Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad

Beck is overall an entertaining animation by Harold Sakuishi.

As everyone has felt and will feel, the story progresses on the slow side. This should not be an issue.

There are an array of diverse characters to enjoy throughout the series and much of the character development is done quite well. Or well enough so that you know the role they are suppose to play in the plot.

Some of the animation is a little on the skimpy side, but in animation you can play it off as to give the series atmosphere the art was rendered so (but if you read through the original work you can tell the animators for this anime were slacking or you'd question budgeting as the art work in some places drop big in quality). It is nice to see a real place get animated into this work (I.E CBGBs,-I was sad when they shut down-, other venues).

Guitar enthusiast, might love or hate the guitars that are show cased in this animation, I for one loved the idea that they used Gretsch (I love this company, sad they were bought out by fender)guitars instead of just sticking with Fenders and Gibsons. Harold Sakuishi also incorporates a "legendary" guitar or a well known guitar in the blues world, into the storyline which is entertaining in itself.

Music is great. I am a big fan of the Beat Crusaders and they did the most of the major musical work in Beck. The Husking Bees vocalist was used as the main singer, which wasn't too bad. I would venture to say that all the music used are quite "catchy." This is a great story told through a great medium.

Also, like one of the other reviewers noted, this anime will make you want to learn the guitar. I agree 100%.

At first I was kind of skeptical about Beck. I saw the opening and later downloaded the mp3 of the opening "Hit in the USA!". I passed it up a couple times at my local store, thinking I should wait for a dubbed version, but now I'm glad I didn't. The story of Beck offers a good telling of a junior high school aged boy who finds his passion in music. The kind of music happens to be very good, guitar driven rock. (There's several influences here, Rage against the Machine is very pronounced in some parts, and others will remind you of your favorite rock ballads (new and old)) There is also some romance involved, which will have you yelling at the screen one moment and laughing out loud the next. There's not much more to say without giving the story away so you have to check this series out.

Wow so nostalgic! I first watched this show when I was 13-14yrs old, I haven't thought about it since. All I remembered about it was their was a dog that was all mismatched & it was about a band, I knew I loved it back then but I honestly had no memory of what was so good about it. Well having stumbled upon this hidden gem again I decided I should check it out and see if my judgment would have changed from having seen so many more shows since then. I'm very happy to see that my taste was still good even for this being like the second not main stream anime I've ever seen. The story is pretty straight forward, ordinary bullied kid meets a guitarist by chance. Becomes friends, starts hanging out with him & his band, then decides to pick up guitar. And thus the story unfolds, the life of a struggling band. This shows got tons of action, kick ass music and even a bit of romance. Its pretty solid. My only sorta complaint is that the show is clearly "finished" as of the last episode, I would have really liked a second season but tbh I'm not sure they really could have done another season. The animation isn't bad, its not winning any awards but for its time it was definitely pretty good. Now the music is what really makes this show shine, every song is kick ass! No other way to put it, you just want to sit their singing along with the op & ed every single time. The songs the bands play throughout the show are great. I haven't picked up my guitar in years & right in the middle of episodes this show had me wanting to just bust it out and get to practicing! Its pretty inspiring haha. The English dub is really good, all the characters match really well. I'm pretty sure everybody who watches this will like it, make sure you watch at least 3 episodes or so. The beginning might seem a little slow but this is a solid show.

4.5/5 Why? Solid story, I only wish we got to take it just a little farther. Animation is pretty good, good for its time. Music is top notch, awesome songs all throughout this show!! Dub is also really good, all the characters match great. If this show doesn't inspire you at least a little then idk your just a miserable person lol.

It's a classic story of a young group forming a band and wanting fame.

But it's much more. The music is great and the characters are very likable.

It's also an interesting look at the life of a teenager fitting into his culture/social environment in Japan.

When I was in my teens I had a dream of being in a successful band, and now being close to 50 BECK is a fun flashback as to what it might be like.

The pace of the series is slow, the story could have been told easily in half the number of episodes. it may take 5 or 6 to get you hooked. But the slow pace really adds to the texture of the story.

I do hope a DVD of the series is planned.

As a life long resident of Seattle the final episode is a real treat.

a very solid story about a group of guys wanting to make it as a rock band. Koyuki is the shy, nice kid who befriends the intense, enigmatic Ryuusuke for this purpose. There are other parts of this story which provide, if not comic relief, but a diversion from the actual story. You get to meet a few young girls in Koyuki's wife, including Ryuusuke's rough around the edges but compelling Majo, as well as go through band politics and the struggle to be good. A few parts of this I did not like so much, namely Leon Sykes, whose part in the story is unnecessary. However, they are minor quibbles in a story that manages to entertain greatly. Some profanity, but thats okay. Good music, too. I recommend it as an anime that sometimes feels extremely real.