[Spoilers] Bocchi The Rock Let’s Rock Rewatch (2024) — Episode 2

Hello, guys. Holofan4life here.

Welcome to the Bocchi The Rock Rewatch.

I presume the ones that don’t participate are introverts like Bocchi 😛

What really can be said about this show? It’s hard really to put into words. For what amounts to a music show, it really is a breath of fresh air. Why? Because unlike a lot of other music shows, it’s less about the music and more about the characters and the comedy.

When it originally came out, I wasn’t planning on watching it. It kinda flew under the radar at first, probably because I like a lot of people thought it was your generic show in a similar vein as Love Live or Show By Rock. But then clips started to circulate of the show and I said to myself “Alright. I’m gonna have to check it out.”

One of the best decisions I made in the year 2022.

I’m really excited to host this rewatch because I think it’s going to get a lot of engagement. People look back fondly on this show, and I think there’s good reason why. It should be noted that I’m coming off the heels of the Spice and Wolf rewatch which is renowned for its dialogue and how clever it is. Bocchi I kinda view in a similar light, and as we’ll soon see it can be just as infectious.

With that out of the way, let’s begin.

I’m watching the sub, by the way.

My sister out of anger busted my mother’s limited edition Mary Poppins snow globe. Needless to say, I’m really upset. It’s a shame I couldn’t do anything because I was at a baseball game.

Dog

A bath with ice in it

Bocchi… well, she’s doing her best.

Her sister and dog looking on concerned.

Several days earlier

Nijika texted about talking about the future of the band.

LOINE messages. As opposed to LINE.

LOINE sounds way dirtier

Bocchi scared of entering in the club by herself.

There’s Ryo and Nijika

“I wanna watch a little longer.”

Ryo is kinda a menace

The first Kessoku Band members’ meeting.

Sadly no cookies and punch by the door.

Does that say Bungee Jumping? Ryo, what are you even planning?

Oh, it’s like a dice of sorts

It lands on “Talk about school”

Bocchi lives out-of-prefecture with a two hour commute each day.

And here I thought my 40 minute commutes were bad.

“I wanted a high school where nobody knew my past.”

That’s okay, Bocchi. Nobody knew it to begin with.

Nijika letting it known that Ryo is only friends with her.

Lol, Loneliness Hill

Makes me think of The Sound of Music for some reason.

But Ryo unfortunately likes being alone.

And this leaves Bocchi to float down a river of lava.

This is the first time we really get to see Bocchi’s imagination at play here.

Talking about their favorite music now.

Nijika likes Japanese punk

Ryo likes techno kayo

Ryo is also obsessed with Saudi Arabia, apparently.

Must be a big golf fan, then

And Bocchi likes any songs that doesn’t trigger her seishun complex.

In other words, upbeat songs

“But sometimes I find out a band I love was super popular in school, and they suddenly feel like strangers to me…”

Sounds like Imposter Syndrome at play here.

Also, Bocchi a hipster confirmed?

“Is it really rock if it’s sung by life’s winners?”

I guess we’ll have to ask Green Day.

Ryou still on the zip ties kick, I see.

Talking about their first concert now.

Nijika mentioning the guitarist who ran away.

Bocchi wonders if she’s socially anxious, but if that’s the case, would she really run away.

Bocchi continues getting philosophical on us.

Nobody wants to be the lead singer.

“If I were to serve as frontman, I’d overwhelm the band and crush it.”

What is with blue girls having massive confidence? First Kronii, now her.

Nijika plans on finding a vocalist and writing a song.

Ryo will write the music, and Bocchi with write the lyrics.

They should just steal tracks and sample them in their songs. All the popular artists do it.

Lol, Nijika content doing nothing.

Talking about quotas now

That’s where the club assigns the band a ticket quota to make sure enough people come.

Anything over the quota, that’s how they make money.

So, in other words, it’s kinda like papered fans.

Can’t reach the quota, the band has to pay the rest out of pocket.

Both Nijika and Ryo are unsure that anybody will come back after their previous performance.

If only Bocchi’s imaginary friends could help out. But alas…

By the way, I just slept for a good six hours so I’m ready to resume things.

Tens of thousands of yen before their new concert? Seems kinda expensive, no?

Nijika suggests getting jobs, but Bocchi isn’t having it.

Aww, she’s giving her piggy bank instead :c

And Ryo is eager to take it lol

And we see Bocchi’s imagination of what would happen if she did work.

Damn, a trial and everything

And even sentenced to death

This I remember is one of the scenes that went viral and gave the show the popularity it deserves. It’s just insanely creative and relatable.

Ryo suggesting she work here with them.

But even that seems to distress her

It’s a good thing she lives with her parents, or else she’d really be screwed.

But Bocchi eventually acquiesces

“It wouldn’t be social anxiety if we had the courage to say no.”

I didn’t know Bocchi was more than one person.

Nijika explaining that Ryo is a very irresponsible spender.

Family’s rich and she gets a huge allowance, but she’s still broke because she spends it all on instruments.

I can relate, as someone who routinely spends their entire paychecks on anime DVDs.

Ryo thinks this is a good thing, somehow.

And this is what leads us to the bath scene. The first day of work is tomorrow.

Bocchi is trying to catch a cold

Now she’s performing in front of a fan with patches on.

So, is Bocchi planning on being sick for the rest of her life? That’s how death is brought about.

Also, only Bocchi would wear a bathing suit for a bath.

And she manages to to stay healthy despite her best efforts.

At least Nijika is offering words of encouragement.

**Ran out of space. Part two in the replies.**

**Rewatcher**

* Bocchi procrastinating entering Starry because she’s afraid of being judged
* Ryo also being on loneliness hill, but then her and Bocchi drift away on different landmasses
* Guitar-Man giving us an explanation on Bocchi’s Seishun complex
* Nijika talks about quotas and then goes to a discussion about getting jobs to garner enough money for another concert
* And then the video of Bocchi freaking about hypothetically working at a convenience store and being sentenced by a judge
* Bocchi intentionally trying to catch a cold in order to skip work
* We meet Seika
* Bocchi putting the drinks on the counter whilst squatting to avoid being spotted
* Bocchi celebrated to herself that she made it through the day. Good work Bocchi!

**Rewatcher**

For some reason I called Nijika “Ichika” when talking about her last episode. That’s the wrong name and wrong number. This mistake will hopefully be one I do not repeat.

Interesting comparison between the manga and anime: The scene where Bocchi tries to give herself a cold is played more for fanservice in the manga. The manga doesn’t have her wear a swimsuit in the bath and has her in her underwear when playing guitar in front of a fan. I actually like that the anime changed it though, comes off as more comedic and tonally fitting.

It always cracks me up that Ryo pulls out a comically oversized dice from out of nowhere. Same with Bocchi taking out her piggybank later in that scene.

The main focus of this episode is Bocchi having her first job. It’s a very important step for her. I related to Bocchi way too much when she worried about messing up at her job. Maybe not to the death penalty part but definitely the rest.

The comedic highlight of this episode for me is probably Bocchi making up a song to help memorize where everything is and it freaking out Nijika.

Lots of great moments from Ryo this episode too. Like her claiming to follow Suadi Arabian music charts and making that weird face when Nijika calls her out on wasting her money. She might be my favorite character in the show.

We’re also properly introduced to Nijika’s big sister this episode. Nijika calls her a tsundere, not totally sure if that’s accurate. But it’s been a while since I watched this so I’ll have to keep an eye on Nijika’s sister now.

Overall this was a fun episode. Lots of focus on Bocchi getting to know her new friends and working her new job. It’s a small step for her but a very important for her.

Next episode will be about adding one more member to Kessoku Band. Looking forward to it!

**Questions of the Day**

**Have you ever tried to make yourself sick in order to get out of something? If so, what was it and what happened?**

Nope, never done that.

**What was your first day of work like? Also, where did you work?**

My first job was at a fast food burger place. My first day was actually pretty nice. I worked a morning and lunch shift and they showed me how everything worked and I even got to take a free burger home. Ended up working there for about a year and outlasting pretty much all my coworkers, even my manager.

**Rewatcher**

Episode 2 rolls around and continues the fun, although it maybe doesn’t quite live up to the peaks of episode one. The first time I watched the show, I don’t think I really fell in love with it until later on. But it’s by no means bad, as we get some great jokes, and get to see Bocchi’s personal world of music broaden to include more than just herself.

[This can only end poorly right?](https://imgur.com/T83W63l)

This show likes to give us [insights into Bocchi’s fantasies](https://imgur.com/ZbhjS5G), although fantasies isn’t exactly the right word since they’re fueled by her social anxiety. Maybe nightmares?

Another appearance from [Guitar-san](https://imgur.com/2blb9JH). I don’t know if this little guy has a real name, but he always pops up to explain things for those of us who need help understaing Bocchi’s internal monologue.

The conversation topic dice is funny, I need one of those. But we get some [rare footage](https://imgur.com/DHZF7q1) of an [angel acting more like a devil](https://youtu.be/MKso4XPcw98?t=41).

[More Bocchi time!](https://imgur.com/L9A7dCb)

Ryou really does love it when you call [her weird](https://imgur.com/IcxtnWO).

Nijika really is an [angel after all](https://imgur.com/JWB7fvL).

Finally, we get to [the performance](https://imgur.com/oqIRiQB). Although she played at this club last week, this is Bocchi’s first time watching from this side of the stage and it’s an [eye-opening experience](https://imgur.com/fr8ILTV) for her. Music has always been a solitary experience for her, her way of escaping from a world that she feels alone in. But her [heart opens up a bit here](https://imgur.com/1jcssjK), as she realized she [doesn’t want to be alone](https://imgur.com/XOQmAhi).

[Is this character development?](https://imgur.com/AOyF1rO) Not very much of it [apparently](https://imgur.com/zUXMxMh). But seriously, the first step on the road to change is the hardest one. I’m excited to see where Bocchi can go from here.

Hey look, it’s the [other girl from the OP](https://imgur.com/H2L3wJe).

[Poor Bocchi](https://imgur.com/IUArhn7), I knew this would end badly.

Overall, a pretty good episode. The concert scene is the most important part in my eyes. Fun fact, there was talking over most of it, but the song from the concert has a [full version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2NbPpv_sNk) on the soundtrack. If you play any AMQ, you will die to this song over and over again.

**Today’s Question:**

I’ve never actually tried to make myself sick to get out of something. It would kind of defeat the purpose, as my day would still be ruined by being sick. But I definitely have called in sick to work before when the real reason was something small, like not getting enough sleep. So I get the feeling to some degree.

First time

Ep1 was good, but 2 is much better! I’d heard that this show has good visual comedy and its becoming evident. The various jokes involving the hill of loners with all the needlessly involved animation was great, as were Bocchi’s faces as she worked and was sentenced to death.

As for the characters, Nijika is such a nice girl. You’re a lucky girl Bocchi to have met someone like that, it won’t happen again!

btw I kind of vibed with Bocchi’s mumbled comment about how rock music is supposed to be sung by losers lol.

**Socially anxious rewatcher!**

The scene of Bocchi freaking out at the prospect of getting a job is fantastic. It had me laughing so hard, because it’s true. We really do have ridiculous spiraling thoughts like that.

This show’s use of changing art styles is masterful.

Bocchi’s thoughts on “lonely” vs “loner” echo my thoughts from yesterday. Ryo is comfortable and content being by herself, but Bocchi is not.

Today would be a small step for many people, but for Bocchi it really was a huge one.

Q1: I can’t say I’ve ever tried to make myself sick to get out of something. I hate being sick. I *have* used it as a convenient excuse though.

Q2: It’s been almost twenty years since my first job as a teenager, I can’t remember my first day lol. I did enjoy that job.

Holy crap I’m old

First timer

Nice 2nd ep; while I had some social anxiety back in high school, it wasn’t as bad as traveling the next town over to make sure no one I know saw me at work or imaging getting the death penalty for being bad at work.

**Questions**
>Have you ever tried to make yourself sick to escape something? If so, what was it, and what happened?

I’m not sick, but I sometimes try to find something I can use to say I cannot go to a get-together or something that I would feel bored with. I can sort of justify it in my head as, technically, I am not lying and that I can’t make it, but still I do regret it later.

>What was your first day of work like? Also, where did you work?

Well, it depends on what kind of work I did. For the first time earning money, I worked lighting at a local MMA show at a theatre where I played with my GBA between fights. It was a nice night of work, and I also got into the cage and “found” a pair of MMA gloves.

As the first day of my current career post school it was doing IT helpdesk, where I nearly brought down a client’s whole network due to our helpdesk software being able to push OS updates to the user’s computers. While learning it, I accidentally set to push the update during the workday and the client’s user’s computers were able to reboot. Luckily, my co-workers were able to stop it. I worked there until my job got COVID-19, and I got laid off around the start of December a few years back. Luckily, I found my place a few months later and have worked there ever since.

See you all tomorrow.

**First Time Rewatcher**

today’s doodle: [blushin ryo](https://imgur.com/jA4zsCV)

live reaction

* Bocchi’s 4 hour round trip commute… what a savage
* so Bocchi likes songs that don’t give her fomo… dammit this is too real lmao
* wondering if this sort of ticket quota live thing is a thing everywhere :0
* nijika’s such a homie ;_; a text like that would also get me the heck out of bed
* damn the animation as they’re introducing Bocchi to the club is super smooth
* Nijika’s love for the club is so sweet
* vocalist preview?!

beautiful :’) this episode makes me feel grateful for all the Nijikas i was lucky to encounter in my life. i’ve worked a service job once before (barely…) and had about as much as rizz as Bocchi did here lol Q_Q

Holo’s questions (not all of em cuz i’m sleepy)

* What are your thoughts on bocchi feeling that bands she likes are like strangers when it turns out they are super popular?

how can you be friendless AND a snob at the same time…!! just kidding i have literally had these same exact thoughts lmao

* Thoughts on Ryo being an irresponsible spender?

seems like there’s a difference between quiet and shy. i love ryo’s randomly obnoxious habits (gap moe…?)

* What are your thoughts on Bocchi’s first day of work not going terribly?

it’s the small wins ToT)9 you got it Boch!!!