Bocchi the Rock Ch. 88 Review - Kita Ballin’!
Written by Rei Caldombra 6/17/25 Previous Chapter: Bocchi the Rock Manga Ch. 87 Review - Band Merch! — Blog Under a Log
I came across the Ballin’ meme recently and thought I would make an updated one for Kita myself lol.
We’ve got a super goofy chapter here folks about the characters playing some basketball. Most of the recent chapters have been relevant in some way to the progress of the band or characters, so I don’t mind getting one that is just the characters being their silly selves. But I also did not enjoy it as much as I have most other chapters. There is not a lot to go in-depth about this chapter, but let’s get into it.
We start off with Sattsu and Kita remarking about how she is a higher level of weird than Bocchi’s usual degree of weirdness. She is stuck in her common Bocchi delusion state, looking at a website advertising job-leaving proxy agents. Services that will communicate with people at your workplace to tell them you are quitting for you is a real thing in Japan that has grown in popularity. These are called taishoku daikou aka job-leaving proxies. Due to the many negative qualities of the typical office workplace in Japan, many people are scared to tell their bosses they want to quit. Many can face threats, coercion and worse that can make quitting to your bosses face feel dangerous. You could also partially chock this up to how Japanese people tend to be less confrontational and direct on average. Proxy services provide a way for people to quit their jobs without fear of repercussions. It is sad that this is a service that is heavily utilized, people should be able to quit without fear of harm coming to them. I’m sure many people hearing this will just say things like “Don’t be an oversensitive coward” and stuff like that, but do understand that abuses of power in the Japanese workplace gets sweeped under the rug or ignored more often than in other countries. In any office I have worked in, the type of verbal abuse and threats that Japanese workers can get from their superiors would not be tolerated if it was known about. But based on real people’s accounts, this appears to be a common occurrence in Japan. It should be taken seriously and not regulated to people just being sensitive or immature.
Moving on, Kita and Sattsu figure out that Bocchi is likely facing post vacation blues, taking it harder because it was a bit longer than usual. This prompts Kita to propose they play basketball together for the mental health benefits of exercise. It has been brought up before a few times that Kita is athletic and is good enough at basketball that she is a backup for their school’s team. The recap movies even included a short additional scene of her playing.
Hearing about exercising instantly snapped her back to reality and caused her to remember her painful experiences with sports. She was never happily picked when making teams, having poor reflexes and being too nervous to make moves. And this resulted in her feeling like she ruined the mood of the game.
If we take this flashback of hers as accurate, then this is possibly the only time we’ve actually seen anyone be legitimately mean to Bocchi. Unless you want to count Kita’s Mom, but that was just her misunderstanding her as a delinquent. Unless I'm forgetting something it's always been Bocchi belittling herself in her mind or her interpreting other people’s actions as mean even though that wasn’t the intention. Though it is understandable for the other students to find this frustrating. I had my own share of frustration towards people not putting in any effort in gym class. I never got fully competitive when it came to gym class, but I felt I might as well try. Being bad at sports is one thing and not something to be mean about, what was actually annoying was when they wouldn’t try at all and get in the way of us having fun. I never said anything to those people though, I was too shy and felt it was just something you had to deal with. I have all the sympathy I could have for Bocchi as a fellow struggler but without knowing about her extreme anxiety it would be hard to know that she is truly struggling internally. It sounds like she weaseled her way out of any games she could, likely using some variation of the “I’m not feeling well” excuse.
Ooyama joins in, making a group of 4 for them to play 2 on 2, which they play for the rest of the chapter. Kita and Ooyama compete seriously while Bocchi and Sattsu flounder around. I don’t have much to say on this as it’s simply the characters being themselves playing basketball with good gags and some sport media parody, and I don’t want to just regurgitate everything that happens. The mix of 2 energetic athletes and 2 low energy bums works well. Fun, but nothing too exciting.
Kita’s Dunk is definitely a reference to Slam Dunk, a very popular Japanese basketball series. I have not watched it myself, but I hear it’s very good. One of the funny recurring gags of this chapter is this group of 3 guys commenting as the girls play. This is parodying how sports anime often has people in the peanut gallery discussing what is going on. Such as stating that a certain action had to have been a skillful big brain play, maybe trying to play it up as something way cooler than it actually is. To be clear, I do not have anything against sports anime and manga, but I don’t have any interest in them. Unless you count March Comes in Like a Lion as a sports anime.
At least this part did give the Bokita fans some food. The game ends with Bocchi successfully making a basket after Kita tells her how much getting to play with her made her happy. And that she doesn’t want it to end on a negative note.
A wholesome ending, but again feels very by the books for a cute girls sort of show.
This was a funny chapter, but it’s pretty forgettable and doesn’t have much else going for it. All the jokes work and a non-consequential chapter does not feel out of place, but everything here feels more like the characters just going through the motions. Bocchi the Rock is foremost a comedy so I can’t be too harsh on an all-comedy chapter, but I like Bocchi the Rock having a good amount of substance alongside it. If you know me going all-in purely on comedy often doesn’t work for me. I won’t go quite as far as to call it bad but is an easy skip for someone who doesn’t want to read everything. Next chapter I hope we’ll get back on track with band related stuff that also has Bocchi’s the Rock’s great style of comedy sprinkled in.
To end off talking about myself a bit for anyone interested- I’m not a big fan of sports but basketball is definitely my favorite. I tried most of the sports available in rec teams in my town when I was a kid, but basketball is the one I stuck with and enjoyed the longest. I played it for years and even tried out for the basketball team in High school. I played center, mainly being a defensive player and passer. I rarely had the chance to shoot for a basket, I remember only making one or so baskets in a whole season. I remember one time I full on cried over never making baskets. Not that I was someone who wanted to be on offense or the center of attention, but I’m genuinely talking about kid me knowing that he has contributed 0 points over the over the course of an entire season. I got over it and took more pride in my role over time though. For everyone reading stories about characters younger than you, I encourage you to try to remember what it was like back then and contemplate how different things felt. Many of us fans of Bocchi the Rock have a lot in common with Bocchi, so I encourage you have fun trying to dig a little deeper into your reactions than just “she’s so me” and “wow she’s so cringe”. Not shaming anyone, but I always want to be a champion of there being more to get from these sorts of shows that many consider to be very surface level and simple. I don’t really play or watch Basketball now, but I still have a fondness for it and can enjoy watching a game here and there. I’ve kept the oldest basketball that I used to play with that still works. I’ll definite bring it out if the opportunity arises and reminisce more on the olden times. Thanks for reading!
Discussing the anime season 2 announcement: Bocchi the Rock S2! - Discussion and Predictions — Blog Under a Log
My first Bocchi chapter review: Bocchi the Rock Ch. 76 Review - Anxious Heart to Heart — Blog Under a Log
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