Beck 3

Beck volume 3 thank you for bouncing back. Yes some of the events are still a little contrived, but it has calmed down quite a bit. The major happenings in this volume include: Koyuki's continued estrangement from Ray, a new teacher (Momoko-sensei) for Koyuki and friends, Beck's first show, and bullying, bullying bullying.

The story starts to progress again, and in a direction that is entertaining and interesting. Granted to a certain extent it seems to be more of a school life story this time around, then a story about a band, it's still very good, and the band is not absent all together. Still it is strange that the character development in this particular volume has almost nothing to do with what previously appeared to be the primary supporting characters (Ray, Chiba, Taira, Eiji(the “villain”), Izumi, and Saitou-san). This is not to say that these characters don't get any pages, they do, it just that it seems that there presence is nothing more than a plot device. Yes there are two of Beck's shows, and all the band members have their bits of conversation, but it doesn't really seem to advance our understanding of the character. Thankfully there's a little bit with Maho (my first girl manga crush), and even though she kind of toys with Koyuki, it's cute that she likes him. So, who are the major players in this volume? Well obviously Koyuki, we get to see him develop a little bit. At the beginning he's working hard to make money to fix Ray's guitar, and refuses to see him until the guitar is fixed. This again shows Koyuki being a stand up guy. He's cute and you can't help but like him. Now the next part where you think you'd see some character development is from the new teacher Momoko-sensei, but this is not the case. Other than establishing the fact that she's young, a not very good new teacher, and a bit of a crybaby. The most character development is in the form of Hyodou, the new bully. So, basically for whatever reason Hyodou has decided that Koyuki has been too happy lately and sets out to more or less make his life hell. Yes, Hyodou is that much of an ass. There, as of yet, does not appear to be any deeper reason for his torturing of of poor cute hero. So, I guess from that view there isn't a ton of development of Hyodou, but he does take up a lot of pages.

A few things artwise that I just didn't like:

1. Ryusuke looks dumb, and unattractive with his hair pulled back, don't like it at all.

2. There are a few they went to far drawings involving Momoko-sensei.

3. Koyuki's facial expressions are still over the top and bad.

Now despite how it sounds I really did enjoy the volume. I read it pretty quick because I enjoyed it. I absolutely love Koyuki and Maho. The interactions between the characters really is very realistic and well done. Though it seems a little unfocused at times the story really is good. So, keep reading!