The Spring 2025 Manga Guide

Bocchi the Rock! Side Story: Kikuri Hiroi's Heavy-Drinking Diary

What's It About? 

Kikuri Hiroi―genius bassist of SICK HACK, terror of concert venues, eternal deadbeat, and all-around poor role model―has long held that there's no problem you can't drink your way out of. Whether it's the failing economy, overdue rent bills, or just plain ol' social anxiety, a quick trip on the spiral of happiness will help everything work itself out in the end…right? Surely her personal life isn't a total disaster, right?! Find out in this spin-off to Bocchi the Rock!

Bocchi the Rock! Side Story: Kikuri Hiroi’s Heavy-Drinking Diary has a story and art by Kumichō. Original Concept by Aki Hamazi. English translation by John Neal. This volume was lettered by Chiho Christie. Published by Yen Press (April 22, 2025). Rated 13+.

---

Is It Worth Reading?

Christopher Farris
Rating:

I was pretty much destined to fall off the wagon for this one. I was one of the many charmed by Bocchi the Rock!'s offbeat sensibilities and especially the on-rhythm raucous lifestyle of funny, hot, and tragic alcoholic bassist Kikuri Hiroi. Several elements lent BTR just a bit more edge than your average Manga Time Kirara entry, and gaping at the train wreck of a lifestyle of this woman who was absolutely not going to make it to 40 was one of them. The promise of pouring a tall glass of a Hiroi-centered spin-off is thus inviting for how uninviting it could be. This is BTR from the adult side of the tracks, as readers follow Hiroi's story as it intersects with some of the beats where she barged in on Bocchi. A full-length volume of how this woman lives her whole life begs for the tragicomic treatments.

At least in this first volume, while Kikuri Hiroi's Heavy-Drinking Diary has some of the air of "Bojack Horseman if it starred a hard-rocking Japanese bassist" that's more in the sense of seeing this sauced-up screw-up simply get by without yet delving into the darker realities of Hiroi's addictions. There are knowing moments, to be sure—watching Hiroi's bandmates, particularly Shima, navigate the undercurrent of stress that comes with trying to keep your alcoholic friend off the juice just long enough to have one (1) important, functional conversation with them. And there's a moment at the end of the volume that sees Hiroi grapple with the bleed-over between her habits and her genuine creative side, as she considers the time she's spent getting to where she is—and how much time she might have left. It hits that bittersweet reality at the core of the character that can be enjoyed because she is fictional.

While it's not too apologist, the manga is still apologist, and it knows it on account of the base appeal of Hiroi herself. The writing is hardly asking for sympathy from the audience in all the skeevy stuff Hiroi does (including a frank acknowledgment that her latching onto and mooching off of high schoolers is as fucked up as it is pathetic). And flowing through it all is the additional acknowledgment that as a rock star, as a musician, she is the real deal. But is it worth it? The unfamiliar people that Hiroi comes into the life of, the audience members, as it were, all love her and think she's the life of the party. The people who know her more personally and reckon with her issues have more trepidation in their interactions, and feel the need to worry about her actual needs. Perhaps that's the most a first volume of a canon-beholden spin-off like this needs to brush with the heaviness that must undercut Hiroi's existence. Perhaps I expected a little too much from this project other than simply getting to see more of my fave. Perhaps that, itself, is worth drinking to. Responsibly, of course.

---

Lauren Orsini
Rating:

Bocchi the Rock! fans know all about Kikuri, alcoholic gremlin character without a care in the world. Much like alcohol, she'S.o.K in small doses. But when she's the star of the show, her booze-soaked antics stop being funny. This girl needs to go to rehab! Bocchi the Rock! Side Story: Kikuri Hiroe's Heavy Drinking Diary is less of a comedic romp and more like the sad prologue of somebody's Al-Anon diary. The story follows Kikuri as she loses the trust and respect of her bandmates, drinks herself broke, and sleeps off her hangover in random train stations and temples. Unfortunately, it does not conclude with her admitting she needs help. I personally found this a difficult read, and Bocchi-typical comedic timing didn't improve the experience.

You know a character is a poor role model when her story is based on a Japanese Twitter meme about drug addiction. Throughout this comic, Kikuri repeatedly references “the spiral of happiness,” a cycle in which she goes from sober and sad to drunk and happy and back again, which is based on a government drug PSA that was mocked mercilessly until it was retired. Kikuri's whole life is a continuation of the meme. She lives in a cheap apartment without even a shower or bath because she's always broke. She's destroyed her relationships so thoroughly that when she finds herself moored in an unfamiliar town and calls her bandmates for help, they hang up without ceremony. However, this manga reveals that when Kikuri is sober, she's even more insufferable to the people around her. She's a huge buzzkill muttering under her breath about things like Japan's declining birth rate. Sadly, the manga draws the conclusion that Kikuri's alcohol addiction is the most interesting thing about her! For people struggling with addiction, the fear that people won't like them sober is a very real concern, and it's a downer that this manga feeds right into this narrative.

Bocchi the Rock! is a seinen series targeted toward adult men, so this manga is not Corrupting The Youth or anything like that. But even if you're a well-adjusted adult, Kikuri's alcoholic antics are just sad. The jokes are fast and frequent but they all boil down to one thing: that Kikuri herself is a joke. And I just can't get behind it.

---

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.