Bocchi The Rock!

About

Bocchi The Rock is a seinen manga series created by Aki Hamaji which was serialized in Houbunsha Magazine, Manga Time Kirara Max. The series follows the story of Hitori Gotō (known as Bocchi), a teenage girl who seeks to form a band after she was inspired by a band from a TV show as a child. In high school, she meets a schoolgirl named Nijika Ijichi who invites her to join a band named Kessoku Band. In 2022, it was adapted into an anime created by Cloverworks.

History

On December 17th, 2017, Bocchi The Rock was first serialized in Manga Time Kirara Max. As of November 2022, five volumes have been released so far (cover of the first volume shown below).

Anime Adaptation

On October 8th, 2022, the anime adaptation of the manga series, created by Cloverworks, premiered. On the same day, the official YouTube^[1] channel アニプレックス YouTube チャンネル uploaded a PV for the first episode, which received more than 676,000 views in one month (shown below).

Receptions

As of November 2022, the anime adaptation of Bocchi The Rock received a score of 8.5 out of 10 on MyAnimeList^[2] and a score 8.6 out of 10 on IMDb.^[3]

Online Presence

After the premier of the first episode, more fan art of the anime has been uploaded on Twitter under the hashtag #ぼっち・ざ・ろっく. For example, on November 6th, 2022, Twitter^[4] user @FreshD_0325 uploaded fan art of Hitori Gotō and Ikuyo Kita playing guitar together. The tweet received more than 2,200 likes and 550 retweets in one day (shown below, left). On the same day, Twitter^[5] user @dendenhouse uploaded fan art of Hitori Gotō hiding in the trash bin. The tweet received more than 6,300 likes and 1,300 retweets in one day (shown below, center). On November 7th, 2022, Twitter^[6] user @pension_z uploaded fan art of Kessoku Band that received more than 6,200 likes and 1,600 retweets in less than a day (shown below, right).

On October 26th, 2022, Facebook^[7] page Judon't uploaded a "the world is a cruel and unjust place" edit using a clip from the anime. The video received more than 9,000 reactions and 4,100 shares in two weeks (shown below, left). On October 31st, 2022, Facebook^[8] user Maziñho Sencia uploaded a Spanish meme using the clip from the anime that received more than 2,400 reactions and 5,300 shares in one week (shown below, right).

#BTRBandParody

The author of the manga parodies album covers in some pages (example shown below, left). This inspired artists to draw fan art using other album covers as references. For example, on October 29th, 2022, Twitter^[9] user @youjohan_me uploaded fan art of Kessoku Band by using the 1994 Oasis "Definitely Maybe" album cover as a reference. The tweet received more than 18,200 likes and 5,000 retweets (shown below, right).

The trend of parodying album covers in Bocchi The Rock fan art caught on among Indonesian speakers on Facebook under the hashtag #BTRBandParody. For example, on November 7th, 2022, Facebook^[10] user Ardi Rayhan uploaded fan art using My Chemical Romance's "The Black Parade" as a reference. The post received 14 reactions and 261 shares (shown below, left). On the same day, Facebook^[11] user Ariq Refanada uploaded fan art using Muse's "Absolution" as a reference. The post received 102 reactions and 143 shares in one day (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References