The eighth episode ofBocchi The Rock!continues the series' great run, and even gives viewers a taste of two Kessoku Band songs that will be featured onthe upcoming 14-track album. Despite their best efforts to have the weather swing in their favour, the looming typhoon lands, greatly disrupting the entire plan for the day. Despite the danger, Kessoku Band arrives at STARRY, waiting for an audience that might never come.
A few friendly faces brave the storm to come to the event, which gives the band a small confidence boost; however, the typhoon is not the end of the day’s problems for Kessoku Band. Be that as it may, a surprise hero saves the day, and perhaps this is genuinely the beginning of a legend.
RELATED:Is Bocchi The ROCK Introverted K-ON!?
Unknown Factor
Very few people manage to make it to the venue for the live in the first place, which is a huge damper on the band’s first performance. However, a few friendly faces make an appearance, likeKikuri Hiroi, the drunken rockerBocchi met in the previous episode, and the two girls who were in the crowd during Bocchi’s street performance. The collective disinterest of the crowd in Kessoku Band because they’re newcomers, not to mention the lack of crowd reaction to their presence on stage negatively affects their performance of their first original song,“Guitar, Loneliness and the Blue Planet”. The bad start makes the audience lose even more faith in Kessoku Band, and their confidence withers even more. Hitori notes that Nijika’s drumming is slower than usual, and Kita makes more mistakes throughout the performance than she did in their rehearsals leading up to the big day. A collection of nerves and bad luck sullies their morale, and as a result,“Guitar, Loneliness and the Blue Planet"is not received as well as it was by Seika at their audition a few weeks prior.
Realizing that this is a fatal situation for their first-ever performance, and that they’re simply not yet at the level they should be, Bocchi strums an inspired solo to introduce the band’s next song, which inspires her fellow band members and catches the attention of members of the crowd who’d written them off. The performance oftheir second original songthat they’d recently completed writing, “That Band”,was an incredible performance that blew away the audience, and even earned them a few approving nods from Nijika’s sister. Interestingly, despite the fact that Kessoku was on a line-up with various other bands, the typhoon created enough of a dissuasion for the series to justify focusing solely on them for the duration of the live event.
Guitar Hero
After the highly stressful events of the live, Kessoku Band celebrates their big day withNijika’s older sister, Seika, who treats them at an izakaya. Their performance was well-received despite their hiccups in the beginning, and Seika, barely hiding her pride, talks about how they’re slowly going to gain fans if they continue in this fashion. The group compliments Bocchi specifically for her incredible guitar-playing on stage, and credit her for getting the group out of their slump.
Hiroi also gets the opportunity to finally introduce herself to Bocchi’s friends (and the audience), and it is explained that she and Seika were in the same band during their university days. Seika reveals her reason for quitting the band scene, explaining that she just got bored. As the conversation continues, Nijika gets up to go to the bathroom at some point, but after a while, Bocchi goes out to look for her. Finding her outside, Bocchi and Nijika have a vulnerable yet positive conversation about their goals, Nijika’s real reason for forming a band in the first place, among other things.
RELATED:Bocchi The Rock! Episode 7 Review
Nijika thanks Bocchi for constantly being the presence in the group that drags them out of tough situations, and that her performance during the live was just another time in which Bocchi has come through for the entire group in a profound way. The performance makes it obvious to Nijika that Bocchi is actually “Guitar Hero”, the online guitarist with a huge following. Bocchi explains that she wasn’t trying to hide it, but she wanted to tell Nijika and the others about her alter ego once she was satisfied with the guitarist she was.
Bocchi struggles with her self-esteem, so she lacked the confidence to talk about it, but Nijika reassures her by telling her that she’s even more certain than she’s ever been that Bocchi is the right fit for her band. Nijika just wishes that Bocchi could play the way she does as Guitar Hero more consistently, which stings a little bit, but Nijika’s cheery smile, capable of boosting the morale in any situation, dissolves any shame Bocchi may be feeling. Nijika tells Bocchi that she can’t wait to see “Bocchi’s type of rock–Bocchi The Rock!"'
Bocchi The Rock!
The significance of episode 8 in the overallBocchi The Rock!anime is not to be understated as the episode title is the series title, not to mention Bocchi’s reaction to the title drop from Nijika when she refers to Bocchi’s type of rock as"Bocchi The Rock!".It’s clear that on various levels, this performance at STARRY was a huge win for Kessoku Band, and a big milestone for Bocchi’s personal growth as well. It’s a significant point in the band’s journey towards the goal, which, for Nijika, involves becoming a very famous band and performing at her sister’s bar on a regular basis. She reveals her primary reason, beyondwanting to play at the Budokan, for wanting to form her band. Since her parents passed away a very long time ago, Nijika’s only family has been her older sister. Seika’s reason for quitting the band scene was specifically to establish STARRY, a place that Nijika can frequently be in contact with the rock music scene she came to love so much from watching her big sister perform. Bocchi is very inspired by this, and tells Nijika that her only objective is to make Kessoku Band the greatest band it can possibly be.
The series amassed various elements seen in its arsenal over the course of eight episodes in this most recent one, with there being an added dramatic edge due to the stakes being higher than they’ve ever been.It was hilarious, but heartfelt, while musically satisfying (it’s not surprising that a band based on ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION makes good music) and it still gave its interesting approach to the animation and the kinds of beautiful shots that the series has produced over the course of its run. Episode 8 ofBocchi The Rock!is an exciting point in the series, and definitely the series' best so far, using the typhoon as a plot device to avoid having to show any other bands and focus solely on the main group. If this is what Kessoku Band has to offer, that album is going to be absolutely amazing.
