Forum - View topicThe Mike Toole Show - The Musical Suspects
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Julia-the-Great
 Posts: 328 |
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I adore Beck, and consider it one of my favorite anime, although I think I'd have a hard time trying to watch it again from start to finish. Some of Yukio's struggles early on are just so painful to watch... But, I might give it a shot again one of these days. I HAVE rewatched the last disc a few times, when they're at the music festival. It's Just. SO. GOOD!
As for other music anime shows? Um. I blind-bought Chance Pop Session in one of RightStuf's Christmas sales a few years back. The boxset with the unfortunate cover art of the three main girls all naked (with "tastefully" placed music notes). I was kind of amazed when I found the series to be almost completely devoid of fanservice. A pleasant enough series, I guess, although not particularly memorable. Maybe THAT'S why they were all naked on the cover! |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4788 |
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You couldn't pay me enough to sit through K-ON, but I agree that Beck is an absolute masterpiece. The terrific music aside, it absolutely nails that awkwardness of adolescence, and the struggle to find a place where you fit in. I'm not really a fan of such movies myself, but I had a friend of mine state that it probably captures the "indie film" feel better than any anime they've ever seen. And that final climactic concert performance (which FUNi sadly couldn't get the lyrics rights to, understandably enough) still gives me chills. It has a top-tier English dub too; turns out that Greg Ayres is a great singer. I'm long overdue to give this a re-watch.
Other than that, I have Legend of Black Heaven and Kids on the Slope both sitting in my backlog, but from what I have watched, Detroit Metal City is an absolute riot. The manager in particular has a mouth on her that makes Revy from Black Lagoon seem like a saint. |
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OCDysseus
Posts: 1 |
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I know this is a bit of a change of subject, but after taking the link to Justin's Buried Treasure article about To-Y, I was really looking forward to watching the To-Y Restoration Committee's work on their fan remaster. Unfortunately, all of the Torrents, as of May 18th, 2014, are down, and it seems to be impossible to download at this point. What a shame. I was really interested in watching it. All of that work, lost. *sigh*
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redcar
 Posts: 172 Location: Texas |
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100% agree. Beck is a pretty great show, and a good part of that is the great music and fantastic dub. I know that when Funimation picked it up, people were skeptical about losing the engrish, but they really outdid themselves with the dub effort and songs. Who could have known that Greg Ayres and Brina Palencia could sing so beautifully together? My wife and I were actually talking about the anime recently, specifically how ironic it was that the exact same thing seemingly befell it as did the titular band: started out as Beck, then eventually had to be marketed in America as Mongolian Chop Squad due to rights issues. As might be expected, the show was plagued by them. I recall being at one of Greg's panels at a convention where he expressed distaste over the need to rename Ryusuke's guitar Lucille (named after B.B. King's) to Prudence (after the Beatles song Dear Prudence). Apparently B.B. King's family wasn't going to let them use the original name for the release here without royalties, prompting the rename. Greg thought it was a shame since it was a great chance to expose a new audience to the man's music and legacy via tangential learning, and I wholeheartedly agreed. It would have been awesome, but sadly rights issues got in the way. |
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Echo_City
Posts: 1236 |
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That Beck focused on such sappy, laid-back music is why I could never get into it. That, and the lead who was a complete wuss. The ending theme of K-On season 1 was more "powerful" than anything in Beck. It was also more powerful than anything in K-On from HTT, much to my disappointment and bewilderment. I prefer my "music anime" to accomplish its "themes" through the music. Detroit Metal City (If only Sentai would dub this...guess they don't have anyone who can say "rape" 11 times in one second) and Black Heaven were a lot closer to that than was K-On, a show that was really about the same moeblob tropes that we've come to love or loath, with the music aspect being just a facade. |
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redcar
Posts: 172 Location: Texas |
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While I enjoyed the music personally, I can certainly appreciate that. Something tells me that the rationalization would be along the lines of "Koyuki is the main character, so we're going to feature the more feely songs for which his singing shines."
I...kinda think that was the point though? A nobody in high school becoming a somebody in a popular band, and growing up through music. I'd be more inclined to agree with you if he hadn't spoiler[become the heart of the band and brought it back together, and taken the initiative in his relationship with Maho] by the end. If he'd had no development at all, that would be a problem. As a teenage work-in-progress, though, he's alright. |
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gridsleep
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Really? If someone offered you $10,000 per episode you would still refuse to watch it? That's hard corp. As for healing anime, you should include Aria. |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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Shit, I'd sit through a Tyler Perry movie for $50 plus concessions. I mean, I'd hate myself and want to walk out, but that's easy money.
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YeNguyen
 Posts: 10 |
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Ah, that certainly helps sell me on trying the series. The measured direction that most things of that style have (admittedly, sometimes to a fault) is something I wish was done or at least attempted in more stories. There are quite a few strong anime directors out there who can handle this speed of slice-of-life or just straight drama productions and I wish more of those projects happened, though I suppose it's always a risk to be seen as "dull" in a medium built on flashiness. |
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FoxgloveLove
Posts: 27 |
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I came across K-On! when I was just really starting to go from my "I like anime" phase to my "Holy crap, I've become an otaku" phase. In all honesty, I was very skeptical going into it at first; I mean, it's an anime about music, who watches anime about music? Anyway, somewhere along the line, I fell in love with the show. Yes, I'm a bit of a sucker for moe, and the comedy was pretty good, but I think just as well that the musical aspect of the show was equally satisfying, in my opinion.
I really enjoy anime with solid soundtracks, be it bgm or the opening and ending themes or insert songs, and I was quite satisfied with all of it for K-On! It was fun, it was cute, it was funny, and overall it still remains one of my favorite shows for the genre, even if it is a little unrealistic in parts, because I'm not watching it for the realism, so I don't really care. On a side note, I'd never really encountered the term iyashikei before, surprisingly, but I think it's a perfect term to describe those types of shows, especially when you mentioned both Hidamari Sketch and Kamichu, because that's exactly the feeling I got watching those shows. It's quite a fitting term for those. |
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sakuragtin
 Posts: 222 |
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Well, this article convinced me to put Beck in my cart at Right Stuf.
When I think of music and anime, I think of Gravitation. I really enjoyed the songs in it, so fun and j-popy. It's more about them getting started in the industry versus starting a band so it's not quite a 'making a band' anime. It's been awhile since I watched it but I still listen to the music from it. I too watched all of Sonico and looking back on it I actually think I liked it. The music was okay. I admit though the opening was catchy and the ever changing ending credits were entertaining and odd. It always made me giggle when they said they played rock music (I'm sorry I don't consider that rock music). All things considered I thought the fan service would be much more in your face every opportunity but it actually wasn't. It was tame enough I could watch it and not be bothered. I'm tempted to pick it up when Sentai releases it but what won me over wasn't the music but what Mike described as "healing moments" like when Sonico takes a road trip. I really enjoyed that episode. If all of Sonico was like that it would have been a great show....but it wasn't. The next episode proved that sadly. |
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irishninja
 Posts: 344 Location: Seattle-ish |
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It wasn't until I became unreasonably excited that Mike started talking about K-on! on Twitter that I realized how much of a fan of the show I was. So, thanks for the promised article, Mike!
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TheAncientOne
 Posts: 1892 Location: USA (mid-south) |
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I was somewhat surprised that examples of "healing anime" were given without it being mentioned. |
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EnigmaticSky
 Posts: 750 |
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I have been a guitarist since I was 7, so it's been about 12 years now that I have been playing. I actually did learn Fuwa Fuwa Time and Don't Say Lazy from K-On!, even though I wasn't the biggest fan of the show. I wanted to like it so bad since my friend was super into it and I loved Kyoto Ani, so I really tried to get into it, but... It. Just. Didn't. Happen.I felt like I was watching paint dry. I dunno... I watched t when I was just coasting through high school without a care in the world. Maybe now that life has beaten my soul half to death I might enjoy a second watch.
Beck is something I always wanted to watch, but I kept waiting for a bluray release. I really don't know why Funimation never released one; I think the series is prolific enough to warrant one. I don't doubt it would sell... Meh... Maybe I will watch it on Hulu. |
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Renshenzu
 Posts: 19 |
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I enjoy music a lot and even play a bit of guitar (though i'm far from good), and the strong presence of music in anime is one of the things that has kept me interested in the medium. I first heard of B.E.C.K. from JesuOtaku's list of top 25 anime and excitedly purchased a copy from rightstuf! I really wanted to like the show, but honestly it left me with some serious mixed feelings. On one hand, Yukio is a relatable character, and the shows portrayal of his emergence in music had a lot in common with my own musical awakening in high school, and the show got the feelings of first live shows and first guitars correct. On the other hand, I found the characters of both Ryusuke and Maho to be complete jerks. Ryusuke berates his bandmates and is always going on about how much more talented and passionate he is. Maho treats Yukio like crap throughout the show, and I wasn't rooting for their relationship to advance. The plotline with Leon Sykes seemed over the top and out of place, and despite the detail given to drawing the instruments, they never acknowledge the unique characteristics of the instruments beyond their looks and which of their idols used the same guitar (why would Yukio buy a telecaster when B.E.C.K. specializes in heavy rap-rock?) To top it all off the music never really wowed me (every time I hear Dying Bread I wish I was listening to Alice in Chains in stead) and in the final few episodes there are a few instances of unacceptably shoddy animation. The feelings of nostalgia and anxiety that Yukio and his character progression incited in me made me really want to like the show, but everything else was so off-putting that I just couldn't get into it. I still own my copy because I intend to re-watch it before writing it off for good, but for now my feelings towards B.E.C.K. are that of disappointment.
I watched K-On! immediately after B.E.C.K. but wasn't expecting much based on how everyone talked about it. Kakifly is a guitarist, and the staff at Kiyoani are known musical enthusiasts, and K-On! has a surprisingly detailed knowledge about guitars and music in general, but I still wouldn't call it a music show. The band and music take a back seat to the everyday moe antics of the girls, but that actually made me like the show more. In a time when listeners are constantly going on about how pure and passionate their music is and wearing it like a badge to show how smart and interesting they are, it was really refreshing to see a story about people who are not talented or particularly passionate, but still play anyways because they enjoy it, and I think that's just great. When the show does talk about music, it includes lots of little details that accurately depict a naive musician just getting started, such as Yui wanting a Les Paul based solely on appearances despite Mio insisting she get a more practical and cheap guitar, or Yui pulling the chord out of the amp without turning it off first, or not knowing to take the film off of her pickgaurd. Other small details such as the in show performances having simple tones and song structures, which is to be expected of amateurs, whereas the OP and ED being more complexly written with higher production values and more demanding performances, as if they were a real band in a studio were really appreciated. K-On! might be silly and cartoonish and have nothing of importance to say, but I couldn't help falling in love with it, and I like it more every time I watch it. |
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