Manga Monday 01: Beck

Welcome to Manga Monday, where I’ll introduce you to a manga series I’ve read and loved in the past. If you’re not clear on just what manga is, the Wikipedia entry would be the best overview – but in simplest terms, manga is the term for Japanese comic books.

First up is Beck, the story of ‘Koyuki’, a young boy who takes up the guitar after saving an odd-looking dog – Beck – from some neighbourhood kids. Beck’s owner, Ryusuke, is a young American-Japanese guitarist in a rock band, and to Koyuki, it’s just the change his self-described boring life needs.

As with all manga, Beck is read right-to-left. So, in the image above, start at “It didn’t take…”

The story follows Koyuki’s efforts to become a professional musician, realising that – despite having taken the guitar up at a relatively late age (although still quite young) – he’s finally found his dream career.

I’ll leave it to you to discover why the manga is named after the dog – and it’s a fairly funny explanation, the way it unravels in the story – but Beck is definitely a winner if you’re into music and like stories about personal growth.

Beck follows the typical manga formula; young boy/girl declares a goal, battles through adversity – and love, usually – on his/her way to the goal, before finally becoming a master. Hikaru No Go, Prince of Tennis, Eyeshield 21, Slam Dunk, One Piece, Yakitate! Japan, these are all popular manga titles that follow a more or less identical path.

Still, no matter how played out the formula might be, the stories are almost always compelling enough to ignore it.

Beck is also available in animated (anime) form, but in a somewhat condensed version that isn’t quite as good as the manga. If you’ve got the time, the manga version is the way to go.

[Read Beck online, for free, at mangafox.com]