A non-wanky opinion of Beck 1
Alright....so below this is my review of the first volume of the Beck manga. It's pretty much pieced together from the notes I took while reading, so it will be disjointed and not flow clearly. And that's how I want it...
Volume 1 is the story of how Koyuki (Yukio) Tanaka, a middle schooler who feels that there's no excitement in his life, meets Ryusuke (Ray...apparently though they never say this in the manga so Brian confused me and made me think we were talking about other people named Ray) Minami who's sorta fresh from America and plays guitar in a rock band. The band is having problems though and in the end Ryusuke and his bandmate Eiji split and decide that they will compete to see who can make a better band.
Ok, now beyond the summary to my thoughts:
In the beginning, I really like that Koyuki wants to write an autobiography about his life, but thinks it's too boring to be interesting. This reminds me a lot of how I want to make a movie of my life and how I have various scenes and the soundtrack all in my head, but no one would make a movie of my life because I don't DO anything important to society that would bring me enough fame to warrant a movie. Even a made-for-TV movie. It's sad to think that really. It may also be sad that I constantly strive for fame and recognition, but we're not going to go into that side of things. However, as the story goes on you realize that yeah, Koyuki's life isn't exciting to the "real world", but he's a pretty tough kid underneath is shy and cute exterior. He's got some quite biography-worthy moments in his life. And when it comes down to it....so do I. And that's what keeps me going some days, so I hope Koyuki recognizes it too. I also like that whenever his friends go anywhere he generally tags along, but he never has any money. Which is so very much like me....as at least the majority of you reading this will know. So, this helped me get pretty attached to him. That and his shy, quiet adorability a la Shinji Ikari. For an example of this, when the hs kids take him to a bar he's so proper and quiet and shy about things while everyone else is getting drunk and just hanging out there. A good example is that one of the girls asks him why he isn't drinking and his reply is, "I am. This is my second oolong tea!" So cute. Beyond that, and Brian touched on this, there's a point after Koyuki helps an old lady that was being harrassed by Yakuza and then gets his shit kicked by them where he makes a comment about acting too far out of his social standing and how he will live by the rules of society from now on. This makes me think a lot about at least what I know about Japanese society and how different it is from ours. The fact that he feels that he was obviously in the wrong to help an old lady makes me a little sad in a lot of ways. Koyuki comes through a few more times helping people, and I think to myself....if he were "living by the rules of society" he wouldn't be doing nearly as much for these people and therefore wouldn't be nearly the person he is. Without knowing.....he's gaining support by defying the "rules of society".
On music....Koyuki is SO oblivious. His favorite singer is this jpop idol girl. Ok, so I have the soundtrack, which makes this manga a little better more than likely as I can actually envision what's going on. So it's funnier to know the songs when you hear him make the transition from liking Kuyinoshi Chiemi to The Dying Breed. Conversely, reading the manga is making the soundtracks make more sense...cause there are like 20 bands and everyone sings with everyone else and I have to admit I was confused while listening to it. But I do like it. I REALLY like the music in the series. It also amused me that after Ray and Izumi (the hot girl at Koyuki's school) were having a conversation about American and western music that Koyuki knew nothing about, he attempted to learn more and ended up reading about ridiculous American pop a la Celine Dion. When he finally does hear The Dying Breed (they're supposed to be all the rage in the American rock scene) he's overwhelmed by it and listens to it so much that he admits at the end that he memorized the words (more on this later in the "random things I liked section"). It's funny too that the Japanese kids on their encounters with the gaijin and other things try to speak English. This is one of those things that's even funnier if you know the soundtrack or the anime. But you get enough about it in the manga to make it amusing.
Overall, this book was really good and I'm really looking forward to reading more and getting more into the storyline. There are a lot of books in the series (23) so this thing keeps on going for a while. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes as far as the two bands and how Koyuki gets more involved (cause I know he does and I know the soundtrack)
Random things I liked:
Koyuki says to Ryusuke after Ryusuke thanks Koyuki for helping him and tells him how much he appreciated this time and how Koyuki helped his dog Beck: "It's just that lately, for a long time now, it seems like no one really cares or notices if I'm alive or not." That just made me think about the times I've felt like that and how much it meant to me just to have someone thank me for doing even the littlest thing for them. It makes you feel good and it makes you really really really grateful to that person, whether they know it or not. And the cycle turns.
Ryusuke reads shoujou manga because of his sister. Which is hilarious cause he kinda tries to be all like...I'm a rockstar, but then he reads shoujou. Like me....only I'm a girl.
Koyuki's reaction to hearing The Dying Breed: "It was only 10 seconds or so...until that point in time there was nothing in my heart that could approach Kuniyoshi Chiemi's stronghold..."
Koyuki's reaction to Ryusuke's band: "I don't know much about guitar playing, but they look SO COOL!" Haha yeah, they do. And I've SO been there before.
I like the random stoner rocker trying to give an analysis of the band. He amuses me greatly.
Koyuki gets scared by the hidden track on the CD. Hee hee.
Ryusuke setting Koyuki up to get food with his little sister is both cruel and ingenious at the same time. However, then Koyuki goes out with her and her friends and ends up thinking, yet again, that he's boring and no one will ever be interested in him. I've been here, I know some of the rest of you have too.
Ryusuke: "The most important focus of the band is the bass and drums." YES!!! It took me a while to get to this revelation, but YES!!!
Ok...this completes my review of Beck 1. Less wanky than Bri's, but less coherent and analytical as well. I'm being the girl for once.
Volume 1 is the story of how Koyuki (Yukio) Tanaka, a middle schooler who feels that there's no excitement in his life, meets Ryusuke (Ray...apparently though they never say this in the manga so Brian confused me and made me think we were talking about other people named Ray) Minami who's sorta fresh from America and plays guitar in a rock band. The band is having problems though and in the end Ryusuke and his bandmate Eiji split and decide that they will compete to see who can make a better band.
Ok, now beyond the summary to my thoughts:
In the beginning, I really like that Koyuki wants to write an autobiography about his life, but thinks it's too boring to be interesting. This reminds me a lot of how I want to make a movie of my life and how I have various scenes and the soundtrack all in my head, but no one would make a movie of my life because I don't DO anything important to society that would bring me enough fame to warrant a movie. Even a made-for-TV movie. It's sad to think that really. It may also be sad that I constantly strive for fame and recognition, but we're not going to go into that side of things. However, as the story goes on you realize that yeah, Koyuki's life isn't exciting to the "real world", but he's a pretty tough kid underneath is shy and cute exterior. He's got some quite biography-worthy moments in his life. And when it comes down to it....so do I. And that's what keeps me going some days, so I hope Koyuki recognizes it too. I also like that whenever his friends go anywhere he generally tags along, but he never has any money. Which is so very much like me....as at least the majority of you reading this will know. So, this helped me get pretty attached to him. That and his shy, quiet adorability a la Shinji Ikari. For an example of this, when the hs kids take him to a bar he's so proper and quiet and shy about things while everyone else is getting drunk and just hanging out there. A good example is that one of the girls asks him why he isn't drinking and his reply is, "I am. This is my second oolong tea!" So cute. Beyond that, and Brian touched on this, there's a point after Koyuki helps an old lady that was being harrassed by Yakuza and then gets his shit kicked by them where he makes a comment about acting too far out of his social standing and how he will live by the rules of society from now on. This makes me think a lot about at least what I know about Japanese society and how different it is from ours. The fact that he feels that he was obviously in the wrong to help an old lady makes me a little sad in a lot of ways. Koyuki comes through a few more times helping people, and I think to myself....if he were "living by the rules of society" he wouldn't be doing nearly as much for these people and therefore wouldn't be nearly the person he is. Without knowing.....he's gaining support by defying the "rules of society".
On music....Koyuki is SO oblivious. His favorite singer is this jpop idol girl. Ok, so I have the soundtrack, which makes this manga a little better more than likely as I can actually envision what's going on. So it's funnier to know the songs when you hear him make the transition from liking Kuyinoshi Chiemi to The Dying Breed. Conversely, reading the manga is making the soundtracks make more sense...cause there are like 20 bands and everyone sings with everyone else and I have to admit I was confused while listening to it. But I do like it. I REALLY like the music in the series. It also amused me that after Ray and Izumi (the hot girl at Koyuki's school) were having a conversation about American and western music that Koyuki knew nothing about, he attempted to learn more and ended up reading about ridiculous American pop a la Celine Dion. When he finally does hear The Dying Breed (they're supposed to be all the rage in the American rock scene) he's overwhelmed by it and listens to it so much that he admits at the end that he memorized the words (more on this later in the "random things I liked section"). It's funny too that the Japanese kids on their encounters with the gaijin and other things try to speak English. This is one of those things that's even funnier if you know the soundtrack or the anime. But you get enough about it in the manga to make it amusing.
Overall, this book was really good and I'm really looking forward to reading more and getting more into the storyline. There are a lot of books in the series (23) so this thing keeps on going for a while. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes as far as the two bands and how Koyuki gets more involved (cause I know he does and I know the soundtrack)
Random things I liked:
Koyuki says to Ryusuke after Ryusuke thanks Koyuki for helping him and tells him how much he appreciated this time and how Koyuki helped his dog Beck: "It's just that lately, for a long time now, it seems like no one really cares or notices if I'm alive or not." That just made me think about the times I've felt like that and how much it meant to me just to have someone thank me for doing even the littlest thing for them. It makes you feel good and it makes you really really really grateful to that person, whether they know it or not. And the cycle turns.
Ryusuke reads shoujou manga because of his sister. Which is hilarious cause he kinda tries to be all like...I'm a rockstar, but then he reads shoujou. Like me....only I'm a girl.
Koyuki's reaction to hearing The Dying Breed: "It was only 10 seconds or so...until that point in time there was nothing in my heart that could approach Kuniyoshi Chiemi's stronghold..."
Koyuki's reaction to Ryusuke's band: "I don't know much about guitar playing, but they look SO COOL!" Haha yeah, they do. And I've SO been there before.
I like the random stoner rocker trying to give an analysis of the band. He amuses me greatly.
Koyuki gets scared by the hidden track on the CD. Hee hee.
Ryusuke setting Koyuki up to get food with his little sister is both cruel and ingenious at the same time. However, then Koyuki goes out with her and her friends and ends up thinking, yet again, that he's boring and no one will ever be interested in him. I've been here, I know some of the rest of you have too.
Ryusuke: "The most important focus of the band is the bass and drums." YES!!! It took me a while to get to this revelation, but YES!!!
Ok...this completes my review of Beck 1. Less wanky than Bri's, but less coherent and analytical as well. I'm being the girl for once.
posted by Ubiquitous Leader SK at 11:18 AM
1 Comments:
you really do relate everything in life to you eh?
:bonk:
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