Duodecimal Sunset
Episode 11 of Bocchi The Rock begins with Nijika and Ryo arriving at Kita and Bocchi’s school and taking in the beautiful sights and lively activity. They bump into Kita, and she tells them that Bocchi’s missing. One of Kita’s friends tells Nijika that Bocchi excused herself to the toilet after wearing the uniform and never returned. Kita, Nijika, and Ryo search for Bocchi. Meanwhile, Bocchi has fled to an undisclosed location in her maid outfit. She admits to lying to her friends and running away. Bocchi checks her phone to look at her video comments for comfort. Unfortunately, Bocchi reads some crude comments from her fans. She fears she may lose her spot online if she doesn’t upload soon. While glued to her Oh! Tube comments, Nijika, Ryo, and Nijika, find her. Nijika spots their band name on a flier–at Bocchi and Kita’s school. Kita’s happy to see their band name spread in school, but Ryo says they should remain hesitant to avoid feeling the pressure. The girls visit several festival attractions, and Bocchi can’t help but have fun with her friends. They head to a cafe. Nijika comments on Bocchi’s decision to man the front door. Ryo informs Nijika that Bocchi passed out and isn’t acting confident in the slightest. Two hulking men show up to the festival and try flirting and intimidating Bocchi. However, they grow bothered by Bocchi’s lack of expression and apologize. Nijika asks Bocchi for some refreshments, and the gang can’t help but admire Bocchi’s looks in the maid outfit. Ryo admits that Bocchi’s get-up can serve them well as a future marketing tactic. Ryo thinks they should have Bocchi wear a swimsuit in their next music video to get more money. She believes in having her wear something like that and performing on Oh! Tube can net them millions of views. Bocchi serves them their dishes, and Nijika requests Bocchi to perform the cafe’s signature love spell to make it taste better. Bocchi fails to deliver, so Kita performs the act in her steed. Nijika and Ryo dig into their food and enjoy it. One of Bocchi’s classmates asks them if they’re enjoying their food. Kita asks if she can assist them with the maid cafe and puts on a maid outfit. Bocchi’s classmates find her adorable. Kita asks Nijika and Ryo to join her, and they do. However, Kita suggests Ryo sport a manlier waiter outfit because it suits her personality more. The men from earlier ask the girls for some water, and Kita has Ryo serve their table. The men bow before Ryo as she pours water from her water bottle into their cups. After they’ve completed their duties, Nijika and Kita discuss the fun they had playing maids. The maid girls tell Nijika that they can’t wait to watch them play tomorrow. Ryo tries to get paid for her work, but Nijika drags her away. Kita asks them if they can take a detour before heading to Starry for practice. Kita takes Nijika, Ryo, and Bocchi to the gymnasium to show them where they’ll perform. Bocchi and the others can’t wait to play here tomorrow. At practice, Nijika comments about Bocchi’s guitar, and Ryo fantasizes about selling it to turn a profit. The girls discuss who’ll be seeing attend the event and their plans for the emcee part of their act. The girls practice for a bit, and once they’re finished, Bocchi notices something off about Kita. Bocchi tells everyone that she hopes the audience will find their act entertaining. Kita and the others reassure Bocchi that they’ll do fine. At home, Bocchi ponders over tomorrow’s event since it’ll be her first time performing before school. The following day, Bocchi and her friends prepare for their performance at the festival. Bocchi tries to retain confidence because she ponders how it’s possible for a person from a record company could be in the audience. Nijika and the others glare at Bocchi and think she’s in her own little world again. Kessoku Band looks at the performers playing before them and notices how they successfully got the club riled up. Kita feels nervous, but Nijika tells her not to worry. Bocchi shows confidence, and Nijika recalls how much Bocchi’s grown from her mango box hiding days. Unfortunately, Bocchi’s extremely nervous, and the gang gets up on stage to prepare. The curtain lifts, and everyone cheers for Kita. Before Bocchi starts feeling bothered by this, she hears her family, small fan club, and Hiroi cheer for her. Hiroi starts causing a commotion, causing Seika to calm her down. Kita introduces everyone to Kessoku Band, and the episode concludes with them getting ready to perform their first song.
The Episode Review
We have yet another fun chapter of Bocchi The Rock this week. This episode depicts our girls enjoying mundane festival activities before their important performance at Bocchi and Kita’s school. From attending a haunted house exhibit to assisting with the school’s maid café, fans can relax and glare at the hilarious and relaxing visuals delivered this week. As always, Bocchi The Rock’s presentation continues to impress me. This series doesn’t hold back from experimenting with its use of live-action, CGI, and abstract film techniques. Viewers can tell the animators are having a blast depicting Bocchi and the other’s breakdowns in strange yet humorous ways. Humor aside, this episode contained some developments with Kita’s attachment to Bocchi. While viewers can interpret Kita’s remarks to Bocchi as her finding of Bocchi admirable, others may speculate that Kita holds secretive feelings for Bocchi. Based on the way Kita blushed and held back her words toward her during practice, one can insinuate she’s hiding something from Bocchi. Regardless, fans should keep an eye out for Kita’s interactions with Bocchi from this point forward. Overall, this episode of Bocchi The Rock contained wonderful humor, impressive visuals, and neat character development. Despite Bocchi having her nervous quirks, she’s grown to become a confident guitar player and a loving friend to Nijika, Ryo, and Kita. I’m looking forward to seeing how the final episode of this show concludes.
