Bocchi the Rock Ch. 86 Review - A Wild Tiger Appears
Written by Rei Caldombra 4/1/25 Previous chapter: Bocchi the Rock Ch. 84 + 85 - Interviews and Cars — Blog Under a Log
We start out this chapter with Ame and Bocchi meeting up during Golden Week. It took a long time for them to set up this meeting though. Yeah, two quiet and awkward people trying to interact certainly makes for a slower conversation. Especially if they are both people who are trying to act trendy and cool rather than honest. I have been in this situation a lot, being a fairly awkward and quiet person who is also friends with a lot of similar people who tend to take awhile to respond like I do.
The purpose of the meeting is to get Ame some experience playing with other people (reminder that she was a complete shut in before). It was back in chapter 81 that Ame decided to make a band with Oyama and Hinata. This came about in the heat of the moment of her standing up for herself and breaking out of her comfort zone. Now she is starting to regret it, as that is a big undertaking to go through with two people you don’t properly know or match with. But this is clearly meant to be another parallel between Bocchi and Ame, because that’s exactly what Bocchi did. She joined Kessoku Band in the heat of the moment while barely knowing anything about Nijika and Ryo.
While talking the poor introverts are suddenly called out to and accosted by someone with a big personality. Here we’re introduced to a new character, Hyouko from the band Namba Girls!
She is a loud, impatient person with a friendly but intense personality and a Kansai accent. Design wise we see her wearing a baseball Jersey, has hair dyed blonde outside of her roots, and with one eye mostly covered. Her band will be playing with Bocchi’s in Osaka during the tour. Honestly, she fits my tastes a lot lol. I like this kind of direct and talkative person, and don’t mind getting loud (while not the exact same personality and design wise, Hyouko reminds of Oozaru Subaru, one of my Hololive oshis. She is like a gyaru Subaru kinda?). We don’t know much about her but I’m under the impression she is an adult. Yet another quality waifu from Bocchi the Rock. She is loud enough that people nearby are giving her glances. She assumes Ame is a member of the band, but being the timid person she is, she goes along with it and pretends to be Ryo rather than try to explain that she is someone else. This is funny and a few jokes are made later to follow up on this.
The introverts try to escape after Hyouko introduces herself, but she wants to be shown around Shimokitazawa. So she asks the girls to take her to the big spots. Bocchi wants to be a good senpai and protect Ame from this situation, but she caves to the immense pressure and agrees to show her around. Here’s some food for the Bokita fans, Bocchi does not feel comfortable returning to the famous stores she previously went to with the band. Ryo is her weird Ryo self, but Nijika is reliable in normal social situations along with Kita who obviously handles all social situations like the professional extrovert she is. But Bocchi specifically says she won’t go in without Kita rather than without the band or with Nijika too. So, she thinks of Kita as the most comfortable person to go be in public with.
A little detail in this panel I love is that Ame gets excited over the concrete pipes that Bocchi shows off.
This could be a result of her idolizing Bocchi and therefore appreciating her frequented spots, and her reclusively also making her enjoy good damp and dark spots to hide away. I just thought this was really cute. Hyouko is not impressed with Bocchi’s depressing pitstops though.
On their tour Hyouko makes them stop for okonomiyaki. I’m a fan of okonomiyaki, having had it a few times in Japan, but I have never tried cooking it myself. It’s a savory pancake generally made of cabbage, batter, and a protein like seafood or pork with a sauce and fish flakes on top. Highly recommend giving it a try in Japan. I didn’t know it was most well known in the Kansai region of Japan, specifically Osaka apparently. I’m always happy when manga and anime make me want to additional research on something I like and learn more about it. Speaking of food from the Kansai region, Takoyaki is another excellent comfort street food I cannot recommend enough. Turns out that Hyouko was suppose to participate in Mikakunin Riot, the event from some time ago in the manga that season 2 of the anime may very well focus on. I talked about it in my Bocchi the Rock S2! - Discussion and Predictions.
Hyouko has some genuinely great advice for the upcoming tour that she imparts onto Bocchi. Basically, it’s inevitable on a trip that everyone’s habits will clash and cause some frustration. It’s incredibly important for this to not put the driver into a bad mood, so pamper them. The earlier part of that is seriously important to consider when you are planning trips with friends and family. Don’t underestimate how different it is to spend effectively all day for days in a row with people you usually don’t spend more than a single afternoon or evening with. You may go from loving to hating a person over the course of a trip. This is the main reason why it is important for people in a committed relationship to go on a long trip together before they do anything like moving in and getting married. Because it’s very easy to underestimate how much someone’s unlikable habits will wear on you when you are dealing with them constantly. I really hope Bocchi actually tells all this to Nijika like she says she will. But it would also make for a very funny future chapter if we get to see the characters bicker. I’m super down for an entire chapter to be spent on the traveling itself, or at least not be skipped over every time they go from one area to another.
Hyouko also takes the girls to a baseball game with her favorite team from Osaka playing. Her already strong intensity only gets stronger when it comes to baseball. It’s her favorite sport, she was named after this team, and baseball allegiance is where she may even draw the line for who she can work with. She even managed to get Bocchi and Ame to yell during the game to throw off the other team. Her energy is super intense so it makes sense for them to continue folding to her whims. Bocchi can barely even handle Kita’s extroverted energy sometimes, this is a whole level above that. And Ame has certainly not built up the endurance yet like Bocchi has.
To wrap things up- Hyouko is another fun addition to the minor cast who I hope we get to see a lot more from! And I am enjoying how we are getting some buildup to the tour. This helps to better establish that this really is a big deal and a tough new experience.
Thanks for reading!
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Discussing Season 2’s announcement: Bocchi the Rock S2! - Discussion and Predictions — Blog Under a Log
