{"id":1316,"date":"2012-12-04T13:36:43","date_gmt":"2012-12-04T05:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/?p=1316"},"modified":"2014-03-24T12:07:16","modified_gmt":"2014-03-24T04:07:16","slug":"21-beck-by-harold-sakuishi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2012\/12\/04\/21-beck-by-harold-sakuishi\/","title":{"rendered":"#21 – Beck by Harold Sakuishi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beck by Harold Sakuishi<\/strong>
\nSerialized in Monthly Shounen Magazine
\nPublished by Kodansha and Tokyopop<\/p>\n

If there’s a manga can transmit sound, then Beck<\/em>‘s that title. You don’t even need to hear the music itself. The panels alone can cause a riot. For a good long while, a lot of its readers were mute to the music but many of them know the sound Beck\/Mongolian Chop Squad plays. That music that shatters your bone. That voice that saves your soul.<\/p>\n

Beck<\/em> is the loudest manga I’ve read.<\/p>\n

So why haven’t we read the next manga that’ll rock our world?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’ve got a feeling<\/h3>\n

Starting Beck<\/em> is quite a challenge. Seriously.<\/p>\n

It isn’t that it’s bad but it feels old and comical that it’s hard to find the direction of the manga. Perhaps we can blame Koyuki’s pace, the hero of Beck<\/em>. He’s your typical boy who feels his world’s a major bore and you’re waiting for that moment where his life changes. The first five volumes were his half-hearted attempts in dabbling with music, swimming, porn, and girls that it’s almost tiring.<\/p>\n

However, your intuition senses that he’s up for something great. And not just him. Eventually you’ll meet Ryu, Taira, Chiba, and Saku.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This sense of greatness lingers for a while until Koyuki dreams of an dirty lot where a lot of rock’s greatest heroes stands, picking up the trash after their concert. If there’s one image that captures what Beck is all about, it’s this panel.<\/p>\n

It’s a recurring image in the series and you watch how the group struggles to bring that image to life only to find themselves falling short at times or barely breaking even. But the image remains profound and prophetic. You’ve got a feeling they’ll get there because when they do things right, they’re bloody awesome.<\/p>\n

More than just a vision for the boys, as a manga, Harold Sakuishi finally defined the visual style of his comic by the time this apparition happened. Yes, it’s 5 volumes of ambivalence but this story comes full circle. Those first 6 volumes hardly feel anything once Sakuishi draws this decisive panel. Each volume’s pumped with enough energy that you just look forward to that moment where you finally see their dream come to life.<\/p>\n

Visual sound<\/h3>\n

When I first read Beck, the only manga I read where a band was involved were Nana and Sensual (Kaikan) Phrase. Nana sure has its musical moments but its always in a state of melodrama as it all spiraled down to just Nana and her emotions. And let’s not talk about Sensual Phrase. I did like the J-rock vibe of the series and it fed my thirst for Visual Kei (plus their live band was all right) but the manga alone was not enough to make the music alive.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Thus Beck became a revelation to me. I’d never seen a manga where I can feel what music they’re playing just by how Sakuishi drew them. Just look at them. Look at these panels and tell me you can’t figure out what song they’re trying to sing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Taira moves like Flea. Chiba’s definitely their Zack dela Rocha with his rapping madness plus his boundless energy that truly riles the crowd. Saku’s a bit of a Dave Groehl. Ryu’s the James Iha, that cool yet slick guitarist who rounds their sound along with Koyuki who reminds me of Kiedis, at times Gallagher when he sings.<\/p>\n

What’s amazing is while you don’t exactly know the sound but the panels give you enough to figure out the rhythm, energy, and pace that if you haven’t heard the soundtracks, you at least have a vague idea of what that song might sound.<\/p>\n

And what I haven’t shared is how the music from the anime or the movie does not disappoint. The anime focused on their indies career thus their sound is more raw. The movie’s more balanced and polished but neither one of the versions disappoint in terms of finally bringing those panels to life.<\/p>\n

When I attended the Manga Exhibit last year<\/a>, they had a wall dedicated to Beck<\/em>. The display used the manga and animated some panels that capture the soul of Beck. It’s quite an amazing experience and even when it’s not animated, I can still feel Koyuki’s song, pulling my heartstrings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Of course this visual experiment is moot if you haven’t seen a rock concert live or at least seen a rock concert on the telly.)<\/p>\n

A dying breed<\/h3>\n

Until a few months back, I honestly didn’t know Beck<\/em> wrapped up. I had the impression that it’s still ongoing. That they’re still singing, writing songs, and Ryu’s still shagging ladies like the handsome rockstar that he is (although I’m really more of a Taira fan!). So until I was reminded by a friend to catch the film, only then did I check that the manga had wrapped up and unfortunately, it lived only until 12 volumes in English.<\/p>\n

That’s a bummer because as of my re-read of the entire series, it remains a bloody fantastic manga.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That said, it’s an antiquated manga. It’s a story for an older generation. Koyuki’s and Beck\/Mongolian Chop Squad’s path is clich\u00c3\u00a9 for our reality TV aspirants<\/a>. It’s not that they have lost the dream. It’s just we have changed. Maybe we’re jaded or we’re just looking for that next audition on a television show.<\/p>\n

Beck’s story is for the idealists. It did run in a Monthly Shounen Magazine so it still had the naivet\u00c3\u00a9 of youth. There’s too much luck and global music politics that it’s far too unreal for aspiring musicians. Even when they worked their asses off, not all bands have the same talent as these boys. Not all get lucky to have a big American musician as a best friend. Not everyone could pick up a fantastic SG from dumpster. Most artists would go through some rough times<\/a>, but not these boys who seem to have lady luck on their side.<\/p>\n

Even so, it’s a reminder of how things should be. How art, music, anything in our life that we consume should be. Valuable things must have soul. I love how they often placed Beck at odds with the mechanisms of popular music. Not once did they compromise their music for fame or success. They strove hard to get the sound that would move people and in the end it’s worth it.<\/p>\n

Beck is a manga for the older generation. The generation who felt men’s souls played through their instruments, for those who felt rhythms shatter their bones. It’s for the listeners who felt music under skin, in more ways than one.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When you’ve got such an amazing and powerful music manga like Beck, why haven’t we read or heard the next manga that’ll rock our world?<\/p>\n

Does K-On<\/em> work? That feels more like a moe garage band and while good, it doesn’t have the same power as Beck. How about DMC<\/em>? While great, it prides itself more as a comedy manga than a music manga. Nodame<\/em> has its ways and has done wonders for classical music appreciation in Japan. But what about Beck<\/em>? Is there a manga that’ll inherit Beck<\/em>‘s rock and roll dreams for the next generation? I sure hope so. Someday, I’d like to read about it to remind me that there are voices that have not yet been auto-tuned like hell. Beck<\/em>‘s a reminder of a waning art, the set of voices that shake your bones with music that rattles your soul. Beck<\/em> makes me believe in music that has soul. In this day and age, it’s a dying breed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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