The manga-anime correlation is starting to speed up a bit - this week’s two chapters each constitute an entire episode: chapter ten is episode six, while chapter eleven is episode seven.
Chapter ten’s title image is from Ladybird Girl, by the pillows.
Chapter eleven’s is from Shin Takarajima, by sakanaction.
Chapter ten takes place in places around Kanazawa-Hakkei Station, located at the southernmost extent of Yokohama, only just north of the border with Yokosuka. In the manga, the first few pages take place on a nondescript street in front of the station somwhere, but in the anime, it takes place at the Benten statue outside Biwajima Shrine - Benten, or Benzaiten, is a goddess of music, among other things. The street performance in the latter part of the chapter takes place, uh… somewhere around here.
I happened to be changing trains at Kanazawa-Hakkei Station with a few minutes to spare on my trip back in 2023 (not last year anymore, oof), so I popped out to take some photos. Not very good ones, mind - I literally only had a few minutes before I needed to catch a train to Sugita so that I could watch Diamond Fuji, and I also didn’t bring any reference images. Though while I was taking photos, someone else came along who did have reference photos, so maybe I could have asked to share.
Comparison images
This chapter, we also meet new character Hiroi Kikuri. Just as the Kessoku Band members take their names from the members of Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Kikuri (and her bandmates, who we meet next volume, I think), take their names from the band 88Kasyo Junrei.
Page 86, miso soup with shijimi clams is a classic hangover remedy. I’ve had it a few times myself (though, not for a hangover) - it looks like regular miso at first, so I was surprised to discover a bunch of clams hiding at the bottom of the cup.
Page 87, the sake “juice boxes” that Kikuri pulls out are real - don’t try them at home, kids.
Page 88, the redundancy of 私のマイベース amuses me.
Also page 88, my IME’s kaomoji database contains this rather relevant one:
＼(゜ロ＼)ココハドコ? (／ロ゜)／アタシハダアレ?
And lastly for page 88, Kikuri’s 幸せスパイラル is depicted like this in the anime:
This in turn is a reference to a “Cycle of Dependency” poster put out by the Japanese government way back in 2010, which has been so severely memed to death that it took me about five minutes to find a picture of the original. And here it is:
Moving on to chapter eleven, then, this opening sequence in the anime version provides the greatest clues for narrowing down where Bocchi lives.
Details
We first see Nijika and Kita standing at this vending machine - almost everything in this view has been removed since this image was taken, though. Fun fact, if you turn the camera about 180°, you’ll see the place where Bocchi and Kikuri had their street performance last chapter.
They then walk along the waterfront, crossing this bridge (it’s a bit hard to tell from the worm’s-eye view, but you can see the brick wall and the the bridge’s stone end-post.
After which, they immediately turn right.
Then there’s a cut to see what Ryo is up to, and when we come back they’re suddenly all the way over here (the angle in Street View isn’t great, but if you walk forward a few steps, you can see that white house on the right with the external staircase).
After that there’s another cut, at which point I lose them completely, which is probably the idea. But the point is that it’s somewhere in this area. So if anyone thinks they can nail it down to the specific building… have at it.
Page 96, I’m sure I read somewhere that Bocchi’s outfit here - sash and moustache and all - was a reference to something, but I haven’t been able to find that again, sooo… I dunno?
Page 97, the みによんずの歌 that Futari requests refers to the Minions (usually ミニオンズ) - perhaps the song is this one
Page 102, I saw someone wearing one of these Kessoku Band t-shirts on a train to Doai during my last trip in Japan, though I didn’t photograph it…
)
