The Show – Rivals, Fights, and ROCK
Beck volume 2 is full of rivalry, fights, and misunderstandings, just like your typical inner-city middle school! For example, in Episode 6 “Hyodo and the Jaguar,” Koyuki gets in a fight with Hyodo who is trying to blackmail Koyuki for chipping his friend’s guitar. All the more cruel because it was Hyodo’s fault that the guitar was chipped in the first place.
As with most relationships in middle school, be they love or hate relationships, the ones in Beck don’t always last or are different than they appear. For example, Ryusuke realizes that the guitar that Koyuki broke was actually a fake and forgives him.
As for rock, Beck is full of great music and riffs. Whether it’s Beck’s live concerts or Koyuki locking himself in the PA broadcasting room at his school and playing music over the school intercom, the music is just great!
Presentation – A Solid Representation
The quality of the presentation of this series is exactly what I would expect forming a band in middle school and high school would be like. The show captures all the rivalries between individuals, competing bands and personal ‘gangs’. The animation is excellent and the sound bites are properly placed and incorporate several songs (on average one per episode). The opening theme and ending themes are also well done.
Extras – Making it Real
A great touch added by Funimation is that each volume of Beck comes with an different guitar pick. As far as on-disk extras, volume 2 features a music video for “A Life on the Road,” Textless Songs, Trailers and of course the Japanese or English language options.
Overall – A Rockin’ Show
In no way does Beck Volume 2 disappoint! It is a non-stop, 5-episode, monster thrill ride full of rockin music, realistic drama, and great animation.
Overall: 9.0
Overall: 9.0