Bocchi the Rock! (TV series)

Development

Prior to the greenlighting of Bocchi the Rock!'s anime adaptation, character designer and chief animation director Kerorira was a fan of the manga for its comedy, art style, and characters, and in particular Hitori's "unhinged" nature.^[4] While meeting with animation producer Shouta Umehara at an illustrator exhibition, Kerorira brought up Bocchi in conversation and expressed a desire to work on an anime adaptation of the series. As it so happened, Aniplex had just recently proposed such a project to CloverWorks, as Umehara learned when he inquired to his superior, Yuichi Fukishima, about the possibility.^[5][4] Kerorira joined the project (becoming the first to do so) as its character designer after expressing his enthusiasm for the series and presenting his drawings of the characters. In addition to the character designs and animation supervision, Kerorira also contributed a significant amount of key animation to the project^[5] (estimated by Umehara to amount to somewhere between 500 and 600 cuts of animation,^[4] around two episodes' equivalent),^[6] which he stated was done to provide the other animators with an understanding of the "platonic ideal" of the anime's production value.^[4] Kerorira felt that providing such a baseline as the chief animation director would allow for smoother collaboration, as it would lead to a creatively unified end product while allowing the animation staff to incorporate their own individual expression and limit the number of corrections that would need to be made after the fact.^[4]

Series director Keiichirō Saitō, who previously served as episode director on The Idolmaster SideM, and Sonny Boy, came to work on the anime adaptation of Bocchi the Rock! after Kerorira recommended him to animation producer Shouta Umehara.^[7][5][4] As Umehara was familiar with Saitō's work, having served as an episode director for The Idolmaster, he considered Saitō to be an ideal choice, and Saitō joined the project as director a few days later after discussions with Umehara and Kerorira.^[5][4] Erika Yoshida, the screenwriter in charge of series composition, was recommended on referral from a colleague of Umehara's at Aniplex, who had previously collaborated with Yoshida on Love Me, Love Me Not.^[4] As he was aware of Bocchi's similarity in premise and genre to K-On!, Umehara spoke to Kerorira, asking him what unique qualities Bocchi had that would distinguish it from K-On!, and worked to help ensure that capturing those aspects of the series was a priority of the production.^[4]

Writing

In reading the manga prior to production, Saitō was attracted to the relationships between the main protagonist, Hitori and the supporting cast, which were not as intimate as relationships depicted in similar works and gave Saitō the impression that "they respect each other's individuality and personal space." He found this quality of the story to be both personally relatable and distinctive.^[5][4] Saitō also liked the ways in which Hitori's expressions were often exaggerated to perceptibly disturbing extents, in contravention of moe conventions.^[4] This aspect of Hitori's characterization was expanded upon in the anime, as Saitō believed that "girls who are flawlessly beautiful aren't as cute as girls who are a little mysterious or sometimes make weird faces."^[4] Kerorira additionally said that Hitori's withdrawn nature made it more difficult to depict her emotions visually compared to those of the other characters. As such, her basic facial expressions were limited, while the animation relied on the more "slapstick" scenes of exaggeration to depict her emotions.^[4] Although consideration was taken to ensure Hitori was consistently cute, even when the animation was exaggerating her facial features, the comedy of such exaggeration was generally prioritized.^[4]

In adapting Bocchi the Rock! from its original 4-koma format, Saitō and Yoshida introduced numerous substantial differences from the source material, such as rearranging events and altering some jokes to aid the anime version's pacing and surreal presentation.^[5] Saitō and Yoshida added more of a surrealist bent to the anime as they wanted to prioritize comedy and emotion over a wholly realistic depiction and felt that the choice of cutaway gags in the anime allowed them to better convey the story while ensuring that every episode had a clear focus.^[4] In integrating these cutaways into the anime, Saitō chose to contrast main character Hitori's thoughts during her instances of introspection and "strange" behavior with the external reactions to and conversations about Hitori among the supporting cast. This was done both for storytelling considerations such as the direction and pacing of certain scenes and also to present Hitori more empathetically by showing that the supporting cast did not regard her as pathetically as she would want to believe.^[4] Saitō said that whether or not a conversation between the supporting cast occurring during these moments needed to be depicted in detail or not was one of the most difficult aspects of the production.^[4]

In terms of character portrayal, Saitō emphasized that Hitori's eccentric traits should not be depicted too strongly, as this could make viewers uncomfortable. Instead, both her positive and negative traits should be presented in memorable way. Saitō stated that: "We strived to make you laugh when she does something weird, but also make her especially captivating when she shows off her cool side from time to time."^{[4]: 11 [7]} Original creator Aki Hamazi also stated that she did not want either "introvert" or "extrovert" characters to be "portrayed as if they were bad people", noting that although Hitori is isolated, she is not bullied because of it.^[8]: 98

Animation

Character designer and chief animation director Kerorira drew nearly 600 key animation frames in total, equivalent to the workload of two episodes; director Keiichirō Saito was responsible for the opening animation, storyboards for four episodes, and the direction of two episodes.^[4]: 20 Kerorira originally considered an animation style with more lines and richer details, but ultimately adopted the simpler style requested by Saito in order to facilitate the production of scenes with extensive movement.^[4]: 15 Kerorira also gave each key animator a high degree of creative freedom to enrich the expressiveness of the animation.^[9] Saito believed that "rather than a simply perfect beautiful girl, a girl with slightly strange and distorted expressions is even more adorable". Although the team paid close attention to maintaining Hitori's cute image, scenes where her expressions become heavily distorted prioritized comedic effect over cuteness.^[4]: 12 The anime also frequently incorporates live-action footage; screenwriter Erika Yoshida stated that this was not done to reduce workload, but rather to add entertainment value.^[8]: 104

Kerorira stated that Nijika Ijichi and Ikuyo Kita have similar personalities and visual characteristics. To better distinguish them, Nijika was designed with a slightly more mature feeling, while Kita has a greater emphasis on her cheerfulness and childlike qualities, with a more youthful smile than Nijika's. For Ryō Yamada, who does not display obvious emotions, Kerorira adjusted the way her eyes were drawn when joking in order to show subtle changes in expression and her mischievous personality without disrupting her overall image.^[4]: 16

To create the live concert scenes of the anime, the production team recorded physical actors playing the concerts. The recording was then adapted into a computer-generated previsualization so that the animators could establish their preferred shot direction for the scenes using a virtual camera system. The previsualization was then used as the basis for the final animation. To ensure that the characters were portrayed accurately in these scenes, the actors were given information about the characters and advised on how to convincingly physically act as them.^[4][5] This process was handled by concert director Yusuke Kawakami. Afterwards, concert animator Yuki Ito's team drew the key animation based on the completed 3D computer graphics footage.^[10][11] Keiichirō Saitō consulted with the music production team at Aniplex to ensure that the ambient noise in the concert scenes was accurate to reality, although it was sometimes omitted when Saitō deemed that it would detract from an important dramatic scene.^[4]

Casting

Yoshino Aoyama, Sayumi Suzushiro, Saku Mizuno, and Ikumi Hasegawa respectively voice Hitori Gotō, Nijika Ijichi, Ryō Yamada, and Ikuyo Kita. Animation producer Umehara noted that whenever the production team had differing opinions regarding voice actor selection, the input of the original work's creator Aki Hamazi played a decisive role. In particular, the voice actors for Hitori Gotō and Ryō Yamada were not finalized for a long time, and were ultimately chosen by Hamazi herself. Hamazi stated that Aoyama's performance made her burst into laughter on the spot, saying that Aoyama portrayed the character like a "strange otaku". Umehara, meanwhile, considered Suzushiro the voice actor who most resembled the character herself, saying that Suzushiro's voice had an "airiness" similar to Nijika Ijichi's.^{[4]: 19 [8]: 100}

Aoyama said that during her school years she was a relatively cheerful otaku, but was fundamentally still an "introvert", allowing her to strongly relate to Hitori Gotō.^[12][13] During the recording sessions, sound effects director Akiko Fujita also provided Aoyama with detailed guidance, such as speaking "as if she were looking at the floor" and making her voice "a little more ordinary".^{[14][8]: 28} Suzushiro stated that Nijika Ijichi possesses traits of both an introvert and an extrovert, and often says things while pretending to be carefree. Mizuno described Ryō Yamada as a calm "odd person", and was instructed during recording to speak "in a way without emotional fluctuations". Hasegawa considered Ikuyo Kita to be a complete extrovert; when voicing serious conversations between Kita and Hitori, she was often reminded to "be more cheerful and not worry about anything".^[14]

Music

The series' music was overseen by Gen Okamura from Aniplex's music department, who served as music director; while Tomoki Kikuya composed the background music. The lyrics for the theme songs and insert songs were mainly written by Ai Higuchi [ja], Otoha [ja], and Zaq, while artists such as Maguro Taniguchi of Kana-Boon, Yuho Kitazawa of The Peggies, and Ikkyū Nakajima of Tricot also participated in songwriting. The performers for Kessoku Band were assembled by Okamura: drummer Osamu Hidai, bassist Yūichi Takama, and guitarists Akkin [ja] and Ritsuo Mitsui. Mitsui also handled the arrangement of most songs in the anime, marking his first involvement in anime music production.^[15][16] Regarding the direction of the songs, original creator Aki Hamazi and assistant producer Mikihiro Takayama stated that they wanted them to directly capture a "Shimokitazawa band style" rather than becoming fashionable or cute pop songs. As a result, many of the musicians involved in songwriting came from the Shimokitazawa music scene. Okamura also mentioned that he frequently visited Shelter, the real-life inspiration for the live house "Starry" appearing in the anime, when he was younger.^[8]: 122

During arrangement, Mitsui and Okamura decided not to use instruments outside of those played by Kessoku Band, constructing the songs primarily with bass, drums, and two guitars while considering the personalities and playing abilities of the four characters.^{[8]: 123 [15]} The opening theme "Seishun Complex" was written by Ai Higuchi and composed by Otoha, and was selected through an internal song submission process. Takayama described the song as having a strong "band feeling"; Otoha stated that while writing it, "bitter memories of my school days came flooding back", resulting in a relatively "dark" melody. During arrangement, Okamura suggested emphasizing Hitori's playing, whereas the team had previously focused more on balancing lead guitar and rhythm guitar. The characteristic that Kessoku Band's songs are extremely difficult for bass and guitar players was also established through this song.^{[8]: 123 [17]}

Additional albums

On May 22, 2023, Kessoku Band released a single titled "Into the Light" featuring two new songs, "Into the Light" and "Blue Spring and Western Sky".^[47] The first song is written and composed by Genki Fujimori, the vocalist and guitarist of Sakanamon [ja].^[48] On June 9, 2024, Kessoku Band released the single titled "Shine as Usual / Now, I'm Going from Underground" featuring the opening and ending theme for the first half of the compilation film for the anime. The ending theme is written and composed by Yuuho Kitazawa, the vocalist and guitarist of The Peggies.^[49] On August 11, 2024, the opening ("Doppelganger") and ending ("Re:Re:") to the second part of the film was released as a digital single along with Sick Hack's "I'm the Only Ghost".^[50][51] On August 14, 2024, a mini-album titled Re:Kessoku Band was released containing songs used for the theatrical compilation films, including new song "Me and the Three Primary Colors" which is a tie-in collaboration with the I-Lohas beverage promotional campaign.^[52][53] On November 6, 2024, the EP "We will" is released in anticipation of the live tour We will at Zepp's. It contains four songs featuring the theme and vocals of each member of the Kessoku Band, with each song written and composed by a different artist: Shinya Ishihara of Saucy Dog, Ohki Nobuo of Acidman, Gen of 04 Limited Sazabys [ja] and Chiaki Satō.^[54]

Live performances

A live concert titled Kessoku Band Live: Kōsei featuring the main voice cast was held at Zepp Haneda on May 21, 2023.^[55] In 2024, a concert tour titled Kessoku Band Zepp Tour 2024: We Will was held at Zepp Osaka Bayside, Zepp Sapporo, Zepp Haneda, Zepp Nagoya, and Zepp Fukuoka on September 8, October 19, November 3, November 24, and December 22, respectively.^[56] An additional venue and date was announced later to be held on February 15, 2025, at Main Arena, Musashino Forest Sport Plaza Tokyo under the name We Will B.^[57] At We Will B, the four voice actresses from Kessoku Band made a surprise appearance and performed "Flashbacker" live playing their character's respective instruments.^[58]

Popularity

The anime was not as highly anticipated by audiences as many more previously established series airing at the same time, such as Chainsaw Man and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. However, as the anime progressed, it gained a larger audience due to clips from the anime going viral online.^[59]

The series' sudden growth in popularity following the airing of the anime prompted an unexpected influx of fans who formed an excessive line at mangaka Aki Hamazi's booth at Comiket 101 on December 30, 2022, prompting event organizers to direct Hamazi to a different location. Consequently, Hamazi moved her booth outside of the event hall and published a map directing fans to its new location. Wares at Hamazi's booth were exhausted by 12:51 pm that day.^[60]

The manga had also reportedly been sold out in various bookstores both during and after the anime's broadcasting, prompting Houbunsha to announce three rounds of reprints of all of the manga's volumes, including the Anthology Comic, one month after the final episode aired, with added copies printed for each of those rounds.^[61][62] The magazine the manga is published in, Manga Time Kirara Max, also reportedly sold out of its January and February issues on their first days of circulation, helped by the January issue featuring a guitar pick as a bonus to celebrate the anime's airing.^{[citation needed]}

The popularity of the anime also led to skyrocketing demand for musical instruments, especially guitars, where instrument shops recorded a spike of instruments being sold right after the anime ended. Models used specifically by the characters (like the Gibson Les Paul and Yamaha Pacifica guitars used by Bocchi) went out of stock, with no definite restock date. Sales of instruments to beginners also increased (with stocks being depleted in some cases), as many people started to pick up instruments to play due to the series.^[63][64]

Shimokitazawa, particularly the Shelter live house that Starry is based on, also recorded an increase in visitors making otaku pilgrimages to places appearing in the series. However, uneasiness and worries from others, including the live house's management, resulted from obtrusive behavior by visitors, which included attempted unpaid viewing of live performances. A sign written in English, Japanese, and Korean was installed by Shelter to discourage visitors from descending the iconic stairs to its side entrance. The official website of the series subsequently issued a reminder to fans to behave properly when visiting such places and to support paid performances.^[65]

Despite all the issues, the town still managed to take advantage of Bocchi the Rock!'s popularity. Kessoku Band has been appointed as Shimokitazawa official ambassadors as part of the town promotion of Shimokitazawa Curry Fest 2023, where food premises around Shimokitazawa offer various curry menus and will hold a stamp rally where visitors can redeem merchandise by collecting stamps from purchases, which prizes include Kessoku Band-featured merchandise as well.^[66]

Sales

Blu-ray and DVD sales reached 14,821 and 1,972 copies, respectively, in the first week of the release of the first volume and placed second for the most Blu-ray sales that week.^[67] The second volume records 16,205 and 588 copies sold, respectively, for Blu-ray and DVD in the first release week.^[68] The third volume records 17,856 Blu-ray and 1,535 DVDs, and the fourth records 17,196 Blu-ray and 1,451 DVDs on their first week of sales.^[69][70]

The album Kessoku Band sold 36,530 copies on release day and subsequently 72,533 copies in the first week, charting first place in Oricon and Billboard Japan for the top album that week and continuing to maintain its performance in the weekly top 10 album sales.^[71][72] It was certified gold in January 2023 and later platinum in May 2024 by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) after it reached more than 100,000 and 250,000 physical sales, respectively.^[73] The opening theme, Seishun Complex, was also certified gold in streaming when it reached 50 million listenings on streaming platforms in November 2023, and one of its insert songs, If I Could Be a Constellation follows in June 2024.^[74][75]

The first part of its compilation film, Bocchi the Rock! Re: saw the film topping the weekend chart of Japan's box office on its opening weekend, with earnings going up to 218 million yen (approximately 1.39 million US dollars) and 140,000 attendees recorded. This was the first time an anime compilation film (with the contents being only a recap of its original series) managed to top the chart.^[76] The first part and second part of the compilation film has surpassed 640 million yen and 500 million yen in box office sales respectively.^[54]

Critical reception

In Anime News Network's Fall 2022 Preview Guide, the series received positive responses upon its debut. Caitlin Moore praised the realistic depiction of Hitori's guitar playing as well as the "slightly acerbic" comedy which helped avoid the show becoming "too gentle" and contributed to Hitori's relatability. James Beckett similarly complimented the anime's attention to detail regarding the musical activity, in contrast to other similar anime, which he felt were generally not attentive to such logistical elements. Rebecca Silverman's agreed that Hitori was relatable and found the first episode engaging, but she believed that the anime "seems to conflate introversion and social anxiety" and did not like the visuals. Richard Eisenbeis stated that the show's cringe comedy was not to his personal taste, though he acknowledged its solid underlying lessons. Nicholas Dupree opined that Hitori's character felt "authentic" to "the kind of introverted kid who would wear band merch and carry their guitar to school in a bid to seem interesting."^[77] Following the season conclusion, Dupree called the series a funny, creative, and heartwarming comedy, particularly highlighting the concert sequence and the heart-to-heart conversation between Hitori and Nijika Ijichi in Episode 8.^[78][79] Dupree also selected Kikuri Hiroi as his character of the year, describing her wild personality alongside her "surprising insight and empathy" as the "platonic ideal of a rock star."^[78]

Several critics compared the anime with K-On!, another work serialized in Manga Time Kirara, describing it as the "Reiwa-era version of K-On!".^[80][81] Liang You of The News Lens noted that K-On! focuses primarily on everyday life, whereas Bocchi the Rock! focuses primarily on the band elements.^[82] Rafael Motamayor of IGN strongly praised the anime for its story, themes, and visual creativity, comparing it favorably to K-On! and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!. He described the show as a spiritual successor to K-On!, though noting that the latter focused more on how a group of girls become friends.^[83]

The portrayal of social anxiety also resonated strongly with general viewers.^[84] An editor for Eslite Bookstore noted that behind its high school music setting, the series exposes the widespread psychological state of modern people feeling lonely even in a crowd.^[85] Vista Weekly similarly noted that the series touched upon the real pain points of contemporary youth, calling it a work that captures modern societal anxieties and has the potential to become a classic for a generation.^[81] Critics also evaluated the show's depiction of social anxiety against other anime addressing similar themes such as Komi Can't Communicate, which some felt relied on anxiety purely as a comedic device or a romanticized trope.^[81][86] Motamayor noted that Bocchi the Rock! did not make light of the protagonist's struggles for comedy.^[83] Moore shared a similar view, though she felt that the portrayal of Hitori's anxiety occasionally went too far, leaving viewers who related to her feeling mocked.^[77][87] Adam Wescott of Crunchyroll News favorably compared the series to Watamote for its exploration of anxiety and artistic self-expression, and praised the visual inventiveness of the "anxiety attack" sequences, including the integration of CGI and stop motion animation.^[7]

The realistic depiction of band culture resonated with musicians and industry figures. Writing for Real Sound, Yoruno stated that the anime captured emotional moments that only actual band members could fully appreciate.^[88] Motamayor highlighted how the series addressed realistic struggles such as creative writer's block, financial strain, and live performance mistakes, demonstrating that an artist's life is not always smooth sailing.^[83] Yoshihiro Kawamura of The Asahi Shimbun remarked that despite being a moe comedy series, a genuine love for rock music was evident throughout the show.^[89] Masafumi Gotoh, lead singer of Asian Kung-Fu Generation, wrote in a personal journal entry that one of the anime's major achievements was "liberating the so-called rock music from certain negative stereotype."^[90]

The series' concert sequences and varied visual styles received widespread acclaim from critics.^[77][91] Dupree considered the show to feature "some of the best concert scenes ever put to animation."^[78] Motamayor highlighted how the series externalized Hitori's inner world through various techniques, including stop motion, phenakistoscope, and paper craft, alongside comical facial distortions where she transforms into slugs or monsters, making it "one of the funniest and most inventive comedies of the season."^[83] Kaeru Inaka of Real Sound noted that while the anime expanded the space between the original four-panel comic strip panels with exaggerated narrative and visual techniques, it simultaneously demonstrated CloverWorks' strength in realistic artwork and nuanced character movement.^[92] Naledi Ramphele of Game Rant praised the show for pushing the envelope in animation, noting its dynamic camera work—such as close-ups, wide angles, and low angles—to convey Hitori's anxiety and loneliness, while praising the rich background detail, though noting that background character animations were relatively sparse.^[93] Moore stated that the series' visual creativity ranked alongside the third season of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War as one of the best of the year.^[94]

Accolades

In the ninth Anime Trending Awards on February 26, 2023, the anime series was crowned Anime of the Year per the highest popular votes gained and also won seven more categories, such as Best in Soundtrack, Best in Adapted Screenplay, Comedy Anime of the Year, Music Anime of the Year, and Best in Voice Cast. Episode 8 of the series also won Best in Episode Directing and Storyboard. The anime won eight overall awards, the most in awards history so far.^[95] The web radio program of the series, Bocchi the Radio!, won three categories in the eighth AniRadi Awards [ja] on March 29, 2023, which were Best Comedy Radio, Best Female Radio, and the grand prize Radio of the Year. Yoshino Aoyama was present at the event to receive the award and give a speech.^[96]

In the 2023 Musical Instrument Stores Grand Prize, the anime series won the Recommended Works award, voted by the musical instrument store staff around Japan. Instruments related to the series, like Yamaha's PACIFICA611VFM guitar, also won as recommended instruments in the award.^[97] In the Newtype Anime Awards on October 28, 2023, the anime series won the Best TV Anime award while winning two other awards: Best Director for Keiichirō Saitō and Best Theme Song for "Seishun Complex" by Kessoku Band.^[98]

In the 8th Crunchyroll Anime Awards on March 2, 2024, the anime series won Best Slice of Life. It was nominated for nine other categories including Anime of the Year.^[99]

Awards and nominations