Skilled Band Girls Challenge Themselves as Voice Actors in Anime ‘Girls Band Cry’

Girls Band Cry is a girls’ rock anime themed around music and youth. It aired on terrestrial TV channels such as TOKYO MX from April to June 2024, and is currently being streamed on various platforms like Amazon and ABEMA.

The anime was unique in its approach: “an original work without a source material,” “casting new voice actors for main characters,” “voice actors who are former skilled band girls performing the in-show music,” and “illustration-style 3D animation.” These unfamiliar methods, coupled with the adventurous elements and the competitive season overlapping with popular adaptations and trending works, meant that it received little attention before its broadcast.

However, right after the first episode aired, its popularity exploded. The views of the official music video surged, and the YouTube views of “Hazete Saku,” which was released before the TV anime broadcast, surpassed 12.5 million. The Blu-ray & DVD sales competed for the top spot among spring 2024 anime, showcasing the work’s “dominant anime” aura. The project was spearheaded and advanced by Toei Animation producer Tadashi Hirayama. In the current Reiwa era, we asked Mr. Hirayama about what Girls Band Cry aimed to depict and the future of the story.

――Please tell us about your background.

“I’ve always loved anime and entered this world because of that. The work that inspired me to decide to enter this field was Patlabor 2: The Movie. I saw that such political fiction could be done in anime, and I wanted to create such works and become an anime director. With that dream, I joined Madhouse. While learning various things from director Gisaburo Sugii, I came to realize that I didn’t have a talent for directing [laughs], so I decided to move into producing.”

――Director Sugii is a legend in the anime world, having been active since Astro Boy. What are some of your works as a producer?

“After moving from Madhouse to Sunrise, I produced various works, but the one most people are familiar with is the idol anime Love Live!. In 2019, I moved from Sunrise to Toei Animation and began working on the production of Girls Band Cry.”

――Girls Band Cry started airing in spring 2024, so it took five years from its inception. What was the reason for the long duration of the project?

“In Girls Band Cry, we took on the challenge of creating ‘illustration-look 3D animation,’ where we animate illustrator Nari Teshima’s character designs exactly as they are in 3D. The main reason for the long duration was the significant amount of time required for developing this technology. We went through a lot of trial and error, and before we knew it, five years had passed.”

――Given that the development period was extended, I imagine the budget increased significantly. Was it financially manageable?

“The budget did become quite large. However, thanks to the tremendous support from our customers, it looks like we will manage. That was a huge relief.”

――Were there any crises that nearly led to the project’s cancellation?

“There were several. The lack of benchmark works made tasks related to the script difficult. The absence of benchmark works also meant we struggled to overcome technical challenges. We had to tackle various problems that arose due to the increasing budget as the schedule was delayed, resolving them one by one each day.”

――Looking back now, considering the 3DCG visuals that users were not yet accustomed to, the challenge of young band girls taking on voice acting, and the fact that it was an original work with no source material, it seems like an audacious plan. How did it all start?

“I initially reached out to director Kazuo Sakai and scriptwriter Jukki Hanada, with whom I had previously collaborated on the ‘Love Live!’ series, and we began brainstorming. At that time, our initial idea was to create a music-themed work. We had experience working on music-centered projects, and we thought we could leverage that as our strength. During our discussions, Hanada suggested, ‘How about a story about moving to Tokyo?’ When I received the first draft of the script for the first episode, I strongly felt that this was something unprecedented and that we should bring it to life.”