Beck by Harold Sakuishi is a really surprising manga. It is about a band with a rags-to-riches story, a comedic theme and a splash of love. The band's name is Beck, derived from their guitarist's Frankenstein-ly dog's name. Later on, they also got known as Mongolian Chop Squad.

The first thing I noticed about this manga is the art. It is actually not very good. The gag faces are fine, but there are times when the mangaka fits a character's full body in a small panel, resulting in bad body proportions. Well at least the character designs are realistic, the eyes are not very big and their poverty was shown perfectly :)

Next is the plot. I SO LOVE IT. It's very real and full of unexpected happenings. Unlike the usual stories where in the series of darkness comes in light in every conflict, here in Beck, the flow of unfortunate events is very long and the people barely get lucky, which adds to the comedy. There are even times when I predict that their luckiness would come in at the last minute and then I end up being wrong. There was even a scene when Ryuusuke is missing and the band needs to perform, and there was a fan looking forward to seeing Ryuusuke because people says he is handsome (and she is the first person to send a letter to the band too). At the last minute before the performance, a man from the guitar shop where Koyuki buys volunteered to be Ryuusuke's substitute. He is VERY ugly, so the fan ended up being disappointed.

Anyways, for the plot, the only problem I saw is Sakuishi-sensei didn't illustrated the story's progress finely sometimes.

This series is not popular yet unexpectedly magnificent. I recommend this one especially to the people who are tired of the mainstream manga and want something different. Yes it is about music and being no expert in that field may make this manga corny, but then, I really like it and it's cool the way it is. Yes it is about music and that may make you say "It is better in anime" since manga is only drawing and text, but then, the mangaka successfully illustrates the feeling he wants the readers to feel while the characters perform. This is an awesome manga and I rate it 4 out of 5 so you guys - BETTER ADD THIS TO YOUR MUST-READ MANGA LIST. No, BETTER READ THIS NOW.

Credits: mangatraders.com, stoptazmo.com, mangareader.net and my classmate codenamed JF for recommending this to me.



NOTE: If you are planning in watching the anime instead of reading the manga, BETTER dispose of that plan. The anime can be boring for first-timers of the series. It is better to read the manga first and then watch the anime second. Well, that's just my opinion. Go on and watch the anime if that's what you really want. And there's also a live action movie of the series, though the plot was really messed up there.