Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’d like to check back in on the status of Bocchi and the gang, who are currently gearing up for a performance at Bocchi’s school festival. From a starting point of lugging her guitar to school in the vague hope of being recognized as a Cool Rocker Chick, Bocchi has now earned the credentials to truly support that optimistic self-image. She’s in a real band! She’s played at a real club! She’s made friends with a real alcoholic bassist!
Kikuri’s support has indeed been crucial to get Bocchi this far, alongside the persistent encouragement of Seika and her bandmates. Through their steady guidance and Bocchi’s own faltering efforts, Bocchi the Rock! has articulated the evolving challenges of gaining social confidence with sympathy and precision, consistently acknowledging the fragility of new gains, inevitability of wayward digressions, and cruciality of a loving support network. With Bocchi’s initial goal now within reach, let’s see how our anxious hero is faring!
Episode 11
Oh damn, not wasting any time. We open directly on the first day of the festival, the school now done up in banners and balloons as attendees wander the halls
Hyouka will likely forever hold the throne regarding best-realized school festivals, but Bocchi’s emphasis on layouts that create a clear sense of depth and atmosphere will surely be an asset in challenging the champion
Right from the start, low- and high-angle shots are offering a clear sense of how these festival decorations fit into the larger architecture of the school’s corridors and inner courtyards
And as Ryo and Nijika wander the halls, they shuffle past staggered tiers of other attendees, creating a further sense of depth. Obviously not Hyouka’s “several layers of lovingly animated background attendees,” but that’s not really a fair standard for television animation created by mortals
“Serve us, Bocchi!” Ryo has a totally convincing off-kilter sense of humor for a high schooler, which I very much appreciate in a medium where “weird teenager” is often articulated as either a totally unknowable alien or simply an overenthusiastic otaku. I’ve known a lot of Ryos over the years
Oh right, Bocchi’s class is doing a maid café. And of course, Bocchi put on her costume and then immediately fled
“I wish she could’ve just told us if she didn’t want to do it.” A welcome line from one of her classmates here, emphasizing how so much of the agony of anxiety is self-inflicted, as anxious people refuse to ask for accommodations that might save them from future anxiety. Bocchi’s classmates aren’t forcing her into things she doesn’t want, they just don’t know what she wants because she never asserts herself
More preposterously involved visual digressions as Kita takes us on a nature safari into the world of a Bocchi. Between this sequence and her confession in the last episode, it seems like Kita’s willing to express a touch more of an edge around her friends, as she gets comfortable enough to let her sunny, accommodating disposition slip. Also, this felt Bocchi blob is adorable
Oh my god, Bocchi’s hair cubes have melted
“I long for the warmth of that cardboard box.” Bocchi needs her defensive outfits, even though they only draw more attention to her
“My comment section’s the nicest place in the world.” No Bocchi, don’t seek validation through online strangers! It’ll only… yep, they’ve abandoned her, the dream is over
The immediacy and presumed intimacy of online art production can easily fool you into believing your audience are your friends, but audiences generally only ever see or connect with a small aspect of your selfhood, and thus as you yourself change, you’ll often incur backlash from audiences who are no longer receiving the things they signed up for. All you can really hope for is to weather that friction without losing sight of yourself or what inspires you, and thus keep creating work that is true to your passion, even if that results in audience turnover. Unless you’re making genuine big bucks selling a static image of personhood to online audiences, what are you even accomplishing by not being true to yourself?
Wonderful Bocchi smears as her bandmates find her
“Seeing Kessoku Band’s name in our school does feel weird, doesn’t it?” Yep, it’s an odd emotional threshold seeing a private passion suddenly broadcast across your public world
The band takes some necessary detours on their way back to Bocchi’s class. Seems very appropriate that Nijika and Kita would embrace the haunted house in the spirit it was intended, while Ryo and Bocchi just stare blankly at the jump scares
As usual, the non-costumed bandmates are in outfits that reflect their distinct fashion sense: Nijika in a loose hoodie offering freedom of movement, Ryo in a stylish, subdued dress-jacket combo
Ooh, I love this layout of the gang on the landing, looking out over the first floor attendees. Always a great sense of depth in these compositions, and the characters fit so gracefully into their environments
When the gang finally reach the maid café, Kita and Nijika look around admiring the setup while Ryo is laser-focused on the menu. Little flourishes of characterization everywhere
Suddenly a gang of post-apocalyptic hooligans show up, adorned in sumptuous three tiered shading
“You look so good in frilly stuff, Bocchi!” She actually does, but clearly “drawing attention to my features” is not what she seeks out of any outfit
Bocchi sadly can’t measure up to Mio’s moe-moe-kyun deliciousness spell, but she tries her best
“Kind of grainy.” “Yeah, we bought them frozen.” A tragically realistic take on students being asked to make a pop-up restaurant
In contrast, Kita’s deliciousness spell could proudly stand as attack bank footage in any magical girl drama
The rest of the band try out costumes as well, with Kita wisely demanding Ryo try on a butler costume. The girl just looks fantastic in a suit, there’s no denying it
Seeing the difference in reception between herself and her bandmates, Bocchi swiftly dissolves into low-polygon despair. This show is a ridiculous bounty of visual inventiveness
Clever wipe as we cut from the café to the gym they’ll be performing in, as a volunteer literally wiping the floor moves out of the way to reveal our protagonists. The slow pacing of this wipe also seems important, allowing a moment for the sound design to cool down the show’s energy, thus precipitating this more contemplative moment as they consider the challenge to come
“The capacity’s probably close to a thousand.” “I doubt we’ll get that many, though.” It’s funny, the potential scale of my audience has never really made me nervous. I’m guessing it’s because I internalized so early on that my interests are kinda niche, so I was never under the impression I’d please everyone with anything I do. I just want to connect to the few people who are on my same wavelength, as Ryo told Bocchi
We learn that Bocchi’s dad actually bought a camcorder for her previous show, though he wasn’t able to make it due to the storm. Nice to see some gestures of genuine support from her family
“I thought we should do some funny MCing like popular bands do.” “Band MCing is never funny. Fans just laugh along to humor them.” Harsh but fair critique from Ryo
In the wake of their practice, Bocchi notices something off about Kita. Another reflection of her growing maturity and movement away from insular thinking, as she learns to stop attributing the feelings of others to her own behavior
“I figured we’d be working on our first mini-album by now!” Producing tracks and a full CD are a pretty big step up from weekly practice. My own band probably wrote three albums of material all told, but only like six tracks of that ended up getting produced and printed. Ten years on, I’m still waiting for my bassist to add the goddamn lead guitar riff to the last song we recorded together
“What if a record company producer is in the audience!?” The idle hope of every amateur band
“Who waves glowsticks at a rock concert?” Thank you, Ryo
And so the curtain rises!
And Done
At last, the performance has arrived! Well, I say “at last,” but I was frankly expecting this episode to cover more leadup to the festival than the event itself, and certainly wasn’t hoping to have the whole final episode reserved for the concert and its aftermath. Instead, we once again got to enjoy a beach trip-style outing with the whole band, which once again affirmed the various ways Bocchi and her friends have grown closer, alongside Bocchi’s lingering web of anxieties. As usual, the production’s art design was inventive and exceptional throughout, offering little gifts ranging from Bocchi’s ridiculous CG car crash to plentiful smears and robust, well-populated layouts. And at this point, it’s fun simply enjoying the clear chemistry of this comfortable crew, whose internal dynamics demonstrate the complexity and odd points of individual connection underlying any group of close friends. It’s time to show the world what you’ve accomplished, Bocchi! All will quake beneath the might of Kessoku Band!
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