Bakumatsu Rock (Japanese: 幕末Rock) is a Japanese video game developed by Marvelous AQL and published by Konami. It was adapted into a manga series, Bakumatsu Rock -howling soul-, that began on March 28, 2014 and into an anime television series, Samurai Jam -Bakumatsu Rock-, that aired on July 2, 2014 to September 17, 2014. The anime was streamed on Crunchyroll. Another game, Bakumatsu Rock: Ultra Soul, was released on September 25, 2014.
The story is set in the Bakumatsu era, at the end of the shoguns’ rule over Japan in the middle of the 19th century. The Tokugawa shogunate uses the brainwashing Heaven’s Songs by the top idols in Shinsengumi to subjugate the country and its people. In this Japan, writing or singing any songs besides the Heaven’s Songs is a capital offense. Ryōma Sakamoto and the other rockers rise up and change the world with rock ‘n’ roll for freedom and justice.
