Bocchi the Rock! Film About Seika Set for 2027
Shin Wakabayashi directs at CloverWorks, with a screenplay by Erika Yoshida and character designs by Yukiko Horiguchi.
Aki Hamaji's Bocchi the Rock! manga is getting a film in 2027. It will adapt a special prologue about Seika, Nijika Ijichi's older sister.
A teaser released on Sunday introduced Bocchi the Rock! the Movie: Footprints of the Stars (Eiga Bocchi the Rock! Hoshi no Ashiato). The film draws on "Hoshi ni Tamukeru Ai no Hana," the special story included at the end of the fifth volume of Aki Hamaji's four-panel manga.
Shin Wakabayashi (Wonder Egg Priority) is directing at CloverWorks. Erika Yoshida (Maebashi Witches, Trickster) returns from the television anime to write the screenplay, while Yukiko Horiguchi (K-ON!, Lucky Star, Tamako Market) handles character design.
The remaining announced staff and distributor are:
- Stylist: Hiroaki Iriyama
- Color key artist: Kazuko Nakashima
- Art director: Yuki Funagakure
- Compositing director of photography: Yūya Sakuma
- Editing: Daisuke Hiraki
- Sound director: Akiko Fujita
- Graphic design: Yūto Hama
- Distributor: Animec
Yen Press publishes the manga in English. Its synopsis follows Hitori Goto, whose severe anxiety makes approaching strangers overwhelming despite her desire for friends. She spends all of middle school teaching herself guitar, earning modest recognition anonymously on YouTube and hoping that appearing cool will encourage someone else to approach her. Bringing her guitar to school attracts no attention, leaving her deeply discouraged. Nijika Ijichi then finds her moping at a playground and begs her to replace her band's unreliable guitarist for its first live performance. Hitori gets the opportunity she wanted, but must face the challenge of playing before an actual audience despite her extreme introversion.
The manga's television anime premiered in October 2022. A concert in February 2025 brought the announcement of a second season. Yūsuke Yamamoto, previously an assistant director and episode director on Bocchi the Rock!, will replace Keiichirō Saitō as director. Keito Oda, a key animator on the series, will join Kerorira on character design.
The anime also received two compilation films. Bocchi the Rock! Re: opened in Japan on June 7, 2024, selling 140,000 tickets and earning 218,470,888 yen (about US$1.38 million) over its first three days. Bocchi the Rock! Re:Re: followed on August 9, 2024.
Hamaji began the ongoing manga in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Max magazine in December 2017. Houbunsha shipped the eighth collected volume on November 27, and Yen Press shipped the seventh English volume on November 11.
Source: Comic Natalie
