WHO IS THE BETTER BOCCHI?

WAI KWAN WU - Writer, 2nd Year, Molecular Cell Biology

*electronic screech* "Wa-ha-ha!"

Everyone knows anime girls are cool. But who knows what they’re thinking? Time passes by, years turn old, anime seasons come and go. The endless and cyclical debate of seasonal BEST GIRL goes on and on as it is in the primitive nature of the anime man to pick and poke at the season’s offerings in search of the one where “She’s just like me FR!!!”. Does the BEST GIRL title belong to she who dominates the echelons of longevity in the anime man’s mindspace, or does it fall into the hands of she who holds the attention of the fickle spotlight? Perchance.

It was Kant who said “Experience without theory is blind, but theory without excellence is mere intellectual play.” The anime man exhibits experience by watching anime all day, but he exhibits theory by stating “She’s just like me FR!!!”. Today I have selected two characters to best examine this phenomenon. Hitori Gotoh (後藤 ひと り Gotō Hitori), also known as Bocchi-chan (ぼっちちゃん), is one of the main characters in the manga and anime series, Bocchi the Rock! (source: Bocchi the Rock! wiki). Hitori Bocchi (一里ぼっち, Hitori Bocchi) is one of the main characters of the Hitoribocchi no OO Seikatsu series (source: Hitoribocchi no OO Seikatsu Wiki). They’re just like me FR!!! But which one is better? Do we want to find out? Keep it up, baby!

The tenets for analysis are as follows: best sound (because how is the best girl to be perceived but through the cute anime noises she makes?), best design (iykyk), and best name (because what else do we remember them by? Other than BEST GIRL of course). However we are not looking at the writing of these characters because writing is for nerds.

Best Sound: a fierce battle between 後藤 ひとり’s electronic death screech and 一里ぼっち’s shilling cult-inspiring laughter. 後藤 ひと り has everything going for her here, with her piercing cry that sure to keep you up at night, if mental depression is not enough already. My high school English teacher told me that CONTEXT is important for any examples that we use, hence 後藤 ひとり gets extra points because this was in reaction to the thought of being told to touch grass, which anyone can point to and go “She is just like me FR!!!” However, 一里ぼっち will have to get the win here, because her demonic laughter haunts me in my dreams (if I am not being kept up at night by 後藤 ひとり, that is) and I am sure 一里ぼっち would come out of the screen and do something awful to me if I did not give 一里 ぼっち the win here. Plus, isn’t she just the cutest?

Best Design: If you asked a Film major (those exist?) on how to judge character designs, they might point you towards something like “Seven Principles of Character Design” or “Ten Other Principles of Character Design.” However, as we all know, anime production consists of and only of SAKUGA and MAPPA GOAT so instead we will only talk about the meme factor of designs here. 一里ぼっち breaks boundaries by being the first anime character to bridge the gap between human and crustacean by becoming a literal BOCCHI CRAB. However, 後藤 ひとり breaks literal dimensions by being the first anime character to literally becoming a Rubix Cube. This is truly a tough battle between 一里ぼっち and 後藤 ひとり, but 後藤 ひとり will have to win out here. Plus, isn’t she just the cutest.

Best Name: Finally, something that can properly be researched for true objectivity, as there is only one objectively correct opinion about anime and that is mine. What does 後藤 ひとり mean? According to familyeducation.com, “‘later wisteria’, indicating descendants of the Fujiwara clan through various branches. This name occurs chiefly along the southeastern seaboard of Japan and in the Ryūkyū Islands.” What about 一里ぼっち? According to japanese-names.info, “里 means “village, hometown, birthplace.” Under this deep and careful research, we can conclude that the names of these characters are expertly crafted under careful considerations, with meanings that far transcend how they appear on the screen and define the very essence of who they are. Yet, despite this, one character edges out. Is it 後藤 ひとり? Or is it 一里ぼっち? The answer is…

Bocchi. The winner of Best Bocchi is Bocchi. All hail BEST GIRL!