Tenka Toitsu A to Z: the best BanDori lyrics for every mood

The bands in BanG Dream cover a bunch of genres. Roselia’s got that goth look going on, Poppin’ Party brings the heart-racing beats, and HaroHapi (Hello, Happy World!) just wants to put a smile on your face. It’s amazing how much variety Elements Garden can conjure up.

We all feel the rhythm, but what about the words? Not everyone’s fluent in Japanese like these girls.

Hard-working BanDori fans have translated a lot of the lyrics for each single release. Sure, you can match your mood to the music. That slow piano melody ain’t gonna be a song about happiness. But with English translations of BanG Dream songs, it’s way easier to feel those feels.

Whatever mood you’re in, there’s a BanG Dream song to match. And we’ve even kept this to new, original songs only – no covers in sight.

Credit for English lyrics featured in this post goes to the BanDori Wikia page.

Happy: Happiness! Happy Magical

Yep, let’s start with a real obvious one. Hello! Happy World had to do the happy song. It’s the B-side on their 1st single, Egao no Orchestra. We could’ve picked that song instead. Or pretty much anything else they’ve released.

Ignore the ‘fake out’ negativity in the first line. This is a bop through and through.

If you don’t have any courage, I’ll give you mine
With my magic words
Sing! (On your marks!)
「Happiness！Happy Magical♪」
If you wish for it, anything can come true
The things you find fun, enjoy them!
We are this world’s smiling face. Sparkle☆
(Pierce through the sky!)

Upbeat and positive, to the point of making you sick. (You’re gonna throw up sparkles and rainbows, by the way.) The idea of ‘happy magic words’ makes us think of maid cafes. How long’s it gonna be before a BanDori collab cafe pops up?

Sad, but dealing with it: LOUDER

At the total other end of the scale, there’s always Roselia. After an epic guitar intro that sends live crowds crazy, it gets a bit serious.

The lyrics start out like this, and keep on going:

Betrayal stays dark, fall down
This deteriorating world
I pulled out my heart and lost my warmth
My weakness stays on my mind
Holding my immaturity
Turning my back because I have no right to sing

Feel depressed yet? Hold out until the end – it’s what Roselia’d want you to do. The song’s overall message is ‘hey, so I’m feeling crappy right now, but you give me hope’. Delivered in the same kind of bold, gutsy way we’ve seen Mizuki Nana wrap fans around her little finger.

Super motivated: SURVIVOR Never Give Up!

Are Pastel*Palettes trying to be the new Destiny’s Child here? Ooh, it’s peppy from the first beat. A high BPM, with genki anime girl voices to match. The song’s main message is nice and clear:

Fight! Fight! Fight on!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Never give up!

Fight! Fight! Fight on!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Never give up!

Fight! Fight! Fight on!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Never give up!

Fight! Fight! Fight on!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Never give up!

That’s repeated 6 times in a 4-minute song, so you know it’s important.

With simple catchy melodies and cute little background noises, this feels like a super fun song to sing. And – it sounds kinda fun to drum! None of us’ve played the BanG Dream game yet. Waiting for this one to get ported to Taiko no Tatsujin instead.

Not giving a crap: That Is How I Roll

The Afterglow girls got moody for this single. A lot of their other music’s upbeat stuff you can mosh to – not this time.

And they went pink this time, too. The music video’s a sea of black and pink. But you can hear that early-2000s ‘believe in yourself’ rebel girl anthem vibe, even without watching it.

Nothing is worse than
being criticized for your attitude
In the end (Ultimately)
That’s what’s the most depressing
I’m always fumbling and struggling
trying to find the answer
Now I want to change
the negative into a positive

It’s got everything: the relentless drums, the powerful pre-chorus build, long note at the end of the chorus, the random English… reminds us of something real familiar. Didn’t think it’d take this far into a blog post about anime girl bands to bring up K-On!!, but here we are.

Thoughtful: Hachigatsu no ‘if’

We’ve all wondered how our lives would change if we said this, or did that. So do the Poppin’ Party girls.

Remember ‘A Thousand Miles’? Can’t go wrong with a tinkly piano intro. As the rolling drums kick in, you know this song’s gonna build into something great. Takes a while, though – the chorus doesn’t hit for nearly a minute and a half.

The heat haze flickers and wavers
As we watched the setting sun, we imagined
If we had never met,
What kind of summer would have been in store for us?

“Looking for our different summers?”
“Chasing after our own dreams?”
“But would that really be the case, I wonder?”
“After all, someday…”
“…I wonder if we would meet?”

The bass and keyboard parts mimic all those ‘setting out on a new journey’ songs. Where the music video’s 4 solid minutes of someone walking down a long, empty road wearing a cowboy hat.

Enjoy the whole BanG Dream discography

From the manga to the anime to the mobile game, these ambitious, talented girls’ve taken us on a musical journey. We’re kinda excited to see what musical direction each band goes in next. Even though we know every new, interesting sound’s from the same super talented composing team.

Get on the BanDori bandwagon – find and order official BanG Dream merch direct from Japan.