It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no — it’s Bocchilla from Bocchi the Rock giving out flyers! The monster character was spotted doing an “emergency flyer distribution” for the upcoming movie and Zepp 2024 tour at Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, on May 24. Unbeknownst to the people at the event, however, the person inside the costume was none other than Hitori Goto’s voice actress, Yoshino Aoyama.
In case you missed it, “Bocchilla” is a Godzilla reference from Bocchi the Rock episode 4 that only appeared briefly but has become a fan-favorite moment among fans. The anime ran for 12 episodes and after the season concluded in 2022, a compilation film was soon announced. It is split into two parts: the first to premiere on June 7 and the second on August 9, 2024.
On May 13, a film advertisement poster of Bocchilla, the approval-seeking fire-breathing monster with a “give me a like!” shouting bubble, was humorously placed below the famous Godzilla head landmark on the Shinjuku Toho Building. Its announcement on X (formerly Twitter) included a caption of Bocchi asking Godzilla to like her. The “Bocchi the Rock Re:” and “Re:Re:” posters will be up until June 9.
Then, the Bocchilla mascot appeared a week later for another advertisement campaign. On May 24, the official X (formerly Twitter) of the anime announced that it was having an emergency flyer distribution event with the note that a “monster is attacking.” More than 100 fans gathered and all 1,500 movie flyers were successfully distributed over the two sessions. After the event, Yoshino Aoyama revealed in a TikTok video that it was her all along.
The voice actress commented in an interview that this was her first time wearing a costume and she tried her best to move in an introverted and approval-seeking monster-like way. For example, she would turn around anxiously and sulk until staff and fans cheered for her. She also said that she has much to improve and wants to work harder with Bocchilla to promote the upcoming anime movie. Lastly, she is hopeful that the other cast members will join her next time.
Also Read:
Fill the Void With the New Bocchi the Rock Good Smile Plushies
Kessoku Band Heads to Singapore With Concert Screening
Bocchi the Rock! is a four-panel manga series by Aki Hamaji. It has been serialized in Houbunsha’s Seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Max since December 2017. An anime adaptation by Studio Cloverworks aired in 2022, which Crunchyroll describes:
Hitori Gotoh, “Bocchi-chan,” is a girl who’s so introverted and shy around people that she’d always start her conversations with “Ah…” During her middle school years, she started playing the guitar, wanting to join a band because she thought it could be an opportunity for even someone shy like her to also shine. But because she had no friends, she ended up practicing guitar for six hours every day all by herself. After becoming a skilled guitar player, she uploaded videos of herself playing the guitar to the internet under the name “Guitar Hero” and fantasized about performing at her school’s cultural festival concert. But not only could she not find any bandmates, before she knew it, she was in high school and still wasn’t able to make a single friend! She was really close to becoming a shut-in, but one day, Nijika Ijichi, the drummer in Kessoku Band, reached out to her. And because of that, her everyday life started to change little by little…
Source: Comic Natalie Movie Poster, Flyer Distribution Event, BTR Anime X (formerly Twitter)
© Aki Hamaji / Hobunsha, Aniplex
The comments are temporarily unavailable for maintenance.