Bocchi the Rock! Prequel Film Puts Seika Front and Center
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
- Anime
- Bocchi The Rock
- Cloverworks
- Kessoku Band
A new Bocchi the Rock! film announced for 2027 will adapt the sisters' backstory from manga volume 5, with Kessoku Band touring Asia the same year.
A prequel movie, not the season fans were begging for
Bocchi the Rock!'s official site announced on Sunday that a prequel anime film, *Eiga Bocchi the Rock! Hoshi no Ashiato* — rendered by Crunchyroll as *Bocchi the Rock! the Movie: Starry Footprints* — will open in Japan in 2027, with a teaser trailer and visual.
According to AOL's report, the film adapts "Hoshi ni Tamukeru Ai no Hana," the special story at the end of the manga's fifth volume, following Seika Ijichi, Nijika's older sister and manager of the STARRY live house, before Kessoku Band ever formed.
The official description calls it a story of the sisters' dreams that begins with their separation ten years earlier. Anime News Network likewise notes the film adapts a manga prologue story about Nijika's older sister.
The teaser trailer dropped at a real Shimokitazawa live house
Watch on YouTube · アニメ「ぼっち・ざ・ろっく！」公式チャンネル · 0:33
What makes the reveal special for fans is where it happened: AOL reports the announcement landed at a 35th anniversary event for SHELTER, the real Shimokitazawa live house that inspired STARRY, where Kessoku Band performed on Sunday. The trailer and visual came first, then the staff and cast.
CloverWorks — the studio behind the first season — animates, with Shin Wakabayashi of *Wonder Egg Priority* directing, Erika Yoshida writing the screenplay, and Yukiko Horiguchi of *K-ON!* fame designing characters, per AOL.
Maaya Uchida returns as Seika and Sayumi Suzushiro as Nijika, the only roles listed so far.
Why a one-chapter film is the surprise pick
The unexpected choice here is scale: as AOL points out, the film adapts a single chapter rather than an arc, leaving most of Aki Hamaji's manga — serialized in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Max since December 2017 — untouched.
Season 1 ran 12 episodes from October to December 2022, followed by two compilation films in June and August 2024, and Season 2 was announced in February 2025 but is still in production.
According to AOL, neither project has a date beyond 2027, so their order is unsettled, and Sunday brought only a comment board from director Yusuke Yamamoto with no new footage for the season.
Manga author Aki Hamaji, AOL reports, said she first imagined the story on the way home from a recording session for the first season, to fill in the sisters' past shown at the end of episode 8.
Kessoku Band goes on its first Asia tour
The same announcement confirmed a second 2027 milestone that fans were not expecting: Kessoku Band will tour Asia under the title Kessoku Band ASIA TOUR 2027 "To Asia".
AOL lists the dates as Osaka shows at Intex Osaka on March 13 and 14, Seoul at Kintex on May 8, and Hong Kong at AsiaWorld-Expo on May 22.