My numbers for the review doesn't work: I grade it overall 10 - even though story was 8; art 10; character 7; enjoyment 9. Because, hey, life isn't rational anyway.
Moving on, Bakuman is an incredibly layered, poignant, powerful masterpiece by both Takeshi Obata (art) and Tsugimi Ohba (writer) - I daresay they surpassed themselves from Death Note, which became a global sensation - as Death Note was a uniquely gripping thriller, but Bakuman is a genuinely landmark series where Japanese manga's art, history, genre, and traditions all shine thoroughly.
First we had our usual manga tropes: the shy female heroine, the hungry upstart, the
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Feb 28, 2018
Hadashi de Bara wo Fume
(Manga)
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"Hadashi de Bara wo Fume" is like fast-food: Easy, comforting tropes; but very, very toxic with unhealthy character patterns. Think normalized rape, abuse, gambling, and almost very nearly incest - all wrapped tidy and pretty within a sugar-coated fairytale.
The plot contained interesting elements - particularly the antagonist's psychosis which could have created an amazing psychological thriller (like Light from Death Note's psychopathy). It could have completely subverted the syrupy shoujo genre, except the author was superficially focused on what she liked best: fashion and faces (literally, the characters have great faces but awkwardly proportioned bodies). It's an alright manga for some PG ... |
