The twelfth and final episode ofFall 2022’s breakout music anime,Bocchi The Rock!had a very satisfying conclusion as the titular character and her bandmates performed for the first time in front of a huge crowd. Having worked incredibly hard leading up to the second day of Shuka High festival – performance day – Bocchi and her friends were nervous but excited about the premise of playing in front of a full venue, at seeing how much they’d grown, and, for Bocchi, the premise of playing in front of her family for the first time also looms over the event.
By the twelfth episode, 6 months have passed in theBocchi The Rock!anime universe since the Bocchi’s fated meeting with Nijika.Bocchi The Rock!episode 12 serves as a good end to an amazing journey for the anime, and there are various things this episode does particularly well.
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Riff-Rain
One of the best things aboutBocchi The Rock!episode 12 is that, despite the obvious cliffhanger ending of the previous episode, which ended literally seconds before Kessoku Band was due to start the first song of their set. One would expect, as the series has in the past, that the first few scenes of the last episode would be somewhat downtempo but still alluding to the major event about to take place – like a few shots of random Shuka High students, or perhaps shots of backstage showing the pending performance from the perspective of a stagehand. However, the finale went right into it, picking up from whereBocchi The Rock!episode 11left off.
The first song that Kita introduces to the audience is “I Will Never Forget”. With upbeat but somewhat angsty lyrics, the song is a definite hit among the other students and throughout Kessoku Band’s performance, various shots are thrown in showing the crowd’s reaction to their energy, as well as various establishing shots of major centers around the school like the rooftop, library, classrooms and underneath the staircase going up to the roof.
These shots are meant to be a visual indicator of just how well Kessoku Band’s music is being received during their performance, and the song actually serves as the final episode’s opening theme in place of what’s perhaps Kessoku Band’s most famous song at the moment, “Seishun Complex”, which is an additional layer to the aforementioned “establishing shots” of various parts of the school – all of these were serving as part of the opening sequence, and the proof is the emergence of the series and episode title card over a long-shot of the crowd and stage.
After the end of their dazzling first song, the crowd is incrediblyenthusiastic towards Kessoku Band, which is a little surprising for Bocchi. Nijika’s sister is clearly proud of them, as she notes the crowd’s immensely positive reaction; however, Kikuri, a character who is generally high-energy, excitable and forthcoming with positive feedback, seemed far away, mumbling something about Bocchi with an uncharacteristic look of concern on her face.
String Theory
During the breaks between songs, Kita takes care of the MCing, since she’s the group’s social butterfly. She puts Nijika on the spot by asking her to say a few words to the crowd as Kessoku Band’s leader, but Nijika is just as socially-adept, and manages to expertly deliver the story about her little disagreement with Ryо̄ about the nature and purpose of MCing at a rock concert. She tells the crowd to talk to Kita or Bocchi if they’re interested in hearing more from Kessoku Band. After the brief break, Kita introduces the next song, “To Become a Constellation”, and it is during this second song on their set that Bocchi’s problems begin to show themselves. She is almost surprised when it’s time for the song to begin, andthe worried expression on her faceis soon given a reason. Bocchi realizes that her E string is out of tune, and she can’t fix it. When she tries to re-tune it, the E string breaks. Bocchi attempts to do damage control by tuning the B string, but the tuning peg is broken.
With her guitar solo coming up, Bocchi’s mind is overrun with dark thoughts as the despair sets in. She desperately doesn’t want to be the reason why their big festival performance fails, but she sees no way out. However, Kita’s hard work shows itself when she’s able to ad-lib to cover for Bocchi and keep the song going. Spurred on by her bandmate’s guts and confidence, Bocchi grabs a glass jar she sees nearby and begins bottleneck playing to compensate for her guitar being out of tune. The result is far better than the original idea as it gives the song a certain flavour during her solo bit, not to mention it hypes the crowd to no end to see the guitarist pull such cool tricks out of the bag under such heavy odds. Kessoku Band’s performance of"To Become a Constellation"is received incredibly well by a full venue, and if one recalls Ryо̄ and Nijika’s observation of the Shuka High gymnasium inBocchi The Rock!episode 11, the place should be able to host a crowd 1000 strong.
Leap of Faith
After their performance of “To Become a Constellation”, the band feeds off the excitement of the crowd. Kita shows her MCing skills once more, and she thanks the crowd for their attendance. In her excitement, Kita tells the crowd that she and the other band members want the audience to see them at some point in the future and be able to brag that they were able to catch Kessoku Band at the 31st Shuka High Cultural Festival. Throughout the performance, and in the days leading up to it, Kita has been diligent and motivated, and this comes from her desire to get people togive Bocchi the recognition she deserves. Kita’s ad-libbing when Bocchi was in despair about her guitar was only possible because she was adamant on getting more practice in the days leading up to the performance, and she also wanted to give Bocchi the kind of platform from which she could shine. Out of the same desire, Kita turns her attention to Bocchi for a few words in the break during songs, but this greatly overwhelms Bocchi, who has made incredible progress to get to a point where she can play the guitar in front of literally 1000 people without freaking out.
In her confusion, Bocchi can’t find the words to say to the people who are expecting her to say something cool, so she remembers something Kikuri once told her about crowd-surfing. Within moments, Bocchi drops her guitar and rushes towards the crowd, leaping as high as she can, but the startled crowd members all move out the way, leaving Bocchi in a world of pain. When she comes to, she is in the nurse’s office once again with Kita beside her, something that has become a recurring occurrence especially in the latter stages of theBocchi The Rock!anime. Bocchi apologises for ruining the performance before they could get through to their last song, but Kita tells her that people actually liked the way their set closed out. She tells Bocchi that the band and a few others want to have an after party once Bocchi is ready to celebrate. Once she’sout of the nurse’s office, Bocchi prepares to leave school, where she has become known as the stage diver.
Money, Money, Money, Money
Once home, Bocchi apologises profusely to her father for breaking his guitar; however, her father is very proud of the musician she has become and even tells her that modern guitars are built with stage drama in mind, so she could even get one specifically for breaking on stage. She worries about how much it’ll cost, but he reveals to her that he’s actually known about her online activity for quite some time and even monetized her videos in secret since the account she was using was actually a family account. In total, Bocchi’s online uploads have earned her over 300 thousand yen, which is more than enough to get her whatever guitar she wants, but she also considers that the money could pay for her performance quotas at STARRY, so she wouldn’t have to work another day for a long time.
Galvanized by the premise of not having to go to work anymore, Bocchi has more energy and vitality than usual, and her unusually good mood catches the attention of her friends. The series makes its last major anime reference with Bocchi’s excitement causing her to power-up and develop a golden aura with arcs of electricityjust like a Super Saiyan. She decides to let Seika know what she’s decided to do regarding work; however, she quickly loses her nerve when the time comes to state her case. Seika and everyone else misunderstand Bocchi’s intentions and think she’s trying to figure out what to get Seika for her upcoming birthday, but she says she doesn’t want anything, because she prefers it when her presents are a surprise. After work, the band members accompany Bocchi to the Tokyo neighbourhood of Ochanomizu, the best place she could go to buy an instrument. Kita and Ryо̄ reveal that the area has historical significance because it was home to Japan’s oldest professional orchestra.
Shiny New Toy
The group enters a store at Nijika’s suggestion, and Bocchi imagines the kinds of scary interactions she could have with music store staff, so she enters the shop whilst headbanging to show that she’s really “down”. It’s hilarious and silly, but it works, and the staff direct her to the “heavy metal guitars” on the shop’s second level. While the guitarists gush over the various instruments in store, Nijika feels a little lonely as the group’s drummer, so she even tries to suggest that she buy a guitar of her own. Bocchi spots a gorgeous black guitar and falls in love with it, but since she’s overwhelmed from being in the store, she struggles to talk to the store clerk who tells her more about the custom-made Yamada that caught her attention. Bocchi is so overwhelmed that she loses strength and becomes a virtual puppet, so Bocchi-Expert Kita does all the talking for her. The clerk reveals that she hasan attachment to the guitaras she spent a lot of time doing maintenance on it, so she’s very fond of it.
Bocchi is overwhelmed by the clerk’s sincerity, so she thanks her for her service and rushes out, leaving the guitar behind. Nijika brings it to her not long later, relaying the store manager’s message inviting Bocchi back to the store sometime in the future. The group then leaves Bocchi to her device so that she can get to playing her new guitar. At home, Bocchi enjoys how her new guitar looks on her, but she starts to feel guilty about getting over her old one so soon. She puts the old one away with the rest of her music gear before heading off to school, ready to make more music together with Kessoku Band.
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