Bocchi the Rock!

Episode 6

Bocchi needs help. I think that's something we can all agree on.

Like sure, it's funny to see this pink panic-attack-made-human sublimate into plasma whenever she has to place an order at McDonald's. It can be both amusing and deeply cathartic to see relatable struggles play out via a viscously animated cartoon character who can perfectly express how it feels to have your brain melt in the face of social interaction. But anyone who's struggled with the kind of anxiety Bocchi does knows that climbing out of that hole is an excruciating process that only gets more intimidating the more your already cortisol-riddled brain turns it over inside your skull. So far Bocchi has gotten some much-needed support from her bandmates, but there's only so much the power of friendship can really do on its own, especially when your friends are no wiser than you. So if our heroine was ever going to conquer the challenge of selling tickets to strangers, she'll need assistance from outside her immediate circle.

In classic Bocchi fashion, she finds that help through a serendipitous meeting with a hungover disaster of a woman who may actually be more unwell than Bocchi herself. Kikuri (I realize she wasn't actually named this episode, but I gotta have a name to actually write here, ya dig?) is a total wreck. She stumbles into Bocchi's life after an all night bender, starts her morning off with a half dozen sake juice boxes, then decides midway through the day that she might as well just stay up til the night and power chug her way through it. She has shark teeth, a side ponytail, and plays bass. She provides us with a god damn Strong Zero screen wipe as a scene transition. She's a chaotic mess in every sense of the word, and I absolutely adore her.

Partly that's thanks to being an amazing confluence of aesthetic decisions, but mostly it's because she's both the best and worst person Bocchi could receive guidance from. See, while Kikuri at first seems like a massively irresponsible party monster, we get that effervescent Bocchi mix of relatable and dark humor when she reveals the drinking is mostly an escape from her own anxieties. She doesn't have the same issues as Bocchi, seeming to worry more about the larger fate of the world and her place in it, but nonetheless she's another person coping with brain poison, and has simply chosen to poison that brain right back to keep herself. It's not exactly a healthy move – and one Bocchi is thankfully not interested in picking up – but that tinge of sadness behind the goofy exterior is what makes her such an engaging mentor for this episode. It assures us that when she drags Bocchi into the spotlight, it's not because she's dismissing the girl's fears as frivolous, but because she's been there herself and understands that some lessons only come when you put yourself out there.

And by god does that lesson hit hard. I'll admit that while I was loving Kikuri, the actual flow and humor of this episode was feeling a little lackluster, at least by the show's mile-high standard. It was still funny and charming, but also felt like we were hitting beats we'd already worn through. Then Bocchi and Kikuri started playing, and about two minutes later I was flat on my back, sobbing while Bocchi the Rock! stood over me with a stern warning that I should never doubt it again. I promise, show, I have learned my lesson just as Bocchi has.

It's such a simple lesson too. Of course the people around you aren't constantly judging you or laughing at you behind your back. Who the hell has the time or energy to waste on that when we're all busy taking care of our own lives? But when you're trapped in your own self-loathing, it's so easy to believe that everyone else sees all the deep, inescapable flaws you're convinced are carved into your soul. Yet for a few precious seconds – just half a song – that needling voice of self-loathing inside Bocchi's head is drowned out by the strumming of guitar chords and the kind words of a stranger. Even if it's just with one eye open, she sees the world around her for what it is, and finds a human warmth she didn't ever think possible. It's a truly sublime moment that captures the heart of this story and character so tenderly, even as it tempers it with a joke at the end, and it put any thoughts of this being a weaker episode well out of mind.

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Bocchi the Rock! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.