The great music adventure in Show by Rock!! begins after Cyan decides to play her favorite rhythm game and suddenly gets sucked in, finding herself in a world called Midi City where music reigns supreme. She learns that anyone who delivers amazing and powerful music also has the ability to control the city. However, not all music is pure. An evil plan is set in motion to engulf the whole Midi City in darkness. Is it too late for Cyan to do something?
Cyan Hijirikawa always regards herself as nothing but an ordinary girl living in a mediocre world. She has great talent and extreme guitar skills, but she also lacks the confidence to take the first step in realizing her dream to play in a band and be a music millionaire! Little did she know that an eminent power resides deep within herself—the power to defeat evil with her magical music!
Join Cyan, Chuchu, Retoree and Moa in a world where music is everything.
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Comentários
Veronin
Man, I really wanted to like Show By Rock. There was something quite special about it for a short time. It strayed very much on the 'simple' side of entertainment, confident more in the cuteness of its cast than anything else, but damn, it worked. It brought me the same sort of joy I felt back in the Middle Ages when K-ON first started airing. But, as seems to be the trend with most anime, it decided to abandon everything it did well and instead shoehorn in a cheesy, boring action story that the characters were obviously not meant to be a part of. Great.I remember telling my friends to give the show a shot beyond the first episode, which, at the time, seemed very misleading and unlike anything that came after. And while I would still stick to my comment that there is nowhere near as much CG as the first episode suggests, the actual content of the anime-- its story, its themes-- is that same nonsense over and over again. The interesting bits in the middle of the anime are the actual misleading part.
There is nothing wrong with an anime not being what you expected it to be. Genre shifts, when done effectively, are one of the most powerful techniques in storytelling. It's not necessarily the change in style or genre that is the issue with Show By Rock, but that what it changes to is so half-hearted, so stale and lifeless that you can't help but wonder if, maybe, something went wrong during its production. Half the time it wants to be a light-hearted music show, and the other half it wants to be some deeply emotional battle opera. And as a result it succeeds in being neither.
The melodrama is tiresome, to say the least. Far too little time is spent developing the characters before it is suddenly thrown our way. Five episodes in, nothing meaningful or interesting having occurred with the characters yet, it suddenly acts as though we are supposed to care when the main four's friendship is falling apart. Give me a break. The reason why K-ON-- the anime that Show By Rock clearly wanted to be-- worked so well is because it focused on making us care about the characters long before doing anything dramatic or emotional with them. Drama, if meant to be taken even remotely seriously, is a privilege that must first be earned. Show By Rock does nothing to earn it. It acts as though it is the audience's duty to cry along when the background music urges us to. No thanks. It can take my groans and sighs instead.
And, really, it's stuff like this that is the biggest disappointment, because there's clearly some signs of talent hidden underneath all its problems. During the sixth episode, Cyan sings a love song in order to show her true feelings (demonstrating how important the music - supposedly - is to her), and her seiyuu actually sounds like she's about to break down and cry during it. There is obviously no real emotional response to be had with this scene, but the execution itself is pretty remarkable. If it had actually been put at the end with the rest of the series slowly building up towards it, it could have been a genuinely amazing scene. There's some neat pieces here, but the pieces are arranged so poorly that none of it actually means anything. If you slap pretty things together with no consideration as to how each individual piece works, it will invariably be a mess.
I suppose the addition of four bishounen characters helps add some variety to an otherwise one-note story, but the entire time it just felt as if they were taking precious screentime that could have been better spent developing Cyan and her friends. Or, heck, they could have had their own show instead - at least the stupidity they got themselves involved in was more entertaining than all the drama with the girls. As it stands, it feels like the production team had far too many visions for the anime going on at once, and rather than settle for one, they attempted to incorporate all three or eight of them.
If nothing else, at least the sound and visuals don't entirely suck. The opening is super cute and feels like something that would have come straight out of K-ON, which, in my book, is certainly not a bad thing. The CG, on the other hand, is very much off-putting-- switching between two distinct art styles rarely ever works well-- but it's not frequent enough to truly be bothersome. Even when there is big explosive CG action nonsense going on, it looks fine. It actually carries a sort of professional quality to it, which sets it apart from pretty much all CG in anime. It's just that the traditional 2D stuff is so much more appealing, what with all the adorable faces and poses that Cyan makes...
You've probably guessed from all the complaining, but I am not a very big fan of the show. I cannot recommend watching it unless you are bored out of your mind and possess a bottomless well of patience for mediocrity. You won't be missing anything of great importance if you decide to skip on it and check out something else instead, anyway. I actually had it on-hold for two months without even noticing-- it's that kind of show.
98T4nk
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.
KimchiHydralisk
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.
Vampirizian
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!
Duztie
Now, when you first look at this anime you'll think how is this different than any other "Music animes" Well here let me tell you a little story. When i first started watching this series my thoughts were, how can this compete with for example Love Live! School idol project, since that was the first "Music Anime" i watched, (i think?) Well let me tell you something, I was wrong. I can't compare it. Show by rock is about a girl named Cyan, who is terrified of everything and everyone, her self-confidence is -10, what we get in this anime is the character development of Cyanand her group, combined with many other characters and groups all this in 12 episodes. This is the part where you'd think "Holy shit how is that possible, it has to be like very shallow!" Well you're wrong, if you listen and learn from the Character development episodes, you'll see that it is more deep than you'd ever thought.
I did not have high hopes for this anime, the only reason i started watching it, is because kissanime (Kissanime.com) described it as "A kitty girl wearing gothic lolita clothing" I got totally sold from that preparing my body only to watch that kitty girl.
Now that i've watched it i'd recommend it to anyone who likes anime. It doesn't matter what kind of genre they like, they will love this one aswell.
The problems this Anime had is following:
First off the cgi was insane i mean, it really looked kinda terrible, but when you get used to it or are used to cgi normally (which i wasn't) it turns out to be a very nice eye show.
Second, since the anime was very short they had to hurry up the story a bit, even though the CH. Dev. was amazing, the story took quite a hit and is very fast progressing. (imagine if the story was just amazing as the CH. Dev. Holy shite that'd be a favvy of mine)
Third, the music, now when you think about a music anime you'll think "Oh man! Alot of new music!" Well it's too bad that in this anime, they have too few music parts, this made me quite sad, making it only an "8" in enjoyment.
But overall it got a 9 which is quite nice actually.
Thank you for your reading hope you'll learn something from it atleast :)
Cuddles! //Duztie
SkyNoHoshi
Rock and roll, it is always a genre that lots of people get excited about. But what if I were to mash rock and moe? We probably have some anime that got this kind of crossover, one example being the famous K-On series. This season has one anime covered for this crossover, and you may like it a lot if you are into both things. Show By Rock!! is based of a rhythmic video game aimed for the male audience. Its anime is produced by Bones, which was honestly shocking when I researched on its production staff months ago. I never thought that Bones has donemoe before (or maybe they did, I just do not know yet), so this might be an interesting take. The story sets in Midicity, a city that never sleeps and always up for music, and revolves around an aspiring rock band of four band members Plasmagica. One of them is Cyan, who is sucked into this world from Earth. Her introduction to Midicity makes a big notice to many - having to fight a “dark monster” and afterwards she is found by the president of Banded Rocking Records, which manages Plasmagica and Shingan Crimsonz, called Maple. From then on, the band has a wonderful experience rocking out together, meeting with more-famous bands along the way and a fun journey ahead. But as they enjoy their fun times, danger looms around Midicity.
The story is pretty much episodic, usually dealing with problems that came about either through themselves or a band. Apart from that, there is also a sub-plot which I looked forward for the most about these “dark monster”. I found the overall story is nicely-executed and it is quite simple to understand the context of it. The story is comedic most of the time, with a lot of cute moments to feel happy about. Sometimes, it can get quite dramatic when there is a fallout and I do not think it is forced. The anime has no major problem with flaws such as plotholes or pacing, although I think the last episode has a lot of things happening - it is something that many anime suffer, but what can you do anyway? I must say that it is a great original anime done well.
Plasmagica may look like a very weird rock band, but after watching the anime, I feel that the band possesses something unique, despite how ordinary they might be in terms of music. With guitarists Cyan and Chuchu, bassist Retoree and drummer Moa, they make an interesting combination to look out for whenever they perform. Since they are the main focus of the story, they are the main characters of the anime. They have different personalities that are similar to other anime characters, however still enjoyable to watch because of their interactions. Each of them have developed along the storyline, especially for Cyan, who used to be shy in her real life counterpart. The cast has also other bands such as Shingan Crimsonz - a male rock band with a theme I could not describe, Trichronika - which is introduced in the first episode, and more. A few of them look like opponents to Plasmagica, but nevertheless all of them give a push for the main band’s progress, and it is nice to see that. There is also the antagonist of the anime who is related to the “dark monsters” and he plans to take over Midicity with the help of someone.
I want to stress that 3D animation does not mean the anime looks like poop. The anime has a fair usage of it, and that is during performance or battle time. You probably encounter this kind of animation on every episode, and it does not take more than 30% of an episode. My thoughts: I really love it a lot. The 3D character designs feature the band members in chibi form and the animation is so fluid, which goes along well with nice visual effects. Hence, 3D animation is not necessary bad for some anime, and it can be used if there is intention to do so. Onto everything else, most of the sceneries come from Midicity, that portrays similarly to a busy downtown with lots of flashy colourful lights and billboards, and music blasting out from place to place. They look great, but it annoys me that the sky is always dark. I wonder how the characters tell time. The character designs are nice and cute, all of them look great in their own way. Each of them has an animal trait that goes along with their design.
Being a music anime, I am glad of the music of the anime is being offered. It is nice that some bands have a unique trait with their music like that one band which fuses rock to Asian tunes. Since there are a lot of bands, expect a huge song collection from this franchise. The opening and ending songs, sung by Plasmagica, are very enjoyable and great for singing as well. The opening song is very addicting that I kept it on loop sometimes, while the ending song is more catchy. I personally did not care about the soundtrack much, but I have faith that they are nice. I love the voice acting. Being a seiyuu fan myself, I always adore these seiyuus for acting their very best in their own respective characters. Inagawa Eri’s first role is Cyan, so I like to give mention for her great voice acting and I hope to see her in future roles.
I do not understand why someone does not like this anime, and I feel that it deserves more recognition. It is one of those anime this season that has little mention but has a great quality overall. I personally enjoyed this anime a lot and I constantly asked for another episode every time a cliffhanger is dropped. I do not mind seeing more of Show By Rock!!, but I do not think there will be a sequel. Maybe a side story depicting another band is nice.
Moa for best girl!
YOHEILIKER
WARNING: MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS I mostly give animes a 10/10 because i could easily enjoy any anime and this is one of them. I must says, this was really cute, I haven't seen any moe-moe animes in a awhile and this was the one that got me. I usually wouldn't cosplay something I don't like, however I'm planning to cosplay Cyan from this show. I cringed when Cyan went back to her place, to which I really hope that there will be a second season, and it seems it will! The story was cute. Like any normal Magical Girl anime, they start with a clumsy or 'usagi-like'(sailormoon)character. This was one of them. The story was fluffy and cute, so it really got to me.
For the art, it was beautiful, it was cute for the females or mature for one of the female characters, the males in this anime were really hot- Unless you're talking about the antagonist and the president.
The sound was perfectly fine, I love the music they sang and it was also addicting which got me humming during class. And the voices match the characters perfectly.
Overall, this may be a short review but I can't really think of anything else because this was such a simple, but yet very cute anime. If animal ears are one of your kinks, then this anime would fit you greatly!
PS, I'm a fujoshi so I ship the hot guys in this anime lmao.
Great for fujoshis too
BanjoTheBear
(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
somaisbatman
You gotta be careful with animes based off of Android phone games, and Show By Rock is one of them. I've never played the game, so I went into this show blind. Did it live up to its potential? Well, I don't really know its potential, so the real question is, was it any good? The answer: eh. Story: 6 Stop me if you've heard this one: some nerd girl is too beta to join her school's band, and then her phone absorbs her and transports her to musical furry hell, where she's a lolita catgirl. She joins a band with some other furries, and theygo on a wacky adventure fighting dark monsters. Or something. Their actual goal is kind of vague for most of the show, and the parts where they actually do fight evil dark monsters are actually the least interesting parts. In addition, everything's very predictable.
Art: 7
This 7 doesn't mean that the art was average, this is a controversial one. Show By Rock has these bizarre 3DCG sections that mostly happen during concerts. They were a huge turnoff for me and many other people at the start of the show, but you'll be pleased to know that this 3DCG doesn't happen too much, just some of the concerts. That being said, the 3DCG isn't that bad - it's meant to be jarring and differing from the rest of the artwork, and it's stylized pretty well. The rest of the show is bright and bubbly, but nothing too special.
Sound: 7
I don't really like idol music, and I guess that's just my problem. To make matters worse, the lyrics of the songs they sing are utterly meaningless. At least they keep things interesting by also having an eastern band and a metal band.
Character: 9
The character design was by far the best part. As expected, the cast of the main band, Plasmagica, were all adorable, and they all get fleshed out at least a bit. The real stars of the show are Shingenzcrimson, the metal band. They're a ragtag team of really edgy guys who, despite all being really dark and edgy, are absolutely incompatible with each other. They are the funniest part of the show, and I'd love to see a spinoff show focusing on these guys. The other characters all check out nicely too.
Enjoyment: 7
If you can get past the potential-turnoff CG (or you can just skip the songs and not miss too much), the show is pretty easy to watch. You won't ever be at the edge of your chair though.
Overall: 7
Show by Rock!! plays it very safely. There aren't many curveballs or unpredictable events, but it's still enjoyable. If you're a furry, or really like idol music, you should probably go to church and redeem yourself of your sins. But you should also watch this show.
sinsoo
I am honestly not sure how to describe this series. It's like magical girl idols, meet cyberpunk setting, plus a decent amount of fan service. It's definitely unique and it could of been wonderful, but I felt as if the series fell short of all expectations I had. To put it simply, there was no way the writers could of adequately fit in everything they wanted to cover in twelve episodes. There were many plot twists that made zero sense, and had very little explanation. I found a lot of it to be shallow and not well developed. The series' ending was bland and only mademe annoyed that they decided to squeeze it into one episode. This is the main reason I am rating it so low.
This is probably the first series that adequately and almost seamlessly incorporates 2D and 3D animation. It isn't abrupt or jarring like others, nor does it seem out of place when they switch from one to the other. The animation overall is well done, and I don't really have any complaints in regard to it, really only praise.
At first I had no real opinion on the songs, but after letting them simmer for awhile I became hopelessly addicted. There isn't one I dislike. It's consistently good music, and I could listen to each over and over again. Overall the songs lend themselves more to a J-Rock style than anything else, but there is one that could be categorized as J-Pop. Really enjoyable music.
Originally I started watching this series because the character designs were just so cute. And they are. I love all of the character designs, the VA's they chose, and their 3D models as well. My complaint would be that the characters had very little character development or screentime. In fact, the main band, Plasmagica, is almost completely overshadowed by another group ShinganCrimsonz. ShinganCrimsonz isn't even a rival band, they're with the same company. They were ridiculously lovable though and their antics were great comedy relief. Downside? I think I heard them perform more than Plasmagica and I also think they displayed a better group dynamic than Plasmagica as well. They honestly stole the spotlight and the show isn't even about them. That's more of a complaint on the writing than the characters though.
The series is a guilty pleasure. Is it written well? No. Is it a respectable interest? No. But man is it fun to watch. I wouldn't recommend it to a friend unless they REALLY liked shows centered around bands or music, but it is fun to watch, and you might as well finish it once you begin it since it's so short.
GreyStoneFlinger
This anime is amazing. It is essentially Precure but with a heavy emphasis on music and rock bands. It even shares the same composer of several Precure tracks, Yasuharu Takanashi, giving Show by Rock a similar feeling. The world of MIDI City is incredibly detailed, its brightly coloured cityscape and CGI give a sense of both modernity and nostalgia. Pacing is really nice, the story rarely lingers too long on one scene. The main characters are so cute, and they have no idea how much they have been in this anime series. Cyan and Plasmagica have some of the coolest designs we’ve seen in anime girls.They are strong and capable, and have actual personalities instead of being objectified. Even the side characters are just as brightly coloured and memorable. The boy band SHINGANCRIMSONZ makes for a memorable side group, they’re pretty humorous. Maple is a silly little mascot who makes for a likeable manager. The villainous Dagger is our personal favourite, one of the coolest and most intimidating anime villains ever. Every moment he appears, he exerts terrifying menace. You can even feel the fear of the characters when in his presence. Criminally underrated. (pun on criminal)
The story has a great balance on comedy and music-making. The mystery and anticipation of the main story is amazing, making the perfect buildup to the climax. Battles in this anime are very few and far between, (around 4, if we remember correctly), but when they happen, they are breathtaking. The glass shattering sky when everything becomes 3D is incredibly well animated, and the first dark monster battle was so exciting and well-made that it felt like final battle quality. Of course, the actual final battle is even better.
This is one of the few anime that actually feels like an anime, with the cons being almost nonexistent. Exactly why Show by Rock is obscure is beyond us. We highly recommend this masterpiece, so that it gets the recognition it deserves.
NekoMinSeo
When this show aired, I must be sincere, I thought it was too cute and "stupid" for my liking; I generally thought that it would be a waste of time, yet I heard some of the music of the show and I decided to give it a try nonethless since I never really watched any idol based anime. Well, I was not exactly disappointed, but I'm going to develop it further below. Story: 6 It was nothing breathtaking, quite linear and simple, though slightly deep; it had something that just made me come back to watch more. It was cute, fun and easy to follow.I definitely do not think of it as a waste of time. My main issue with the story however, was that it lost the focal point of why Cyan was sent to Midi City to begin with. We were caught in her own internal issues, trying to interact with the other members of Plasmagica and just become friends with them; which friendship, I must add, was also quite shallow and simple. While I understand very well the importance of that, it still doesn't excuse that Plasmagica did not feel like the main characters at all, simply because it was all just so trivial and they didn't even try to go back to the main goal till the last 2 episodes. I also don't understand why Dagger in the end only picked on Cyan when he clearly said that he also needed Shu☆Zo and Darudayu, yet that was also kind of lost in translation.
Characters: 5
I really cannot think of them more than simply mediocre. As I said above, Cyan and Plasmagica did not feel like actual main characters, since I felt like they simply did not contribute to anything for the plot if it was not for playing the "roles" of main characters (only by name). Cyan was also given credit for things that she never did, which was really annoying for me to watch. I almost wished the whole anime to be about the ShinganCrimsonZ guys. They overall looked more involved in their musical career and leaned towards a GOAL, more than I ever saw Plasmagica do; friendship issues to a side. I find them the only valid characters, personally. And it was just overall more entertaining to see them bicker only to have Rom put them back in place, than cheesy cutesy of the main girls' bonding. Yet, another character that I have to praise is definitely Dagger. While he fills in the typical villain troupe and is just evil for the sake of being evil (and obtaining the best song/band), I felt like he tried to symbolize the current music industry. It might be just a personal feeling, but slave contracts, overworking and cohercing is something that I did actually heard of in the asian music industry. And I really appreciated this villain for that; and also because he was that "dark" note that the anime needed to "lighten" up the whole cuteness-spree.
Art: 8
Definitely the thing that the anime shines in. The character designs were quite unique and even if I read many opinions on the 3DCG, I was fast into getting used to it and by the end even came to love it. It really fit the whole atmosphere and they were so cute that I wanted to take them all home!
Sound: 9
Definitely considering to buy the OST. There are few the songs that I don't like. I almost wish that they would have more songs, like ShinganCrimsonZ and Tsurezure Naru Ayatsuri Mugenan; my love for visual kei and traditional Japanese style rock being one of my favorite Japanese music genres.
Overall: 6
Art and Sound unfortunately aren't enough to make me consider this anime more than fair for what it is and what it tries to do. I definitely did enjoy it, yet I can't overlook the issues I pointed out above. I recommend it to all JRock lovers out there, and don't get tricked by the "cute" first impression. It's a good watch!
xana_lee
Better than most of the music anime I've seen. 12 episodes usually make for a good short and sweet story instead of a stretched out, prolonged one. I went into watching the first episode of this anime blind. I didn't know it was based off a game so I was pretty confused why there were cgi scenes out of nowhere. I had no prior knowledge of this series so I also didn't know the characters would be turned into these miniature furry chibis. But they were pretty cute. Visually the cgi scenes were the best. I felt the pacing was kind of slow sometimes and really onlypicked up when "serious" plot happened. I also felt like Plasmagica's characterization was much weaker than Shingan Crimsonz but it's probably because the anime focused on their growth as a new band while SC was an established one with its members already familiar with each other. I'd have prefer it if they didn't have Cyan be a high schooler from another world and just.. introduce the music world to us from the start with Plasmagic already established instead. It'd make for better world building and much easier to work with story wise.
The only big complaint I have is Cyan's voice. I understand that this is Inagawa Eri's's first gig as a main character but the inexperience kind of shows. Her voice sounded best when Cyan was really angry and determined when she strummed Strawberry Heart in the first episode. But everything before that, her high pitched voice made me cringe sometimes. It did get better... or I got used to it I'm not sure. But I would definitely like to see Inagawa voice a character that didn't need to force a small, higher voice when speaking. I think she'd sound better if she went for a more natural approach. Her singing was definitely good though, no doubt about that.
Music was also good. I liked Crimson Rose a whole lot, it was definitely my fav song. I also like Tsurezure aldfjkalf THE REALLY JAPANESE BAND's song too.
Oh yeah, Miyano Mamoru was there and wouldn't stop talking and then wouldn't appear at all later. What was his significance?? I guess he was just automatically important. But who is he?? What was his ambition for music? We never find out even though we got to see everyone else's. The anime kept hinting there was more to him but in the end, we didn't get much. Huh.
7/10 I enjoyed it but I'm probably gonna forget about it. I'm really glad it didn't turn out as fanservicey or moe as I thought it would be so it exceeded my expectations there. It was a cute anime, just not groundbreaking. Looking forward to seeing more of Miss Iwagawa if she gets any new roles.
Timz0r
Studio Bones, known for One Punch Man, Boku No Hero Academia, Wolf's Rain, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and many more well known anime titles, gave us in Spring 2015 us diabetes for your ears and your eyes in the form of a cute anime show called 'Show By Rock!!' This anime is an anime adaptation of the rhythm video game developed and published by Geechs for iOS and Android devices and is basicly a show filled with music and fanservice in the form of moe diabetes level from Plasmagica and manliness from ShinganCrimsonZ. We have our main character; Cyan that BECOMES a catgirl in Gothic Lolita fashionand let's be honest; pretty much anyone that likes anime likes neko's. We have a cute bunny girl named Chuchu, we have the cute dog girl named Retoree, we have Moa the pink alien girl that reminds me as Slurpuff from Pokémon being an anime girl and we have a boys hardrock band which serves very well as fanservice for the female viewers. There's also a talking guitar, which Cyan plays and thier manager/president is a talking egg-man. I know that all doesn't make any sense if you haven't checked up it main source material, but you really should not take anything serious when you're going to watch this cute anime.
I bought the two DVD's for the two seasons blindly only by judging by the cover and I'm kinda glad I did that. People that shamefully write this show off as an shameless K-On! clone iether didn't have seen this show for real or they didn't seen K-On! iether. You really can't compare the two shows with each other. It's like compairing apples with pears if you tell me and that's coming from a guy that's a K-On! fanboy. I'm pretty positieve the main goal of K-On! was not to deal with "shadow monsters" and what not. You can compaire this anime however much more with 'The Idolmaster' anime series in a frenetic cyberpunk setting with rock music for reference if I really want to make a comparison.
The only real drawback that I have with this anime is that I'm not really a fan of transactioning sometimes in an awkward 3D CGI fest, but hey, that's just my preference. I really feel this drives the show a bit back to it's treu potential, but every anime has it's own flaws. There's no such thing as a perfect anime.
Despite this little factor with the 3D animations I really enjoyed this show and I think a well deserved 7/10 overall score is well suited for this first season.
To keep it short;
Story: 6/10
Art: 7/10
Sound: 9/10
Character: 8/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Overall score: a well deserved 7/10.
Now I'm off watching sometime in the future season 2 of this show.
BeatlesPkmnFan42
As a fan of the game, I was very excited for this anime to air. I got into the game not too long ago, in February, but in the two months from when I started playing and the anime's first episode, I was hyped. Only to be disappointed. It's a good series overall, but as a game fan it let me down several times. The AU plot was okay, but my god, did they rush it. 12 episodes was not enough time to give all the characters the development they needed, and many plot points were rushed. Chuchu's in particular comes to mind, I had beenlooking forward to that drama for the entire series, and not only did they wait to introduce it until episode 10, but then it was solved that very episode.
With this AU storyline, 24 episodes would have been more ideal, more time for the characters to grow, and more time so that the plot isn't rushed.
Now onto the part of the review that only game fans will understand.
The next issue I have with SB69A is the lack of the majority of characters. Only five out of the game's twenty (well, 21 now, but 20 when it started) bands were important, and even then, only Plasmagica and Shingan got a decent amount of screen time. Three other bands, Uwasanopetals, Shizuku Secretmind, and Shinimonogurui also appeared, but very briefly.
Uwasanopetals were fine in this, I had no issues with their appearances. Shizuku Secretmind and Shinimonogurui on the other hand.... yeah...
When episode 5 aired, the episode with Shizuku, I had assumed Shabobon and Turtle BIG were unable to make actual appearances because they currently lack human forms in the game, they haven't gotten their UR cards yet (UR cards are the only appearance of human forms in the game, everyone's in myumon form the majority of the time). I figured Bones decided to make them not there because it would have been strange having Wendy and Corriente in human form, and Shabobon and Turtle in myumon form. With this episode, I was annoyed by them not being there, but it made sense.
Until episode 7. Episode 7 had Shinimonogurui appear... and two of them were in human form and the other three were in myumon form. So what was the real reason for Shabobon and Turtle not being in epiosde 5 then? Anyway, Marimari was in human form, as was Tsugihagi. Why was Tsugihagi in human form? He doesn't even have a UR yet, why was he in human form?
Duradura, Monmon, and Gashigashi were in myumon form. Out of those three, the only one with any real dialogue was Duradura, who had one line. Monmon spoke a little, just his name (for some reason? I don't think he does this in the game?), and Gashigashi had no dialogue. All three of them only appeared for a couple seconds, and didn't appear again when Marimari and Tsughagi reappeared in episodes 11 and 12 (why not?).
And Marimari... oh, Marimari. After episode 6, when the preview for episode 7 was shown, I was insanely hyped. Shinimonogurui are one of Show By Rock's tie-up bands, meaning they're based on an actual Japanese musician. In their case, they're based on singer/guitarist/songwriter Marie Ueda, who, thanks to the game, has become one of my favorite musicians, with her amazing singing voice and very catchy songs. I was so excited to see her voicing Marimari, the character based on her! Except Marimari was instead voiced by some seiyuu who apparently only had one role before this one.
I understand that it's hard to get musicians to do things like this due to contracts, I understand completely. With the fact that they were unable to get Marie Ueda to voice Marimari, why have Shinimonogurui appear in the anime AT ALL? Why hype us Marie Ueda fans only to disappoint us? Don't have a tie-up band appear if you can't get the real musician to provide voice work.
So, with all this human and myumon form talk I've been doing, what exactly is the explanation for the forms in the anime? In the game, everyone is a myumon most of the time, but becomes a human when excited (according to a video from 2013 made to promote the game). But how did it work here? The main characters were in human form most of the time, with background characters in myumon form. The main characters went into myumon form only when performing and battling the bosses. And Maple was in myumon form the entire time, but seemed to change into human form at will in the final episode. What do the forms mean in anime canon? They didn't explain it. Why were they human forms most of the time? Can everyone just change form when they want to?
And the final problem, which is the most minor of all of them, GOONEYS (the studio who did the GCI) clearly chose bosses at random. They didn't bother actually matching the bands and bosses. This was annoying. The skeleton boss? That's the one you fight when playing Shingan CrimsonZ songs. The one Tsugihagi turned into? That was the boss you fight playing Dropout Sensei songs. The moth Criticrista were? The Demons Venom boss. GOONEYS made it very clear that they didn't give a crap what bosses they used and just chose them at random.
/the part only game fans with understand
Story: 6/10
The plot itself was fine (although the whole Cyan is a human who was sucked into the game thing was kind of unnecessary), but it was way too rushed, several times.
Art: 10/10
Very good, both Bones and GOONEYS did a great job animating. Both the traditional animation and the CG looked very nice. The CG is probably among the best CG in anime. Very fluid and beautiful to look at.
Sound: 9/10
Would have been 10/10 if it wasn't for Shuu-zo's singing. Mamoru sounded very exhausted singing that song, they should have used a better take. Doing some more takes of that song wouldn't have done any harm. If he sounded better in that song, this would be a 10. The rest of the songs were great, however.
Character: 7/10
They could have used some more development, but the anime being 12 episodes didn't allow that to happen. However, they were in character. Well, aside from Cyan but that's because of the anime's AU plot. Everyone else was fine, they just needed more development.
Enjoyment: 7/10
Due to the reasons stated above, as a game fan it was hard for me to enjoy it completely, but I guess that's what I get for expecting that much out of an adaption.
Overall: 7/10
An okay adaption, but I would have preferred an anime with a lot of episodes, with every band, and no ongoing story. An anime similar to the game would have been better.
theinternetloner
I gave this show 7.8/10, which is about a C. I liked this show. It reminded me a bit of K-On!, as both were centered around a band and the friendships within the band that grow overtime. This show, of course, has a lot shorter of a run time than K-On!, so it was not able to get in nearly as much as character and relationship development, which is unfourtuneate, but not necessary. The show's ending felt complete; it didn't feel like the main plot needed to go further or that it was cut short. However, I though there was a lot of things thatwere left enexplored in the show. I would have liked to know more about the world the show is set in, as well as the relationship between Shuu and Rom, which is mentioned, but not much information was provided. It just showed the two being antagonistic to eachother, which would make more sense if the audience really knew what was causing those feelings. There were some on running jokes in the show, mostly concerning the band ShingancrimsonZ, that didn't get annoying, per se, but were more boring as time went on. Overall, the jokes were all pretty funny and made me laugh out loud most of the time. I absolutely loved all the characters, especially the side characters who were from seperate bands. They all had interesting personalities and were fun to watch, though some of them we didn't see much of and would pop up every so often, making it difficult to discern what their character was. Another confusing and amusing aspect of the show was the character designs, which ranged from cool to what is that. A couple of the charcater's animals were easy to tell and for a few, one could at least make a partially accurate guess. Most of them, however, were a mystery. I had to look at the Show By Rock!! Wiki to know what animals the majority of the animals were. This is partly due to the designs of the characters looking nothing like the animals they are supposed to be. The twins from Trichronika had medium sized ears and a tail that looked somewhat nine-tailed fox-like, so I assumed they were a wolf or maybe even a cat, but they are actually fennec foxes, which perplexes me. The main and most noticeable trait of fennec foxes are their huge ears, but Riku and Kai's ears were not big at all. Fennec fox tails, too, are fairly slender and almost cat-like, but their tails were out of control. The design of Retoree, a supposed golden retriever, always makde me snicker when she ws on screen because instead of haveing actual dog ears, they gave her twin tails. I thought she was just a regular human until I saw she had a tail. She looked very out of place. What's more is that some of the animals chosen were just bizarre and sometimes weren't even animals! There was a character that was a tadpole and a few that were yokai and spirits. Their designs weren't necessarily bad, but just looked very odd next to the rest of the cast, who were mostly plain old mammals. Nonetheless, there were also lots of character designs I really liked, like Darudayu's and and Shuu's. In this review, I did point out a lot of it's flaws and didn't touch too much on the good points. This is mostly because the good points are more simple and the issues were either dissapointing, so I felt I should mention them, or funny and actually something that added to the show. I really like this show becuase of just how cute it was. The music was cute, the animal virtual animal forms were cute, and the fact they defeat monsters with music is also really, really cute. This is a show that is an interesting watch and enjoyable if you like adorable things.
Areeta9
Okay, Show By Rock!!....What do I say about this anime.... I have to say, it's a bit of a disappointment. I picked up this show because one day out of the blue I had an extreme craving for an idol anime and lo and behold I found this. It also has people with animal traits so at the time, it was a bonus. Let's start with the story. Girl who loves music ,but is too shy to join the school band gets sucked into another world which allows her for the chance to get into a band. Being sucked into another world has been done plenty oftimes, but I wouldn't really call it cliche. It's like a writing prompt. Just by that description it might not be unique ,but it has a LOT of possibilities. However, the story is very predictable. A few episodes in you'd probably already know how it ends and it doesn't really have any twists and turns that would at least make the journey more entertaining. It also tries to be two things at once. It's an idol anime but it attempts to use the "big bad trying to take over the city plot." I'm not saying that those two aspects would never work together ,but I don't feel this anime did it well. The "Big bad trying to take over the city plot" usually requires a lot more action scenes and characters either learning or fighting in some way. There is only three scenes where "fighting" initiated and only one of them can I actually call a battle. I feel like this series should have just been an idol anime and left out the villain taking over the city part. It probably would have left more room for other, more important stuff, such as the characters. Drama came way too soon as when it starting showing up and threatened to break relationships, I did not care as It didn't really show strong bonds beforehand.Also, the ending. I say NO to unexplained Deux Ex Machina.
Let me tell you this: IT IS NOT GOOD IF IM MORE INTERESTED IN SIDE CHARACTERS THAN THE MAIN ONES. Honestly, the girls bored me. Honestly, EVERY OTHER BAND WAS MORE INTERESTING THAN THEM. I'd honestly enjoy a spin off staring Shingancrimsonz more than I enjoyed watching Plasmagica. The worse part is that none of the other bands really got much screen time besides Shingancrimsonz. The Plasmagica members barely have any personality traits.
Cyan's the naive newcomer who is very shy but a very good musician and singer. She ends up the main target of the villain even though the villain explicitly states that there are others he is after, he barely pays attention to the other two more interesting characters he mentions. Anyway she ends up making the band better but outside of that we don't really know much about her personality. Chuchu's only real standing trait is that she want to be the top star and used to be willing to manipulate others to get there. Retoree is a tsundere who had few friends, that's it. Moa has absolutely no personality traits. Look her up on Tvtropes, I'm a 100% right. The group doesn't even provide any good comedy.
Everyone else seemed like they could possibly be interesting characters, but their only reason for not being so is that they weren't the focus of the anime.
Now for the Art. I personally don't mind the two different art styles ,but I understand that the shift CAN be a bit jarring. I also liked the vibrant colors. However, when it comes to the animal aspects of the characters I wish it was more obvious what animal some of the characters were in both of their forms. There was a frog drummer that looked nothing like a frog. Also maple's assistant had rounded ears so she looked nothing like a wolf. When I first saw Shingancrimsonz I couldn't tell what animals most of them were until I looked it up.
As for Sound, it was pretty okay, but the songs most of the girl bands sung made me wonder if all female pop idols in Japan sang about the same exact kind of thing.
Finally Enjoyment. I'll say this, I didn't hate it, but it lost me at a lot of parts.
Overall, it's far from a masterpiece. If you were expecting one, go away
BluePanda09
Imagine if Hello Kitty made her own rock band, then after introducing to enough moe anime she then decides to create her own anime where not only is it based off it's app game counter part but makes it so color, so catchy, so lively that you just wanna watch more? Well this is it people. This is reality at it's finest. Show By Rock may not have it all to be the greatest anime ever, but it's a really decent anime topped with it's own story, colorful cast of characters, and good musical elements to top it off. From what I can see thisshow has an average stand point. Not too bad, not too good, but honestly it's enjoyable to watch. It's funny because I'm not into moe anime that much but this is just too kawaii for me to handle, also cyan is best girl.
I hope when season two comes out we'll get the full effect on the story, music, and characters from different bands we haven't see so I can't wait. :3
NewbieJun
what? What just happened? That was it??? no, no, no, no, no , NO! The songs that were played were nice and the characters were nice (Although it is the typical nonsense kind of personalities) The decisions they made really didn't make any sense; I mean it suits the series but it kind of makes the viewers do a faceplam sometimes when watching the show..... It is defiantly for people who wanted to listen to the music cause the storyline was rushed and it feels like a big faceplam.... The music I must say was great tho!
