Archive for the 'BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (complete)' Category

Beck #26 (Final)

Published on April 25, 2005 in BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (complete). 11 Comments Tags: , , .

Koyuki wants to revive Beck, and it seems like it’s been on Chiba’s mind as well, but he’s still concerned about the fact that he was the only one who missed out on that dream. It doesn’t matter one iota to Koyuki, though. He knows that Beck is nothing without Chiba, so that silly dream really doesn’t mean anything. Taira’s about to go on tour with his current band Heroes, but he also wants to help revive the group as soon as he’s done with all the tours and promotions. He warns Koyuki that he’ll only return if all five original members are back, but after having no luck with finding Ryuusuke (he’s in New York and Saku’s returned after running away from home), they decide on regrouping without him anyway.

They’re offered the chance of a lifetime to go on an American tour, so they spend all their time practicing both on and off stage before leaving for their 50-day tour in America. Maho attempts to teach Koyuki some Engrish the day before leaving, but his pronunciation is so nonexistent that she’s given up all hope on him and instead leaves him with a tape to practice with. It’s a real downer that we’re only given a quick slideshow of what happened during their tour in America instead of actually being able to experience it with them, but I suppose it’s better than nothing at all. So, Koyuki’s pointing out all the sights and sounds of the places they visited, and along with all of his pictures of the guys, he also has a blurred photo of Ryuusuke and Beck. Apparently, they finally get to see him again in Seattle, and it looks like it’s a friendly and welcoming reunion. Leon Sykes is finally arrested for the crimes he committed, and all five members finally perform together again in a local joint in Seattle. It’s disappointing that we’re only given a few glimpses of the audience instead of being able to watch them perform, but I suppose the writers and animators were in a rush to complete this series and move on to other projects.

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Overall, I really enjoyed this series because it focused primarily on rock music, and although the music wasn’t the best and the Engrish was atrocious, it was enjoyable to listen to and watch nonetheless. Koyuki was annoying at times because of his feeble demeanor, but I often had to remember that he was just a teenager struggling to find his identity and purpose in this world. After discovering his talent in playing guitars, though, he had an actual goal in life and worked toward improving that goal to the best of his ability. His relationship with Maho was never really that serious, and although she made some bad choices in hooking up with Yoshito in many instances, in the end she decided on being with him (even that remains questionable, but I’ll accept the idea that they were an official couple). I wish we could’ve found out more about Ryuusuke’s past and why he chose to live a life in poverty instead of milking his family’s wealth, but perhaps it’s mentioned in the manga. In any case, Beck was a very enjoyable series, and although I don’t intend to watch it a second time, I would definitely recommend it for future viewers.

Many, many thanks to the wonderful people over at Anime-Empire and Shinsen-Subs for generously donating their time in subbing this series. You guys are the best. :)

Beck #25

Published on April 24, 2005 in BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (complete). 0 Comments

After generating a huge audience, the band disappears backstage without pleasing their newfound fans with an encore performance, and the guys end up going their separate ways after that memorable day at the Greatful Sound.

Forward to a month and a half later, and life hasn’t changed a bit for Koyuki. He’s still at school doing the same thing, and although he’s been getting offers for possible music contracts and band invitations, he declines the majority of the offers. Meanwhile, Chiba’s decided to quit the music business entirely and desires to open up his own ramen restaurant someday, despite the fact that he’s been told that his ramen sucks. Ryuusuke’s disappeared from the world, while Taira’s moved on to a popular Indie band as their basist. Saku’s transferred to another school again, so Koyuki’s on his own now that his best friend has left. It’s really sad watching Koyuki’s tears falling from his eyes as he looks back at all the fond memories he had with Saku and the rest of the guys from Beck. I know how sad and depressing it is to have a best friend disappear from my life, so that was a very heartbreaking scene to watch. And now, finally, onto the final episode.

Beck #24

Published on April 24, 2005 in BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (complete). 1 Comment

Both Taira, Ryuusuke, and even Chiba join Koyuki and Saku on stage later that afternoon, and while they’re able to draw a larger crowd than expected, it still won’t be enough to keep their end of the bargain alive. Therefore, they realize that they’ll have to disband once the Greatful Sound is over since it would never work under Leon’s control anyhow. However, fans continue to pour in to their stadium despite the rain and the fact that they’re watching a no-name band, and things are surprisingly working out in their favor as well. Malcolm’s unable to continue despite only performing three songs due to the technical problems caused by the relentless rain, and Belle Ame’s having major trouble keeping their obsessed female fans under control, causing major interruptions and chaos both on and off-stage. Even Yoshito with all his fame and glamour can’t win this battle with his obsessed fans.

The guys decide to perform “Brainstorm,” and the crowd generously responds to Chiba’s energetic performance in return. Leon’s fully aware that things aren’t going his way, so he fires a ground crew and is determined to come out winning at all costs. However, with Malcolm’s crowd now moving on to see Beck, he doesn’t have much of a say in the matter. Meanwhile, Belle Ame’s chaotic problems with the crowd continue to cause interruptions, and now that the sound isn’t working for them either, even their loyal fans are moving on to watch Beck. By the time they get back on stage, it’s a little too late. Now that Beck has generated fans from the other two stages, they’re prepared to go all out and give the fans the best of what they have. And now onto the next episode. :)

Beck #23

Published on April 23, 2005 in BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (complete). 4 Comments

Beck and Belle Ame are playing simultaneously, and it looks like Koyuki’s going to lose to Yoshito now that Maho’s dead set on watching Yoshito perform. I don’t understand why Koyuki’s so determined on keeping Maho within his reach when she’s clearly not interested. Why can’t he see that she’s been more supportive of Yoshito than anyone else all this time? I think he should just forget about her already. She isn’t worth the pain and agony of waiting and hoping for something that may never even happen. Some of the worst pain we’ll ever experience is the pain of loving someone who will never love us in return…

I don’t know what Ryuusuke’s problem is, but he sure has one. His bluntness causes Chiba to quit the band only hours before their scheduled performance, and things just get progressively worse from that point on. Belle Ame not surprisingly manages to generate a huge female fan base in part to their popish rock music and Yoshito’s theatrical appearance, but the guys run into unfortunate problems from the get go, experiencing technical difficulties just moments before their performance as well having to perform without two vital members.

Since Ryuusuke’s away talking to Leon and Chiba’s nowhere to be found, Taira decides to call off their performance altogether since it’s basically pointless for them to perform without a complete band, but Koyuki doesn’t want to disappoint their 500 loyal fans and bravely performs in front of their small audience by himself with his version of the Beatles’ “I’ve Got a Feeling,” and it’s an immediate crowd-pleaser. Saku joins him on the drums by the end of the episode, and it looks like they’ll do well after all. I can’t wait to see what happens next. :)

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Beatles – I’ve Got A Feeling

I’ve got a feeling, a feeling deep inside
Oh yeah, Oh yeah.
I’ve got a feeling, a feeling I can’t hide
No no. (No) Oh no, No no,
Yeah Yeah I’ve got a feeling.

Oh please believe me, I’d hate to miss the train
Oh yeah, Oh yeah.
And if you leave me I won’t be late again
Oh no, Oh no, Oh no.
Yeah Yeah I’ve got a feeling yeah.
I got a feeling.

All these years I’ve been wandering around,
Wondering how come nobody told me
All that I was looking for was somebody
Who looked like you.

I’ve got a feeling that keeps me on my toes
Oh yeah, Oh yeah.
I’ve got a feeling, i think that everybody knows.
Oh yeah, Oh yeah, Oh Yeah.
Yeah Yeah I’ve got a feeling.

Ev’rybody had a hard year
Ev’rybody had a good time
Ev’rybody had a wet dream,
Ev’rybody saw the sunshine
Oh yeah, Oh yeah. Oh Yeah.
Ev’rybody had a good year,
Ev’rybody let their hair down,
Ev’rybody pulled their socks up,
Ev’rybody put their foot down.
Oh yeah, Oh yeah.

Oh my soul… so odd.

Beck #22

Published on April 23, 2005 in BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (complete). 0 Comments

Koyuki reminds me so much of Shinji Ikari that it’s frustrating to watch this show at times. His only redeeming quality is that he’s pretty good at playing the guitar, and he’s lucky that he has friends to protect him from getting beaten up on a daily basis. He has so little faith in himself that it makes it difficult to root for someone like him, but hopefully he’ll learn to believe in himself one day. In this episode, Koyuki has the difficult task of writing the lyrics for his song, but nothing he writes seems to satisfy Ryuusuke until he submits the lyrics that Saitou-san has generously written for him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t give his music mentor the credit he deserves, so everyone thinks he’s the genius when he really doesn’t deserve the title at all.

The guys are becoming more tense and edgy as the days get closer to the Grateful Sound, and it’s apparent that Ryuusuke’s lost it when he initiates a small fight between a rival band at a local joint until they get kicked out for disturbing other customers. It’s understandable why Ryuusuke’s feeling on edge, though. Leon’s conditions stipulate that he has the rights to all of Beck’s five upcoming albums, but Ryuusuke has a condition of his own that if they’re able to capture a bigger audience than anyone else on stage, that everything from stealing Beck to Lucille will be forgotten. Leon agrees to it only because he knows that it’ll be impossible for a no-name band like themselves to captivate a bigger audience than an already established artist like Malcolm (and it most likely would be impossible, but this is anime and Beck’s the main focus of this story).

Koyuki does a lot of dumb things, but this time he naively trusts Yoshito to translate English for him, and he ends up getting humiliated on-stage because of it. Ryuusuke performs on-stage with Eiji later that evening, and unlike Koyuki, he does a great job because he knows what he’s doing. He’s either making up for Koyuki’s stupid blunder, or he needs a break from being in a band with such a stupid idiot. I just hope Koyuki doesn’t make any more obviously dumb mistakes in the future…