BECK, Vol. 1

BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad #1

by Harold Sakuishi

BECK is back! Harold Sakuishi's wildly addictive 34-volume rock 'n' roll epic that redefined for a generation what manga could be returns—at last complete in English. Fourteen-year-old Yukio Tanaka is one heck of a boring guy. He has no hobbies, a weak taste in music, and only a small vestige of a personality. His shy and somewhat neurotic personality makes him his own worst enemy. Little does he know that his life will be forever changed when he meets rocker Ryusuke Minami, an unpredictable sixteen-year-old with a cool dog named Beck. Ryusuke has just returned to Japan from America, and when he inspires Yukio to get into music, the two begin a journey through the world of rock 'n' roll dreams! Lace up your Docs and head to the mosh pit—Harold Sakuishi's manga series that spawned the hit anime is back!

Part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive digital content only available on comiXology and Kindle. This title is available as part of comiXology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading.

Part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive digital content only available on comiXology and Kindle.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Music, Fiction, Japanese Literature, Romance

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 15, 2000

About the author

Associated names :
哈罗德作石
HAROLD作石

Name (in native language) : ハロルド 作石

Birth Name : Sakuishi (作石) Takahiro (貴浩)

Blood type : AB

Sakuishi has a wide variety of interests which include baseball (he is a huge Chunichi Dragons fan), martial arts, MMA, and music (he is a huge Red Hot Chili Peppers fan).
Each of these has become the basis for his most popular series (baseball in Stopper Busujima, fighting in Bakaichi, and music in Beck).
His series also often include character cameos from his past works; one of the newspaper reporters in Beck is actually from Stopper Busujima and so on. Additionally, he's a big fan of Sangokushi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) with an altered version of that story appearing in Beck written by "Christy Sakuishi".
In Beck he included many famous people in background crowds. These included many popular musicians, characters from Happy Sangokushi and MMA legends Royce Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba.

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn to this manga because it dealt with a subject matter that was different from the shonen manga (Bleach, Naruto) I was reading at the time. It was about music and rock bands and the dreams of teenage boys who picked up a guitar and dreamed of hitting it big with their own band.

The art was refreshingly different from shonen manga as well. It had a realism to it that set it apart from the other manga I was reading at the time. It helped that the artist drew cute girls.

[Javier Muñoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Típico ejemplo de lo que podría ser el tradicional manga deportivo si cambias el deporte en cuestión por la música, es curioso que sin embargo el protagonista no llega a acercarse a una guitarra en este primer tomo, pero se masca la tragedia.

Yukio es un chaval de 14 años que lleva la típica vida aburrida de un estudiante japonés sin un pavo, pero se cruza en el camino de Ryusuke, un joven de 16 que ha vivido en Estados Unidos y tiene una banda de rock, a partir de aquí la vida de Yukio empieza a complicarse... Izumi, una amiga de la escuela de primaria se acuerda de que existe y junto con Ryusuke empiezan a formar un grupo de amigos, descubre la música occidental, conoce gente extraña en los bares de rock y en definitiva, encuentra un mundo que ni siquiera sabía que existía.

El gancho que acaba de poner las cosas en marcha sucede cuando Ryusuke se queda sin grupo y empieza a buscar gente para formar uno nuevo, en el futuro se adivina los inicios de Yukio como cantante y guitarrista, un posible triángulo amoroso (o cuadrado quizás) interminable al típico estilo shonen y muchos traspiés en el camino de Yukio para convertirse en estrella de rock... de momento me ha gustado bastante y los personajes me resultan atrayentes, no se si llegaré a leer los treinta y tantos tomos pero por lo menos unos cuantos más caerán.

[Maricar Dizon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Status: Completed

No matter how many times I read Beck (all 34 volumes of awesome) I always feel so many different emotions. Nostalgia, despair, sadness, happiness and hope. This series has always been one of my top favorites. The story depicts the reality a person who aims to be a top rock musician has to face. I love that the author showed perfectly the human drama, the friendship, the romance and the harsh truth about the music industry. I love every character, they are not perfect but their imperfections and weaknesses only made watching them grow worthwhile. This amazing story was partnered with an also amazing art. The 'growth' in the way the characters were drawn as the story progressed really showed how they are slowly maturing from teenagers to adults. I was so emotionally invested in this series that I wasn't able to sleep properly until I finish reading it. I love it so much.

[Korynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given this for free at a TokyoPop promotion. It's pretty standard plot, loser boy with pervert sidekick cannot declare his love for old friend now grown-up. He follows her around and meets an interesting young man (and his sister) with a talent for rock music. Loser boy becomes enamoured of the music but also with the idea of being in a band. Read volume two for more of the same. I'm guessing that by volume five he might have embarassed himself by playing a gig.
I really enjoyed the translations of this volume - I think someone must have working hard to describe the feelings of Tanaka as he listens to rock music for the first time.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although manga readers might feel (rightly) that the concept has been done before, Beck is intriguing for its introspective tone and surprising depth of feeling. The reader leaves the first volume with a lot of food for thought and a lot of curiosity about what the future will bring the main character. With the notable exception of the cliche of the horndog friend, the characters are already settingup as complex enough to keep you guessing---in a good way. Is Ryosuke a player, an undependable moocher, or does he just a dreamer who gets carried away? Where does Yukio's sadness come from and can he get past it? What's Izumi's real story? At this point for a manga theme that would seem to be pretty textbook (loner wannabe with a big dream) things are surprisingly unpredictable. Even the plot thread with Yukio and his dream girl isn't black and white. There's ambiguity both in Ryosuke's friendship with her and even Yukio's uneasy friendship with Ryosuke's sister. The art reflects the at-times gritty setting and veers away from the overly cutesy, chibi-heavy look. (I actually don't think there was a chibi to be found). The creepy friend's look is in line with the grotesque/caricaturish style you sometimes see with that type of character, so...not that original there, but a familiar feature that manga fans will recognize.

Mature Themes

Some violent scenes: The main character lives in kind of a bad neighborhood and gets beat up. Another character pulls a gun when a situation escalates. I would argue though that it's applicable to the plot, realistic to the environment, and linked to character development.

As for fan service/sexual content, it's fairly tame as it goes. All that there is is basically centered on Yukio's sleazy "friend" who likes to spy on the girls' swim team practices and at one point initiates an ill-advised excursion to peep on the changing rooms that gets derailed. It's a clumsy distraction to an otherwise interesting story, but doesn't eat up a whole lot of the book's focus, and there's no nudity. Although it's perhaps hinted at that Ryosuke has quite a female following, that's about as far as it goes.

[Sean O'Hara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad this is on Comixology Unlimited, because after.one volume I can tell this is the sort of series I'm gonna want to binge, and at 30+ volumes that could get expensive.

[Ayan1909 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main theme about rock is interesting but it was a bit too basic for me, the protagonist who is a loser and a “pervert” meets a popular bad boy that just came back from a foreign country, who’s a guitarist in a rock band and they start hanging out together.

The English/Japanese parts were nice, the drawing style was very early 2000 vibes, I liked it, but something was missing for me. The constant sexual jokes aren’t funny and mostly unnecessary.

[Windry · Rating 4 out of 5]

damn! i love this manga so much! one of the best! sangat orisinil dari karakter-karakternya, realis, dan sukses mengangkat isu musik yang jauh dari sekedarnya!

bahkan baca Beck bisa membuat deg deg an seperti membaca agatha christie hehehe...

[Hassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This manga might at start appear to be your regular "coming of the age" types with the middle school themes and characters as such, but the huge differencing factor about it is that it revolves around rock and roll. As one proceeds into further chapters, it can be seen that the plot changes pace, rather smoothly, and seems complete off from what it initially seemed from the pilot chapter(the middle school part). Rather, as the main protagonist (and Sakuishi) gets more into rock and roll, they slowly remove story devices (like the character Izumi Ishiguro, who bears a lot of resemblance to Maho, the protagonist's love interest), probably also to make the story less confusing in the future. The change is ofc good, cuz it made it what it is today because of it. IN the end, it is a good journey of a rock and roll band as they try to make it big, and a truly underrated masterpiece for rock and roll fans.

[M Caesar · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed it! a lot of the humor hasn't aged (its got that pre 2010ish manga sex pestery as joke shit going on for real lol) but god the stuff about being a teen and wanting to be in a band so hard hit so well ! definitely gonna read more.

[Lepicentrecult · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plutôt bon manga, j'ai bien aimé cet aspect mix entre le japonais et l'anglais. Et puis j'aime bien l'univers musical

[vera · Rating 4 out of 5]

parece que un chaval de 14 años con depresión a escrito esto, me recuerda mucho a Alex G
shutout a xiana por prestármelo 😘😘💓

[Mediuschung · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in2017:
變咗冒險漫畫，我覺得夾band嘅開心、汗水上、上台而努力過嘅過程最為重要，應該係要寫實行出正路勇往直前嘅勵志漫畫。

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

C’était sympa ! Ça donne un peu une vibe à la Nana mais avec des lycéens. Je suis curieuse de lire la suite mais la série fait 32 tomes 😮‍💨 donc à voir si je me les procure par la suite !

[Diane Briones · Rating 5 out of 5]

So Beck is this one manga about rock music. I had always assumed it was about that rock star, Beck. But apparently Beck is some Frankenweenie-style dog. Also, after reading the first volume, I have no still idea what the “Mongolian Chop Squad” is a reference to…

Story:
Yukio Tanaka is a really boring middle school kid. He listens to lame Okinawan music, sleeps through class, spies on the swim team, and is generally, a loser. But things are starting to look up. For one thing, his old childhood friend, Izumi Ishiguro, is starting to talk to him again. She’s the #1 idol in the school, so that’s a good thing.

Through a series of random encounters, Yukio is introduced to Ryusuke Minami, and his dog Beck. Ryusuke was apparently in a super hot band called “Dying Breed” and he’s on a mission to create the world’s greatest rock band. Slowly but surely, Yukio’s life is beginning to get more interesting…


Analysis:
Beck is a pretty funky manga. It fits somewhere between a realistic drama and a surreal indie manga. From the patched up Beck biting Yukio every chance he gets to the weird fights that the characters have in English, everything seems like it could be happening in a dream sequence. The dialogue is really wacky at times, which amounts to humor, even if it’s not intended. Though I think a lot of it is supposed to be funny.

The story itself is really anti-Japanese culture and pro-American culture. Japanese culture stresses conformity while American culture is all about individuality. The characters in Beck all seem to be rejecting the Japanese way of life in order to form a bitchin’ rock band!

What you end up with is a really interesting manga that feels Japanese, but not. It still retains a lot of Japanese humor and wackiness, too. I have a feeling the manga will get more interesting as we get to know the characters better.

There’s also (maybe?) a weird love triangle going with Izumi liking Ryusuke, Yukio liking Izumi, and maybe Ryusuke’s sister Maho liking Yukio? Although right now she hates him. But hey, it’s Japan, every girl is a possible tsundere…

Character Designs and Art:
The character designs also follow the general weirdness of the manga. The characters are drawn in this pseudo-realistic sort of way. They don’t look realistic, but they look more realistic than most manga characters… And yet, there’s still a strong element of cartoonyness in them. It’s hard to explain.

The art’s different too. The panel setup is very interesting. A lot of times the female characters will take up a half page with their full body figures. Hey, these kids are in middle school! Don’t tempt me, mangaka!

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! I got into the series through the anime that aired on a couple music channels. It builds on what I already know, and develops it/shows me some things I didn't know.

So, the writing: generally, it's fairly solid. It's a little corny, but it's the right level of corny. I'm already reading a manga about a bunch of kids starting a rock band, so I suppose when I sit down for this, I'm already prepared for a slight bit of cheese. Sets up Yukio's lifestyle, and throws together a few fun dynamics right away. You've got two strong female characters in Maho and Izumi, and then Ryusuke as a mentor/odd friend, and it just sets up the right kind of environment where you're interested in all the relationships developing, and you can tell things are going to happen, and makes you slowly start to care for the characters.

Oh, though Ryusuke in leather clothing didn't do much for me ;)

On to the art: I'm generally really enjoying it. The cover on this is class, and the art in general is exactly was I was hoping for. There are a few moments (when characters are really excited/mad/etc) where I thought it was over done, but it's comical, so it works. It's well paced, and Sakuishi makes great use of the pages, and has some really beautiful looking pages. You can see his love of the characters, and some of the Maho pages made me want to die. Maho's one of my favourite characters, and leaves me wishing I knew a Maho of my own, haha.

Altogether, great first book :)

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

Το τελείωσα. Έκανε κάποιες μεγάλες κοιλιές και προσπάθησε να γίνει ένα από τα manga που ξεχνούν να τελειώσουν, χωρίς να μπορεί να το στηρίξει.

Αν εξαιρέσεις αυτό, είχε κάποια καλά σημεία στην πλοκή και κάποια μη αναμενόμενα twists, αλλά αυτό που του έδινε άλλο αέρα ήταν οι αναφορές στη μουσική. O Sakuishi φαίνεται ότι το αγαπάει το σπορ και έχει γνώσεις πάνω στην Ροκ/Μέταλ καθώς και το πως αντιμετωπίζεται από τους Ιάπωνες (που τρέφουν μεγάλη συμπάθεια γι'αυτά τα είδη). Γούσταρα που κάθε λίγο διάβαζα για διάφορες πραγματικές μπάντες και πόσο τα τραγούδια τους επηρέαζαν τον Yukio.

Το τέλος μου φάνηκε πολύ βεβιασμένο αν και το short story για τον Mr. Lee ήταν συγκινητικό. Μέχρι το ch. 100 ρολάρει αξιοπρεπώς η ιστορία, τα 2 τελευταία κεφάλαια την σκότωσαν.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was okay but the art in this book was just short of being horrible. It was serviceable, but the faces and eyes of most characters were off. Most of the characters look like porcelain dolls, emotionless. I get the feeling though that the art is done by an inexperience manga artist and hopefully the art will get better on down the line. I could see some improvement from the start of this volume but that’s just because I was looking for it.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I... don't get it.

Like, I can't even explain what's going on in this story to explain what it is I don't get.

To start with, the titular Beck is a Frankensteined dog with patchwork skin with visible stitches (the main character compares the dog to Black Jack). Beck has very little to do in the story *in this volume* (in the future, no idea yet).

The main character is a bored, boring boy (Yukio) who has things happen to him from the day he meets Beck's keeper (Ryusuke) and reconnects with a tomboy friend who has grown into a popular, attractive young woman (Izumi). Yukio's "friend" Tanabe gets him into a lot of shenanigans popularly committed against Japanese school girls*—such as stealing their swimsuits or underwear—but Izumi, FOR SOME REASON, always finds a way to overlook it since Yukio is involved.

*The first incident is Tanabe dragging Yukio into peeping on the girls' swim team, which I mention because one of the girls says, "No man sees my ass 'til I'm married!" Uh... for starters, if you're concerned about that, why are you on the swim team? [If Girls' Swim Team is supposed to never be seen by the opposite sex, why is the fence chain-link instead of solid?] Secondly, the trope of a girl having been lightly touched/seen slightly unclothed means they can't be married: What even. [This is coming from Japan, where the sexual harassment is rampant! How does ANYONE get married??]

The bulk of the story surrounds Yukio and Ryusuke happening to cross paths, and Izumi bringing Yukio (though she nicknames him Koyuki) back into her life—which I suppose I understand from the point of view of, "We used to be friends but were separated by circumstance, let's still be friends!" but it feels weird the way it's presented—and Yukio starting to have more diverse experiences, like finding new music he likes besides the one pop idol.

It's unfortunately rather haphazard. I suppose life itself is haphazard, so the story's emulating that, but it also feels like there's no real plot progression; it's just a string of random events that started happening, and what does any of this have to do with the weird Frankenstein dog?

I don't HATE it, but not really recommended, just because I can't figure it out to understand why I would recommend it or who should read it. I might look up the anime to see if they managed to adapt it to make it more comprehensible, but I don't know.

[Mylez Soucier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know since when I changed to such cold-hearted guy
I have to warm this frozen, icy, lonely heart to thaw
I like being wrapped with warmness more than anything else for sure
I'm gonna make my coming days to be filled with laughter and joy

I let myself down that I'm more cruel than I thought I would be
I'm just a loser who ends up by caring for his soul
I don't give my heart to no one cause I don't wanna waste my time
I tried to love this loneliness to slip out from lonesome hole

Sorrow is what I hate but it's grown my sensations
Regrets taught me how to make any hard decisions
Peace is always by my side but I've never felt it once
Love is not the word only for the sweet romance

Well I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared to death
And I'm scared to keep on going on my way
Well I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared to death
And I'll tell myself I'm special till the end

Recalling my torn broken, aching heart of these long days
And all the memories I wanted to forget for making leaps
Recalling, breaking, aching, crying, making sure to me
And I take it all and grin at my future on the way

Sorrow is what I hate but it's grown my sensations
Regrets taught me how to make any hard decisions
Peace is always by my side but I've never felt it once
Love is not the word only for the sweet romance

Well I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared to death
And I'm scared to keep on going on my way
Well I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared to death
And I'll tell myself I'm special till the end

I don't give my heart to no one cause I don't wanna waste my time
I tried to love this loneliness to slip out from lonesome hole

[noelani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This manga came into my life during a rough patch. Honestly, this series saved me from myself. It was like a light at the end of a never-ending tunnel. My rating may be biased because of that, but I hold so many emotions toward this series.

I am a music lover through-and-through, and BECK reignited that flame that was so dull at the time of me reading this manga. Diving into personal experiences, my depression was debilitating and I felt that there was no rhyme or reason to do much of anything. I had been reading manga from time-to-time beforehand, and I often scrolled through one of the many manga sites available looking for something, anything, to catch my eye. Lucille(the guitar on the volume 1 cover) and Koyuki's tenacious stare immediately grabbed onto my interest, and-so my love began. It was like a whirlwind romance from then on. I don't know where I'd be without this series.

Wholeheartedly, this has to be one of the best Shonen manga I have picked up. There is so much story and plot in all of the volumes, I couldn't fathom it was over at 34. Recently, I have read this series once more and all those emotions I felt at the first read came rushing back. This story wraps me in a comforting warmth nothing else could replace. It's comedic while diving into serious, realistic topics. The music world is harsh, and cruel, and Sakuishi lays it all out on a silver platter for his audience to devour.

[Paul Spence · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 clichéd peeping-tom subplot, but Sakuishi's characterizations have a strong identification factor, aided by a sharp and funny translation. The art style is a little rough and amateurish which is why I can only give it three stars.

[Christopher Hong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a struggling indie band from late '90s early 2000's Japan trying to break out of obscurity, but moreso it's about a young person discovering their voice and self worth through music. The protagonist Koyuki is a bit of a shonen cliche-- a sensitive weakling with a deep internal sense of justice-- and parts of the story are clumsy (particularly how they deal with non-Japanese people of color in their story) and the women in the story are unfortunately mostly there to advance the story of the protagonist.

But having laid that out, I just finished all 34 volumes of Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, and had an extremely nostalgic trip through the FEELS as I remembered what it was like learning to play guitar, starting my first band, and all the assorted drama and comradery that comes along with it. Just started the Madhouse produced anime and am excited to hear how they bring the various bands to life. It's far from perfect (no one's adolescence is,) but enough about its love for music and the transformative connections one makes through experiencing it, that I'd recommend it to anyone who's been in or wanted to be in a band.

[Nette_PierredeLune · Rating 2 out of 5]

Je ne peux pas dire que c'est une déception vu que je ne m'attendait pas à un manga exceptionnel...

Pour commencer, je me perdait dans tous les personnages : ils se ressemblent tous, on les appelle soit par leur prénom, soit par leur nom de famille ou par leurs surnoms !

L'histoire n'a pas d'intérêt ! C'est quoi le but ? Bah on ne sait pas ! Il veut séduire Izumi ou Maho ? Quel est l'intérêt de Beck, le chien de Ryusuke ? C'est quand même le nom du manga !
Nan, vraiment, je n'ai pas du tout accroché et compris ce manga !

En plus, de cela, je n'ai pas aimé les dessins ! Vous allez me dire : les dessins de mangas se ressemblent ! Je ne suis pas d'accord ! Et les dessins de ce manga, je ne les aimes pas ! On n'arrive pas à différencier les personnages...

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Right now Beck looks like a totally normal, yet totally relatable high school series. We get little snippets of what it’s to become (based on my viewing of the anime) and it ends on a cliffhanger in that regard. I should mention it early that this had one of the most mind-blowingly good dubs since it features the voice actors as singers. And Greg’s got pipes man! It’s definitely worth checking out.

I’m enjoying it so far. Typical Japanese high schooler In LOOoOOoooOOve, never so typical, has a knack for landing himself in trouble. Trouble that lands him at the feet of Ryusuke who will change the course of our young man Yukio for life. Let’s see how life spice’s up in the next few volumes, narf narf.

[Mike Franco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first volume of BECK was about music and rock bands and the dreams of teenage boys who picked up a guitar and dreamed of hitting it big with their own band.

The art was refreshingly different from other shonen manga as well. It had a realism to it that set it apart from the other mangas. It helped that the artist drew cute girls.

Wholeheartedly, this has to be one of the best manga I have picked up.

I am a music lover through-and-through, and BECK reignited that flame that was so dull. Diving into personal experiences, my depression was debilitating and I felt that there was no rhyme or reason to do much of anything, but story wrapped me in a comforting warmth nothing else could replace. It's comedic while diving into serious, realistic topics

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a series that came along for the ride when I got that Humble Bundle of manga mainly for Space Brothers. Figured maybe I should finally give something else from that bunch a try?

So, I think I'll end up liking this one a lot. Probably not as much as Space Bothers, but I'm married to a musician, so the band dynamics are interesting to me, and I always really enjoy books where people experience music for the first time or in a new way and get blown away by it.

I'm not entirely sure what to think about Beck, the dog, or about Ryusuke or Izumi, but I like Yoyuki and Maho. I'm mainly in it for the band, though, so I'm looking forward to volume 2!

[Chi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read 16 March 2023

Still so good! The sexual content in the manga is still a little bit over the top. The same could be said for some of the characters' exaggerated facial expressions. But still, NOTHING beats the rush in the final few volumes when Beck / Mongolian Chop Squad finally, FINALLY hit their stride, and gain the recognition they fully deserved.

---

One of my all-time favourite series, this manga never fails to make me feel all the lows and all the highs. The boys of Beck / Mongolian Chop Squad are put through the wringer, and come through triumphant by the end of the series.

Harold Sakuishi draws things in a rather realistic manner, though he does pull out the odd facial exaggeration every once in a while. What I absolutely loved were the homages to iconic album covers at the start of every chapter.

The only downside to the manga is that I'll always be sad that I'll never be able to hear "Devil's Way" (or any other of their songs for that matter) in real life, though I never fail to get the shiver of excitement and anticipation every single time I get to the point where "Devil's Way" is showcased.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this manga was great after my boyfriend and I have been watching the anime (for me it's a rewatch) I liked when they indicate its American English rather than Japanese English subtitles. In addition I love the art style its different than what I have read before. Because of these points I have to give this volume a 4 out of 5 stars because the cutoff of the volume was not ideally where I wanted it to end. If you want a music themed manga/anime that is not surrounded by women check this one out.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. Reading the reviews of this was good for my vocabulary, at least manga related.

Not my typical genre but an entertaining story of an awkward young boy going through the typical teen problems and being introduced to the world of those trying to make in the music biz. Some of the characters showed a little bit more complexity that you might expect. Overall, the drawing is good.

There are 30 plus volume so there is plenty of time for this develop. I'm not sure if I will continue this but it is good to try something different every now and then.