A ranked list of every song added to Bandori in 2019

[jazzcatte]

I played a lot of Bang Dream: Girls' Band Party (aka Bandori) this year, so in the spirit of a year-end roundup I thought it would be nice to rank all of the songs added in order. These are the songs that were added to the JP version of the game, and the worldwide (english language) version is about a year behind (although some of the songs, such as those associated with collaborations, make it over to the worldwide version earlier), which means that this is primarily a list of what we all have to look forward to in the next year. Some caveats about the list:

• This is a personal, subjective ranking with very little contemplation or editing, so some stuff you won't agree with and some things will be out of place.
• I used the song database on Bestdori to pull the list of songs added this year, so if their list is inaccurate or incomplete I will also have missed things.
• I've provided additional commentary for some (but not all) songs. Me not having anything to say about a particular song doesn't mean much, so please don't worry about it.
• I don't know where most of the cover songs are from, nor have I listened to most of their original versions, so my evaluation here is largely based purely on the quality of the bandori track itself. I know most of them are from animes of which I'd disapprove, so please don't take anything here as an endorsement of the source material.

So, without further ado, the list:

65. Nico x Nico = Hyper Smile Power! (Hello Happy World) - math in the title x cops in the art = overall a low point. The smiles drawn in the chart with slide notes are a really neat trick though.
66. Smile-Sing-A-Song (Hello Happy World) - Kokoro, please write a song without using the word "smile". This song is noteworthy as one of the songs that got both a standard (minute-and-a-half) and full (about four minutes) version added to the game. The full version is more fun just for its length, but overall this song is not my favorite.
67. What's the POPIPA!? (Poppin' Party) - This song is good because it reminds you of other, better songs you already liked. I wish it had a bit more going for it on its own.
68. Smile Boquet Ta~maya~! (Hello Happy World)
69. Discovery (Poppin' Party)
70. Love Trial (Hello Happy World)
71. Imitation Spring (Pastel Palettes)
72. Jumpin' (Poppin' Party) - This song is noteworthy as being incredibly meta (dethroning the previously omnipresent "Unite! From A to Z"), but as a song it's not Popipa's best work. Meta songs get a lot of play in multiplayer, since they're the most efficient for scoring purposes, so it's always nice to have more variety at the top end.
73. White Afternoon (Poppin' Party)
74. Bright 'n Healthy, Pikarinrin♪ (Hello Happy World) - Kaoru is always a welcome vocal addition to an HHW track, and the whistle is cute, but this song is ultimately pretty forgettable.
75. Korekara (Hello Happy World)
76. Anniversary (Poppin' Party)
77. Zenryoku Shounen (Hello Happy World)
78. Music Hour (Poppin' Party)
79. Aoi Shiori (Afterglow)
80. Daydream Café (Poppin' Party) - *Fuwa Fuwa Doki Doki intensifies*
81. Tokimeki Poporon (Pastel Palettes)
82. No Poi (Hello Happy World) - The record scratches make this a bit more interesting than the other GochiUsa collab songs (Tokimeki Poporon and Daydream Cafe), but ultimately pretty uninteresting.
83. Paradisus-Paradoxum (Roselia) - I don't really care about Re:Zero but I'm told by people who do that the collab was really good. The music didn't grab me, though.
84. Stay Alive (Pastel Palettes)
85. Omoide Illumination (Hello Happy World) - Christmas has never been bandori's strongest holiday (although I do like Rambling Memory from last year). Let's all look forward to a Pasupare and/or Roselia christmas next year.
86. Karakuri Pierrot (Pastel Palettes) - I think it's cute that Miku and Aya are friends.
87. Noctorunal Kids (Poppin' Party) - I think it's cute that Miku and Kasumi are friends.
88. Nameless Monster (Roselia)
89. Sakura Memories (Poppin' Party)
90. Dreamers Go! (Poppin Party) - I'm always surprised that this song got top billing on the single (and in the anime) instead of the superior (and more narratively significant) "Returns". Dreamers Go! isn't a bad song, but Popipa have a lot of better ones.
91. Scarlet Red Sky (Roselia)
92. Blue Bird (Poppin' Party)
93. Shanghai Honey (Hello Happy World) - Ok we need to talk about how bandori has a problem with rap: a lot of the voice actresses aren't very good at it. Thankfully, as this song shows, they're getting better.
94. Q&A Recital! (Pastel Palettes) - 2019 was a really strong year for Pastel Palettes overall, and this song is another solid entry into their catalogue.
95. Attsuatsu Tokonatsu Love☆Summer! (Pastel Palettes)
96. DAYS of Embrace♪ (Pastel Palettes)
97. Ringing Bloom (Roselia) - This one probably rates lower on my list than on most people, because it's hard and I'm a huge scrub, so I didn't spend much time with it.
98. Miiro (Roselia) - Is this one really a 26 difficulty, craft egg? Are you sure it shouldn't be 27?
99. Individuality (Afterglow) - Afterglow is my favorite band and so even their less impressive songs are going to rate highly for me. This song doesn't do too well with the adaptation to the minute-and-a-half runtime in the game, but it's still fun within those limits.
100. Overnight Appointment (Afterglow)
101. Ama no Jaku (Afterglow)
102. Brand New Days, Same As Always (Afterglow) - Ran write a song without using the words "Itsumo Dori" challenge.
103. No Girl No Cry (Poppin' Party) - This should've been a goofy lesbian Bob Marley cover but it isn't. Instead, it's just a pretty good song.
104. Setsunai Sandglass (Poppin' Party)
105. Maware! Setsugetsuka (Hello Happy World) - HHW at its manic best. A solid (if challenging) cover choice.
106. 1/3 Pure Heart Emotion (RAISE A SUILEN) - RAS doesn't get too many songs actually in the game but the ones they get are all very good. RAS cards in game when, craft egg?
107. Safe and Sound (Roselia) - Roselia seems to have the most ballads of all the bandori groups, but they carry them off pretty well. This is one of those.
108. Otomodachi Film (Poppin' Party)- This song has a couple really memorable bits, and a fine performance from Aimi makes this song great.
109. Initial (Poppin' Party) - the recently announced/released opening song for bandori season 3 is pretty good in my opinion.
110. Attack! Imperial Assault Force (Poppin' Party feat. Maruyama Aya and Tsurumaki Kokoro) - The venerable theme song of the Sakura Wars series gets another cover, with Kasumi, Aya, and Kokoro providing vocals. It's a fun song and very different from most of the rest of the repertoire, so it places highly.
111. Yume Yume Gradation (Pastel Palettes) - This song is notable for being one of the better instances of all Pasupare members contributing vocals.
112. UNSTOPPABLE (RAISE A SUILEN) - Hey Chu2 how come your mom lets you have only good songs?
113. Fatima (Roselia) - What's with the weird ending with the ticking clock bit that feels like it should lead on to another thing but doesn't?
114. Excitement meets Trip (Pastel Palettes) - Pastel Palettes should release a disco album.
115. Cherry Bomb (Poppin' Party) - This song is more fun than it has any right to be.
116. Promise (Roselia) - Another good lower-energy song from Roselia. Those bells!
117. Baby Sweet Berry Love (Pastel Palettes) - This song extremely rules, and was one of the early indications that Pasupare was going to absolutely bring their A game in 2019. High energy, a good arrangement, and a stellar performance from Maeshima Ami make this one of the best songs of 2019.
118. "UNIONS" Road (Roselia) - Yukina said Marx Was Right (the song's just ok though)
119. Gekidou (RAISE A SUILEN) - Probably the best rapping in the game so far.

And now, the top-10:

1. Ai No Scenario (Afterglow) - one of the better Afterglow covers that came out this year, I still really like this song even though I don't actually play it much in-game
2. Kyu ~ mai * flower (Pastel Palettes) - One of Pasupare's best original songs, this one got both standard and full versions (and is certainly worthy of both, the full version is probably my favorite of the full versions in the game thus far)
3. StaRt (Hello Happy World) - This song is a pretty good song with a great chart. One of my all-time favorites
4. Easy come, Easy Go! (Afterglow) - Tomoe please chill out my hands are dying.
5. On Your Mark (Afterglow) - Another song that got both standard and full versions this year. Afterglow is firing on all cylinders in this one, and it's as impressive if you'd expect.
6. Hello! Wink! (Poppin' Party) - The halloween songs continue to be extremely good. The previous ones (Zettai Sengen ~Recital~ and Hey-Day Cappricio) rank highly on the list of overall bandori songs, and Hello! Wink! is an excellent addition to the list. Halloween isn't my favorite holiday by a long shot, but it is definitely my favorite bandori event.
7. Sasanqua (Afterglow) - It's extremely cool and good that Ran and Moca are canonically in love and married in-game. This song is really really good but the "Ran and the chipmunks" effect keeps it from sitting at the top of the list.
8. FIRE BIRD (Roselia) - No matter how vast the sky may be, no matter how shredded your wings may be, throw your fear aside, and take flight, set your immortal bonds ablaze! Fly to the sky, Fire Bird! (god I can't wait for the full version of this song, which should come next month sometime)
9. Returns (Poppin' Party) - Like and retweet if season 2 episode 11 made you cry. Should've been a full acoustic version with Tae doing the vocals, but the full band arrangement that we got is pretty good too.
10. Revolutionary Dualism (Roselia feat. Mitake Ran) - Sakura Ayane's voice is the best in the cast, and Aiba Aina's is a close second. They let them sing a duet. 10/10.

And, finally, some closing thoughts:

Overall it was an extremely strong year for Bandori. The songs were overall very good (this was a tough list to put together for a lot of reasons, not least because I wanted to put many things very high), the events were fun, and I think that worldwide-version primary players (including myself) have a lot of good stuff to look forward to in 2020. Finally, some brief thoughts on all of the bands:

• Hello Happy World had kind of a weak year in my opinion. Most of their songs that I think of fondly didn't come out this year (although StaRt is a notable exception). I can't say I know the story of the event where they're cops, but I'm also fairly certain I don't want to.
• Poppin' Party's year had its ups and downs, but overall I think they came off extremely strong. Returns is one of my all-time favorite songs from the game, and the second season of the anime did a really nice job in following up on Popipa's band story 2 from last year. I hope that they get some good material in s3, but going in I'm a bit apprehensive that they'll feel like they're there more because they're the protagonists than because they have story threads I care about.
• Afterglow remains my personal favorite band, and continues to deliver really strong music and story content. I'm glad that Moca and Ran are getting so much attention, and in 2020 we're going to demand justice for Himari (not that anything's happened to her, she just deserves better than she gets).
• Roselia continues to absolutely rule. Their music is top-notch (as is fitting, given their entire character), and their story is I think still the best entry point into the franchise (especially now that it's conveniently available in Manga form).
• Pastel Palettes were this year's most-improved. A lot of their early songs were kind of forgettable, but their repertoire in 2019 was overall very strong, and I personally feel a lot more invested in the band and its storylines than I did a year ago.

Thanks for reading!