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Now in Japan
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Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:00 |
 Back to the rock-and-roll lifestyle of Beck -
sex and drugs not included, at least not yet. With his old band
in tatters, Ryuusuke's looking to form a new one, but finding people
with the talents he needs seems to be a problem. Just how does
Koyuki fit in to all this? Let's see...
3 - Moon on the Water
Ryuusuke takes Koyuki to another live gig - but rather than letting him
enjoy it, he persuades him to try and pay more attention to the real
sound of the song. Another thing he wants Koyuki to do is
look after his sister, Maho - seems a good idea at first, but when he gets
stuck having to listen to her gossip to her friends in English, it's a
bit too much for him. Meanwhile, Ryuusuke's trying to recruit a
bass player for his new band - he has a guy in mind, but he's insisting
Ryuusuke gets hold of a really good singer before he'll even consider -
but getting any singer seems to be a tough order...
4 - Strum the Guitar
Both Izumi and Maho are
doing their best to persuade Ryuusuke that
Koyuki has the potential to be a great vocalist, but he's not
convinced. Neither is Koyuki - he's more interested in practicing
his guitar, until an unfortunate tripping incident leaves it crushed
under the wheels of a truck. It was a gift from Ryuusuke, who's
far from pleased when Koyuki tells him what happened.
Fortunately for Koyuki, his swimming coach knows a person who may be
able to repair it - which will hopefully repair Koyuki's friendship
with Ryuusuke as well...
5 - Beck
With a lot of help from Saitou - and the loan of an electric guitar -
Koyuki continues to work on his playing skills, although it's slow
progress. Having a parrot on hand to call you an idiot every 30
seconds probably isn't helping, either. Saitou has an idea,
though - there's a song contest coming up, and entering it as part of
Saitou's band could give Koyuki something to work towards. Great
idea - until one of the band members passes out just before the
contest, thanks to too much drink. Fortunately, Maho's willing to
fill the gap in the lineup...
Nice to see they've fixed the 'Mongorian' Engrish in the eyecatch
animations. Sometimes it's the little things that catch your
attention the most...
Two things in this batch of episode that stand out - Koyuki's newfound
desire to play the guitar, and what seems to be a blossoming
relationship with Maho, after their less-than-promising first meeting
in episode 2. I suppose in a lot of ways Beck is
just another slice-of-life anime - but its focus on something other
than 'normal school life' is what makes it refreshing. The music
is good, too - watch out for the song at the end of episode 5, which
gives the first real outing to Maho's & Koyuki's vocal skills.
Passing mention is made to giving Ryuusuke's new band a name - no
prizes for guessing what, although the process of getting there was
fun. That said, Ryuusuke, Izumi & the others get a bit of a
raw deal in airtime terms here, with the focus really being on Koyuki
& Maho.
After two episodes I was curious to see more - after five I'm hooked. Beck
is quite different in tone from the type of series I would typically
get drawn by - check the review archives & you'll see what I mean -
but it has more than enough hooks to really keep the interest,
particularly if the style of music appeals to you. Even if it
doesn't, give it a go - you may be surprised...
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