Show By Rock Stars is what Show By Rock # should have been. Rather than try to make up a grand plot and rehash the previous season Show By Rock Stars is a celebration of Show By Rock and the many bands that have stared in the anime throughout its many seasons. Stars carves out a nice balance between the slice of life band growth focus of Mashumairesh and the band celebration and focus that it’s aiming for. It even has a hint of a plot as a homage to the first two seasons. And personally while the two areas of focus can beat odds at some times I think Stars does a good job of satisfying the both of them. The focus on Mashumairesh the band was quite good. While the highs from the last season aren’t able to be met the content covered in this season is still quite strong. The strong characters are still on display and their charm is still in full force. However the focus shifts a bit to Delmin and Ruhuyu rather than Himeko and Howan. This was nice as they didn’t get as much focus in the previous season so it was nice to see them take center stage this time around and have their own issues and relationship explored deeply. They already were pretty decently developed but I loved seeing them get closer. It was definitely one of the highlights of the season. I also liked the general issues of their band’s growth and place in grand scheme of things. They utilized the stardom of the other bands quite well to contrast their own weak standing, making the situation feel quite realistic and not over-dramatic. In general it was nice to see how they reacted to seeing all of these bands. For example it was nice to see Himeko get to interact with Criticrista the band that she admired for so long. Overall I’m quite pleased with what they were able to cover with the main band. My only issue with what was covered is that sometimes too much time was taken away from the main plot of focus of the episode so sometimes the situations felt a bit more rushed than they should have been. The focus on the bands was also quite nice. All of the main bands from the previous seasons were able to play a decent role in the season and each got their own episode to shine in. The content and focus of those episodes shifted from band to band but I think worked well with the charm points of the bands. For example a band like ShinganCrimsonZ focused more on humor and had one of the funniest episodes the season while Bud Virgin Logic focused more on development of its lead member and her growth after the events of #. Across various avenues of focus each of the previous bands got ample time to shine in the spotlight. It was nice to see all of these bands that we knew and loved back doing their normal band activities and just enjoying their music and lives. Ultimately I think ironically the only band that didn’t get their time to shine this season was Plasmagica who ended up being utilized as a recurring supporting cast rather than a band getting much of a focus themselves. And while it was nice seeing the end result of their growth and their future coming into full bloom they never really had a strong focus in any of the episodes and never really had time for their characters to be revisited again which was a shame. This again sort of goes back to the issue of having limited run time. There’s only so much content they could do with the bands while also focusing on the main two bands from the previous season. Ultimately choices had to be made, and while I don’t agree with all of them I do think that they did a great job of including all of the main bands and letting their fans see them another time. Art and sound both were pretty great. The music in Show By Rock is great as usual. The bands are a treat to listen to and I really enjoyed the OST and the way it utilizes the various openings from previous seasons and incorporates them into the soundtrack. The performances were great and there were a lot of great new songs introduced in the season which were very nice. Art wise it looked great with the same style and charm that fills Midi City and the world of Show By Rock. While I do miss the Studio Bones style for some of the characters the overall art looked consistently great throughout the season. Overall while it doesn’t live up to either original Show By Rock or Show By Rock Mashumairesh, Show By Rock Stars is a very welcome addition to Show By Rock. There is enough meaningful content to make the season well worth while and a good lot of band cameos and focus to really celebrate the bands of Show By Rock. Ultimately I think it’s a great watch for fans, and one that at least this fan enjoyed very much.

"Show by Rock!!" is back! With the fourth season "Stars!!" we finally get to see our beloved bands performing together. The focus is on our two female bands "Plasmagica" and "Mashumairesh!!", who are already very well known to us from the previous seasons. "Midi City" is the capital of "Sound World". Every band has the goal performing on a big stage in front of many fans there one day. But this path is rocky and difficult, the competitors never sleeps either. If you want to be at the top there, you have to invest more than the others. Our band "Mashumairesh!!" has to face a lot ofsetbacks in addition to their beautiful moments. In this season, the journey of our four young girls begins practically in jail, after they were initially held responsible for the destruction of the city. Fortunately, this turned out to be a mistake and thanks to the help of "Plasmagica" they were released. Their first meeting and also their first performance together were magical moments, the perfect chemistry between these two bands could be felt directly. Together, both bands want to improve even more and are ready to make sacrifices. We mainly experience the story of "Mashumairesh!!", how they completed a secret training deep in the mountains or were on the home island of Delmin and held a concert there under difficult conditions. In the end, it can be said that the hard training has definitely paid off! Occasionally we also experience an episode with a focus on the male bands and well… they are already known for their stubborn actions. The special harmony of the individual characters is already well known from the past. In "Stars!!" the focus is mainly about the teamwork of the bands "Plasmagica" and "Mashumairesh!!“. They put goals together and achieve them hand in hand. The relationship between Cyan and Howan is particularly striking here. Our two "bell-bearers" get along very well. Their close connection certainly contributes a large part to the overall success. It's great to see how well our characters get along. Even with the members of the other bands there is a good atmosphere, although they are actually rivals. Yet they encourage and help each another. The art style is directly linked to the third season "Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh!!". With "Kinema Citrus" we also experience the same studio that was responsible for the third part. The characters are all very colorful and designed differently. Each of them differs from the others, their personal characteristics are well highlighted. While the female band members are portrayed in a sweeter way, the male ones look extremely cool. We also get to see the chibi versions of the band members on stage, these also go with the whole thing. The design of the city really stands out, their world is full of music and colors. Such a design already conveys a good mood. Of course, we can’t forget our "egg" managers, their shape is a highlight. The "Show by Rock!!" franchise is known for its variety of bands and different music. With that in mind, it is not a wonder that we don’t only hear the music of "Plasmagica" and "Mashumairesh!!" in this collaboration season. The other bands like "Criticrista", "Bud Virgin Logic" or the male band "ShinganCrimsonZ" have songs ready for us as well. The OP "Doremifa Stars!!" is sung by our two main bands, while the ED is a song from "Mashumairesh!!". The "good mood" music can be felt directly in both parts and also reflects their style of music. All the people who just like good music can’t do anything wrong with "Show by Rock !!". In addition to their songs, which we get to hear listen in the anime, they have also released many beautiful singles. Exactly one year ago in the winter season 2020 we got introduced to the new band "Mashumairesh!!". Their anime was already enjoyable to watch and with their beautiful music they pulled us under their spell. Now exactly one year later, it's nice to see them again. With "Plasmagica", a well-known band returns as well. It's simply a lot of fun to follow their everyday life and enjoy the different styles of music. I find particularly good about "Show by Rock!!" is that you don't have to watch the previous seasons to like and enjoy the new one. Of course, it is advisable to watch the three previous seasons first before starting “Stars!!”, but even without this prior knowledge, the characters and bands are in such a way that you still will like them a lot. Even there was no separation of the male and female bands before, I still think it makes sense to separate them and not have both appear in one anime. Although it was known from the begin that in "Stars!!" male bands will perform again and I'm certainly not a fan of them, I still wanted to listen to all the female bands and their music. So, the male gigs bothered me a bit, but I have to honestly admit that their music is good. In "Stars!!" we experience the typical peculiarity of "Show by Rock!!" as well: the variety of the bands. No matter what music taste you have, there is for sure a band you will love! In the end, I am convinced that we will certainly see a fifth season. The successful bands will surely rock us even more!