BECK : Mongolian Chop Squad

BECK : Mongolian Chop Squad



BECK (ベック) is a manga, which was later made into an anime under the name BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. It was created by mangaka Harold Sakuishi and was originally published by Kodansha in Monthly Shonen Magazine. It tells the story of a group of Japanese teenagers who form a rock band. The manga is currently licensed in the USA by TOKYOPOP. The series has also spawned three guidebooks. BECK won the 2002 Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen.

The original 26-episode anime television series was aired on Japan's TV Tokyo from October 2004 to March 2005. It was created by Osamu Kobayashi, animated by Madhouse and produced by Takeshi Shukuri and Yoshimi Nakajima. The series has received critical acclaim and was translated into English.



Overview

Yukio, known by his friends as "Koyuki", is a regular 14-year-old Japanese boy who enters junior high school with two childhood acquaintances. One is now a useless pervert, and ironically the other is a highly sought after female student. Koyuki's boring life is changed when he saves an odd-looking dog, named Beck, from some kids. Beck's owner turns out to be an emerging rock musician, Ryuusuke Minami. The two become friends and their crazy, fun, and sometimes dangerous music adventure begins.

The story focuses on the trials and tribulations of their punk and rapcore band named BECK. There's also an important subplot that deals with Koyuki's relationship with Ryuusuke's sister, Maho.


List of BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad characters


Yukio ("Koyuki") Tanaka:
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)
The main character, the series follows his rapid development from an average person to an outstanding guitarist. Being extremely polite, he cannot help but let others push him around, a possible metaphoric stereotype on the very proper and manner conscious Japanese society. The last member of BECK, he is the second guitarist and vocalist. He is the last person to talk to Eddie and hears the song. Yukio has a very beautiful voice that is mostly used for Beck's slower songs. He owns a Fender Telecaster.


Ryusuke ("Ray") Minami:
Voiced by: Yuuma Ueno (Japanese), Eric Vale (English)
A Japanese character with a long history in America, he speaks fluent English, and frequently uses both Japanese and English in his conversation. He lives alone in a shack by the fishing pond. His skills and taste in music inspire Koyuki to take up the guitar. The band's creator, Ryusuke is BECK's lead guitarist. A once-younger Ryusuke and Eddie Lee stole the Lucille from the boot of Syke's vehicle.


Yoshiyuki Taira:
Voiced by: Kenji Nojima (Japanese), Jerry Jewell (English)
The first recruited member of BECK, Taira is the bassist, and the most talented band member next to Ryusuke. He plays Music Man StingRay bass. Little is known about him, and his attitude may sometimes come off as uncaring. He has been seen working as a traffic officer.


Tsunemi Chiba:
Voiced by: Shintarou Oohata (Japanese), Justin Cook (English)
Main vocalist for BECK, he is the key member that Ryusuke needed to bring Taira into the band. Compared to Koyuki, his voice is more punk and rock oriented, like the majority of the band's songs. He also named the band "Beck" after staring at Ryusuke's dog for a few moments.


Yuji ("Saku") Sakurai:
Voiced by: Tooru Nara (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
The fourth member to join, he was also Koyuki's first good friend, sticking with him even when the school bully and his gang beat him up for breaking the silent treatment on Koyuki. He is the drummer, inspired by his brother, and replaces the original drummer of BECK who followed Ryusuke from his original band, Serial Mama.


Manga



Genre Shonen, music,slice of life

Authored by Harold Sakuishi
Publisher Kodansha
Serialized in Monthly Shonen Magazine
Original run 17 February 2000 – Ongoing
No. of volumes 30 Volumes
I Ate Jimmy

Anime



Directed by Osamu Kobayashi
Studio Madhouse
Licensor FUNimation Entertainment
Network TV Tokyo
Original run 6 October 2004 – 30 March 2005
No. of episodes 26

Goods

Beck Limited edition Zone 2

95,000 - 100,000 ￥