The Fall 2022 anime season saw the release of a musical adventure in the form of Bocchi The ROCK, an anime about an introverted high schooler who desperately wants to form a band. Her only problem is that she is highly introverted, and terrible at socializing, finding herself left out of most things throughout her life.
At first glance, the premise of Bocchi The ROCK is reminiscent of something from decades past; a musical anime where, like this one, high school girls form a rock band, with the journey of the protagonist following from her beginner stage leading up to her mastery of one cool instrument: the guitar. With it being so similar at first glance, is it fair to see Bocchi The ROCK solely as a different interpretation of the same idea as the legendary 2010 Kyoto Animation music anime title, K-ON!? Or is this new kid on the block going to carve a name out for itself and turn out to be something entirely different?
Light Music
K-ON! is a series based on a 4-koma manga about freshman high schooler Yui Hirasawa, who stumbles upon her school's Light Music Club while looking for an afterschool club to join. Mistaking the "Light" in the club name to mean "easy" or beginner-level, Yui is shocked to find out that the Light Music Club is in dire need of members who can actually play an instrument.
She apologizes for her misunderstanding and tries to leave; however, the club members do everything in their power to get her to join, eventually playing a piece of music for her. When Yui hears the Light Music Club play, it convinces her to join the club and learn how to play the guitar. It's a light and comedic anime that also has that KyoAni charm.
Hitori Bocchi
Bocchi the ROCK is centered on the main character Hitori "Bocchi" Goto, who is shown at various stages of her life to illustrate her difficulty with forming friendships and feeling included. As a result of a childhood of being largely on her own, sharing meals with teachers instead of friends during class outings and her immense social anxiety, Hitori finds herself desperately wanting to make these significant connections but finding no way to do so effectively. This changes when, in her first year of middle school, Hitori catches a glimpse of a television interview of a famous band's lead singer and guitarist.
The lead singer also cites being introverted and struggling to stand out or make any friends, at least until he found music and eventually formed a band. This inspires Hitori to first; learn how to play the guitar like the lead singer of that band, and second; perform at her school's culture festival to have everybody "go crazy" for her. A three-year time-skip sees the series actually begin in Hitori's freshman year; a time when her constant practice and online presence have gone on to turn her into an excellent guitarist – albeit one who still hasn't been able to form a band or make any friends. Things change for Hitori when she is seen by Nijika Ijichi, a drummer who is desperately in need of a guitarist for her band as a result of her lead guitarist quitting the band.
The Similarities End
Aside from the surface-level similarities like their centering on a young girl who learns how to play the guitar, and become a great musician; or the female-only main casts, K-ON! and Bocchi the ROCK don't develop into a similar kind of story at all. For one, Bocchi the ROCK is a bit more on the serious side, with there being several emotionally charged moments in the first few episodes. It is very clearly a careful exploration into Hitori's journey; and comparing the main characters, Hitori's learning and practice when it comes to playing an instrument is skipped to make for a show with higher stakes.
In K-ON!, the adorable characters and comedy slice of life feel keep the overall stakes of Yui's character low, and while it is about her journey into music, the K-ON! series shines mostly because of the relationships formed between Yui and her band members as she comes to learn and contribute to their musical success. Bocchi the ROCK is not necessarily doom and gloom; however, Hitori simply does not have Yui's boisterous and outgoing personality, and actually struggles with aspects like self-esteem and confidence. Hitori's journey with music is much more personal as she attempts to use it as her conduit towards forming connections with other people – music is Hitori's way out of loneliness, while it is really only Yui's into her mandatory club commitments at school, at least at first.
Perspective Shift
While the main characters of both shows seem to be starting from a similar point, the origins of these stories ultimately affect the trajectories of their respective journies. Where Yui develops her passion and her guitar skill alongside her relationships with her close friends, Hitori's passion and development of her skill comes directly because of her desire to be noticed and finally make some friends. Yui does not struggle with social interactions or making friends, in fact, she's a beam of radiant sunshine that ends up being integral to After School Teatime. While both series are ultimately CGDCT (Cute Girls Doing Cute Things), there's more depth to Hitori's character than there is to Yui's, and Hitori's journey is way more emotionally charged than Yui's because how integral to the narrative Hitori's struggles with social interaction are.
Bocchi The ROCK also employs various interesting visual elements, angles and shots to give further evidence of Hitori's feelings of being consistently on the outside looking in, her struggles with social interaction and her low self-esteem. To answer the question, "Is Bocchi The ROCK introverted K-ON!?"; the answer is that they are definitely alike at first glance; however, Bocchi The ROCK has a much deeper objective and focus on its main character's emotions and standpoint than K-ON! does, and as such, the series will inevitably develop in ways that K-ON! simply does not.