The Loneliness of Bocchi The Rock 

I am the loner, I guess. But I feel lonely sometimes.

​@@hieioni3354same, but i enjoy my alone time the most

@@Vaihly So you're like Ryo, huh?

@@hieioni3354 No im not musically talented, and im actually very talkative, i just like being alone

@@Vaihly Oh I meant Ryo likes to be alone. And that's nice that you're talkative. Do you like to talk on discord?

yeah this anime is strikes so close to home its scary. the number of anime or shows in general with characters that are as spot on with social anxiety and introverts is bocchi is next to nothing

Well thought out.

This is why I love bocchi; I had bad social anxiety and I relate sm to hitori. Ngl seeing a character like this makes me so happy and it's so comforting

As Bocchi states she's a fake introvert.

@@RedRocket4000 when did she say that?

@@RedRocket4000 she never said that

bocchi herself said she was an introvert, also did the therapist and psychologist who reviewed the show

​@@RedRocket4000 Regardless of her desire for more social interactions, it's clear that "hanging out with people" isn't her default status. She needs her time alone ton,"recharge"

kita with social anxiety?? tf are you smoking 💀💀💀💀💀

Yes exactly 🤩!! Kita does have some social anxiety bc she is always worried about what ppl think about her so she always tries to show her best side and when she thinks she could fail she runs away from problems bc she can’t deal with it, but her lvl of anxiety isn’t as devastating as Boochi, but everyone can feel some lvl of social anxiety no matter if they are introverts or extroverts 👌

Seen two comments on 2 different videos from you that start with “people need to understand” How about you enlighten us sir/ma’am

@Some Guy People need to understand that comments like you are extremely pointless and kinda sad. Comment about the video or reply about the comment is for more sensible person, but for someone like you who is trying to belittle on how the person who commented just for trying to feel better about yourself is just sad. Don't worry, I don't feel sad for you, it's just a sad fact that most people like to do.

@@qizeaqfile lmao belittle you? Bruh you’re overly emotional. Have a good day

It's not binary but rather a spectrum, Hitori is a moderated introvert while Ryou is extreme. You can see this how Gotou wants to socialize and be popular, but trembles at the idea of seeing Kita everyday of the winter vacation. People usually mistakes her symptoms with her begin more introverted than Ryou. The other girl is happy with just one friend and begin alone most of the time.

@@qizeaqfile you have issues

I'd say Kita's main character flaw and what you described feels closer to a severe lack of self-confidence and self-value. The reason she has so many friends is because due to her being the "popular girl", a talkative and athletic girl whose life goal is to make the others around her smile, she isn't really socially challenged by the environment around her, she can just "be herself", almost fading into the background as little more than the source of support she aims to be, and everyone claps. she never needed to grow into a better person because the environment around her "loved her the way she was", and as such nurtured positive but ultimately shallow interactions with others, and she never needed to become someone who loved herself, because her living to the benefit of others was enough. Kessoku Band forced Kita to become a better person, because the people on it were innately different from "her people". She was forced to face uncomfortable situations one after the other, from minor ones like her failure to convince people with her positivity to take the stairs in the Enoshima vacation episode to more major ones like her nearly jeopardizing Bocchi and the band with her signing them up to the school fes without prior consensus, without being able to take it back afterwards, and well, the entire "runaway guitarist" thing. There was a very clear distinction between her and everyone else, and that was painted very clearly through her complete lack of guitar knowledge starting out. And yet, those friendships that required her to change so she could be truly there for them ended up becoming by far the most impactful ones on her life. She's willing to spend the entirety of winter break with the band, because they're who she truly cares for. While her character growth has not helped her become an independent person yet, as she now made it her mission to become a better person for the sake of Bocchi and the band, instead of her own, you could still see a very clear distinction on what she was before and what she is now. She was able to improvise on the spot to help the band after realizing what had happened, which showed that despite what she said, she IS able to impress people on her own accord and on her own terms. She just needs help to look at that fact eye to eye. Her character flaws are not as obvious and crippling as Bocchi's, and yet they expertly mirror eachothers' and they grow alongside eachother.

literally two hours after making this comment, i just saw a *very* underrated video essay on BTR that put Kita's situation and her connections to Bocchi in better words than i could ever, and used a LOT more connections that i missed. Look up Bocchi the Rock, Existentialism and Answer by Hakuren.

Absolutely, imo. Chapter 41 of the manga, especially the third-to-last strip, really confirms it.

Yes, kita is extroverted and socially anxious, this isnt a theory, thats just kita, just go look at EuroBrad's review of the anime, literal therapist, kinda reaching with the abandonment issues tho

Well, you can choose to go out of your comfort zone slowly, and gradually try to change. You can do it :)

You literally described me.. Im the type of person that stays at my room every single day not communicating with other people.. and always only at my phone.. And during social gathering or even at parties, i just hope that i could go home soon so i can go back bed and relax.. But its not like i love being a loner, in fact i hate it.. i wanted to overcome it and try to practice socializing with other people. I dont want people to forget me, i want people to know a trace of my existence. I dont want people to think im not a normal person by not being able to talk. I dont dislike people, its just that at times, when im talking to someone, i dont usually know how to keep up the conversation.. and it makes things super awkward Like you, i like getting attention, but i hate it at the same time.. its like a mix of social anxiety and introversion.. thats why i relate to this anime so much. I just binged watch it today

@@NotaPlagueDoctor300 can I ask how old you are? In elementary school the teacher sent me off to get chalk from another class. So my social skills was 0, I can't disagree and so I had to go. The situation where Bocchi can't go in the starry was me at the door to the other class. I can't go in. I tried as hard I can, but every time I had to get chalk I can't go in. So I returned without chalk. I claimed they don't have chalk either, but they don't believe me (unexpetedly). To my 20s It was impossible for me to go to the salon (even this short line from Bocchi get's me), I had such BAD hairstyle, but it was harder for me to go to the salon as getting the jokes for my hair. Even shopping clothes was so hard and I can't do it bymyself. Also this time, the jokes are easier to live with. The strange about this, even with "friends", I can't grow myself. So I thought I'm a bad being. I can't do it better. And my mental health was getting worse every year. BUT... With people you KNOW they LIKE you. And people who support you, the life can get so much better. Today at 31, I still have this illness. And with the Covid-times it was getting worse, because my practise was getting lower. Now I have some troubles again, but I can shop for myself and go to the hair saloon, work by myself and talk to strangers. But after watching Bocchi I realized, that I have to do more, I realized that I stepped backwards the last years and my mental health is getting worse. And it's very hard, I don't deny. Anyway I have to do this because I'm like Bocchi. I'm no introvert, I'm an extrovert with social axiety and I want so much more self esteem to ridicule myself in the public and laugh about it. Today I tried to go bouldering with a friend. As I saw the walls, my whole motivation was blown away and I was sitting there, I don't dare to boulder. I have a fear of falling, but to ridicule myself with this fear was the problem why I can't do it. So I spent the day watching my friend and his brother bouldering and hating myself for this fail. So I have to do something else to pull more self esteem again. What I want to say is, it will be always there. But you can learn to live with it and with every situation you overcome with will be LESS hard at the next time. And if you have people who like you, maybe you can talk to them and try to get help. I tried to argue at weird situations why I had not to go alone, as I wasn't able to be honest and say that I have these problems and I can't. At the most situations it was possible to convince them. But how easy so many situations could have been when I had the abillity to talk to them, that I need help with this because I can't do it alone... Other thing: Get a hobby you can do by yourself but also with other. Like making music. I learned to play guitar and it gave me SO MUCH self esteem. Not that I have much, but from -1000 to +10 is a hard piece. The thing you can get from it is that other people are impressed even if you can't play really well. And it makes you think about you in an other way, a way where you are more valueable. And this is the biggest power what was getting me more self convident. Knowing I'm not useless in this world. And all step by step. Some steps will feel like it's not even a step, but maybe later you can see it was.

@@kampfkuchen91 jesus, you explained it very well. Thank you, have a good day

@@NotaPlagueDoctor300 I hope it will help you a bit and you can overcome in more and more situations. One thing I will add is, I never talked to my people about that. Until yesterday. Normally another friend is in this boulder-group and he wanted also to see me boulder. But he is injured and was angry he can't be there. So I wrote him "luckily you are not here", he asked if I had trouble or fail hard. So we wrote about it, but I had to argue around my problems, because no one needs to know. Then he said, that everybody have their own package to take. That he had times where he can't go out because of anxiety. Cannot go to concerts because of it, but he wanted so much. So he has to go small steps to do it and today, even if he has sometimes this fears, he do it anyway and is luckily he did it. This was the moment for me where my mind was blown away, there's another dude in this group that has so much trouble to do such simple things, that I tell him about my fears and this fucking anxiety, stopping me to have fun so many times. There are many people out there, who have bad anxieties and the most of them don't tell anybody and you don't know because if they hadn't grown from it, you can't see them. And he's not a guy where I thought "Okay, this is not surprising me", it surprises me alot. The funny thing about this conversation was, that he was surprised because he was thinking, that I don't care what people think about me. And that's the base-point of this anxiety (for me), the fear what people can think about me in a bad way. I don't know if I can happy about it because I don't look like that, but maybe it's just a self protection. Anyway, I had to laugh about it. So think about it, you are not alone. Bocchi was the wake up call for me, that this is concerning so much people, that they do a fucking anime about it and portrayed it that I was thinking they are showing me my own life. If you want to talk about it, I'm here.

You will be fine. You can deal with it one thing at a time :)

You can sort of overcome your social anxiety, your introversion however is something you will live on with, gotta learn to live with it, you are not that person. dont say you cant look at people, you are stopping yourself, stop creating a narrative for yourself, stop saying ¨I am¨, you dont have to be, it isnt your identity

And writers combine the two because they are ignorant like the public. But yes social anxiety and shyness can be cured so you have lots of character growth to write about. Stable people are a lot harder to write about thus the stable introvert rarely shows up.

@@RedRocket4000 they combine the 2 because you van be both tf are you saying, and introversion cannot be cured, also introversion is not at all the same as shyness, you ignorant yourself it seems

@@RedRocket4000 I don’t think the writers were confused about the two, otherwise they wouldn’t have a character like Ryo in a show with another introvert precisely to show the difference between the two.

Love to hear it, I think it's fine to be introverted and value time to yourself but I think everyone needs interaction with others to some capacity and surrounding yourself with people who care about you is the best thing you can have in life

Exactly!

Bro's just like me fr fr

You are still an introvert. Everyone has a quota of social interaction they need, even introverts. Introverts have a lower quota compared to extroverts. Desiring human interaction doesn’t disqualify you from being an introvert.

@@pramitpratimdas8198 well that quota has gone up massively

Yes she's and example like Ryo of the true introvert as Bocchi points out wanting tons of alone time but able to function well in public and groups when needed. In movie you see Rin working in an office with co workers no problems

@@RedRocket4000 I need to watch that.

yes, why do people not understand? she can cure her social anxiety but she will never stop being introverted, she must accept that and live on with it

It says 陰キャ (Inkya, the kanji being the same as in Yin and Yang) in the Japanese voice, which would indeed be usually translated as "introvert" by most people.

The key ticker I use to figure that Bocchi is at least somewhat introverted comes from the end of Episode 1, when she gets invited to an afterparty and she peaces out because she's emotionally exhausted from having been around people for so long. Granted, I'm sure that social anxiety can cause that reaction on its own, but I find that to be one halfof the defining characteristic of my own introversion.

Social anxiety isn't a very well know illness, so a LOT of people mistakes it for introversion or shyness.

Yes and no because it does not match Bochi's dreams of herself the confident in public social person. She see this as a out not realizing that person is a Ryo they bear with public appearances as part of the job but avoid the public and large gatherings except when they preform.

Bocchi is introverted, i dont know where you people are getting the idea she cant be socially anxious and introverted when you can be both, they are completely unrelated, infact look at kita who is also socially anxious but is extroverted, difference being, bocchi wants to avoid social interaction and kita wants to appeal as much as she can too people, they are presented as polar opposites but they are both very similar. How is this still debated A FUCKING PSICHOLOGYST AND A THERAPIST HAVE ALREADY REACTED TO THE SHOW, they agree with this

To early to say as that does not match her dreams and her awareness that part of her might be an attention monster. So does what she can do a small step. As she overcomes that tiredness will go away. Ryo is the true introvert and the trip did not wear her out.

being introverted doesnt mean you get worn out by social interaction, it means you spend more time on your thoughts than with the people you are with, dont know who is the mofo that said introversion meant you got worn out when with others, bocchi is the literal definition of introversion, she literally gets trapped in her thoughts all the time its a running gag even

@@RedRocket4000 my brother in christ read my comment

K-On was special precisely because it didn’t have growth arcs. It was a show about normal people going through change even when things don’t seem to change. Even in Liz and Blue Bird it’s hard to say the characters grew in a positive way even though they changed. That being said the show’s creators were definitely aware the K-On comparisons were inevitable. That’s why their approach was so radically opposed to industry standards, just like K-On did a decade back

I appreciate the rant!! I think it's understandable to mix up the two but yeah that's really why I wanted to make the video because I think the series is saying a lot of interesting things about the distinction between the two and I think it's just great perspective to have even just for the real world.

Look for profissional help I was diagnosticated at 14 but due to multiple reasons never treated myself It kept getting worse and peaked at 18. Except the passing out part I was just like Hitori fr. 6 months in University without talking to anyone, then a extroverted adopted me. Only at 23 that I can resemble a functional human begin, mostly due to work. Well, the only other tip I can give is: pratice small talk. Give good day to cashiers and other people that will reply for sure. Eventually you may be able to have a conversation with a classmate/workmate.

@@TheEmolano thanks for the advise ill look for help around but it is very hard as i cant even stand saying a few words to anyone who isnt from my family. and ive been worried i might be wasting "my best years" I just imagine myself at an older age with no one around just completely alone and it kinda scares me.

Rule 1: every girl is best girl in bochi the rock

I find terms like ambivert and omnivert so silly.

what the hell does this even mean

I believe it's moreso because ぼ should be pronounced with a softer o, like in Bottle or Bob rather than the harder O seen in Bow or Boat

He's pronouncing it as "bow" instead of "Bo"

he *is* pronouncing it wrong tho the o in 'bo' is more like the o in 'bot' or 'song', not the o in 'bow' or 'road' and the 'cch' in 'cchi' should be duplicated so what hes saying sounds like "bow-chee" whereas its supposed to be "boh-cchee" (/bottɕi/ rather than /boʊtʃi/ if you can read that)

@Kasreti I agree that he's definitely not pronouncing the double consonant in "cchi" right, so I guess I have to back down. And his o in "bo" is a bit long as a result. Honestly his accent is butchering the pronunciation for him. However if what you're saying is that the "bo" should sound like "bah" then I'll have to disagree there. Just listen to how the cast of the show say it. It's ぼっち (bocchi), not ばっち (bacchi). If it I misunderstood, then ignore all that plz lol

Completely wrong here bro, extroverts in fact can experience social anxiety, for example, if there is trauma or shometing that makes people feel unconfrtable in a social envioroment, this trauma can trigger social anxiaty. Stop thinking social anxiaty its exclusive for introverts, thats just so stereotypical and wrong.

@@OngakuVV You're describing PTSD, not social anxiety. Having panic attacks in public =/= social anxiety.

@@starless267 While i agree on your point. I just find so uninformed your first statement in saying that extrovert people cant have social anxiety, it seems that you are trying to say that they are immune or something, let me tell you something, social anxiety is a disorder, just like ptsd, and everyone can have it, being extrovert does not make you have superpowers againts it

@@OngakuVV Yes, it's disorder, but introverts have it most of the time. Social anxiety is really rare with extroverts and it usually only happens in single cases, under specific circumstances and it isn't constant. People that don't communicate with other people all the time are most likely to have troubles when it comes to social interactions.

Mans just backpedaled from "no such thing as extrovert with social anxiety" to "Social anxiety is really rare with extroverts". Character development, love to see it.