As for the series I’m not going to blog:
– The only good thing of Iron Man is its soundtrack. I mean, I can understand that Madhouse had to sacrifice the animation in favour of Redline, but that’s far from the only problem here. Who the hell wrote this rubbish?
– MM had together with To Love-Ru the worst first episode of the season for me.
– Probably the biggest dilemma this season is whether the comedies are going to be interesting to blog, because this season they’re blessed with some of the best direction out of all of the premiering series. Still, if I’m going to blog a comedy then it’s going to be Squid Girl. Panty and Stocking really does have a very shallow characterization and I’m not getting happy if Sora no Otoshimono II is based around a girl whose only defining traits are boobs and stupidity.
In any case, every year I hold a contest in which you can force me to blog one series without question. In the past, this resulted in me blogging Claymore, Gundam 00, Tytania and Kimi ni Todoke (I love how diverse the results turned out to be, by the way). This year was by far one of the most close calls, in which Bakuman just barely managed to beat Psychic Detective Yakumo with just one vote difference.
Had I not been forced to blog this series, then I probably would have ended up blogging it as well, though it wouldn’t have been one of my top choices. Most of this would probably be thanks to Kenichi Kasai, who is a very solid director, since I knew absolutely nothing about the manga, other than that it was about manga artists and written by the same guy from Death Note. Out of all of Kenichi Kasai’s series, Bakuman didn’t have the strongest opening episode (that title goes to probably Aoi Hana), but it still was quite a solid episode, and this episode continued that trend.
The creators used the death of the lead characters’ uncle well to create their drama here. I really liked how realistic they kept Moritaka’s relationship with his parents: it’s obvious that they’re still thinking about his uncle and how he died, but they quietly discussed how they felt about it. I especially liked that grandfather: you’d expect him to take Moritaka’s decision to become a manga artist as some kind of bad omen, but instead he’s actually very glad that Moritaka has found a passion for himself.
As for the romance… you really could have fooled me here. This episode again spent quite a bit of time on the romantic relationship between Moritaka and Miho. I’m not sure what to think about them at this point, really. Just get the two dating, or at least do something with it, because at this point it feels rather pointless.
Rating: * (Good)
“Just get the two dating, or at least do something with it, because at this point it feels rather pointless.”
You’re in for a long ride then. I won’t spoil anything, but you should probably concentrate on everything but the romance since the romance aspect most likely won’t be your thing. Personally, I find the romance very amusing and charming.
I doubt Bakuman is a true Kasai production. While his touch is evident (i.e. integrated transitions to OP and ED + the Super Hero Legend segment), the show is probably a better reflection of the co-director, Noriaka Akitaya.
Akitaya is a great storyboarder/episode director himself, so I can’t complain about the arrangement. It’s always satisfying when a director is hands-on, and Akitaya storyboarded four of the first six episodes.
Nyitora is right… you’ll end up bald by episode six if you intend to ride the romance train. Besides, the romance is really there for a reason other than being a romance. Haven’t gotten around to watching the episodes yet, so I won’t go any further for fear of revealing too much. Which I’ve probably already done.
Are you gonna leave a series slot for Kuragehime? That one looks interesting. (dunno when it starts though…)
I wonder when the subbed episode comes out…last week I checked at this time,it was already out but now when I checked it,it was still RAW..hmm….
By the way Psgels,on what basis do u rate an episode as *Good or **Excellent?
Its same for me, I too felt Bakuman is weakest at its early chapters, due to the extremely cliched and forced romance.
Its better when they start talking about manga which is going to happen next episode I hope.
I hope you would still consider blogging Psychic Detective Yakumo.
Fai: it’s pretty much based on my gut feeling.
Iron man episode 2 was seriously horrible
“I’m not sure what to think about them at this point, really. Just get the two dating, or at least do something with it, because at this point it feels rather pointless.”
As nyitora said,you’re in for a long ride.
What really doesn’t help in the anime adaptation is that they’ve gone ahead and made the OP look like a romance OP lol unless the anime really changes stuff that OP will look out of place in future episodes,maybe they’ll change it.
The ED gives a better feel for the show,and features the large cast which is one of bakuman’s strengh (there’s bound to be someone you like out of all those characters).
psgels,here’s one thing to keep in mind: this is from the guys who did death note,so don’t be surprised if there’s a few “coincidences” here and there,I remember how that bothered you a bit in death note.
Hmm… not sure about the romance bit.. is Bakuman a shoujo “est” piece? Not quite right.. I read some of the manga but.. er didn’t feel enthused to watch the anime.. in fact .. i am waiting to be enthused about the animes for fall..
Once again, Bakuman sucks at romance. Once the plot gets going, it gets good.
I don’t understand this anime.
I am one of those who didn’t like the beginning of Bakuman. It was rather boring. But by the time a certain character appears, this manga will become really good.
Yeah, you just have to force your way through the beginning with the cheesy romance, Bakuman gets much better later on when it actually starts focusing almost entirely on the life and trials of a mangaka.