Anime like GIRLS BAND CRY

Bocchi the Rock!

Also known as BOCCHI THE ROCK!.

Studio: CloverWorks , Aniplex , Houbunsha
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Music , Slice of Life

Hitori Gotou, “Bocchi-chan,” is a girl who’s so introverted and shy around people that she’d always start her conversations with “Ah...”

During her middle school years, she started playing the guitar, wanting to join a band because she thought it could be an opportunity for even someone shy like her to also shine. But because she had no friends, she ended up practicing guitar for six hours every day all by herself. After becoming a skilled guitar player, she uploaded videos of herself playing the guitar to the internet under the name “Guitar Hero” and fantasized about performing at her school’s cultural festival concert. But not only could she not find any bandmates, before she knew it, she was in high school and still wasn’t able to make a single friend!

She was really close to becoming a shut-in, but one day, Nijika Ijichi, the drummer in Kessoku Band, reached out to her. And because of that, her everyday life started to change little by little...



Tags: Band , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , Rock Music , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Coming of Age , Hikikomori , Rehabilitation , Surreal Comedy , LGBTQ+ Themes , Meta , Mixed Media , Slapstick , Seinen , Work , School , Rotoscoping , Chibi , Yuri

Yoru no Kurage wa Oyogenai

Also known as Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night.

Studio: King Records , Doga Kobo , Asmik Ace , Kansai TV , Doga Kobo , BS11 , Movic , KLOCKWORX
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music , Slice of Life

"I want to find what I enjoy."

Shibuya is a city full of identity. It is here on Shibuya’s late night streets that illustrator Mahiru Kozuki, former idol Kano Yamanouchi, Vtuber Kiui Watase and composer Mei Kim Anouk Takanashi — four young women who are slightly outside the world — join together and form an anonymous artist group called JELEE. “I” also want to shine like someone else. If it's not me but “we” then we might be able to shine.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , Coming of Age , Drawing , Urban , Band , Idol , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Hikikomori , LGBTQ+ Themes , VTuber , Transgender , Yuri , Bullying , Motorcycles , Alchemy

BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!

Also known as BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!.

Studio: SANZIGEN , Bushiroad , Ultra Super Pictures , Horipro , Good Smile Company , TOKYO MX
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music , Slice of Life

The best way to fit in at a new school? Start a band! Anon has just transferred to Haneoka Girls’ Academy where girl bands are all the rage. But she started school late, so there aren’t many girls left to recruit. Then she meets her first friend and Haneoka’s misfit, Tomori, who’s hesitant to join. Still, Anon is determined to persuade Tomori and experience the true power of friendship and music.



Tags: Band , Female Protagonist , Rock Music , Full CGI , Primarily Female Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , Urban , School , Disability , Musical Theater , Found Family , Ensemble Cast , Tragedy , POV

Rock wa Lady no Tashinami Deshite

Also known as Rock is a Lady’s Modesty.

Studio: Bandai Namco Pictures , TBS , Rakuten , Bandai Namco Pictures , Hakusensha , Movic , Pony Canyon , Shouchiku , Bandai Namco Music Live
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music

At an elite all-girls' academy where refined young ladies gather, Lilisa Suzunomiya, now the daughter of a real estate tycoon after her mother remarried, is forced to abandon her guitar and rock music to fit in. However, her passion is reignited by sounds from the old school building, where she meets a skilled drummer who shares her love for rock. Together, they embrace their inner rockstars, elegantly clashing and shouting their way through the academy in this captivating tale of grace and rebellion.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Band , Rock Music , Ojou-sama , Primarily Female Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , School , CGI , Urban , Yuri , Seinen , LGBTQ+ Themes

K-ON!

Also known as K-ON!.

Studio: Kyoto Animation , Pony Canyon , TBS , Movic , Rakuonsha , Animation Do , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Music , Slice of Life

Hirasawa Yui, a young, carefree girl entering high school, has her imagination instantly captured when she sees a poster advertising the ‘Light Music Club’. Being the carefree girl that she is, she quickly signs up. However, Yui has a problem, she is unable to play an instrument.

When Yui goes to the clubroom to explain, she's greeted by the other members: Ritsu, Mio and Tsumugi. Although disheartened at Yui’s lack of musical know-how, they still try to convince her to stay to prevent the club’s disbandment. After playing Yui a short piece which re-ignites her imagination, they succeed in keeping their new member and guitarist.

Along with the tasks of school and homework, Yui begins to learn the guitar with the help of the other band members, experiencing many mishaps along the way. However, with the school-festival drawing near and Yui getting stuck with her practice, will the Light Music Club be ready in time for their debut?



Tags: Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , School Club , Band , Primarily Female Cast , Female Protagonist , School , Primarily Teen Cast , Rock Music , Episodic , Iyashikei , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Seinen , Food , Slapstick , Tomboy , Tsundere

BanG Dream! Ave Mujica

Also known as Ave Mujica - The Die is Cast -.

Studio: Bushiroad , SANZIGEN , TOKYO MX , Good Smile Company , Horipro International , Ultra Super Pictures
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music , Psychological

"Will you give me the rest of your life?"

After losing everything in a single night, Sakiko Togawa reaches out toward an even deeper abyss, one that will drag everyone around her down as well. Gathering the lives of girls burdened with their own troubles and desires, Sakiko raises the curtain on a perfect masquerade.

"Welcome to the world of Ave Mujica."

On a stage where sorrow, death, fear, love—even the solace of forgetting—are stripped away, will their masks be torn off and shatter into oblivion, or will they….



Tags: Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Band , Primarily Teen Cast , Tragedy , Dissociative Identities , Estranged Family , Acting , Yuri , Full CGI , Metal Music , Musical Theater , Rock Music , Disability , Ensemble Cast , Incest , LGBTQ+ Themes , Urban , Ojou-sama , Adoption , Orphan , Yandere , Anti-Hero

BanG Dream!

Also known as BanG Dream!.

Studio: Xebec , Issen
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Music , Slice of Life

Kasumi Toyama was enthralled by the stars as a young girl, so when she discovers a trail of star-shaped signs one day after transferring to a new school, she can't help but follow them. They lead her to a shop run by the grandmother of one of her new classmates, and Kasumi finds something that will change her life forever: a star-shaped guitar! And just like that, Kasumi knows that forming a band is her destiny.

Of course, convincing Arisa and her grandmother to sell her the guitar won't be easy, and finding a group of other girls who want to become musicians will be even harder. But when a girl has stars in her eyes and a starbeat in her heart, there's nothing that will stop Kasumi from making her fantasies come true!



Tags: Band , Primarily Teen Cast , Primarily Female Cast , Female Protagonist , Rock Music , School , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , CGI , Urban , Tsundere , Chuunibyou , Swimming

BECK

Also known as Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Marvelous Entertainment , Starchild Records , Funimation , Asatsu DK , Kodansha
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Music , Slice of Life

Tanaka Yukio, better known by his nickname Koyuki is a 14 year old who feels disconnected from life in general. Through the act of saving a mismatched dog, he meets guitarist Minami Ryuusuke, and becomes involved in Ryuusuke's new band BECK. Koyuki's life starts to change as the band struggles towards fame.


Tags: Band , Coming of Age , Urban , Rock Music , Ensemble Cast , Heterosexual , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , Bullying , School , Female Protagonist , Gyaru , Shounen , Hip-hop Music , Language Barrier , Love Triangle , Baseball , Swimming

NANA

Also known as NANA.

Studio: MADHOUSE , VAP , Shueisha , Nippon Television Network , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music , Romance , Slice of Life

Two twenty-somethings seemingly share nothing in common apart from their first name, but a chance meeting on a train bound for Tokyo sets Nana Komatsu and Nana Oosaki on a collision course with destiny. Nana Komatsu, a love-at-first-sight dreamer, aims to find enduring happiness in the big city. Nana Oosaki, neo punk rock vocalist, pursues her burning ambitions of musical stardom and worldwide fame. As their fates increasingly intertwine, they each chase their dreams — until the harsh realities of life in big city Tokyo threaten to tear everything apart.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Shoujo , Band , Primarily Adult Cast , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Rock Music , Love Triangle , Ensemble Cast , Pregnancy , Netorare , Heterosexual , Fashion , Kuudere , College , Nudity , Age Gap , Mahjong , Crossdressing , Office Lady

D4DJ First Mix

Also known as D4DJ First Mix.

Studio: SANZIGEN , Bushiroad
Status: Finished
Genres: Music , Slice of Life

Having moved back to Japan from abroad, Rinku Aimoto transfers to Yoba Academy where DJing is popular. She is deeply moved by a DJ concert she sees there, and decides to form a unit of her own with Maho Akashi, Muni Ohnaruto, and Rei Togetsu.

While interacting with the other DJ units like Peaky P-key and Photon Maiden, Rinku and her friends aim for the high stage!



Note: The first episode was released early on the official D4DJ and Funimation YouTube channels on October 23, 2020. The regular TV broadcast started on October 30, 2020.

Tags: Full CGI , Primarily Female Cast , Female Protagonist , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Idol , School , Ensemble Cast , Urban , Primarily Teen Cast , Dancing , Otaku Culture , Tanned Skin , Tsundere , Tomboy , Drawing