Bocchi the Rock! 1x3

1. Gotoh

2. The Departure of Flamingos from Enoshima

3. Penguins appear in Tama River! They're okay in freshwater?

4. Recruiting part-time!

5. A melancholy Monday has arrived.

6. Feels good to be over your cold, huh?

7. Y-Yeah...

8. Or are you happy your cold let you miss school a few days?

9. Not at all.

10. How come?

11. You always say you wanna stay home...

12. I don't like going to school,

13. but for someone like me, even one day of failing to attend class

14. puts me in risk of being forgotten by my classmates.

15. Guess you're a real pain in your own ass, Sis!

16. Oh, and Mom says it's time to eat!

17. Yes, it's true.

18. I could burst from the sheer volume of nuisance I inflict upon myself.

19. But wait a minute.

20. I joined a band, and I'm working part-time at a club!

21. Perhaps I've graduated from my introversion!

22. Yes!

23. I'll take my guitar to school again.

24. Someone's bound to talk to me this time!

25. Yep. Putting the onus on others fails once again.

26. Hey, did you watch the latest Oto-Station?

27. I did did!

28. You can stream BAKWIMPS again!

29. I've been listening to them so much since yesterday,

30. they're still playing in my head!

31. Uh-oh!

32. Band talk!

33. What's up, Gotoh-san?

34. You hardly ever talk to anyone!

35. All my preparation assumed others would approach me first,

36. so I don't know how to start a conversation...

37. I forgot.

38. In that short a time?

39. It's lunchtime!

40. This is for the best.

41. If I'd managed to talk to them, right about now...

42. Barging into our convo like that...

43. Was she listening in the whole time or something?

44. I didn't know she was such a creep!

45. That's definitely how it'd be!

46. I'll never rise above my station again.

47. I'll live under the radar forever!

48. Thank you for the meal.

49. Still... A quiet place like this is just perfect for lunch.

50. I'm glad I found a nice spot.

51. It's awkward eating all alone in the classroom.

52. And once I become a popular guitarist, I'll go on Oto-Station and say...

53. What were you like in high school?

54. I didn't have any friends back then.

55. I often ate lunch in a dark corner filled with desks and janitorial supplies.

56. I can awe people with how much I've changed! Y'know how it is...

57. People!

58. Kita-chan's such a great singer.

59. I heard she played guitar in a band before she quit.

60. Kids, don't try this at home!

61. Wow! Now that's musical talent!

62. Band?

63. Come to think of it, Nijika-chan was talking about wanting a new guitar-slash-vocalist...

64. Since my cold kept me from working for a few days,

65. I must find a guitar-slash-vocalist to prove my commitment to Kessoku Band!

66. Kessoku Band

67. Now Recruiting Guitar/Vocalist

68. Even newbies can come and learn!

69. Please!

70. Please contact STARRY staff

71. But the thought of going up to a total stranger...

72. Kita-chan!

73. Heya!

74. I'm super sorry, but I have a huge favor to ask...

75. What kind of girl is she?

76. What is it?

77. Would you mind pitching in at our basketball game next week?

78. She's pretty!

79. Hey, sure thing!

80. She's super nice!

81. Kids, don't try this at home!

82. Maybe I'll land a three-pointer!

83. She's pretty, and athletic, and popular,

84. Awesome! Thanks!

85. and she plays the guitar...

86. I'm supposed to issue an invitation to someone like her?

87. In fact, my identity...

88. My entire identity is crumbling!

89. Identity

90. Pwip.

91. What was that sound?

92. I liked dark, cramped spaces,

93. so I'd bury my face deep in my hood

94. My eyes resented the heartless world,

95. but yearned for love

96. I liked being soaked by the rain,

97. because my face looked better clouded over

98. I pretended to be afraid of the storm

99. while waiting for the sky to burst

100. Strum through the light's distortion

101. I want to make thunder roar

102. Drum beyond the pain

103. What can I do? This fierce pounding is out of control

104. Strum in a harmonizing quartet

105. I want to cause a revolution

106. Drum in a lamenting forte

107. What can I do? My savage nature is beyond wild

108. BOCCHI THE ROCK!

109. I worked up the courage to arrive at her classroom,

110. but my mental fortitude lags behind...

111. You're Gotoh-san from Class 2, right?

112. Sh-She knows my n—

113. Are you looking for someone in here?

114. S-Say it, Hitori!

115. Band Is Looking For A Guitar/Vocalist

116. "My band is looking for a guitar-slash- vocalist. Would you be interested?"

117. Ba! Gui! Vo!

118. Ba

119. Gui

120. Vo

121. She became a human beatbox!

122. Er...

123. Bam-chika-boom-chika... bam-chika-boom-chika...

124. I... I'm so sorry!

125. W-Wait!

126. Two more additions to my dark past in one day.

127. Lend me your ears.

128. This is my new song: Double Dark Past, Bocchi Acoustic Version.

129. Melancholy days, multiplying traumas

130. Wanna ditch this negative legacy I carry...

131. The memories bring soft, secret tears to my eyes

132. Mourning my past, so many dark mornings

133. Wishing, someday, to just laugh it all away...

134. Begone, memories...

135. That was awesome!

136. K-Kita-san?

137. How long have you...

138. I got so worried when you ran off like that,

139. but that was incredible!

140. You're amazing at guitar, Gotoh-san!

141. That song you were playing had me totally enraptured!

142. She's saying nice things about me! What a nice person!

143. Are you in a band?

144. K-Kind of...

145. Hey, can you play other stuff? I wanna hear!

146. Kit-aura

147. The extrovert aura... It's so powerful, I can't look straight at her!

148. Oh, and you were trying to talk to someone earlier, right?

149. Th-This is my chance to invite her!

150. W-Well, our band is actually looking for a guitar-slash-vocalist,

151. and I heard you played guitar, so...

152. Oh, so that's why.

153. H-Huh?

154. I'm sorry, Gotoh-san.

155. I can't join your band.

156. O-Oh, but...

157. I'm kind of a nerd, but the others are cool!

158. Oh, it's not a problem with you or anything.

159. They're holding a barbecue next weekend!

160. Meat!

161. They host a sports meet every six months!

162. They party in limousines after every gig!

163. This is the life!

164. They do so much cool stuff!

165. I don't want a band that parties that hard...

166. And... And...

167. The truth is, I can't actually play guitar at all.

168. I was in another band not long ago.

169. I lied when I joined because I wanted to get close to my senpai.

170. But the whole thing was just beyond me, so I ran away.

171. Beyond you?

172. Yeah.

173. There's more to playing than just this strum-strum stuff, right?

174. I'd figured this wooden stick part was just for decoration!

175. It's way too hard for someone to learn on their own.

176. "Major chords"? "Minor"? What is this, baseball?

177. Her non-comprehension is on a whole other level!

178. Did someone teach you to play, Gotoh-san?

179. N-No, I mostly taught myself...

180. What? Really? That's awesome!

181. It's not that great...

182. I know! Will you teach me to play, Gotoh-san?

183. You can be my teacher!

184. You're so brilliant, I just know you'll get me through it!

185. Oh, shucks...

186. I want to learn to play properly,

187. go back to my old band, and apologize!

188. So, when can you teach me?

189. After class, maybe?

190. I-I've got a job at a club after class...

191. Then after work, maybe?

192. Is there a studio next door? We can do it there!

193. Oh... Oh...

194. V-Very well.

195. Really? Thanks!

196. Why am I so stupid? Say no, girl!

197. Can we start right away?

198. C-Certainly...

199. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!

200. I've gotta get the girls to act like party people!

201. It's from Bocchi-chan.

202. I'm sorry!

203. Please come to work today blaring EDM and dancing around with energy drinks on hand!

204. What in the world?

205. Beats me.

206. Oh... You work in Shimo-Kitazawa?

207. Y-You've been?

208. My last band was in Shimo-Kita,

209. and its members lived in the area, so...

210. R-Really?

211. Hang on!

212. You can't walk behind me! I don't know the way!

213. I'm sorry. I'm still not used to being here...

214. I'm so embarrassed!

215. I'm the one embarrassed here!

216. W-We're almost there.

217. It's a place called Starry.

218. Nijika-chan and Ryo-san will already be there...

219. I'm sorry. I can't go.

220. How come?

221. I'm sorry.

222. I can't tell you why, but that's the one place I can't go!

223. And you can never tell those people I was h—

224. Bocchi-chan!

225. Your instructions were super weird, but I bought energy drinks like you asked!

226. The runaway guitarist!

227. Runaway... guitarist?

228. Kita-chan, what are you doing here?

229. W-W-Well, I...

230. Eh?

231. Forgive my prior discourtesy! I'll do anything to make up for it!

232. I give you permission to rough me up good!

233. Shh! You're gonna give people the wrong idea!

234. What?

235. So you couldn't play guitar, Kita-chan?

236. Nope.

237. And that's why you always ditched practice?

238. Yeah...

239. Poor Kita-san seems so uncomfortable...

240. I-If only I could think of something nice to say.

241. We were worried when we didn't hear from you.

242. Ryo-san, so smooth!

243. Senpai!

244. I assumed you were dead, so I've been lighting incense for you every day.

245. RIP.

246. That's a pretty wild assumption...

247. Um... You aren't angry?

248. I sorta blame ourselves for not catching on sooner.

249. Besides...

250. We managed to work it out anyway!

251. S-Still, I feel too awful!

252. Please, let me make it up to you!

253. I'm not sure how...

254. How about you help out today at the club?

255. It's gonna be a busy night.

256. Th-That can't be enough...

257. No, that'd be a huge help!

258. Please join us!

259. If you'd like...

260. I'm so glad they worked it out...

261. So, go over there and get changed.

262. Changed?

263. Why does Manager have that outfit?

264. She's pretty darn good for a fill-in worker.

265. Yeah, Kita-chan knows what she's doing!

266. Sh-She really does!

267. She'll give me extra time to slack off.

268. I'll take it out of your pay.

269. You smell good, Kita-san.

270. Thank you so much!

271. Maybe it's the shampoo? It's my favorite!

272. Sh-She's never said my name before!

273. You're pretty outgoing, Kita-chan. Wanna try reception?

274. I'll teach you!

275. Okay!

276. And the job they've never trusted me with!

277. 500 yen for a drink ticket!

278. What band did you come to see today?

279. Take a flyer, if you like!

280. Say, not bad at all!

281. I love interacting with people!

282. Ryo always handles reception,

283. but her dead eyes are kind of a problem...

284. And her poker face can be scary.

285. Ryo-senpai looks fine just the way she is!

286. Trash

287. Recyclables

288. Kita Kita Kita Kita Kita Kita

289. Bocchi. What are you doing down there?

290. Losing my identity.

291. Now, lend me your ears. This is...

292. "The Elegy of the Part-Time Worker Who Lost Her Identity to the Just-Arrived Newbie."

293. Thanks for watching, everyone!

294. Illustration by Aki Hamaji

295. We haven't known each other long,

296. but I enjoyed the precious time we spent together.

297. Bocchi-chan! Bocchi-chan!

298. Teach Kita-chan how to do the drinks!

299. R-Right!

300. Now's my chance to restore my good name!

301. I can't do it!

302. I get nervous when I'm being watched!

303. Sploosh

304. Splooosh

305. Sploooosh

306. Splooooosh

307. Sploooooosh

308. Sploooooosh

309. Sploooooosh

310. You okay?

311. I think I get the idea, so you can rest a while.

312. Please forgive my arrogance...

313. I'm just glad you weren't seriously hurt.

314. Th-Thank yo...

315. What?

316. Her fingertips...

317. Gotoh-san, what made you want to join a band?

318. It's an indoor activity where you can be flashy and cool...

319. And I wanna be popular...

320. My motives are excessively impure!

321. W-World peace... I want to work toward world peace.

322. How conscientious!

323. Tickets go on sale at 5 pm

324. Kessoku Band

325. Now Recruiting Guitar/Vocalist

326. Even newbies can come and learn!

327. Please!

328. Please contact STARRY staff

329. Here's your cola!

330. Um, so the senpai you wanted to get closer to...

331. Yeah.

332. It's Ryo-senpai.

333. Here ya go.

334. Unlike you, I have very impure motives.

335. I saw Senpai playing on the street,

336. and fell head-over-heels for her.

337. Ryo-san was in another band, too?

338. Her above-it-all attitude, her unisex look...

339. It all makes me squee!

340. "Squee"?

341. And she just looks so right holding an instrument!

342. Oh, I know what you mean!

343. Wh-When I hold mine, it looks more like the instrument's holding me.

344. Right? You end up like an appendage to the instrument.

345. I wonder how that happens?

346. It's like we're best buddies all of a sudden...

347. That's one thing about Ryo-senpai that—

348. Um, can I get a cassis orange?

349. Right! Coming right up!

350. Bye-bye, buddies! I'll know my place next time...

351. After I heard her play,

352. I followed Ryo-san's activities for a while,

353. and she dropped out of her last band pretty suddenly.

354. H-Huh...

355. Then I found out she was recruiting for Kessoku Band,

356. and without thinking, I said I'd do it.

357. S-Such initiative! Extroversion abounds!

358. A band is like your second family, you know?

359. Family?

360. Yeah, you spend more time with them than with your actual family,

361. and you're all chasing the same dream...

362. It's a mysterious relationship, closer than friends or significant others.

363. I've never done clubs or anything similar,

364. so I've always wanted to be part of that.

365. I get you.

366. I always wanted it too...

367. Yes... I wanted to join Kessoku Band and become Senpai's girl!

368. So much deeper and more intimate than friendship!

369. Wait. Is Kita-san kind of not-okay?

370. But that's all the more reason

371. I can't join the band now.

372. I flaked out once already. I'm too irresponsible.

373. I don't deserve to be in the band.

374. Tickets go on sale at 5 pm

375. Okay, good work, all. Feel free to head home.

376. Thanks for having us!

377. Thank you for having us...

378. Thanks for everything today.

379. Good luck with your band!

380. I'll keep rooting for you!

381. Goodbye!

382. H-Hey...

383. Bocchi-chan?

384. Are you all right, Gotoh-san?

385. You're not still worried about me, are you?

386. I'm sorry.

387. Like I said before, I can't join Kessoku Band.

388. I can't play guitar, and I already flaked out once...

389. I... I... I...

390. I also ran away before the concert.

391. I hid in a trash can, and...

392. A-A-And also...

393. Let's get you up, Bocchi-chan.

394. One, two...

395. Here we go!

396. K-Kita-san, your left hand...

397. Y-You had calluses on your fingertips.

398. I... I th-think...

399. You'd have to be practicing the guitar pretty hard for that.

400. Y-Yeah!

401. Kita-chan, we'd love to have you rocking out with us in Kessoku Band!

402. Why would you let me...

403. Because if you hadn't flaked out, we'd never have met Bocchi-chan!

404. Y-Yeah!

405. I've always wanted to have a band,

406. so I get how it feels intimidating and aspirational at the same time.

407. S-So do I!

408. S-Sorry. That came out louder than I expected.

409. You'd be happy to have her too, right, Ryo?

410. I'll only have to pay one-quarter of the studio and quota fees.

411. Be a little less honest, would you?

412. I can be part of Senpai's quota!

413. So much for that healthy moving-on thing, I guess...

414. But I still can't play the guitar...

415. That's okay!

416. Bocchi-chan will teach you!

417. Eh?

418. Yeah, yeah.

419. Ehh?

420. You will?

421. Y-Yes!

422. I can't exactly turn her down now!

423. Thank you.

424. I'll work really hard to play guitar in Kessoku Band!

425. Oh, but you should probably give up that party lifestyle of yours...

426. You're dancing like mad every night, right?

427. Where'd you hear that?

428. I'm glad it's all mended.

429. It came out like a mess, but I'm glad I stopped Kita-san from leaving.

430. I worked really hard!

431. Well, I gotta head out now...

432. Bocchi-chan, don't go!

433. You're today's MVP!

434. You're the reason we're back together.

435. Thank you, Gotoh-san!

436. Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me Praise me

437. Gosh, well, it was nothing, really, honestly...

438. It obviously wasn't nothing for you.

439. Gotoh-san wears her heart on her sleeve.

440. But I practiced for so long, and yet I never really learned how to play guitar.

441. It just made this quiet 'bum-bum' sound.

442. Y-You're sure it wasn't a bass?

443. Hey, I'm not that ignorant!

444. A bass has four strings, right?

445. See? It's got the full six strings!

446. S-Some do have six strings...

447. That's a six-string bass.

448. K-Kita-san!

449. It cost me two years' advance allowance from my dad,

450. not to mention my New Year's money...

451. Kita-chan!

452. And so, Kessoku Band officially had all their members.

453. No more!

454. I hereby quit the guitar!

455. What? Are we breaking up already?

456. Is this one defective too?

457. Did I get another bass?

458. N-No, that's definitely a guitar...

459. I'm sorry I whine so much.

460. I know you're giving up your time after class and during lunch to teach me...

461. H-Hey, it's not...

462. With Ryo-senpai lending me this guitar, and everyone helping... I have to do my best.

463. B-But I really am glad... that Ryo-san b-bought that bass off of you...

464. Yeah.

465. But when she gave me the money...

466. This is the last of my money, so I'll be eating weeds from now on.

467. That was a joke, right?

468. She might have been serious!

469. Oh, come on...

470. This one's so hard to hold.

471. The F chord is too hard!

472. That takes me back.

473. I was this way at the start, too.

474. Ryo-senpai! Hello...

475. You guys're here early.

476. Sh-She really is eating weeds!

477. Senpai's so wild!

478. The tune that plays when my loneliness and the pedal are stepped on

479. Tracks down my cheeks over and over again

480. The pounding of my loneliness

481. Is joined by the rhythm of the snare drum

482. To create a solid pulse

483. Someone, please remove the distortion on my heart

484. And take a look inside me

485. Nobody can get inside my heart

486. But it's the kind of night when I hope someone will

487. Distortion it's Motion

488. Once it starts, there's no stopping it

489. Limits can be overwritten with experience

490. Isn't that right?

491. Distortion is always like that

492. My heart takes off, outpacing my left brain

493. Toward where you are

494. An escort to the next note

495. Distortion on my day-to-day anguish

496. The chord I play when I'm alone at night

497. Is it the same for you?

498. I spent all those days chasing my ideal image

499. Play an F chord with distortion

500. So loud that the needle swings off the scale

501. Watch it!