Bocchi the Rock! is heading back to cinemas with something new. A film called Footprints of the Stars (Eiga Bocchi the Rock: Hoshi no Ashiato) opens in Japan in 2027, as Anime News Network reported when the teaser was revealed on 1 November.

What the film is about

It isn't a recap. The film adapts "Hoshi ni Tamukeru Ai no Hana", a special story from the end of the manga's fifth volume. It works as a prologue about Seika, the older sister of Nijika Ijichi, whose band the shy guitarist Hitori Goto ends up joining.

Who's making it

  • Director: Shin Wakabayashi (Wonder Egg Priority)
  • Studio: CloverWorks
  • Screenplay: Erika Yoshida, returning from the TV anime
  • Character design: Yukiko Horiguchi (K-On!, Lucky Star, Tamako Market)
  • Distributor: Animec

No cast has been announced yet, and there's no exact release date or word on a UK release.

Bocchi the Rock! key art: Hitori Goto, with long pink hair and cube hair clips, plays a black electric guitar under pink stage light
Official key art: © Aki Hamaji / Houbunsha / Aniplex, via bocchi.rocks

Catching up before 2027

Bocchi was a really big hit and I still haven't got round to watching it, so a new film is the push I need to start. Aki Hamaji's four-panel manga has run in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Max since December 2017, and Yen Press publishes it in English. Yen Press sums up its lead, Hitori Goto, as someone who "just wants to make friends", until she's asked to fill in on guitar for Nijika's band.

The TV anime premiered in October 2022, and a second season was announced in February 2025. Two compilation films also played in Japanese cinemas in 2024, Re: in June and Re:Re: in August.

I'll update this when a date, the cast or a UK release is confirmed. Already caught up, or starting from episode one like me?