BECK Volume 30
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
Behind the scenes at Avalon Fest, sinister schemes are set in motion… Victor "The Emperor" Slater has has produced a phoney version of Eddie Lee's last song, which he plans to unveil at the peak of the festival. In a desperate attempt to dismantle the Emperor's designs, Ryusuke makes an insanely bold wager with the music mogul! Meanwhile, after reuniting with Maho and taking a brief break from the pressures of the festival, Koyuki is ready to head back to the venue. The only problem is, no one can seem to get in touch with Matt, who's supposed to give them a ride back! Will Koyuki make it back in time for the show?!
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.
