Photo by Kalai Chik
The Goliath anime, Bocchi the Rock!, stole the hearts of many introverts (and extroverts) in late 2022. It was no surprise that a group of die-hard fans waited hours late into the night to see Bocchi's voice actress Yoshino Aoyama and Director Keiichirō Saitō. Cosplayers and anonymous fans wearing Kessoku Band T-shirts lined the front to back, armed with light sticks, ready to cheer on the two guests.
Even before they arrived, the crowd erupted into thunderous roars of “Bocchi!” before being reminded that the workshop wouldn’t make it to the end if the cheering continued. Director Saito appeared surprised by the cheers and channeled his inner Bocchi to introduce himself. “I’m nervous. I want to be in the mango box but I’ll do my best. Thank you.” Meanwhile, voice actress Aoyama embraced the cheers, although she was also nervous as she greeted the audience. After she told the crowd to call her by her nickname Yoppi, the chants quickly changed from Bocchi to Yoppi instead.
Wasting no time on the Q&A, both guests admitted that they only started reading Bocchi the Rock! after they were hired for the project. In other anime, the author can be separated from the creative process. However, according to Aoyama and Saito, Aki Hamaji was actively involved. “Whenever I was writing the script or scenario, I would get advice from her. It was almost like talking to a friend,” Director Saito shared. Even during the voice recording session, Hamaji would dial in and listen. “I thought the image of manga authors was scary. Surprisingly, she was quite nice and funny,” Aoyama reflected. “In episode one, after we recorded all of Bocchi’s lines, Hamaji-sensei told me she was happy that I was chosen!”
Two Bocchi guests expressed how deeply Aniplex was invested in the anime's music, as it was a strength of the company. After Aoyama was cast as Bocchi, Aniplex asked her if she could learn to play the guitar. At the time, while she joked gleefully about her status as a “guitar hero,” the reality was much harsher. “When I picked up the guitar, it was 5 million times harder than I thought. Goto Hitori was really good at playing the guitar, and that made me respect her in a different way.” Director Saito gave Aniplex full control over the music of the Kessoku Band. “I didn't do anything,” he revealed. “In terms of dialogue, I tried to put the dialogue more in the center, while also taking into account the passage of time and how the band evolved.”
Living up to the mood, the moderators played a few fan-favorite clips from the film, and Director Saito shared his own storyboards from key moments. The first scene shown on the panel was arguably the most famous: Bocchi's complete breakdown after the group selfie, complete with her legendary electric vocals. “Everyone present at the recording was speechless. I also thought, 'We have something here.' This is the real deal,” Saito said. Aoyama credits the idea to sound director Akiko Fujita, who asked her to create “some kind of electronic sound,” and she made it happen. As a fun group activity, Aoyama encouraged fans to test the sound with her by hitting the highest note they could and then imitating Bocchi. Impressed, she did a voiceover as an example. Then she and the whole room let out a Bocchi scream. “Now you are all Goto Hitori!”
In the next clip, Director Saito opens up a bit more as he explains his storyboarding process for Bocchi’s “fear of the future” scene in an izakaya. “Looking at the dialogue and script, if I did it the traditional way and didn’t overdo it, the visuals would lose what she was saying,” Saito explains. “Like a play on words, I would start going through different scenes while having fun myself.” Bocchi’s internal monologue contains a number of different animation techniques, which in my opinion, are comparable to the crude yet humorous animation of Robot Chicken. Saito describes his preference for “primitive visuals and expressions,” which led to the use of dolls and low-quality CG. “This imperfection attracts me.” Meanwhile, these spectacular visuals can be difficult to realize with sound and vocals. Aoyama thanks him for believing in her performance, as Goto Hitori is a “mysterious being whose identity is unknown”.
Last but not least, they ended up with the iconic sake glass guitar move in the final episode. That scene was scripted by Saito; he tried to briefly explain the entire process from start to finish. “We create a scenario or script based on the original work and choose the movie we want to show.” Once they decided where the tension would be, the Aniplex music team came in to come up with scenarios where “the drama could happen on stage.” Once they had determined the moment when “the recording almost broke,” they would send in the music artists to perform it. “I would take that audio sample home, imagine what it would sound like when that happened on stage, and start storyboarding the scene based on what I saw.” Once the scene was shot, Saito asked the actual performers to play the actual, envisioned version. “We also did mo-cap of the performances on that stage, did 3D CG animation, and then the camera angles.” The involved process even included filming the musicians' hands.
Both panelists shared that they are deeply touched by the support from fans, as they have also enjoyed their time working on the series. Unfortunately, there are no hints of upcoming seasons or new material. Until further news is announced, fans can enjoy Bocchi the Rock!'s recap of the films coming to theaters in North America.