BECK Volume 19
-
- $7.99
-
- $7.99
Publisher Description
While Ryusuke wanders the streets of New York in the wake of Eddie's death, it's on Koyuki and the guys in Japan to climb out of the seemingly bottomless pit they find themselves in. But while they struggle to find their footing, summer draws to a close...meaning the day Koyuki and Maho must say goodbye draws nearer. When Maho starts to get cold feet about leaving, Koyuki vows to himself to see her off with a smile. With their parting just around the corner, what sort of promise does the young couple make?!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Manga has its share of bildungsromans that follow the path of an unathletic kid who, by dint of practice, mentorship and unstoppable will, becomes a top basketball/tennis/baseball player. Beck belongs to this genre, with the interesting twist that its nerdy 14-year-old hero, Yukio Tanaka, is on a journey from zero to rock-'n'-roller. In the beginning, Yukio knows nothing about rock and is a fan of Okinawan pop music (which, it is implied, is very uncool). Yukio meets Ryosuke, a 16-year-old rocker who was brought up in the U.S., where he played guitar in a garage band. Yukio starts going to rock clubs, listening to rock music and hanging out with his beautiful classmate Izumi, Ryosuke and Ryosuke's sister, Maho. But not until the very end of this volume do readers get a hint that playing rock music is in Yukio's future. This appealing tale is marred slightly by the inclusion of a silly and clich d peeping-tom subplot, but Sakuishi's characterizations have a strong identification factor, aided by a sharp and funny translation. The book is aimed at older teens, and there is some profanity. The clean, easy-to-follow art resembles a slightly less manic version of Eichiro Oda's art in One Piece.
