Bocchi the Rock!

Episode 5

After last week was a laser-targeted attack on my teenage wannabe years, I was fully expecting Bocchi to continue roasting every teenager who ever loitered outside a Guitar Center. But while there are still a few all-too-close-to-home jabs to that effect, this episode shifts to a much more sentimental and down-to-earth story compared to the last couple entries. There are still gags – this is a comedy after all – but for the first time this season, the show takes a crack at a more dramatic story, with remarkable results.

One of the details I'd been wondering about since episode one was how much Nijika's sister was going to be involved in their band's gigs. Sure, it's alright to occasionally throw an opening set to a young band, but if you're running a professional music venue you can't exactly dedicate yourself to promoting a group of nobodies based solely off nepotism. At worst, she'd end up losing money and rep over letting in garbage bands of teenagers to stink up the place. At best, she'd be coddling them and likely leave the kids unprepared for getting exposure outside of STARRY. So I was pretty happy when she told the girls they'd have to actually audition if they wanted to make the set list. It just feels like the right move, and it inspires some genuine introspection from our cortisol-riddled heroine.

Because for all the relatable self-deprecation and ludicrous animation, the heart of this story is Bocchi trying to change herself. She wants to have friends, to live the idyllic high school life she's convinced everyone else has, and she wants to break out of the habits that have left her isolated. But while those are (mostly) laudable goals, the road to any of them is nebulous, winding, and just as likely to double back before you can really get anywhere. So their looming audition can't help but feel like a benchmark test, seeing if she's actually changed at all or if her recent successes were just flukes. Obviously reality isn't that cut and dry, and failing an audition wouldn't necessarily reflect on whether or not she's gotten better at connecting with her bandmates, but when you're in the thick of things it's hard to remember that progressing is a process. So there was a lot more riding on this performance than just an opening set, and the scene in question delivers big time.

It does so, funnily enough, by showing an intense amount of restraint. With the plethora of wild visuals and artistry the show's displayed up til now, we know full well they could deliver a show-stopping performance here if they wanted to, but that's not what this moment calls for. A big, stunning performance out of the gate wouldn't mean much this early in Kessoku Band's arc, and would just feel unearned. A total disaster would be comedic, but would also turn the preceding half-episode into a mean joke more than anything. Instead the show has to hit a very specific sweet spot, portraying the girls as moderately skilled but still amateur musicians who are capable of putting on a serviceable show but are obviously still finding their footing. That's probably a harder target to hit than just making an astounding performance, but the team here hits that bullseye dead-on.

Ironically, that makes what is in-universe a middle-of-the-road performance into an incredibly impressive technical and artistic achievement. There's just so many meaningful details portrayed through the smallest bits of character animation that make me fall in love with it more on every rewatch. I love that Kita is clearly unsteady multitasking on guitar and vocals, and is always looking at her fingers when she's not on the mic. I adore the amount of non-verbal communication Nijika and Ryo have, showing their chemistry from playing together for much longer. I like how they included Nijika tapping her feet during percussion breaks to keep the rhythm, and how all four girls move at slightly different paces to show that they're not quite in-sync the way they think they are. It feels incredibly authentic to an amateur performance, all informed by their pre-existing characterization.

There's even a subtle visual arc to go along with Bocchi's inner monologue, as she realizes across the song that her dream has shifted from grand personal validation to include achieving her friends' dreams too. She starts out, as always, leaning away from the other girls, focusing on her individual sound and avoiding eye contact like the plague, almost unconsciously drifting further into her own corner of the stage. That is, until the moment she vocalizes that she wants to stay with the band, and makes a single, commanding step to the right. It's one small step for the girl, but a giant leap for Bocchi-kind, and perfectly choreographs the shift in her guitar work to close out the song. Pair that with another excellently produced track, and you've got a killer piece of visual and musical storytelling.

It's all-around excellent, and exemplifies the thoughtfulness and range of skill being poured into this show. Bocchi can be loud and audacious, delivering visually diverse, off-the-wall comedy. It can also be subtle and carefully restrained, capturing moments with an authenticity that's rare to see in anime. And it can do both, consecutive or concurrent, with this episode delivering another truckload of great gags and wonderful drawings. It's the whole package, and I cannot wait to get to the next track.

Rating:

Bocchi the Rock! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.