BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad - Anyone Order a Concert?

Studio: Madhouse  |  Released: 2004  |  Streaming on: Funimation

Anime Review - BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad

 
Hey Everyone, 


Back in November, I was so excited about this upcoming Summer’s concerts and festivals, only to have all my plans dashed by this Coronavirus situation. To say that I have a case of the COVID Blues is an understatement, and I’m sure some of you are feeling the same way. But don’t fret cause just because you can’t go outside doesn’t mean we can’t bring the concert to you, with a little known anime called BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad that will hopefully help satisfy your concert cravings.


Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad is a music / coming of age anime by studio Madhouse. The anime is based on the Manga series Beck by Harold Sakuishi, which follows the journey of Koyuki Tanaka as he finds purpose in his life through Music. Throughout the story he comes across various people who all impact his life one way or another, helping him to grow and find direction. This all culminates into Koyuki joining a band Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad where we follow his evolution from when he first starts learning to play guitar to then playing at crowded live-house gigs.

The author Harold Sakuishi clearly loves Classic Rock and it was fun to see how many references and easter eggs he included throughout his work.

A great music nod was the story behind Ryusuke’s famous Gibson Les Paul guitar Lucille. This is based on the true story of the musician B.B. King and his Gibson guitar named Lucille. One night while at a gig in a hotel, two men got into a fight over a waitress working there, and during their scuffle, a fire broke out, a fire in which King almost lost his guitar to. After that night he called his guitar Lucille after the waitress, to remind himself never to get into a fight over a woman or to ever run into a burning building again.


It was also especially fun to see Sakuishi create easter eggs with his characters. Just starting off with the series’ animal mascots, we have Beck that’s named after Jeff Beck, Page named after Jimmy Page, and Keith who is named after Keith Richards. Not only that but Beck and Keith also get their unusual stitched together appearance from Sakuishi modelling them after Frankenweenie. 

Ryusuke Minami and Ryo Kawasaki

Then we have Chiba Tsunemi, lead vocals, who is based on Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machines. Taira Yoshiyuki, bassist, who is based off of Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And Ryusuke Minami, lead guitarist, who people think is based on Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix, but who we believe may actually be based on Ryo Kawasaki, a famous Japanese jazz guitarist who helped develop and popularize Jazz Fusion music.

Now not only is their appearance spot on, but we also know that it’s mentioned several times within the anime that Ryusuke is an amazing blues and jazz player, which is kind of at odds with his rock persona; unless we take Jazz Fusion into account which is a combination of Jazz Blues with Classic Rock. Another thing that really helps solidify this theory for us is that Ryo Kawasaki met and played a gig with B.B. King, meaning he would have also met Lucille. But this is just our theory, if anyone has any other thoughts feel free to share them with us in the comments.

Koyuki on tour in America as a nod to photo of Liam Gallagher, lead singer of Oasis also on tour in the USA

Some of you may also have noticed this image of Koyuki sitting in the stands while on Beck’s USA tour, in the anime’s intro. This is actually based on a photo taken of Liam Gallagher, the lead singer of the British band Oasis, while on their American tour.   

Little tidbits like this make it more compelling for the audience.


One of the things that stands out is Japan’s obsession with American guitars, especially American brands such as Gibson and Fender. We explain more about it in our video review, but one thing we don’t talk about is the infamous Lawsuit Guitars. Lawsuit guitars were high-quality copies of American brand name guitars, that showed up in the 1970s. These guitars of legendary quality were being made in Japan, which were essentially copies of American guitars like the Gibson or Fender.

Lawsuit Guitars - Tokai copy of Fender Stratocaster guitar

The copies or “Lawsuit Guitars” were identical to the originals, with only the logos setting them apart (which let’s be honest, were made to look pretty identical as well) and were equal to if not better quality than the originals. Gibson has stated that out of all of the knock-offs, Japan came closes to reproducing the classic Gibson sound, and that even though they are knock-offs they are well-crafted instruments that sound really good for a fraction of the price. Making them highly sought after.

Talk about obsessions paying off ~ 


Now for anyone who has had aspirations of becoming a rock star or has formed a band with their friends or who is a fan of live music concerts, then this anime is for you.
And even if you’re not normally into music animes but you’re a fan of animes like Cowboy Bebop which has a good soundtrack or Akira that’s a good coming of age story, then there’s a good chance you’ll also like Beck Mongolian Chop Squad.

So with that in mind give this anime a shot and enjoy some “Greatful Sound”.

~ Stay Obsessed