Bocchi the Rock! prequel film about Seika and Nijika is set for 2027

Bocchi the Rock! is getting a new anime film in 2027. Titled Bocchi the Rock! Hoshi no Ashiato, the movie will be a prequel centered on sisters Seika and Nijika Ijichi before Kessoku Band was formed. Aniplex confirmed the project on November 1 and released a teaser video and visual alongside the announcement.

The studio and the outlets reporting on the announcement have not provided a release day or month. There is also no confirmed international rollout, streaming distribution or theatrical release in markets outside Japan. The only firm release information at this stage is the Japanese 2027 window.

The film will trace the path to the STARRY live house

Hoshi no Ashiato adapts a special story published at the end of volume 5 of Aki Hamazi's manga. The narrative returns to Seika and Nijika's past, beginning with a separation ten years earlier and following the path that would lead to the creation of the STARRY live house. In the television anime, the venue serves as Kessoku Band's meeting point and an essential setting for Hitori Gotoh and the other members to mature.

The shift in perspective matters because the film is not simply retelling the band's origin. Seika manages STARRY in the series' present, while Nijika is Kessoku Band's drummer and leader. By reconstructing the sisters' choices, the movie can add context to a location that already carried dramatic importance but whose beginnings were primarily known to manga readers.

The confirmed cast includes Maaya Uchida returning as Seika and Sayumi Suzushiro as Nijika. Shin Wakabayashi is directing, Erika Yoshida is writing the screenplay and Yukiko Horiguchi is handling character design. CloverWorks is producing the animation, with ANIMEC distributing the film. No additional cast members have been announced so far.

The prequel and season two are separate projects

The new movie is not replacing the second season of Bocchi the Rock!, which remains in production. That distinction prevents the film from being mistaken for a theatrical conversion of the television continuation's next arc. The announced material has a defined source in volume 5 and takes place before Kessoku Band formed, while the series continuation is expected to move the main story forward.

The first season aired in 2022 and later received two compilation films. Hoshi no Ashiato, by contrast, has been presented as its own narrative work. The difference is important: rather than rearranging familiar episodes, the project brings a complementary story to the screen and helps explain how the environment in which the band develops came to exist.

In Japan, the first batch of advance movie cards goes on sale November 6 for 1,600 yen, featuring an illustration of Seika and Nijika and a limited sticker. The sale confirms that the marketing campaign has begun, but it does not establish when the movie will reach theaters. The lack of a specific date suggests production and release could extend through a significant part of 2027; that is an editorial inference, not an announced schedule.

What the announcement confirms and what remains open

Confirmed details include the title, the 2027 window, the prequel format, the focus on the Ijichi sisters, the volume 5 source story, the two lead voice actors and the core creative team. Still unknown are the rest of the cast, running time, exact release date, theater count, distribution outside Japan and any eventual streaming availability.

The announcement expands the franchise along two tracks: season two can continue following Hitori and Kessoku Band, while the movie revisits the history that made STARRY possible. That structure limits overlap between the projects and gives the film a clear narrative function, but any direct connection between their release dates would still be speculation.