BanG Dream! is a Great Anime:

The newest addition to my great anime rankings is BanG Dream!  It's based off of a manga, so coincidentally this is also the newest addition to my great manga rankings.  Though it's not very clear how closely it hews to the manga, because it seems to be some sort of multi-media project, and no chapters of the manga have ever been translated to compare with anyway.

Tonikaku, BanG Dream! is amazing.  It's only two episodes in but it's already clear it's going to be great.  It's a simple enough story, so I suspect the whole thing can be wrapped up in just one cour.  This is a plus.  I hate unfinished stories.  The art is magnificent, the characters are extremely fetching.  The situation is realistic and thus lively and interesting.  The characters may be a little over the top, but there's a genuine-ness to them that makes you want to root for them and care.  This is not Danganronpa.

BanG Dream looks closest to Natsuiro Kiseki.  A strong emphasis on music, girls becoming better friends, and a playfulness and comedic element to keep things snappy.  I'm a huge fan of Natsuiro.  There may not be a wish granting rock this time, but it has the same tone nonetheless.

BanG Dream! is now my favorite anime coming out weekly, I expect it to surpass Youjo Senki in my overall rankings by the end of the season when they're both properly judged.  (For now BanG Dream! can sit at last place, #188.)  Whereas Youjo Senki only has one real character in the story, BanG has five, all thoroughly fleshed out and interesting on their own.  That's a lot more potential for growth in BanG than Youjo, which risks just repeating itself endlessly moving forward.  They really, literally did save the best for last this winter season.

BanG Dream's quality was really the last unanswered question of this season.  There's still two months of winter anime to go, but I suspect all the series I haven't dropped yet will stay non-dropped, and the series I've promoted to greatness will stay great.  All the confusion is past.  Anime won't become fun to talk about again until the spring season comes around.