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REVIEW: Bocchi the Rock! Anime Series Blu-ray Disc Review


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FireChick
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 12:17 pm Reply with quote
I cannot fathom why Crunchyroll chose not to dub this into English. Seriously, this is one of their biggest hits in years. Bocchi is literally printing money for them, and being a multimillion dollar media magnate, they absolutely have the money to justify giving it a dub, even without doing the same to the songs, but they won't! They'd rather dub a million of their shitty isekai that nobody cares about over a genuinely good show that actually has passion and effort put into it! And no, I don't buy the excuse that it's about the music because the Love Live shows got dubs and left the songs alone! Seriously, what in the world was going through Crunchyroll's mind? Whose bright idea was it to give it a barebones sub only release? It really says a lot that Discotek is willing to put in the work to dub some of their stuff, even if they can't do everything in their repertoire because of their smaller size.
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Sailorpeter3



Joined: 20 Jul 2023
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:36 pm Reply with quote
Sub only releases from CR at point are so lame especially when they show actually had passion behind it instead just seasonal timeslot filler like most isekai which are everywhere.
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KitKat1721



Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 950
PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 2:17 pm Reply with quote
FireChick wrote:
I cannot fathom why Crunchyroll chose not to dub this into English. Seriously, this is one of their biggest hits in years.

Honestly I can only assume they weren't able to per the original license because this absolutely is the type of show they would normally jump at the chance to dub, or they had to release the show on blu-ray within a certain window for whatever reason (which seems unlikely). I can maybe understand not originally choosing it for a simuldub since some of that to an extent is just based on predictions of how successful a show could be... but you would think they'd go and do a backlog dub once the viewership proved it would be a good investment.

And whether or not they'd be able to dub the songs wouldn't have much sway in whether or not they'd dub the show, as they've dubbed plenty of shows under both circumstances.
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FlowerAiko



Joined: 05 Apr 2017
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 3:03 pm Reply with quote
There’s a typo in this, Bocchi premiered in the fall of 2022, not 2023. Otherwise, great review.
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BigOnAnime
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Joined: 01 Jul 2010
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Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:39 pm Reply with quote
The "barebones" extras are par for the course, as they have been for decades. Most anime releases are not loaded with on-disc extras. When we did get those, those were usually more from the English side of production rather than the original Japanese. Making of extras are rare, always have been.

If you want more in-depth stuff, that typically will be found in Japanese anime magazines and the booklets included in the original Japanese home video release, which typically come here now only when something gets a Limited Edition release, though in the case of Aniplex USA releases, they typically strip out the "meaty" parts of the booklets out (Ex: Garden of Sinners: Recalled out Summer). They used to come here more often in the singles era in say ADV Films single releases, and at times they would put the booklet content on the actual disc in the case of say Kaleido Star's single release (Ex: Junichi Sato interview in the last JP DVD box found on New Wings Volume 5. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5).

Side-note, I kind of wish this disclaimer Sentai Filmworks included in the Flip Flappers Limited Edition booklet was standard. It would help more people understand how good a release can turn out is often heavily dependent on how the original Japanese release turned out.
https://i.imgur.com/JhNSjrc.jpg

The Japanese release for Bocchi didn't have much in the way of video extras. There were commentary tracks, but those rarely ever come over here for various reasons.
https://bocchi.rocks/bddvd/vol1.html
https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/search/search?p=ぼっち・ざ・ろっく%21&auccat=21964&va=ぼっち・ざ・ろっく%21&is_postage_mode=1&dest_pref_code=13&exflg=1&b=1&n=100&mode=2
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everydaygamer



Joined: 10 Jul 2009
Posts: 928
PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 7:44 pm Reply with quote
KitKat1721 wrote:
FireChick wrote:
I cannot fathom why Crunchyroll chose not to dub this into English. Seriously, this is one of their biggest hits in years.

Honestly I can only assume they weren't able to per the original license because this absolutely is the type of show they would normally jump at the chance to dub, or they had to release the show on blu-ray within a certain window for whatever reason (which seems unlikely). I can maybe understand not originally choosing it for a simuldub since some of that to an extent is just based on predictions of how successful a show could be... but you would think they'd go and do a backlog dub once the viewership proved it would be a good investment.

And whether or not they'd be able to dub the songs wouldn't have much sway in whether or not they'd dub the show, as they've dubbed plenty of shows under both circumstances.


The most likely reason it didn't get a dub is because no one expected this show to be so popular. Even if they wanted to produce a Dub it could be years before room opens up on their schedule. Just look at Laid Back Camp which didn't get a dub until 4 years after the first season premiered.
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LoopyChew
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Joined: 13 Sep 2002
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:01 pm Reply with quote
I would've loved to hear someone attempt to dub this show, but even as someone who [i]loves[/i] dubs and was disappointed when Zombie Land Saga Revenge didn't have dubbed songs, something about this show doesn't lend itself super easily to localization and so I kind of get why they may not have dubbed it.

It is also entirely possible that they will retroactively add a dub if a second season is ever announced (see: Kaguya-sama). Which I don't remember if it was, but I think we can be sure it'll happen.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3618
PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:34 pm Reply with quote
Thanks for the review. I had to pick this up for my shelf and grabbed the OST last time I was in Japan.
Hoping we get a second season announced sometime from the same team and musicians.

Not translating seishun is odd. I wouldn't have thought that word has spread enough to leave untranslated... Do they have an onscreen note for it or is it just left unexplained? All according to keikaku I guess?
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JustMonika



Joined: 17 Jan 2022
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 10:03 pm Reply with quote
LoopyChew wrote:
I would've loved to hear someone attempt to dub this show, but even as someone who loves dubs and was disappointed when Zombie Land Saga Revenge didn't have dubbed songs, something about this show doesn't lend itself super easily to localization and so I kind of get why they may not have dubbed it.

It is also entirely possible that they will retroactively add a dub if a second season is ever announced (see: Kaguya-sama). Which I don't remember if it was, but I think we can be sure it'll happen.


Yeah, the initial Aniplex release of Kaguya-sama was sub only. Then after season 2 came out they dubbed it before the first season. It was quite unusual, lol
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Erufailon4



Joined: 18 Jun 2019
Posts: 193
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2024 3:15 am Reply with quote
BigOnAnime wrote:
The Japanese release for Bocchi didn't have much in the way of video extras. There were commentary tracks, but those rarely ever come over here for various reasons.
https://bocchi.rocks/bddvd/vol1.html


The Japanese release also had music videos, the "Road to Guitar Hero" videos featuring Bocchi's VA learning guitar, and the special studio live in vol 6. (Not sure where you're getting the commentary tracks from since the official website you linked doesn't mention them.) It's not a barebones release the same way the American one is at all. None of those extras would've required much effort to include, with only Road to Guitar Hero needing a non-pre-existing translation.
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BigOnAnime
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Joined: 01 Jul 2010
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2024 7:20 am Reply with quote
Erufailon4 wrote:
The Japanese release also had music videos, the "Road to Guitar Hero" videos featuring Bocchi's VA learning guitar, and the special studio live in vol 6. (Not sure where you're getting the commentary tracks from since the official website you linked doesn't mention them.) It's not a barebones release the same way the American one is at all. None of those extras would've required much effort to include, with only Road to Guitar Hero needing a non-pre-existing translation.
I must have been remembering wrong as I did at first look at this release which was popping up first when I was trying to look at the TV release as the site doesn't default to the TV series currently when you first go to it as it's currently linked on the encyclopedia page. Well, there's another knock against Crunchyroll's handling of this series here.

Still, there's nothing in the Japanese release that's really the sort of making of extra that the review was hoping would be in the release, going very in-depth into the actual animation production. It's not like say the making of extra for Chu2koi, which sadly didn't make it to Sentai's release nor the JP Blu-ray Box re-release, the making of extra found in the Kanon (2006) DVD singles, the making of extra for the original Fruits Basket anime (found on every FUNimation release), or the making of extra for Grenadier (found on every Media Blasters release). I own many Japanese anime releases, many are fairly barebones video extras wise (Ex: Strike the Blood is the standard clean OP/ED, commercials, and a few commentary tracks).
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Rob J.



Joined: 26 Apr 2023
Posts: 32
PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2024 2:02 pm Reply with quote
FireChick wrote:
I cannot fathom why Crunchyroll chose not to dub this into English.


I haven't seen the show yet, but I would hazard a guess that it has to do with whether or not to dub the music. While I prefer dubs, subbing isn't a deal-breaker for me. But I'm assuming that the songs in Bocchi are typical of the rock and pop songs of most opening and end credits, whose subs show me that even rock songs written in and for Japanese audiences aren't going to translate well at all. Most of even the hardest-hitting songs are indirect and otherwise oblique when they aren't down-right passive aggressive while American audiences demand the directness of a first-person point-of-view. Localizing most of these songs for dubbing wouldn't work because they don't cross the cultural gap. So I'm thinking that SonyCrunchFun decided, probably logically in this case, that dubbing the dialogue while keeping the songs subbed was too much of a shift for general audiences and decided to keep it subbed.

PS: Great review. Being on the Spectrum, my anxiety is sometimes debilitating (less often as I get older, but it's still there), so this review has definitely prompted me to try it.
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FireChick
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2024 3:51 pm Reply with quote
Rob J. wrote:
FireChick wrote:
I cannot fathom why Crunchyroll chose not to dub this into English.


I haven't seen the show yet, but I would hazard a guess that it has to do with whether or not to dub the music. While I prefer dubs, subbing isn't a deal-breaker for me. But I'm assuming that the songs in Bocchi are typical of the rock and pop songs of most opening and end credits, whose subs show me that even rock songs written in and for Japanese audiences aren't going to translate well at all. Most of even the hardest-hitting songs are indirect and otherwise oblique when they aren't down-right passive aggressive while American audiences demand the directness of a first-person point-of-view. Localizing most of these songs for dubbing wouldn't work because they don't cross the cultural gap. So I'm thinking that SonyCrunchFun decided, probably logically in this case, that dubbing the dialogue while keeping the songs subbed was too much of a shift for general audiences and decided to keep it subbed.


But like I said before, that hasn't stopped shows like Love Live, the second season of Zombieland Saga, and other idol shows FUNimation got from getting dubs and just leaving the songs alone.
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Forest Moon



Joined: 14 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2024 8:02 pm Reply with quote
This release is priced the same as their recent dubbed blu-rays, MSRP and retail. They are basically charging us for a dub they haven't even produced. Not sure how long this has been going on but it's the first time I've noticed. I know Sentai charges less for sub-only releases, I assumed they all did.
I prefer dubs and don't mind paying a bit more for one, but to expect us to pay the same price for less is more than a little greedy of them. I'll most likely pick this up when it's in the bargain bin.
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varmintx



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1197
Location: Covington, KY
PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2024 8:28 pm Reply with quote
This is the only anime series from the past couple of years I actually watched all the way through. I don't think I'm gonna spend $50+ on a blu-ray of it, but if I can catch it on sale, I wouldn't mind adding it to the collection.
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