The premise for BanG Dream! was conceptualized in March 2014 by Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani, who wanted to lead a music project after seeing the success of Love Live! School Idol Festival, a mobile game published by his company.[3][4] When a staff member attended The Idolmaster Masters of Idol World!! 2014 concert at Saitama Super Arena, they took interest in guitarist Aimi and proposed having her in an all-female band. Figuring that such a concept would best be viable as a media franchise, Kidani concluded his new project's best method to gain success would be to have voice actresses who could play their own instruments in live shows.[3] To differentiate it from similar music works, Kidani has stressed that BanG Dream! is not an idol franchise but a "girl band" series.[5]
Noriyasu TAKEUCHI Screen Music for Guitar Solo 3
Novelist Kō Nakamura was approached by a Bushiroad editor who had read his music book Round and Round Slide to write the story, and he partnered with Aya Ishida for the franchise's first work BanG_Dream! Star Beat;[6][7] the manga started serialization in the Monthly Bushiroad magazine in January 2015.[8] Star Beat's universe was retconned following the franchise's reboot in 2016 as BanG Dream! without the underscore.[9][7] According to an August 24, 2016 post on Nakamura's Livedoor blog, the name BanG Dream! stemmed from the idea of "shooting" toward one's dreams.[2] Nakamura, who is formally credited as the franchise's original story creator, based certain aspects of the plot on his high school life such as the desire and efforts to form a band, the guitarist finding the instrument in a pawnshop, and band meetings being held in a warehouse.[10][11][12] To produce music, Kidani enlisted Noriyasu Agematsu of Elements Garden, who was skeptical of the franchise's concept due to the difficulties in balancing voice acting with practicing musical instruments but subsequently signed on to the project.[13] Prior musical experience was not a prerequisite for voice actresses as their primary responsibility was to portray characters for in-universe media, though they remained committed to playing their instruments, a mindset that Kidani felt grew the series' charm with fans;[14] in 2019, he noted that some cast members practiced for ten hours daily.[4]
At her Love Generation concert on February 28, 2015, Aimi announced she had aligned with the franchise, which included creating a band and serving as its guitarist and vocalist.[15] Rimi Nishimoto and Ayasa Itō joined the band in April, and the three hosted the project's first concert on April 18.[16] In June, Aimi performed a solo concert at CharaExpo 2015 in Singapore, the franchise's first performance outside of Japan.[17] The group was officially named Poppin'Party during the month, and Sae Ōtsuka and Ayaka Ōhashi completed the band lineup later in the year.[8] In addition to live performances, the five would voice their own characters in other media such as an anime series and animated music videos;[18] the character designs were also loosely modeled after their voice actresses to better reflect their ability to sing and perform.[3]
The first season, which was animated by Issen and Xebec and directed by Atsushi Ōtsuki, aired from January 21 to April 22, 2017, on Tokyo MX.[106][107] The 13-episode series follows Poppin'Party's creation and the band performs the show's opening and ending theme music "Tokimeki Experience!" and "Sparkling Dreaming: Sing Girls".[e][109] The anime was streamed on the Anime Network and by Crunchyroll,[106][110] and was later released across seven Blu-ray and DVD volumes. An original video animation episode received advanced screenings before being available on the seventh BD/DVD volume released on November 22.[111]
BanG Dream! Film Live, a movie animated by Sanzigen and starring the original five bands, premiered on September 13, 2019.[125][141] The movie was directed by Tomomi Umetsu with script by Nakamura; in addition to the main cast, Kazuyuki Ueda and Elements Garden returned to reprise their roles as character designer and music producer, respectively.[142] After opening in 56 theaters, the film grossed approximately 300 million at the box office in its first month.[141][143] After acquiring its license in August 2020, Sentai conducted limited cinematic screenings of the movie in addition to home release.[144] A sequel, BanG Dream! Film Live 2nd Stage, adds Morfonica and Raise A Suilen to the cast and premiered on August 20, 2021.[145][146] 2ff7e9595c
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