Beck
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad

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I began reading this manga after marathoning the anime adaptation over two days and finding myself left wanting more, as the anime ended all too quickly for my liking.

Story:
Beck follows the life of 14 year old Tanaka Yukio (Koyuki to his friends) as he grows from a shy, directionless teenager (with terrible taste in music) into an ambitious young musician. After a chance meeting with talented guitarist Minami Ryusuke, his life starts to change and gather momentum as he discovers music's ability to affect people. He begins to learn the guitar, and there is the budding romance with Ryusuke's sister, Maho. He joins ... Ryusuke's band, Beck, and the series follows the band's struggle to achieve success, both in Japan and the rest of the world. Because this is predominantly a slice of life style manga, many of the minutiae of Koyuki's and Beck's day to day life are covered, but the manga spans 5-6 years, which allows the various characters and their relationships to properly develop. The one aspect of the story I felt should have been developed a bit more was Maho and Yukio's relationship, it was very well done when it came up, but I think it should have been given a bit more development over the course of the manga.

Art:
Sakuishi Harold has a fairly distinctive art style in Beck, which I found a refreshing change from much of the overly disproportioned characters found in many manga and anime. I thought his more realistic style perfectly suited the realistic tone of the manga. His full page frames of the band's performances perfectly captured the spirit of a 'live', and were a personal highlight in the artwork of this manga.

Character:
In a manga of this length (both in chapters and period of time covered) there is real space to develop and flesh out both the main and some of the supporting characters. Koyuki's character develops beautifully over the course of the series, from an apathetic teenager into a determined young man. The other characters don't develop in the same fashion, Ryusuke's background is fleshed out and provides much of the conflict in the series, and while more time could have been spent developing the rest of the band members, especially Saku and Taira, they all have their moments during the series which give them real depth.

Enjoyment:
As I said at the start, I read this manga after finishing the anime adaptation and found myself wanting more. This was the first time I have watched an anime and then gone on to read the manga, as well as one of the first manga I have read, and I was unsure if I would be able to enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed watching it. Turns out there was nothing to worry about, and I even rate the manga higher than the anime, predominantly because I feel the story reaches a much more satisfying conclusion.

Overall:
To anyone who loved the anime, I thouroughly recommend reading the manga, as it has everything the anime had, as well as a complete storyline. I would also recommend this to anyone who is a fan of rock, or music in general, as it is the only series I have come across that deals with music in such an in depth and genuine way.

Best read with the OST playing in the background, just like this review.

The complete lack of motivation, the dull cycle of everyday life.. an average boy with average grades, average looks, average friends and a very average life. This is the story about that average boy and how he decides to make something out of it, transforming it, taking control of it, and discovering who he is as a person and who he can ultimately be. BECK, at its very core, is not a series about music, but a very well-done coming-of-age tale of a boy's journey through self-discovery.

Story:

The story follows Koyuki, the protagonist, and his band-mates, as they work to launch themselves into rock 'n' roll ... stardom. The story of BECK is special, for the simple reason that it (generally) depicts the road to gain fame as a prominent band very realistically. It shows that just because you have a sweet voice and some crazy guitarist does not mean you will skyrocket into the music scene and gain a legion of fans. There is much more work to do, finding a good manager, producer, and establishing good connections and making sure not to make the wrong enemies just to name some.

Another prominent element of the story is the romantic relationship between Koyuki and Maho, this is where the melodrama accumulates in this story, some of the incidents are just too coincidental and it feels as if they are happening just for the sake of creating melodrama. Melodrama is fine, but the relationship becomes very predictable and boring by the end.

The main storyline, thankfully, knows how to deliver the drama correctly and it can really get to you sometimes. It's unpredictable, it feels real, and that's what makes it great. The characters can be celebrating on one page only to have tempers rise in the next. Tidal waves of drama and emotions between the characters in this manga is what ultimately makes the story such a good one.

On a side note, this manga is packed with fanservice. No, not as in panty-shots or anything perverted, but as in its references to popular music. Koyuki and the band travel from the grave of Jimi Hendrix to Abbey Road Studio, and with chapter covers filled with endless homages to album covers and bands, and backgrounds packed with references. There is even a dream containing all the deceased big name rock stars. It makes the series even a bit more fun to read.

Art:

Like a lot of manga series, the art starts out a bit shaky but eventually gains ground and becomes more defined as the series progresses. Backgrounds are carefully done, if not just for the author's love to add music references into them. What I liked a lot about the art is that the author takes notice to the character's growth, the manga covers around five years and the author makes sure as to show that through the character's height, hair length etc.

Character:

This is the central focus of the series, and what makes it so enjoyable. Sakuishi fleshes out all the band members very well and they're just simply very easy to relate to and three dimensional. Readers will all find a bit of themselves in the members of BECK; from the rash hotheadedness of Chiba, to the lack of faith in oneself sometimes found in Koyuki, or the aggressiveness of Ryusuke.

Another thing about the characters that works so well is that so many different personalities are all packed into one cast, and it makes character interaction fun to read and interesting. Koyuki is the soft-spoken, well-meaning but sometimes misunderstood vocalist/guitarist, backed up by his kind and selfless drummer friend Saku; while lead vocalist Chiba is determined to prove himself and loudmouthed, matched only by the blunt, enigmatic, and sometimes troubled lead guitarist Ryusuke. All four of them being balanced by the cool-headed and collective bass player, Taira. Throw this clash of personalities together and you're in for a hell of a ride.

The rest of the cast is pretty colorful too, but some feel out of place and I sometimes have a hard time imagining what's their purpose is in this story and why they were introduced in the first place. Of course the majority of the non-BECK cast is very intriguing and fun. From the intimidating Leon Sykes, to the charismatic Eddie Lee to the sheer assholery of Ran, the useful cast far than makes up for the uselessness of characters such as Saito, Sayaka and Izumi, who are there, really, for bad reasons or no reason at all. One loses all significance after the beginning chapters, another one is a plot device used to poof up more melodrama, and the final one seems like an early character that was scrapped from the story by the editor.

Enjoyment:

Very enjoyable, but some subplots are unnecessary and can get tiring, and one has to question why pages would be spent talking about Kurt Cobain besides the author getting a bit too self-indulgent. But overall this series is a fucking pleasure, you read and read and before you know it, it's already over. When the manga gets good, it is addictive.

Overall:

This is a great coming-of-age series about a boy's discovery of a passion for music he never knew he had, the importance of friends and values and how not to lose yourself in the midst of fame and recognition. The story is well-written, and exciting; only to be occasionally dragged down by some irritating subplots. The characters, however, are well worth reading this series for. Hell, just read it because it's a great series in general. So if you want less Bankai's, or Sharingan Arms, and more real life drama and struggles, or just something more down to earth, read this.


Happy reading.

Beck is a unique gem of a niche market. In the vastness of manga, that is translated into English, I can't think of another one that A) is about a band and B) hits the specific tone and atmosphere of underground music. It genuinely feels like a niche within a niche, even though it's following the usual shonen character arc.

The festivals and creation of music with all the band members are where this piece really shines. In between these big moments, and character goals, are an assortment of side characters, love interests, and gang upheavals. Some of it works, some of it feels like ... a plot device, and other times it feels like the author forgot a certain side character arc and decided to write their next leg in eventually.

The anime covers about the first 10 or 11 volumes and those are indeed the best the series has to offer. There is a similar festival near the end where the quality comes very close to that first third high before having a very solid ending. The middle part is definitely hard to get through because the band is constantly thrown into situations where one member breaks off, does their own thing, they have to all come together again, which is repeated about three times. From a storytelling perspective, it's definitely a solid way to show your characters pushing through some struggle, but it's honestly irritating how planned it all felt.

Another aspect that I felt was fairly weak, especially in the second half, was the romance. Of all the characters Saku and Hiromi have the best relationship. Koyuki and Maho are a great couple, and one of the few couples in manga where I can genuinely feel their chemistry through the pages, especially in a shonen story, but for the love of god their relationship isn't written well. The second half is all about keeping them separated and falling for the same "won't he/won't she" misunderstandings where none of them talk to each other to make up. It does lead to some romantic reunions, but at the end of the day it seriously felt like their relationship was all a plot device. Which sucks, because I think they're great characters that are great together, I just couldn't handle the rinse, wash, repeat of their roller coaster love.

The music and the festival are fire though. The author really knows how to set up tension and create a ticking clock that makes each performance feels like it has the weight of the world on the band's shoulders. I loved meeting new bands and each musician had a unique way of performing that made them all memorable.

Overall, the manga felt down to earth, music was great, romance not so much, there is a ton I didn't even cover but it is certainly an experience I would recommend.