Bought Bocchi the Rock Vol 3 manga at Minotaur. Started reading it on the train home. I got Vol 3 only because they didn’t have Vols 1 or 2, which I would’ve bought. I like that it takes us past the material in the anime. It’s what’s called a four panel manga. You read it down the page then move on from right to left. As should be apparent by now, I like the whole manga/anime dichotomy – experiencing the same story in different media.
After managing to get Vols 1 and 2 I finished the first volume of Bocchi the Rock manga. It was nice to go back to the beginnings of the story, which make up most of the first season of the anime. There were of course some differences from the anime, mostly omissions the anime filled in. The origins of Hitori’s social anxiety aren’t detailed in the manga. And that terrific moment when she plants her foot and lets loose during Kessoku Band’s first tryout at Starry is not really specified in the manga.
I finished Volume Two of Bocchi the Rock manga. It finishes pretty much where the first season of the series ended with Hitori-san buying a new guitar and the band entering a festival competition. It was interesting seeing how the manga compared to the anime. The anime was pretty faithful to it, including pretty much all the same beats.
I finished reading the Bocchi volume 3 manga I’d read before. I wanted to re-read it after getting up to speed with volume 2, and I’d forgotten a lot of the details. It looks like they will be making a second season, so we’ll get to see this manga animated, and I can’t wait. Bocchi and her Kessoku Band members are still preparing for the big festival competition, writing a new song called Gloomy Goodbye, making a music video for it, and doing some street gigs. Some new characters come along, including Yoyoko, the leader of metal band Sideros, who’s a classic tsundere who both helps and criticises Kessoku Band. The final sequence where they play a club in Ikebukuro on a bill with a death metal band, a cutesy idol group and a lame-o old dude is a definite highlight. I stayed in Ikebukuro a few nights in Japan, so I like to think they were playing just down the road from my hotel. Damn, I missed them!
I finished reading the fourth volume of Bocchi the Rock manga. The Unidentified Riot arc comes to a conclusion. After the winnowing process does Kessoku Band get to perform? Not gonna say! But I can say they get a record contract with an indie company, which takes them into new and promising directions. There’s even a beach sequence that’s as cliched as every other anime and manga beach sequence (hello K-On!), with the exception that the girls don’t end up in an onsen.
I’ve started the fifth volume of Bocchi the Rock and I’m really enjoying it. I like where the story’s going for the Kessoku Band girls. They’re working on songs for their recording company, dealing with new work buddies, going on shopping and eating sprees. Hitori seems to be growing out of her social anxiety – well, seems. Progress is slow, but she’s getting there.
I finished volume five of the Bocchi the Rock manga. The dynamic between drummer Nijika and her older sister Seika is explored more in this one. They share a tragic past (mum died) leading Seika to take over the mother role, especially since the mother asked her to look after Nijika just before she died. It’s a fairly standard trope, but a good one. The new season two anime series should be coming out soon, but it probably won’t feature any of this storyline, which comes later (unless they shoehorn it in).