One of the things I love about Bandori compared to other music franchises is that the catchphrases seem so natural. Characters tend to have a reason for saying them, and it’s not just for a gimmick. Ran’s “same as always” is a shining example—she says it to hide her real feelings sometimes, which is absolutely something people do. Plus, while the phrase is super common, this connection really makes me associate it with Ran now.

Even some of the seemingly weirder catchphrases, like Kaoru’s “fleeting” make sense for the character and are relatable—who hasn’t seen someone use words they don’t know to seem smart? Who hasn’t seen a kid rehearse ways to sound cooler like Ako? As someone who works with teenagers in a library, I can easily imagine one of them coming up with a word like Tsugurific to describe a friend, or trying to come up with a silly slang word to describe situations or things (boppin’).

It just makes these characters feel so real.