If I had to describe my feelings of Bakuman so far in one word, it’d be “solid”. It’s not the deepest or most exciting show of the season, nor does it have the best characters yet, but at the moment it’s happy enough to just carefully set up its story and premise. This episode continued that trend, as it discussed Moritaka’s conviction.
Moritaka is actually in some way similar to Yagami Light: both start out as seemingly regular students at the top of their class, with nothing really meaningful to do. Light then gets corrupted by the arrival of the Death Note, while Bakuman takes a completely different turn by having the guy work hard to become a manga artist. This episode really showed his talents, on top of his willingness to make something successful out of it, as he’s willing to let his grades drop significantly in favor of the manga he’s writing.
This episode also established that he might just as well be the guy to actually pull it off: he’s got the right mind-set, and once he starts writing he gets totally caught up in it. I mean, it’s one thing to be experienced in how a manga gets created through his uncle, but even considering that, this guy has talent and the right personality for it. Contrast that with Akito, who probably did not realize all of this when he first proposed his idea to Moritaka.
As for the side-characters, this episode introduced a bunch of new ones. I didn’t really like the wannabe artists whose only purpose was to make Moritaka look smart. Miyoshi meanwhile has me a bit indifferent, as her introduction didn’t really show much of her, and we’ve got a fifteen year old mangaka who probably will serve as some kind of example for Moritaka and Akito, and he’s who I’m interested in the most here. Oh, and Azuki’s scenes were a lot more bearable in this episode, mostly because the creators didn’t try to use any weird coincidences here, but instead just tried to show it progressing naturally. My only gripe is that the mostly down to earth Moritaka somehow becomes a little toogullible when he starts talking with Akito about Azuki.
Rating: * (Good)
no one subbed this episode yet, and here you are, reviewing it…
Moritaka is a pure-pure boy and that doesn’t change like ever, it’s bearable since the romance takes a back seat in the story, well most of the time.
“no one subbed this episode yet, and here you are, reviewing it…”
That’s the reason a lot of people came to this blog in the first place… (same as randomc). He watches them raw so we get impressions before the subs.
Though that hasn’t been happening as much due to the increasing popularity of CrunchyRoll which picks up a decent amount of shows each season and streams them subbed simultaneously with the Japanese release.
At first I thought Bakuman was quite an interesting show, so I was a bit tempted and read the mange ahead.
******** SPOILERS *************
but the romance gets stupider and stupider as the manga goes on. The whole way that manga is published in Jump is facinating and was what kept me reading, but what I was hoping was that it would cover the conflict of trying to live as a wannabe manga artist and living a real life. Instead we only see that they spend their time sleeping through school.
@Scruffy
Seriously, what manga are YOU reading? You should read all of them before commenting. Bakuman isn’t death note where the main character has to balance his evil and normal life. The romance is predictable but that’s not the whole point of the manga. What the mangaka trying to convey was how harsh it is being a mangaka and how the manga itself being processed in shonen JUMP. The hard work, rivalry, friendship, downfall and success along the way what make the story shines.
There are a lot of times where the romance totally not there and focus on their manga world. There will be a lot of time skip too so school life basically not important, you will no longer see the school after few episodes. The romance often served as back stories, a plot purpose for Mashiro to keep on going, though there are several developments but they are not disturbing much to the main plot.
@Scruffy
How far are you in the manga? I don’t wanna spoil anything, but the plot moves pretty fast.
@ljnl
Psgel can understand basic Japanese without translation.
About the review,
“Moritaka is actually in some way similar to Yagami Light: both start out as seemingly regular students at the top of their class, with nothing really meaningful to do. Light then gets corrupted by the arrival of the Death Note, while Bakuman takes a completely different turn by having the guy work hard to become a manga artist.”
Are you sure you’re not mixing them up? Moritaka is pretty average in class and Takagi(Shujin) is the genius. Other than that, you are right that both are pretty disillusioned by reality at first.
@Scruffy
Now I think more, I think you want to see the how they deal with the “starving artist” issue. They don’t really. While the duo can’t be said to be completely successful, they probably do pretty well for beginners, which allow them to not care about money. Yeah its unrealistic, but it sounds pretty boring if just keep failing the first step.
this serie is pure shit!
I recently read the manga to see if this anime is worth the hype, and in my opinion it is worth following. For those who do not read any manga or know anything about it, Bakuman gives us a peak at the effort put into making one, and the stress and uncertainty a mangaka goes through. I feel Bakuman gives a realistic view of what goes on behind the scenes to make a manga, well as realistic as it can be given it is Shoujo and they need to move the story to keep it interesting.
As many people pointed out, romance was never one of Bakuman’s strong points. Thankfully the romance is kept to a minimal and Moshiro and Azuki’s relationship is a source of motivation for them to succeed, although I believe it is also a source of hindrance -_-
At Scruffy’s comment: I agree with others, I have not seen anything in the manga that focuses on them sleeping through class. I would comment more about this, but it may include spoilers.
@Kalandra
I’ve read up to #104. The’re in University by that stage (or have just dropped out I think).
The whole manga creation stuff is really interesting but by that stage I just wanted to grab a brick and smash Moritaka on the head. Getting to that age and only just held hands?
@Kalandra
Yes the manga does deal well with the conflict internaly within the mangaka community which is it’s strong point. I wasn’t expecting the ‘starving artist’ thing as after all they are only 15 and still living with their parents.
I was hoping to see more how they manage the conflict of trying to break in and live a normal life which I guess up to the first major crisis it does deal with to some extent. But after that life external to the mangaka world seems to be ignored. Perhaps thats the answer, that this world is all consuming.
@#1
psgels understands japanese [from what i’ve read in a katanagatari post]
@Scruffy
That why I find the romance slightly cliched, but then Japanese are understandably more reserved, so I guess its not that bad. Except I don’t know they bother giving such a heavy focus on romance in a manga about making manga.
About “life outside of manga” aspect, I am not sure what are you looking for. Mangaka are just normal people, they probably hang out watching movies and reading manga more, but I don’t think they are that different from normal people. Its simply nothing too interesting to waste pages on that.
I don’t understand why this episode is rated as good. This show hasn’t been interesting since episode 2 in my opinion. Most of the time it’s just the two guys talking, and it’s not even about something most audiences will find interesting. This show has gone on too long without introducing extra characters that are of some importance. I think I get more dissapointed with every episode and I dunno how the japanese audience responds to this kinda show. It’s really plain and i’m persoanlly puzzled it went on air like this.
“Most of the time it’s just the two guys talking, and it’s not even about something most audiences will find interesting.”
Have you ever thought that just because you don’t find it interesting that doesn’t mean nobody does?
Call me crazy but when I hear explenations about different types of pens used,names and the rest of the editing process,i find it quite interesting,and it’s to learn about stuff like that that I got into bakuman.
@totoum like i said, “most” people won’t find interesting, I didn’t say none which is what you’re insinuating. Since this IS an anime, I find it peculiar that it’s so specific in terms of dialogue. I don’t mind the technical details, it’s just the anime doesn’t seem to go beyond that. I’m sure there’s interesting segments to come (wouldn’t be surprised if there won’t be) but I just think it’s really taking its time.
@Afrfim
Are you an artist or at least interested in arts? As someone who attempts to draw manga (they are bad, don’t ask), I find it interesting. Maybe you’re just not the target audience the show aiming for. I do agree its slightly slow though.
Most solid series of the season imo. I have not watched ep 4 yet, but the three previous episodes were very entertaining. I guess this is just one of those shows where you love it or you don’t; and about the bakuman being slow…it was the opposite for me (each episode went by too fast). I also find the main characters to be quite relatable, and to have the most believable buddy relationship i’ve seen in anime/manga. I’ve only read the first chapter of the manga (in it’s early days) and i loved it, so i was pretty surprised when they announced a anime adaption. Art may not be as interesting as the manga’s, but it does have that nice touch that stays true to the manga’s style. Plus it’s the show that makes the most sense this season i might add.