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BanG Dream! FILM LIVE Film Opens in September, Anime's 3rd Season Debuts in January 2020

The official Twitter account for the BanG Dream! franchise announced on Thursday that the BanG Dream! FILM LIVE film will open in Japan in September. SANZIGEN is returning to animate the film, and Bushiroad will distribute it. The film's teaser video also reveals that the BanG Dream! 3rd Season television anime will debut in January 2020.

The anime's third season was initially announced for an October 2019 premiere.

The anime's second season premiered on January 3. Sentai Filmworks licensed the anime, and HIDIVE and Crunchyroll are streaming the series as it airs.

Koudai Kakimoto (Katana Maidens: Toji no Miko) directed the second series at SANZIGEN Animation Studio (the studiois replacing ISSEN and Xebec from the first season to produce the second and third anime seasons). Yuniko Ayana returned to handle series composition and the script. Kazuyuki Ueda (Kinmoza! Kiniro + Mosaic, Hinako Note) designed the characters for the anime based on Hitowa and Craft Egg's original designs. Takuya Chanohara and Yuka Yamori were in charge of sub-character design. Atsushi Mimura served as CG supervisor.

The BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! game app inspired 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.

Sources: BanG Dream! FILM LIVE film's website, BanG Dream! franchise's Twitter account via Otakomu, Yaraon!