Bocchi the Rock!

Bocchi the Rock is a masterpiece. I was raving to my friend about this show and begging him to watch it and he said he wasn't sure because he's not a Japenese teenage girl. I told him that didn't matter because anxiety and music are universal.

This show has one of the most relatable and realistic depictions of social anxiety I've ever seen in any show. There were many small, specific instances where Bocchi expressed anxiety in situations that I have personally experienced. Not just that, but it handles anxiety in a realistic way while also managing to be absolutely hilarious. In real life, anxiety is anything but funny. It can be crippling and debilitating. In Bocchi the Rock, anxiety is shown with respect and understanding while managing to make it laugh out loud funny. A very hard feat to achieve for a piece of fiction.

The music in this show is also very well done. The songs within the context of the show are excellent. The lyrics and sound almost perfectly reflect the characters who created them. Again, the artists struggle is very well done and covers a lot of very relatable and universal situations dealing with feelings of inadequacy, imposter syndrome, and the vulnerability that comes with releasing a piece of art for public scrutiny. But it goes even farther and manages to deliver an incredibly uplifting and inspirational story from a very grounded perspective of a fledgling and insecure artist.

The writing alone would be enough to elevate this show to exceptional status but the animation and production is also extremely well done and exactly on point. There's a lot of very creative animated scenes that I've never seen in an anime before. There's occasional cuts to live action, CG animation, claymation, and many other mediums. These unusual pieces of animation are extremely creative and it's not self indulgent. Every one of these scenes was done in a specific style for effect and they all land perfectly. Most of the show is animated as a traditional anime but I loved that they experimented with completely original mediums.

Bocchi the rock made me tear up in almost every episode while also making me laugh out loud in every episode. Personally, I rate pieces of fiction based on how strong of an emotional reaction I have. That's why I'm giving Bocchi the Rock a 10/10 rating. I don't give many pieces of fiction a perfect score but I truly believe this is a perfect show.

After it finished, I could only wish for more. More seasons are coming, I only wish they would come sooner. Very few shows have made me feel Bocchi the Rock's unique combination of cute, wholesome, touching, funny, and inspirational.

It was close to the end of the year of 2022, I was feeling bored out of my mind with nothing to do, so I decided to watch this random anime that piqued my interest, it seems funny and entertaining.

Fast forward 2 years later after watching the show, I known own a guitar is my second biggest hobby, and is obsessively trying to learn kessokuband's music.

This anime is truly the pinnacle of everything, relatable characters, great animation and humor. LEGENDARY MUSIC, it's just so perfect.

As an introvert. Bocchi gave me hope, that even as a socially anxious, if I played the guitar enough, I could shine like anyone else!

And not just Bocchi, other characters like Nijika, Ryo, I found tiny resemblances of myself, and it helped me try to better analyze who I am, and what steps I should take in order to counter this social anxiety that's making me struggle to make meaningful connecitons.

And kessokuaband's music, has carried, no, accompanied, walked side-by-side with me, through all my tough times. It's safe to say, that if I hadn't watched this show, I would've been a wildly different person.

One of my dreams is now, to play in a band, Thank you Bocchi, Ryo, Nijika, and Kita

Thank you Aki Hamaji Thank you AKFG Thank you to all who worked on this show Thank you to all who worked kessokuband's music And last but not least, thank you to myself, who decided to watch this show.

Honestly, this show turned my perception of music by 180°.

One of (if not) the best animes I've ever seen. From watching characters develop really great in their writing each episode to having lots of creative choices of representing social anxiety and relatable situations. It's an awesome experience.

Although it didn't get a lot of budget, the creators still tried to do their best with the amount of money they had and they did a really amazing job.

The music in this show is just something. The opening, The Concerts, Repetitions, Endings, OSTs and even Covers. Not a single bad composition from Kessoku band.

The cloverworks in my opinion really poured their soul into this show because the colors and characters movements make the show look more realistic and beautiful

The attention to the details is just mind-blowing. I love the fact that the creators did really care on how people would look into details so they decided to animate the instruments properly. Hope that they will keep up the great work with the upcoming season and the new producer would not dissapoint, they just don't have to rush and we'll get an another 10/10 experience.

Musically contagious, visually impressive and overcharged personality-wise. There's a lot of talent here!

But more than a successful little comedy, pretty animation and good use of different styles.. It is the excellent execution of a good emotional core, uplifting interactions and onlook on life that weights heavily on my heart, and the reason I can have this kind of connection. To me, it is more than just your average anime girls doing silly things together; but how it makes me think about myself and how things I wished were like for me and everyone around. I do feel my excitement peaked in the middle, leaving the ending to be lesser as a result.

But this studio knows how to tell a story through animation perfectly, and I wished to recommend this to everyone that has the time, and maybe a little doubt about anything. The feeling it leaves you with is how you finish with a "good day".

Inspite others have mentioned almost everything, I really wanted to make my own review on Bocchi because at the end it became one of my favorite animes unexpectedly. (I wanted to watch a 'music anime' and it just happened, like how Birdie Wing got me which I didn't expect from a sports anime at the first place.)

Bocchi The Rock offers everything to be a great show. It starts slowly so you have to be patient and bear with Bocchi's character, because she is a borderline annoying introvert. Not saying she is unbelievably portrayed, but the way she is... well, that's the way she will be till the end, more or less. I would have given this show a 10 if she had been a bit less of an annoyance, but I understood the artistic exaggeration here, so for me it was okay. Maybe, not for you, check the first few episodes, she will change, but not too much. (At least she won't perform in a card box and becomes able to stand in front of a large audience which is a great achievement, now that I think of it.)

But then the other characters of the band get introduced and they are all lovely and provide a constant source of wholesome fun. And then they start playing music which is the real deal! In episode 5 they perform on stage which is super dope and the show starts to show its true merits. Later they perform in episodes 8 and 12 and it gets more and more awesome, I have watched episode 8 a few times because that's really the climax of the story.

So, yeah, there is definitely a nice story arc in the show and it's nice to see as they get together as a band, caring for each other and getting better and better by each episode. The in-between episodes do not feel filler at all, every single one tells a correct story. I would have appreciated a little bit of more drama and a less annoying Bocchi with some real changes in her personality, but it's great the way as it is and maybe I'm asking for too much. Music plays an important part of the show and it truly shines in that department! Kessoku Band has even released its real album which sold pretty well, check it out, cos it's good.

(Don't expect romance or yuri content here, even though there is a small hint in the beginning when Kita is joining the band - maybe in Season 2? Btw. The drunken girl was my favorite. Anime doesn't shy away to show some bad examples, does it? My soul mate.)