Beck (Manga)
| Beck | |
|---|---|
| Original title | BECK ( ベ ッ ク ) |
| transcription | Bekku |
| Manga | |
| country |
 Japan
|
| author | Harold Sakuishi |
| publishing company | Kōdansha |
| magazine | Gekkan Magazine |
| First publication | 1999 - 2008 |
| expenditure | 33 |
| Anime television series | |
| title | Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad |
| Country of production |
Japan
|
| original language | Japanese |
| Year (s) | 2004-2005 |
| Studio | Madhouse |
| length | 25 minutes |
| Episodes | 26th |
| Director | Osamu Kobayashi |
| First broadcast | October 6, 2004 to March 30, 2005 on TV Tokyo |
Beck ( Japanese ベ ッ ク , Bekku ) is a manga series by the Japanese illustrator Harold Sakuishi , which was also implemented as an anime series. It is aimed at young people and can be assigned to the Shōnen genre.
The over 6,000 page series is about the rock music scene in Japan and the struggle to be successful in the music industry. The name of the series comes from the dog Beck of the same name, who appears in the series and after whom the music group in the foreground is named.
action
The story is about the fourteen-year-old student Yukio "Koyuki" Tanaka, who is in love with his sandpit friend. He met sixteen-year-old Ryusuke by chance while rescuing his dog Beck. In return, Ryusuke, who speaks fluent English, saves Koyuki and his friends from a gang of mean thugs. The two become friends, and since Ryusuke is a gifted guitarist and rock music fan, Koyuki soon got a taste for this music genre too.
He joins Ryusuke's band Beck and soon realizes his instrumental and vocal talent. In Beck , who is named after Ryusuke's dog of the same name, there are Ryusuke and Koyuki, singer Chiba, bassist Taira and drummer Saku. Yukio is asked by members of the globally successful band Dying Breed , whose members are friends with Ryusuke, on stage at a concert to perform a song. The concert is marketed internationally and gives Koyuki a high profile. Koyuki works as a waiter and other jobs after school, while in his free time he focuses on the band and meets with Ryusuke's sister Maho.
Beck manages from concerts on small indie stages and a self-released CD in Japan and the USA to a sensational appearance at the much- attended Grateful Sound festival , which, however, also marks the premature separation of the band members. Chiba, Saku, Taira and Koyuki make a tour through America under the band name Mongolian Chop Squad as the opening act. Ryusuke joins Seattle and the band is reunited.
Back in Japan, the five work in various jobs and save money in order to achieve a professional album release with a label. With a small indie label they get a contract for a single, whose circulation of 1,500 copies only sells half in the first three weeks. A second single followed with more success and Beck made a four- stop tour through Japan. Another appearance at the Grateful Sound Festival is to follow, but since the mighty record boss Ran intrigues against the band, the appearance is canceled.
Eddie, the lead guitarist of Dying Breed and Ryusuke's best friend, is murdered, causing Ryusuke to fall into deep depression. He travels to the United States and meets the well-known music manager Leon Sykes, who has threatened Ryusuke with murder several times because Ryusuke knows that Sykes is connected to the death of a well-known soul singer. When Koyuki was nineteen, Maho went to college in Great Britain for four years. Although the two of them write e-mails several times a day at first, the long-distance relationship makes contact less and less.
The renowned American director Jim Walsh spontaneously decides to shoot a free music video for Beck . The video attracts attention and brings them - like the release of an album - success, which, however, causes Ran to take stronger action against Beck again . Due to an intrigue of Rans, the band falls out with Koyuki. All but Chiba are reconciled to him again. The band remains, but the mood is tense. A successful tour through Japan and a subsequent four-stop tour in Great Britain, together with the band Room 13 , follow.
Publications
Beck appears in Japan from 1999 to 2008 in individual chapters in the manga magazine Gekkan Magazine , in which Masahito Sodas capeta and Yoshito Yamaharas Ryūroden are published, among others . The Kodansha publishing house also summarized these individual chapters in 33 anthologies. These books sold over twelve million copies.
The manga will be translated into English and French. Tokyopop published 17 volumes of the series in German from December 2004 to December 2008 at two-monthly intervals, since the publication of the twelfth volume in October 2006 at four-month intervals. In the German version, the first edition of the fourth, sixth and eighth volume came with a music CD containing six, five and four songs by Japanese rock bands. The German-language edition is insufficiently successful for Tokyopop. Publishing director Jo Kaps described the sales figures as "underground". The publication was discontinued in 2009 because the Japanese publisher ended its collaboration with Tokyopop.
Anime
The animation studio Madhouse produced a 26-part anime series called Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad based on the first twelve volumes of the manga series , which was broadcast from October 6, 2004 to March 30, 2005 on the Japanese television station TV Tokyo . Osamu Kobayashi acted as director (assisted by Mitsuyuki Masuhara ), screenwriter and, together with Motonobu Hori, also as character designer . The title song, Hit in the USA , comes from the band Beat Crusaders .
backgrounds
In the manga series, allusions are often made to really existing characters. For example, the character of Jim Walsh , who is making a documentary about the fictional rock band Dying Breed , is based on the American independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch . Parodies of well-known music albums can be found on the front pages of the individual chapters.
Awards
Harold Sakuishi won the 2002 Kōdansha Manga Prize in the Shōnen category for the manga series . That same year, Eiji Nonakas Cromartie High School was recognized in the same category.
Web links
- TV Tokyo Anime Website (Japanese)
- Manga and Anime in Anime News Network (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ ＢＥＣＫ ギ タ ー コ レ ク シ ョ ン ２nd ス テ ー ジ . In: ふ む お で ポ ン . Archived from the original on April 20, 2009 ; Retrieved February 22, 2014 (Japanese).
- ↑ Jo Kaps: Chat Minutes from January 31, 2007, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. In: AnimeY. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007 ; accessed on February 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Anime no Tomodachi Newsletter No. 398, 01-09