Bocchi the Rock!

Yearning to make friends and perform live with a band, lonely and socially anxious Hitori "Bocchi" Gotou devotes her time to playing the guitar. On a fateful day, Bocchi meets the outgoing drummer Nijika Ijichi, who invites her to join Kessoku Band when their guitarist, Ikuyo Kita, flees before their first show. Soon after, Bocchi meets her final bandmate—the cool bassist Ryou Yamada.

Although their first performance together is subpar, the girls feel empowered by their shared love for music, and they are soon rejoined by Kita. Finding happiness in performing, Bocchi and her bandmates put their hearts into improving as musicians while making the most of their fleeting high school days.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Gotou, Hitori Main

Aoyama, Yoshino Japanese

Yamada, Ryou Main

Mizuno, Saku Japanese

Ijichi, Nijika Main

Suzushiro, Sayumi Japanese

Kita, Ikuyo Main

Hasegawa, Ikumi Japanese

Hiroi, Kikuri Supporting

Senbongi, Sayaka Japanese

PA-san Supporting

Koiwai, Kotori Japanese

Ijichi, Seika Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Gotou, Futari Supporting

Watada, Misaki Japanese

Gotou, Naoki Supporting

Majima, Junji Japanese

Gotou, Michiyo Supporting

Suegara, Rie Japanese

Umehara, Shouta Producer

Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Producer

Ishikawa, Tatsuya Producer

Saitou, Keiichirou Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

Reviews

Dec 24, 2022

KANLen09

Recommended

Well-written

HeroAca and Blue Lock? Sorry...I don't do Shonen stuff.
Spy x Family? Even though I have a family, I don't fall into that category.
Mob Psycho 100? Great conclusion from the manga that's finally translated to the anime, but I'm not all that psychic to begin with.
Bleach: Sennen Kessen-hen a.k.a Thousand-Year Blood War? I'll let you have your moment of glory just right behind Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
Do It Yourself!!, Yama no Susume? We can be buddies in the same theme, just doing different things!
Chainsaw Man? OVERTAKEN and DETHRONED. LIKE A GLORIFIED MIC DROP.

The Fall 2022 season has really seen its fair share of past and new juggernaut ... glories: from Tite Kubo's Bleach's decade-long wait for a triumphant return still being one of the Big 3, to the much-anticipated Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man being studio MAPPA's massively high-profile equivalent to Ufotable's Demon Slayer in terms of story and animation prowess. However, there are certain shows that as humble as they come initially being an afterthought, to then unexpectedly and shockingly take the sweeping crown, those are the shows that we the anime community can call it special to begin with. It's more impressive even, when such a stacked season as this manages to live up to the hype, that it gets overshadowed by the mainstream being a hidden diamond gem in the works. And my friends, that show is mangaka Aki Hamaji's Bocchi the Rock!, easily the most anticipated of CloverWorks's produced shows of the year when the initial teaser trailer dropped to leave a vague message of its 2022 release in December last year, only to leave us hanging in nerve-wrecking-ness until the PV's release just right before the Fall season started rolling.

Before I dive deep into this unexpected, hype-deserved acclaim of a masterpiece show that deserves more than being reduced to an excellent adaptation, I feel like I need to clarify something which the anime community has more often than not, got some facts wrong. Despite Bocchi the Rock! being serialized in publishing company Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara magazine (that's where all of the 4-koma manga come from) promoting its CGDCT theme, it is NOT considered as a genre, but rather a SUB-genre of Slice-of-Life, the same as how Isekai is a subgenre of Fantasy. It's actually more of a motif or theme because it uses a set of tropes and archetypes that separate it from other Slice-of-Life shows that makes it distinct, but thanks to the modern anime community that we have these days (and so much so that I'm a victim of it because I REALLY love CGDCT shows, albeit specifically), we sort of treat it as its own unofficial distinct genre: the human fault we call recency bias. And to be clear, Bocchi! the Rock! is not necessarily a CGDCT anime, but rather, a parody of both the CGDCT theme and the SoL genre, since it's given genre of comedy reflects it as such: a culmination of traits already done and perfected by other SoL and CGDCT anime.

But still, you can't deny that the show pays an homage to one of the greatest CGDCT anime of all time: the legendary monumental classic and moe-blob phenomenon that is K-On!, serving the same SoL genre for the anime community, both past and present respectively. So figuratively, while we can call Bocchi the Rock! the GOAT CGDCT of the modern day, as a collective whole, I feel that there're better CGDCT shows than this: say this season's Do It Yourself!!, and while not quite moe-blob as one trait that defined SoL, is still very enjoyable. CGDCT fans are really eating REAL GOOD in 2022, especially considering that it's CloverWorks leading the charge, from the likes of Winter's Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku a.k.a Akebi's Sailor Uniform that unfortunately had the confirmation bias of "animation carried the show" to Spring's Kunoichi Tsubaki no Mune no Uchi a.k.a In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki which turned out decent, along with other returning classics like Machikado Mazoku a.k.a. The Demon Girl Next Door, Yuru Camp△ the Movie (which is arguably the best of the series yet) and Yama no Susume a.k.a Encouragement of Climb.

Let's be real: social anxiety IS a thing, and it culminates in the form of Social Anxiety disorder (SAD) a.k.a social phobia, characterized by sentiments of fear and anxiety in social situations, causing considerable distress and impaired ability to function in at least some aspects of daily life. These fears can be triggered by perceived or actual scrutiny from others. Individuals with social anxiety disorder fear negative evaluations from other people. And this is what exactly happens to a certain pink-haired Hitori "Bocchi" Gotoh trying her best not to shit herself socially, but from the outset, her growing-up life has been met with nothing but insecurities: from the lone effort of making friends to being a ghostly outcast in school, so much so that she becomes a closed closet Hikikomori a.k.a acute social withdrawal, referring to both the phenomenon in general and the recluses themselves: described as loners or "modern-day hermits", regarding themsleves as being totally withdrawn from society and seeking extreme degrees of social isolation and confinement, which in the real-life context of Japan, is a seriously grave issue, especially if you have seen Spring 2019's Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu, being the show with the most acute similarity. To counteract from being a Hikikomori, Hitori engages in the online spectrum hoping to find friends there in the veins of YouTube being the illusive ever-so-slightly-named alias "guitarhero" that amasses a respectable subscriber fanbase for her guitar plays that are uploaded every once so often to satisate her followers.

That is, until Hitori steps out into the real world where and she is submitted to the harshness of reality slapping her face in both directions, as much as she herself wants to get out of this rut and at least make a life-changing decision for herself. That decision comes in the form of a person: the blonde-haired Nijika Ijichi, who saw Bocchi juat lazing with her guitar and without words of explanation, forcefully dragged her to the underground livehouse that is STARRY as a last-minute replacement for the guitarist that abruptly left the group before their performance. And together with Nijika and the blue-haired bassist bandmate Ryo Yamada, the performance might have been a total wrecking ball of a complete poor failure, and at the very least Hitori knows that both are fans of her "guitarhero" YouTube persona, but with her social anxiety preventing any further conversation and ultimately withdrawing into the same recluse as she was before. Sure, Hitori might've gained her "Bocchi" nickname not because it rhymes with the "hitoribocchi" a.k.a All Alone pun, but it's a sign that at least acknowledged her presence more than anything. This is further cemented with Ikuyo Kita, the vocalist-cum-guitarist and initally Bocchi's classmate, when the latter requests her help to improve on her guitar playing skills, and the deal is struck since the former has an overwhelming infatuation on Ryo. Thereby, which was learnt later that Kita was the one that Nijika had Bocchi hurriedly filled in at the very last minute because she was not being honest with her feelings and fled the "crime scene" after the realization that Kita's guitar playing was not up to snuff. Together, the 4 girls make up Kessoku (lit. Zip Tie) Band: the center band of the series, and their endeavours together are a sight to behold, other than the highlight that is Bocchi's exaggerated, over-the-top, visual medium crossovers of her inner thoughts exemplified at the highest, most extreme degrees of insanity that exudes overflowing creativity of nonchalant acerbity that's some one-of-a-kind talent that you don't normally see in AniManga, let alone the manga chapters that if you read alongside the anime, each and every chapter title page paying homage to famous bands and their songs' music video. Also, there're tons of references plastered throughout the anime, even more than Chainsaw Man's OP, and that's saying quite a lot. So have fun in figuring out this too!

To really understand how much Bocchi the Rock! got all of this deserved hype that we're only seeing right now, we have to go back in time to even before the anime was ever a thing:

The year was 2019, and mangaka Aki Hamaji's work was just 2 years old at this point with only Volume 1 being released and Volume 2 set to be released the very next year. The debut chief animation director and character designer that was a nobody at the time, Kiyoki Rikuta a.k.a Kerorira was just about in the anime industry for little over a year or two doing key animations for a large variety of shows, most of which was under CloverWorks about months since the separation of the studio from A-1 Pictures, that still is under the Aniplex brand. Normally when an anime project is announced, the director or producers will be pushing forth and calling people up for the task, but in the case for Bocchi the Rock!, it was the key animator himself who pushed for the project, so much that it’s worth noting that it wasn’t a particularly shocking reveal. Since being open about his love for the series, Kerorira has gushed to the point of sharing short, animated clips of it on social media a.k.a Japanese Twitter. And when it came time to find people to helm the project, he went to the long-time veteran producer Shouta Umehara requesting people that he'd like to work with, such is the case for a certain Keiichiro Saito, that like Kerorira, he is also working in key animation and has become quite the veteran for years, that with this show, marks his official debut has series director. But if you know anything about the anime industry, especially when it comes to freelance works, it's talent and drive that makes the shows work, and without the help of Shouta Umehara and his exceptional scouting abilities, plus the boldness to bet on fresh, young and unproven talent while managing Aniplex's woeful corporation slavery management, Bocchi the Rock! really wouldn't have turned out the way it is today.

Even I have to admit, it is a HUGE RISK betting shows on unproven talent. And speaking of Keiichiro Saito, his experience as a key animator whether in theme songs or episodes, these don't often typically give opportunities for people to train to be better as the grind of seasonal shows gleam along with none the wiser. It's only until Saito-san himself has an opportunity to work with the legendary director Shingo Natsume on his own experimental creation in the form of Summer 2021's Sonny Boy, that he is given the chance to learn the ropes and showcase his indomitable idiosyncrasy's worth of talent, such as the case where he contributed a lot to the anime for Episode 8. Back to Bocchi the Rock!, when Saito-san was offered the chance to read Aki Hamaji's manga with its only premiere volume out, by the time he'd finished reading it, his impression had changed, and found it to be a smart work in many ways: succeeding at both humor as a slice-of-life comedy and depicting its characters as a coming-of-age drama, with sharp jokes. This immaculate delivery would just not work based on one person's effort alone, and this is where scriptwriter and series composer Erika Yoshida steps in to help him visualize the vision that despite Bocchi the Rock! not being a fundamentally transformative adaptation, simply tweaking the orignal work with Yoshida-san's help certainly was a match made in heaven, most presumably when anime detracts out of its medium to do a 4th wall breaking on animation prowess that includes some live-action footage, because the hell why not, while focusing his directorial efforts on enhancing the themes that the original work could never develop. An amusing gag series about a lonely girl is now animating loneliness, giving the original work a whole new layer of emotional resonance to it while maintaining its original fun that's only possible in the hands of an exceptional animation team like the one that has surrounded this core team, and with promises such as the fully 2D live performances that involve 3D-ish rotoscoping (as an example) used to its maximum potential.

For an unproven team of supposedly misfits, Bocchi the Rock!'s shining moments are with its staff team, and it certainly can't be imitated outright on this kind of insane magnitude. One key phrase that Keiichiro Saito shared is that starting out as a key animator, his eye for craftsmanship on how people and objects move elevates the anime by giving it massive attention for its many poses. As an example, there’s a scene after their first live performance where Hitori creeps up closer to the others (this is in Episode 1 of the anime), and where Hitori is moving in an eccentric manner, how can the staff team make it funnier and bring out more of her personality? He spent a lot of time thinking about how it could be made funny in animated form, and not forgetting that for the performance scenes, using footage of real-life actors performing as the base for the animation, and solely requesting them to keep in mind the characterization, as well as replicating the performance itself. Even more so regarding the orignal source's 4-koma format, there is a lot to fill in along the lines, and along the way, both Saito-san and Erika Yoshida found out that by inserting realism into the anime, it loses the gloss and charms of the original work. So, by adding in methods and approaches exclusive to animation, as well as adding supplementary gags for connecting scenes with help from the manga staff, it helps give the anime a life of its own that doesn't discredit where it came from. Truly, all of this sounds like a passion project, and yes, it is. It's talent that you only see once in a blue moon, and for that it is commendable.

Easily the character on note, Hitori "Bocchi" Gotoh is the one that everyone in the production staff team is looking out for, being the weird oddball that's different from everyone else. Of course, trying to manage expectations on how to be sure on animating Bocchi's 1001 expressions is no easy task, so a balance is necessary, because while Bocchi inflicts us the audience being oh-so-freakishly relatable with her poor communication skills, making sure not to come off too strong or otherwise, making those watching feel bad. One thing about Hitori is that she also possesses extraordinary skills, so Saito-san and his team strived to depict both her positive and negative traits as a character in a memorable way, making the audience laugh when she does something weird, but also make her especially captivating when she shows off her cool side from time to time. This is especially for Kerorira, making his debut as both character designer animation director, that the obscene fan of the manga has a lot on his plate to consider as well. It's not just the extreme introvert herself that he has to contend with, but also considering the others as well (Ryo, Nijika and Kita) in their unique expressions as well. One thing that Geoff Thew of Mother's Basement actually captured when it comes to character designs, comes with the characters' hair positions that tell us something about them: Nijika’s antenna, for example, is a simple triangle, and Hitori’s tied-up hair isn’t actually connected. This is due in part to depicting anime-like designs that aren’t possible in reality and was a major necessity to create character designs that look appealing at first sight than those that conform to reality.

But Bocchi the Rock! isn't so much about Hitori herself, it's the others that help Bocchi be a better girl that as socially inept as she is, it's a growing journry that fits the confines of a coming-of-age melodrama in the most hilarious way possible. Starting with Nijika Ijichi herself, the founder of Kessoku Band and the group's drummer, she stands as one of the most understanding and caring members of the group being the general extrovert, and always constantly holds Bocchi together in helping her deal with her social anxiety. It helps that her older sister Seika is also coincidentally the manager-cum-owner of the livehouse located in Shimokitazawa, so the livehouse is actually treated like their main home when gigs are always in abundance. For the band's bassist Ryo Yamada, other than the requirement not to date the 3Bs of "Bassist, bassist, bassist", Ryo may seem like an introvert, but she is in fact a loner by choice (get the distinction right, folks). The aloof, quiet and mischievous girl with a cool demeanor and a bisexual appearance, she is the epitome of cheap molasses, as everything in life is served to her palate, be it food or allowance money, even to the point of eating weeds just to survive. Last but not least, the band's vocalist-cum-(formerly) guitarist Ikuyo Kita herself, the extreme extrovery with her oh-so-gleaming "Kita~aura" that it's hard to resist her claims, especially when shoved towards Bocchi's face. But her real reason of escapism from Kessoku Band because of her infatuation with the bisexual-looking Ryo and the general expectations from people to promise them like a people-pleaser, man it just hits hard when even Kita herself is vulnerable to the human conforming mindset that really, no character is 100% perfect, and each and every member's SWOT Analyses are what band the rag-tag group together as they aim for stardom. Oh, and for the eagle-eyed of you who are into Anisong, did you notice something striking? Just look into the family names of the 4 girls, and you'll soon realize that they're derived from one of the legendary J-Rock bands of all time: AKFG a.k.a Asian Kung-Fu Generation, with their instrumental roles being an obvious match: Hitori like Masagumi Gotoh on rhythm guitar, Nijika like Kiyoshi Ijichi on drums, Ryo like Takahiro Yamada on bass, and Ikuyo like Kensuke Kita on lead guitar, but also being lead vocals.

A special mention would be the side characters, most particularly Kikuri Hiroi: the alcoholic who spends her money on booze (or beer as is known elsewhere), encountering Bocchi and striking out a deal with her to do a live, impromptu performance out on the streets, taking a chance for the extreme Hikikomori herself to overcome her fears in front of the general public. What you may not know is that the psychedelic rock band SICK HACK's lead bassist and vocalist herself, like Bocchi an the rest, they do share their last names with another real-life band: 88Kasyo Junrei a.k.a 88Kasyo, with Kikuri herself being like Margaret Hiroi, adjectively described as "the bassist, singer and the gang's mastermind". Not to be outdone, Hitori's family shold be given credit here as well for their role in bringing up the once-labelled Hikikomori herself: father Naoki, mother Michiyo, younger sister Futari (which means two people) and the pet dog JimiHen. If you have to start a comedy somewhere, why not from the family itself? Futari is easily a savage character in front of her Onee-san, and as much as she wants to gush of Hitori's greatness, it comes at the cost of the older sister's warped mentality to respond to things that she doesn't mean literally.

CloverWorks has done a fair few SoL shows in that regard (see Slow Start and this year's CGDCT offerings), but Bocchi the Rock! has got to be the studio's biggest undertaking since its separation from A-1 Pictures, and even then, it's only on the cusps of people relations and knowing who to find and perfect this ordinary looking 4-koma manga adaptation. I've already gushed at how utterly and brillantly magnificent are the production team's efforts at elevating Aki Hamaji's manga, and for the first-time debuts like Keiichiro Saito and Kerorira, if not for producer Shouta Umehara having that fine level of trust that young-uns can make it into the industry (a level that was once had for the controversial Wonder Egg Priority) with relative experience under their belt, it's like the adage of "nothing ventured, nothing gained". It's a risk, but a risk that while the reception in Japan is lukewarm to say the least, it bombed everywhere else outside of Japan. In a glorifyingly great way to end 2022 as THE golden year for CGDCT anime.

The one oddity is that while series director Keiichiro Saito's team has full creative control of the anime, the OST is where things could've gone awry. And especially since this is an Aniplex-produced show, tensions run high since the music production falls into the hands of Aniplex themselves, and Saito-san had to be careful with his consultation with the music team on what works and what doesn't. Because even such a minor slip-up can cause the biggest of headaches that potentially could detract the viewing experience, and hearing this from producer Shouta Umehara himself, the biggest issue with the completely separated entity was whether the musical direction that the mangaka Aki Hamaji had envisioned for Bocchi the Rock! and Kessoku Band could be carried out, and thankfully that’s one area in which Aniplex really gave it their all. And it sounds absolutely fantastic, from the OP/ED theme songs and even the insert songs when Kessoku Band is called to enact performances.

A few ways to really describe Bocchi the Rock!'s overall stupefying quality is of these examples:
- It’s like they gave K-On! to someone who adored Hitoribocchi, coupled with stupidly good animation, and a dash of Pop Team Epic sensibilities, combining animation with live action settings and other forms of mixed media.
- Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu is a much better comparison. Komi-san wa, Comyushou Desu. a.k.a Komi Can't Communicate's Shoko Komi's introversion is so over the top to the point where it's no longer even believable. Especially since everyone simps for Komi just for existing. But in Hitoribocchi, Hitori Bocchi is a loner, but wants to make friends and break out of her shell. Hitori Gotou in Bocchi the Rock! is the exact same way.

But if there's one takeaway about Bocchi the Rock!, something to really drill in the mind is that in the typical/average project, you would probably expect someone in such a position to draw less than 100 cuts of key animation, but Kerorira’s in charge of somewhere between 500 and 600 cuts, an incredible amount for a key animator that has been in the business now for 2-3 years and growing, now being a monumental figure of the staff team itself. We can say that Kerorira single-handedly carried the anime due to his love and passion that has grown from just social sharings to a full-blown anime production with support from the people he had hoped to work with. His dream is finally realized, and not a lot of people have that tenure of grace to ever be in a totally completely complete directive control of their own anime, say Akane Kazuki with his own created series Hoshiai no Sora a.k.a Stars Align that got the axe at the eleventh hour. Everything else, as they say, is akin to the phrase "Having the world at your feet".

A simple-as-molasses story, ceremoniously hoisted to the impeccable degree with absolute precision and sophistication. Bocchi the Rock! is not just a marvel of how far CGDCT anime have come thus far, but now a symbol/icon of a gold standard in resourcefulness, dedication and passion, just like the other shows in the Fall 2022 season that got their growing reputations respectively. Truly a hidden gem that has long awaited to rise up towards reaching out for the masterpiece medal, and it clinched with many hurdles to overcome, but it eventually did while reaching its intended finish line, cementing itself as the Pinnacle of the Best CGDCT of all time (if by MAL scores alone).

Anime of the Season and Year material? ABSOLUTELY.
Even better than Chainsaw Man? YOU BETCHA.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Apr 8, 2023

AxNae

Mixed Feelings

Well-written

Bocchi the Rock is the latest in the neverending stream of cute girls doing cute things show that come out each season. When people cry over how repetitive the anime industry has gotten, the main culprit everyone points to always happens to be isekai, yet slice-of-life comedy shows like Bocchi the Rock have stuck to the same formulaic and repetitive storyline and main cast for the better part of the last decade or two, with, most of the time, nothing but praise coming their way.

Yet, once again, BTR is said to be a breath of fresh air for the industry, promising a deep and ... meaningful characterization of the main protagonist and cute girl in question - Bocchi.

I don't often watch anime, but when I do, I watch lots of it. When I found myself once again scrolling through the MyAnimeList top anime section for the first time in what felt like ages, there stood Bocchi the Rock, firmly cemented at #23, to me, a magical number; Last time I went through the usual cycle - don't watch anime for 6 months, come back and binge watch 20 shows in a week - I found a very special show called Link Click at the #23 mark, which caught my attention and turned out to be one of the best shows I've ever watched. I thought to myself that this must be fate, and that this, too, will become a classic that stands the test of time and proves to be groundbreakingly innovative in the stale anime industry - however far that compliment goes.

Unfortunately, I stand corrected.

Bocchi the Rock is not exactly seasonal garbage, in fact it is unique in its ability to lead on the viewer and garner the sympathy of the average anime watcher despite being of little substance. One of the main points of appeal of this show, is, of course, the relatability of Bocchi's character. From that perspective, she is well-written, and her portrayal of social anxiety strikes just the right chords to get the viewer to care and relate to her. Of course, if you can't empathize with a socially anxious person, much of the comedy falls flat - but despite BTR being a comedy show, that surprisingly doesn't really take away from its overall enjoyability.

For starters, the production of the show is immaculate - sure, the level of smoothness a blockbuster shounen like attack on titan sees isn't really present, but the direction is top notch, and the creativity levels are there, from the wacky facial expressions to the shots of real-life action that are very tastefully strung into the artwork - and to that end, I applaud Bocchi the rock. As far as slice-of-life shows go, it's presented beautifully, and the passion the animators and director had for the project is tangible - not entirely unexpected work from Keiichirou Saitou, who worked on shows like Sonny Boy, Mob Psycho and Wonder Egg Priority in recent memory, all deeply charismatic and atmospheric in their own ways.

The cast, although not much more than the sum of its parts, is quite charming; and cute! Which, as you might guess, is kind of important for a cute girls doing cute things anime - and cute things, they are doing as well, playing some kick-ass music, which, once again, I have to give credit to. Both the opening and ending sequences are spectacular, and the OSTs are even better; the first track the girls write in the show, entitled "Guitar, Loneliness and Blue Planet", is, as far as J-Rock goes, one of the best songs I've ever heard in anime. But this isn't a music review.

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I have a very strong dislike for shows like Re:Zero and Koe no Katachi, which despite being wildly different in almost every aspect of their conception, share one thing in common - apart from their incredible commercial success - in the way that they emotionally manipulate and string along the viewer into caring for shallow, cheaply written characters. For Subaru's Re:Zero, that's in the form of killing off the entire (incredibly obnoxious) main cast in increasingly gruesome and brutal ways to little purpose other than shocking the viewer into tears. For Koe no Katachi, it's using Nishimiya's entire character as a glorified cardboard cutout to plaster a disability onto and get the audience to cry over it, which is a lot more evocative of what BTR attempts to do with Bocchi's social anxiety.

It's cheap writing and emotionally exploitative. Although Bocchi the Rock doesn't abuse this trick to the same extent as the anime I previously mentioned, it doesn't mean it's in good taste, either. Crippling social anxiety that impairs someone from even the most basic human functions, is, more or less, the running gag of the show, which sure, fine, it's a comedy, and I'm a strong believer in being able to make jokes about anything and everything, but there's two issues I still have with it.

Obviously, this is a cute girls doing cute things comedy, so I can't bring myself to do a psychological analysis of Bocchi; that's just as in bad taste as the show itself and entirely missing the point. Still, social anxiety is a mental health issue that has a root cause - abusive household, severe bullying, lack of human interaction, poor upbringing, a track record of being constantly mercilessly rejected, or whatever else you might think up. Yet Bocchi lives in a nice big house in a nice neighbourhood, she has a nice little sister and two supportive, able-bodied parents, was never bullied (or at least, the show never mentioned it), and just in general is a really cute anime girl who plays guitar and runs a youtube channel in her spare time, so really, her character is reduced to little more than a device to get the audience to think "she just like me fr" instead of a genuine, real, believable human being with feelings and motivations beyond what the writers tell us her feelings are. Although the show narrates mostly from the view of Bocchi, making all encounters into a deeply intimate experience, she remains shallow, written solely to make the audience empathize with her because of her situation, instead of her character.

But again, analyzing Bocchi is senseless since this is a comedy, not a drama, so I can't discredit it for using a character as a running gag - it's something many other superb comedy shows do regularly. Still, AS a comedy, BTR entirely misses the mark, simply because its jokes aren't that funny. To some people, they're very relatable situations, and therefore mildly funny, but to the viewer without social anxiety, who can't empathize with Bocchi, every. single. damn. joke. falls flat in its face. Its comedy is entirely reliant on getting the viewer to sympathize and relate to Bocchi, which brings me back to how her "she just like me fr fr!" writing is cheap, and to how distasteful it is to use mental health issues as a device to sell jokes for the entire runtime of the show.

This feels like a great time to mention a show I've recently watched - Hinamatsuri. Hinamatsuri is a comedy show, yes, and it has a side character called Anzu. Without spoiling too much, Anzu's character approaches a pretty serious theme - homelessness, yet never does the show try to make you cry just because oh, poor Anzu she's homeless, nor does it tastelessly poke fun at homeless people. Homelessness isn’t exactly something relatable to most people, it's a topic that's not as easily exploitable as social anxiety, so the writers turn Anzu into more than a social anxiety bag or a disabled damsel-in-distress (cough, koe no katachi, cough) through believable characterization and a great story arc.

Quickly going through the plot, Anzu has great magical powers and has come to Earth to fight the titular protagonist, Hina. She is introduced as impulsive, aggressive, and unrelenting in her egocentrism. She fails to beat Hina, and also finds out she’s unable to return to the world she came from; Now stuck on earth, she steals to get by until she meets a homeless guy who teaches him that’s wrong, and Anzu joins his community of homeless people.

Over the course of the next few episodes, Anzu learns the ins and outs of homeless life - picking up cans off the ground to sell to the scrapyard and getting 500 yen for a whole day of backbreaking work. Slowly, Anzu learns the value of money and the importance of sharing moments with others, thanks to her new living environment; The other homeless people in the community teach her other things too, anything from building a house to crocheting rubber bands, and when the time finally came for her to split apart from the rest of the homeless group - they arrange for her to be adopted -, she feels incompetent and powerless in her inability to be anything more than a bother for the nice people who helped her.

Obviously, since Hinamatsuri is a comedy, sometimes it’s all exaggerated for comedic effect - when she first starts working for her adoptive family’s ramen shop, she asks a customer how he’s so wealthy after ordering an 800 yen dish - but her character arc and development is genuine, the lessons she learns are genuine, and the social issues tackled by the writers are approached with tact and care in order to build a story that doesn't make you cry because "Oh, crying reason spotted", but because you genuinely believe in and care for the character who makes it all happen. That, right there, is tasteful, good writing, and something a show like Bocchi the Rock simply lacks.

Still, I do have one concession to make. I've written this review so far in such a way that Bocchi has been put in a bad light and portrayed as a weak character, which she isn't completely. She is cheaply written, yes, but her portrayal of social anxiety - although exaggerated for comedic purposes - is believable at times, which is probably why so many people who also struggle with similar troubles in their daily lives love the show. In fact I'll add one more - her character development is genuinely well written, particularly in episode 6, where Bocchi meets Hiroi, a bassist from another band randomly out on the street, and Hiroi convinces Bocchi to do a street performance - which she absolutely kills. By the end of the episode, Bocchi makes a new friend and achieves her goal for the episode, which involves talking to and convincing a whole three people, probably something even an adept social butterfly would struggle to do effortlessly.

Unfortunately, the comedic nature of the series means that much of this character development is often reverted and forgotten by the end of one episode, but still, it's easy to tell that by the end of the show, Bocchi was a completely different, far more approachable person than she was at the start of the season, and the journey she goes through to get there is not just believable but also entertaining.

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In one of the earlier episodes, the blonde haired manager - whose name I forget - mentions how she was, at one point, part of a very popular band, that changed their sound into a more commercial one to get more sales, forgetting the passion of writing true music, which, in hindsight, is quite ironic. Every action a character takes and feeling they feel are not reactive to their environment, but pre-scripted and carefully designed to serve the purpose of the story - and it seems to me like the purpose the writer(s) behind BTR strived for was more about making their show a commercial success rather than writing what could really have been a great series and character.

Bocchi, to be frank, makes you feel good, maybe has you laughing, maybe has you crying, which is really the point of a comedy and of a CGDCT show. How successful the show is in achieving its loftier goals might come down to whether you can or can't tolerate the exploitative nature of its titular character, who, more than a believable and meaningful portrayal of social anxiety, chooses instead to be an "oh she just like me frrrrrr!!!!!!" character.

If that pulls on the right strings for you, then you'll certainly enjoy this show, and I can't blame you for it - a comedy serves solely to entertain, and Bocchi does that quite well so long as you don't look past its appearances; but if you do, then, much like a parent who tries to force their introverted kid out of the house, you'll find that a show that tries to force you into laughing and crying for its shallow relatability, probably won't succeed in doing either.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 8, 2023

shxtter

Not Recommended

A music show that is definitely not made for musicians.

I know this show is comedy-first but I cannot get over the girls' awful motivations for joining a band. We have our main character who only wants to gain fame and look cool. Another character buys a guitar to get closer to their crush. Oh, and it was actually a 6-string-bass... how silly of her! (6-string-basses are not even sold in regular music stores)

The show has its moments. It does two things right: bassists and the starting journey of an amateur musician. The latter is depicted quite well - a musician's journey is messy. Things go ... wrong, gaining an audience is hard, the anxiety is up the roof and so on. As for the former, the bassists seem to be the only characters in this show that want to play music solely for the joy of music. They don't have any weird secret goals, they just love to play music. That should be one's motivation for playing in a band - not gaining fans and popularity, not doing it for someone else.

At the very end of the show it seems the characters may have started enjoying playing music for the music itself, but then we are reminded of their goals again. I finished this show because I wished that the main character would realize that popularity is not actually that amazing, music is. But no, the motivation stays until the very end.

Obviously, this show is made for people that relate to the main character's struggles. She is extremely anxious of social situations and does a lot of mistakes. Even I relate to her! However, this show puts way too much emphasis on the music aspect, when this show is actually not about music at all.

It had potential. If all of the characters had had pure motives for music, it could have been really, really good.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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