Show by Rock!! (stylized in all caps; also known as Show by Rock!! Gonna be a Music Millionaire!) was a Japanese mobile rhythm video game developed and published by Geechs (later Edia), in conjunction with Sanrio. It was Sanrio's first-ever franchise project aimed for the older demographic and the company's first music-based franchise. The game was released on July 30, 2013 for iOS and on June 27, 2014 for Android devices. In January 2018, development transferred from Geechs to Edia with its service discontinued on December 26, 2019. A successor to the original game was later developed by Now Production and published by Square Enix on March 12, 2020 on all mobile platforms with its service discontinued on November 30, 2022.
Four anime adaptations based on the series were made. The first three animated by Bones and is the first late night anime based on a Sanrio character or franchise. Season 1 aired in Japan between April and June 2015 on Tokyo MX, a short anime aired from July to September 2016 and a second season aired from October to December 2016. The third season of the series was animated by Kinema Citrus and aired from January to March 2020. A fourth season aired from January to March 2021. A manga adaptation of the first series began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace magazine in July 2020.
Gameplay Show by Rock!! Show by Rock!! was a mobile game, combining elements from both rhythm games and raising sim games. Players could choose from 27 different bands, each having their own music style and uses special cards for each gameplay. The player's team could have up to five cards, and choose one support player from a list. The player had a certain amount of "soul" for each element depending on their cards. The player could play whichever song they would like from the band of their choice, as well as the level that worked with their team. Occasionally, a band's members' Melodisian Stones may turn dark, and thus a boss battle appears. For the boss battles, you may only choose a song from the band whose Melodsian Stones turned dark, and the goal for each boss battle is to survive until the end. Players also got to create their own character at the start of the game, and design their own room.
Fes A Live Gameplay for Fes A Live was similar to that to the original series that preceded it, but presented it in a landscape format similar to The Idolmaster and BanG Dream!. Unlike the previous game, the game only had a limited amount of bands presented but each are assigned to their musical alignment: Melody, Harmony and Rhythm instead of the traditional elemental attributes of the previous game. Gameplay for the live section mode had the same elements from the original and inherits newer twists such as swipeable notes, the ability to adjust scrolling speed and a more traditional 5-note layout.
A new feature of the game was the town of GURF, which served as a main hub for the player. Players had to customize with specific buildings in order to gain sound dollars, the game's free currency. These could also be earned by obtaining items after each play session specific to each band, which could be sold to the shop and also could level up each band. As the player leveled up, newer slots in the town were added in order to add more buildings. Also, players could also upgrade buildings by buying them through the in-game store using sound dollars as well. The game also had a boss battle mode, which could be accessed through by finding a corrupted myummon in town and defeating it could earn players with more currency. The game's bromide system also returned, allowing players to obtain bromide cards through gacha using Melodisian Stones and each card could be evolved if certain levels are reached, each having various rarity. In addition to a story mode, the game also had a 69 Memorial Mode, which allowed players to read the storyline of the original anime series for new players of the game.
Plot Show by Rock!! Cyan Hijirikawa is a first-year high school student who has a good passion for music. However, she is very shy and doesn't have the courage to join the school's music club. But on one fateful night, she gets sucked into the rhythm game she had been playing on her smartphone after receiving an item called "Strawberry Heart". Cyan ends up in a new world called Midi City, a place where those who command music control everything. There, she sees a concert performed by a kemono band called Trichronika and realizes she had taken on the form of a white kemono cat girl, dressed in a costume resembling Gothic Lolita fashion. However, when a "dark monster" starts to attack the concert and begins to corrupt the Melodisian stones of the Trichronika members, Strawberry Heart materializes in Cyan's hands and tells her to play something with it to defeat the monster. As she saves the band from turning into dark monsters themselves, she returns to her human form, but retaining her cat ears and tail. She is then approached by Maple Arisugawa, the CEO of Banded Rocking Records to join his recording agency. She meets ChuChu, Retoree, and Moa, the guitarist, bassist, and drummer of Plasmagica, one of Banded Rocking Record's bands. Retoree asks Cyan to join, and she accepts. Together, they all tackle and perform together in the music scene, aiming to be the best music band of all Midi City, discovering the secrets surrounding the Dark Monsters and importantly for Cyan, to find a way to get back to her own world.
Show by Rock!!# Set after the events of the first season, the intergalactic fleet led by the malevolent Queen of Darkness, Victorious, unleashed a devastating attack on Sound Planet in the future, causing total destruction of Midi City. Upon its destruction, a mysterious band named Bud Virgin Logic appeared and performed a malevolent tune to the surviving denizens while Dagger Morse corrupts all the citizens, draining them of their sound energy and plunging the city into chaos and despair. From the attack, only Ninjinriot survived and feared the worst scenario that would lead to the fall of the Sound Universe. With no choice, the band traveled back in time to prevent it from happening. In present-day Midi City, Maple told the members of Plasmagica, ShinganCrimsonZ, and Criticrista that their recording label is holding a beneficiary concert to the people with somewhat positive reactions. Though at the time of the concert, Plasmagica, despite not having Cyan is eager to perform, until Bud Virgin Logic appeared alongside Dagger Morse, who announced he will destroy the ones who defeated them. But they were thwarted by Ninjinriot, who rescued the trio. After Dagger and his band retreated, Arashi told them that bad things will happen if they don't stop Dagger and Bud Virgin Logic, resulting in the said bad future and got everyone worried that there will be a new battle. At the same time in the Human World, Cyan Hijirikawa was stuck in a writer's block regarding composing a song for her band in the upcoming school festival. Kamui arrived at the Human World and transported Cyan back to the Sound World in order to prevent the dark future from happening. With the entire world in a knife's edge, it's up to Cyan and her friends once again to stop Dagger and Victorious from destroying the Sound Universe.
Show by Rock!! Mashumairesh!! Taking place somewhere after the second season, the story focuses on Howan, a Fox Myummon who lives in the countryside on Sound Planet. Though she enjoys her peaceful life in the countryside, Howan dreams of music stardom and gets the chance to achieve her dream when she passes the audition for a music competition in Midi City. Meanwhile, the guitarist Mashima Himeko is equally passionate about music but feels uncomfortable having been placed in a band with two other young artists, the bassist Delmin and the drummer Ruhuyu. Howan loses her audition pass, making her unable to join the audition. Under the glittering lights of Midi City, when Howan is distraught at losing her audition pass, Howan, Himeko, Delmin and Ruhuyu meet each other for the first time and discover together with what they could never reach alone.
Show by Rock!! Stars!! Takin place after the third season, bands from previous seasons, including Plasmagica, Criticrista, Mashumairesh!! and Dokonjofinger return to Midi City. The story features an all-star battle of the bands involving performers from across the franchise.
Characters Main bands
The starter band in the video game's story mode, composed of four members gathered by Maple Arisugawa of Banded Rocking Records. Cyan hopes for her band to be the best, and they aim for the top of the Music Industry. They are also the featured group in the Show By Rock!! anime. () – guitar and vocals – The series' protagonist, Cyan is a first-year high school student who is good at music, but is too shy to join her school's music club. When she got sucked into the Sound World, she became a white cat girl Myumon who wears a Gothic Lolita outfit with striped stockings. She dreamed of becoming the best music star in the world until she became involved in the fight against the Dark Monsters, then was scouted by Maple to be part of the band. When performing, she uses the guitar named Strawberry Heart, which is used as a way to communicate with musician Grateful King. In human form, she has black hair, cat ears, and a long cat tail. () – guitar and vocals – a purple rabbit girl who dresses in black clothing. An honor student of a school she attended, she is rather strictly mannered but sociable. However, she can be prideful in certain situations and formed the band in order to boost her popularity for her to start her solo career. Eventually, she decided not to leave due to how important they are to her. She wields the Antique Batman guitar, which is her prized instrument. In human form, she has purple hair and white rabbit ears and tail. () – bass and vocals – a Golden Retriever dog girl who has long blonde ears and ribbons in her hair. She is the smart girl of the group and uses her smartphone frequently, making her shy and unsociable. She uses the Blue Station Electric Bass as her main instrument. In her human form, she has long blonde hair tied in twin-tails and a yellow tail. She appears to have a crush on Cyan. () – drums and vocals – a pink and black Pyuruian sheep girl with yellow horns, described as an alien who came from the Planet Pyuru. She came to the Sound Planet to research the planet for a new energy source until she is scouted to join the band. She always ends her sentences with and plays with the band using the Super Cosmo drums. In her human form, she has pink curly hair, yellow horns, black ears and a short black tail. She is later revealed to be the Crown Princess of Planet Pyuru.
The second main band of the game, classified as a visual kei band. Like Plasmagica, they are also contracted to Banded Rocking Records and also aim to become the best in Midi City. – click second icon () – guitar and vocals - The leader of Shingan Crimsonz, he is a hedgehog Myumon who aims to be the best rocker in Midi City. Shown to be impulsive and vulgar, he usually boasts his skills in music and tends to disagree with Aion and Yaiba. Being from a family of dairy farmers, he calls his fans “cattle” which they find insulting. However, he is very skilled in music and wields the ax-shaped Red Tomahawk guitar. () – guitar - A lion Myumon who is calm yet thinks highly of himself. Usually gets into fights with Crow and Yaiba, he wields the Holy Arc guitar. He is Ailane's older brother. () – bass - A fox Myumon who follows the way of the samurai, Yaiba is a guy who has great respect towards the way of the Bushido and the Rock Spirit. He is very timid and often gets into fights with both Crow and Aion. He wields the "" guitar.