Eight Views
Episode 6 of Bocchi The Rock begins with Guitar Man recapping the events. He mentions how Bocchi’s overcome everything but is in a tight pickle regarding ticket quotas. The previous night, Bocchi ponders who to give her final ticket to, but her mother insists she can’t use one of them on her dog, Jimihen. Her father also suggests that she can’t bring her sister Futari because of her age. Now she’s left with three people to invite. Futari taunts Bocchi and argues Bocchi doesn’t have friends, angering Bocchi. Although her mother doesn’t mind inviting people she knows, Bocchi insists that she has friends at school she can ask to come. In the present, Bocchi notes how she’s made promotional flyers to hand out to people in the neighborhood. Although she designed them for charming reasons, she’s afraid to hand them to people because of her social anxiety. Bocchi receives texts from Kita, Ryo, and Nijika, who sold their five tickets to people. Bocchi doesn’t know how to tell them about her failure. Suddenly, a strange girl trips in front of her and makes desperate demands. We learn about the girl named Hiroi after Bocchi purchases the miso soup she requested. Bocchi learns that Hiroi’s fascinated with drinking as Hiroi displays many drunk mannerisms. Before Bocchi departs, she almost trips, but Hiroi saves her. She asks if Bocchi’s in a band as Hiroi reveals she’s in a band called Indie. Bocchi’s scared to talk with a grown-up bandsman and fears Hiroi would find her passion for music inadequate. Bocchi conjures a narrative that she gave up playing guitar and planned to sell her instrument. However, Hiroi tells her she shouldn’t give up so soon as practicing can make her a worthy guitarist. Hiroi offers to give her lessons, but Bocchi tells her that she lied about everything. Hiroi reveals that she’s a bass player and enjoys alcohol. Hiroi tells Bocchi that she left her instrument at the pub Hiroi grabs Bocchi’s hand to visit that place. At the Starry Club, Nijika wonders where Bocchi is and questions if they should’ve sent her those texts. She worries they may have overwhelmed her with the five-ticket quota. Kita tells her not to worry as she suggests Bocchi is busy. Meanwhile, Hiroi and Bocchi are sitting by a river. Hiroi shows Bocchi her bass as Bocchi continues feeling uncomfortable around her. Bocchi recommends that she stops drinking, but Hiroi insists it helps her forget future issues. Some include poverty, pension, depopulation, marriage, depression, old age, and stress-related issues. Hiroi calls her drinking habit the Happiness Spiral technique. Bocchi ponders what her life would be like if she pursued the Happiness Spiral technique, and it’s not a pretty sight. Bocchi tells Hiroi about her ticket-selling dilemma, and Hiro proposes they hold a street concert to gather an audience. Hiroi calls her buddies to bring her some equipment. They arrive and hand Hiroi the goods. Hiroi calls out for people to stop by as she and Bocchi are going to perform for them. Bocchi’s startled by everything. Hiroi notices Bocchi’s concern about playing in public and gives her some advice. Hiroi tells Bocchi she’s not in combat with the people in front of her and to picture the crowd as friends. At the same time, Kita, Ryo, and Nijika discuss what Bocchi’s like at school. Kita remarks how she’s never seen Bocchi with another person because Bocchi’s withdrawn despite people wanting to interact with her. Hiroi tells the people wandering about that they’re about to perform an original song by Bocchi’s band. Kita informs Ryo and Nijika that Bocchi would arrive at their practice sessions but wouldn’t show up to have lunch with Kita’s friends. As Hiroi plays her instrument, Bocchi realizes how gentle Hiroi’s bass playing feels. Bocchi’s nervous that she can’t capture her energy but someone from the crowd cheers for her. Bocchi starts playing and contemplates Hiroi’s advice. Hiroi notices Bocchi’s change in tone as she plays. Hiroi recognizes that Bocchi’s taking her advice to heart and is astounded by her quick progress in conquering her flaws. Bocchi looks at the crowd’s smiles and wonders if she can obtain more responses like that if she continues developing. One of the flyers gets blown toward a few girls, and they approach Bocchi asking for tickets. Bocchi doesn’t know how to respond, so Hiroi helps her through it all. The girls tell Bocchi that she played phenomenally and should keep up the incredible work. Hiroi grabs a drink and can’t help but tear up over Bocchi’s development. Suddenly, an officer arrives and tells them they can’t perform here. Bocchi’s startled, but Hiroi suggests they wrap everything up. At night, Bocchi remembers that she only sold four tickets. Two to her parents and two to the girls that approached her. Hiroi tells Bocchi she’d like to purchase her final ticket. Hiroi says she operates near the area and knows where Starry Club’s located. Hiroi departs but asks Bocchi for some cash since she spent all her money on a ticket. Sometime later, Bocchi returns to the locale where she met Hiroi and texts Kita, Nijika, and Ryo an apology for missing practice. Nijika, Ryo, and Kita receive her text and discover that Bocchi sold all her tickets. They think she’s lying because they can’t imagine Bocchi socializing with others and promise to show her the utmost respect at practice tomorrow. The episode concludes with Bocchi smiling as the fireworks go off.
The Episode Review
The sixth chapter of Bocchi The Rock grants viewers more character development while introducing another player into the field. It’ll warm many fans’ hearts to see Bocchi steadily progress into a stronger person and stellar musician. It also begs the question around whether Bocchi’s continuous success may cause a rift in her relationship with Kessoku Band. This episode will make fans recall Seika’s wording toward Bocchi at the end of the previous chapter. They’ll wonder if Bocchi’s growth and skills will make Kita, Nijika, or Ryo jealous of her. In media, we’ve seen popular bands grow apart because of emotional matters and differing ideals. It would be an intriguing angle for Bocchi The Rock to tackle. While Kessoku Band’s bond is strong, it wouldn’t be farfetched for the show to head in that direction. Besides Bocchi’s stellar growth, this episode introduced us to Hiroi. It was heartwarming to see Hiroi help Bocchi with her ticket dilemma. Despite being a drunk with many life issues, she was a kind soul who didn’t mind lending Bocchi a hand with her ticket quota dilemma. While some may be disappointed by her kind-hearted nature, her interactions with Bocchi felt authentic and inspirational. At the same time, I’m curious to see how Hiroi would interact with Nijika, Ryo, and Kita. Her chemistry with Bocchi was astonishingly charming, and fans know that the other girls could use some input to improve. Seeing Hiroi converse with Ryo would be a delightful sight, considering they’re both bassists. That said, this upcoming concert’s getting built up wonderfully, and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
