BECK Volume 2
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
As Koyuki strums and picks the guitar that Ryusuke has given him, Maho suggests that Koyuki step into the spotlight and become a singer in Ryusuke's band. And with a Battle of the Bands festival on the horizon, he finds the perfect venue in which to perform—he ends up joining a Beatles cover band that is playing in the competition. But Koyuki's nerves suddenly jump up an octave when he discovers what is really at stake in the contest. But it's probably nothing that a steamy skinny-dipping session won't cure—Maho tags along for the festival, and you can be sure that girls just want to have fun!
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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.
