We all love great anime theme songs, and there’s no shortage of those. But a couple hits per season might leave you wanting for more, so we’re here to give you some of our favorite anime bands. Not only are the shows good, but they also feature more songs to fill your playlist!
Let’s kick off with one of the most influential rock band anime: Beck Mongolian Chop Squad. Yukio “Koyuki” Tanaka dives into the music world when he saves a dog named Beck and receives a guitar in return. The anime follows his musical development and his band’s journey to their first music festival. The nominal band performs multiple songs within the show with the help of real life Japanese rock band Beat Crusaders, and many Japanese fans have cited the series as inspiration to check out more foreign music, specifically Western rock.
A few years after Beck aired, another massively influential band anime came out called K-On!. While both shows focus on music and portray day-to-day life, that’s about where the similarities end. K-On! focuses less on the struggle of becoming a successful band and instead highlights the fun of being in one without any pressure to be famous. It’s a great slice-of-life show for music fans and there’s tons of songs by the girls’ band Ho-Kago Tea Time available to listen to online.
If you’re looking for a mix of comedy and band struggles, Bocchi The Rock serves up laughs and rock tracks. The series follows the socially awkward guitarist Hitori Gotoh as she navigates high school and the livehouse music scene with fellow Kessoku Band members. The series isn’t just limited to anime and manga either. Live concerts and theatrical adaptations are also available for fans to enjoy along with tons of original songs and tribute albums. Plus J-Rock fans can find multiple easter eggs within the series referencing legendary Japanese band Asian Kung-Fu Generation, from the members’ names to episode titles.
High school band anime don’t just focus on one genre of rock, though. Multimedia franchise BanG Dream! has multiple seasons of anime with different groups that cover various subgenres. And with game company Bushiroad behind the series, fans can enjoy it through video games, movies, concerts, and more. Plus BanG Dream! group RAISE A SUILEN even held a special crossover concert with another girl band with anime origins: Girls Band Cry.
Girls Band Cry is an original series from Toei Animation and follows the band Togenashi Togeari as they deal with the challenges of forming a band. As a collaborative project with management company Agehasprings and Universal Music Japan, Girls Band Cry puts a lot of focus on music, with Togenashi Togeari’s real-life voice actors performing in live concerts and hosting radio shows. Togetoge fans can also look forward to the upcoming mobile game, although not much detail about it has been released yet.
While a lot of the shows we’ve covered have characters who already love (or are falling in love with) music, Given takes us in a different direction. High schooler Ritsuka Uenoyama is a musician who nearly gives up on music until he overhears his classmate Mafuyu singing. Together with Ritsuka’s bandmates, they go through an emotional journey of rediscovering musical passions and overcoming grief.
For those who don’t have time to binge an entire season, you can check out director Naoko Yamada’s animated film The Colors Within. This coming-of-age film explores the personal struggles of three teens who get together to form their band Shironekodo. And with Science SARU behind the production, it’s a visual treat for all anime lovers.
With the amount of band anime out in the world, there’s so much new music to discover for anime and music fans alike. Hopefully you found a new band or show to check out! Leave a comment with your favorite anime band or tag us if you’ve found a new group to listen to!
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