Bocchi the Rock!

Bocchi the rock can be summed up as a show that banks on relatability, and cute girls doing cute things. The series relies on the gimmick of the girls being cute, it’s a dime a dozen show with the basic idea being that “introverted girl slowly comes out of her shell through the use of friends” which isn’t a foreign concept at all. But the execution is extremely typical. The artstyle and animation are very good honestly speaking, it’s very fluid and the characters are drawn very well. The uniqueness in the way the series is portrayed through its great animation and use of unique frames is honestly very unique. They adapt parts of the manga and make it feel very comedic, but that’s where my praise for the show stops. The banking quality is on relatability, sending a message, and the fact that they are cute girls. And the way it gets it’s message across isn’t half bad, it’s clear in the way it gets across and I’d say it does a successful job of portraying a lot of real life anxieties and issues people go through; hence why there’s a bit of shallowness to the show, because that’s the sole purpose of it. And the only things that set it apart from other shows in the same vein is the cute girls, and the overall aesthetics of the show.

most average piece of shit imaginable. And somehow a hit because of modern slice-of-life escapist shit and people enjoying anxious quirky characters. None of this characters are interesting to me or provide entertainment to me. Bocchi is just a basic, boring overstated anxious person, who pursued music not for a love of art but a desire to be noticed, which just makes her seem shallow, which doesn't have to be a bad thing but when their defining character trait other than anxiety is something they have a shallow connection to, it's just poor. I don't remember any of the other characters because they are boring as fuck. I don't know, i want this genre to die. Art meh, voice acting and music good.

I think at the core of Bocchi the Rock! is the many instances of growth, lessons, and emotional maturation of Hitori, or Bocchi as she goes by in the show, that she undergoes is what made this show work. In all of its light-hearted comedic moments and spectacular visual usage in its presentation, it is all done so in the cause of facilitating the human characterizations of Bocchi to the viewers with relatability and charisma. Without this core theme as the pillar of the entire show, I don’t think it would’ve worked as effectively as it did. The simple story of Bocchi the Rock! quickly unravels as we learn that Bocchi has had social anxiety for as long as she knew her existence. As it’s shown at the very beginning of the series, Bocchi spent all of her middle school struggling to make friendships, share hobbies, and do what her heart desires. Her anxiety stems from her uncanny disorder of being unable to speak and project confidently in front of people. When in face of one-on-one conversations, it’s shown in her body language as she often darts her eyes left and right, cowers her body as to run or away, and speaks in stuttered ways under the spotlight. The attention to portraying an introvert with social anxiety in this obvious yet subtle way is what makes the show work. Additionally, the show takes steps to make a distinction between an introvert with social anxiety and a frequent normal introvert. This element of contrast is plainly shown between Ryou Yamada and Bocchi. Ryou, one of the four members of the Kessoku band and one of the main leads of the show, likes being alone as opposed to Bocchi, who desperately seeks connections and friendships despite her social endeavors. Ryou is very much different from Bocchi. Despite that both of them can be categorized as introverts, it’s the ways of their behavior and conduct that separate them. Such as in ways while Bocchi struggles under the spotlight and in social situations, Ryou is absolutely indifferent to social interactions; she speaks when she wants to and when she likes to without any of the traits that Bocchi has. I admit that even though this part of the presentation is not prominent in the show, it’s subtle enough for me to appreciate it and it’s an add-on that makes the show work. Outside of its characters, the director of Bocchi the Rock! often uses clever and profound visual imagery to convey Bocchi’s inner workings of the mind. Many moments where I found myself surprisingly chuckling or laughing out loud arose from those scenes. Be it the display of pouring water from a pipeline in a non-animation format or an actual sketch drawing animation sequence that was meant to represent the chaotic space of Bocchi’s mind when she goes under social panic attacks; nonetheless, I found this style of directing to be really fun to watch and it serves its purpose to the characters and by extension, the show. Thus, making it really reminiscent of something such as The Tatami Galaxy and the like. While I haven’t read its source material, I have no doubt that this anime adaptation has significantly enhanced the manga that an animation form can and truly produce in extravagant ways. As I aforementioned at the beginning of this writing, the core of Bocchi the Rock! is the journey of growth, lessons, and emotional maturity in Bocchi throughout the show. In the many instances since Bocchi’s decision to join a band as she has always dreamed of, the show takes notable moments to present the momentous occasions in which she’s in the process of changing and growing. And the scenes comprised of those moments are always dealt with heart and passion from the director, animators, and storyboarders. This is evident in the way how this project is presented in every episode. Every scene of every episode in this show goes the extra mile and a half more than the previous ones and its efforts certainly stand out among the masses. In turn, for the viewers, making it really endearing to watch. At the same time, it’s not easy for Bocchi. This is why we see Bocchi often reverting back to her old self—crumbling under social situations, panicking and overthinking, or stuttering all the same. But the change is still there and we, the viewers, can see it. The same can be said for the rest of the band as well. For all of its members: Ryou, Nijika, and Ikuyo get their moment of reflection as a collective. Which in turn, cultivates their bond as a group, a band, and friends, leading to some of the best and my favorite moments and performances in the show. This is all due to the fact that it’s presented in entertaining ways as well as with heart and passion that’s communicated to the audience. Bocchi the Rock! is one of those shows that permeate happiness, adrenaline, and excitement, as well as meaningful heartfelt moments in every single episode of its run. The usage of its visuals as a storytelling tool is beyond the limitations and confinements of the usual animation form as it’s utilized in an uncanny fashion that’s filled with flair and mastery directing to produce results. Combined with the absolute devotion and enthusiasm from the staff, their passion and love for the series constantly seep through the show. And that’s what makes Bocchi the Rock! work. It’s more than just your run-of-the-mill Cute Girls Doing Cute Things type of show as some quickly label it as. What makes Bocchi the Rock! a such delightful watch in its entirety is that the show goes beyond its initial genre impression and shall be held above all of its comparisons and the shows alike.

Well, I know I'm not inside the target audience, but the show hyped so much, and then I decided to give this one a chance. From a pseudo- elitist's perspective: yes it's an overhyped boring show. The animation is mostly not over the top and not enough detailed but I can accept this as a design choice. Characters are completely one-dimensional and predictable. They act the same as you think all the time. The main character is annoying asf and I suffered while watching. As far as I understand the audience put themselves into her shoes, consequently, they got hyped but you are not her. First, she is not a weeaboo and she can play guitar. She has 30k subs and plays in a band. Moreover, she is f*ckin anime girl! ( STOP IT, GET SOME HELP! ) Seriously this gal needs to get some help from a therapist or something like that too. The songs are not bad but I expected some more qualified, complicated, and detailed pieces like some covers for famous songs or something. Bass and electro guitar were decent but I did not like the songs in general. This is a very subjective statement. The story is basic. It is a cute girls doing cute things kinda show so complaints are not very reasonable, you got what you pay for. The story serves its purpose. There are tons of cringe moments and the shyness of MC becomes exhausting over time. To sum up, a normal and socialized person most likely will not enjoy this (i think) conversely an antisocial would most likely love this. You might be socialized but maybe you can like it too, give it a chance.

[TL;DR: A largely forgettable moe blob. The art and animation is great, the music is nice, the humor is hit-and-miss but at least has some original ideas. Sadly, the MC is extremely annoying, the other characters are cardboard tropes and the story is formulaic, cookie-cutter snoozefest. Throw it on if you have nothing better to watch, you might get a few laughs out of it, but don't expect an earth-shattering experience.] At first, I was very confused when I watched Bocchi the Rock!, for many reasons. This is a series of the seasonal lineup you simply couldn't avoid, pictures, videos, memes were slapping me across the face wherever I went on the internet. Reviews gushing about how incredible it is, the best CGDCT ever made, a peerless masterpiece, swearing left and right Bocchi is "just the best anime ever, you guys!". Imagine my surprise, when I finally relented and watched it, and found something totally different... First of all, praise where it is due, Bocchi is a nice CGDCT ("Cute Girls Doing Cute Things") Slice-of-Life fare, with very good art, great animation quality and some really good music. The humor is mostly hit-and-miss, but there are some novel, hilarious visual gags that really hit the spot. The show is otherwise completely inoffensive, cute and well made. The characters are your usual, tropey moe blob with the ultra-positive/tomboyish singer, the broody stoic bassist, the charismatic leader drummer and...uh...the absolute psychotic trainwreck guitarist, our protagonist, Hitori Goto. Most of the bands story takes a backseat to showcasing Hitori's insane antics with self-inflicted social anxiety. At the drop of a hat she launches into a full blown psychotic meltdown basically every single time she has to interact with anyone for any reason. At school, on the street, at home, among friends, she is a constant nervous trainwreck who lives in a constant state of paralyzing fear and misery. The show never unpacks this, rather treating it as a source of comedy how she is utterly incapable of existing in human society. [I'm about to launch into a lengthy rant about the show's main theme of social anxiety and it's apparent misuse, so if you don't care, simply skip the next few paragraphs] ***Let's get one thing out of the way first: social anxiety is real! It affects many (including me) and can make life very difficult for those suffering from it. It makes one get unreasonably nervous in otherwise normal, everyday social situations. It can cause people to act out in unpredictable ways or simply freeze or shut down. In worst cases it can even develop into outright social phobia and can cause one to avoid social interactions altogether and affect their quality of life in very negative ways. Having said that, social anxiety never exists in a vacuum. It always has well defined causes, unresolved past traumas, like family or relationship problems, bad upbringing, problems at school, bullying, abuse, rejection and heaps of other negative social interactions and traumas, that would make one afraid of even more painful experiences, hence the fear and avoidance of social situations. Now, I always say you can make fun of everything in the right context (stick & stones, etc.) and social ineptitude was always a great source of humor, especially in anime. However in Bocchi, it is turned to 11 and then some. Hitori (yes, the name is also a pun, as it means "alone") is portrayed as an absolutely nerve-wrecked loser, who's afraid of her own shadow let alone interacting with another human. She basically lives in a closet, has zero friends or human connections and the only thing she does is secretly play the guitar. From what we can tell from the story, she lives in a good neighborhood, a big house, she has a lovely, caring family, they are well-off, she goes to a good school, she is not bullied, not abused, she is smart, talented, cute/pretty, and so on, we've been given zero indication of baggage she might be carrying, if any, etc. In short, she has absolutely no reason for acting the way she is. She even runs a very successful youtube channel, which is kind of at odds with her gimmick. Also, her parents are not the sharpest tools in the shed, they called exorcists instead of a shrink to cure their psycho daughter, but I digress. Far be it from me to try and psychoanalyze an anime character - which I totally just did so whoops, I guess - but Bocchi just rubbed me the wrong way for a lot of reasons. Like I said, I'm not above making fun of quirks or disorders (even one I also have) in the right context, but Hitori's case seems completely self-inflicted and used straight up as a selling point. The "ooh, that's so totally me" factor to give the viewers someone to identify with, it's a no-brainer as for the usual target audience of angsty teens, otakus and weebs, some form of social anxiety is pretty much a given. I wouldn't bat an eyelid if she was some comic relief side-character they only pull out for laughs, but I seriously have to question the motives of the creators when her cosmically overblown neuroses are the focal point of the entire story. Because Hitori's case is not just some social ineptitude or lighthearted ditzyness, but full blown, life-breaking, paralyzing, clinical-grade social phobia. Humor and laughs are one thing, but using a serious mental disorder to sell an entertainment product is just in bad taste. I mean, I'm fully aware how psychological issues and mental health in general is abject taboo in Japanese society (and how the mental health infrastructure is a disaster and basically non-existent) so instead of taking it seriously and trying to treat such disorders they instead opt to make a joke out of them or at worst completely ignore the problem. Bocchi is a shining example of all this, not only making fun of a mental disorder, but straight out using it to sell manga/anime. Sure, maybe I'm taking this a bit too seriously, feel free to criticize me for it, but I can't help feeling this way about Bocchi. [/rant] Other than that, the story is pretty formulaic and expected as far as slice-of-life goes. Girl meets girl totally by chance, she drags the social outcast into forming a rock band, they practice and train, ups and downs, school festival, lots of moral lessons and personal growth, etc. It's not bad, it's just a little bland. K-on did this a lot better, with way better characters and writing. As for the characters, they are tropey, and don't really get fleshed out through the 12 episodes, as Hitori's antics always take center stage. I would've liked to learn more about the band members, their goals and motivations, etc., much rather than watching Hitori pout in a trashcan over and over. I do have to praise the art style and especially the animation quality, which is really good. They made it a point to make the band and music part of the show realistic, look and sound absolutely great, so gold star for that. Even if the rest of the show is really well made and fun, which it totally is, the presentation is top notch, the girls are cute, they are doing the cute things, plus being in a rock band is badass and all that, but in the end the central gimmick just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If you don't care about such things and can take the show for what it is, a well-made CGDCT anime, then you'll have lots of fun. Thanks for reading!

This is my first review. I used to think that writing reviews was pointless or logical only for shows you like, but I’ve come to realize that when you write a review, you truly reflect on what you’ve watched and it helps you process everything, including the emotions the show left behind. I want to try writing a review for everything I watch or read this year, and the first thing I watched was Bochi the Rock. I'll start by explaining why I decided to watch the anime and what caught my interest. The main reason was probably its rating and the fact that it seemed like an easy watch. Lately, I’ve been watching One piece and reading Umineko VN, and I wanted something light and easy to watch. Bochi the Rock ended up in my hands—it's a 12-episode anime that’s in the top 45 on MAL, and I thought it would be simple and easy to follow. Now, let me go through the pros and cons of various aspects and then I’ll evaluate it in more detail. First, I’ll say that comedy, in general, doesn’t appeal to me, especially in anime. I don’t like Japanese humor much. I can recall a few comedic anime that I watched, like One Punch Man and Spy x Family. I’ll say that Bochi the Rock had more funny moments than I expected, and there were indeed some moments I genuinely liked. The concept itself was quite humorous—especially with a socially awkward rocker, which felt like a refreshing change from characters like Saitama who defeats everyone with one punch. But I’ll stop with the comparisons. Despite that, even though the comedic aspect was more enjoyable than in other anime, it didn’t make me laugh much outside of a few moments. The anime also touched lightly on other themes and didn’t stir any emotional reactions in me. It didn’t leave a significant impact, and I didn’t feel any positive moods after watching it. There weren’t many memorable moments either, but one thing that sets this anime apart from other short 12-episode series is that it was easy to watch. The animation was quite good, and while the characters weren’t really standout, they were interesting at some point, and it was enjoyable to watch. The main character, while sometimes funny and relatable in some ways, was stuck in the same place every episode, and no real change occurred. I forgot to mention that the music (OST) wasn't particularly memorable. I can't really point out any specific moment that stood out or that I particularly liked. As for a potential new season, I’m not sure if I’d be overly excited about it, but I’ll watch it if it comes out. So, in conclusion: An ordinary story that doesn’t stand out A main character who is sometimes funny but doesn’t evolve Good animation Ordinary, yet easy-to-watch characters Standard cliché dialogues No memorable moments or episodes Despite the criticism and flaws, I still enjoyed watching the anime, and some moments were genuinely funny and relatable. My final rating is a mid to high 5/10. I also realized that writing reviews is a great way to find people who think like you and engage in discussions with them, or, on the other hand, interact with people who disagree and have them prove you wrong, showing you things you might have missed.

Nice and fun but Overrated! Bocchi The Rock was a nice and fun anime to watch. The characters have a great wholesome relationship as well as a few good anime references. However, I do think that this series is highly overrated by fans. It was funny at first but the comedy gets way too repetitive 5 episodes in. It's just bocchi doing extreme reactions in different environments every episode and somehow it's considered to be wholesome or funny (whining or rolling in the ground). The mc is socially awkward yet she still goes out and makes situations even more awkward for herself and most people call this anime of the year?! Don't get me wrong, the studio did a great job with the animation and with the production of the series and that it's what mostly carries the anime. It was still fun to watch but the hype around it it's crazy and it's NOT definitely the BEST slice of life anime out there.

This feels like a slice of life / musical band anime geared for people normally into battle shounen. For example, the show’s humor is largely driven by manga effects, and over-the-top animation of Bocchi’s introverted thoughts/nature. Bocchi exploding, turning to dust, etc remind of action scenes in battle anime. While this use of animation is quite creative at times, it is definitely not for everyone. For instance, those newer to anime may be turned off by it. Some episodes really stand out: for example, the band’s performances are very well animated and accompanied by powerful, melodious, and meaningful music. Anyone who’s struggled with excessive introversion will readily relate to Bocchi; heck, anyone who’s spent too long working/studying/devoted to a self-pursuit knows it can be an effort to then come back to the world and acclimate to socializing. This anime depicts that decently, but I’d argue there are plenty of anime that do a much better job portraying this. While I enjoyed Bocchi enough to give it a solid 6 or low 7, I would argue it’s incredibly overrated and not for everyone. When it comes to music-themed anime with similar character struggles, I’d say there are better ones out there than Bocchi, such as Your Lie in April, Nodame Cantabile, Liz and the Blue Bird, Sound Euphonium, Kono oto Tomare, and Nana. All of which are surprisingly rated lower than Bocchi as of now (Dec 2022). The show portrays Bocchi's introversion and stage fright as a running gag, but does little to develop her character and background beyond this. We know that her nature is to be more withdrawn, and that makes her the odd one out but that's about it. With the other shows, the depth of character building is much stronger - how they overcame introverted struggles in the past, what are their deep inner thoughts, how did they regress, what are their trigger events (ex: death of loved ones, sickness, bullying, influence of others, parents with high expectations, cutting down on socializing, etc), and more. I find Bocchi focused on humor with some serious moments, while other anime in this genre are driven by seriousness with some moments of humor; in my opinion, the latter is a more appropriate means to convey the depth of musicians and the introversion many of them struggle with. Overall, I’d say Bocchi is an interesting/entertaining seasonal but not incredibly stand-out, paling in comparison to other anime dealing in similar topics.

I Don't know how this anime got rating so high almost 9/10, but for me it is too overated and kinda mid instead, the music and the graphic was ok not so great and bad either ive seen worse but other than that is straight to mid 5/10. Im sure so many weeb feel kinda relate to bocchi about how lonely and need attention they are but cant afford to talk with other people, but that was your problem not a part of the show. But after considering there is not much anime that involve around music i could missing a single or two things great about this anime so i instead 5/10, personally i thing 6,5/10 is enough.

Bocchi the rock is heartwarming, funny, relatable and immensely creative. I haven’t had this much fun watching an anime in a long long time. It took me back to the wonder of watching my first anime, discovering this new medium which allowed what seemed like almost infinite creativity and any story to be told. Cloverfield really struck it out of the park with this one. All from the perfect execution of so many different styles to the immensely likeable cast of characters make this anime a truly fantastic experience. The show's main character Bocchi is extremely likeable and at many times very relatable to us who tend to struggle a bit with introversion and social anxiety. Bocchi is not the first and most certainly won’t be the last anime main character to suffer from social anxiety. Bocchi is a loner but not by choice it’s very obvious early on that she is very attentive and caring. She isn't alone because she wants to be, Bocchi is attentive and caring, she just struggles to show it, and she’s simply unable to make the first move. My favourite of Bocchi’s showcase of her social anxiety is her struggle to enter ‘Starry’, the club she works part-time at, performs at and practices at. As she spun around in front of the entrance thinking to herself ‘I’ll go in five minutes’... and as five minutes passed ‘I’ll go in 5 more’ frantically trying to force herself to enter but just she just couldn’t, I thought back to myself doing the same things in my real life. I’m pretty sure that I’ve said the exact same thing as Bocchi said to herself, to myself and it did make me laugh as well as a bit embarrassed. These moments of relatability and how genuinely enjoyable it is to watch Bocchi’s general antics make her one of the most likeable main characters I’ve ever encountered in any type of media. This likeability spreads to the rest of the cast as well. All of the other band members, Nijika who is an outgoing social girl (kind of Bocchi's opposite), Ryo who also is a bit of a loner, although willingly making her different from Bocchi and Kita who kind of is the stereotypical kind of popular outgoing girl are all exceedingly likeable as well. They aren’t wholly original characters as they all play on tropes that usually are present in the genre, this most certainly isn't the first show to partner introverts with extroverts to produce comedic results. But that doesn't matter as the writing doesn’t feel derivative because of the fact that the characters got just enough quirks and depth that it makes them play off each other in a wholly unique and special way. Their friendship feels natural and real, it doesn’t come off as forced at all as it often can in these types of series. The main girls’ relationship evolves in a very natural and subtle way, there’s never some melodramatic forced rift between them, never an all-out fight to force development in their relationships. It happens naturally, subtly and quietly and all of this pays off greatly in the last episode when Kita for the first time calls Bocchi “Hitori-chan”. I realize as I write it that it really doesn’t seem that big of a deal, and it isn't, even the show really didn't treat it as a big deal, it’s only a cute little character moment at the end of the season. But that only works to prove the point of how subtle and smart the character-writing is, that something as simple as a character calling another character by their name for the first time can make me smile from cheek to cheek. The characters are great and all but at its absolute core Bocchi the rock is another slice of life ‘cute girls doing cute things’ anime, K-on walked so Bocchi could run. The original 4-Koma manga wasn’t necessarily bad but to be perfectly blunt, it really isn’t anything to write home about either. Sure the charming story and characters are there but that isn't what truly makes this anime shine. What truly makes this anime stand out in the crowd is its art direction and style. There was absolutely no need to put this much effort into the animation of this script, put this exact script in the hands of another studio, in the hands of another director and you would’ve gotten the most run-of-the-mill, boring, low-budget anime ever. Cloverfield put in tremendous effort to make this something special and I’m honestly thrilled that they did. This anime practically spews out creativity and imagination throughout every single episode and more or less every single scene. The passion that this anime was made with is almost palpable through the screen. The constant switching between art styles and animation techniques proves the effort that must’ve gone into making this anime. All from the regular cutesy art style, to a more traditional old-school anime style, to stop motion animation, to puppets, to claymation and even live-action clips. Not to mention the seamless integration of CGI. The director Saitou Keiichirou along with all the animators at Cloverfield really went above and beyond making this simple, cute and quirky story the absolute best it possibly could be. There are so many sequences in this anime that surely took a tremendous amount of time and effort to pull off. These changes in art style complement the themes of Bocchi's character wonderfully. Explaining visually as well and that she’s a bit of a weirdo that goes off on weird tangents. If these tangents weren’t accompanied by a change in art style they wouldn’t be as easily perceived as small escapes into Bocchi’s wild little fantasy world, as well as the fact that they wouldn’t be nearly as funny. The changes add a lot of humorous qualities and a lot of character to the scenes. My favourite of these tangents of Bocchi’s is the one about sports festivals. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it but for those who have, try to imagine that sequence in a more usual art style. I bet you can’t and even if you could it surely didn’t pack as much of a punch as the real one did. This weird little almost Masaaki Yuasa ‘Tatami Galaxy’-looking sequence just wouldn’t be the same if it didn’t look the way it does. These changes in animation also perfectly encapsulate how it feels to overexaggerate outcomes. Messing up in a school team activity? yes it does feel like being hunted by a bunch of puppets with spears and then being burned at the stake. Thinking about having to make a social media account when you've got no one to add? yea it totally feels like glitching out on the floor while having your soul leave your body. These little sequences add so much flavour, personality and uniqueness to the show. I’ve never seen anything quite like it in this medium. It’s more or less the perfect integration of different art styles. The art style and animation techniques and changes are integral to making this anime what it is. I’m sure it wasn’t easy to pull off, but that hard work and passion really paid off. Bocchi the rock could genuinely be considered a masterpiece and had I seen it only a few years ago I’m sure that I myself would’ve considered it one. I can see how Bocchi’s heartwarming story of breaking out of your shell could inspire many an introvert. I hope this show does well because it just truly is such a damn good time. I binged a large part of this show in one sitting and by the end, my cheeks were hurting with how much I was smiling. I could not wipe the grin off my face even if I so wanted to while watching this anime. Bocchi the rock is an anime with a tremendous amount of effort put into making it as good as possible, all from the animation to the voice acting and it most definitely is noticeable. Even though it isn’t laugh-out-loud funny most of the time, it’s constantly so quirky, cute and humorous that it genuinely doesn’t matter at all. There isn’t a dull moment, this is the most fun I’ve had with an anime in a long long time. Bocchi the rock gets a big thumbs up and a glowing recommendation from me. Hopefully, there’ll be a season 2 soon where Bocchi can keep on…

Yes, I do agree that Bocchi the Rock is a decent anime with cute characters and a competent humor. However, I really cannot see how this can be described as "One of the best animes ever made ... " or some bullshit like that. People are referring to this as the next K-On, but after finishing the whole series I did not get the wholesome feeling I got after watching K-On, which was not only about comedy alone but the friendship and the interaction between the characters were much more wholesome. I really enjoyed the art and its unusual elements. The choreograph songs and their lyrics were also good. At some points I was even laughing out loud which is not something that I usually do whilst watching a show. Some of the downsides would be the main character Bocchi's introverted behavior and social anxiety (at least for me) is not depicted realistically. The character's friendship is more like a pettiness towards Bocchi rather than a hearth-giving relationship. SO, YES this show was a good/great experience all in all. HOWEVER, I just don't see how people are describing it as a masterpiece. It seems like these people haven't watched enough shows to tell what is a masterpiece or time is changing. After seeing 8.96 (which is unbelievably high score), I just feel a bit sorrowful for all the other great shows out there with much better plot, characters, animation, sound and so on. :(

Before the Fall season started, I knew how packed Saturdays were going to be. From Spy X Family to Blue Lock and many more that I watched, I honestly did not plan on watching Bocchi the Rock, but given how CloverWorks has been doing some very impressive work this year, with Sono Bisque Doll, Akebi-chan, and Spy X Family, I decided to watch this too, and I am truly glad I experienced this masterpiece of an anime. It’s not the most ambitious or high budget work out there, but it is, by far, the most fun I’ve had watching something this decade. This show has been nothing short of spectacular, with creativity just oozing out every episode, with many animation styles such as claymation, and just flat out 3DCG which was hilarious, plus excellent comedic timing and visual gags that made me laugh every episode. Truly a work that is brimming with passion for the craft, and one of, if not the best anime to come out in 2022 for me personally. STORY: The story isn’t the most creative, and it isn’t the thing that stands out the most. We follow the socially anxious Hitori Gotou, also known as Bocchi, through her arduous journey of life and her yearning to join a band. She devotes her time in playing the guitar, and posts her works online for people to enjoy. One day, she decides to bring her guitar to school, in hopes someone would find it cool and talk to her. Turns out, no one approached her, and that’s the thing I like from this show, that it is grounded in realism. In reality, most people have their own problems to deal with, and mind their own business, so it’s not the easiest for socially awkward people like Bocchi to communicate in this world. I’ll expand on Bocchi’s character in the “Characters” section of this review. The gist of the story is just Bocchi trying to integrate herself into society as she joins Kessoku Band, and slowly, but surely, turning into someone she herself can be proud of. ART: What a job well done the animation was. The many types of visual comedy was wonderful to see, and these gags occur mostly during Bocchi’s monologues, which just made it even more funny. You’ve surely seen many of these gags online, and it’s the creativity that really put this show on the map in the first place. MUSIC: As this is a music show to some extent, the music is indeed, very solid. The OP was already very good, and if you read the lyrics to that, and to basically all the songs from Kessoku Band, you know that Bocchi wrote the lyrics, and they hit deep on a personal level. Of course, they also sound amazing, and I’ve had many of the songs from the show on my playlist, and listen to them all the time. Truly mesmerizing music. CHARACTERS: This show has one of the best casts through this entire year, if not the best. Each girl from Kessoku Band is unique, and each have their respective complexities, which was fun to watch. First, I’ll talk about Bocchi, who is, my favourite character from this year of anime, and one of my favourites, ever, because she’s very relatable to me personally. I, like Bocchi, am quite socially awkward and anxious. I struggle to keep conversations going, I don’t have much motivation to talk to others, and I don’t have the highest self-esteem. However, being socially anxious, does not mean that she is necessarily an introvert, which many people describe her as. I have been described as an introvert all my life, but there’s a fine line between introversion and social anxiety, which brings me to yet another fantastic character from this show, Ryou Yamada. She’s described as an introvert, by choice. You can see that’s she totally fine when she’s talking to others, but she keeps them short and sweet. That’s because introversion is all about social energy, the need to recharge your batteries after being at huge social events, or having a long conversation with someone, whereas socially anxious people probably want to talk with others more, but just can’t bring themselves to do so. You can clearly tell how different she is from Bocchi because of that. Now back to Bocchi. She’s relatable to all of us to some extent, I’m sure, because both introverts and extroverts can experience social anxiety. Everyone, I’m sure, was deathly afraid of public speaking or performing at some point in our lives. Some may relate to her more, some may relate to her less. For me personally, I see a lot of myself in her. I find myself avoiding social interaction a lot, which is more or less what Bocchi does. The great part of this show is that it is quite realistic, although exaggerated a lot through the visual gags. Bocchi tries to improve, but it isn’t easy. Social anxiety, if you’re born with it, will likely stick with you in some form for a good chunk of your life, but small steps can be made. When people acknowledge her talents, she breaks out into this happy, goofy look, because she’s brimming with happiness. That’s because socially anxious people are desperate for some acknowledgement of their talents, and when they get it, it might be a push in the right direction for them, to get them to continue doing what they’re good at. Even the character designs are very interesting, in that the two non-social butterfly people, their bangs cover their forehead and eyes to some extent, and that’s quite noticeable to me too, since my bangs also cover my forehead and eyes a little bit. Little things like that make it all the more enjoyable to me. The other two characters, Nijika and Kita, are the very outgoing people, but still very entertaining to watch. Kita, especially, is the social butterfly who’s seemingly ready to conquer the world with her aura, but underneath, there’s something there too, perhaps some social anxiety of her own, just in a different form. Maybe she just doesn’t show it openly. Nijika is probably the least entertaining character out of these four, but her interactions with Bocchi and the rest of the cast are still very nice to watch, and she has her emotional moments too. ENJOYMENT: Every single episode was awesome, because of the oozing creativity. Never a dull moment with this show. THEMATIC EXECUTION: The themes are executed to perfection. The themes of different types of personalities was handled very well, and very realistically, which really hits home. It even gets the musician themes well, with the toughness of the music industry, and how it’s so difficult to rise up the ranks and be noticed by others in a positive light, in a world filled with music and sound all around. OVERALL: Need I say more? This was by far my favourite show of the season and perhaps the year. It was definitely the most fun I had watching something this year, with the awesome and insane comedy, the music, and the relatable characters. It’s quite the easy watch too, and even if you aren’t socially inept, there’s most definitely something to relate to, whether it’s the characters, the aspiring musicians, or even the alcoholic spirals. You made me proud, CloverWorks, and you too Kessoku Band. This show is just so rock, and I’ll miss it dearly.

Words that describe this show: Over-hyped, Overrated, and Meme Material. This show is like a roller-coaster; It really is enjoyable, but somewhat bland when compared to different rides of the same sort - As by that I mean “Bocchi the Rock” is being directly compared to “K-On”, since they have similar premises and are great for comparisons, not to mention K-On is an amazing show: -Light Spoilers Ahead- Bocchi might be an average student at heart, but, she has crippling social anxiety, which instantly makes her relatable to many. Like, who wants to talk to a random stranger that might think you are a weirdo for having dreams and interests? — Yeah, interests makes you weird! But, no one can be considered absolutely normal, we all have things we want to hide from others, like search history, anime/TV shows you watch, political opinions, or maybe even emotions in-front of others… But having a regular interest in music and the instruments involved in them make you an outcast? People don't comment on your nonverbal advances to make conversation using band related clothing or the way you want to look? Now… Bocchi is Very antisocial, so much in fact that she can hardly say more than four words without stuttering or tripping on her own words, with this the show lines up a direct push on light jokes on that fact, that continues throughout the show, and YES this does get old, relatively quick. Here is a good comparison, “K-On” had awkward characters that had light antisocial behaviors, but didn't focus much of the plot on this one device and had other characters that had lots of screen-time to show the embarrassed side of those characters and other school related sequences to dive into the plot that made goals to work towards. “Bocchi the Rock” on the other hand really uses this all the time, it is like playing Rock: Paper: Scissors, but only playing Rock and sometimes at complete random throwing in scissors. The other characters besides Bocchi are fascinating characters, but the show really doesn't focus on the personalities and their interests, and only relates it towards the fact that they are in a band. “K-On” Had episodes that showed that they were bandmates, but moreover really good friends that show the care they give to one another. “Bocchi the Rock” really didn't focus very much on the inner feelings of the band so much, or really didn't give an episode of them just doing fun activities trying to get Bocchi out of her shell. Here is my general input on the show: I really enjoyed the way the show flows, it definitely knows the audience it is trying to cater towards, although it seems unexpectedly serious sometimes and has the trope of a socially awkward MC, and as said before, it focuses quite a bit on it, and gets repetitive since how much focus is put into it, and really makes it 55% of characterization for Bocchi. More onto the great things about this show. The art-style is quite pleasing to look at, not to mention the characters actually seem to be (mostly) playing the proper notes on a guitar from looking at their hand placement on the neck of the guitar. The show's characters are not necessarily bland, they do however have a bit of cliché personality, but that isn't necessarily bad because they certainly have a charm about them, and you never know, maybe there will be some more episodes that can show more about their personalities and backstories in another season. Overall, I would say the show is a solid 7/10. It just has some overrating, and can be somewhat bland at times, at least in my opinion, but definitely see worth in actually watching the show!

Overall: 8.5/10 Story and Execution: 8/10 Characters: 9.25/10 Production Values: 8.25/10 Entertainment: 8.5/10 I never thought I would say this about any anime like, ever, but Bocchi the Rock is actually really relatable. The titular character Hitori, affectionately referred to as Bocchi by her band mates, has to be the best representation of social anxiety in anime, and I'm all for it. Yeah, she'll go overboard with it sometimes and internally remind us that she has social anxiety a little too much for my liking, but there's no way I'm gonna nitpick on this when Bocchi is leaps and bounds above 'similar' characters from other anime I've seen. None of whom ever seem to resonate with me like this girl has, usually due to being portrayed as either TOO weird or their situations are just TOO depressing for drama purposes. Bocchi is a healthy mix of realistic mannerisms, facing social difficulties, and funny shenanigans, and I found myself really invested in her story. A story which is quite relatable to me personally. Now I'm going to talk about my own completely unrelated life (I'm sorry) to draw some comparisons here, because I legitimately feel a connection to this pink haired, fictional anime girl. Now perhaps you personally don't share similarities with Bocchi's musical identity, but even without that, this anime does a phenomenal job at demonstrating her goals and struggles that any viewer can appreciate. Like Bocchi, I also fancy myself as a sort of musician, and practice my singing at home all the time (for many, MANY years now...) like she does for guitar, as opposed to actually going outside and doing things because dark, enclosed spaces are nice and safe (don't pity me pls). The difference between us is that she's able to post her music online, something in which I've always been afraid and lacked the self esteem to do, whereas I've performed live in front of audiences frequently, which is something that Bocchi is petrified of. We're sort of flipped here, but the main theme still stands, which is a constant fear of failure and criticism. Though once again like Bocchi, we've both been told that we're really good (her online and me irl), but as much as I wished that such feedback would completely elevate confidence permanently, we still get scared when performing. Though it sure does feel good in the moment (praise is something that I absolutely love to hear but will try very hard to not let show how much I crave it), something that once again is expertly portrayed by Bocchi through some creative visual effects. And that, dear reader, is exactly why I find this anime to be so great. Because I can find myself putting myself in Bocchi's shoes and acting similarly, which no anime I've seen to date has ever been able to successfully do this for me with their characters while STILL being super entertaining. On multiple occasions I would predict how Bocchi would respond to certain situations, and I would be right. Now some might say that such predictability isn't good, but in this case, I completely disagree. It's perfect because, to circle back to the main theme here, Bocchi is RELATABLE, and I can really connect with a character who I can sympathize with and understand. I can't stress enough just how well written this girl is. She's also super hilarious. Like damn, many of the gags in this had me burst out laughing. I especially love when she basically writes herself off as dead and the end credits start rolling, it's just so good. And her voice actress is excellent, really elevating Bocchi's emotions through her tone, range, and just general talent. Let's also not forget the great visuals, which really add to the comedic value of these scenes. It was always amusing to watch Bocchi's face become less and less detailed until it transformed into a scrambled mess. Just great production all around. And of couse, this isn't to detract from the rest of the cast, who are all enjoyable in their own way. These girls are more like the usual type you'd find in a good slice a life/music anime, with them being mostly cute, upbeat and friendly. And in Ryou's case, plain weird, but in a funny, endearing way. It's always nice for a lead character, especially one with social anxiety, to have a solid friend group, and these girls definitely do the trick. I was very surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this. Just by looking at my favorites, you can probably tell that I'm more of an 'ACTION, VIOLENCE, EPIC STUFF!!!' type of guy, but Bocchi the Rock is certainly one of, if not the most entertaining slice of life anime that I've ever seen. It's definitely worth a watch! I do actually hope that you don't find Bocchi as relatable as I do. Because that would mean that you have a lot of character building growth ahead of you lol.

Ok, so I tend to not really write reviews for anime, in fact I don't think I have written a proper review on this site. I recently started writing reviews for actual movies I've seen and I have about 50 or so under my belt at this point. Any way's I just don't understand the hype around this show. Not only did it take my multiple months to finish, but it really is just embarrassing to watch at times. The show follows 4 characters as they start a band, all 4 are basically just characterizations of their hair colors. Golden hair is leader, red hair is the most charismatic and loving, blue hair is the most emo, and pink hair Bocchi is... different. We can talk about her later, but firstly, the other 3 main characters introduced are bland in almost every way. They all have their dreams, which generally are also very bland, and they all have their own comedic quirks. The other side characters like the big sis and alcoholic are honestly pretty good also. Then we have Bocchi who is arguably one of the most hard to watch main characters I've seen in a show since School Days. Almost everything she does just auto connects my palm to my face. Every single interaction with Bocchi just goes like "Hi Bocchi" where then Bocchi does Social Anxiety things. Genuinely this show is an insult to social anxiety, it doesn't portray what it's like at all, rather portraying an extreme case for nothing but comedic effect. It really doesn't boat well with me. Bocchi is simply one of the worst main characters I've seen in a show, I am suffering every time she is on screen. Matter of fact, lets talk about the comedy in this show. The comedy is very, and I mean VERY Japanese. So Japanese in fact, I find it surprising so many from the Western side like this show. I guarantee half the jokes had to go right over their head. The comedy when it isn't involving Bocchi is actually pretty funny and works well, but there isn't much of that since the show is titled "Bocchi The Rock!". The only time I can find this show enjoyable is when they stop with all the unfunny social anxiety jokes and actually play music. The music is actually good, as long as it is coming from the actual show band and not the OST (the OST is trash, it's just your standard comedy OST). The Kessoku Band indeed has some bops that I actually like. It's just a shame it takes forever for them to actually play the GOOD music due to Bocchi basically being too much of a pussy. I can see why so many people like this show, but personally, a big portion of the runtime was pure torture. It's a mixed bag of being basically flayed alive and having the occasional good joke and music. I feel like this show can be better if they simply dropped all the dramatic bullshit and just played it safe. It wouldn't be a great show but it'll be good enough. The drama is simply horrendous, I literally couldn't find a single inch of myself that gave a single fuck about the drama. Give it a try and see if you like it but don't say I didn't warn you.

With the amount of hype that surrounded Bocchi when it came out, I found myself afraid to watch it, I knew it wouldn't live up to the hype and I would only be disappointed, so I decided to not watch it straight away so I could judge it on its own merits away from the buzz and hype. I'm glad I did that, because if I watched it at the time, I would likely not liked this series and scored it accordingly, which would have been a travesty, as Bocchi is a good series, but it is not as good as people claimed and it really was overhyped. Now I know what people will say - "Why am I saying it's only 'good' and why am I calling it overhyped" that's a pretty strong statement so I'll have to defend that, well, it's a good job that I'll do that by breaking down the core aspects of the series and the main points of 'praise' Firstly, the characters, the characters are 'fine' they have personality, but they lack development. Ijichi tells us what her dream/goal is, but her character doesn't grow as the only thing she was working towards was creating a band, and her personality is lost when compared to the others. Ryou, we're told why she left her old band and why she join this one, her main personality traits are that she always has no money, and she's the most musically serious one there, despite being unreliable in general. Yet there is zero character development or growth, nothing that she is working towards. Kita, the earnest outgoing social butterfly, she's here because she's everything that Bocchi is not. She actually has goals that she is working towards, but as for character development, if being able to play the guitar after one episode is development, then, I guess? And then there is Bocchi... She is given plenty of character and backstory, she has goals, and the thing is, she does undergo character progression, but here's the rub...The way they handle Bocchi's social anxiety and social awkwardness, and her attempting to overcome it, is done more for laughs than in any meaningful way. The development might as well be none existent due to how they handle it, one minute she's a total wreck because they are playing it for laughs or to just remind you that "she has social anxiety don't cha know" and then the next minute because the story demands it, she's overcome all signs of anxiety, and then in the scene after she goes back to being a wreck because it was a whole 5 minutes since she was last a gibbering mess, honestly you get whiplash trying to keep up with these swings. The animation is good, it does the job, but it is not amazing, they clearly chose a style that was distinctive but also allowed them to keep costs low and allow them to keep it a little more 'simple' so they could put more time and budget into the 'Bocchi moments' but the animation is nothing amazing nor is it anything special. The band animation pieces do not reach the levels of 'God Knows' from Haruhi, they aren't even on the same level as K-On! that isn't go say that they are bad, because as said, the animation here is good, but it is to put it into context, there are plenty of other anime that it is on par with, so we don't need to overhype it and make out that it is something that it isn't and pretend that it is amazingly animated. Likewise the 'Bocchi moments' also seem to got a lot of praise and hype for being so 'unique' and yet Studio Shaft have been doing things like that for almost 20 years now. There is nothing new or unique here, Clover works simply stood on the shoulders of giants and used those known techniques to great effect in Bocchi. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with that, this is how animation and the industry works, but what is wrong is losing perspective and overhyping a show because you haven't seen any anime by Shaft. Bocchi is a good anime, it is a good comedy anime, but the issue with Bocchi is that it is focused on being a comedy anime, it is too focused on playing everything 'for laughs' the visuals are centred around this, the storytelling is centred around this, the characters are centred around this, everything it too focused around having one more gag, that we end up losing what could have been a great anime. People compare Bocchi with K-On!, yet aside from being totally different tonally and stylistically, Bocchi is massively inferior to K-On! K-On! is a masterpiece in visual storytelling, which is what you expect for Kyoani, we learn a lot about the characters through their designs, their rooms/possessions, and their actions, inflections and how they carry themselves. It shows us their character and then it develops them, and they all undergo character growth. They all have dreams and goals, and some of them may be smaller goals that they work towards, but, we have actual characters here. Then as for how they are as a band, Yui spends several episodes learning the guitar learning to sing and play at the same time, it's not a one episode and done thing, This is in contrast with Kita, who struggles to learn for one episode, and then after that can play guitar, but does still practice and is still having others teach her. And then we get to song writing, a process that has them also trying to find someone to write songs for the band, but it's not just a one time thing where we only spend one episode on the lyric writing and never mention it again, because we have Mio writing several songs, Mio posting lyrics to Ritsu and Ritsu thinking its a love letter, Mio trying to get inspiration for lyrics by going off on a trip, Yui writing a song dedicated to her sister. But in Bocchi one episode is dedicated to writing lyrics, after that lyric writing is never mentioned again, and yet we get additional new songs. So I hope this review explains why Bocchi in my opinion is an 8/10 show, and why I feel it was overhyped. It is a very good comedy, I did enjoy it, but I do feel the hype does it a disservice. If you go into this with lowered expectations, you will probably enjoy it But if you go in expecting it to be amazing, it will likely not live up to those expectations, and you likely will be disappointed

Bocchi the Rock is one of the best adaptions I have ever seen since Mushoku Tensei. It is clear to anyone that this anime results from the animator’s love and care. While perfectly keeping the source material’s core and soul. The animation for this show is always on point, and it captivates a feeling that words cannot really describe it. I will tell you the reason why this anime is a masterpiece. The anime is centred around Hitori Gotou, also known as Bocchi, who has social anxiety so severe that it makes Komi looks like a party-loving extrovert. She wants to make friends, especially with someone who has a similar interest as her. However, she was too scared to approach anyone. This is why she decided to bring her guitar to school, hopefully, acting as a form of an icebreaker. Unfortunately for Bocchi, the only thing that her guitar managed to break was her spirit and her motivation. Luckily, she ends up meeting the members of the Kessoku Band and joins as the lead guitarist. Being the lead guitarist of the band is the first step of Bocchi’s long and painful journey to get out of her shell and work towards her goal. As someone with social anxiety, Bocchi tends to overthink or overcomplicate a simple task. For example, when Bocchi was told to work to cover the band’s fee and equipment. She overthinks to such a degree that concludes if she made just one mistake during her part-time job will result in her premature death. Or when her bandmates suggest she create an Instagram account, she overthinks that she will end up becoming “The attention-whore monster.” This happens so often that her bandmate names the time when Bocchi overthinks and has her intense dissociative episodes: “Bocchi Time.” Bocchi Time is always the highlight of each episode for me. During Bocchi Time, the style of the animation. Sometimes, they even changed the medium of how Bocchi Time is shown. From VR Chat to real-life stop motion and many, many more. This sudden change of animation style is to show how out of the world or out of touch Bocchi’s baseless fear and delusion were. Meanwhile, Bocchi can be seen physically degrading in animation when she is overthinking or panicking. Which is a genius way to represent her degrading mental status whenever she is panicking. While leaving the rest of the band members asking themselves, what the hell is wrong with her? Luckily for Bocchi, the members of the Kessoku Band have always supported Bocchi with compassion, even though sometimes they do not know what causes Bocchi to freak out, and function as her long-craved friends and comrade. Ryo, the bassist, acts as her mentor and senpai, providing her with her honest opinion about her work and providing her with much-needed guidance. Kita, the secondary guitarist, and lead vocalist, she always drags Bocchi out and makes her experience something new. However, sometimes she pushes a little bit too much for our poor Bocchi. Nijika, the band leader and the drummer, always tries to get Bocchi involved in the band matters. To make sure that her opinion can be heard. Nijika also acts as Bocchi’s emotional support. One of the other reasons why I love this show so much is that it shows the details of being an independent band. For example, the band must go thru auditions to even have a chance to stand on the stage. Booking a slot for the band to perform with and require meeting ticket quotas. The band, especially a band that just started out with little to no fans, must perform in front an audience that is hostile towards the band or just not interested in the performance. You and you alone must win back their attention with your performance alone. From performing in the closet to performing on a live stage, Bocchi has made many significant steps towards her goal. However, the journey is not easy. Every step Bocchi made is a painful one, but after every painful experience and ‘Bocchi Time’. You can tell Bocchi, as a character, grows from that. Her growth is organic, which can be rooted back to her experience in the earlier part of the anime. It is extremely satisfying to watch her slowly become more and more confident and become someone, she truly wants to be. In conclusion, Bocchi the Rock! is a phenomenal show. The studio can easily get away with just lazily adapting the show and still can be a decent anime of a bunch of cute high school girls enjoying playing instruments. But no, the studio wants us to know why they love Bocchi the Rock so much and why you should love it as well. The identity of the show is strong throughout the anime. With its humour style heavily compliments the theme of the anime. Its colourful characters with different personality traits and quarks shine brightly with its stellar animation and the talented VAs. I will award Bocchi the Rock! the well-deserved 10. Will I recommend you watch this anime? A strong yes. It is as clear as day that Bocchi the Rock is an anime that was produced with lots of love and passion. The animation is amazing, the VA makes the characters feel alive. If you are suffering from a similar issue as Bocchi, this anime is a must-watch. If you don’t have those issues, then please still give this anime a try. I promise you that you will end up falling in love with this anime and desperately craving more. I am sad that my weekly dose of Bocchi is gone. I should not be sad that it is over but should be glad that it happened. I desperately wish that there would be a second season of this amazing anime. So, for now, I won’t say farewell to Bocchi and co, because someday, I am sure we will meet again. Story: 9/10 Art: 10/10 Sound: 10/10 Character: 10/10 Enjoyment: 10/10 Total: 49/50 (9.8)

Bocchi The Rock! : "Abandoning your uniqueness is equivalent to dying" Every episode just feels so incredible. The staff understands this story and its sentiment at such a deep level it's incredible. They laid off the crazy visuals and overly creative aspects to make the buildup to their playing more grounded and the focal point of the episode rather than the visual aspect itself, and then brought it out once they were in the clear. They know exactly what they want to do, and how to achieve it and it's just so awesome. They mix and match and play with a back and forth of everything to establish the baseline for the creativity of the series, and depending and content and context, branch out from that where they can. The realism seems to be a pillar of the series at this point, alongside the aggressive camera angles, and the relative visual creativity with Bocchi. But they don't reach past that, they don't search for a stronger piece to cling to or make use of this episode until the very end, and it works wonders. Regardless of the creativity of the staff for this episode, their execution was nothing short of stellar. Was it just CGI? Was it rotoscoped like Bocchi's run earlier in the episode? They chose relatively low detail designs for the characters so the line is so incredibly blurry between all the different modes that without a point of reference in the same scene it's impossible to tell. Even then, they've been massaging CGI and 3d work into the backgrounds and props of the series so far so the line gets blurred even further. Whether a creative choice or one to cut corners while providing the best possible execution of their music I've no idea, but the work done is incredible from start to finish. Bocchi The Rock just casually shows up each week to prove that it's even or better at basically everything than all the other seasonals out there right now, and then walks away as if nothing happened just so they can get ready to show up for next week too. It's incredible. They excel at 2d, 3d, rotoscoping, environment and background work, camera angles, art styles, animation styles, lighting and shading, just every step in the visual process is dominated by the staff at Cloverworks right now. And that's not even adding on top the creative work for things like the dialogue and interaction, the amazing efforts from the VAs, and so on and so forth. Just sort of incredible to experience this level of polish and passion each week. Obra Maestra...

I thought 86 would be the most well directed show of the year, until Cloverworks decides to get the director to 86 to have him do the Kurena x Rena visit a loner and then die episode. It was then I know what the true Anime of the Year was. I kid I kid. But wow did this caught me off guard. I had gone into this expecting something around the level of Slow Loop, or maybe even Cloverwork's own Akebi from earlier this year. What I never expected was unholy love child between two of my all-time favorite Kirara shows, Hidamari Sketch and K-On, in what was ostensibly an AKG Biopic. Bocchi the Rock is wild. It's manic. It's batshit insane. Not since Shaft's pre-2013 years have I seen such an imaginative and creative on its source material. And the source material itself does some pretty crazy stuff itself. Hell, the only show that's even crazier than this is freakin' Pop Team Epic, i.e., the show which had a live action paper flipping segment last for 24 minutes and an entire live action toku episode. It’s not just the crazy stuff that stands out, even something as insignificant as two girls talking in front of a vending machine is animated with the same amount of care and precision as even the most intricate guitar solo. At times, there is something hypnotic about how some scenes are animated. You really don't watch a Kirara show for story. Bocchi's story is familiar and has been done before. What you do watch a show like this for, is for its characters. And my goodness is the show brimming with personality. Bocchi is clearly the star of the show, a girl whose social anxiety expresses itself in wildly imaginative ways. Often going into really funny non sequiturs that somehow accurately reflect Bocchi's state of mind. Bocchi's not a 1-dimensional character either, beneath that awkwardness is a surprisingly egotistical monster hungry for attention, and the show never fails to feature this dichotomy with regards to her character. Special shout out to her seiyuu, Aoyama Yoshino, for an impeccable performance. You can really feel every intricacy and every subtlety with Bocchi's character. Especially the tail end of episode 4. Bocchi's awkward laugh, with that brilliant cut to credit still give me nightmares. The other characters are no slouch either. Each of them perfectly acts as a foil to Bocchi's various insecurities, while occupying a unique role that improves upon the usual Kirara group dynamic, though not really rewriting the book. You do get your usual archetypes, the cool quiet one, the genki one, and ... another genki one. But what sets Bocchi apart from your typical Kirara show is that, as with Bocchi, each character in the cast has depth that manages to be explored even in the relatively short length of the season. Ryou being actually an idiot, Nijika being (surprisingly) the tsukkomi of the group, and Kita being the gay one, but not in the usual Kirara-yuri way, and so on. What impresses me most is how well the character dynamics complement the overall show and Bocchi herself without letting the MC overshadow their existence, leading to a show that is both tightly focused on the MC without having her be the sole focus of the entire show, something many CGDCT shows that focus on a sole character often get wrong. The humor is incredible. I’ve said many times before, but explaining why something is funny often ruins the humor itself. But all I can say is that it manages to convey its jokes and humor without turning its MC into a complete clown, unlike Watamote. As the MC and primary source of the show’s humor, Bocchi isn’t pitiful nor is she unsympathetic, but rather her awkwardness and misunderstandings and of course her overimaginative mind contributes to a lot of the show’s comedy without leaving the audience with second-hand (or first hand) embarrassment. This is further accentuated by the brilliant directing. Oftentimes creative, incorporating many out-of-the box techniques, but also incorporating equally smart directing choices, with great usages of smash cuts at just the correct timing, as well as letting each scene last just long enough to not let the audience get bored or tire of the moment, and repeating its running gags just enough for them to be funny and not repetitive, Bocchi the Rock is a masterclass in directing, and one I haven’t seen perfected or replicated since Shaft’s Hidamari Sketch or KyoAni’s Lucky Star. If there is one downside to this show, it’s, ironically, the music. For a show that is basically an AKG biopic, up to and including many references to AKG and having their songs be titles of episodes, Bocchi’s music is very lackluster. I enjoyed the EDs, and kind of like the OP, but the actual songs the band plays are fairly forgettable and mediocre. I enjoyed the crowd reactions and the character animations, and even the minor touches like Kita constantly looking at Bocchi during the live performances, but I could never vibe along to the music. The songs generally lack a good melody, the instruments are serviceable but nothing special and I don’t think either seiyuu are that good at singing. K-On this ain’t. But, as with K-On, it’s never about the music. It’s always about the characters. And for that, Bocchi the Rock succeeds tremendously. A perfect way to cap off Christmas. Rock on, Bocchi-chan. 9/10

What could be a genuinely depressing wallow into some of the funniest anime of the year? I have to admit. Bocchi the Rock may not be a masterpiece, but it is excellent in portraying its themes regarding social anxiety and lack of self-confidence. Back in 2021, there was an anime titled, “Komi-san Can’t Communicate”. It tells about the social anxiety of the female heroine and how she deals with it. Portraying such things can be so hard because it has to be relatable and realistic. Did Komi successfully portray its theme? Heck, no. It’s more of a joke and offensive to me. I think it’s the same for everybody. Then we had titles like 3-gatsu no Lion, Honey, and Clover, Uramichi Oni-san, Kara no Kyoukai, Colorful, Welcome to NHK, and the like. They successfully portrayed its themes from their own story. Finding a way out of that darkness is hard and it’s a challenge to get other people to understand what it’s like, much less help you through your tough times. Fortunately, there is much anime about social anxiety and others. No matter if you’re struggling through yourself or if you want to be able to better relate to something, sometimes these kinds of animes are great places to start. Bocchi the Rock! is the new musical anime that came out after so many years. It talks about a girl who has social anxiety, yearning to have friends, and reaching a dream of creating a band. This might be the spiritual successor to K-On, which was released a decade ago. I’ve read some reviews that it’s somewhat similar to K-On and “better than K-On” or something. However, I shouldn’t compare this to other band music animes, especially to K-On. Yeah, they are the same genre/band/whatever, but they are different. K-On is a fun school slice of a live music band and their daily lives while Bocchi is the same, but the show is portraying different themes such as social anxiety and doubtfulness. Bocchi the Rock has obvious flaws but that doesn’t mean you can compare it to K-On. I’m saying all of this as a massive K-On fan. It is still a fun and enjoyable anime, filled with colorful animation and likable characters. I will discuss the things I’ve liked and the things that aren’t or are insufficient for this show. The show has the same formula as a live music band. The only difference is the approach. It’s like they used the “what if” situation. The main characters from music animes are mostly optimistic. The main character in Starmyu, Love Live!, K-On, and many more. They all had the same dream to show their talents and reach their dreams. But Bocchi the Rock is different. Instead of using an optimistic main character, the main character there is the opposite. Bocchi, the main character of the show, is having social anxiety and panic attacks. She yearns to have a friend, and a band to play with and to reach the hearts of many people with her voice and songs. But the problem is, she’s lacking self-confidence and succumbed to the depths of despair. That’s what I like about this show. The titular character is not optimistic, brave, perfect, or confident, but she’s a fun and relatable girl for everyone. The story is solid and fun to understand. It’s like “the daily life of being an introvert” but in a musical way. This show has one of the best interpretations of social anxiety and being a person who lacks confidence as I said before. As studying in BS Psychology and am an introvert/social anxiety expert, I’m so related to the titular character and her daily antics. The portrayal of its theme is solid and so realistic. It would make you convince that Bocchi’s situation and mental health can be relatable for other people. When it comes to having delusions, panic attacks, overthinking, and the like, Bocchi the Rock nailed it. However, the exaggeration of its portrayal can be somewhat annoying. It’s like when Bocchi is having such little problems and she suddenly panics and started to overthink, it’s somewhat started turning to become pretentious. Yeah, it’s normal for that kind of person but little problems can be solved in no time so there’s no need to panic that much. The comedy in this show is a hit or miss for me. Some jokes are entertaining to watch, especially Bocchi’s reactions. It’s like I’m seeing myself in the situations she’s in. But some of them aren’t executed well or just fell flat. The punchlines are way too simple and stretched for too long. The interactions, especially in making or talking to her friends are nicely done. It would make you feel that you’re in the show. It’s nothing too complex or needs to be masterpiece-written. It's a solid, fun, enjoyable, and relatable kind of story that will make you entertain. Bocchi the Rock is a pitch-perfect story. However, Bocchi the Rock isn’t perfect. There are obvious that I’ve seen from the show. As much as I hate to mention this one, it needs to be mentioned. The problem with that is from episode 1. We noticed how Bocchi became an introvert and had social anxiety. I’m not convinced enough about how she became like that. Her backstory is that she locked herself in her room for her love of playing guitars and that because of that she simply never learned to socialize. Again, SHE NEVER LEARNED TO SOCIALIZE. There’s no specific reason why she became like that in the first place. Didn’t her parents teach her how to make friends or something? Engage in some kind of social activities or some sort of? Typically, people who completely isolate themselves from the world due to a hobby usually have an unhealthy relationship, sometimes even an addiction, to it. A normal person would do it, but really? It’s like Gojo Wakana all over again, where they suddenly both slapped the “social anxiety” label on their asses. And one more problem, I didn’t get the feeling that she wanted to play the guitar will all of her heart. She just saw a popular band member who said that being in a band is where introverts belong or some shit. It’s not she wanted to play the guitar because she wanted to play like she was inspired to do that. The characters are more or less interesting. We got a confident introvert with blue hair, a confident extrovert with blonde hair, and an unconfident extrovert with red hair. The characters have mixed-up personalities which is interesting. Her friends developed realistic viewings and lessons that the audience might relate to. The comedy between them is still a hit or miss for me, but Ryou Yamada is the funniest one from the group aside from Bocchi. I like those kinds of characters, which can be blunt yet sarcastic. Her hilarious dialogues about introversion teach the contrast between being an introvert to social anxiety. Nijika enlightens others about extroverts or outgoing people, their struggles, and their resolves. Kita views the other point of view of social anxiety which is inexperience for Bocchi. Their dynamics are somewhat entertaining because their personalities contrast with each other. It’s a solid nostalgia for many people because this is what exactly of having a conversation with a circle of friends. The character development is solid too but sometimes I’m annoyed at Bocchi’s development. Some parts from a certain episode develop but after an episode, she suddenly reverted from who she was. It’s tripping all over again at some point. The animation and art style are so beautiful. I hate CloverWokes when it comes to their animes because the story and animation aren’t balanced. But this is the first time this studio gave me a really good impression of how these two elements can balanced with each other. The art style is really beautiful and cute at the same time. The animation sequences are pretty amazing especially when they play together as a band. You can see the amazing lighting, background images, and camera panning. What I like about the show is when they use different kinds of art. They aren’t just using traditional hand-drawn animation, but they also used toys, clays, real-life arts, and absurdity …