Review of Beck: Volume 1

Introduction

Why Beck? I mean, an anime about teenagers and the music business seems like a perfectly reasonable premise, but the name brings to mind the electro acoustic, neo-folk star who had trouble with his turntables (X2) and microphone. We`re talking completely different music styles, and confusing the two may cause disappointment, or a pleasant surprise. Of course music is a fickle business, were I a little older I would have been talking about possible confusion with Jeff Beck. For most of this anime`s target audience, the Beck I know is only familiar as an animated head in one episode of Futurama. And with my customary facetious opening paragraph out of the way, we can get on with the review.

Revelation have truly been the… well, revelation of the year. I may have been a little concerned when I heard that the Funimation licence had passed from MVM to Revelation, but the results speak for themselves. The Funimation titles that Revelation bring to the UK fill a hefty niche in the anime market. If you are used to future dystopian visions, action shows, ninjas, vampires, and slapstick comedies, the titles that Revelation have released this year truly show something of the breadth and depth of the anime industry. From the cerebral mystery of Spiral, the tragic romance of Rumbling Hearts, the soap opera teen romance of Peach Girl, to the cute and spooky Moon Phase, their new titles have been nothing if not distinctive. Once again, with their latest release to the UK market, I can safely say that you will never have seen an anime like this before. Beck - Mongolian Chop Squad is a show about teenagers who want to start a rock band. With a zombie dog.

It`s a problem common the world over, the disaffected, disillusioned and rebellious teenager who wants to get away from the reins of authority and do something meaningful with his or her life. That means picking up a guitar and starting a band of course. That`s before realising that they`d have to learn how to play, and most instruments are gathering dust within a month. There are some brief bursts of raucous glory, bands of Wyld Stallyns calibre, which provide a summer or two of memories, and tales of rock and roll excess to tell the grandchildren. But once in a while there emerges someone with genuine talent, someone who really can perform and has charisma. Then they have to deal with the fickle music industry, the adulation, and the groupies, all the while avoiding those pesky creative differences. Beck tells the story of Koyuki Tanaka, a daydreaming student who wandered into the wrong side of town one day, and had his future opened to world of possibilities.

This first disc of Beck -Mongolian Chop Squad entitled Raise Your Voice, comes with the first five episodes and a smattering of extras.

1. The View At Fourteen
Koyuki Tanaka is your typical fourteen-year-old. He`s bored stiff and distracted in class, and wondering where his life is going. His friend Tanabe likes to take a look at the girls` swim team practicing, and so it is that the two perverts catch the eye of Izumi Ishiguro. Koyuki and Izumi used to be childhood friends before they drifted apart, and recognising the rapidly fleeing Koyuki, she seeks him out and asks him to go bowling with her and her friends. They wind up in a bar where Koyuki recognises an older boy named Ryusuke. He had met him earlier when he rescued his odd dog Beck from some bullies. Now it`s Ryusuke`s turn to help Koyuki and his friends when they wander into the wrong part of town.

2. Live House
Koyuki and Izumi pay a visit to Ryusuke`s house. Izumu takes a shine to Ryusuke, especially when she sees his music collection, and learns that he is in a band as well. He even toured with her favourite band, Dying Breed in America. Koyuki feels like something of a fifth wheel, so Izumi introduces him to the kind of rock that she listens to. A CD isn`t enough, and she also takes him to his first live concert. Ryusuke`s band Serial Mama has an important gig, a talent scout will be in the audience, but things aren`t going well.

3. Moon On The Water
Serial Mama is no more, and Ryusuke is looking to start a new band. He needs a vocalist though. Koyuki spends the day with Maho, Ryusuke`s younger sister, although he`s daunted by the cultural differences between him and her mostly English-speaking friends. But he is gradually coming out of his shell. Izumi takes him swimming, where he meets retired Olympic swimmer Saito, mild-mannered businessman by day, Britrock fan and terror of the pool at all other times. Maho is surprised to hear that Koyuki has quite the singing voice, and Ryusuke, seeing his growing interest in music, gives him a guitar.

4. Strum The Guitar
That`s no way to treat a guitar. Koyuki may be eager to learn, but that`s no reason to be careless, and he soon earns the anger of Ryusuke. He`s not even willing to listen when Maho tells him that Koyuki would be a great vocalist. Koyuki is bereft, but Saito offers to help get the instrument repaired, as well as offering to teach him how to play.

5. BECK
Koyuki`s guitar lessons are progressing slowly, but Saito goes and enters them into a local song contest. Ryusuke is trying to think of a name for his new band, although there are only two in the group as yet, him, and a grungy would be rapper named Chiba. The day of the contest arrives and Maho visits nervous Koyuki to convince him to go. It doesn`t look good. In the toilet Koyuki overhears that the concert is rigged, and then their lead singer passes out drunk. Maho offers to take his place, but Koyuki is sceptical. A friendly bet will help convince him to play.

Video

Beck gets an unproblematic 4:3 transfer. The image is clear throughout, the colours are strong, and there are no signs of obvious artefacts. That`s with the exception of the credit sequences yet again. The credits are re-versioned to show the English cast and crew in addition to the original crew, and when overlaid on the credit animation, the image suffers from strong aliasing. Fortunately the jagged lines are absent from the textless credit sequences in the extras, but it still looks poor in comparison to the main animation.

Madhouse studios provide the animation for Beck, and it is strong, vibrant and dynamic. The world design and the character designs are distinctive, and the singular feel of the show is palpable. As with all modern anime, CG and traditional 2D animation combines to make a pleasing whole. Here it is the guitars that are given the digital workover, and the care taken on animating the instruments really adds a dimension to the anime.

Audio

You have a choice of DD 5.1 and DD 2.0 English, along with DD 2.0 Japanese and optional translated subtitles and signs. Naturally, given that it is a music heavy show, you can expect some serious j-rock tunes to nod your heads to. The sound design is more impressive in the 5.1 track of course, but it`s pretty standard for a television anime. Given the music content, it`s a shame that the Japanese couldn`t have been a 5.1 track as well.

There is an extra dilemma in choosing languages this time around. Beck is a show about cultural differences, with everyday schoolkid Koyuki entering a new world of music. This difference is most apparent in the language spoken. In the Japanese dub, while Koyuki and his friends speak Japanese, Ryusuke and his circle are more used to speaking English (Ryusuke and Maho were raised in America), so for all the Japanese dialogue you`ll be reading subtitles for, there is a fair bit of English too (the songs are mostly in English). The trouble is that fluent English spoken for a Japanese audience by Japanese voice actors, isn`t fluent English for an English audience. Accents vary, with Ryusuke`s VA quite good, while Maho`s accent is strongly Japanese. Understandably then, the English dialogue is subtitled as well.

For the English dub, the cultural differences remain, but the script is reworked to lose the difference in language. It`s understandable why this is done, and you don`t have to suspend that extra bit of disbelief. It`s like Arnold Schwarzenegger`s perfect Arabic in True Lies. The thing that I am not quite au fait with yet is that the songs are rerecorded for the English dub as well. On the one hand you have performances by Japanese bands for the show, on the other you have voice actors rerecording those songs, and I`m not sure that is necessary in all cases. Regardless, you have both versions to listen to here, and you can make your own mind up as to which are better.

Features

The usual animated menus, jacket picture, and trailers for Negima and Full Metal Alchemist, and textless songs are here. It`s fun watching the end credits to see how many of the manga style music icons you can recognise.

There is a 4-minute music video, "A Life On The Road", which offers a look ahead to see what the band will be like once they get their act together.

Most substantial is the Director Commentary, with Christopher Bevin and Taliesin Jaffe. This is quite a useful piece as it goes into how they reconciled the English/Japanese of the original dub with the full English dub, the difficulty of working on such a music heavy show, as well as the casting process. There`s even a Doctor Who reference to listen out for.

If you are willing to shell out a little more, you can get the Beck starter pack, which consists of the DVD, as well as an amplifier shaped case to keep the series in as you collect the discs.

Conclusion

2007 has been a good year for anime in the UK, the industry has diversified and more titles than ever are coming to these shores. There are also now two dedicated anime channels to watch on satellite television, a situation that would have seemed impossible two years ago. But in some ways 2007 has seemed a little muted. The new shows that have been released in the past nine months vary greatly as usual. There is an eclectic choice that means that something will appeal to someone, somewhere. But there has been no Ghost In The Shell, no Samurai Champloo, no absolutely must have title that I can gush over and glowingly recommend. Until now…

I`ve only seen the first volume, but I am hooked. Beck is the anime release of the year; it`s one that I can recommend without reservation. Buy it now, preorder the subsequent volumes, and make a space on your shelves, as this is one title that no fan should be without. It`s the first time in quite a while that I have finished the last episode on a volume and screamed in frustration, knowing that I`ll have to wait for the next instalment.

The immediate draw of Beck is obvious, there is nothing else like it out there, or rather I haven`t seen an animated show about teens starting a rock band. The novelty of that alone is one reason to take a look at the show. That is enough to hook an audience, but what reels you in, is that the quality of the show is excellent, from the story, the writing, and the animation to the characters. Beck`s outlook is one of realism, in the commentary the English version directors remark that the show could very well be an Indie movie, were it not for the fact that it is animated. Aside from one or two over the top characters, and the cut and paste eponymous dog, the characters are written as very human and realistic.

It`s a slice of life drama, a view of a group of teens entering the world of rock music, and all the interpersonal conflicts that implies. Koyuki is at the heart of the story, the disaffected and disillusioned boy who is looking for meaning in his life. That meaning comes in the form of Ryusuke, a sixteen year old who at two years older seems world wise and cool. Being brought up in America and not exactly conforming to Japanese society, it`s easy to see why he is idolised, but he also has charisma. He`s in a band, plays guitar, and serves as a gateway drug for Koyuki who thus far has been living on a diet of Japanese pop idols. As the story requires, Ryusuke`s band breaks up, necessitating recruiting members for a new band, and Koyuki`s vocal talent and eagerness to learn would make him a perfect match. But there are those interpersonal conflicts.

Koyuki used to be friends with Izumi, and still worships her. When they get a chance to rekindle their friendship, it seems promising enough, but Izumi is a fan of rock music, and her attentions are quickly diverted by Ryusuke, invoking a little rueful jealousy in Koyuki. At the same time, Ryusuke`s younger sister Maho is the same age as Koyuki, and after a faltering start to their friendship, they soon find they have much in common. Naturally there are a couple of protective frowns from her older brother. As with all such stories, the drama is interspersed with lighter moments, with comedy derived from the characters. Saito and Chiba are the comic relief at the moment. Saito is a former Olympic swimmer turned businessman who moonlights as a swimming coach, and has a passion for old school British rock and roll, as well as a Jekyll and Hyde personality. When Ryusuke and Koyuki have their first bout of creative differences, he teaches Koyuki how to play. Chiba is the would be rap star that Ryusuke recruits as vocalist, and his personality is colourful to say the least. But mostly the show captures the main characters well, none of them are perfect, and they are at that age when possibilities seem limitless. They really are wryly observed, and the writing doesn`t strike any bum notes in these five episodes.

The story progresses at a nice pace, with plenty of memorable moments in these first five episodes as the characters are introduced. What`s most impressive is that the story flows very naturally, there are never any moments that seem contrived or out of place, and the story even feels understated at times. But the show leaves you with the feeling that you have been watching something special indeed. Beck is a coming of age story set to a rock soundtrack. Who could want more than that?

If you are an anime fan, buy this show. If you have yet to sample the delights that anime has to offer, buy this show. Then buy the soundtrack CD. It`s that good.