*This review is spoiler free*

So, I first watched the Beck anime back in 2013, and it quickly became one of my favourite anime of all time, still occupying a spot in my favourites list to this day.

Somehow, a whole seven years later, I found myself with some time to myself and nothing to watch/read, so I finally decided to take the plunge and read the whole of Beck. It wasn’t planned, but I ended up reading the whole thing in two sittings over two days.

That said, I’ll open with this statement: If you liked the anime, just read it. You are only depriving yourself of more enjoyment with these characters and this story. Just read it, you’ll thank yourself.

Story –

The story is deceptively simple. Centred around Yukio ‘Koyuki’ Tanaka, a middle-schooler who doesn’t excel much at anything, Beck takes you on a 6+ year journey over its 103 chapters. We follow Yukio, the other eventual members of Beck and a handful of other supporting characters as they set out to become the biggest band in Japan, against all the odds.

Despite not having the most original premise, Beck still manages to provide enough twists and turns to be thoroughly entertaining throughout with, in my view, a conclusion that is both satisfying and leaves you wanting more, just to spend a little more time with the characters.

Art –

If I’m being completely honest, the art at the start of Beck is pretty underwhelming. It is by no means terrible, but it’s definitely not great. However, I noticed that around the 30-chapter mark there was a drastic improvement in the quality and consistency of the art, especially in the characters. By the end of the manga I can comfortably say that the art is pretty damn good, especially when you consider how it was when it started.

Character –

The characters really carry this manga 100% of the way. They’re all fantastic and I really found myself completely in love with most of the main cast by the end. Their motivations and personalities are totally fleshed out throughout the story, leaving you with a great impression of them as individuals come the end.

One thing I will say is that I was really worried about the main character’s romance at some points, but by the end I found myself largely satisfied with what turned out to be a surprisingly realistic subplot. Maybe a little more towards the end would have been nice, but I understand that it wasn’t the intended focus of the story by that point so it’s fine as is.

Enjoyment –

I haven’t enjoyed a manga this long enough to read it in such a short space of time in a long while. It was really a blast from start to finish, despite its medium-long length, and never came close to losing my attention at any point.

Final Thoughts –

Finishing this, and looking back at the anime, only makes me wish that we could have seen the rest of the story adapted. It is virtually impossible that this happens at this point given the series’ age, but I think, given the songwriting treatment the original adaptation got, and the updated level of animation it could really be something special.

I’m sure, in the future, I’ll find myself coming back to this series again and again. Truly a masterpiece in my eyes.