Ave Mujica Review – This Had No Right Being THIS Good

Article at a glance:

• While MyGO was a typical teen band drama, Ave Mujica leans into psychological thriller territory with heavier themes and intense character arcs.
• The story revolves around the disbanding and reformation of the band, featuring strong plot twists, emotional depth, and unique presentation, though some parts feel rushed.
• Saki, Mutsumi (and Mortis), and Uika steal the show with deep, psychologically complex arcs, especially their intertwined struggles and revelations.
• The 3D animation issues from MyGO are improved, and the show’s unique visual style makes conversations and character breakdowns highly engaging.
• Ave Mujica delivers outstanding music, with songs like KiLLKiSS standing out, making it the best Bang Dream anime so far.

Okay bro, I liked MyGO. Yeah, it wasn’t perfect and it was sometimes a bit cliche but MyGO was good, it had some decent character work and the music was cool, as expected. I walked into Ave Mujica expecting something similar but boy I wasn’t ready. You see, Ave Mujica is heavy. MyGO feels like a typical teen drama, basically what you expect from a band drama show. Ave Mujica though? This thing is a full-on psychological thriller, It took me a good moment to collect my thoughts on Ave Mujica for this review.

As you can tell from the first paragraph alone, comparisons to MyGO are basically unavoidable since Ave Mujica is a direct sequel to MyGO. Many of the character arcs introduced in MyGO get their conclusion in Ave Mujica. So it is impossible to view these seasons separately. Also, a sequel for MyGO and Ave Mujica is already in the works. Very curious to see what the ends up being because it has to live up to the high standard established by Ave Mujica.

So welcome back to another review and today we are talking about Bang Dream: Ave Mujica or Ave Mujica: The Die is Cast. There will be spoilers ahead and trust me, there are some really good plot twists in Ave Mujica so be warned. With that said, let’s start.

Plot

Ave Mujica has a crazy plot. MyGO was about assembling the band, about broken people finding a place to belong. Ave Mujica is kind of the opposite. The band itself starts on a high note. Everything is going well, till it isn’t. Things get sour because of the band and the band is disbanded in episode 2 or 3. The rest of the show is about working through all sorts of issues to bring the band back together.

The pacing and the plot twists are great. MyGO had a very simple story but thanks to Ave Mujica, the overall plot now has a much larger scope. The revelation of Saki’s living conditions, why she decided to leave CRYCHIC, Saki’s true relation with Uika, etc. were handled really well. The Uika reveal in particular is done very well because there are hints about it throughout the show.

Now, while the plot is great, I still have some complaints. The show relies on convenience a bit too much at times to move the plot forward. The conclusion in general feels a little rushed, like Mutsumi gets such a great character arc but it is kind of forgotten about after the Uika reveal. Overall though, the plot is great. Certain episodes like Episode 11 are genuinely uncomfortable to watch. And emotional moments like that are presented very creatively as well.

Characters

Saki, Mutsumi, and Uika easily take the cake as the best characters this season. You spend almost the entirety of MyGO hating Saki for breaking up CRYCHIC but then you learn about why she did it. And how much it hurt her to break up the band and yeah man, it hits hard seeing anyone live like that. And then you find out that her father’s downward spiral was indirectly started because of Uika and it just adds another layer of hurt to an already painful existence.

The dynamic between Uika and Saki is done really well. Sure, Uika comes off as a possessive psycho at times and I am pretty sure that’s on purpose. After all, she wants a reason to live as well. Episode 11 almost exclusively featured Uika and it was one of the best episodes of the show. Her mental state and backstory were presented so creatively. Ave Mujica wins so many bonus points for presentations alone.

And speaking of mental state, Mutsumi, or her split personality, Mortis gets the best character arc in the whole season. Both of them want different things, constantly fighting for control. The show leaves you questioning if either of her personalities is even real or not since Mutsumi is a very natural actress. And again, the presentation of her mental state is always done so well. Nyamu and Umiri are good characters too but they just don’t stand a chance against these three. But yeah, the overall band dynamic of Ave Mujica is done well and it feels complete.

Animations and Soundtracks

Ave Mujica features 3D animations similar to MyGO. While in MyGO, the 3D animations often looked a bit janky during the conversation scenes, this issue is not nearly as noticeable in Ave Mujica. Bandori opts for 3D animations instead of the usual 2D because the 3D looks so much better during the concerts but that comes at the cost of looking janky during regular conversations. Ave Mujica cleverly sidesteps this issue by having a very unique presentation style. The presentation alone makes conversations more engaging and man it is creative.

I am not exaggerating, Ave Mujica has some of the best presentation I have seen. I’ll use episode 11 as an example again, that episode only features a single character and yet it is never boring despite being uncomfortable to watch. I also really like how their performances start with a skit. It does so much to establish the band’s gimmick. Probably the most obvious statement in this review but Ave Mujica has some great music too. I like their music more than MyGO. The opening theme, KiLLKiSS immediately made it to my Spotify playlist. Ave Mujica’s songs are great.

Summing Up

Here are my final review scores for Ave Mujica:

• Plot – 8/10
• Characters – 9/10
• Animations – 8/10
• Soundtracks – 10/10
• Enjoyment – 8/10
• Overall – 8.6/10

That concludes my review of Ave Mujica. Definitely my favorite Bang Dream anime so far. I am really curious about the upcoming sequel now because it has some big shoes to fill after Ave Mujica did so much. With that said, I will take my leave here. Let me know what you guys think in the comments and yeah, see ya!

Also, check out my thoughts on why the Hell’s Paradise manga is so special here!