Bocchi the Rock!

Animation: 9/10
Character Design: 8/10
Main Story: 8/10
Supporting Character Development: 8/10
Protagonist Development: 9/10
Soundtrack: 8/10
Final Score: 8/10

Bocchi the Rock! is a slice-of-life comedy anime with a musical theme, based on the manga by Aki Hamaji. The story follows Gotou Hitori, an extremely introverted and anxious girl who dreams of playing in a band but struggles with severe social difficulties. Her life changes when she is recruited into Kessoku Band, forcing her to face her fears while pursuing her musical dream.

The plot is simple but works exceptionally well within the framework of a story about personal growth and friendship. The main focus isn’t necessarily the music itself, but rather ... the protagonist’s development and her interactions with the other band members. Comedy is one of the anime’s strongest aspects, with Bocchi’s social anxiety being exaggerated in highly creative ways.

CloverWorks delivers incredibly expressive animation, frequently shifting artistic styles to emphasize the protagonist’s emotions. The comedic scenes are enhanced by experimental visuals, ranging from surreal references to stop-motion animation parodies. The direction makes great use of these visual elements, and compared to the original manga, the anime (thanks to factors like animation and soundtrack) feels even more comedic.

The soundtrack, despite music not being the anime’s primary focus, is one of its highlights. The original songs by Kessoku Band are well-produced and capture the essence of an amateur band finding its sound while also being genuinely enjoyable. Both the opening and ending themes effectively complement the series’ atmosphere.

Gotou Hitori is the heart of the anime, and her growth throughout the story is noticeable, making her journey satisfying to follow. The other characters – Ijichi Nijika, Yamada Ryo, and Kita Ikuyo – also have distinct personalities and contribute to the band’s dynamic, even though they don’t receive as much development as the protagonist.

Bocchi the Rock! delivers an excellent mix of comedy, music, and a highly relatable protagonist for anyone who has struggled with social anxiety. Its creative direction and standout soundtrack make it one of the best anime of its season. While it follows a familiar structure within its genre, its unique execution turns it into a memorable and one-of-a-kind experience. With the second season now confirmed, even with a change in director, I have high expectations for what’s to come.

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 6/10.

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.

Bocchi the Rock fails at being both a good SoL and a good show about musicians. If you're coming to this show looking for one of those aspects (or both) then leave as I assure you there's plenty better than Bocchi, you can even stop reading here if you want. If you've already watched it or just want to see my reasoning then feel free to read on.

Plot:
Bocchi is a Slice of Life/Coming of age story about a girl who learns to overcome her shyness by playing her guitar. That might seem like a decent idea but that might as well be as deep ... as it gets as that's Bocchi's entire personality. She plays the guitar 6 hours a day because she wants to be famous and that's somehow the easiest way for her to become sociable/earn friends. Not only is that logic asinine but it's an incredibly shallow means of friendship to yearn for. It's also just bizarre how this laid back SoL/Moe tries to give some almost shonen-esque "I want to be the very best" goal for our MC. You can't even try and argue that the show doesn't pigeonhole itself to one genre as it very much does.

Bocchi:
Bocchi's portrayal of social anxiety is a joke and feels like the author just looked at memes on social media about how hard it is being an introvert and took it at face value. She automatically goes into spastic outbursts whenever confronted by anyone to the point to where it's a miracle that her friends keep her around given how uncooperative she is even with them. If Bocchi did exist in real life she wouldn't have any friends, but this show seems to favor Bocchi in a way that many self-insert anime do. Bocchi can never do anything wrong, she's always just a poor misunderstood musical genius and you have to bear with the fact that she shuts down like a damn computer at the mere thought of making eye contact with someone. Realistically Bocchi doesn't face any real trouble.

Characters:
The rest of the cast is as boring as it gets. We've got Ryo who was somewhat enjoyable at times but just a dick to everyone else for the most part. The Redhead who's the foil of Bocchi, and by that I mean while Bocchi's entire personality is being an introvert, her entire personality is being an extrovert and nothing more. The Blonde I don't even remember what her personality was or at least I don't even know if I could describe it. The main four feel so archetypal and boring that I can't really say anything more. A good SoL can take these character archetypes and make them feel very naturally fitting, Houkago Teibou Nisshi for example does a really good job at this. All the other side characters are again just reduced to one trait.
Another thing I find bizarre is how Bocchi's father in particular has his eyes censored out. I see that this trope seems to happen a good deal in a lot of newer Moe shit where they seem almost scared to even show a male character on the screen for some reason. I'm not saying that your primarily female cast show needs many male characters in it or anything but it's frankly weird when they go to lengths such as that.

Art:
I'll Segway from characters to character design for art, as it makes a good enough bridge. I think the character design is unimaginative and ugly. There is no balance as all the bright colored Power Rangers tastelessly leap in front of your face. I'm fine with bright colors after all this is anime we're talking about but please give good balance in relation to the characters they'll be around with throughout the show. Hidamari for example does a good job at this.
One thing I'll give Bocchi is that it's production is great. The weird animation sequences are neat and all but I think they were mostly made as internet bait, made with the intent get clips posted on the internet of how memeable this "Literally me" show is and so you can have at it with your twitter/discord reaction images. Not only that but the wacky animated segments are without fail always used on the same joke where Bocchi is in one of her free-form-freakouts over having to talk to a person or whatever.
The music is alright I guess, none of the songs ever stuck out to me. The one thing that did irk me in particular is that when Bocchi and her friends go to the psychedelic rock concert it didn't sound very psychedelic at all, just typical J-Rock. Maybe that's my own issue for expecting Hendrix or the Flaming Lips but it is what it is.

BOTTOM LINE:
Bocchi fails on all fronts that it tries to venture into and fails at nearly all of the basic fronts that a story/anime should be expected to meet. Funnily enough I went into this series thinking "wow it's going to be like K-On but they actually focus on being in a band" but I ended up appreciating K-On more, not only for having enjoyable characters but also for having better songs despite not nearly as much being about the music. And remember kids, your show is only so highly rated and popular because it meets a denominator so low and innocuous that it's serviceable for almost anyone. McDonalds may make the most dollaroos but it's miles away from being even close to the best food I've ever had.