Bakuman。

Anyone who has ever written a novel, drawn a picture, made a movie will tell you the creative process is fraught with blood, sweat and tears. It requires courage to put your name out there, trusted friends who will give you honest critique and advice, and a relentless dream to see your vision through. Courage, friendship and dreams... so why did it take so long for someone to realize the creative process could easily be turned into a manga for Shounen Jump? No worries, because now we have Bakuman, a manga about writing manga that fits the ticket in spades Following the story of Moritaka "Saikou"Mashiro and Akito "Shujin" Takagi, two boys who meet in middle school and strive to become successful mangaka in the world under the pen name "Ashirogi Muto", they strive against insurmountable odds to make their dreams come true, and in Mashiro's case, make a manga so good it becomes an anime so the girl of his dreams Miho Azuki can voice the heroine, and then marry her. There's nothing complex or challenging about it. The story, at its heart, is pure straightforward Jump ideology, rewarding perseverance and guts tenfold, but its the subtext behind Bakuman that really bring the story to its full potential. Aside from its main goal-driven narrative of Ashirogi Muto becoming the best mangaka in Japan and Mashiro marrying Azuki. Bakuman is an unflinching critique of the manga industry that gives readers some serious glimpses into the pros and cons of publishing manga. Clashing with editors, dealing with copycat authors, the hectic schedules of weekly publishing, how much control the publisher has over how long you have to keep writing the same manga, and those ever important RANKINGS all get exposed. The point-of-view is generally positive, but still eye-opening for most casual fans of the medium. And even outside all that, many of the in-story manga, especially Classroom of Truth, have incredible and intriguing plots that beg to be turned into manga here in real life. However, it is a Jump manga, so there is quite a bit of misogyny, especially early on. Female characters aren't portrayed strongly until well into the manga, and Miho especially comes off as a very sexist MacGuffin at the beginning. The series works hard in the back end of things to round out the female characters and give them ample time to shine, but it feels more like author Tsugumi Ohba gives them that growth half-heartedly. The male characters are given a far more vast range of characterization traits and personalities, many of which are memorable, especially bizarro genius Eiji and pessimistic slacker Hiramaru. Forgiving the story for its misogynistic leanings though is incredibly easy when you get down to artist Takeshi Obata's share of the work. It starts off detailed as can be, but gets much simpler by the final chapters, but even that can be forgiven when one takes into account the multiple and numerous art shifts he single-handedly performs over the course of the series. We see no less than ten, if not closer to twenty different Jump manga from all different artists portrayed with varying art styles. It is astounding to see one man create multiple unique art styles for his characters, and most importantly, sell us on the authenticity. Reading Bakuman is worth it for that alone. Don't get me wrong. This manga isn't without its weaknesses, but its strengths far outweigh them. With a decent straightforward main story, many ingenious in-story manga, characters that all grow in their own ways, and the underlying critique of the workings of the manga industry, Bakuman is a can't-miss manga for anyone who loves the medium. Overall, I give Bakuman a 9/10.

I could write a ten page review about this series, but I won't. Here are just a few things to note: -This manga is about manga. -It's by the creators of Death Note. -It is WORDY. This is great if you want to prove to your friends or family that manga can have the same merits and require the same brainpower as an actual book, but not good if you are like me and you want to finish your manga as quickly as possible. -There are lots of characters in this series. This is good, and it provides a lot of material for fanfiction writers and shippers, butthere is a side-effect. There are whole chapters where all of the characters are just reacting to the same information, but in different scenes. This will make more sense once you hit around volume 16. That's when it becomes as noticeable and annoying as a zit that won't go away. In fact, once you get to that point, you could probably just read a few pages per chapter and perfectly understand the story. Or you could briefly scan the page to get the general idea. -They bring in a lot of characters to serve as "obstacles" for the protagonists and then throw them away once they're no longer of use. -The art is nice. It's kind of comical at times, too. -I really am not enjoying this series. -I recommend this series entirely. I say that because it has helped me better understand all anime and manga and has given me a different viewpoint and has helped me to understand the stories from a more critical perspective. I think that's invaluable, which is why I think all manga and anime fans should at least read a few volumes.

Bakuman is a manga... about manga. And romance. It tells the story of two teens as they aspire to become mangaka in Weekly Shonen Jump. The plot, for the most part, is a very well-written and well-thought-out one. Ohba manages to keep the story interesting, and I really enjoyed observing all the problems that Mashiro and Takagi encountered and how they overcame them. I imagine that the creators of Bakuman had some of the exact same problems that Mashiro amd Takagi did earlier in their career as well. Some of you may disagree with me on this topic and say that the problems wererather unrealistic and unlikely, to which I ask the question: How many of you are professional mangaka? Case and point. I do have to admit, however, that these people may have somewhat of a point regarding the beginning of the series. Some of the happenings are very drastic and may seem a bit unrealistic and fast-paced. Yes, the beginning of Bakuman, as well as the end, felt a little rushed, and this makes me wonder if Bakuman would've been that much closer to perfection if the creators had just taken a bit more time in these parts. The characters are a tricky aspect of Bakuman to review. They aren't exactly presented at first as interesting or unique, and some might perceive them as cliché. Since Bakuman is pretty much a one-of-a-kind manga, it's hard to thoroughly and effectively analyze them by comparing them to characters of other manga and/or anime. So I'll look at them as they are as a stand-alone. Bakuman's characters are presented in the typical shounen way. We have Mashiro, the normal kid who gradually gets roped into creating manga. Next we have Takagi, the overachieving student who ropes him in. Then, we have Azuki, Mashiro's girlfriend (chapter one spoiler) and motivation, and we have Miyoshi, Azuki's best friend and later-- **SPOILER** These characters are all very interesting in the way they interact with one another. Mashiro and Azuki's romance, although it seemed like a plot device at times, was very cute, and the rivalry between the mangaka duo and the other artists was simply shounen gold. No characters were neglected, and Ohba did his best to carefully develop each and every one. And need I mention Hiramaru and Yoshida? This is honestly one of the best comedy relief pairs I've seen in anime. The art of Bakuman displays the exact same quality we see in the other aspects. Obata really outdid himself this time, and I dare say I liked Bakuman's art even better than Death Note's. His style stood out very distinctly, his character designs were superb, and I know for a fact that I'm not the only one who loved those faces during the comedy moments 😂👌 Overall, Bakuman is a masterpiece by my analysis and deserves far more attention that it gets. It's a dramatic, compelling story that leaves you with a great feeling at the end. It's better than Ohba and Obata's past work in that it doesn't completely lose its purpose after certain major plot twists (oh yeah, Death Note fans, you KNOW what I'm talking about). Obata's art is just as good as, if not better than, anything else he's ever made. I can't guarantee that you'll feel the same way towards it that I do, but I can strongly recommend it as one of my favorite manga of all time.

FIRSTLY! This Manga is NOT SEXIST, despite what many famous reviwers and the Wikipedia article say. If you think that then you are disregarding the reality that mangakas live their lives for fantasy so if some of the women seem overly concerned with finding love (3 very small side characters) then it is because fantasy is their world not because the authors don't believe in rounded women. I am writing this review mostly to resond to that ridiculous accusation. This manga is amazing! To take a story that is basically only about writing manga and turn it into a battlesque manga that constantly keeps youon your toes takes an author fan and beyond what most are capabale of. Expect no less from the author of Death Note of course. The art is spectacular also. I didn't think the ending scene had the punch it should have but I think that was a calculated descision on the part of the creators who comment on their industry throughout their 10 volume work. Read the manga for the art, an unexpected story and most of all for the characters who are HILARIOUS! Particularly EIJI I love him he is just the strangest individual who is sooooo weird and clever. Every scene with him in it has dynamic movement built into it. If you care at all about manga this is a love note to the industry and to the people who enjoy this medium, be they writers, editors, aritists or readers. To be obsessed like every character in this story you have to be a little weird but as most readers will tell you that is a pretty accurate description of us. Its a slice of manga life done but two men who have helped define the industry. Not to be missed.