Girls Band Cry

They are girls. They are in a band. And yes, there is some crying involved.

I know it won't, but god I hope rock music never truly dies.

I don't pretend for a moment to know anything about the younger generation (gen Z or gen Alpha or whatever the fuck we're micro-labeling them now), but I do know as time marches ever forward, I hear less and less rock music around me in my everyday life. Sure, trends come and go, genres fall in and out of fashion, and slogans are replaced by the by, but I feel like rock music in particular has been slowly phased into the background as "old people music", and - not to rain on the kids' parades - that feeling does kinda suck.

But even if rock music becomes less popular, the SPIRIT of rock will never die, and still shares a lot in common with anything else the kids latch onto. I may not recognize it at first because I'm used to it looking and sounding a certain way, but that ever-present zeal for rebellion, venting frustration, fighting back against the system, it's all very much alive and well. So even if I come off sounding like a crusty old fuck, it's not like I don't get it. But I gotta say, it sure warms my cockles to see it when it still looks like rock.

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Topping lists throughout all of 2024, Girls Band Cry is a 13-episode music anime about the inception and rise of, well, a Girls Band, and as you might also have guessed, there is also a certain degree of crying involved. Equal parts drama, musical, documentary, and slice of life, it's a show about the power of music itself, and its ability to channel our feelings into energy and release that into the world. Between its layered three-dimensional characters, the high octane songs, and a stunningly cool use of 3D animation, it's easy to see why everyone was raving about this show when it came out...

...if you could even watch it, that is.

Despite its incredible production value and easy audience draw, throughout all of Spring 2024 the show was not available to watch through most anime streaming platforms, instead appearing on Xbox and Prime video, among a few other less-used channels. Drawing the ire of the anime community (oh, heaven forbid), this was fixed by the end of the year and made available through Crunchyroll, with the backlash ironically increasing the show's visibility. No such thing as bad publicity, after all.

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An ongoing multimedia project several years in the making, the anime centers around a girl named Nina who - after abruptly dropping out of high school and leaving home on bad terms with her father - moves to a new city by herself, with the intent to get into a university on her own. Stubborn and dense, operating entirely on her own inexperience with everything, Nina struggles to get settled in her new shitty apartment, but everything changes the moment she crosses paths with another, slightly older girl named Momoka.

A former member of Nina's favorite indie band (Diamond Dust), Momoka quit her position as guitarist due to creative differences, and while she holds no ill will for any of her old bandmates, she wants no part in the direction the band started taking. Busking as a solo artist for a short time, Momoka is about ready to pack it in as a musician until Nina appears in her life, and pleads to perform with her. As the two talk and reveal a number of commonalities between them, it becomes clear that they could - and should - start a new band together, if at first only to stick it to Diamond Dust and/or Nina's family.

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While navigating through a litany of petty troubles, the two of them end up recruiting a drummer (Subaru), a keyboardist (Tomo), and bassist (Rupa) to fill out their sound, and the bulk of the anime focuses on the different ways these five coalesce into a coherent musical force. Aside from various band-related dramas like searching for venues to play, selling tickets, marketing themselves, and the omnipresent specter of social media, every member of the band has their own personal baggage to deal with as well. Although this often leads to strained contentions between members, it also leads to the core theme of the anime: channeling those frustrations into energy and releasing it all through the power of rock music.

Even though it's sometimes labeled as "old people music", historically, rock music has always been about channeling energy, often with the intent to release pent-up feelings. Whether these are feelings of anger, repression, sexuality, raging against the machine, or whatever, rock has always been about unbottling all that pressure in the form of loud, aggressive music. Nina and each of her bandmates is a complicated mess, and learns to use the inherent tension of their personal demons to fuel their performances up on that tiny stage, no matter what people will think of them for it.

And that fucking RULES.

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Not to mention, the show is an absolute dream for music lovers and musicians. Every instrument the girls play is a rendering of a real-world instrument (and you KNOW music nerds out there are aware of exactly which model and make each one is), and the show deftly balances showing both the challenge and glamor of a group learning to play them together. The concert scenes are absolutely stunning marvels of animation that steal the show for the most part, but it wouldn't be anything without a genuine underlying passion for the music itself. And that's where the show really gets it.

There is a scene fairly early in the show that exemplifies the inherent magic of if all, when the girls first rent a studio together with no plan on what they intend to make, only that they want to get started. Unsure of herself, Nina balks until Momoka tosses her a microphone and tells her to sing a simple scale. As she does, Momoka hits a power chord and Subaru plays a crescendo to accompany, and you can SEE the sparks light up her eyes at the possibilities. It's a moment of pure magic that perfectly captures the essence of playing music together, making something out of nothing, and what a rush that is.

I really, REALLY love that scene.

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The other thing that sets Girls Band Cry apart from its contemporaries is its decidedly counter-culture approach. Although it becomes a plot point around the middle of the series, the band's true goal is ultimately not about showing up Diamond Dust, or playing at Budokan, or acquiring a following online, or even being successful in any capacity. When it gets down to the nitty-gritty, the only thing that really matters to these girls is being truthful to themselves, and bringing that energy to their music. They make no concessions and hold nothing back. Their songs are good because they represent truth, not because they're crafted to be hits.

The fact that the penultimate episode really plays up their quest to write, record, and mix their first major single with the expectation that it will give them their big break, only for it to flop at barely 100 views even after a month, really nails the whole vibe of the show. It's not about success. It's not about getting people to listen. It's not about revenge. It's about release. That's the key centerpiece of all music, and the rock mentality underscoring it. An absolutely beautiful piece of work.

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And all that would mean nothing without the cast of characters and their numerous flaws. Nina herself is extremely stubborn; dense as a post and blunt as a shovel. While she and Momoka have a lot in common, they often butt heads due to Momoka's more easygoing, relaxed nature. It's not enough for Nina that Momoka is okay with Diamond Dust going in a different direction, Nina demands to hear what Momoka REALLY thinks about them changing her songs into something else.

She demands emotional honesty, even in hot-headed moments, because that's what spoke to her in Diamond Dust's original music. Nina so perfectly represents that rock spirit, always seeking to capture those moments of raw emotion, to stop pretending everything's fine and bottle it up, instead opting to release it in the form of music. And that wouldn't be possible if she weren't the difficult, frustrating mess of a character she is.

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Likewise, Momoka is every cool 20-something I've ever drooled over as a teenager. She's older, always laidback and chill, does things her own way, and doesn't care what anyone thinks. But - as Nina so helpfully points out - it also means she has difficulty confronting people about things that upset her, and would rather bottle up than unload on someone. This refusal to show her hand, to make her true feelings unknown, are what leads her to almost give up on being a musician altogether. Thankfully she's got stubborn friends who force her to get up there on that stage and let it all out with them.

The same can be said of Subaru, who works overtime trying to keep her drumming a secret from her fancy acting school friends and her aging movie star grandmother who wants her to carry on in her footsteps. Without confronting this lie she's living, and whether or not her intentions are to stay with the band or pursue an acting career instead, her cheerful facade only serves to annoy Nina until she forces her to come clean.

In true rock fashion, Nina gets everyone custom shirts made with each band member's personal demon written on them - Dropout, Liar, Coward. An incredible power move.

Another character I didn't expect to like was prickly perfectionist Tomo, who worries that her tendency to point out everyone else's ineptitudes and demand they tighten up the song will breed hostility and threaten to break the band apart. She has a chip on her shoulder due to parental neglect, and seeks to prove to everyone what a force she is to be reckoned with, which threatens to paint her as the band's heel. But fortunately, Nina admits she actually likes that about Tomo, since it proves she's not bullshitting or hiding anything from her. She fits perfectly within the band for this very reason.

And rounding out the band is the mysterious Rupa on bass. Having lost her parents to a car accident and constantly facing discrimination and microaggressions for her mixed heritage, Rupa's claim to fame is playing Team Mom and being the expert at breaking up tension. She is the least visibly upset member of the band, and even though her story is never really given the spotlight the same as the others, you can still tell she's channeling her emotions into her playing. I wish the anime would have given her more of a story role, but there's only so much you can do with 13 episodes, especially when you have a main character and core theme to focus on.

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Something else worth commenting on is the (famous?) gay confession scene. After another bout of realist vs idealist drama between Momoka and Nina that threatens to tear apart the band (and Nina dangerously jumping in front of Momoka's truck to stop her from leavin), the two share a heart-to-heart moment about why the band matters to each of them. Nina reiterates how much Momoka's songs meant to her during the toughest parts of her bullying-laden childhood, and why chasing that same spirit is so important now, much to present day Momoka's annoyance. Nina implies that it's not just a fan seeking to emulate their idol, but likens it to confessing her love to Momoka. And as the core song of the series plays on the radio behind them, the gravity of Nina's choice of words dawns on her, causing Momoka to crank up the volume and break out into a sob.

The way the scene is framed, it comes across less like a traditional romantic confession of love and more like a platonic or demi/asexual one. It's not quite master/student and it's not quite high school girl/college girl, but somewhere in between. Nina isn't afraid of butting heads or being confrontational or calling out bullshit, even when it would be rude to do so, and this kind of underscores the real meaning behind her using the metaphor of confessing her love for Momoka. It's not queerbait per se, it definitely feels like love, but it's a very specific non-traditional kind of love, the kind that makes sense for someone like Nina. I was a bit ambivalent about this scene on my first watch because it felt "ingenuine", but I think it's because I had certain yuri trope expectations that weren't met. Lesson learned!

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Anyway, I think that about wraps it up. A solid story about the inherent punkitude of forming an all-girls rock band, fighting demons in order to make something together as a team, and sticking true to your own self-expression regardless of what society or anyone else in your life demands of you. The animation and production quality is out of this world for a non-movie original series, and - as expected of any music anime - the soundtrack is nothing but wall-to-wall bangers and bops. Anyone could reasonably enjoy this show, but I expect it will ring even truer for music buffs and rock rebels, and I'm absolutely beaming with pride at its commitment to keeping that spirit alive.

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Predictably, all of my recommendations for similar shows will be musical dramas, but among them all, the best follow-up I can possibly provide is an anime by the name of Nana. A slightly more adult excursion, Nana chronicles the lives of two women with the same first name who end up living together under different circumstances but inexplicably bound to each other in a gay/not gay way through their shared love of music. The show is considerably darker in tone and rife with unhappy endings, but its core hits on many of the same underlying emotions and personal demons as Girls Band Cry, so consider them estranged siblings both worth checking out.

A few other noteworthy music anime recommendations are the extremely queer Jellyfish Can't Swim In The Night (which aired alongside Girls Band Cry in 2024), and the eternally beloved superstar dramedy Carole & Tuesday. For something less Japanese, there's a Canadian cartoon called Grojband with some similar leanings, and 80s icon Jem remains an under-appreciated wildcard that can easily surprise you with how genuine and heartfelt some of its more tender moments can be.

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There. I finally did what I said I would months ago and got this review written! Now to kick back and relax before inevitably starting the next one...