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The pandemic affected everyone in different ways. For me, it meant that all my college friends started watching anime. Which is great, but no longer my medium of choice. I picked up Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin on a whim with the one friend I'd managed to successfully beg to join me in reading a new manga. I knew it was being forced to end, but I'd heard it was wacky and an enjoyable ride. I don't think another manga has made me laugh faster and more often.
Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin gives the reader exactly what they want in a comedy: A ridiculous premise, a ... memorable cast of characters, fun shenanigans, and an interesting idea for a greater story. It does suffer due to what feels like a rushed ending, but unfortunately the manga industry is a cold mistress to many series.
It's a shame Jump canceled it before it really got off the ground.
8.2/10

Beck is a memorable story, with semi-memorable characters. Specifically, each character's motivations and identities are extremely apparent from the beginning of the manga, but their names escape me. However, that's truly the only major downside to an otherwise great story with an incredible vibe.
While Beck isn't a masterpiece, it should be included in any manga fan's "TO-READ" List. It shows the struggle of aspiring artists through a believable story and grounds itself in realism. It was unlike other manga I primarily read before it and it opened my eyes to the wider world of the medium.

Before this manga, I never believed that one could ... experience music through the stroke of a pen and emotions drawn onto a page.
I have learned since then.

8.4/10