This was really looking out to be my favourite episode of Bakuman thus far, but I didn’t really like the ending. That annoying classmate was a bit too much here in a series that tries to be realistic. It was a bit of a cheap way to create drama, and this show doesn’t need him. I mean, there are assholes and all, but this guy is just a caricature.
The rest of this episode impressed me, though. It was all about the psychology of the two leads: they’ve passed their fist big hurdle, but how do they keep themselves professional enough to keep writing? This episode was entirely meant to flesh out the flaws of the two leads and it definitely made them more interesting to watch.
On top of that, in the end the story they came up with (which indeed was both visually and in terms of its concept more interesting) got rejected. In the end it remains a competition between other manga authors to compete for a spot inside a magazine, and apparently the producers found the other premises more interesting. I’m really interested in the manga story that the creators eventually do find interesting enough to publish.
This episode also was about Moritaka’s worries of his art being not good enough. Compared to the pilot, his art has also gotten quite detailed, but to me it seems like the thing he’s looking for is inspiration. At the same time, I think that he’s also unrightfully thinking that he’s miles behind Akito’s writing, after all it’s one thing to come up with a premise, but the real challenges for Akito are to weave an entire story around it.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
This was awesome, best ep so far… I was actually feeling anxious while they waited for the phone call ^^ even though I knew they wouldnt win, sigh
This seems to be the kind of series that will have them fail over and over until the last moment
I might have enjoyed this episode the most so far in the series as well. I was quite pleased that the Tezuka award is already dealt with. That relentless forward motion in their career is what I want to see.
Agreed with the previous two posters.
Best episode so far. And the additional drama is pretty cool to see IMHO. It reinforces the bond of the two main characters. A team can easily break up if one of them feels the other is dragging him down so it’s good to see they care about each other enough to start a fight.
I should start watching this, XD
i think the drama was great. shujin actually punched the guy in the face… so even if the guy was an asshole he got what he deserved