Girls Band Cry

Girls Band Cry (Japanese: ガールズバンドクライ, Hepburn: Gāruzu Bando Kurai), abbreviated as GaruKura (ガルクラ), is an original Japanese anime television series created and produced by Toei Animation. The series is part of a multimedia project that began in 2023 in collaboration with Agehasprings [ja] and Universal Music Japan, with music being the focus. It aired from April to June 2024. A mobile game is in development, and an action-platformer Windows game titled Momoka (wo) Wasshoi (桃香（を）ワッショイ), inspired by the anime series, was released on September 29, 2025.

Set in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, the series follows Nina Iseri, a high school dropout who moves to the city to prove she can live by herself and be successful. She then meets Momoka Kawaragi by chance, and the two realize their commonalities, including a shared love of music. Together with other girls from different walks of life, the girls form a band as an avenue to let their raw emotions out, while facing hardships with their internal struggles and being new to the music scene.

Togenashi Togeari (トゲナシトゲアリ; lit. "thornless thorn") is the central band of the series, consisting primarily of high school dropouts. Before the band’s formation, each member was part of two bands, with Nina, Momoka, and Subaru performing under the name Shin-Kawasaki (Temporary) (新川崎（仮）, Shin-Kawasaki (Kari)), and Tomo and Rupa performing as Vocaloid duo Beni-Shouga (derived from the condiment of the same name, stylized in lowercase). After merging, their new name originates from Nina reading an audience member's shirt saying "Togeari Togenashi" during their Suwa live house gig.

Diamond Dust (ダイヤモンドダスト) is an idol rock band Nina idolizes and which Momoka was a member of, starting as a group of friends forming a school band before dropping out and being signed to a major label by the time Momoka left the band.

In August 2019, upon joining Toei Animation, series producer Tadashi Hirayama was approached to produce a new original work focused on music. Hirayama enlisted the assistance of Kazuo Sakai and Jukki Hanada, staff he had worked with on Love Live! Sunshine!!, to brainstorm the initial ideas of the story. Hirayama then approached Kenji Tamai of Agehasprings [ja] around the end of 2019 to compose the music for the project and scout and manage the talents to form the band.

Hanada focused on writing an all-female band story for the project based on his love for Japanese rock music, having already written stories about idols. Hirayama cited the projected economic loss from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic as inspirations to make the story grounded in reality, basing it around the hardships of being a musician. The decision to set the story in Kawasaki was based on Hirayama and Hanada's observations of the city being overlooked compared to the neighboring cities of Tokyo and Yokohama, rent being cheaper, and fostering music activity, further grounding the story.

In June 2021, Toei Animation, Agehasprings, and Universal Music Japan announced they would initiate a new project which would combine animation with real band activity. In the same year, Agehasprings, with the assistance from Toei Animation and Universal Music Japan, held an audition called "Girl’s Rock Audition" for the vocalist, guitarist, bassist, drummer, and keyboardist of the all-female band which would be the core of the project. Tamai recounted how he aimed the band to debut first to foster their popularity before the anime began its airing. He also shared that although the auditions received several applications, there was difficulty in choosing candidates who had proficient skills in both music and voice acting, leading the process to take more than a year and half to find the necessary talent.

An original anime television series produced by Toei Animation titled Girls Band Cry was announced on April 24, 2023, with a teaser visual revealed. The visual features a girl with a guitar, with a slogan "Throw in All the Anger, Joy, and Sadness." (怒りも喜びも哀しさも全部ぶちこめ。) On May 29 of the same year, a key visual of the anime was revealed alongside the main cast and staff. The five members of Togenashi Togeari were also revealed with the music videos of their two songs, "Na mo Naki Nani mo Kamo" (名もなき何もかも; "Nameless Name") and "Itsuwari no Kotowari" (偽りの理; "No Rhyme nor Reason"), released on the project's YouTube channel. In the following months, more music videos that accompany their recently released songs would be released to their channel alongside introductory videos of each member of Togenashi Togeari; these songs would later be compiled into physical singles.