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BanG Dream! 2nd Season Anime Unveils Overseas Streaming, CD/BD Bundles, January 3 Debut, Ads
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The staff of the BanG Dream! anime revealed overseas streaming plans, a different Blu-ray Disc release format, the January 3 premiere date, new commercials, and a key visual for the anime's upcoming second season during a press conference on Wednesday. The below commercials each preview a band in the franchise.
The anime will premiere on the Tokyo MX, BS 11, KBS Kyoto, and AT-X channels on January 3 at 11:00 p.m., 11:30 p.m., 11:00 p.m., and 11:30 p.m., respectively. It will also premiere on Sun TV, TV Kanagawa, Niigata Sogo Television Inc., and AT-X at 12:00 a.m., 1:00 a.m., and 2:15 a.m. (effectively on January 4), respectively. Aomori Broadcasting Corporation will then premiere the anime at 1:56 a.m. on January 4 (effectively January 5), followed by Shizuoka Asahi TV at 1:50 a.m. on January 7 (effectively January 8), and TV Aichi at 1:35 a.m. on January 8 (effectively January 9).
The staff revealed on Wednesday that the anime will stream in over 60 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Instead of standalone Blu-ray Disc volumes, the anime's Blu-ray Discs will be bundled with upcoming CD singles for the franchise starting in April. The anime's website will have more information on which singles will come bundled with anime Blu-ray Discs.
In addition, a 24-hour BanG Dream! television marathon for the franchise will start on Tokyo MX at 11:00 p.m. on January 2, and it will include footage from the "special edition" of the television anime, as well as from the franchise's concerts. YouTube Live will stream this marathon as it airs. Tokyo MX and Sun TV will broadcast the concert videos made thus far for the franchise on the BanG Dream! Station program after the BanG Dream! 2nd Season anime every Thursday at 11:30 p.m. beginning on January 3. A regular BanG Dream! TV Live variety program based on BanG Dream! will start broadcasting every Thursday on YouTube Live and Periscope at 10:00 p.m. on January 10.
There will be a "Girls Party! & Star Re Live Matsuri 2019 in Ikebukuro" event with exhibits, stage events, attractions and goods in Ikebukuro's Sunshine City complex on June 8-9. The event will host the second "BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! Cup" contest between players of the BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! smartphone rhythm game.
The staff is holding a Twitter campaign to celebrate one million copies shipped of the franchise's CDs. The franchise is having a collaboration with the LAWSON's convenience store near the Kokusai Tenjijō station (closest to the Tokyo Big Sight convention venue) and other branches with exclusive goods. There will be an "Animate World Fair" at every Animate store "worldwide" with limited goods and novelty items in February. A new BanG Dream! Girls Band Party Vol. 2"booster pack for the card game will go on sale in March 16.
The anime's third season will premiere in October 2019. CG animation studio SANZIGEN (Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life, BBK/BRNK) is replacing ISSEN and Xebec on the production of both the second and third seasons. The franchise's Roselia and RAISE A SUILEN bands are also performing opening theme songs for the upcoming second season. Roselia will perform the song "Brave Jewel" and RAISE A SUILEN will perform "R・I・O・T."
The BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! game app is inspiring DMM.futureworks and SANZIGEN's BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! ☆ Pico mini anime, which premiered on July 5. A spinoff anime titled Pastel Life premiered in May.
The main BanG Dream! television anime's first 13-episode season premiered in January 2017, and Anime Network Online and Crunchyroll streamed the first season as it aired in Japan.
Sentai Filmworks licensed the first season, and it describes the story:
When she was a child, Kasumi Toyama (played by Poppin' Party's lead singer, Aimi) felt a heart-pounding thrill every time she gazed at the stars, and she's been looking without success for something that could inspire the same feeling ever since. One day, she comes across a star-shaped guitar in a rundown pawnshop and, for the first time, discovers the thrill she's been searching for. Kasumi becomes determined to form an all-girl band, and her search leads her to four like-minded souls: Saya, Arisa, Rimi, and Tae (all brought to life by the members of Poppin' Party). Does this band have what it takes to make their dreams of stardom come true?
Bushiroad launched the BanG Dream! multimedia project in January 2015, and the company formed the Poppin' Party band for the project in February 2015. The project's other bands include Happy World!, Pastel*Palettes, Afterglow, Roselia, and most recently, an all-male band called Argonavis. The band members consist of voice cast members who portray the characters in the story, and they play the same instruments as their characters.
The BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! smartphone game launched in Japan in March 2017, and an English version launched in April.
Update: Four of the five videos were taken down and re-uploaded with new URLs. The new videos have been embedded in the article.
Source: BanG Dream! press conference, anime's website
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