BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad

One certainly doesn't have to be knowledgeable of rock or a musician themselves to enjoy BECK, but it would certainly enhance the experience. BECK is an utterly compelling, exhilarating homage to the rock and roll mythos that takes place in Japan, but really could have taken place anywhere(that's not a knock on it, rather it shows how universally appealing the story and it's subject matter are). Indeed, with BECK, I sometimes forgot I was watching an anime altogether, the story, script and characters would do just as well in a live action tv series .

Koyuki is Japanese teenager who is a good guy, but on the meek side and nothing to show for himself. His life is forever changed when he incidentally crosses paths with Ryusuke, a street smart, charismatic sixteen year old who used play guitar for a famous American band, but since then has spent his time playing for unsuccessful groups in the local underground rock scene. After several chance meetings with Ryusuke, Koyuki begins hanging out with him and his new, fledgling band Beck, while teaching himself guitar. After his eventual acceptance into Beck, Koyuki pursues his passion while riding the turbulent ups and downs with his fellow bandmates while simultaneously experiencing the growing pains of adolescence and young love.

While BECK is still a underdog story a heart, it never less is very realistic in its portrayal of the band's journey from obscurity to "success". This realism and grittiness makes the characters up's and down's even more dramatically and emotionally charged then they normally would be. On the same note, the writing for BECK, especially in the dialogue department is excellent, as is the flawless (and superior) English dub. Likewise, the series boasts excellent production values seen in the top notch animation and most of all the abundance of original music created specifically for the show. The character development results in a core cast of characters that are simply fantastic, by the time the show ends you'll miss them quite a bit. The only two detractors for this stellar anime is the open ended conclusion that fails in giving a true sense of closure and then there are several weak episodes that are hurriedly paced and shoddily put together. Besides these relatively small complaints BECK is a winning, unforgetable anime that is refreshingly original in its execution and content while containing some of the best characters and drama ive seen in awhile in an anime. A definite must see.

Grade: A

Reviewed: episodes 1-26(complete) Format: English Dub, DVD.

Green Green

Impressive title aside, I went into Green Green expecting at the very best a saucy, funny yet poignant coming of age romcom set in the freedom of the great outdoors and at the very least a fun,sexy and occasionally sweet fanservice comedy. I soon found out that both my expectations were set way to high.

Set in the serene, heavily wooded wilderness of rural Japan, an all boys academy is in the process of being transitioned to co-ed, so the officials use the summer as a opportunity to try and integrate the two sexes. The story centers around a mild mannered male lead who is actually a step up from most shows of this ilk who is surprised, to say the least to find out that one of the gals who just arrived is claiming to have traveled from the future(where they were lovers) to be with him.

That really is all the plot that one needs to know about. While the male lead may be slightly better than average, his friends more than make up for this improvement by nearly destroying the entire show by themselves, they are beyond obnoxious and uncomfortably creepy and pervy to such a degree that their antics(which take up a way to much screen time) are jaw-dropping in their bad -taste and sometimes downright unsettling. They are made out to be sympathetic characters, which adds a whole new unpleasant vibe into the mix, you begin to dislike the main character for even associating with them. Green Green tries to be romantic and sweet, and sometimes it actually is, but the series remains firmly entrenched in the gutter, with its non-stop fanservice(which is actually pretty well done as far as fanservice goes), a hand full of squirm inducing situations that you really have to see to believe and incessant preoccupation with sex, one begins to wonder why they didn't just take the leap and make the show into a full blown hentai.

Green Green isn't terrible, its actually works rather smoothly from time to time,but anyway you look at it its a mediocre show, sure the ridiculous fanservice and ecchi humor are above and beyond the norm(which is good and bad) and it's never really dull but on the other hand it never escapes the feel of a low rent show employing outrageous content in order to distract viewers from its blandness and numerous short comings.

Grade: C

Reviewed: episodes 1-12(complete) Format: English Sub, DVD.