The following contains spoilers for Bocchi the Rock! Episode 4, “Jumping Girl(s)”, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Bocchi The Rock!’s fourth episode brings Hitori Gotou an important message about the value of being her genuine self. From the photos she’s featured in to her lyricism, Hitori is proof that just being herself is what people love about her. Her bandmates and the audiences of the show love her for her natural personality and the hilarious socially awkward moments and thoughts that she has throughout the series.
This appreciation of one’s uniqueness is the same for each bandmate. Nijika wanted Ryo as her bass player because she loved the way she played, Ryo respects Nijika because she’s direct and honest, and Ikuyo looks up to Ryo because of Ryo’s high self-esteem and rare unisex appearance. Each band member of Kessoku Band appreciates each other for what makes them different. Hitori’s social awkwardness and loneliness aren’t flaws, rather, these are her untapped strengths as a person and for her musical career going forward.
Bocchi the Rock!’s Powerful Self Love Exploration
Much of Hitori’s social anxiety stems from her perception that she’s not good enough. This is why at the beginning of the series, Hitori’s strategy of making friends is to bring things that would make her seem interesting, such as her guitar and music albums. This insecurity is also the reason why she starts to overanalyze every present or future social situation.
The way she effortlessly makes comedy out of her social anxiety and how relatable her uncomfortable social moments are to many viewers is exactly why people are drawn to her. The exaggerated moments when she loses her mind are some of the best moments of the series, making her natural awkwardness her biggest strength. This is subtly shown when the band takes promotional pictures together. Hitori has the honest melodramatic look, while Ryo is cool and aloof, Nijika is her energetic self, and Ikuyo is natural idol material. Each of their uniqueness is what makes them stand out.
Episode 4 Offers a Lesson In Learning To Love Your Flaws
The idea of one’s uniqueness being a strength is hammered home when Ryo meets Hitori in the cafe and they talk about her lyrics. While Hitori’s lyrics end up exceptional according to Ryo, she brings up a good point about bands giving up being genuine in order to get more sales. This is how the slang “selling out” came into existence. Many fans of music typically are drawn to a band’s earlier albums and tracks that stood out because of how different they were. Then as the band starts to produce more of what the music industry trends are, rather than what the band’s original style was, fans start to lose respect for the band and call them “sellouts.” As Ryo perfectly puts it, “abandoning your uniqueness is equivalent to dying.”
After Hitori takes Ryo’s advice to write what she wants rather than being concerned about what others want, Hitori ends up writing something depressing but genuine. Ryo throws out another golden nugget at her saying, while many others may not be able to relate to the contents of her writing, those that can will love it. As Kessoku Band eventually becomes popular, Hitori will understand the value she brings into the world as herself — and many who grew up lonely and depressed with no friends will love her most, due to being able to relate to the challenges Hitori has faced with her loneliness and social anxiety.
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