Kessoku Band performed at Starry last episode and they also happen to be in the tail end of their summer vacation from school so for this episode, they’re taking things nice and easy apart from work and practice. In fact, they haven’t scheduled their next concert. For all I know, they probably don’t have the money for it. Bocchi hopes to hang out with her bandmates though to her chagrin, no one has yet to invite her. To her credit, Bocchi tries to contact her friends though she stops herself for a couple reasons such as the timing or the likelihood that she’d need to set the time and place herself. Talk about relatable. The days soon pass by until everyone is on their last day of vacation and Bocchi becomes so depressed even by her own standards. There’s a couple of good jokes here such as Bocchi watching a video on black holes, which is fitting given the figurative black hole Bocchi is currently in herself.
On the last day, Seika asks Nijika, Ryo, and Kita if they’ve hung out with Bocchi, causing the latter three to finally realize that they haven’t this entire time. Props for Seika for doing that for Bocchi though I’m with Nijika that she could’ve brought this up a lot earlier. While it almost feels like a crime to have neglected Bocchi, everyone has their excuses. Kita was busy hanging out with her other friends and is afraid of them making Bocchi uncomfortable. Nijika was preoccupied with housework, working at Starry, and band practice. Ryo figured Kita or Nijika would hang out with Bocchi (which is the lamest excuse out of the three but this is Ryo we’re talking about). While the three of them can’t exactly make up for lost time, they still have one day left in their vacation so. Per Kita’s suggestion, they decide to take Bocchi out on a trip to Enoshima.
While taking the train to Enoshima, there’s a fun moment where Nijika, Ryo, and Kita talk about school (Bocchi is still too depressed to converse with everyone). Kita points out that Nijika and Ryo go to a prestigious school and find out that neither girl is an ace student. That Ryo is actually dumb is something we and most of the characters in the show has known for a long time but this is the first time Kita is face to face with this reality. Needless to say, this conflicts with her image of Ryo as the coolest senpai ever. I doubt Kita will stop simping from this point forward but it would be funny if this heartbreak of hers is here to say. Well, if Ryo doesn’t work out for her, maybe she’ll hook up with Bocchi instead. That would explain all the Bocchi x Kita fanart I keep seeing on Twitter (I’m convinced this is the show’s most popular ship).
I think the most surprising thing about this episode is that it isn’t a beach episode. The girls do go to the beach but they’re only there for like a minute. They don’t even change into swimsuits. I’m surprised at this because years of anime, especially CGDCT has conditioned me to just expect a full on beach episode. What we instead have is Kessoku Band touring around some of the different points of interest in Enoshima such as Enoshima Shrine and the Enoshima Sea Candle. Kita encourages the whole gang to walk up the Enoshima Shrine’s stairs, insisting that the scenery will be more worthwhile if they work their way to see them. They try for a bit but hilariously, everyone besides Kita is like “screw that” and decides to take the Enoshima Escar instead. I want to say Kita plays the role of the straight man but I side more with the others so maybe she’s the crazy one instead. Another funny moment is when Kessoku Band goes to the top of the Sea Candle, only to immediately go back down to ground level, much to Kita’s chagrin. The view from that high up really looks nice and most of the characters here don’t care. I guess Kita is the only one who frequently goes outside.
Because this show hates its titular protagonist so much, this trip around Enoshima wouldn’t be complete without Bocchi suffering. The poor girl goes through so much. She gets hit on by strangers, she’s forced to pay for Ryo (and this isn’t even the first time Ryo owes her money), and she literally gets attacked by a bunch of birds. After the trip, her muscles get sore from the initial climb up the Enoshima Shrine. It wouldn’t be BOCCHI THE ROCK! without Bocchi getting beaten up in some way but man, even on her break, this girl can’t catch a break. Despite all of that, Bocchi still considers the trip to be fun. She finally got to hang out with her friends and she gets to end her vacation on a more positive or at least more eventful note before going back to school. Something that I noticed is that Bocchi particularly thanks Kita for the trip. Admittedly, I might only be noticing it because I just mentioned the Bocchi x Kita ship so my mind is suddenly scrounging for subtext that explains its popularity. That said, the trip was Kita’s idea so it’s a neat to have Bocchi reassures her that the trip was worth doing, especially given all the mishaps that happened during it.
At the end of the episode, the show provides a hook regarding Kessoku Band’s next endeavor. Bocchi and Kita’s school, Shuka High, is about to hold its annual culture festival and it will be accepting participants to perform on stage at is gymnasium. That’s fitting as one of Bocchi’s goals back in Episode 1 was to perform at a culture festival. Seeing as how she’s in a band now, I doubt she’ll sleep on this opportunity. I’m assuming this will be saved for the series finale. If so, it’ll be a nice way to bring Bocchi’s story full circle.
Watch BOCCHI THE ROCK! on Crunchyroll and VRV (via Crunchyroll)
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