Warning: Contains spoilers for Bocchi the Rock! EpigraphIn Japan, it’s common for anime films to provide bonus manga for moviegoers written by the original creators, and Bocchi the Rock! is no different. Anyone who went to see Bocchi the Rock! Re: would receive a bonus manga from series creator Aki Hamazi called Bocchi the Rock! Epigraph that gave readers an extra story relating to the film.

Bocchi the Rock! Re: was the main event people were going out for, but Bocchi the Rock! Epigraph is just as exciting for what it adds to the overarching story. Epigraph is a short story exploring an event in Bocchi’s life from before she joined Kessoku Band, and in doing so, Bocchi the Rock! Epigraph makes the best friendship in the story even better.

It’s unknown if the manga will be available for Bocchi the Rock! Re:’s English release, but with how much it adds to the story, there’s no reason for it not to be.

Bocchi The Rock! Epigraph Adds a New Element to Bocchi & Kita’s Friendship

Bocchi the Rock! Epigraph takes place a year after the beginning of Bocchi the Rock! and has Bocchi reminiscing on her first day of school. Predictably, Bocchi’s crippling social anxiety kept her from talking to anyone or even so much as entering the school, and she was on the verge of just running away. Before she could, though, Kita appeared and said hi to Bocchi, and Kita’s positivity unintentionally pushed Bocchi to give high school a try, so in a way, Bocchi the Rock! Epigraph reveals that Bocchi and Kita’s friendship was far deeper than it originally seemed.

Why Bocchi & Kita’s Friendship Is So Important In Bocchi The Rock!

The Core Friendship of Bocchi the Rock! Is Made Even More Meaningful

Bocchi the Rock! Epigraph adds a new dimension to Bocchi and Kita’s friendship, and it’s easy to understand why that’s so good. Out of the various pairings between the girls of Kessoku Band, Bocchi and Kita’s friendship was always the most important in the Bocchi the Rock! anime thanks to how easy it was for them to interact with each other and how they inspired one another, Kita inspiring Bocchi to be more outgoing and Bocchi inspiring Kita to be better at the guitar. As such, Epigraph adding even more to their dynamic makes an already great relationship even better.

The added context to Bocchi and Kita’s relationship is especially good for the manga. Later volumes of the manga go further into Bocchi and Kita’s struggles with family and self-worth, and as the two of them continue to support one another, it becomes more and more apparent that Bocchi and Kita’s friendship is at the heart of Bocchi the Rock!.

Seeing Bocchi and Kita’s friendship grow has always been one of the best parts of the manga, and the added context Bocchi the Rock! Epigraph gives to it perfectly fleshes out both it and the story, as a whole.