The story to BECK is a simple one, simple yet very well done. While of course, the story is dramatized to make it actually interesting to watch, there has yet to be an anime that has felt this REAL in terms of story. The pacing is slow, moving along at a snail's pace. But this a show where the destination doesn't matter nearly as much as the journey. The show feels real in that there's no sugar coating anything. There's no perfect high school life, no perfect high school friends, it portrays high school as an awkward confusing time where no one really knows what they're doing or where they're going, which is something I'm sure a lot of us can relate to. We see life through the main character Koyuki's eyes, both the good and the bad. The story is relateable, heartwarming, dramatic and overall a real joy to experience.
The art style of BECK is definitely different. The colors are very stilted, lots of dark greens, browns, and beiges making the setting feel gritty and realistic. Character designs are varied and instantly memorable while not looking over the top or exaggerated. The animation is a sort of mixed bag, during most of the show it's standard anime level quality, occasional low points but for the most part substantial and at times very well done. On the other hand is the animation of the live musical performances of the band we see throughout the show. The performances were rotoscoped to look as realistic and true to life as possible and they succeed. The live performances look great and seeing the characters suddenly become hyper realistic versions of their former selves kind of works as a metaphor for the band "coming alive" when they play music together. Occasional shortcuts in some long shots aside, the animation and art are fantastic.
When your anime is based around music, you run into the issue of the OST being so much more important than just background noise for scenes. There is barely any "background" music in this anime, the only source of music is the bands performing in the scene, if there's no band present, no music! I really liked this anime's use of ambient noise, things like cars passing by, crickets chirping, rain pouring down onto rooftops, it all enhances the realistic tone and ambience the series is obviously trying to go for. The music is fantastic, all of it guitar based rock music, some acoustic some electric. I don't usually mention dubs or subs here but this is where I need to make an exception. Funimation ran into the problem of having to dub an anime with more than a few scenes of characters singing. This leaded to them re-recording every song in the show in english with the english voice actors portraying the characters. I'm happy to say they do a fantastic job, Greg Ayres and Brina Paencia who play two of the main characters in the dub are fantastic singers, Brina Palencia in particular being just absolutely breathtaking in some scenes. So, great ambience, great music and a fantastic dub, yea as far as sound goes this show can do no wrong.
When it comes to anime, I have a particular hatred for teenage characters because they all tend to be the same old thing every time. While some of the characters in BECK are basically tropes, they're tropes done really, REALLY well. The main character Koyuki is the shy sensitive boy done right. He's sensitive, but not to the point of being a complete social reject. He can be a bit cowardly sometimes, but stands up when it's important, leading to some great emotional moments for his character. The rest of the members of the band are all memorable and likeable. Ryusuke is the cool and charismatic leader of the group, that may sound a bit trope-ish, but what makes him memorable is his passion for music. Music is not something Ryusuke takes lightly, in fact it's basically his entire world! You can tell just by watching him that underneath that calm exterior is a mad guitar genius. Taira, the bassist of the group may seem calm and disinterested, but it becomes clear as the anime progresses that he may care more about the band than anyone else in the group. Chiba is of course the hyperactive, "crazy" one. Again, kind of trope-ish but Chiba has got a whole other side to him, and as the anime progresses we find out he actually has a bit of depth to him. I'm not gonna name off every character in the show or this would be really boring to read, if it isn't already, so I'll just say that the characters are great, not one of them boring or forgettable.
Overall, this anime holds a special place in me that no anime has even come close to filling since my first viewing of it. It is by far the realest, most down to earth slice of life you will ever watch and I don't think I've ever seen an anime that captured adolescence as well as BECK has. It's a definite must watch for any anime fan. Great music, great characters, and an awesome story are what make BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad my favourite anime of all time. This show can be watched for free legally on Funimation's website in sub and dub and is also available for cheap on DVD by Funimation.
