The unique thing that Beck does better than any other “slice of life” anime I’ve ever seen is draw attention to the more mundane and simple aspects of life that often go ignored. As Koyuki begins to look into the world of underground rock we follow him through days that would be considered forgettable or insignificant alongside his more exciting ones. While some may say that this comes off a boring, and at times this can be the case, it only adds to the level of realism that the show strives for. In the show, like in most of our lives, everyday in Koyuki’s
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life isn’t always memorable or significant one. New story arcs or life altering moments don’t happen with every episode and Koyuki’s school life isn’t a “be all end all” experience for him. Like in real life, sometimes we simply go to school, interact with our friends, walk or bus home, do our homework and kill time by doing a hobby before going to bed and starting the day all over again. This means that the pacing of the show feels more like watching the life of an actual person on a day to day basis rather than checking in on a character at some undisclosed period of time after the events of the previous episode. Some days might find Koyuki in jam session with Ryusuke’s band and others might involve him going through a rough day at school or reflecting on where his life is going.
Another element of the show that lends to its uncanny sense of realism is Koyuki himself. He isn’t a genius or particularly good at anything, he doesn’t have a natural skill for playing the guitar and when we first see him attempting to play he comes off as real amateur. We see Koyuki struggle over a long period of time to get good a playing, we see him learn from other musicians and listening to different kinds of rock music as he tries to lean to play by ear. This, again, adds to that level of realism that the show strives to achieve. I personally saw a lot of myself in Koyuki upon my first time through the show and I still do today. I remember feeling just as lost as he did back in my middle school and high school days, hell I still have some of those days once an a while but seeing a character like Koyuki keep trying despite the fact that he’s really not all that good at playing guitar always reminds me to keep on going despite how high the odds are. The rest of the shows cast of characters are steeped in the same level of realism as Koyuki with each going through their own real life struggles as they try to juggle life and their band duties.
Despite the shows emphasis on realism, which always stood at as the key feature of the show in my eyes, the most important element of the show that must be talked about is its music. This is where the true heart and soul of the show lies and believe me when I say this, Beck Mongolian Chop Squad is by far the best anime about music of all time( and yes I will fight you on that). The show takes and extremely detailed look into the world of underground rock in Japan, the performances have a real grit to them and get to heart of what its real like to see a real indie band perform in a rock club or the basement of a bar. The performances from every band, but especially Rysukes and especially in the last few episodes, feel raw and real, you can feel the energy being put out when bands belting out a song and the crowd is rocking out with them. No other anime has ever given me the feeling of actually being a part of a crowd in a concert like Beck has. On a more technical note, an interesting aspect about the music of the show is that the show itself doesn’t actually have a score or background music(BGM), all the music that is heard (aside from the odd intro or outro guitar riff) is all diegetic. This means that every piece of music or song that is heard in the show is actually being played by someone or something in the show itself. If there isn’t a playing a song or a person isn’t listening to a radio all that can be heard in the background is the noise of people talking, cars wising by, or the sound of Cicadas chirping. One last thing to mention about the show that may seem odd to recommend to people on their first watch through is to watch the show dubbed. That may sound strange but Beck is one of the few animes that actually works better in English than Japanese and this is mainly due to the fact that there is actually a fair bit of English spoken in the series. Since Rysuke and Maho used to like in the U.S. they often speak in English to one another but this unfortunately comes off more as Engrish than anything resembling English, many of the songs are also written and sung in English as well and just work better with the English voices than the original Japanese voice actors.
Beck Mongolian Chop Squad is a love letter to anyone who loves rock, indies music and slice of life anime in general. It’s a coming of age story about kid learning to grow into his own through the world of indie rock and depicts his life not as a series of large life altering events but small seemingly insignificant moments that slowly turn him into a more confident person. If you’re looking for a grounded and realistic slice of life anime you would be hard pressed to find an one that feels more real to life than Beck Mongolian Chop Squad.
Jun 25, 2016
The unique thing that Beck does better than any other “slice of life” anime I’ve ever seen is draw attention to the more mundane and simple aspects of life that often go ignored. As Koyuki begins to look into the world of underground rock we follow him through days that would be considered forgettable or insignificant alongside his more exciting ones. While some may say that this comes off a boring, and at times this can be the case, it only adds to the level of realism that the show strives for. In the show, like in most of our lives, everyday in Koyuki’s
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