The hype for this season of the series was built around one thing, all bands who appeared in Seasons 1-3 coming together. Question was whether it was a delightful reunion or not much was gained. Let us find out as we take a look at Show By Rock!! Stars!!, aka Show By Rock!! Season 4.
Check out my reviews of the first three seasons starting HERE.
Genres: Comedy, Fantasy
Themes: Bands, Music, Light Rock, Metal, Urban, Yuri.
Number of episodes: 12
G-Rating: 8/10
Put simply Stars!! is about Mashumairesh!! proving they are worthy to stand alongside the veteran girl bands of the first two seasons.
Yes. The same goes for the new boy band introduced in Season 3, DOKONJOFINGER, proving themselves to the three established boy bands. There is a new 4th band introduced this season but we only get the bare minimum on their background. All I will say about the boy bands if viewers who like them (such as myself) can expect to have a good time in the three episodes that center around DOKONJOFINGER meeting the bands and for viewers who do not mind/tolerate them need not worry for they do not interact with the girl bands up till the last few minutes of the season finale during the “Mega Concert” mentioned throughout the show.
Back to our lead heroines. The season follows Mashumairesh!! as they meet up with the veteran bands, both heroines and former boss bands, as they meet them for the first time in person and viewers get to see how their past favorites are doing since we last saw them. I said Mashumairesh!! had to prove themselves to the other bands but it is not lieterally said they had to. It is more in the figurative sense. Fans of the 3rd season know they are worthy additions to the series but here our heroines prove their worth to the veterans and fans of the originals. Alongside that our heroines have more personal development, some members more than others, as their bonds as a band and with their respective significant other grows.
Plasmagica serve a mentor role for Mashumairesh!! while also seeing a bit of themselves in the newcomers during their ups and downs, motivated to continue doing their best. For those wondering if certain members of both bands have special interactions, yes, in one episode. The rest of the time they act as mentors and friends of Mashumairesh. Cyan also senses a familiar power in Howan but that was already hinted last season. Here it is made clearer.
Besides proving themselves as bands both newcomers must confront a dark presence like their predecessors. However, similar to the 2nd season the looming threat is not given as much importance as the bands’ development, which is for the best as many fans can agree the show is best known for its music and character development and interactions than battles against dark forces though we do get a small hint on the origins of Dark Monsters near the end.
By the way, for longtime fans who paid attention, no, that question is not answered. She is there just because though the closest answer may be she is summoned whenever there is a sign of danger.
Four seasons in and readers should know what to expect from the presentation by now, very colorful with cute CG chibis during performances along with jammin’ tunes of several genres. Still good.
Time to hint at the yuri progress:
Howan X Himeko are supportive girlfriends. Their love remains as strong as ever, always there for each other when needed and wanting to be together without needing to tell each other. They just know.
Ruhuyu X Delmin got the most development this season. Last time focused more on HowaHime for good reason. While RuhuDel had their time to shine together in S3 they shone even brighter in S4, oh yes indeed. This was definitely their time.
Sadly Cyan X Retoree haven’t made much progress in their relationship. On the bright side Retoree remains head over heels for the adorable blue kitty. Hopefully in a potential 5th season we get to see further development.
Overall Show By Rock!! Stars!! delivers enough screen time for the veteran bands while getting the new bands over as best as they could. It is more SBR. Fans of the show know what to expect by now and know whether they will enjoy the 4th season or not. The show left things open for a 5th season. Whether we will get one remains to be seen.
PS: Besides the main 4th season be sure to stay tuned after the ED for the 2nd season of “Show By Rock!! Short!!”. Most of the shorts are comedic but some of them also go into more detail on something that was brought up during the episode such as a character’s past.
The Yuri Empire 
It was a fun ride. Had some disappointment that cyanxretoree still made no progress, but mashumaireshi kept up things, and of that I was very satisfied with. I was totally fine with HImeko and Howan getting less of the spotlight, as its’ pretty heavily cemented by now that they’re a couple on everything but paper (Told they had to take separate rooms because of “space issues”, but Howan still ended up pulling up a futon and sleeping in the same room as Himeko XD. Cannot tell those two they don’t get to live together anymore). Ruhuyu and Delmin definitely needed these extra pushes, and it resulted in scenes comparable to what we got last season from Howan and Himeko. Though I’d still argue they got stronger scenes overall, that just means they’re further along than Ruhuyu and Delmin.
The boy band stuff was hit and miss for me. I enjoyed the mines episode, but the second episode was fairly boring, and the third episode was in the middle. That’s my take on it as someone who’s not a fan of them, but can deal with their presence. They do sometimes offer enjoyable moments, but this season was not as good about that. It’s just not that interesting to see their character growth when I could have seen some howanxhimeko moments or RuhuyuxDelmin moments, or even gotten some actual moments that shows Retoree has a strong chance. That stuff is far more important to a fan like myself.
That aside, I was happy we got the most screentime out of Criticrista, as they were one of my favorite bands from the OG cast. Possibly my favorite, but it’s hard to say….Tsurezure only got a single episode to themselves, but it was quite the episode, so I was happy with that. And BVL got a fun episode too, which was a nice surprise, especially considering we learned that she still very much has that power.
The finale was fun, and Mashumaireshi’s final new song was ❤ it was quite a journey, starting from being arrested for no good reason, to saving Midi City. I would definitely welcome another season! But please…please just give Retoree some actual tangible hope this time…….
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When it comes to Mashumairesh!! songs with “love” in the title and lyrics we know who they’re really meant for.
As I told Chikorita I predict most readers and visitors here will say “Girl band stuff was great, boy band stuff not so much and would have liked to see Cyan X Retoree’s relationship progress further”. All good points.
Fingers crossed the 2022 tweet Chikorita shared means a 5th season or possibly movie.
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I am still writing my review of the last episode, which should be up tomorrow, but overall, the fourth season is enjoyable. I enjoyed the girl band parts of it and there are really nice moments with Mashumairesh. I kind of wish Retoree and Cyan developed further.
But still, it’s interesting how the dark speaker monster side story is just a music soul that entered a speaker and wreak havoc is funny. It’s quite fitting for the crazy experiences Mashumairesh have to go through being accused of destroying the city and proving their innocence. At least the music is good.
As for the boy band stuff, I am not that much of a boy band fan. I just think that the girl band segments are more enjoyable
As for a 5th season, it’s not too far from the whelm of possibility, they already hinted at something (tweet is in Japanese).
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Most readers and visitors around here will probably have a similar opinion as yours, girl bands great, boy bands whatever, wish Cyan X Retoree’s relationship progressed further.
Would have been surprised if we didn’t get more Show By Rock in the future so them hinting more is wonderful
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As always show by rock is amazing and looking forward to potentially more seasons. This is one of the few shows were I actually enjoy the male side stories. Obviously I would prefer if they only showed the female bands but their episodes are still awesome. I dont know where the rest of the fandom falls under but I actually prefer Mashumairesh and hope possible future seasons still revolve around them. Probably because the yuri is much stronger with them.
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This season still had the same spark of the previous ones. It was nice seeing Mashumairesh hanging with the older girl bands. It would have been nice if they got more time with Plasmagica but you know, time constraints and all that. Dokofin’s time with the boy bands was interesting too with their excursion with Shingancrimzonz being the best to me.
While Howan/Himeko are as strong as ever, the Ruhuyu/Delmin focus was great.
One thing that confused me was Ziipe’s motivations. As far as I could see, he died at the height of his career with no regrets so why would he terrorize other musicians? Maybe possessing that boombox corrupted his soul or something. Also, despite taking a direct attack to the face, Howan wasn’t in any mortal danger at all, lol.
Let’s hope for another season!
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What we got from the girls was quite nice.
Oh yeah. DOKONJIFINGER had the best chemistry with SHINGANCRIMSONZ. No surprise as, like our two lead girl bands, these two boy bands shared similarities.
Nice seeing HowaHime going strong and RuhuDel grow stronger.
He was either corrupted or felt he had more to give but lost his life too soon.
Himeko was with her so either way Howan wasn’t going to be down for the count for long.
From what I heard the chances of more SBR are high so fingers crossed we won’t have to wait too long.
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