Genre: Shonen
Studio: Madhouse
Episodes: 26
Released: October '04 – March '05
Tanaka Yukio, sometimes called “Koyuki” by his friends, doesn't really have a passion for anything in life. He gets through the days as normal as any other middle school pupil along with his two childhood friends Tanabe (the pervert) and Ishiguro Izumi (that hot one from every Anime ever). After saving a weird-looking dog (called Beck) from some kids he meets its owner Minami Ryūsuke, a talented rock musician. Ryūsuke soon convinces Koyuki to learn the guitar (giving him a favoured guitar from his own collection) and the rest is there to be found out by you.
It's not often that a series revolving around music crops up in my watch list, but Beck is one hell of an exception. Rather than focusing on the entire band itself it tends to point the camera at Koyuki, who is undoubtedly the main character, even with all the other members of the band. Coming in second in that regard is Ryūsuke, whose times in the spotlight, while few and far between in comparison with Koyuki, are pretty important. The rest of the band serve their own purposes in regards to their interaction with Koyuki (apart from the bassist, he just seems to smile and nod from the sidelines). Their drummer is a good friend of his in school and is a constant source of good company, and the vocalist is pretty much his human shield by the time he gets to high school.
The plot is pretty straightforward apart from Ryūsuke's confusing little side-story in New York and a topic never outstays its welcome; if an obstruction turns up it's resolved relatively quickly again. Well...for the band it does. Anything regarding Koyuki is dragged out to span most of the series and some of it can get annoying. While he is slowly merging with the music scene it's good to see that he's just another average guy who's trying hard to pursue what he likes. He's not an immediate super celebrity in the entertainment industry and at the same time he's not some genius who's magically able to keep up with school on top of his music. He's bullied for quite a while through middle school and it's not surprising when it starts up again (although for a far shorter period) in high school.
He is counterbalanced, however, by one of the love interests Minami Maho, a crazy girl with no qualms over breaking people's windows and spending the night in Koyuki's house. Considering she's a love interest the series still goes along with the classic annoyance of her and the main character giving each other mixed signals. She often turns up with her friends, all of whom are a-grade cunts, and one of them (you'll god damn know when you see him...he's an idol) is the twattiest of all cunts around the globe, earning him the title of King Twunt (did ya see what I did there? Didja?). Now it's all too easy to see how Koyuki's self confidence might plummet somewhat when the girl he likes turns up with a popular super idol as a casual acquaintance, but he hardly does himself any favours when doing easily misinterpreted things with other girls, although to be honest it's not really his fault, he just needs to recognise when he needs to explain himself and apologise.
The art is pretty good, although it doesn't really jump out at you, and there's some brilliant examples of copyright dodging to be found dotted around the place.
Apart from the musical aspect of the series there isn't much originality to Beck, but don't turn it away from the light. There's a reason things are overused, it's just that they've been used so much it's predictable. While Beck is still relatively predictable, it has little quirks and twists that make the entire experience enjoyable and fun to witness (like Koyuki's teacher's pet bird, “Page”).
No matter who you are or what you like, chances are you won't regret watching this series.
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