[NO SPOILERS]
#Overview
At first, I chose not to watch Bocchi. I thought it wouldn't be my thing, that it'd just be a waste of time to juggle it along with the others airing that season.
It turns out I was pretty darn wrong.
I do regret not watching it earlier, but I definitely don't regret my decision to end up trying it anyway.
Bocchi, as it turns out, is certainly worth all the hype it got. And might still be getting. (I mean, plenty of people are still excited about it)
Hitori Gotou has the most extreme social anxiety that you've ever seen. She freezes up when spoken to, and stutters when she needs to respond. She has 0 friends, and her happy place is the back of her closet and a cardboard box labeled with "Ripe Mangos". (~~Sound familiar?~~)
Even as hopeless this introvert is, Hitori has a dream of being in a rock band and being super popular.
Does she ever accomplish this seemingly impossible dream?
Well, no. Not really. Not in the anime at least.
But she got somewhat close, closer than she expected.
No, she's not shining in the spotlight nor is she any kind of rockstar. Don't be mistaken; she's still same ol' Bocchi, but she's in a band now. And her friend count has increased.
Now let's move to our next topic.
#The Good/Positive
So, I was just talking about how much Bocchi had changed by the end of the anime.
The changes aren't overly dramatic or cliche, but they are noticeable. And you can clearly see some growth, although I can't give examples without spoiling for you.
It's good to see that Bocchi has grown without losing her personality. Points added.
One of my favorite parts is the comedy in this show. The little puns here and there, the interactions between the girls....even those cutscenes from Bocchi's vivid imagination. If you're looking for laughs that don't rely heavily on slapstick, here you have it.
Another thing that I really liked was the cast and how colorful they are.
Sure, they certainly have colorful appearances, but I was actually referring to their personalities.
We have the shy turtle.
We have the energetic extrovert with a blinding light of excitement.
We have the cheerful drummer who keeps the band together.
And we have the straight faced loner whose personality can't be perfectly described.
(Shout out to Ryo, my favorite from Kessoku Band)
Altogether, these girls are just really fun to watch. This is speaking as someone who normally doesn't judge by how cute the girls are.
While on the topic of characters, shout out to Bocchi's dad.
I liked the opening and the endings enough to listen to them almost every episode, the opening especially. Kessoku Band made some great music during their performances as well. Definitely turned up the volume to hear them play. It was enjoyable to see characters sing/perform a song that wasn't just based on the opening. And to hear more than one song they wrote. Points added.
Before I get too overboard with the raving, can I just say that Bocchi's, or Hitori's, VA (Aoyama Yoshino) did an excellent job? It's the first time where I actually thought about the voice actors, so that's saying quite a lot. Especially during the earlier episodes too, really nailed it.
As you can see, I've discussed plenty of good points, almost too many even.
#The Bad/Negative
Y'know, it's a little hard to pinpoint negative things about Bocchi.....
Hm....
Well, I did have a little frustration at first because Bocchi, for some reason, didn't tell her band mates that she was actually guitarhero, the YouTuber that they enjoyed listening to. But it ended up being revealed later on, along with her reason for keeping it secret, so it's forgivable.
I can't even say anything bad about the yuri. I'm normally not into that, I typically go for straight romances, but I wasn't even annoyed when watching this. It was pretty obvious that Kita had a crush on Ryo, but it also seemed like she might like Bocchi....
This is probably the wrong section to talk about this, but I feel like the positive was way too long and that the negative too short.
Since I can't find anything else to say, let's cut to the chase, shall we?
#Do I Recommend?
Yes. Absolutely. Without question.
Still unsure?
Well, I recommend it because there's
- lotsa humor and laughs
- good music
- a bit of wholesomeness
- depending on who you are, it might be relatable
- cute girls (not my personal selling point, but you might be into that sort of thing)
- small bits of yuri (also not my selling point but you do you)
You might as well try it.
I mean, it can't be horrible if it landed in my favorites, can it?
It will definitely be worth your time.
