Status
Available
Series
Publication
Los Angeles, CA : Tokyopop, c2005-<2006>
Description
Tory Blake is an average-looking 15-year-old boy, who possesses an uncanny sense of time and photographic memory. A self-proclaimed genius; he is spoiled, anti-social and cynical. His boredom is cured when a beautiful but secretive boy his own age, moves across the street from his apartment. From transferring schools, taking detailed notes in a journal, and raiding the guidance office, Tory is determined to find out who--or what--his curious neighbor really is!
Media reviews
I really like certain elements of the story, mainly the realistic portrayal of a smart-but-bored teen and the art style, but it needed a lot more editorial guidance. There are too many elements that feel like dead ends, and as a result, I felt like the book was just getting started when it ended.
User reviews
LibraryThing member narwhaltortellini
This is the story of the rather brilliant, eccentric, anti-social Tory Blake deciding to do a detailed investigation of his secretive new neighbor across the street, due to curiosity and an awful lot of boredom. He performs all manner of gross invasions of privacy, appropriately creeping his one
It's been quite a while so I don't have as much to say on this as I used to, and this makes me sad as this manga deserves the utmost flexing of my most undying praise muscles. I came across this manga on an amazon.com boys' love list, and was immediately attracted to it by the fact it didn't feel the need to scream its genre at the top of its lungs with pandering cover art. ^_^; I hadn't heard about the up and coming world of OEL, but I was willing to try anything to get out of the rut I feel I'm in when I try to read most BL. I haven't found another OEL I've particularly liked yet, but my cynical me now looks to the future of non-Japanese manga with eyes full of disgustingly high amounts of optimism, all because of this one manga.
The dialogue is so smart and funny, and the feelings so much more subtle than anything you usually get in BL. The romance is very understated, but the connection and tension between Tory and Colin is always felt. Tory may be a little screwed up in the head, but I have opted to call it 'charmingly human' instead. It's more of a coming of age story and a bit on the slice of life side, so the pacing can be... relaxed. But this doesn't have the slow, remote feel that slice of life stories often have. As that may make it sound somewhat like it might be, this is not 'gay lit,' or a 'gay comic,' or anything to do with the gay experience. It DOES feel like manga, but it's not exactly in the style of BL, either. I HAVE heard that consequently, gay readers have found this manga much more tolerable than the usual BL fare. I guess it's just plain GOOD. Something for anyone who finds quirk more charming than sugar and angst, and humanity and skillfully written dialogue more funny than spastic overdone humor. ^_^ And the cliffhanger KILLS.
Show More
friend out and being so absorbed he doesn't seem to realize HE'S A FREAKING STALKER. Of course, the often emotionally distant Tory ends up becoming more emotionally attached to learning about Colin than anyone ever expected. On the other hand, it seems like Colin may be hiding something after all (dun dun DUUN).It's been quite a while so I don't have as much to say on this as I used to, and this makes me sad as this manga deserves the utmost flexing of my most undying praise muscles. I came across this manga on an amazon.com boys' love list, and was immediately attracted to it by the fact it didn't feel the need to scream its genre at the top of its lungs with pandering cover art. ^_^; I hadn't heard about the up and coming world of OEL, but I was willing to try anything to get out of the rut I feel I'm in when I try to read most BL. I haven't found another OEL I've particularly liked yet, but my cynical me now looks to the future of non-Japanese manga with eyes full of disgustingly high amounts of optimism, all because of this one manga.
The dialogue is so smart and funny, and the feelings so much more subtle than anything you usually get in BL. The romance is very understated, but the connection and tension between Tory and Colin is always felt. Tory may be a little screwed up in the head, but I have opted to call it 'charmingly human' instead. It's more of a coming of age story and a bit on the slice of life side, so the pacing can be... relaxed. But this doesn't have the slow, remote feel that slice of life stories often have. As that may make it sound somewhat like it might be, this is not 'gay lit,' or a 'gay comic,' or anything to do with the gay experience. It DOES feel like manga, but it's not exactly in the style of BL, either. I HAVE heard that consequently, gay readers have found this manga much more tolerable than the usual BL fare. I guess it's just plain GOOD. Something for anyone who finds quirk more charming than sugar and angst, and humanity and skillfully written dialogue more funny than spastic overdone humor. ^_^ And the cliffhanger KILLS.
Show Less
LibraryThing member senbei
Off*Beat v.1 is simultaneously both adorable and highly frustrating. As a protagonist, Tory is a cool kid who always gets Straight As in school. Lately, however, Tory's been utterly obsessed with a boy who moved into his neighborhood. Tory hopes to uncover Colin (a painfully antisocial kid from
In the end though, I became frustrated with how Tory kept blowing off his friends Paul and Mandy and his mother in order to focus all his time and attention on his obsession. It seems like he does care for Colin, but since he doesn't recognize his true feelings, the reader's left with the sense that he's totally self-absorbed. Tory is definitely a protagonist with a character flaw (which is neat to see).
Show More
overseas)'s secret by diligently documenting every scrap of information he can gleam about Colin. Tory's information gathering and obsession create some extremely funny situational humor. Volume one definitely has one or two really cute scenes between the two boys as well, such as when Colin awakes in the library to find Tory watching him intently, almost within kissing distance. In the end though, I became frustrated with how Tory kept blowing off his friends Paul and Mandy and his mother in order to focus all his time and attention on his obsession. It seems like he does care for Colin, but since he doesn't recognize his true feelings, the reader's left with the sense that he's totally self-absorbed. Tory is definitely a protagonist with a character flaw (which is neat to see).
Show Less
LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
Off*Beat had its start as a script written by Jen Lee Quick in 2002. She would later begin developing the story into a three-volume graphic novel series for Tokyopop in 2004 as part of its line of original English-language manga. Unfortunately, only the first two volumes of the series were ever
Saturday, September 25, 2004. In the middle of the night, Colin Stephens moves into the duplex across the street from Tory Blake. Nearly a year later, Tory has somehow convinced his mother to allow him to enroll in St. Peter's High School under the guise of needing more intellectual stimulation than his public school is able to provide. Which is true, but more importantly St. Peter's is the same school that Colin attends. Tory is so curious and bored that his interest in his mysterious new neighbor has become an obsession. Up until now, he has only been able to observe Colin from a distance; attending St. Peter's will allow him to get to know Colin better in person. At least that was the plan. It turns out Colin isn't very easy to make friends with and he doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with anyone. Tory, however, is determined to satisfy his curiosity and isn't about to give up.
It's more by chance than anything else that Tory hasn't yet managed to get into any serious trouble by spying on his neighbors. He doesn't mean any harm, but his actions certainly aren't something to be condoned. But even considering his dubious hobby, I do like Tory quite a bit. He's clever and delightfully flippant. (Actually, in general the dialogue in Off*Beat is great; Quick has a marvelous sense of humor that comes through in the work.) Granted, Tory may be a little too smart for his own good, and prone to letting his imagination run away with him, and his common sense trails far behind his book learning, but I happen to find those characteristics to be particularly endearing in him. I can also empathize with Tory because of them, having been similarly awkward and socially inept in high school myself.
The first volume of Off*Beat proceeds at a leisurely pace. The mystery surrounding Colin slowly builds as Tory conducts his investigation. At first it seems that everything is in Tory's head, but then he actually does come across evidence that Colin is involved in some sort of secret project. At this point in Off*Beat very little is known about Colin--readers' knowledge is limited to whatever Tory has so far been able to discover. Tory's intense curiosity is also contagious; it's easy to be drawn to Colin and want to learn more about him. In the beginning Colin is very prickly and withdrawn, but by the end of Off*Beat, Volume 1 he has started to open up a little to Tory. It's an intriguing and slightly awkward relationship and one of my favorite things about Off*Beat. I'm incredibly glad that the comic is back in print; I'm looking forward to reading its conclusion.
Experiments in Manga
Show More
released (the first in 2005 and the second in 2006) and Off*Beat subsequently went out of print. I loved Off*Beat and was disappointed that I and other fans would never get the chance to read the series' ending. But then along comes Chromatic Press in 2013, re-releasing the first two volumes of Off*Beat with additional bonus content and with plans to publish the long-awaited third volume. I was absolutely thrilled at the news. Along with Tokyo Demons, one of my more recent literary obsessions, Off*Beat is one of Chromatic Press' flagship titles. I couldn't be happier that it is now back in print.Saturday, September 25, 2004. In the middle of the night, Colin Stephens moves into the duplex across the street from Tory Blake. Nearly a year later, Tory has somehow convinced his mother to allow him to enroll in St. Peter's High School under the guise of needing more intellectual stimulation than his public school is able to provide. Which is true, but more importantly St. Peter's is the same school that Colin attends. Tory is so curious and bored that his interest in his mysterious new neighbor has become an obsession. Up until now, he has only been able to observe Colin from a distance; attending St. Peter's will allow him to get to know Colin better in person. At least that was the plan. It turns out Colin isn't very easy to make friends with and he doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with anyone. Tory, however, is determined to satisfy his curiosity and isn't about to give up.
It's more by chance than anything else that Tory hasn't yet managed to get into any serious trouble by spying on his neighbors. He doesn't mean any harm, but his actions certainly aren't something to be condoned. But even considering his dubious hobby, I do like Tory quite a bit. He's clever and delightfully flippant. (Actually, in general the dialogue in Off*Beat is great; Quick has a marvelous sense of humor that comes through in the work.) Granted, Tory may be a little too smart for his own good, and prone to letting his imagination run away with him, and his common sense trails far behind his book learning, but I happen to find those characteristics to be particularly endearing in him. I can also empathize with Tory because of them, having been similarly awkward and socially inept in high school myself.
The first volume of Off*Beat proceeds at a leisurely pace. The mystery surrounding Colin slowly builds as Tory conducts his investigation. At first it seems that everything is in Tory's head, but then he actually does come across evidence that Colin is involved in some sort of secret project. At this point in Off*Beat very little is known about Colin--readers' knowledge is limited to whatever Tory has so far been able to discover. Tory's intense curiosity is also contagious; it's easy to be drawn to Colin and want to learn more about him. In the beginning Colin is very prickly and withdrawn, but by the end of Off*Beat, Volume 1 he has started to open up a little to Tory. It's an intriguing and slightly awkward relationship and one of my favorite things about Off*Beat. I'm incredibly glad that the comic is back in print; I'm looking forward to reading its conclusion.
Experiments in Manga
Show Less
LibraryThing member Familiar_Diversions
Tory is an intelligent and imaginative 15-year-old boy who becomes obsessed with Colin, a mysterious new neighbor of his, to the point of recording anything even remotely odd about his life and activities and convincing his mom to enroll him in a private school that he has to spend two hours
I decided that I'm going to try to attack my immense manga backlog by concentrating on some of the shorter series in my collection, as well as anything I only have one or two volumes of, and reviewing them as soon as I finish each volume. We'll see how long I can keep this up. Knowing my past history, probably not long.
Anyway, this series as a whole is only three volumes long but has a somewhat complicated publication history due, I'm guessing, to Tokyopop's general problems. It looks like Tokyopop was restructuring in 2008, at about the same time volume 3 was supposed to be published. In the end, volume 3 was completed in 2014, and the entire series has since been published/reissued by Sparkler. I only have Tokyopop's releases, volumes 1 and 2, and it looks like volume 3 isn't available in a physical format, so I'm going into this series knowing that I probably won't ever read the end of it.
At this point in the series, though, that doesn't really bug me. It's tough to tell what I'm even reading, so far. There are several moments that indicate Tory's interest in Colin has an explanation he isn't willing to admit, even to himself, but at the same time, like Tory's friend Paul said, it looks like there might actually be something mysterious going on. So will this series have sci-fi elements in addition to potential romance between Tory and Colin (or stalker-ish one-sided interest on Tory's part)? Mystery elements? Something else?
It can't be anything too complicated, or it wouldn't be possible to wrap it up in only three volumes. This first volume didn't even accomplish that much - Tory spent most of it sneaking around, trying to shake his classmate Mandy off (who is clearly interested in him but may have realized it's a lost cause), and coming up with a new plan to get closer to Colin and hopefully find out more. Volume 2 should give me a better idea of what's going on.
Art-wise, I'm not all that fond of this series. I don't particularly like Quick's style, and the quality seems to be a bit inconsistent. I noticed two thirds of the way through the volume that it was rare for two or more characters to be standing anywhere near each other, and I realized that the reason for this seemed to be due to Quick having difficulties with perspective and the characters' respective heights. Still, some panels are really nice and I've certainly seen worse.
All right, on to volume 2...
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Show More
commuting to just so they'll both be attending the same place (yes, Tory is basically a stalker). Tory is convinced that Colin may be hiding something and, after a year, finally begins to find evidence that he may be right. His efforts uncover something about a mysterious Gaia Project. Then there's the fact that Colin seems to be sick a lot.I decided that I'm going to try to attack my immense manga backlog by concentrating on some of the shorter series in my collection, as well as anything I only have one or two volumes of, and reviewing them as soon as I finish each volume. We'll see how long I can keep this up. Knowing my past history, probably not long.
Anyway, this series as a whole is only three volumes long but has a somewhat complicated publication history due, I'm guessing, to Tokyopop's general problems. It looks like Tokyopop was restructuring in 2008, at about the same time volume 3 was supposed to be published. In the end, volume 3 was completed in 2014, and the entire series has since been published/reissued by Sparkler. I only have Tokyopop's releases, volumes 1 and 2, and it looks like volume 3 isn't available in a physical format, so I'm going into this series knowing that I probably won't ever read the end of it.
At this point in the series, though, that doesn't really bug me. It's tough to tell what I'm even reading, so far. There are several moments that indicate Tory's interest in Colin has an explanation he isn't willing to admit, even to himself, but at the same time, like Tory's friend Paul said, it looks like there might actually be something mysterious going on. So will this series have sci-fi elements in addition to potential romance between Tory and Colin (or stalker-ish one-sided interest on Tory's part)? Mystery elements? Something else?
It can't be anything too complicated, or it wouldn't be possible to wrap it up in only three volumes. This first volume didn't even accomplish that much - Tory spent most of it sneaking around, trying to shake his classmate Mandy off (who is clearly interested in him but may have realized it's a lost cause), and coming up with a new plan to get closer to Colin and hopefully find out more. Volume 2 should give me a better idea of what's going on.
Art-wise, I'm not all that fond of this series. I don't particularly like Quick's style, and the quality seems to be a bit inconsistent. I noticed two thirds of the way through the volume that it was rare for two or more characters to be standing anywhere near each other, and I realized that the reason for this seemed to be due to Quick having difficulties with perspective and the characters' respective heights. Still, some panels are really nice and I've certainly seen worse.
All right, on to volume 2...
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Show Less
Awards
Language
Original publication date
2005-09-13
Physical description
19 cm
ISBN
1598161326 / 9781598161328
Local notes
graphic novels