Having lived abroad in Africa for most of her life, Rinku Aimoto is now returning to Japan to attend Yoba Academy, a school where DJ units—groups made up of DJs, vocalists, and dancers—are extremely popular. There, she meets Maho Akashi, an aspiring DJ who teaches Rinku the basics of DJing. The girls attend a performance by Yoba's famous DJ unit Peaky P-key, and struck by inspiration, they decide to form a unit of their own.
Rinku and Maho soon recruit Muni Oonaruto, a talented artist and Rinku's childhood friend, as well as Rei Togetsu, a shy and caring pianist. Newly named Happy Around, the group aims to use the budding friendships and combined talents of its members to become one of the top DJ units in the country.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
dlxuniuniu
Do you like good music and cute girls? Do you love the bands from “BanG Dream!”? If so, then D4DJ is the perfect anime for you! Bushiroad is a very well-known name in the mobile gaming industry, the team brought us "Love Live!", "BanG Dream!" or also "Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight". "D4DJ" is their new project which includes different DJ groups who want to be in the big spotlight one day as well. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “DJ”? I always associate this term with people like "David Guetta", "Alan Walker" or "Avicii" (R.I.P, you were a legend).Everyone knows and love them. With their music, they not only changed the music world, but also made our everyday lives happier.
Our little DJ anime focuses on the everyday life of the unit “Happy Around!”, the central unit for the D4DJ franchise. Rinku, our always happy girl, is the one who started the band. The name for "Happy Around!" also came from her habit of yelling the phrase while joyfully spinning around. She is always cheerful, optimistic and never gives up. After her first encounter with Maho, she became interested in the whole DJ project.
Deeply moved by a DJ performance she had seen in her past, Maho became interested in DJ activities herself. She is the DJ in the unit and also doing the track-mixing. Although not very enthusiastic about the whole thing in the beginning, Rinku convinced her in the end to form a unit with her. The skills of "DJ Mash" have become even better as a result.
The third girl in the unit is Muni, she has been with friends with Rinku since childhood and was really happy to reunite with her in high school after Rinku's family frequently moved around the world. Muni is responsible for the VJing in the unit. She is very close to the fourth and last member of the unit: Rei.
Rei was born into a wealthy family and is very talented in many things, of which playing the piano makes her most happy. Before meeting Rinku, she lived the life her parents had prepared for her, but didn't have the courage to make a change. Rei is very grateful for her chance encounter with Rinku, who instilled more confidence in her.
From starting the unit with Rinku's commitment to their daily training sessions and even participating in the competition at the end of the day, we experience all of these beautiful moments. All the girl get along with each other, even not being in the same unit. They just have fun together. It's a classic, pleasant slice-of-life anime with nice music.
In this show we experience how wonderful DJ music can be. We don't just hear the music from "Happy Around!" , but also from the other units like "Peaky P-key" or "Photo Maiden". Each unit has a different direction in terms of the songs and their appearance. The OP already gives you a heavy DJ vibe while the ED is just beautiful listen to, it's relaxed and exciting at the same time.
Why did I mention “BanG Dream!” in the beginning? Not only because of the same producer and studio, but also the art style is very similar to them. Even some of the voice actors from “BanG Dream” are a part of this DJ project as well. The 3D CGI is very well presented as well although I feel a little bit sad for the background characters since the difference can be spot directly. But you definitely can feel the “BanG Dream!” vibe in this anime directly. The characters and musical directions are very similar. It's just fun to watch and listen to our girls playing their music.
Besides the good music and the cute girls, I was also able to learn something about DJing. Never read or experienced anything about that before, some basics about it is also explained to us in this anime. As a big “BanG Dream” fan I was already pretty hyped after seeing the trailer, it reminded me right away. If you loved that one, you will like this one for sure!
In the end, I really hope we will get a second season. We all want to learn more about this DJ project and the other units as well!
Britannian13
Today I'll be giving my thoughts on Bushiroad's newest media project after BanG Dream!, D4DJ First Mix. This show is really great, and I'll get into why it's so great in this review. Let's get into specifics. Story: 6 Since MyAnimeList hasn't really done a proper synopsis of this show, I'll do it myself. The show follows a high school girl named Rinku, who has just recently moved back to Japan after living in Africa for years. The high school she attends, in a deviation from the standard music-centric anime, is big on DJs rather than idols. Rinku becomes enamored with DJing, meeting an unpopular DJ ather school named Maho, who begins to teach Rinku about DJing. Rinku and Maho eventually get together with 2 other girls at their high school, Muni and Rei, to form the idol group known as Happy Around!. The show follows the group of girls as they try to rise up the ranks of the school, along with their interactions with other school DJ groups Peaky P-Key and Photon Maiden.
The story is pretty standard as far as music-centric shows go, as it doesn't too anything exceptional. However, what it does is still quite solid. It revolves around Rinku and the gang climbing up the ranks of DJ groups in their high school. It is a pretty straightforward plot, but it still manages to be engaging through the music and character interactions. It's pretty run-of-the-mill in terms of the plot, but there are some drama elements sprinkled in. These drama elements are pretty good and add some more flavor to the plot. The story manages to back in plot, character development, and music in each episode without feeling off in the slightest. The pacing is good, however, for some reason, the first few episodes would sometimes have moments of silence or lingering on the same shot for too long, which was pretty jarring. Luckily, the studio behind this show, SANZIGEN, seemed to have realized this early on, as that is really only in the first few episodes. The concept of a DJ anime intrigued me into watching it and it most certainly delivers on that interesting premise. The show gives actually good insight on DJing. I learned things about it that I never knew. I bet this show will get some viewers interested in DJing.
Art: 9
I know what you all are thinking: "A CG anime having great animation? What is this guy on?" I'll admit, I too was originally concerned by the fact that this show is 3DCG animated, but all my doubts were put to rest by the very first episode. The CG is really great, probably the best I've ever seen in an anime. The characters move very fluidly, not looking janky at all, unlike many other 3DCG anime. The characters' faces are super expressive, perfectly displaying a wide range of emotions. The CG is especially impressive during the music sequences, as the animators go all out in making the dancing look authentic, the lip movement match with the lyrics, and the lighting look very visually appealing. The only gripe I have with the animation is the very little instances of traditional animation. They contrast quite a lot with the CG characters.
Sound: 10
Now this is probably the most appealing aspect of this show. To be blunt, this show has some of the freshest and sickest beats I've ever heard in an anime. Unlike idol music, which often sounds somewhat rinse-and-repeat, every DJ group's music is uniquely crafted to their image. All the group's music is easily distinguishable from each other due to their defined styles. This also allows for viewers to more easily pick favorites, but honestly, all the music is so good that I can't decide what my favorite group is. All of the music is very catchy and just a great listen. I personally listen to music from this show very often because it's so good. Even the background music is good, having the same techno cues that the main songs do. As for the voice acting, it is also of high quality. All of the voices have a unique sound to them and are very expressive. As for the opening and ending songs, they are very good. The opening performed by Happy Around! themselves, Guru Guru DJ TURN!!, is a very catchy and upbeat tune. The same goes for the ending song by Airi Amano (Nana Mizuki) and Shano Himegami (Raychell), titled, and this is a long one, WOW WAR TONIGHT ~ Toko ni wa Okoseyo Movement. I found myself never skipping these great songs.
Character: 8
The character development in this show is also quite good. All 4 of the main characters' personality and emotions are well explored. You really get a sense of how these characters feel and you begin to care about them. This show also includes 8 side characters, 4 from Peaky P-Key and 4 from Photon Maiden. While they obviously receive less development from the main cast, some of them are still well developed. Kyoko and Shinobu of Peaky P-Key and Saki of Photon Maiden have especially good characterization out of the 8 side characters. All the characters are filled with expressiveness, making their interactions with each other a blast to watch.
Enjoyment: 10
This is some of the most fun I've had watching an anime in 2020 (and a bit of 2021). I often found myself with a smile on my face while watching it. I looked forward to each and every song and character interaction every week. Watching it was a fantastic part of each Friday it aired.
Overall: 9
Even with a few small gripes, D4DJ First Mix manages to be an entertaining ride, jam-packed with great visuals, good characterization, and absolutely sublime music. Giving the music genre a fresh DJ twist, it keeps you entertained throughout the entirely of its 13-episode season. I highly recommend anyone to watch this show. This show is probably the most accessible one I've watched, as it's on a ton of different services. For North Americans such as myself, it's available on Crunchyroll, Funimation, HiDive, Anime Network, and even YouTube for viewers worldwide.
MetaThPr4h
D4DJ is a multimedia project I have been following for a bit less than a year before the TV series started, my excitement towards the anime was huge, and I'm really happy to say that not only it was nice, but it also surpassed my expectations. This anime follows the cheerful Rinku and her new (and not that new) friends as they form a DJ unit in a school very heavily focused on that activity (the funds spent on that big-ass beautiful building and all the rooms with equipment to do DJ performances must have been crazy). As the episodes pass, they will meet new rivalsthat will both bring a bigger challenge to overcome, and also become friends that will help out each other to improve even further.
One of the most important things to mention is that this is one of the rare music anime that is not really focused on drama, the characters do have problems and sad moments, but they all get resolved without being dragged out more than needed. I sure love a good drama, but I personally loved how D4DJ managed to have emotional moments while mostly just being an anime focused on sheer fun and good vibes.
Now time to take on a part that is usually very controversial for the anime watchers but that really shouldn't be the case for this anime: CGI animation. SANZIGEN is a studio focused on anime of this type, and as someone who watched how Bang Dream from that same studio drastically improved between the second and third season in terms of CGI quality, I can say that D4DJ now took it not one but three steps further to become one of the best looking works using that style of animation. It makes me so happy to read so many people who are not a fan of CGI say that they found this anime to look great and not feel uncanny as they usually feel. With that said, I have to admit that the background chars suffer from generic face syndrome, but how well the main cast looks and expresses their emotions, and how great the performances are make up for it hard.
As a music anime, one has to indeed give a lot of value to the music, and nothing to worry about, because this anime covers that section nicely as well! Nearly every episode has a new song (or two) that make you spam on loop on youtube after watching it due to how nice it sounded, and the normal soundtrack that plays during the series is also very solid and memorable. Not fully related, but since series about DJ performances are close to none, I really liked how D4DJ made sure to show the basics of how it works so one can make an idea about what the characters are doing and not just feel clueless with what the task of a DJ is.
I have to give its own paragraph to the opening song of this anime because it not only sounds fantastic and shows how good the CGI of this anime is, it also fits so well with the theme of DJ performances this work focuses on. Guru Guru DJ TURN!! Really can be seen as three different songs transitioning one after the other, and this (groovy) mix delivers hard to make it one of the best openings from 2020. Make sure to check it out if you haven't yet!
Sadly we're now reaching the end of this review, I hope I managed to convince you to give this series a chance! I glossed it over to not go full on detail, but while I really enjoy the music, what makes me truly love D4DJ is its lovable cast full of different personalities that just work greatly together (or become closer after struggling due to their ways to be), I'm sure that if you watch this anime you will end up feeling the same way and will want to see more of them. At the time of this review, we will be getting chibi shorts starting the week after to fix that, hopefully sequels will be coming soon as well!
iNDiGOxNOiSE
To kinda keep some of my biases separate, this review is split into two parts. The first being my thoughts on the show as a show (the standard “review”, if you will). The second is my own personal thoughts, as someone who actively works with touring DJs in the EDM scene, on everything related to DJing, like what I think they did right/wrong, as well as what I would’ve liked to have seen. Okay, to start off with how this show is as a show. I went in not expecting too much at all, pretty much thinking that this would just be another “Love Live!” styleof show, but not as good. My heart sank a bit further when I found out it was a 3D animated series (althought I liked the first season of Beastars, so I had some hope). I wasn’t expecting myself to enjoy it to the extent that I did. To begin, the animation allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief. The 3D animation was actually really charming. Sure, it might have been a little jarring at first, but it grew on me pretty quickly. It helps that a lot of animation techniques for 2D animation were used when animating the 3D models (kind of like how “Into the Spider-Verse” manages to make it work). There were a few assets and characters that were traditional, 2D animated, but they worked nearly seamlessly and didn’t pull me out of the show at all (unlike the second season of Beastars, which had its 2D characters stand out a bit too much, in my opinion). Next, I want to say that the characters were fun. They certainly weren’t the most interesting characters ever conceived, but they played their parts well and did leave an imprint on me. There are many upbeat characters out there like Rinku, and many slightly awkward, posh characters like Rei, but not all of them work together as coherently as they do here. Lastly, the story itself is nothing super noteworthy. It’s just Love Live!, but DJing. That’s pretty much it.
Okay, now to talk about the more personal biases I have. So, I work in the EDM scene professionally, and get to spend a lot of my time with touring DJs. Before I rip into this show a bit, I will say that there are a bunch of things they do get right about the whole thing! It was nice to see some basic explanations to what a DJ (and VJ) does, was cool to see varying subgenres of EDM used, and it was cool to see legitimate controllers being used. That’s kinda where it ends for me though. On the opposite end, I found it really weird to only have this weird concept of “DJ units”. Yes, groups exist, but I have never seen a group function as they do in this show. Typically, the VJ is never on stage, they work from a booth that’s usually somewhere behind the crowd, so that they’re able to actually see the stage. They also aren’t usually apart of the named musical group. You have a few exceptions like “DROELOE” prior to their split, but that’s still incredibly rare. Another thing you don’t really see is vocalists being a main staple of the group. Of course they exist, you have artists like “Koven” and even artists that are primarily/exclusively vocalists like “HALIENE”, but again it’s extremely rare, not to mention that they usually also are DJing alongside their partner(s). The last thing that really bothered me was their concept of a “remix”. They just kinda defined it as a song that uses the same melody but a different rhythm. It’s not exactly wrong, but it’s a far cry from a solid definition. They could have explained more about what a remix actually is, which brings me to what I wish they would’ve done in this show. I really wish they took some more time to explain some stuff a bit deeper, as well as introduce some of the concepts they missed. They barely explain remixes, don’t really touch the concept of music production or DAWs at all (which is like what half the show is, but they never address it), they never once mention any different subgenres by name, and they didn’t even go more into detail about DJing itself! There was a small crash course in the first episode, but it left out SO much. At least give us that, since it’s in the name of the show! Seeing more of these things would’ve been wonderful. Despite all that though, I’m still quite happy with this show! It was so cool for me to see representation of this thing that I love in this medium. It may have been a been uneducated, but it’s showing people that DJs don’t just pull up a playlist and stand there (which an unfortunate amount of people genuinely believe is how it works).
TL;DR - Good show overall. Some inaccuracies and plenty of missed information, but good to see DJing represented in another medium! :)
Ellenwitch
DJD4 was the last season that came out in the Fall season of 2020, and arguably it was one of the better ones of the season itself. If I could rate it 7.5, I honestly would, though it deserves the rating I am giving it now, as D4DJ deserves a lot of love for a number of reasons, let me explain. Normally I'd put all these separate, but because sound is very important to the show, and the characters are main highlight, from Happy Around, to Photon Maiden, to Peaky P.Even minor supporting characters are good within this show. All of it all blends together tomake for a very entertaining watch, let me explain.
The story follows a girl named Rinku, who has transferred to this school after moving back to Japan after spending time in Africa, and ends up meeting a girl named Maho, all because of music, wishing to create music together. They later bring Rinku's childhood friend in Mumi into the mix, along with another friend they meet in Rei and form the group Happy Around, with the goal of playing and creating music together, but also competing at Sunset stage. But of course it's not an easy ride, as there are many bumps along the way, but that is what makes it more fun. Though Happy ara aren't the only ones within the show. There is the members of Photon Maiden and Peaky P that we get to know as the series goes on. One that was pretty much the top group of the school, while the other is a more company backed group.
Speaking of the characters, I should go into more detail about them. Rinku is a lovable bit air head like girl, who is just all loving for music and such. Maho is loving for music too, but she's a little more serious then Rinku, not too serious, but both are very passionate about music. Mumi is Rinku's childhood friend, and while she can come off as closed off, she is sweet in her own way, and does treat her friendship very seriously. Finally we have Rei, the more richer girl of the group, there are certain things that she isn't accustomed too, but she isn't a snob. She's willing to try things, a happy and open book, sometimes a little shy, but that just makes her oh so cute!! But that's just the tip of the characters, there are so many more that have a range of personalities that are just well shown and well done. Good stuff here.
A major highlight and showcase of this show is of course the music. Honestly, you'd find yourself going on Yt, rewatching some episodes in case you can't find the music elsewhere, but you'll be sure to enjoy the songs over, and over, and over again. They really smashed it out the park with them. Think of it a mix of DJing, but also idol like singing, it's a great mesh, that is just really good. Just look at the OP for instance. It really is that good, you can't go wrong there.
The art is of course colourful, and the character's looks in general don't put you off at all, but the overall colours are bright, flashy, and so welcoming. Hell a lot of the time, you feel like you're at a major concert, having the time of your life, and it's really reflected within the style of the show. It's great.
DJD4 came late, but it certainly left it's mark for all the right reasons. Watch it if you haven't, and listen to all the amazing tracks afterwards!
SimpkinSlice
Do you like idols? Do you like Wubs? If like me you answered yes to both then congratulations you've found your next favourite. I won't lie as far as the story goes its a pretty standard Idol fare, if you've seen an idol show before the general beats of getting the gang together etc are familiar to you, but at least they aren't dragged out like some idol shows have recently, gangs together in the first few episodes and we're into the meat of the story fairly quick. The fact it's effectively an idol tournament arc also mitigates these issues as rather than campaigning to beat the onebig event a la the likes of Love Live, we've already had the team up against multiple opponents, with more promised in future media.
Despite what it lacks in the story, it does what it repeats well and the music and design are just so good I couldn't help but watch every episode as soon as I could and even have several of the songs on my daily playlist.
If you don't like DJ music or idols this probably won't be your thing, but hey if that was the case you probably wouldn't be here anyway!
johnbradshaw
D4DJ: First Mix proves that you don't need to save your school or become top idols to be a intriguing and interesting story. All you need is a couple of genuine characters with some original ideas backing up with great music. In a world where remixes rule the music industry, DJ and music producers are put in very high regard. In a DJ-specific high-school, our lovely and energetic Aimoto Rinku just tranfered in after spending many years in Africa. Immediately falling in love with a remix during lunch break, she rushes to the sound room and meets a young DJ followed by the name Maho. Theretheir journey into the exciting world of modern music begins.
I don't like CGI in anime and not really fond of remixes. But surprisingly, I absolutely love D4DJ. Their music presents many different tones and all pleasant to hear. The CGI is twice the quality Netflix is putting out constantly. They feel natural and the movement is very fluid. The design is a bit rip-off (You can see straight Nico-nico nii) but overall they did a great job.
The most important thing is they focus the show to be the most entertaining experience as possible. No unnecessary drama to deepen the mood, not focusing too much on competition, just having fun day after days. And yes, they do have some dramas but that's everyday life quarrels that bring out characters developments and help the viewers to relate to them more. In the end, they became genuine characters.
Overall, 9/10 very solid show. Wish they do another season for D4DJ, I want to see them more. Hearing them singing purifies my soul.
Winterwolf0839
Are you tired of watching only dark and dreary anime? Do you like cute girls and good music? Do you want to see an anime that's fully CGI that actually looks good? Well look no further because D4DJ First Mix is the show for you! Allow me to give some background on this show: D4DJ is a new multimedia project created by Bushiroad, the same studio that brought us Bang Dream, Project Sekai and Revue Starlight. Bushiroad's founder Takaaki Kidani got the idea for D4DJ when he watched a group known as the Chainsmokers perform at at the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix. Kidani claims that thepoint of D4DJ is that he wanted music that could connect people of different races, genders and generations together, much like how he saw everyone at that concert super excited to watch a group from America perform.
But that's enough on the background of the show, so let's move onto to the show itself. The anime centers itself on a girl named Rinku Aimoto who prior to the anime's start lived in Africa for most of her life only to then move back to Japan in High School. She then stumbles upon a performance by the most popular unit from her new school, P-Pkey and gets inspired to start a DJ unit herself. She then ropes a DJ at her school, Maho Akashi into joining her group and they begin to perform together. Maho teaches Rinku how DJing works since Rinku hadn't even heard of DJs until returning to Japan. Rinku is the audience's window into how this stuff works and we learn about how to be a DJ through her eyes. Later on in the show Rinku also gets her childhood friend Muni Oonaruto and a pianist named Rei Togetsu to join her group as well and they name themselves Happy Around after a catchphrase Rinku says whenever she gets happy.
The story is what you'd expect from an idol anime, with the girls shooting to become popular enough to make it to the sunset stage, a stage that only the most popular DJ groups from the school get to perform on. The characters are pretty simple, but due to all of them having very unique personalities and stories all of them are easily distinguishable. Maho in comparison to Rinku is more level headed and realistic about her dreams and desires. Much like Misaki from Bang Dream, she's the normal one of her group and provides for some levativity among the group's antics. Muni on the other hand is way more outspoken and prideful of herself and craves recognition for her skills as the group's VJ artist. She and Rinku were childhood friends and as such Muni has some resentment towards Rinku for forgetting to write to her once she moved away but still wants to become closer to her former friend. Rei is a very quiet girl who plays the piano. Due to having a rich family that more or less shelters her, she hasn't really had any chances to make choices for herself but through the group change starts to brew within her. The characters from the other two groups in the anime, Peaky P-key and Photon Maiden are both enjoyable as well so I'll talk about some of them. Kyoko is the stylish and determined leader of Peaky P-Key who finds herself very interested in Happy Around's performances. Despite being Rinku's rival so to speak, she's not really rude to her at all and instead invites Rinku to one of her group's performances. Shinobu, Peaky P-key's DJ, is a lot more competitive and serious than Kyoko as a result of her having worked in DJ field ever since she was young. She wins every one of her school's remix contest without fail and all she has to say for it is that everyone else just sucks compares to her. Saki is the soft spoken DJ of Photon Maiden, a DJ group that was chosen through auditions by a top notch label company. She has synesthesia which allows her to see colors in her music who is looking for a new color for her group.
Another one of this show's main draws is the music, it's very good. All three of the groups have very different styles and cover a different genre of music. Happy Around's music is for the most part very upbeat, fast paced and cheerful. No matter what track from them you play, you're more than bound to smile upon hearing their music. All of the girls sing in the songs, with Muni and Rinku's high pitched voices complementing the fast nature of their music perfectly. Maho's voice in comparison is a lot more normal sounding and Rei's voice is really deep compared to everyone else in her group, but it's gorgeous enough to not be too distracting. Peaky P-Key's music has a more techno hip hop vibe to it. Unlike Happy Around, Kyoko does most if not all the singing for the unit and her voice is neither to deep nor to high pitched yet has a certain power to it that makes every song she does feel crisp. If you like Bang Dream you'll probably recognize her voice actress Aimi as the same person who voiced the main heroine of that franchise Kasumi Toyama, which makes the scene were she tells Rinku it's her turn to shine feel all that more impactful. Photon Maiden has a soft techno dance vibe to it that is for the most part has a bit of a softer sound compared to how loud most of Happy Around and Peaky P-Key's songs are. Every voice actress from the group has had experience working with Bushi before with Saki and Ibuki being voiced by Chu2 and Aya from Bang Dream and Towa and Noa being voiced by Mahiru and Junna from Revue Starlight. Then there's Wow World Tonight which is performed by the Raychell (Layer from Bang Dream) and the legendary Nana Mizuki. Wow World Tonight connects all four of the members as all four of them were there at the last concert it was performed at before it's group broke up as well as being the song that allowed Rinku to meet Maho. Throughout the show neither one of the two original singers just vanishes though with Raychell's character being Photon Maiden's producer and Mizuki's character working at the cafe were Happy Around meets. The ending sequence is joyous with Maho dancing to the song as she works with her DJ discs and the OP, while more upbeat is also a joy to watch. It's performed by the members of Happy Around and throughout the song they dance around and sing. Kyoko and Saki also have a small part in the opening where both of them sing as well as the names of their groups flash behind them.
Now onto the CGI animation. CGI has become a bit of a dark horse in the anime community due to shows like Ex-Arm and Berserk 2016. So how is the CGI animation in this show? I'll be 100% honest here, it looks fantastic. The CGI allows for the characters to have some really unique facial expressions and movements as well as some really great character acting. There's this one scene were Rinku is eating her troubles away that looks incredible due to the amount of facial expressions and fluid movements throughout the sequence. The dance sequences are also beautifully animated with every character looking incredibly expressive and the movements being very crisp and sharp. There are sometimes when the 2D models clash a bit with the 3D ones but that only happens in a few moments and it's not distracting enough to take away from the rest of the show. I wouldn't put it on the same level as Houseki no Kuni in terms of animation, but it's still fantastically done and makes the show a joy to watch. SANZIGEN is the studio behind the show and they worked on season two and season three of Bang Dream as well as the franchise's MVs, movies as well as the anime for its spinoff Argonavis from Bang Dream. Another thing worth noting interestingly enough is that they also did the cutscenes for the video game Fire Emblem Three Houses, which is one of the most popular games on the Nintendo Switch and when comparing D4DJ to something like Three Houses it's very clear that they've improved a lot over the years with their CGI animation.
All in all while not perfect D4DJ is one of the most enjoyable shows I've come across last year. It's available for free on Youtube both subbed and dubbed with the dub being one of the best I've heard in ages with Rinku, Rei and Muni being perfectly cast with Rinku and Rei's vas being some of the best rising stars in the dubbing world and Muni's va being a popular streamer who actually has a lot in common with her character. As for Maho, her Japanese voice actress Kagami Karin reprises her role for the show's dub due to being fluent in English and while the accent does seem a bit weird at first it adds a layer of authenticity to the show's dub. Kyoko, Shinobu and Saki all have relatively new vas as well with Shinobu's va being completely new with no credits to speak of before this but they all do a fantastic job as well. The show is free on Youtube since Bushiroad wants as many people as possible to watch it so please do so. I highly recommend this show, it's such a great time with some great music to boot. I cannot wait for the global version of the app on May 27th and a potential season two so we can meet the three other groups Rondo, Merm4id and Lyrical Lily.
NikoNikoNiiLover
Bushiroad is a well-known company among most anime fans, as they are responsible for a decent bulk of music-based anime and rhythm games, some of which include Love Live, BanG Dream, and Project Sekai. Their most recent project is D4DJ, a music-based rhythm game revolving around six four piece DJ units, each with their own unique story and style. Since most of their past projects have gotten anime adaptations, D4DJ was no exception. And after getting hooked on the D4DJ mobile game (I have a rhythm game addiction, don't bully me), I decided to watch the anime (although I was just a little bit lateto the party).
D4DJ: First Mix is one of the exact reasons why Bushiroad is the dominator of rhythm games and their related anime. Complete with a heartwarming story and extremely likeable characters, this anime is anything but your average idol story. In a mere 13 episodes, each character is fully fleshed out and developed, and the story never feels the slightest bit forced.
One of my doubts upon starting this anime was how well the characters would be developed. While I did enjoy the previous BanG Dream anime, I found that quite a few characters were significantly more developed than others. This is likely because of the attempt to introduce five different bands at once. With six different units, I was more than a little worried.
Thankfully, only three of the groups from the game are included in this anime: Happy Around, Peaky P-Key and Photon Maiden. The other three groups were only given small cameos or background appearances, and while fans of said groups may complain, I would argue that this made the anime even better. The writers didn't attempt to shove a cast of twenty characters down our throat at once and make us immediately love them all. They instead took their time with the introductions so that we could love and appreciate all of them.
I also found all of the characters extremely likeable. There wasn't a single one I disliked. Upon starting the mobile game, I admit, I found Happy Around somewhat boring compared to the other more unique units. However, in the anime, they somehow skyrocketed up to being my favorite unit out of all six. Rinku's bubbly and easygoing and has this innocent aura surrounding her that always makes me smile. Maho is cool-headed and confident with plenty of knowledge about music, and I got to learn quite a few of the basics of trackmaking from her. Muni's adorable and reminds me of Niko Yazawa, one of my all-time favorite characters from anime, except she's more realistic and human (it appears she may be challenging Niko for first-place in my anime character rankings). And Rei is shy, sweet and talented with a beautifully angelic voice. She really reminds me of myself, as we're both shy and anxious, but also love music.
One of my favorite things from the anime is undoubtedly the friendships between the girls. They all fit so well together and I found myself smiling every time they were on screen together. Some of them even branched out and made friends with the girls from other units, like Rinku and Towa and Maho and Shinobu. I particularly loved the friendship between Rinku and Muni. It reminded me of how much I miss my old friends from grade school, and episode twelve was such a real episode for me. When the two of them fight about things in the past, it just felt so...real. I really don't know how to describe it. It just really touched me.
Some people may complain about the animation over anything else, as the anime is animated fully in CGI. This may annoy a lot of people who prefer classic animation, but if anything, I think the CGI just enhanced the anime and the story even further. The expressions and movements of the characters looked much more fluid than they would have if the animators had used classic animation, and it also helped the characters look more expressive. The little details and changes in the animation depending on the respective character was also impressive. I loved how when Rinku was invited on-stage to perform with Peaky P-Key, her dancing was more energetic. I loved how at the very end, when all three of the units performed together, Towa was the only one who knew Happy Around's choreography. It's the little details that help the story flow more smoothly.
Since it is a music anime, I should also say a thing or two about the sound. And I personally thought the music was outstanding. There was not a single song I disliked. I am a huge fan of electronic music, and the ability of the producers to fuse electronic music and idol pop was incredibly impressive. Every song sounded unique and fit the feel of each unit perfectly.
In the end, D4DJ: First Mix was nearly perfect. The only criticism I really have is that while some characters were animated in CGI, others were animated with classic animation. It just felt really lazy to give some characters CGI animated models and to just use classic animation on the side characters. It also looked very out of place...almost jarring. Other than that, the anime was absolutely amazing. I hope to see a second season in the future so I can learn about the other three units and their stories.
Irvine_Only28
D4DJ: First Mix is a really good anime that I have watched! The storyline, characters, music, and other stuff; it's just, good! I really like how the story had a mix of emotions that I, obviously, got happy (because of Rinku, the main character in the anime, who gave me, as well as the viewers, the happy and energetic vibe)! As someone who likes these kind of anime (the one with the Music genre, similar to BanG Dream!), I really enjoyed watching this. I vibed to the music as well, especially on the parts containing live performances. I personally got attached to Happy Around's story allthroughout the whole anime. It showed how HapiAra got formed as a DJing unit, and them slowly improving on each episode. The side characters, particularly the ones in Peaky P-Key and Photon Maiden, gave the anime some extra spark (a spark that adds up to the spark Rinku and the others are giving). Even the cameo characters as well, they also gave life to the whole thing. Personally, I really like the insert songs here as well, and it's really boppin'!
The character development in the anime is also nice. Especially with the two childhood friends here, Rinku and Muni. They did the best character development during the anime in my opinion. The other characters did the same as well, including the side characters. Each of their personalities may be different, but personally I relate to their stories as well. I will also include the other side characters as well, since they are given life as well. What I mean by that is, in my personal experience of watching anime, some characters are, well, just there. They are just simply elements of the anime. But here in D4DJ, there are extra characters that not only is treated as a simple element, but also as part of the story.
I will also include the fact that the characters are voiced really well! Character voicing in anime is really an important thing to give an anime series life. The voices behind the characters are really nice, since it describes their characteristics and personalities. And I just mentioned that voicing an anime character can give him/her life, and this gave a lot of life (emphasis on that).
Again, I really enjoyed this anime, that's why I gave it a perfect score on all aspects (story, art, etc.) Simply put, it's an amazing anime to watch. It's also enjoyable because of the story, and you can feel a lot of emotions by just feeling the whole thing by heart. I got satisfied by this anime so much that I want to rewatch it, just like what I did on all seasons of BanG Dream! To all of the team behind D4DJ: First Mix, the staff and voice actors, you really did a great job on producing this anime! Kudos to all of you!
thundercracer
As a long time fan of Bushiroad's various idol projects, I was very excited to start D4DJ. I fell in love with it the very first episode and immediately got my girlfriend on board with me. We've been keeping up with it every single week, absolutely enthralled with these characters. I love the music most of the groups have; I've been listening to the singles non stop since I found out about this series. Very excited for the English server of the game coming out also! But the music isn't the only thing that does it for this show. Of course, being a music andidol genre series, it does perform in that regard as well. But, the key factor here is absolutely the fun and colorful cast of characters that we have running around.
Photon Maiden and Peaky P-Key are so fun and interesting, and I hope we get a second season to explore them and the other bands as well. But Happy Around! stole our hearts. These four girls have such strong chemistry as a group and as characters, just sitting there and watching them talk was so entertaining and has been the highlight of our week. The expression work and modeling of the show are great and make for such a fun style.
I do have to say that it was rather jarring every time they switched between the main 3D models of the star cast/unit members, the 3D models of the other background students, and the 2D style of the more relevant side characters. I hope if we do get a second season that they improve on this, since that is my one critique of the show.
All in all I had such a good experience, just as I did with the first 2 seasons of Love Live and the Bandori series. Looking forward to more D4DJ!
superp2222
When I first watched BanG Dream, I found myself extremely confused and frankly very repulsed from the spunky nature of the main characters and how by simply being too sticky, Kasumi can somehow pull together an entire band. Admittedly when I started D4DJ I felt that Rinku embodies many of the similar traits Kasumi showed, however, the overall flow of the anime felt a lot smoother compared to Bandori, and I ended up finding myself even more immersed in it than I thought I would. D4DJ is a bit of an enigma in terms of what exactly it is. It's not strictly a DJ group, sinceall they do is just mix and transition music. It's not a band either, since not all of their members play instruments. Nor are they an idol group since their songs aren't pre-made and rather mixed live. It's sorta a bit of everything, an Idol Group that mixes and performs its songs live on stage, and by doing so it seamlessly blends all 3 genres and aspects of music into one seamless transition. It's very refreshing to experience and definitely innovative, and when backed with the right characters and progression of events, the entire anime feels alive and vibrant.
Story
The story of D4DJ is honestly the weakest part about it, and yet even if you're seeing the classic niche events that every Idol/Band anime includes, it doesn't feel as niche as the others. The story follows your classic hotheaded girl who's charisma attracts together a group of people as they attempt to win a title in the local esteemed competition. Along the way the group bonds with a sleepover, some minor conflict happens with at least one member of the group, a study session is held because the spunky ones are always in danger of failing finals, and they persevere with the power of friendship. It's the bread and butter formula of all of these idol groups and this formula has been done to no end. While D4DJ is prone this repetitive formula, the redeeming aspect is not in the main group Happy Around, but rather in its rival groups Peaky P-key and Photon Maiden. The best example I can come up with is sorta like A-Rise in Love Live, a well-established group that serves as formidable rivals to the main group µ's. In D4DJ the extremely well-established and popular group exists in Peaky, but D4DJ also has a ground-up rival in Photon Maiden. This creates a more rough interaction between the groups that leads to them creating a seamless bond that can clearly be seen throughout the anime, one that Love Live's A-Rise failed to create.
Art
D4DJ is one of the few animes to feature CG 3D characters. While they're not the only ones (Argonavis from BanG Dream also uses it), they went way past 11 on it. While their character are basically 3D models, D4DJ still incorporates a lot of cartoony aspects that you normally wouldn't expect. Rinku's reactions are always comically hilarious because they would go nuts with the effects, replacing her eyes with the classic ">.<" face or maybe replacing her eyes with straight up fire emojis when she's fired up. It creates a wonderful comical aspect that you wouldn't otherwise find in animes, especially not animes with 3D CG.
Music
As a music anime, D4DJ's heaviest selling point is in its music, naturally, each group and episode features unique tracks that illustrate the DJ style. The OP itself familiarizes viewers to the concept of DJs, as its comprised of 3 entirely different songs seamlessly blended together in a true DJ fashion. Each group also has its own unique style. Photon Maiden's songs give off a galactic vibe while adhering to their "cool and stylish" mentality. Peaky P-key's songs are powerful and the mixes feel well-made. Happy Around's songs are vibrant and give off a scattered feeling. Apart from that, you can physically hear the aspects each group is gunning for and use the music alone to pre-determine the winner before it is even announced. In the versus round between Photon and Happy, you can tell which song had the most impact on the audience, and in the final showdown the minute you hear the songs it becomes clear what will happen.
Characters
Last but not least, every one of these DJ units has to be supported by a powerful team. The story follows our main 4: Rinku, Maho, Muni, and Rei. The 4 of them create a very distinct and contrasting dynamic that not gonna lie, kinda reminds me of Doki Doki Literature Club. Rinku is the spunky and clearly overcaffeinated main vocalist, Rei is the bookish, quiet, yet talented composer; Muni is your Nico-style cutesy yet kinda egotistic Video Jockey/Arts person, and Maho is the rising star and respectable DJ. Their tropes have been done to no end, yet what sets these groups apart is the dynamic the anime gave to them. Rinku has an explanation for being overhyped because she literally is a monke brain, Maho actually puts herself to her limits to better herself instead of just sitting in front of a desk ruminating about some obscure strategy, Rei's rich upbringing makes her a bit distant but she wants to get to know the group better by actively taking the initiative and even leading some events, and Muni's childhood connection, as well as background support, prevent her from being a Nico Nico Nii joke. The other groups receive just as much attention as well. The dynamic established between these groups makes it so that all their characters, no matter how flat or how much of a cardboard cutout they are, appear in some degree to be rounded and well-developed. Photon Maiden is your classic Cars 3 designer-made tactically optimized group with songs that fit their dynamic selected by a professional record label, but their DJ, Saki, struggles with remixing and wants to create a track that has "its own color". (The way they built Saki as a character makes me think she has Synthesia which is why she's so obsessive about the colors and that just makes that entire episode feel way better). Peaky is the frontrunner of the school, but the character dynamic that many members of its team shares with the main cast in Happy Around makes them feel not like cocky assholes but rather upperclassmen who want to introduce this group of clearly passionate girls the real life of living as a DJ group.
Overall, I enjoyed D4DJ far more than I did any other music-related anime. Their characters shone so much brighter, their dynamics were so much better, and they felt like genuine characters that build their music from the ground up instead of characters built around songs.
masaroide
Story - 8 There's a very good story but with a bunch of things that could be more explored like the group that made the first music that the prota heard and also some holes in logic of the happenings or just how someone did something. The story REALLY sounds like any Love Live anime but without some cliches like the "power of love and friendship moves our group" being just more than that. Some things are funny and curiously unreal like a school focused on electronic music or if they are idols or DJs or idols of electronic music Art - 9 They used a very cool3D style that flows really well which brought very nicely some expressions that we see in almost every 2D anime. But, there's something that I just can't understand and it is the reason of some less important characters are in 2D. I can remember some scenes that there were characters in 2D while there were other two in 3D
Sound - 8
The musics are well made and the musics of each group has a well defined concept
Character - 6
Well the characters are just too generic. Every character of Happy Around (the main group) acts like some character in some Love Live series.
Rinku -> she is the main character and singer and curiously like any other idol anime is the character full of energy that wants everybody happy. I don't think this is irritating, just cliche.
Maho -> she is the DJ and has the same thinking of some characters on Love Live like Eli or Dia. "This is just too high for me" "I won't be an idol" and after meet the prota change her mind after feeling "power of friendship"
Muni -> this is the cute tsundere character just like Maki, but better.
Rei -> and this is the shy character that has a "deep" voice, but I just can't compare her to some other Love Live character.
Enjoyment - 7
I found it way better than any Love Live series even being very similar to it. The musics are really well made and different depending which group you are about to hear. I liked the variety of electronic musics inside the anime differing from just a group or solo song, making a rivalry between the musical groups and consequently inside the fanbase that could be as big as Love Live fanbases but with an unfair error.
Overall - 7
This anime tried and really did some quite impressive things but it stumbles with a critical point, in my view: little money.
I know, 3D is more expensive to produce and that's a big positive point, but there were some points that with more money could be fixed like some characters in 2D and fault of deepening in some points of the story (that could be fixed with more episodes, which I think hardly will be released)
octAY
D4DJ: First Mix is brought to you by the same company that was behind the popular music project BanG Dream! (Bandori). Why did I mention this? Because it is obvious that D4DJ took inspiration from Bandori; there are many similarities between the two in terms of character, unit/group, and plot building. Heck, even one of the DJ groups use music by Elements Garden, the music production band that is behind many Bandori songs. This is not a bad thing, though. In fact, it is precisely because of this that should draw people to enjoy this new franchise. If you liked Bandori, you would most likelyalso like D4DJ.
Story (6) & Character (6):
The series focuses on the formation of the DJ group called Happy Around. It starts off with getting group members, then doing concerts/lives with these members; the usual formula. However, in my opinion, this feels rushed; there’s close to no character development, at least in the beginning. The members just “kinda” join the group and made songs together, which felt weird. It seems like the producers are trying to fit a lot of content into, what I’m assuming, 12 episodes (1 cour). Doesn’t really work and would need something to offset developing the story and characters further.
Which… it where the game comes in. D4DJ does have a game called “D4DJ Groovy Mix, and that’s important. It’s no coincidence that the game was released officially to the public 2 days after the airing of this anime; The anime is indirectly promoting the game. It doesn’t slam you in the face with it as it eases you into the other DJ groups, but if you google this series up to find some of the songs in the anime, it is very likely that you will find references to the game. Personally, using a game to further develop characters and story is not a bad idea (business-wise); it only is if you try to make anime sequels.
However, with all that being said, this formula works, miraculously. It's just enough to draw people into the universe and become fans of the series. It's open-ended enough that people will crave for more and download the game.
Art (7):
The art style from the studio is pretty consistent here; it looks CGI-ish. It’s good. Not the worst thing in the world but not like the best either. I don't have much to say about this, but I can say that the art animation helps with story and environment building.
Sound (7):
I didn’t really like DJ music at first when I started. I only like certain types of DJ music, and I comfortably found ones that I really liked watching this anime. If you are just slightly interested in DJ-mixed music, you would likely find something you enjoy here. There are a variety to choose from, which again is great thinking by the producers to appeal to a wide audience.
Enjoyment (7):
Each episode was fun to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed it thus far. However, there are some scenes where you may feel that the animator padded frames to increase run time for a particular episode. These empty frames are way too long. Perhaps they are there to add tension or drama, but even then it’s still a bit too long. This is more noticeable in the earlier episodes. Too much of this and the person watching gets bored, which does impact how much one enjoy anime. It’s not too bad though.
Overall (7):
Basically, the art and music is awesome, the story is meh, and the characters (esp. their traits) are kind of “copied” from another series. The negatives doesn’t mean that it’s bad; it simply means that the producer is taking what is successful and applying it to another series (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach… which works for this series). In all, this would be a good watch if you’re into the DJ music and similar plot/character development to Bandori.
lamaraptor
Going into this I didn't expect much. I assumed it would be another by the numbers idol type show designed to sell you on the brand so you'll buy more of the mobile game tokens or whatever micro transactions they have. I came away having actually had a pretty good time with it, and I remember it was one of the few shows I was watching at the time that I actually looked forward to seeing the next episode. I don't know if that speaks to the quality of this show as much as it does how boring those other shows must have been, Idon't really remember what they were.
The main girl is infectiously enthusiastic. If it's not handled well, an obnoxious catch-phrase and quirky personality can come off as extremely cringe educing and get old really. Somehow her "happy around" thing manages to be so stupid you can't help but smile at it. I like all the other little character arcs everyone gets. We pretty much get introduced to a new girl or group in every episode and get to explore their personal connection to music.
On the note of the music, that War War Tonight song or whatever it's called is an ear worm that gets in your head and won't leave. Some of the other tracks were pretty good but I think that's the stand out banger. I get hyped up every time I listen to it. The music really is what the show is about at the end of the day, and while my ear apparently isn't refined enough to pick out the minute differences between two versions of what sounded like to me the same exact song, I can appreciate what they're doing with it. I'm not downloading six different remixes of the same track for my collection, though, that's just absurd.
So again, I had a fun time with these characters and with the setting. It held my attention the whole time and I give it a solid 8/10.
ren0080
Not bad, I wasn't expecting much from this anime but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. The story is nothing special, but it's decent enough to make the characters shine. Though ngl, some of the conflicts that the characters have are pretty cringe-worthy. The characters are good. The main 4 are great, but they should've left it with these four. Adding 4 more is okay, but adding 8 is pushing it. Having 12 main characters isn't good for a 13 episode season since there will be a lot of characters that would get sidelined and will remain underdeveloped and one-dimensional. The animation is decent. It'sa full CG anime (with flashbacks being 2D) and it's decent. Though the movement is still quite jarring and some of their poses are pretty iffy, the still images are quite good.
The music is what stands out from this anime. Oh my God I can't tell y'all how much I jam from the OP, ED, and the insert songs. Like bruh, this is up there with Love Live music. It's just so good that I would recommend just listening to the songs if you don't like this anime.
Overall, a good series that if it was a little longer, would have fixed a lot of my problems. There just wasn't enough screen time for the other characters for me to like them.
