ベック [Bekku / Beck]

Harold Sakuishi’s Beck ran for 34 issues from 2000 to 2008 at Kōdansha, chronicling the rise of a ragtag group of Japanese teenagers who form a rock band. The series anchors its sprawling, emotionally charged story in the friendship between a shy middle-schooler and a charismatic guitarist just back from the United States. Widely regarded as one of the defining manga about music and youth, Beck captures the raw, messy thrill of chasing a dream—and the personal costs that come with it.