BOCCHI THE ROCK! Episode 5 Recap & Characters (Spoiler-Free)

Episode Summary

Flightless Fish

The band prepares for a long-awaited payday and a concert, with Nijika pushing to hold it and the manager initially rejecting it. The band rehearses, Bocchi struggles with nerves and her own ambitions, and at the audition Kessoku Band performs their new song, which the manager and PA-san evaluate. The band passes the audition, Bocchi cleans the live house floor under the manager's watch, and the episode closes with Bocchi worried about selling the last five concert tickets.

• Payday and concert plans

  The manager announces the payday, Nijika proposes an album, music video and concert, and the manager rejects the concert request.

• Practice and personal struggles

  The band rehearses at school and the live house, Kita cuts her finger, and Nijika and Bocchi talk about their dreams.

• Audition performance

  Kessoku Band performs their new song at the audition, the manager and PA-san give feedback, and the band is told it has passed.

• Aftermath and concert tickets

  Bocchi cleans the floor under the manager's watch, PA-san reveals the manager liked them from the start, and Bocchi frets over selling the last five tickets.

Character Graph

Hitori (Bocchi)

student · Kessoku Band

Kessoku Band's guitarist, a first-year high school student with severe social anxiety who secretly posts guitar covers online as guitarhero; she teaches Kita guitar and writes the lyrics that Ryo sets to music.

• Secret identity

  Uploads song cover videos online as guitarhero and has many views and positive comments.

• Anxiety around social life

  Feels a sense of kinship with Ryo at first, but realizes Ryo chooses to be alone while she herself wants friends and cannot manage it because of her anxiety.

• Starry job

  Pressured into working at STARRY and tries to avoid the job by catching a cold, but cannot bring herself to lie to Nijika.

• Teaching

  Agrees to teach Kita guitar after work, despite fear.

• Nijika (Colleague, Friend, Affinity)

  Met when Nijika spotted her guitar and asked her to play; now her bandmate.

  Nijika is the first person who invites Hitori into the band and job. Hitori cannot refuse her and values the connection.

• Ryo Yamada (Colleague, Affinity)

  Bandmate who nicknamed her Bocchi and set her lyrics to music; Hitori took Ryo's advice to write in her own voice to heart.

• PA-san (Colleague, Neutral)

  STARRY's PA (sound) staff member, whom she is frightened of at first because of her appearance.

• Ikuyo Kita (Colleague, Affinity)

  Recruited Kita into the band; becomes her guitar teacher and shares a sense of kinship about loneliness.

• Seika (Hierarchy, Neutral)

  Manager of STARRY, where she works part-time, and Nijika's older sister.

Ikuyo Kita (Kita)

student · Kessoku Band

A popular, athletic first-year at Hitori's school, in a different class, who had lied about playing guitar to join Kessoku Band near Ryo and is now the band's vocalist and guitarist.

• Past with Kessoku Band

  Had first joined Kessoku Band as its guitarist to be near Ryo, but ran away before the band's first live because she could not actually play guitar.

• Ryo Yamada (Colleague, Affinity)

  An older bandmate she admires greatly; she originally joined Kessoku Band to get closer to Ryo.

• Hitori (Colleague, Affinity)

  Schoolmate who brought her back into the band and teaches her guitar.

• Nijika (Colleague, Affinity)

  Bandmate she once ran out on before the first live; after apologizing, Kita plays in the band with her again.

Nijika

student · Kessoku Band

Kessoku Band's cheerful drummer and organizer, who recruited Hitori and runs the band's plans, money, merch and promotion.

• Recruiter

  Drags Hitori to the STARRY live house to perform with the band.

• Band management

  Takes over the band's finances and plans the job arrangement to cover concert quotas.

• Sibling at STARRY

  Is the younger sister of the STARRY manager and is embarrassed by the manager's strict behavior at work.

• Band role

  Sets the band's topics and plans, and assigns Bocchi to write the lyrics for the original song.

• Hitori (Colleague, Friend, Affinity)

  Recruited Hitori as the band's guitarist and has become her friend; she is pleased with the lyrics Hitori writes.

• Ryo Yamada (Colleague, Friend, Affinity)

  Close friend and bandmate whose puns, such as the band name, she finds exasperating; Nijika keeps Ryo's spending in check.

• Ikuyo Kita (Colleague, Affinity)

  Bandmate who ran away before the first live and has rejoined; she is now the band's vocalist and guitarist.

• Seika (Family, Affinity)

  Her older sister and the STARRY manager. Nijika argues with her when she turns down the band's request to play.

PA-san

STARRY staff

The PA (sound) engineer on the staff of the STARRY live house. Her gothic appearance intimidates people, but she is kind and easygoing.

Staff member who watches the band's audition performance alongside the manager.

• Appearance

  Has an unconventional appearance that frightens Hitori on first meeting.

• Early support

  Admitted the manager had liked the band from the start.

• Hitori (Colleague, Neutral)

  Kessoku Band's guitarist and a new part-timer at STARRY, who is frightened by PA-san's appearance at first.

• Seika (Hierarchy, Neutral)

  The STARRY manager she works under; she teases her as a doting sister for having kept a slot open for her sister's band from the start.

Ryo Yamada (Ryo)

student · Kessoku Band

An inexpressive bandmate of Nijika and Hitori in Kessoku Band.

Band member who writes the band's songs.

• Social circle

  Nijika is Ryo's only friend.

• Recruitment

  Wants Kita to join so the band pays only a quarter of studio and quota fees.

• Past band

  Was in another band in the past and then quit.

• Songwriting

  Wrote the song that the other members reacted positively to.

• Hitori (Colleague, Affinity)

  The guitarist she nicknamed Bocchi; after urging her to write lyrics in her own voice, Ryo sets those lyrics to music.

• Nijika (Colleague, Friend, Affinity)

  Her only friend and bandmate.

  Her bandmate and the only friend she has. Nijika manages her finances and keeps her in check.

• Ikuyo Kita (Colleague, Affinity)

  A younger girl who admires her and had joined Kessoku Band to get close to her.

Seika

STARRY staff

Manager of the live house STARRY and Nijika's older sister. She turns down Kessoku Band's request to play, calling it a friendship club, then holds an audition, judges it herself, and lets them on stage.

• Nijika (Family, Affinity)

  Her younger sister. Gruff on the surface, she had kept a slot open for her sister's band from the start.

• Hitori (Hierarchy, Neutral)

  Part-timer at STARRY and the guitarist in her sister's band.

• PA-san (Hierarchy, Neutral)

  STARRY's PA (sound) engineer, who works under her.

Recent Timeline

• First shift at STARRY (Episode 2)

  Bocchi starts her first shift at STARRY after failing to fake a cold with an ice bath. She panics at customers and hides, then helps Nijika at the bar. She takes a small step forward by taking an order and meeting a customer's eyes. The day ends with the fever she had been trying to catch, showing how hard the job pushed her.

• Kita joins the band (Episode 3)

  Hitori invites Kita to join her band, but Kita confesses she cannot actually play guitar. She had claimed experience only to join a band near her senpai, Ryo Yamada, and she begs Hitori to teach her so she can return to her old band. Hitori agrees to teach her after work. Nijika then invites Kita to join Kessoku Band, and Kita accepts, with Hitori teaching her guitar. Ryo wants Kita in because it cuts the band's studio and quota fees to a quarter, and Kita is delighted to be part of her senpai's quota.

• Merch and promo shoot (Episode 4)

  Nijika makes band merch as cable ties in all colors, which Ryo sells for 500 yen each or 650 yen if signed. Nijika then leads the band on an outdoor promotional photo shoot in Shimokitazawa, searching for locations for a promo photo that will make an impact on the live house. A jump picture taken on the second try turns out well.

• Lyrics completed (Episode 4)

  After a week of struggling and getting help from Ryo at a café, Bocchi finishes the lyrics for the band's original song at the live house. Nijika approves them as great.

• Live house audition passed (Episode 5)

  Kessoku Band performs their original song at the live house audition while the manager and PA-san watch. The manager judges the performance good despite the drummer's tension and the guitarists' and bassist's stiff stage presence, and the band is told it will pass.

Music Releases

• Seishun Complex (OP)
• Karakara (ED)

Season Summary

Season 1 — Season 1

Episodes 1–5

Hitori keeps struggling with social anxiety and loneliness while the band's debt and survival depend on her showing up at STARRY, and Kita joins after admitting she cannot really play guitar, with Hitori teaching her. After Hitori finally finishes the band's original lyrics, the band passes its audition, but Hitori is left worried about selling the last five concert tickets.