OP Sequence

OP: 「青春はNon-Stop!」 by Plasmagica

 

「Have a nice MUSIC!!」

From Sanrio, Bones and Studio GOONEY’s comes an anime about a young girl named Hijirikawa Cyan (Inagawa Eri) who actually doubles as a cat girl in Midicity. The premiere starts off with Cyan working up the courage to join the music club at school when she decides to play a mobile game on her cell phone instead. Suddenly she gets sucked into the game and transported into the center of Midicity where a band of handsome cat boys are performing. After watching for a brief moment, Cyan is sent into another world where a dangerous dark monster attacks her and the cat boys. Just as the cat boys are losing the battle, Cyan is granted a magical guitar known as the legendary Strawberry Heart and defeats the dark monster. After the monster is destroyed, Cyan and the cat boys are transported back to Midicity where Cyan meets three other girls who have been watching her. The three girls and their manager, Maple (Ueda Yuji) offer Cyan a position in their band and after some persuading, she agrees to join them. At the end of the episode, they form a group named Plasmagica and their encounters with other bands begins… in the meantime, there’s darkness brewing in the background which includes some sketchy characters with mysterious agendas.

Wooo… I did not know what I was getting myself into when I planned to watch this one. It’s taken me a while to actually digest exactly what happened (sorry for the late post!). It’s a cross between cute characters and 3D animation, which isn’t something that I’m familiar with and a plot that doesn’t follow the normal “cute girls doing cute things”. From first impressions alone, I know that this a show that I’ll need some time to get used to because it jumps around from battles made in 3D animation to the regular hand-drawn animation in the “normal” world. And by “normal” world, I mean Midicity. What’s weird is that there are worlds within worlds and Cyan is not just a high-school student anymore, but she’s actually a cat girl in a rock band. Not the most straightforward way of storytelling, but I guess the creators wanted to start the story off with a relatable protagonist. From here on out, there’s probably going to be a good mix of action and music battles mixed in with a cat, bunny, lamb and dog girl. Quite a different approach by Sanrio if you ask me but I still see where their influences lay.

Besides the plot that really threw me off guard, I still think the animation itself is top notch. The “normal” world is drawn by Bones and the 3D animation is done by Studio GOONEY. I realize that there’s a negative association with 3D animation so people tend to be turned off, but this one does a great job at being purposely distinctive and different. The girls (and boys) aren’t meant to be battling it out in Midicity and I like how it differentiates that fact with a completely different scene. The characters themselves aren’t exactly standouts, but I do like Maple and the comedy can be true to what anime fans enjoy. It’s not what makes me laugh personally, but the girls are cute and makes you want to put them in your pocket! If nothing else, I think the music is catchy since it will be an anime about a rock band. It’s not quite what I expected but in more ways than one, it has surprised me by what it has to offer. Sanrio says that they want to target a broader audience outside of the young girls/boys that they’ve been associated with and I think this is a step forward in the right direction. This anime is definitely different from the Hello Kitty and My Melody characters that I’m used to which was my childhood growing up. I don’t think this anime will be groundbreaking in terms of the anime industry; but it will be a way for Sanrio to test its audience.

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: #ShowByRock was quite… Not what I expected. Not sure what to make of this #Sanrio x 3D animation mix. Not to mention the plot? If anything, #ShowbyRock lives up to #Sanrio’s reputation of producing cute characters. So gosh damn cute =3 #sb69a

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Have a nice MUSIC!!」 by Plasmagica

27 Comments

  1. The response I’ve seen to this across the internet has pretty overwhelmingly been “WTF did I just watch?”

    At least Cyan is pretty adorable when she isn’t a horrifying animated CG nendoroid. Yes, I said “horrifying.” Nothing wrong with the animation there, but the art design at the CG moments are, for me, the stuff nightmares are made of.

    Wanderer
    1. yes, both Parts are Kawaii. The 3D CG is kawaii too, especial the Ending Animations. They even took care to move the Eyes accurate, that give them a bit Human Aura

      The Hand-draw Animations was also kawaii. But then, combine these Both did nit feel right. Perhaps i need more time, but somehow when i saw this the first time, as if a Crowbar hit my Head and then try to bend these two together

      Sure, it helps if the put these 3D CG into a TRON alike World, to separate them visual. But then the jumps from 3D and 2D and then back to 3D.. no the Crowbar was to strong and gave me Headache

      i try to get used to it, because i would feel sad to give up this Kawiiness Cute Show. i try, i promise Show by Rock

      WorldwideDepp
  2. I thought they had a pretty good anime going, and then a pretty weird acid trip started. It’s not bad. We’ll see how it develops. Fingers crossed hoping it keeps being weird.

    s_w
  3. Strange anime is strange. I’m not sure if Pedo Egg is hilarious or disturbing. Ortherwise good, strangely the music is so far the weakest argument for me to watch this series.

    dean
  4. Ep 02:

    2/3 Episode test Passed with Honor
    7/10 Music is good

    Show Spoiler ▼

    WorldwideDepp
  5. Ep 04:

    Show Spoiler ▼

    WorldwideDepp
  6. Ep 05:

    Show Spoiler ▼

    WorldwideDepp
  7. Ep 06:

    Yes, i like now the Path they chose for their Anime future. No more “New bands of the Week” distraction. No, they found their real goal. They are working with that they have, themselves. if they would go on with that, the MC would play subploting, and every week another new face band would take the spotlight, and only crumbs would be left for our MC band

    WorldwideDepp
  8. Ep 07-08:

    I let this two episode time to sink into me, and i must write, i do not like this “put the MC Band out of the Picture, and not even allowed to Help (Barrier)”. Well, i fear this Show is losing his Magic

    Well, come on. the Entire ED is focusing on the Group, and these Guys are just running for seconds in the background. But you gave them 2 entire Main time Episodes..

    Ah well.. Hope they give our MC back their Maincast Role.

    WorldwideDepp
  9. ep 12 (End):

    And with this Episode the Nice Music and heartwarming ride has ended. I found it very good. The end Episode is well executed. Well, its based on “hello Kitty” world. so a Arrow in heart shape would fit. It was a nice Ride, even we i feared dark clouds are arriving, but in the End Sun burst through them to give us the warmth of the Sun

    WorldwideDepp

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