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[Spoilers] BanG Dream! Ave Mujica - Episode 7 Discussion
An ordinary performance played by a former ordinary band, but its members will remember the extraordinary feeling that it gave them for the rest of their lives.
I love the parellels between Soyo going to see Saki and in MyGo where Taki went to see her. I also am really happy to see Saki and Mutsumi finally talk again, finally getting that communication we've been dying to see for a few episodes now.
And of course, the performance is the highlight of the episode for me. It's not about how good it sounded, but the fact it merely happened. This reunion of a band that fell apart in the rain, finally got to sprout one last time in the concert lights. Now we wait to see if Ave Mujica can also come back to life in the next episode.
Hina Youmiya's performance was incredible in this episode. Another moment to add to my list of times Tomori made me cry, lmao
The thread "[Spoilers] Trying to Share Why I Heavily Dislikes EP7" and its comments have been merged into this thread.
You can view the merged thread's body below:
I am probably the very few, if not the only one, that speaks Chinese, uses Anilist and mainly consumes anime content on Bilibili (the Chinese YouTube + Crunchyroll, if you are not familiar with this platform). I myself got seriously confused (the negative way) at the recently released Ave Mujica EP7 and did not get moved at all, believing there are some heavy problems in writing. And my timeline on Bilibili was indeed overflowing with negative reviews, even with many fan artists claiming that they are discarding drafts in progress, cause EP7 breaks Sakiko's character and they cannot continue to create as usual.
However, I found that the EN audience and Bushiroad staff seem to be pretty satisfied with EP7, especially for it being a "good closure on CRYCHIC!". Here I try to describe how exactly I and some of (I do leave out some criticism that I don't feel or don't find reasonable) the CN audience dislike this latest episode, as comparisons of perspectives from different cultures might interest some of you. In the following content I will use "I", but as far as I know what I am going to write aligns with a significant portion of the CN audience.
Saki as I perceive from previous plot, is clearly mainly driven by her pursuit in music and art, and she wants herself to be recognized by people through extremely high grade performances. Director interviews also reveal that Ave Mujica's genre is set to metal cause metal is something that has "beauty in form" and "can be very deeply explored". While usual girls bands (like MyGO or TogeToge) are focused on "expressing your thoughts that are better in the form of music", what Saki is doing with Ave Mujica is slightly different. Yes, she is still trying to express herself in a way, but she sets up a "world view" for Ave Mujica and describe themselves as "dolls": It is more like, she is trying to demonstrate intellectual achievements, instead of having messages to tell everyone. After her mother died and her grandpa wanted to control her life, she realized even clearer that "I will live a life doing things that I myself choose".
Similar to Mutsumi, part of her struggles then comes from, people does not necessarily recognize her and her band in the way she expects. A lot audience (in the show) may be more interested in how famous the members are, how good their faces look, how Saki is an ojousama of the Togawa Group...
Across the show, more and more "you don't have the power to shape your own life and others according to your will" type difficulties pile on her. Since Nyamu took off the masks in EP1, she gradually and quickly found out that she has a band member whose interests do not align with hers, the audience do talk about their identities way more than their music, members listen to her less and less, her childhood friend and important member's DID develops and can't even play guitar anymore, she can't even keep her very band alive... and her will alone cannot even pay for the compensation for the cancelled performance, something taken over easily by her grandpa, which is a final blow to her pride. When she slows down, she also gradually realizes how her own pursuit and selfishness has been hurting everyone else around her, indicated by elements like reading Kokoro the novel and saying "I hate myself".
From this perspective, consider Saki at the end of EP5 (EP5 is very highly spoken of among CN audience btw): She does have trauma associated with CRYCHIC, sure, but (here comes opinions) the most pressing issue on her mind shall be "what to do next" given that something she had put in so much courage and effort had failed so violently, with no apparent ways of rescuing, with the second most pressing issue being "how to mend destroyed relationships". Without the most pressing issues being attacked on, logically speaking she should not have a big turn in behaviors and thoughts.
Then, I can finally talk about how the EP7 (and more generally speaking, the EP6-EP7 arc, Saki part) messes me up. If one agrees with the above perspective on Saki, then sane ways for Saki to get out of her misery include, for example:
- a very strong mind, that clings on her idealism even harder after properly recognizing all the real life difficulties in her way. Basically "I know doing my music and art is hard, but I will keep trying. I will summon the members and rebuild Ave Mujica once again." This can be depicted by a extensive depiction of the inside world of Saki or a sequences of strong actions.
- Ave Mujica members, likely impressed by her talent, starting to act on their own to rebuild Ave Mujica, solving the adverse conditions blocking Saki's dreams, and in the process Saki may realize the power of human relations, but the core underlying thing is, her band is reforming and her dream is coming true again. This can be depicted by a clever design of plot where Ave Mujica members' actions intertwine.
- a very specific personal expectation: When Saki is hesitating with her hands above the keys, I thought she will be spotting Umiri in the back and say "No, I won't continue. I love CRYCHIC, I am sorry for everything, but I have to move forward, and now I have my band and members to work on.", formally reinviting Umiri immediately after.
- at the very least, her actively mending relationships with important people from both CRYCHIC and Ave Mujica (yes I recognize her efforts trying to get back along with Mutsumi, but other than that, she seems to have forgotten about other mujica members she "exploited", and it is just the CRYCHIC girls being noble enough to forgive her and not demand apologies)
But I am seeing none like these in EP6-EP7, that actually tackle on the central problem of Saki, while the creators are trying to move me and tell me "You see, Saki progressed!", which is the major source of confusion and dislike. As I mentioned earlier, sure I agree Saki's trauma with CRYCHIC is real, but solving CRYCHIC issues is far from what it needs to induce a change in Saki's behavioral pattern this dramatically. By depicting Saki as so, and spending a whole 2 episodes on this, it feels like the creators are taking Saki's character back to one and a half year ago, to the naive ojousama that would get satisfied by everyday activities in CRYCHIC. Another analogy: This feels like telling a patient with depression who cannot afford housing and food, suffering from various violence sources, that "First you need to have a bright outlook of life! And do you have any friends to talk to?", and witnessing the patient immediately getting better, while all those pressing physical issues are not touched on at all.
No. Saki now has her own gigantic ambitions and lots of knowledge with the dark side of the reality and is mature enough to earn a living and schedule performances at Budokan, thus it only feels logical that changes on the same magnitude of these issues save her out of the bottom of the pit she is in. Yes, it is quite possible that these will be depicted in later episodes, but I just cannot accept it when the creators want to depict Saki's "major" progress without them and move me in EP7.
Additionally, Bushiroad immediately installed Haruhikage into the mobile game and announced this:
after EP7. Together with the fact that EN audience is getting excited about CRYCHIC from EP7, I and the CN audience feel strongly that Bushiroad is "exploiting" Saki to please people wanting to learn more about CRYCHIC and loving Haruhikage the song. Of course we have absolutely no grudges against anyone's preference, but we value "respecting a character, by letting her follow her character" very much.
the cn community has incredibly bad taste if this is what they got from the episode
I appreciate you for taking the time to write this, but I feel like this is kind of a result of impatience and not really understanding what the episode was about. It seems to be thinking of the episode as an ending and not a beginning. Sakiko was suffering from depression, blaming herself for failing Mutsumi and Ave Mujica and thinking that everything would be better if she wasn't there. We can agree with that much. But why do you think that this episode fully solved her issues? Or even that it's supposed to send her on the path to rebuild Ave Mujica. She mended her relationship with Mutsumi, and it helped them understand why Crychic meant so much to them while also demythifying it so they can move forward, but it's just a start. Sakiko won't immediately jump back to Ave Mujica despite what Umiri is telling her because a) it would still hurt Mutsumi and b) Ave Mujica is at the mercy of her grandfather. So it's not like a switch was magically flipped and everything is sunshine and rainbows from now on. Sakiko started her road to recovery, but I don't think she can already say out loud that she loves herself.
yep, and I wrote
but (here comes opinions) the most pressing issue on her mind shall be "what to do next" given that something she had put in so much courage and effort had failed so violently, with no apparent ways of rescuing
by "here comes opinions" I mean, I am aware how people assign different levels of focus to each component of Saki's character is completely up to the individuals. I fully understand that if one consider "trauma with Mutsumi" "depression of wanting to disappear" the core of Saki's issues, then they will probably obtain your opinions, believing that the first step to change is to settle CRYCHIC issues through the form of a performance with the girls.
However, for us who consider "having a strong pursuit of music, but the external physical world tends to deprive everything from you and make you a hollow doll" the core of Saki's issues, then this EP7 and the fact that a performance with the girls means so much to Saki do not make that much sense.
At this point it is really not debatable, just sharing different perspectives. And if one is interested, one can also think a bit about the deeper cultural differences driving different perspectives. As a starter, I vaguely think that maybe the EN world is more focusing on the spiritual side of things, and the CN world is more focusing on the physical side of things.
I meant that Sakiko hasn't resolved her material issues, and it's not like she will just revert back to the oujosama from when she was part of Crychic and easily resolve everything with a smile on her face. Her grandfather is still an obstacle for Ave Mujica's return, and she also can't just jump into it right away because it would mean putting Mutsumi back into the spotlight. It's not a comeback, it's the beginning of a comeback.
watch the damn fairy tale until the end
yep, I am well aware, so I also have written
Yes, it is quite possible that these will be depicted in later episodes, but I just cannot accept it when the creators want to depict Saki's "major" progress without them and move me in EP7.
To be honest, me myself at this point have not lost hope with Ave Mujica as a whole at all, I am still confident that the following EPs will bring us great stories of Nyamu, Umiri and Uika, with a wild ride of reforming mujica the band, based on how well the creators did back in mygo during EP8-12.
But what I was typing above is about, what is the underlying reasoning behind audience like me disliking the writing of Saki in this specific episode, episode 7.
As a bonus: Funnily tho, at around EP4 there were already a "Saki hater" gang, mainly out of dissatisfaction with how bad Saki manages the team, and I together with another group of people are constantly trying to watch every episode carefully and tell others about what Saki did actually make perfect sense according to her character, how we should not judge Saki this early before the whole thing ends. So I am well aware of the importance of staying to the end. But still, there still can be moments during the journey that makes me think "wait, I don't think this make sense".
Thank you for writing this, it is very insightful. I don't entirely agree with CN's opnions, as to me Sakiko mending relations with CRYCHIC does follow her character growth, because she has been very passive in the past few episodes due to Mortis and Mujica's breakup, last episode she's truly realised how much hurt she's done to everyone that she can't run away from finally (Her visit with Soyo, Anon and Tomori to Mortis/Mutsumi), and that she has friends to help her through that process (Soyo and Taki opening their hearts, and being there with her to confide Mutsumi's feelings with), who have been through their own personal growth and accept CRYCHIC (due to the 3 forming MyGO).
Part of me thinks that there is a element of "Sakiko has been suffering, please give her a break" with the reviews of Ep. 7, especially with her birthday being 14th Feb. I don't see CRYCHIC performing at the MyGO/Mujica joint concert or Haruhikage being added to the game as a problem as ultimately, they're basically fan service. It feels pretty clear that with this episode that CRYCHIC is well and truly in the past, all 5 members have found closure and can move on.
I equally do not wish for CRYCHIC to play together anymore than what's already done in Ep.7, both out of a narrative standpoint and from my own headcanons from reading 灰爱音/逆行 and 迷梦感. I believe that that isn't going happen, and I still very much look forward to the rest of Ave Mujica. I hope you do too.
Despite how odd the story-writing might look like, I think it fits the new generation of Bandori as a whole. Think about it: what was Ave Mujica possibly go to talk about as an anime? 12 episodes of them just doing hard songs? They are a band made out of loose strands that are connected merely by business, there is nothing like what MyGo has (regret and sorrow among the members), or what Roselia has if we talk about narration; they are basically some random girls picked up by Sakiko, except for Mutsumi.
MyGo and Ave Mujica, now more obvious than ever, have to be looked at as a single story rather than 2 different bands' anime. This whole story revolves around CRYCHIC's end and how, in one way or another, both bands are a symbol of regret for both protagonists who tried to fill the void left by that event.
I got what I wished from Ave Mujica, episodes of absolute insanity and darkness, and once I got them what was left? More insane episodes that could come out of the mind of a crazy guy? That, at a certain point, would just feel repetitive. It may not marry with the idea that Mujica gave away, but having these couple of slower and more sentimental episodes worked to me for the narration as a whole.
Yes, you can argue that Mujica should've and could've lasted longer a band (before the sudden reunion that may or may not happen in the next episodes), but that, in my opinion, would've just delayed all of these events. Mutsumi, as we could get a hint of already in MyGo, was meant to break mentally; Sakiko's idea, even, was meant to fall since none of the members of Mujica align with interests.Now, there are still so many episodes left and anything can happen. I am happy that Ave Mujica has been hard to predict to me so far, it keeps on being entertaining and it still shows that the Bandori Staff has high levels of maturity in the writing (something that some other rival franchise lacks of and found out has to copy). There are just a few things that do not sit right with me, like my beautiful and sweet and glorious wife Uika disappearing, but I am giving faith in this project that, so far, has only rewarded me for waiting (unlike that some other rival franchise).
Describing personally Ave Mujica is hard right now, I love it but I don't love it, but I hope the whole picture will make me jump.
I finally caught up...that was so much, my soul is tired after these past few days but I'm ready to watch weekly now.
Now that the final requiem for CRYCHIC has ended it feels somewhat that MyGO!!!!!'s role in Ave Mujica has diminished since with their final performance of Haruhikage Tomori's biggest regret has been laid to rest. Now we're only left with the consequences of this being the inevitable crash outs from the other members of Ave Mujica.
Judging from next episodes' title it will be Umiri. It's probably wrong of me to be excited to see how she breaks but the opening made her look so badass I can't help but wait in anticipation!
Ave Mujica is exchanging blow for blow with the likes of Re:Zero and Orb for being the best anime of Winter 2025 if not the entire year. I really do regret not watching MyGO!!!!! when it came out...
