Bocchi the Rock S2! - Discussion and Predictions
Written by Rei Caldombra 2/16/25 Video: https://youtu.be/_sra8Ebu1i0
Hello, Rei Caldombra here. If you don’t know already, I am a massive fan of Bocchi the Rock. I adore these characters and the excellent comedy and writing surrounding them. Along with the anime’s absolutely fantastic production. This is one of my favorite series period. I’ve been doing casual reviews of the manga chapters if you want to check those out (I’ll have the latest chapter review up next week), and I will certainly be doing more on Bocchi the Rock in general. I’m so hyped that season 2 is finally officially happening!
I want to give my thoughts on the information surrounding season 2 and talk about what the contents of S2 will likely be. I’ll start out talking in general without getting into specifics on the contents of the manga, but will get into spoiler territory later for anyone who has been reading the manga or wants to get a glimpse into what is coming up. Without being specific, I can tell you that the quality of the content is very good. Great new character, satisfying progression for the band, and great development for the Kessoku Band members as characters.
Let’s discuss what information we do know. What I want to impress upon y’all is that there is no reason to panic, be optimistic. Don’t dwindle your hype unnecessarily because of assumptions. I think the anime will still have the creative direction and high production quality of the 1st, and that needing to wait is not something to complain about.
It is true that the head director for S1 will not be doing S2. Some people are already doom and gloom about this change as the fantastic direction is a big reason why S1 was so great, but please don’t jump to conclusions and be pessimistic unnecessarily. The person who is directing season 2 was the assistant director for season 1. He already has experience with Bocchi the Rock and has worked on other good projects. I’m confident that he will do a good job continuing the style of the first. I encourage y’all to not fall into conspiracy theories about why he isn’t returning. A ton of different factors contribute to this that we can only get so much information about. One thing we do know from a recent interview with the original staff is that there were initially no plans for a sequel season. So S1 was created with that in mind, and once it was done the staff went on to other things not knowing S2 was going to get greenlit. We also shouldn’t assume they would discourage the staff from making it like S1. It is near universally praised as an achievement and was a huge hit by all metrics for this kind of series. It’s possible that the high effort production of the first was too costly to do again, but we do not need to make that assumption and over the course of years we cannot guess where CloverWorks will be financially and creatively on large. At least from a creative standpoint, I see no reason to be concerned.
Next, we can talk about the timeline. We have no idea about when exactly to expect it, but please understand that it is years away. I am not an expert on studio production schedules, but we know that CloverWorks has a lot in production already that have been announced before this. @kirara_erotaku on twitter made a good image about this.
Translation is “Yay! Season 2 decided/confirmed!”
Basically with Bocchi the Rock season 2 officially starting production, you can say that figuratively Bocchi is standing at the back of the line behind multiple other series. Yes, studios do often work on multiple things at the same time, but they still have to put the most into what is releasing the soonest in order. Anime studios tend to work with very strict deadlines, and we see what happens when the needed amount of love and care isn’t given. Especially when the production quality is very high like with Bocchi the Rock season 1. Please remember how creatively varied the visuals were between real life footage, actual props, using stop motion, and just generally fantastic art and animation quality. If you want S2 to look like S1, you don’t want them to rush it. I expect we have 3 years to wait bare minimum, and I’m expecting more like 5. I understand that it stinks to wait and that you desperately want it, but this is how it is. I’ll wait as long as needed if it means we get a similar production quality to S1. Besides, it’s not like Bocchi the Rock is an anime original.
I want to take this time to encourage y’all to read the manga if you are desperate for more Bocchi asap, rather than moping around about the anime being far in the future. I know many people, especially in the English-speaking community, do not read a lot of manga. Many just stick to anime for the most part. And I get it, I also prefer anime and watch a lot more than I do read. But I would like to remind the anime-only Bocchi fans that the manga exists and is very good. The great characters, comedy, designs and writing are still there, and you can read it right now. The official translated volumes are caught up to volume 6, which will take you through what season 2 will cover and very likely the majority if not all of what a 3rd would. If you sail the high seas or read the official chapters in Japanese, you can read up to what a 4th season would cover. If you just want more Bocchi, you don’t have to wait. If you don’t like reading manga and want to wait, there’s nothing wrong with that. But acting like the anime is the only way to enjoy this series and complaining about how long it will take is just ignorant and silly. Give it a try. My best recommendation for those who are willing to- buy volume 3 of the manga, and if you can’t get into it like you did with the anime, just donate the book and go back to waiting. You’ll have given it a proper chance. And even if you didn’t like it enough, in the end, you’ll have financially supported the series and spread its influence through a donation. It’s a win win situation regardless of if you want to keep reading the manga.
Now to get into spoiler territory, I’m going to talk about what some of the focuses of S2 will be and try to predict around where it will end off. I will be talking about characters and events, but not every single detail or anything that comes after where I expect S2 to cover. So if you have not read the manga and want a taste of what’s to come, feel free to continue on. No pressure though, so for anyone who wants no spoilers, thanks for reading!
Nijika looking at a wonderful person.
Ok let’s get into predictions and talking about the manga in detail. S1 covered the first 21 chapters of the manga, which is most of the first 2 volumes. It’s safe to expect the next season to cover roughly the same amount of ground and again be 12 episodes. So I’m thinking it will cover ~20-30 chapters.
I expect S2 to start exactly where S1 left off, starting with chapter 22. It won’t have to skip anything and it works perfectly as an opening. The contents of this chapter give them a natural opportunity to do some recap and introduces the first new important character of this stretch of the story- Aiko Sato, aka Poison Yami.
This is the first character in Bocchi the Rock that you can consider antagonistic. She is a blogger and freelance journalist who specializes in bands and music. She is not a bad person, but she is a bit nasty and demeaning towards Kessoku Band. She is also very chaotic, I’d consider her a gremlin for her personality and her design. She is the first person in the series who presents some personal challenge to Kessoku Band. Some people are not going to like her at first. But she comes around and will have a supporting role for the rest of the series. I like her as a character and feel adding one who can push Kessoku Band was a good move.
And she is actually not the only person introduced in this portion of the manga that people may also dislike initially but ends up as a very lovable character. We will also get into Yoyoko Ohtsuki, who is also a prominent character for the rest of the manga. For the anime onlys, you have actually seen her already.
She was in S1 episode 10 in the venue Sick Hack played at. She didn’t have any lines and was only there for a few seconds, but it’s cool to see how she will look already. She is the guitarist and vocalist for her band Sideros. She looks up to Kikuri Hiroi like a mentor and older sister, and designated Kessoku Band as their band rival. She is very much a tsundere who struggles with insecurity and wanting success. She also presents some challenge to Kessoku Band and has a supportive role. I also like her, but when it comes to the community, she is a true fan favorite as far as I can tell. For all the shipping fans out there, you will be eating. She is heavily shipped in the community and there is noticeable intent for that by the manga itself. You can argue that she competes with Kita as a “canon/intentional” ship with Bocchi. Especially if you look at art from the manga, such as from the covers.
I’m thinking the main event for the season will be the Mikakunin Riot Festival, with a lot of this stretch of the story building towards this event. This put Kessoku Band on a much bigger stage than the festival and shows the growth they went through from a small band to one that has earned the right to play alongside other bands on a real stage. I think 45 will be the best chapter to end on, as it is the perfect spot to wrap up a season. Chapter 44 gives us their performance at the festival, which the anime can use as it’s big climactic finish like the school festival performance in S1 ep 12.
Your reminder that the manga also looks awesome and you should read it
Chapter 45 concludes the character arc of Aiko Sato, with her properly respecting all members of Kessoku Band. Additionally, chapter 45 ends with Kessoku Band getting an offer to join a label, which can serve as a triumphant moment to end on that also leaves you wanting to know what happens next. Or it could be left out for a potential strong start to S3. Season 1 was made with the assumption it would be the only season, which makes the open end fitting. There’s no way to reliably predict if we would ever get a S3 or beyond, but maybe they will have more of a consideration towards a 3rd. And even if not, ending with something that pushes people to buy the manga more still makes sense. If my prediction is correct, S2 will cover about 24 chapters, which is close enough to 21 to not cause much issues with pacing. Season 1 stretches many moments in the manga, and like many adaptations does have some minor moments it skips. I’m sure it’ll be like this again too, so if I am correct, I am not concerned with pacing.
So to end this out, I’m super hyped and optimistic for what’s to come! Focus on the positives and wait for us to get closer to make assumptions about how the anime will turn out. If you can’t wait, please check out the manga. It’s great too, I promise.
Thank you for reading! I linked my first review of the Bocchi the Rock Manga chapters below. Next week I will have the most recent chapter review up, which is 84. Please stick around if you enjoyed! I’ll continue to show my love and appreciation for this series.
My first chapter review: Bocchi the Rock Ch. 76 Review - Anxious Heart to Heart — Blog Under a Log
My Patreon if you’d like to support me and the website: patreon.com/ReiCaldombra As a free member you can get notifications for when I post here and when I do videos on Youtube. As a paid member, you can vote in any polls I have running in the future plus see art pieces I have commissioned for myself (Rei Caldombra). Any support is very much appreciated though, monetary or not :)
Nijika Ryo and Kita in thumbnail by @gar32drawshit Gar32 on X: "https://t.co/YOsc6uua3h" / X
Bocchi in thumbnail is official promotional art
