skilled at playing drums. She later joins the band Ave Mujica and takes on the alter-ego "Amoris."
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:The vocalist and bandmate of Uika in the idol unit sumimi.

Production

Planning

After producing the 3rd season of the main ''BanG Dream!'' series, the production team developed the idea to "portray characters more realistically" and "depict irreversible major events in the storyline". Subsequently, Bushiroad producer Yuki Nemoto conceived a "serious-themed band project" originating from the idea of "debut a melodic hardcore band and a metal band". When the script reached approximately episode 4 during development, Bushiroad decided to integrate this project into the existing ''BanG Dream!'' universe. This decision led the production team to pause scriptwriting and overhaul character designs and story settings. The original plan of telling a 26-episode story about two bands with a total of 10 members was restructured into two seasons separately focuses on different bands. Ultimately, the production team decided to allocate the core narrative to two anime series, ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' and ''Ave Mujica'', clearly delineating the narrative trajectories of the two bands.

Writing

According to lead writer Yuniko Ayana, the choice to make ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' a more tonally serious drama came at the request of Yuki Nemoto. Nemoto said he hopes ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' will be a work resonating with the younger generation, portraying the genuine, laughter-and-tears-filled interpersonal relationships among high school students. Given the lighter tone of previous ''BanG Dream!'' installments, Ayana initially struggled with balancing this direction with the desire to not alienate fans of earlier installments, but was told by series director Kōdai Kakimoto to commit fully to the heavier tone. Ayana drew on her past personal experiences with "betrayal and distrust", which provided the impetus for Tomori's emotional conflict within the series narrative. To prepare for writing the series, Ayana did research into real-life bands of high school girls, which informed some of the story and characters. Ayana stated that she felt ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' was the most realistic work she had written thus far, even including her works outside of the ''BanG Dream!'' franchise.

According to Kakimoto, the script for ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' underwent multiple drastic overhauls. Initially, the story direction was based on character settings, but the actual writing process revealed the characters' multifaceted personalities, triggering chain reactions, such as altered motivations, reconstructed relationships, and interwoven plotlines. Each adjustment required rebuilding subsequent developments and retconning scripts already in progress, resulting in some episodes being rewritten up to five or six times. For example, the initial concept portrayed Anon Chihaya as a "bold-acting returnee student beneath a model-student facade", but to differentiate her from other ''BanG Dream!'' characters like Rokka Asahi, her flaws such as "trend-chasing vanity" and "calculating nature" were amplified to "deepen human authenticity". He further stated that before merging into the series, all characters had more sharp-edged personalities than the current versions, and they had considered ending the story with the band's dissolution. After being incorporated into the project, the overseers granted them "complete creative freedom" to develop original storylines. After revising "overly realistic elements", they established the framework that first season focusing on MyGO!!!!! and second season centering on Ave Mujica. In order to better integrate this series into the ''BanG Dream!'' project, the writing staff made the decision to assign the characters to existing schools in the ''BanG Dream!'' universe, and created their interaction with the previous ''BanG Dream!'' characters.

To design Tomori's notebook and style of writing, the production team referenced numerous lyricists' poetry collections, along with the doodles and handwritten notes found within them. Writer Midori Gotō created Tomori's monologues and poems in Episode 10.

Animation

According to Kakimoto, the animation was almost entirely produced in-house at Sanzigen, and every animator worked on multiple episodes. The creative team also entrusted Sanzigen's animators with handling both the storyboards and directing. Studio president Hiroaki Matsuura pointed out how the series fuses CG and hand-drawn techniques. While most of the visual elements were produced as CG, Sanzigen's animation team added many hand-drawn details such as refined hair, eyes, and shadows, particularly for close-up shots.

Matsuura said that Episode 3, which is entirely presented as a long take showing Tomori's point-of-view, was inspired by a particular artist’s live footage and that he specifically requested for the episode to imitate its feel. To write the episode's script, Ayana watched the film ''Being John Malkovich'' so as to understand how to best write a story presented from a first-person perspective. Because Tomori herself was not visible for most of the episode, with her presence primarily being conveyed through her spoken dialogue and the occasional use of her reflection in mirrors, Ayana had to consider how to best tell the story with the visuals of what she witnesses, which she described as a novel challenge. She also noted that the infrequent use of mirrors in the episode expressed the nature of Tomori's character, as she would rarely look at her own reflection.

The fixed camera shots in episode 7, which followed MyGO!!!!!'s movements in the dressing room prior to their first concert, were also given particular attention, and Ayana watched the hidden camera television program ' to inform how to write for these scenes. Matsuura explained that in the wide shots, the characters were always moving, which he said was not standard for other anime but made the scenes feel more believable. Kakimoto agreed that the fixed camera system better captured the band's natural interactions with one another, as opposed to following them closely as they might in a documentary context. He hoped the audience to feel as if they were MyGO!!!!!'s live staff or one of the members. To inform the animation of certain scenes, the writers and animators sometimes acted out the story's events during meetings. In particular, Ayana acted out how she had envisioned Soyo's movements during the ending of the eighth episode, when Soyo begs Sakiko to reform Crychic; one of her co-writers acted as Sakiko during the demonstration.

The live concert scenes of the anime were all recorded by real musicians, including Daisuke Hasegawa, the guitarist for Aqua Timez, and Ryuhei Kinoshita. For the scene where Anon Chihaya makes a mistake during a performance, Hasegawa intentionally hit the wrong strings, and recorded close-up footage of the hand movements, which was then provided to Sanzigen as reference material. Storyboard artist Tomomi Umetsu enriched the live performance scene in episode 10, while animators improvised the members' expressions and acting nuances under the guidance by CG director Daichi Omori and Motomu Endō.

Themes and analysis

In a departure from the main ''BanG Dream!'' series, ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' focuses on organic drama and interpersonal strife. Kakimoto said this work delves into more serious storytelling such as people's gloomy emotions, conflicts, and tangled relationships. He stated that this work breaks away from the framework of previous series' animations where "characters formed a group together because they like each other". He additionally said that ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' is a story about characters no longer hiding the flaws and shame they once tried to cover up, and still seeking connections with others in spite of their emotional wounds. Nemoto explained that precisely in a social climate where people easily compare themselves to others through social media and the Internet, he believed depicting struggles and vivid human nature could create a work with stronger emotional resonance. Taki Shiina's voice actress Coco Hayashi mentioned that one of the core themes of ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' is "finding a place to belong". According to ''Anime Feminist'', the series touches upon content such as depression, anxiety, shyness, asociality, stalking, parental abuse, effects of divorce, and feeling of alienation by microaggressions. Animate Times pointed out in an anime guide that the series depicts a messy human drama that fully emphasizes discord among members and the self-righteous behavior of the characters, causing the anime to be sometimes called a "depression anime" due to this storytelling style.

Masaki Endō from Oricon News pointed out the anime stands out among band-themed anime by depicting the anguish of lacking excitement and the frustration of youth through delicate emotions and presenting strained relationships akin to the real world. He believed that this approach reflected recent trends of works centering on communication-challenged protagonists, after series such as ''Komi Can't Communicate'' and ''Bocchi the Rock!'' gained audience acceptance. ''Natalie'' writer Shouki Ōta described "girls expressing their emotions" as the central narrative element of the anime. He thought ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' centers on two elements, including the intertwining feelings that await at the end of intertwined human relationships, and the self-consciousness that is unique to adolescence, while the series depicts these two elements through the two themes of girls' high school and girl band.

Yuki Kawano of Japanese online magazine '' DenFaminicoGamer'' interpreted the character Anon Chihaya as a metaphor for modern people. He described the character as "cheerful on surface, yet only concerned with herself and unwilling to exert effort". He also characterized the series as having an emotionally heavy style, saying it depicts the intricacies of human relationships and the character's pain with "more realism than actual reality", similar to Japanese daytime drama and Korean drama. Leyvan, another reviewer for ''DenFaminicoGamer'' noticed the "textbook-like efficacy of human relationships" depicted in ''It's MyGO!!!!!''. He suggested that the development of social media and other technologies in the 2010s, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to the younger generation's failure to cultivate interpersonal communication and social skills during adolescence, and that ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' reflected these anxieties and "mirrors the era". Further, he said the series' depiction of shared emotional trauma can be interpreted in countless ways depending on the viewer by projecting their own life experiences or current circumstances onto these elements.

Media

Anime

An anime television series centered around MyGO!!!!! that serves as the spin-off and chronological sequel to the main series was announced on April 9, 2023, during the band's 4th concert. It is produced by Sanzigen and directed by Kōdai Kakimoto, with Yuniko Ayana writing and supervising series scripts. It premiered on June 29, 2023, with three episodes premiering on the same day, and aired until September 14, 2023, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme is "One Droplet", while the ending theme is "Bookmark", both performed by the eponymous band. Crunchyroll streamed the series. Muse Communication licensed the series in Southeast Asia.

On January 6, 2024, it was announced that the anime would be made into a compilation film split into two parts with new footage that aims to add focus on band member Rāna Kaname, revealing the two parts would be titled and . The two parts of the compilation film opened in Japanese theaters on September 27 and November 8, respectively. Crunchyroll reported that both parts of the compilation film aired in over 70 Japanese theaters.

Episodes

Manga

A manga adaptation written and illustrated by Yuama with story by Yotsuji Haibuchi that retells the story of Crychic from Soyo's perspective, titled , was announced on October 21, 2024. It began serialization in ''Comic Growl'' on December 27, 2024, in both Japanese and English, with its chapters collected in one volume as of May 2025.

Other media

A series of shorts focusing on the daily lives of the members of MyGO!!!!!, titled , started releasing on the band's YouTube channel in August 2022.

Reception

In the Anime Preview Guide on ''Anime News Network'', responses to the series premiere were mixed. Some reviewers found its pace engaging for its differences from previous similar anime such as ''Love Live!'' or previous ''BanG Dream!'' installments, with Christopher Farris describing it as "impressively melancholic", while James Beckett disliked the narrative's tone and found it dull in comparison, and Richard Eisenbeis felt that the plot was difficult to follow. The characters, particularly Tomori, were generally praised. Despite his dislike of the episode's pacing, Beckett found the show's 3D animation and visual style to be strong, while Nicholas Dupree and Rebecca Silverman had mixed feelings about the look of the series. The series would win an award at the 2023 Reddit Anime Awards on the r/anime subreddit for the "Anime of the Year" prize, from the award jury. It was voted as the Best Anime of 2023 on 5channel. Taki Shiina's line was nominated for the Grand Prize at the 2023 Anime Buzzword Award.

Farris expressed eagerness to see how ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' would fit into the larger franchise prior to the show's premiere, and later reviewed the entire series for the publication. He praised Yuniko Ayana's writing, the characters, the animation and visual direction, and the show's emotional weight and dramatic tonal and narrative differences from past ''BanG Dream!'' installments, calling the series "the most wildly ambitious" entry of the franchise, and credited it with reinvigorating his enthusiasm as a ''BanG Dream!'' fan. He would later select it as his favorite of the summer 2023 season, and ultimately of 2023 overall, and said that he was eagerly anticipating the sequel. He also named the song as one of the best anime songs of 2023, citing its use in episode 7 to show Tomori's character development. Despite his praise, Farris felt that the final episode was an "awkwardly abrupt conclusion" and noted that some scenes can "look too washed-out or too dark."

Steve Jones, who also selected it as his favorite of the year, had similar praises. Jones particularly emphasized the perceived ''yuri'' subtext of the series, attributing its presence to Yuniko Ayana's history with the genre in works such as ''Flip Flappers''. In particular, Jones highlighted the "bold and almost experimental swerve" of the first-person perspective in which the third episode is told, and the scene in the eighth episode where Soyo and Sakiko argue as his favorite anime scene of the year, calling it "indistinguishable from a fight between two exes." He additionally named Anon his favorite character of the year, praising the character for her emotional depth, uniqueness, and interesting development throughout the show.

Nick Creamer wrote on the Crunchyroll blog that while it may be hard for some fans to find the series, it differs from the dramedy of ''Love Live!'', rising to become one of the "most beloved productions" of 2023, and predicted it would become beloved in 2025, noting the series' mix of "tortured personal drama, rich character arcs, and...heart-on-sleeve musical performances." He also argued that the series writer Yuniko Ayana provides the backbone and personality of the series, constructing a "rich web of emotional hangups and personal connections" while paying attention to character acting and visual framing, engaging in melodramatic psychological drama which makes it a standout series within "the music drama ecosystem."

Yota Tokuda of '' Real Sound'' stressed that the storyline of ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' was against the tide from previous idol anime. He pointed out the portrayal of failure and split of the band members happened after a successful live performance in episode 7, embodying the "rock ethos" that overturning the established norms of music anime. He also praised the performance in episode 10, suggesting "they seem to be attempting resistance by creating a new kind of circularity, breaking free from the tragic cycle. ''Anime Feminist'' reviewer Brock K also pointed out that the anime's handling of frictions is different from the common practice of other works in this genre, and praised the more dramatic tone and style for the writing allowed all of the characters to move beyond their archetypes and be fully-fleshed out real people with flaws and all.

Chinese digital newspaper '' The Paper'' praised the use of 3DCG animation in ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' and believed the modeling, character actions and behaviors, and lighting and shadows in the anime surpass the pursuit of realism in traditional hand-drawn animation, presenting unique emotional expression and visual appeal. ''The Paper'' particularly praised the uses of the first-person narrative of the 3rd episode and the fixed camera angle switching in the 7th episode, citing that "at its core, it is a subjectivity born of creative intent, artfully concealed within an ethical framework defined by two distinct forms of exclusion and limitation…there are both precise calculations and the revelation of the traces of the scriptwriter's self-observation." Despite this, ''The Paper'' also criticizes the overreliance on this technique for damaging the sensibility of the scenes and the authenticity of their characters.

In December 2024, a newborn king penguin from Xpark, an aquarium in Taiwan, was officially named "Tomorin", a nickname of Tomori Takamatsu, after an online name voting event. Xpark contacted the Japanese producers of the anime and their Japanese management team to ensure the event met expectations and could proceed smoothly.

Sequels

Following the release of the anime's thirteenth and final episode on September 14, 2023, a direct sequel to ''It's MyGO!!!!!'', titled ''BanG Dream! Ave Mujica'', was announced. It was broadcast in 2025, with much of the staff and cast returning. A sequel to both ''It's MyGO!!!!!'' and ''Ave Mujica'' was later announced following the release of the thirteenth and final episode of ''Ave Mujica'' on March 27, 2025.

Notes

References

External links

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{{Sanzigen

2024 anime films
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Anime spin-offs
Bushiroad
Crunchyroll anime
Drama anime and manga
Fiction about post-traumatic stress disorder
Japanese computer-animated television series
Muse Communication
Music in anime and manga
Sanzigen
Tokyo MX original programming
Works about depression