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208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
"...Dunia hiburan itu berbeda dengan dunia olahraga. Peraturan di dunia hiburan adalah...'Tidak memperlihatkan kerja keras kita
dalam membangun dunia hiburan'
...Sebab, kalau ketahuan, penonton tidak bisa murni menikmati hiburan, 'kan?" - Dragon Voice 1 / Nishiyama Yuriko.



15-year old Amami Rin is a 3rd year junior high school student. In looks, intelligence, and sports, he's pretty much just above average, except with the one thing he's truly an expert at: dancing. With Rin, 'any dance is available'. Everyday, when he's not in school, he and his friend sell pictures of pop idols like SMAP and KinKi Kids on a street corner stall in downtown Shibuya. Anyone who buys a picture will get a free service: they can choose whatever song by their pop idol and Rin will dance to it, copying perfectly their pop idol's moves. The customers are always wowed by his awesome dancing and they all think Rin's very cool. That is, until he opens his mouth and speaks. Although Rin is an amazing dancer, he has a terrible voice, not unlike Godzilla's (hence the name DRAGON VOICE). He always manages to drive the customers away whenever he speaks up. One day, a guy, in a big hurry, crashes into their stall. He turns out to be Toshi, a member of one of Japan's hottest 'vocal unit', the BEATMEN. Rin is recruited to be a back-up dancer of the BEATMEN and later, somewhat unbelievably, a member (read the manga to find out how). Not only does Rin have to deal with training and his bandmates (who, with the exception of the leader, Shino, are not that enthusiastic to have him aboard), he also has to deal with rival boy bands like PRIVEE. And there's the love interest, whose sweet voice is the total opposite of Rin's. As Shino says to Rin, 'Welcome to show business!'
This manga just cracks me up! Witness their dance moves (this manga is just begging to be animated). And their get-ups! And the Engrish! I can't believe this is a shounen series...it's hard to imagine guys reading about boy bands. DRAGON VOICE sure is a far cry from Shonen Jump fare such as Bleach and Hikaru no go. The art is great; very clean and detailed. Even if you're not a big fan of boy bands (I'm not, either***), this series will make a great addition to your manga collection.