by Are expectations rising as the story unfolds in a good way?
The new year has begun, and the broadcast of winter 2025 anime has started slowly. There are nearly 50 new anime this season alone, and some people may still be undecided about which ones to watch until the end. Here is a look at notable works that defied viewers’ expectations with shocking developments from the first episode.
This article contains spoilers for the first episode of the TV anime ” BanG Dream! Ave Mujica ” and “Zenshuu.” Please be careful if you are planning to watch it. “BanG Dream! Ave Mujica” is a work that has already become a hot topic due to the heavy past of the characters. Even before the broadcast, some people seemed afraid of the PV, which features an ominous melody and a dark landscape, saying, “I was prepared to watch the PV, but it seems like it will tear my heart out.”
The first episode will reveal the tragic past of high school girl “Toyokawa Shoko (CV: Takao Kanon ),” who was also deeply involved with the main characters in the previous work “BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!,” which aired in 2023. Shoko was the daughter of a major group company, but her father caused significant damage to the company and was disowned by her grandfather.
Shoko took refuge with her father, quit her favorite band as a junior high school student, and worked part-time to earn money to support her difficult life. However, her beloved father became desperate and became a drunkard, which led to trouble for the police. Moreover, although the newly formed masked band “Ave Mujica” was a great success, the true identities of all the members were revealed due to the rampage of one of the members, “Yutenji Nyamu (CV: Yonezawa Akane),” and the worldview was destroyed.
The misery was beyond imagination, and many viewers were stunned, saying, “It’s a terrible life for a high school girl to bear.” Will Shoko and the other “Ave Mujica” members crawl out of the depths? Or will they fall even deeper into the abyss? We’ll be keeping an eye on how things develop in the future. “BanG Dream! Ave Mujica” airs every Thursday at 11 pm on TOKYO MX and other stations. “Zenshuu.” was also a show that surprised viewers because the show’s direction was different from what they had imagined.
The teaser PV skillfully mixed scenes from another world with modern scenes, hiding the otherworldly elements, so before the show aired, viewers mistook it for a “work-related piece.” However, when the show started, it betrayed viewers’ expectations. The main character, Natsuko Hirose (CV: Anna Nagase ), an anime director, eats an expired lunch box and loses consciousness. When Natsuko wakes up, she is transported to “The Story of Perishing,” an anime she loved as a child. In the anime “The Story of the End,” the story becomes depressing after the death of “Yunio (CV: Kugimiya Rie ),” the best friend of the hero “Luke Braveheart ( CV: Urawa Nozomi ).”
To stop this, Natsuko creates a giant using her hidden power. Many viewers thought it was a work-of-work piece before watching the broadcast, and some commented, “What, is it a different world reincarnation story?” or “Isn’t this an anime about animators’ work?” By the way, in the first episode, the giant created by Natsuko was somewhat reminiscent of the “God Warrior” from “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.” Also, the spell that Yunio uses to self-destruct is “Bal…,” which is excellent in that it resembles “Balse” from “Castle in the Sky.” It is also interesting to see whether there will be homages to other works from the second episode onwards. “Zenshu.” is broadcast every Sunday from 11:45 pm on TV Tokyo and other channels.
