An Introvert's Anime

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This is about a gem of an anime called Hitoribocchi. I know introversion isn't social anxiety but introvert sounds better sociophobe.

Hitoribocchi is about an introverted girl who makes a promise to her childhood friend to make friends with everyone in her middle school and if she doesn’t, she will not be friends with her anymore. This slice of life anime is the most relatable anime I have ever watched, for me; as it’s the prime example of social anxiety or phobia in anime that does it perfectly in every way. Of course, it’s anime, so everything is very exaggerated to get the point across and so it is light-hearted in nature. I love this anime because it brings my favourite genre, slice of life, moe blob and very personal topic for me all together into an original premise for the school slice of life genre that is quite overdone, but this anime brings unique character that all iconic; every character in this anime is very purposeful for Bocchi and the story. The anime is very well paced and doesn’t overload you with meaningless characters, but the introduction to a new character is memorable and likeable from the start. I love this anime because there is not one bad thing I can think of for this anime, which is why if you like the genre, watch it.

The main topic of this show is social phobia. As someone who has had terrible social anxiety since they could remember; I can heavily relate to this show because the main character goes through her phobia and tries to overcome it to make friends by going out of her comfort zone. It makes you very motivated to do things in my life because you can see yourself in her shoes, or if you have social anxiety, this anime will tug your heartstrings and as of all the wholesomeness and the determined protagonist it will even motivate you to do things. When I was watching this, I was very on board with rooting for her to complete her goal; you get very invested into this anime because of how much you can reminisce with it. At some points of the anime, it even made me emotional when she made a friend because it takes me back to what I went through and how hard it was to make friends for me and seeing myself as her, you can relate to her sentiment of joy and relief of someone accepting her.

In Japan, introversion is everywhere, even around the world, so it is very smart to make an anime about the topic for the people who are not that outgoing and may be going through anxiety, so they can find peace in the show that talks to them because it shows you, you are not the only one going through it; if no one thinks about you, anime does. A lot of otaku use anime as an escapism from reality, but slice of life takes the escapism and makes what you don't like about life then removes it, making you want to be in that place. All the times we missed from our past are receding in this genre, it always gives me nostalgic vibes when I watch slice of life because we all have past that we want back but won’t come back, so I can find a paradise of it in anime which is why I love this genre because it’s so easy to watch like it is a second nature that you could watch a whole cour of it and want more or not feel tired from it because it is a very chill and wholesome genre.

This anime takes what people like me what like about a slice of life and addresses it to people who are introverted, slice of life makes you go back in time or alternative reality to your life but Hitoribocchi does that and gives inspiration to overcome your demons, to make you confident in motivating yourself to better yourself just like what Bocchi tries to do. If someone like her can do it, then anyone can, which gives you hope of reaching your goal. I have had extreme social anxiety that I've been fighting for years.

When I was watching this anime, I completely felt everything that the creator showed what asocial people are like inside our minds. He got everything perfect to how the mental struggle is like for some of us. Why it has a deep place in my heart because of how perfectly they executed the premise with the moe blob animation makes me love this anime for how wholesome it is, which makes me want more of it and hope for a second season. The makers get the feelings of Bocchi very well across to the audience. Every emotion from Bocchi you can feel deep in your heart, which is why this anime is very amazing.

This could be a very good case study for anxiety and social phobia that people who don’t know what it’s like to be in your shell is like can watch this because you can understand a little which could give empathy for people in real life that have this; if a lot more people watch this could get mental awareness across to more people and could remember that not everyone is outgoing. Sometimes in life, people need a push or a thing that can make them get what they want to do or get better and Bocchi’s friend Kai was that motivation to do better and make friends, which she was hoping to have.

Kai is the friend we all need to be there for us, you can’t give props to relatability of Bocchi without Kai because she is the best friend you could hope for, even if you could call her mean she had good intentions but had to be tough to get across that she was serious and make Bocchi actually believe her which would always be on her mind to make friends. This push is important to everyone with social anxiety because the world is not as bad as you think or feel, you have to fight to overcome them even if you look like a fool. This anime/manga has a lot of deep meaning and love put into it, which is why you should see it if you haven’t.

Thanks for reading!