Girls Band Cry’s greatest feat is being one of many anime that challenge the stigma against 3D Anime- that the medium only looks good if it’s mimicking its 2D counterpart.
Having just debuted the first episode last week, it’s really impressive just how good Girls Band Cry looks explicitly because it’s in 3D. Characters are energetic and lively and move with a kind of richness that’s enhanced by 3D Animation’s in-betweening.
However, rather than simply use it as a means of cutting cost, Girls Band Cry instead draws on this as a source of performance. Because while the pop culture animation crowd thinks that animation is only about details and noisy animation, the inverse is true- you could have a character only lift their arm, but do it with a quirky enough timing and it’d be one of the best things on screen.
What Keeps Girls Band Cry Looking Visually Distinct
In Girls Band Cry’s case, you see this in a lot of the way main character Nina moves. I’ll be the first to admit that 2D animation has gotten a bit samey- people know the tropes and as a result characters of specific archetypes move the same way. Yet from her runs to the way she perks up and gets excited, every frame of Nina’s movement feels deliberate. There’s a cartoonish squash and stretch, a dash of 2D FX for her more extreme expressions, and the focus on the timing of how she moves that feels anxious and panicked.
It’s subtle, but a nice feeling especially once you compare it to the character Momoka. In contrast, Momoka’s laid-back nature has her movements feeling way smoother. Her hair doesn’t move nearly as much despite being longer, and a lot of her acting is lead by her head and her shoulders simply tensing or relaxing depending on the scene. She only gets cartoony when she’s extremely excited- like flipping off the other buskers.
As someone who thinks that D4DJ also sits at the pinnacle of 3D anime, it’s great to see mostly-normal interactions interpreted so interestingly. The plot of Girls Band Cry is pretty simple- country girl Nina moves to Tokyo and meets her idol, Momoka and they start a band. Nina’s a nervous mess and Momoka’s way too chill despite her baggage. Yet, while many of the music girl genre try to make it interesting with plots about saving schools or rivals who take things way too seriously what draws me in to Girls Band Cry is just how hypnotic it is to watch. It’s visually interesting without being gaudy- its characters sound raw and earnest.
Girls Band Party is airing weekly, with the first episode available now. It’s got a strong potential to be my personal anime of the season because it looks like every frame of action is a choice. Look, I like the Spider-Verse style as much as the next guy but I think we were long overdue for a 3D anime that looks good because it’s 3D, and one that wasn’t just cool fight scenes to boot. I could watch the Nina and Momoko argue about the most mundane thrills for an hour because this anime is just beautiful to look at.
