Ah, the episode of “let’s break up only to get back together at the end”. It’s often used, because it can get a lot of good stuff out of the characters and get them to view things from a different side. Bakuman made well use of that, and this episode was once again excellent.
I especially liked the way Hattori subtly tried to get the both of them back together again. I loved it when this guy gets fired up: he just switches back and forth between composed and energetic. Moritaka and Akito also were great in the way that they continue do talk to each other. I’ve probably said this before, but for a shounen jump adaptation, there really is a ton of dialogue in this series.
The strange thing is that from the different poses here, I can see how this once was a hot blooded series about making a manga, like with the strange over the top expressions that sometimes pop up in the middle of a sentence. Those probably would have felt much more in place with a faster pacing, but it does achieve an interesting little effect here. Most slow paced shows try to be as accurate and detailed as possible, while this show tries out all kinds of poses and artwork. Although some of the artwork remains rushed and unfinished.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
They could have added more stuff and went for a different feel, and it could have worked.
The manga felt way more shounen-y, the key to that was the fast pace.
If they made the pace slow and added more detailed slice of life scenes, they could have gone for a more seinen/slice of life/calm approach that would have worked. Instead they just made the pacing slow and some stuff is out of place.
It’s still not a bad anime, but as an adaptation it’s lazy and uninspired (and slow).
Personally, I disagree, I stopped reading the manga because I didn’t like the pace. I found it was going too fast for me. Too shounen-like for a premise that should be more seinen.
However, it feels perfect for a slower slice-of-life anime. At least for me. A good adaption doesn’t mean to follow the manga 100%. I’ve had more fun with the anime than the first 100 chapters of the manga.