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 showing us how she rocks!
