Bocchi the Rock! Sets Seika and Nijika Prequel Film for 2027 and Announces Asia Tour

The Ijichi sisters take the spotlight

Bocchi the Rock! will return to cinemas in 2027 with a story set before Kessoku Band existed. Eiga Bocchi the Rock! Hoshi no Ashiato, whose title translates as Bocchi the Rock! the Movie: Footprints of the Stars, will follow Seika Ijichi and her younger sister Nijika, adapting a special story from the fifth volume of Aki Hamazi's manga.

The announcement came on November 1, 2026, at an event featuring Kessoku Band to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the music venue SHELTER. Alongside the film, the franchise announced four concerts across Osaka, Seoul and Hong Kong for Kessoku Band ASIA TOUR 2027 "To Asia."

CloverWorks will animate the film, with Shin Wakabayashi directing, Erika Yoshida writing the screenplay and Yukiko Horiguchi designing the characters. Maaya Uchida returns as Seika, while Sayumi Suzushiro again voices Nijika. A teaser visual, announcement video and introduction have been released.

The project shifts attention from Hitori Gotoh, the anxious guitarist at the centre of the television series, to the family history behind the place where her band performs. Seika manages STARRY, and Nijika is Kessoku Band's drummer and leader. Their earlier lives will now become the main story rather than a glimpse within someone else's.

A story beginning 10 years earlier

The film adapts Hoshi ni Tamukeru Ai no Hana, the prequel included at the end of manga volume five. Its story begins with a separation involving the Ijichi sisters 10 years before the main narrative and follows their dreams before Kessoku Band's formation.

Hamazi explained that the manga story grew from an idea that came while returning home from a recording session for the first television season. The creator wanted to expand the sisters' past, briefly shown at the end of episode eight, and trace the steps that led to STARRY's creation.

STARRY is a live house, a venue where bands perform for an audience. Seika previously played guitar in a band herself. Nijika's ambition is closely tied to that history: she wants Kessoku Band to succeed and help make her sister's venue better known.

By moving back to the years before the band, the film can connect Seika's experiences as a musician and older sister with the supportive role she plays in the television story. Hamazi said Yoshida has expanded the manga's story for the film.

Dreams and wishes guide the adaptation

Wakabayashi described the original story as one about dreams and secrets. His comments focus on the wishes that guide Seika and Nijika, including moments when a person wants something deeply but cannot yet act to bring it about.

The director said he wants to preserve that quality in the adaptation. In his reading, wishing can appear weaker than taking action, yet the sisters' wishes make a major contribution to their lives. That gives the film a specific emotional focus alongside its account of how STARRY came into being.

Yoshida said she wanted to write an animated adaptation as soon as she read the manga story. She had already decided that it should be depicted if a second television season happened, so she immediately accepted when producers offered a feature film instead.

The screenwriter also praised Hamazi's ability to make traits usually considered faults into lovable parts of a character. Her comments place Seika at the centre of that approach, with a personality and difficulties distinct from Hitori's.

Returning voices explore a different side of the sisters

Uchida said reading the prequel made her feel strongly protective of both sisters and left her hoping that she would someday have the chance to perform it. The film gives her a story about how Seika lived through the years before becoming the manager who watches over the younger musicians.

Seika often struggles to express herself in words. Uchida said she wants to portray the feelings beneath that reserve, including her kindness and affection for Nijika. Her performance will therefore address a younger Seika as well as the emotional roots of the character viewers already know.

Suzushiro said the film carries feelings important to both sisters and STARRY. She also pointed to a line Nijika speaks in the first season, explaining that the prequel would give its meaning greater depth. Translated from Japanese, the line is:

My sister was the only family I had.

Suzushiro described both happiness and a strong sense of responsibility at being able to portray this period. Like Hamazi, she expressed hope that the film would welcome people encountering Bocchi the Rock! for the first time as well as existing fans.

A film team with returning and new contributors

Wakabayashi, whose previous directing work includes Wonder Egg Priority, leads the film at CloverWorks. Yoshida returns after handling the television anime's series composition, the work of shaping a season's scripts into a coherent story. Horiguchi, known for K-On!, takes responsibility for the film's character designs.

The first television season was directed by Keiichiro Saito, with character designs by Kerorira. For the new film, Horiguchi said joining an already popular animated franchise brought unfamiliar territory, but that she would work under Wakabayashi to make something fans could enjoy.

Hamazi praised Horiguchi's design drawings for bringing the atmosphere of an earlier Shimokitazawa to mind. That connection matters to a story about the sisters' lives before the familiar band and venue took their present form.

The wider staff includes stylist Hiroaki Iriyama, color designer Kazuko Nakashima, art director Yuki Funagakure, compositing director Yuya Sakuma, editor Daisuke Hiraki, sound director Akiko Fujita and graphic designer Yuto Hama. ANIMEC is handling distribution.

Advance tickets arrive on November 6

The first batch of MoviTicke advance tickets goes on sale on November 6, 2026, priced at 1,600 yen including tax. The design uses a new illustration of Seika and Nijika drawn by Horiguchi.

Purchasers can receive one sticker featuring the same artwork as a bonus, while supplies last. The tickets will be sold through participating cinemas across Japan and through the online retailers Major and Movie Walker.

The teaser visual presents the younger sisters sitting in the back of a car, with Nijika looking toward Seika. Together with the video's reference to a story beginning with a separation, it introduces the family relationship at the heart of the project.

The announcement gives 2027 as the film's release year, without a specific opening date or further plot details. The television anime's second season is also in production; Yoshida said she expects it to reach audiences in the not too distant future, but no broadcast date was announced.

Four concerts across three Asian cities

Kessoku Band ASIA TOUR 2027 "To Asia." will begin with two performances in Osaka before moving to Seoul and Hong Kong. Four dates across three cities give Osaka two shows, while each of the other stops has one announced performance.

The lineup includes Yoshino Aoyama, Sayumi Suzushiro, Saku Mizuno and Ikumi Hasegawa, the voice performers associated with Kessoku Band's four members. The musicians joining them are guitarists Ritsuo Mitsui and akkin, drummer Osamu Hidai and bassist Yuichi Takama. Performers may change.

The announced schedule is:

• March 13, 2027: Intex Osaka, Hall 5. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.; the performance begins at 6 p.m.
• March 14, 2027: Intex Osaka, Hall 5. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.; the performance begins at 1 p.m.
• May 8, 2027: KINTEX, for the Seoul stop.
• May 22, 2027: AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong.

The Osaka performances offer different schedules for audiences: Saturday's concert is in the evening, while Sunday's begins in the early afternoon. Both have 90 minutes between doors opening and the scheduled start.

Osaka ticket applications close on November 15

The official advance ticket application period for Osaka runs through Lawson Ticket from 9 p.m. on November 1 to 11:59 p.m. on November 15, 2026. The process includes a selection result, followed by a payment deadline for successful applicants.

Results are scheduled for 3 p.m. on November 19. The payment period begins at that time and ends at 11:59 p.m. on November 23. Those dates make November the immediate planning period for fans hoping to attend the March concerts.

Ticket sale information for Seoul and Hong Kong will be announced later. Their concert dates and venues are already listed, giving audiences the tour's route while the remaining booking arrangements are prepared.

How the new projects fit the series

Hamazi's manga first appeared in Manga Time Kirara Max in December 2017, before beginning regular serialization in 2018. Published by Houbunsha, it uses a four panel comic format to follow Hitori as she joins Nijika, Ryo Yamada and Ikuyo Kita in Kessoku Band. Yen Press publishes the manga in English.

The first television adaptation ran for 12 episodes from October to December 2022. Those episodes are available on Crunchyroll, and two compilation films followed in 2024. The new prequel adapts the sisters' earlier story, taking the cinema projects into a different part of the manga.

Kessoku Band's music has already achieved success beyond the television broadcast. Its self titled album ranked first in Oricon's annual digital album ranking for 2023 and also topped Billboard Japan's annual download album chart that year. The Asia tour extends that concert activity to audiences in three cities.

The film and tour share a release year but offer different experiences: one explores the family history behind STARRY, while the other brings the franchise's performers and musicians to the stage. Alongside the second season now in production, they give the series several distinct ways to continue.

Key Points

• Bocchi the Rock! Hoshi no Ashiato is scheduled for cinemas in 2027 and follows Seika and Nijika before Kessoku Band formed.
• The film adapts the prequel in manga volume five, with Shin Wakabayashi directing at CloverWorks.
• Maaya Uchida and Sayumi Suzushiro return as the Ijichi sisters.
• Advance movie tickets go on sale on November 6, 2026, for 1,600 yen including tax, with a sticker bonus while supplies last.
• Kessoku Band's Asia tour visits Osaka on March 13 and 14, Seoul on May 8 and Hong Kong on May 22, 2027.
• Osaka advance ticket applications close on November 15, 2026; Seoul and Hong Kong ticket details will follow.
• The second television season remains in production.