Bakuman.
Bakuman。

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Shounen Jump. When we think of the famous boy’s manga company, titles such as “Bleach”, “Naruto” and “Gintama” usually comes to mind. Most of which are of the ‘battle’ genre. Bakuman is no different; but instead of picking up their swords to rush off to battle, Akito Takagi and Moritaka Mashiro are picking up their pens to rush for their deadlines. A story of making your dreams come true, fighting for the one you love and overcoming the many obstacles that stand in your way – all of which that can adhere to your typical shounen title. Only that it is not your typical shounen ... manga.

Death Note duo Takeshi Obata (art) and Tsugumi Ohba (story) collaborate once again to present to us yet unique addition to the manga world: the journey of two upcoming mangakas exploding their way into Shounen Jump; their aim to become the biggest mangakas in their company. The idea itself is quite simple, but it is one that can stretch very far, with many twists, turns, events and new facts learnt along the way. It is obvious that the story is influenced by Obata’s and Ohba’s own past experiences, making the manga all the more amusing to read as you feel as though you’re reading an exaggerated version of their autobiography.

If anything, Bakuman shows off the level of Ohba’s skill. Even people who disliked Death Note could enjoy this because of the complete 180 turn he (or she) has taken since his (or her) previous work. Bakuman is anything but dark and thought provoking, but Ohba still manages to create a catalysed chemical reaction within Bakuman’s world – a near perfect balance between comedy, romance, drama and that subtly blended in slice-of-life quality (which is so rare in Shounen Jump works).

But ‘near perfect’ is not ‘perfect’. The twists and turns that are presented are a little weak in comparison with Death Note (although I would like to make it clear that Bakuman should be considered as a SEPERATE work). For example, the most major turn-of-events you are most likely to get is simple, like the revelation of the reader’s poll results or the introduction of another mangaka. Such twists are to be expected in such a manga though, as there isn’t much to expand on the ‘exciting’ lives of authors and editors. The twists and cliff-hangers, simple as they may be, are effective and exciting nevertheless and to be honest, are much better than the cliff-hangers of other shounen titles (such as Naruto).

Another (minor) nitpick I have with the story is the ‘everlasting’ romance between Azuki and Mashiro. I am not particularly fond of the “love at first sight” cliché, but what further aggravates me is the strength of their love despite there being almost no basis for it. Then again, I guess most teen love is like that. Despite their arbitrary romance it does become one of the highlights of Bakuman, providing some of the sweetest parts and funniest moments.

Being a story about making manga in one of the most successful franchise, Shounen Jump/Shuiesa, it is no surprise that you would learn volumes about the industry, and the process of making manga. Each and every little trivia learnt has become one of the many delights of reading Bakuman; especially because of the depth it goes into and relevance it has to the entire story. Bakuman has very heavy dialogues; it is not like the other battle manga where most of the chapters are full of action.

The setting is anything but claustrophobic, as some would think it to be. It differs all the time, from their studio to even the zoo and sometimes to all over town when trying to trail a person (yes, I’m serious here). One time Mashiro simply enjoy a Christmas party round his friends’ house. This all adds to the slice-of-life aspect to the manga which I have enjoyed tremendously.

The colourful cast of Bakuman has a very wide range in terms of age, personality, shapes and sizes. One of my favourite things about the characters and story is that it does not solely focus on Takagi and Mashiro’s quest to become the best but shifts its focus onto other editors and authors stories and involvement throughout each chapter. These fluid transitions of focus are matched by Ohba’s skill of juggling all the character’s personalities and making it well balanced.

Again however, women seem to be the victim of misogyny by Ohba. Most of the women portrayed in Bakuman are either stupid or stuck up, with the exception of Azuki who lacks so much personality she is basically just a pretty face. As of late however the cynicism to women does lighten, you could call it character development, especially with girls such as the female mangaka Aoki realising her faults and struggling to change.

Although the cast is fun to read about and likeable, you can see how some of the characters are ‘copy and pasted’ from Death Note: we have the quirky antagonist where the line between friendship and rival is often blurred; the stuck-up and prideful female classmate and bouncy love-struck girl for Takagi. Even Mashiro, the primary lead is lost in the quirk-filled and humorous cast. Nevertheless, the fact that the cast is as wide as it is compensates for this; it almost feels like it’s a hustle and bustle – just like how mangakas and editors lives are.

In addition, Bakuman’s ‘slice of life’ aspect is played mainly through the characters own growth and development. Interestingly enough, Bakuman starts off with two 14 year-old boys but as of recent chapters follows two 20 year-old college students. Yes, they grow! Not just in height but as people too as they take on other challenges in life such as marriage. They literally grow before your eyes.

Ohba’s charismatic story and characters are equally matched (once again) by Takeshi Obata’s excellent art. His style in Bakuman has changed since Death Note to better suit the lighter, more shounen tone of the story, but it still retains that high level of detail and clean cut edge in his drawings. Obata does exhibit a weak point when it comes to drawing female characters though. But his weakness is another artist’s forte; even though I have just classed it as a weakness it is still so good, that it can exceed another manga artist on their best day.

I was also surprised at how well Obata can employ comic drawings as well as serious ones. His silly gag drawing actually evoked some hearty laughs from me (of course it was Ohba who wrote them up – who knew both of them could be so funny?). Close ups and tones are all very well used to create an atmosphere or effect of the moment – be it funny or serious. Or seriously funny. Or a serious funny. Okay, okay, I’ll stop.

Obata’s style at panelling makes each chapter a joy to read. He does not allow each panel to restrict his drawings, which is a personal favourite aspect of his panelling of mine; how the drawings themselves come out of the box and extends further. Of course, this technique would have been meaningless without Obata’s fluent artistic skills.

I think the main problem with Bakuman is its reader’s expectations. Unfortunately, it is overshadowed and constantly compared to by its predecessor, Death Note. But Bakuman is just as entertaining and unique as its authors’ previous work and is just as wonderful a read in its own right. As a reader of both works it is quite obvious that there are some influences, the most notable ones lay in the characters; however there is one definite similarity between the two: they are no ordinary shounen. Yes, Bakuman may have the formula for one (Childhood love? Check; Rivals? Check; Quirky characters? Check; Hot girls? Check) but it still displays a lot of characteristics not found in Shounen Jump’s works: Growing up, multiple character storylines, excellent character interaction and life in general. Most importantly, the arcs are never dragged out! (Here’s looking at you Bleach).

If you do read Bakuman, read with an open mind and forget about Death Note, for it is not every day we get a work like Bakuman and for it to be ridiculed or downplayed because of its origins would be a sad waste of an excellent work like this. For its genre it is probably the best out there with charm and charisma practically oozing out of the pages.

Every week Mashiro and Takagi are closer to realizing their dream, and every week we are there with them in their exciting journey. We explore the world of mangakas, editors and voice actors alike and to all that are close to them. So as they grab their pens to rush for that deadline I shall be rushing to the store to grab my copy of this week’s Shounen Jump.

Overall
Bakuman is a manga, which story is about the dreams of two tyronic, young boys and the difficulties they plunge into on their way of achieving them. Being a mangaka seems easy to them from the beginning, even though they are tentative and hesitant about it, they decide to give it a try and the first try's success motivates them to keep going.
The two main characters both seem to have the potential, skill and passion to become mangakas, but would it be that easy to break through this business and make living of it? Sleepless nights, missing school, depriving themselves from the carefree life ... of a normal teenager in the name of being number one..

What I do not like in the story is that one of the main character's only motivation not to let himself down is the promise of the girl he "loves", which is to marry him, only when/if their dreams come true. At moments I was really wondering does he deserves to become mangaka number one, when the passion for drawing lacks..
On the other hand the story is helping people to get a very basic knowledge about the whole process of creating a manga comic, which I found most interesting.

My personal impressions
I like this manga, not as much as Death Note and not only because it's from the creators of Death Note. It was very interesting at the beginning, especially the first three chapters. I thought: " Ha! Obata and Ohba finally decided to make a comedy!"

Interesting story, but is it really serious? Looks like it is...which is the worst

Spoilers:

I can't stand some of the characters. I can't stand the way Mashiro and Takagi are treating Miyoshi and how she agrees to do everything for them, all the help on a good will. This reminds me a lot of Light and L's discriminative attidude toward Misa.
I like her, she is definitely a strong character.

Also - is it just me or Mashiro is turning into emo at moments? Shame he is the main character, but couldn't dare to face his beloved Azuki until he got hospitalized and again she made the first step. How manly...
Oh yeah, he really gave up going to see her when she had a bad time because of the photo opportunity,instead of taking the chance. They are so lame.
Takagi pisses me off too lately. I just can't decide is it a kind of romance or a joke, but I have to admit - got me excited at chapter 47

Bakuman is a series often given recognition as a realistic tale that explores the manga industry in-depth. If we're to take this as its core premise, then the manga is a fundamentally flawed one.

To explain why, the first volume's premise alone captures the core faults of its story with this supposed "realistic" story having about as many plot conveniences as a fairy tale (obviously, minor spoilers ahead). The protagonist, Moritaka, decides to pursue being a mangaka in order to win the affections of his school crush Miho. On its own, that's not bad, but then plot conveniences and contrivances pile themselves together one after another. ... Not only did Moritaka's uncle leave him a manga studio in his will to give him a jump start, but Miho's mother used to also be in love with Moritaka's uncle. As though that wasn't enough, Miho reciprocates Moritaka's feelings but, instead of actually dating and having a relationship like a normal person, she puts in place the prerequisite that they'll get married only once Moritaka has one of his manga adapted into an anime and she can star in it. So, what part of these events and character interactions sounds realistic? If you said none of it, congratulations, because you'd be right.
After that, the plot is just Moritaka working towards that goal. There's at least some attempts to not make the plot entirely straightforward with Moritaka's goals becoming closer to that of doing things for his own passion as a mangaka rather than a contrived promise, though not enough to make his character any more engaging, especially with how reliant the series can be on references during some character moments. The manga at least helps explore many aspects of the manga industry when it comes to things such as popularity polls and the like, though what information the manga conveys is mitigated by its plot having the illusion of the characters struggling in such an industry despite still doing fairly well and never reaching any true low points. The general tone of the manga can feel overly optimistic in the manner many Shonen works are lambasted for, with the majority of the cast parroting the idea that "creating manga is so cool!" and naysayers being shown the error of their ways, such as the female novelist who decides to break into the industry.
The one element of the plot that did seem realistic is at its conclusion where the one work of Moritaka to be given an anime adaption is the one with the most generic premise and execution of its ideas, which strikes true in how most manga/anime consumers would rather see similar premises being repeated than have something innovative. This idea, however, does seem a bit contradictive coming from Ohba and Obata when considering Death Note was their breakout success and still remains both the most popular and innovative of their works.

As for characters, we've already gone over Moritaka and aside from him, there's not much else to speak of. Most of the characters are fairly one-dimensional and don't really have much to make them interesting beyond being mouthpieces for commentary on the industry, with some such as Miho having nonsensical motivations for reasons already stated.

For art, it's decent as expected of Obata, but the shift from the more realistic style within Death Note to one far more typically cartoony, simplified and exaggerated hurts the series rather than helps as it would've at least superficially sold the idea that this was a grounded story meant to be seen as realistic.

Overall, if wanting a great insight on the series, it's better to read a book dedicated to learning about the creation process of manga and anime rather than wasting time on a story that fails hard when it comes to capturing the realism necessary for such information.