Beck (BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad) | Manga

Yukio "Koyuki" Tanaka wasted away his middle school days listening to Japanese pop music and apathetically trudging through life—until a casual run-in with the enigmatic guitarist Ryuusuke "Ray" Minami. Through this encounter, Koyuki realizes what he has been missing all this time as Ray introduces him to western rock music and jumpstarts his desire to play guitar.

Although various struggles plague his path to rock fame, Koyuki refuses to abandon the passion that gave his life purpose, balancing it together with school, work, and friends. Beck tells the story of the love and trial that accompanies pursuing a professional career in music as Koyuki and Ray work toward realizing the guitarist's dream of the ultimate band.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit
Background

Beck won the 26th Kodansha Manga Award in a tie alongside Sakigake!! Cromartie Koukou for Best Shounen Manga in 2002. A promotional soundtrack, titled Greatful Sound: Tribute to Beck, featuring several different artists performing songs from the manga was released on November 15, 2002. A live-action film adaptation directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi was released nationwide in theaters on September 10, 2010, which received the Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Music.

The series was published in English as BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. Due to their license expiring, Tokyopop only published 12 volumes from July 12, 2005 to June 10, 2008. It was published digitally by Kodansha USA from July 5, 2018 to February 27, 2019.

Edit
Related Manga

Adaptation:

Beck

More characters
Characters

Tanaka, Yukio

Main

Minami, Maho

Main

Minami, Ryuusuke

Main

Chiba, Tsunemi

Main

Taira, Yoshiyuki

Main

Sakurai, Yuuji

Main

Lee, Eddie

Supporting

Saitou, Kenichi

Supporting

Reed, Matt

Supporting

Masuoka, Hiromi

Supporting

Reviews

Mar 5, 2024

daddypooh

Recommended

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 ...

Open

Gift

Sep 11, 2023

NotJesper

Recommended

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 ...

Open

Gift

Mar 16, 2021

Silentfan6

Mixed Feelings

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.

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Manga published in Argentina (B)

by ImNotAnOtaku1

48 Entries · 3 Restacks

manga archive: characters with good fashion sense/style★⠀

by shinlvrr

19 Entries · 24 Restacks

Manga with enjoyable Japanese Live Action Movie

by ren999999

50 Entries · 7 Restacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

View All

More news
Recent News

North American Anime & Manga Releases for March

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for March Week 1: March 3 - 9 Anime Releases Aria The Animation Complete Collection Blu-ray Black Clover Seaso...read more

Mar 2, 2020 1:33 PM by Sakana-san | Discuss (4 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for October

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for October Week 1: October 2 - 8 Anime Releases Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S: Kaguya Hime no Koibito DVD Bis...read more

Oct 1, 2018 10:27 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (7 comments)

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Beck Chapter 102 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Ishmael - Apr 28, 2009	50 replies	by ryzxgum »» Sep 28, 2023 8:55 PM
What are your opinions about Koyuki x Maho at the end of the manga? removed-user - Apr 17, 2021	9 replies	by Euroqean »» Jan 13, 2023 3:12 PM
Poll: Beck Chapter 103 Discussion TheGenkiGuy - Nov 8, 2020	1 replies	by MyAntiList »» Dec 20, 2022 8:38 PM
Poll: Beck Chapter 80 Discussion removed-user - Feb 1, 2009	2 replies	by ugo333 »» Dec 8, 2022 4:35 AM
Poll: Beck Chapter 87 Discussion removed-user - Feb 1, 2009	5 replies	by Yadava98 »» Dec 1, 2022 9:23 AM

Beck
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Edit
Related Manga

More characters
Characters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

More featured articles
Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

BeckBECK: Mongolian Chop Squad Edit What would you like to edit? SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

EditSynopsis

EditBackground

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

EditRelated Manga

More charactersCharacters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations Recommendations

More newsRecent News

More discussionsRecent Forum Discussion

More featured articlesRecent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Beck
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Edit
Related Manga

More characters
Characters

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

More featured articles
Recent Featured Articles