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.

''If you have never been at the bottom, you can't get to the top. If you've never lost hope, you can't understand what's truly important.''

Ahh, BECK. After rewatching anime two times, i finally gave BECK manga a shot. I don't regret one bit. The story in manga goes 70 chapters onward. Everyone who has watched anime and wants to know what happens with our loved characters afterwards should give this manga a try, too.

And if you don't know anything about this story - think about this: Have you ever wondered what would it feel like to be in a band? If you ever wish ... to find out, BECK would be your choice. I've seen quite many anime and manga already and this is one of the best among, really.

~The story starts with a boy who doesn't have a goal in his life. One day he meets a very strange stitched up dog and its mysterious owner. That meeting has an important meaning to his days onward. Our main character Koyuki and the readers of the manga get introduced to the music world.~

The thing you learn most of it is that going through a hard path is something that gives you the best results. Don't give up and just go forward! Be true to yourself! That kind of stories are one of the best ones because they can leave an impact in your life as well.

Something i also noticed was that when you are nice to your enemies it can even be more effective than just having a fight with them.
For example, when someone says something insulting to you and you reply like Koyuki: '' Still, you are one of the best i know because ..'' or
''But, you are excellent at what you are doing..'' etc it can actually make the other person think of what he/she said wrong to you. It's weird but it works!

So overall 10/10,
STORY was truly a masterpiece, nicely wrapped into 103 chapters, which 33 first chapters you can see in anime.

A hard path where something good can't always be on top. Something that is always on top is not always the best. Good things, bad things happen but in the end you need to believe in yourself and give it your best to make something amazing happen. It really makes you interested in music. Not to mention, this manga is the perfect example of showing why anything that is ''popular'' isn't always the best. Usually the real gems are hidden somewhere below the surface.

''Sometimes the greatest trial can lead to the greatest success.''



ART what i truly liked is how you can see characters grow, change as they mature. There are so many manga and anime where characters look the same for years, I'm happy BECK isn't one of them. This just shows how close to real life can sometimes story be.

CHARACTERS are one of the best parts of this. You will start to like every character in their own way. Its how different people make up a great group.

''I'll follow my own inspiration. It's okay for a person to have a different way of living.'' - Koyuki

Koyuki was just too good for the world he lived in ; Ryusuke was so called the ''bad boy'' who got all the girls and got into deep ****; Taira was a collected person and the most mature one. He had really nice skills. He followed by his own instincts not how others told him to (i think i want try out bass guitar one day because of him hehe); Chiba was that mambo-jambo drunken kung-fu panda - anyways, very charismatic and funny character; Yuji - always smiling, growing talent, close relative to Takeshi from Pokemon - never opened his eyes, except one chapter but I was not sure if it was him. Maho was interesting female lead, really excentric, something that you don't see in every story.

ENJOYMENT I'm not sure if I'll enjoy any other manga or anime like I enjoyed this one. Those face-drawings they made were just hilarious. And those city ''parkours'' when Koyuki was in hurry to somewhere and a cop was chasing him. Also that great sensation which not many stories give -
I think that is what makes this manga great - that unexplainable feeling of reading something nice that you won't regret. I think it's the power of band. Of a group. You feel like you are there, with them and never wishing to leave! This was just so great!


I think the questions that anime left unanswered were:

Why did that dog look so weird? Because hey, that dog looked really weird..

What was it about the dream they all saw?

.. Beck was a silly name but if you decide to read this manga you will find out why it was perfect for them.

At the first I watch Beck's anime by chance and when I loved the anime and when it's come to end I quickly jumped to manga and read it with an enthusiasm cuz it was an overwhelming joyable story.This manga is one of my favourites and here's my review...

Story:
This story centered about Tanaka Yukio(Koyuki) and the band named Beck(Mongolian Chop Squad).The story starts slowly with main characters acrossed each other and slowly developed but strong friendships and not too much but enjoyable love parts.Even if it's a manga about music life and even it's music's part was great/awesome/amazing the relation parts was the most effectives ... on me and I enjoyed it till the end.

Characters:
Every character in this manga have it's own attractiveness about it(main/supporting doesn't matter).I love this manga cuz you can find a character to bond yourself to him/her.This is important cuz if you cant bond your toughts to an anime/manga you can't enjoy it fullfilly(atleast that's what I think).

Drawing:
The drawing was good and fit for manga's reading age gap.Atleast I can say Sakuishi Harold did a great job in this manga's drawings.(I wrote but I don't find right for writting about drawings cuz every people has his/her own taste so it doesn't matter how it's drow)

Enjoyment:
There is nothing much to say I already say over and over this manga full of enjoy ;D

In The End:
It's a manga worthy of reading(i didn't mean when u bored you can read this,this manga will be your best enjoy treasure when u read it ^^)and I know if you read this manga because of me you will thank me(don't think bad :D)cuz when my friend lend me this manga and after I finished it I was really thankful to that guy for letting me enjoy this kind of pleasure...

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.

What a ride it has been.This story has so many ups and downs(mostly downs) that I totally lost count of it.Finishing the story with Greatful Sound the place where they first made it big was a great choice by the mangaka imo.Koyuki reminiscing about his whole journey and talking abot his views about the bandmantes was great too.I dont think I would ever find a better manga related to music(including bands)....This definetly gets a 10/10 by me.the way it ended feels perfect and I have no regrets whatsoever!
Might Re-read it someday.Man I'm really craving some music manga/anime.Unfortunately I have watched most of them.Anyways I had ... a blast reading it annd thats all thats matters to me.Definetly gonna miss these guys

A simple set up: Boy meets girl, boy likes girl. Girl likes boy in a band. Two boys meet, and then the world slowly but surely gets turned on its head. A mix of comedy, action, drama, romance, and music that can only be called a masterpeice. A must read for anyone just starting out in the Manga world, or a long time vet.

Like most people I'm sure I first saw the anime before I ever picked up the books. After finishing the anime I obsessively starting reading the manga. I've been reading manga and watching anime for over 10 years ... now and never before has a story, group of characters, and an artist ever hit me in a way that this series has. The way the characters develop (through gradual growth as they age all the way to baptisms by fire) and interact with each other despite their varied backgrounds and personalities will keep this as one of the all time best for me. After finishing this I'm not sure another manga can ever replace it.

Literally the best manga about bands and music you'll ever read, believe it or not, the audio won't even be missed. Harold Sakuishi managed to give me the entire trajectory of a random boy, even quite ordinary, who is Koyuki, getting involved in a plot that starts simple and turns into a drawn symphony, speaking of drawing, the features are very unique, both As for its characters, the romance involving the protagonist, the friendship that takes on colors between ups and downs, encompass a unique narrative that the anime itself was unable to convey, the shared dream scene did not have the same impact on ... the animation, and that is why , that even though there is no sound, I hear what Beck's mangaka wanted to tell me.

Beck is, fundamentally, about five dudes in a band, and their friends, growing up. Other things happen: romance, guns, and obviously music. But the manga is at its best when all that takes a back seat, and the characters get to sit in a shitty bar or restaurant and talk crap at each other. As with most starving artists, Beck are at the bottom of society. But while they face more setbacks than a chiropractor, it never feels like they are standing still. Every chapter is "five steps forward and four steps back", and while the plot may not always be very realistic (there are ... a lot of gangs), the characters never lose their realness. You come to love them so much that it hardly matters what they are doing. It's just so enjoyable.

Beck by Harold Sakuishi is a really surprising manga. It is about a band with a rags-to-riches story, a comedic theme and a splash of love. The band's name is Beck, derived from their guitarist's Frankenstein-ly dog's name. Later on, they also got known as Mongolian Chop Squad.

The first thing I noticed about this manga is the art. It is actually not very good. The gag faces are fine, but there are times when the mangaka fits a character's full body in a small panel, resulting in bad body proportions. Well at least the character designs are realistic, the eyes are not very big and ... their poverty was shown perfectly :)

Next is the plot. I SO LOVE IT. It's very real and full of unexpected happenings. Unlike the usual stories where in the series of darkness comes in light in every conflict, here in Beck, the flow of unfortunate events is very long and the people barely get lucky, which adds to the comedy. There are even times when I predict that their luckiness would come in at the last minute and then I end up being wrong. There was even a scene when Ryuusuke is missing and the band needs to perform, and there was a fan looking forward to seeing Ryuusuke because people says he is handsome (and she is the first person to send a letter to the band too). At the last minute before the performance, a man from the guitar shop where Koyuki buys volunteered to be Ryuusuke's substitute. He is VERY ugly, so the fan ended up being disappointed.

Anyways, for the plot, the only problem I saw is Sakuishi-sensei didn't illustrated the story's progress finely sometimes.

This series is not popular yet unexpectedly magnificent. I recommend this one especially to the people who are tired of the mainstream manga and want something different. Yes it is about music and being no expert in that field may make this manga corny, but then, I really like it and it's cool the way it is. Yes it is about music and that may make you say "It is better in anime" since manga is only drawing and text, but then, the mangaka successfully illustrates the feeling he wants the readers to feel while the characters perform. This is an awesome manga and I rate it 4 out of 5 so you guys - BETTER ADD THIS TO YOUR MUST-READ MANGA LIST. No, BETTER READ THIS NOW.

Credits: mangatraders.com, stoptazmo.com, mangareader.net and my classmate codenamed JF for recommending this to me.



NOTE: If you are planning in watching the anime instead of reading the manga, BETTER dispose of that plan. The anime can be boring for first-timers of the series. It is better to read the manga first and then watch the anime second. Well, that's just my opinion. Go on and watch the anime if that's what you really want. And there's also a live action movie of the series, though the plot was really messed up there.

Yet again before i get started Beck was written and drawn by Harold Sakuishi and was published in english by tokypop around 2000.

First off i'd like to point out that i've never read nor watched a music anime/manga so i really had nothing to compare it to, with that in mind i'll get started

-STORY-
To be honest the story was one of it's own being good nor bad; based around real life and real people. sometimes it drags a bit and you feel like your going know where but despite that i really enjoyed the struggle, pain, loss and joy beck go through as they learn ... more about themselves and each other (being music or otherwise). if your under 13 maybe you shouldn't watch it (depending on how mature) it has a lot of blood, weapons and sex references; sometimes it isn't always needed but i think it was just part of the humour the artist was going for so i let it go through saying that i did enjoy the drama.

-ART-
At the beginning i have to say i really didn't like it all to well; it had a stiffness about it which i have to say improved without even realising. it reminds a little bit or hajime no ippo (fighting spirit) which also got a lot better.

-CHARACTERS-
I know i scored this setection low but i can't say i have a reason; all members of beck have there known hardships they have to over come rather being school, themselves, music or each other- they do however break down every wall and end up trusting each other and realise that with even one missing nothing would have happened or could ever happen- but this took all 34 volumes to do and even though for the style he was using it was right; i wanted results quicker.

-ENJOYMENT-
What can i say? beck (even though as i said before brags on) is a great manga and i can see why it was made in to a anime, it's funny and filled with drama it kept me hooked for hours; heck i even reread the four last chapters, once the art style became more nature and easier on the eye was very likeable and one of my personal favourites; though sometimes it can feel repetitive and boring, i continued to the last volume and was very happy with it; also if watching because you've watched the anime; the manga has more back story(even though thats usually the case) and goes way past the bands reunion:).
I hope you read and enjoy it
P.S. i did this a bit impulsive and wrote this close to 1am so am sure there are a lot of mistakes that i will take care of once i've hap at least 7hours sleep. night night

Pretty much everyone has at least a passing interest in music and its instruments. To be a good musician, more than passing interest is need. It is necessary true dedication to music. Beck is the story of someone who only had a passing interest in music that comes to adore it and becomes a great musician.

Beck is a music drama manga that was serialized between 200 and 2008. It was written, illustrated and created by Harold Sakuishi, and doubles as his first work of note.

Yukio "Koyuki" Tanaka is a 14-year-old who hasn't anything going for him: he isn't in any clubs, his school scores are ... average at best and he isn't particularly sociable. Until a chance meeting with the guitarist Ryusuke Minami and his dog, Beck, sets him on a new path. He starts to play the guitar with the hopes of working with his newly found idol.

Eventually, he does play with him in their band, Beck. With, as well, the drummer Saku, Koyuki's school friend, the funky bassist Yoshiyuki and the vocalist with rap background Chiba. Together, the band aims to become great musicians and achieve success.

While the setting and even some of the developments are fairly standard, Beck's strength lies on the way the story is told. Apart from the slow start, the pacing is great. Differently, from most other manga, the band is not easily catapulted to success, but still evolves in a pleasant-to-read speed.

The story heavily evokes the importance of music, making good use of its cast to illustrate various possible relationships with music. Koyuki's finds in it excitement and friends, while for Ryusuke it is a way of life, for example.

Moreover, the cast itself is wonderful. Each character has its own clear personality and is throughly explored. Even Koyuki, who is at first a generic and self-insert, protagonist, goes through changes and develops his own personality and new desires.

Beck even has some interesting side stories, for example, Lucille's. To the non-initiated, Lucille seems to be a terrible guitar riddled with bullet holes, but it actually is a legendary guitar once owned by likewise legendary bluesman. And Ryusuke stole it right under the nose of an important businessman.

The conclusion of Beck leaves a lot of room for imagination, but its focus isn't the destination, it is the journey. And what an incredible journey it was. Not lacking in quality, it creates meaningful and emotional plot threads and develops them until its conclusion.

The art of Beck is best described as realistic. There is a lot of care put in each panel to portrayal something visually appealing, but realistic at the same time. This is particularly evident both during close-ups of the instruments, which are wonderfully detailed down to the most minimal imperfections, and the two-page spreads, which are minuciously planned and almost pieces of art.

An interesting characteristic of Beck is the way that the music is portrayed. Rather than trying to half-ass the lyrics, Sakuishi chooses to focus on the emotions to convey sound. And this gamble worked perfectly. Emotions are much more tangible in imagery rather than in words, moreover, the impactness of lyrics is too chaotic. Whenever there were music scenes, it was impossible not to feel something.

Beck is a music epic, as in a journey of huge proportions through the world of music. It is a trip through music and what it can mean to a multitude of people.

At this point, it is needless to say that I recommend it to basically anyone. However, I should still go through formalities: If you have at least a passing interest in music, you will find a lot to like in Beck. On the other hand, if you despise bands, music and everything they stand for, you will probably hate it too. Also, if you are indifferent to all of that, Beck still is a great drama with fun and deep characters that doubles as an emotional journey.

One of the standout aspects of "Beck" is its rich and well-developed characters. Yukio is a relatable and likable protagonist, and his relationships with the other members of his band, Beck, are beautifully portrayed. The supporting characters, from the kind-hearted guitarist Koyuki to the fiery and unpredictable vocalist Ryuusuke, are equally well-written and add depth to the story.

The art is also impressive, with dynamic and expressive character designs and detailed backgrounds that bring the world to life. The action sequences, particularly the performances by the band, are particularly well-drawn and exciting.

Overall, "Beck" is a must-read for fans of music-themed manga and coming-of-age stories. The relatable ... characters and engaging plot make it a standout in the genre.

Who doesn't love a music-based slice of life manga? I always find manga about music so fascinating... I think it's hard to bring that music to life in written word and pictures, but Beck manages to do it (although I now think I have to check out the anime so I can ear this music that's leaving everyone so awestruck). Plus, this is a band manga. Yay bands!

Premise: Loser kid Koyuki meets guitarist extraordinaire Ryuusuke and then gets sucked into the world of music. It's neat to see Koyuki's progression from loser kid to rocking musician. Kind of reminded ... me of "Almost Famous". I felt myself liking it more and more as I read through it and the ending was just so perfect, I sighed happily. The performances, especially near the end, were .... just incredible. So satisfying.

I actually really want to find another manga just like it. I love stories about bands, the journeys they take, the adventures they go on, the memories they make. Read this! It's amazing.

Beck is a story about 5 guys finding their purpose in life.

Everyday we live our lives there are times it feels pointless, or you feel lost. Some days you feel like you can do anything you set your mind to. But in life when we are confronted by an insurmountable obstacle or impending tragedy, how do we feel?

We can't help but to feel anxious, nervous, and helpless. It's only human.

Beck is like a camera capturing a moment of those feelings with each panel. When we feel like giving up, there is always someone out there who is struggling just as much or ... more than you. Koyuki, Saitou, Saku, Ryusuke, Taira, Maho, and Chiba are so perfectly developed I would argue every reader can relate in atleast one aspect from each of them. Despite the fact each of them have their own flaws, they all accept each others flaws.

However the author seems to leave us with one resounding message.
It all comes full circle.

So hurry and read this manga, you just might find a piece of yourself and grow to appreciate your life.

Beck was a very engaging reading with a surprising story, but some mistakes hinder the reading. Let's do it by steps:

Beck's characters are very charismatic and have their own energy that is part of the manga's charm. In particular, the band members: Chiba, Ryuusuke, Taira and Saku. Having each one of them, their moment of growth and development around the band, besides of course being very charismatic.
having said that, the antagonists are a weaker part of the manga, which are just hindrance to the band's growth than really good characters with deep. However, this does not apply to Leon, who is the main antagonist, who ... is an excellent character with a great presence and goals, which causes some respect for him gradually throughout the story.

The MC Koyuki is a great character that constantly grows throughout the story. Initially someone lacking in spirit and shy, but gradually becoming a character of attitude and confidence.
It's a really great journey that he takes whether as a person, a band member or even in his romance with Maho.

The story is great. Frankly, I was taken aback by the twists and turns of it.
Initially I expected to see just a music story with personal growth, but the plot is much bigger than that. In it there are moments of struggle and conflicts with criminals, including great endings to chapters that make you want to know what happened.
That said, a strong problem with the work is that it forces too many scripting conveniences to generate conflict. This is bad for breaking the immersion with the story by noticing the script's hand acting rather than a natural and progressive situation.

The art is spectacular! It's very beautiful and detailed, but mainly it's extremely competent in transmitting the energy that the situation asks for, be it in concerts or even in fight scenes. Seriously, it's very immersive to see art distorting in a fast-paced music scene or getting more detailed in deep music.

Finally, Beck is a great manga with a good story full of surprises, but he fails in having forced the script to generate conflict that harms the immersion in the plot. That said, at least it has a good ending.

The Story plot line, well I can say that the idea of it is more common with action type manga but instead of fighting the main character gets stronger with in the band. The art I though was very good with the characters running. and the faces. the characters are pretty involved and deep however some things were not entirely resolved at the end. My enjoyment of it was mainly decrease by the open ending of the story. as well as certain people close to the main character seemingly disappear from the story line. again though an open ended story for the most part. now ... 19 years later or whatever like harry potter here =P

Beck was one of the first animes I watched. I was about eleven years old and was playing this Guitar Hero 2 mod with anime songs. The creators were huge fans of Beck. The game started with Hit In The U.S.A and one of the first playable songs was Moon On The Water. I was hooked.

To be honest, I was a kid. I barely remember the anime. I know I liked it, but I don’t think I absorbed much. But the songs stuck with me. So now, more than 10 years after, I stumbled upon the manga and thought I should give it a ... try. It would be nice to remember what the story was like. Was it even that good?

Oh, boy it was.

I read band mangas before. Nana is great, but the music feels more like a background to the characters development. I also read Fuuka, whatever that trainwreck was all about.

Beck struck me differently. It is in fact a manga about music. About its power, its grip. Made by someone who clearly loves it, dropping references all over. Band t-shirts and manga chapters reenacting famous album covers to please any music geek. Going from rock legends like Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix to hip hop classics like Wu Tang Clan, the alternative rock of Radiohead and Sigur Rós to the hardcore of Black Flag and Converge.

The art at the beginning was a big let down, especially the character designs, but it improves greatly towards the middle. The live shows are downright stunning. They’ve got this serious concert photography feel, capturing the energy of these moments. There are some weak plot conflicts, especially Ryusuke’s background being too absurd to take seriously, but they don’t ruin the the build up of the band’s career.

Beck’s real magic is its ability to convey passion. We feel everything as the band goes through it’s ups and downs, excited as they write great songs and frustrated when they have a bad performance.

It also captures incredibly well these striking little moments for any music fan. The thrill of discovering your new favorite band. Buying your first guitar. Being blow away by seeing a band you love live. The enchantment of being in a music festival, surrounded by amazing artists. A memorable concert that only those who were there can understand how amazing it was. Never other media translated these feelings so well.

This review is spoiler free.

First of all, since I joined MAL I never thought about doing a review, but for BECK it was another story. This manga was just mind-blowing on all aspect, it even made me change the kind of music that I listened before.

Ps: Sorry if there are error, English isn't my primary language.



-STORY

How can I describe the story in one word...? REALISTIC (some moment are not). When I started reading it, I thought “How can a 103 chapters with 65 pages each, about a band be really that good?” And I'll tell you how, after each chapter you have goosebumps and ... you want to continue reading cause you want to have more of this feeling that make you feel alive. And the other thing that make the story so good is the fact that its really realistic. All that happen to them, are thing that could really happen in real life.



-ART

The art style of Harold Sakuishi is really unique and he is known for that. The art has a bit of comedy and realist, and this art style is perfectly fit for BECK.



-CHARCTERS

The characters, are what make this story so good, they are perfect for this kind of manga. The character development is amazing, all of them are like reals persons with real society problems. These characters are the most realistic ones I have ever seen in a manga.



-ENJOYMENT

I enjoyed this manga to the point that I didn't wanted it to end. The first two third of the chapters have a good touch of comedy, yet the comedy is rarely in the dialogue, its the art that make the comedy in this manga so goood.



-OVERALL

This manga is worth more than a 10, I literally cried at the end of the manga(not because it was sad but because it was finished).

If you are looking for a beautiful and realistic music manga with a little bit of comedy, BECK is for you.

Based on a manga of the same this anime is all about Tanaka Yukio, better known by his nickname Koyuki is a 14 year old who feels disconnected from life in general. Through the act of saving a mismatched dog BECK (the somewhat frankenstein looking dog or whatever you call it), he meets guitarist Minami Ryuusuke, and becomes involved in Ryuusuke's new band BECK. Koyuki's life starts to change as the band struggles towards fame.

Along the way he encounters many awkward and new situations, things he has never had to deal with before. If you've ever gone through things similar to what he's gone through, ... you'll immediately connect with this anime.(Actually I somehow dun like how the anime ends xp)
Beck relies heavily on this connection with it's viewers, so if you do not make the connection, you will probably not like the anime. It's not the standard slasher series, and focuses much on the viewers emotion.

So if you like music (Has an awesome rock soundtrack so good I even imported it) and storyline and want a break from the overplayed bloodshed scenario, this anime is for you. ^^