So, over the weekend I happened to find another Anime by luck which I sat through in no less than 2 days, which hardly ever happens, the more so since it’s a regular 26 Episode Anime on top. The name of the Anime is Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad.
On the very surface the Anime is about Music, more precisely a small Punk/Rock Band which is trying to make it big with all possible struggles connected to it. Beneath that however there’s quite a lot more layers to lay eyes on to. First off, you don’t necessarily have to like the Music initially, as it’ll change through out the complete Anime, it gets a bit less radical for that matter. What I considered valuable however was the struggle of the individuals, aside from some unrealistic story turns towards the end of the series. They weren’t unrealistic in terms of impossible, but for me took away some of the seriousness of the show or more precisely it looked too much like cliché. The main Character would be Koyuki, an initially 14 year old boy, who matures and grows more lively throughout the series. The series covers entire 3-4 years of the peoples lives, though it necessarily made clear or laid out to the viewer which might makes it confusing at times. On that note, it too shows the struggle undergone in those 3-4 years, daily life struggles which aren’t exactly all that far from reality, if not on spot even.
The show too contains a small amount of romance which isn’t brought over too shabby and too lays out obvious problems that can occur or even have in a lot of peoples life. I usually don’t watch romance Animes, this however was far from cliché from what I can tell. The drawing style is quite unique and you won’t necessary be a friend of it, for me however that was a reason to stick with it. The Anime contains a lot of sterile scenes and places with little to no conversation, or inconclusive conversations making it as interesting as it is. Partially it might be even awkward. For me it had the effect taking me way back into my youth / childhood and its peaceful moments when life was still easy, or a lot more simple for that matter. On the other side it takes normal people from all types of behavior patterns and brings them together, creating a good chemistry while the series lasts but also lays out the discrepancies of the individuals and that not everyone is compatible on all levels. Other than that, it too shows how people work to become a better person, or have dreams and work towards them while having to sacrifice other things in order to do so. This was communicated quite well I must say, but it also showed the frustration and smackdowns one might receive, whether other people actively realize it or not. The time sink that process is wasn’t all that clear though, lastly due to time jumps which you only noticed through conversations and remarks made by some of the Characters.
All in all it’s one of the few Animes that didn’t consist of super heroes smacking their butts across the screen for 400 episodes straight which I wish to not have ended as quickly as it did. Naturally I recommend watching the Japanese dub with English subs, as that usually delivers the best impressions and insights possible. In fact it’s probably one of those Animes I wind up to re-watch eventually, which is really rare for me 
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