AquamarineGem

Hitori Gotoh, “Bocchi-san”, always dreamed of forming her own musical band - a place where even introverts can shine brightly and radiantly through their shared passion for music. However, her greatest obstacle was overcoming her social anxiety - which makes it difficult for Bocchi-san to communicate and interact with others. She prefers dark and cramped places. She is often overwhelmed with too much social interaction. She often avoids eye contact, and averts her eyes when facing others. Initially, her classmates find it difficult to interact, communicate, and befriend her. Bocchi-chan even commutes 2 hours to school to avoid encountering her old school mates.

One day, the cheerful and youthful Nijika Ichiji offers Bocchi-chan the opportunity to join her band as a much needed guitarist alongside the introverted Ryo Yamada. They gather to  play an instrumental melody in the venue owned by Ichiji’s older sister. The extroverted and social Ikuyo Kita later joins as the band’s final member. Ikuyo Kura has a deep admiration towards Ryo Yamada. The quartet of musicians (Nijika, Bocchi-san, Ikuyo, and Ryo) work hard to meet to pay off their band’s quota by serving drinks and food while servicing their customers. This anime illustrates the challenges of forming a band including recruiting members, meeting quotas, advertising, and appealing to audiences. The amateurish band must work hard to polish their musical performances by sharpening their skills and talent.

In summary, Bocchi the Rock had a very interesting, unique and realistic portrayal of social anxiety, and introversion. The band members learn to appreciate Bocchi-san despite her flaws and weaknesses upon dealing with social anxiety and introvertism. This anime may teach you to appreciate yourself despite your flaws and weaknesses. Even anti social people can find multiple perspectives to enjoy life.