BAKUMAN

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Become lord
Alternatives: Бакуман.; バクマン。; 爆漫王。; วัยซนคนการ์ตูน; 食夢者; 食梦者; 바쿠만; Baku-man; Bakuman; Bakuman - Giấc mơ họa sĩ truyện tranh; Bakuman。
Author: Ohba Tsugumi
Artist: Obata Takeshi
Type: Manga
Status: YES
Publish: 2008-01-01 to ?

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4.5
(58 Votes)
56.60%
35.85%
5.66%
1.89%
0.00%
0 Reading
0 Want to read
0 Read
Alternatives: Бакуман.; バクマン。; 爆漫王。; วัยซนคนการ์ตูน; 食夢者; 食梦者; 바쿠만; Baku-man; Bakuman; Bakuman - Giấc mơ họa sĩ truyện tranh; Bakuman。
Author: Ohba Tsugumi
Artist: Obata Takeshi
Type: Manga
Status: YES
Publish: 2008-01-01 to ?
Score
4.5
58 Votes
56.60%
35.85%
5.66%
1.89%
0.00%
0 Reading
0 Want to read
0 Read
Summary
Moritaka Mashiro (Saiko), with his superb drawing skill, is invited by his writing genius classmate Akito Takagi (Shujin) to tread the difficult path of the mangaka!! His sights are set on his naive yet earnest joint dream with Miho Azuki, who is aiming to become a voice actress!! Saiko and Shujin team up as writer and artist, aiming to be serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, make a hit, and then release an anime. They bring their manuscripts into editors and set off on the road to becoming pro manga artists!! This is a new-age story of manga success!!

MinatoAce :
It's not easy to become and live as a mangaka, as Mashiro Moritaka knows from his late uncle. At 9th grade, while trying to keep up with reality, school and then a normal job, he left his notebook with a sketch of Azuki Miho, a girl he likes. Takagi Akito, a first-rate student found it and tries to convince Mashiro to draw a manga with his story. Mashiro doesn't like the idea and declines. Takagi, however, sticks to his dream and found out that Azuki wants to be a voice actress and has already gotten a good reply from a production company. Takagi then brought Mashiro to her house and told her his dream... Mashiro then tells her that he will write a manga with Takagi and will ask Azuki to voice their anime. Out of confusion, Mashiro asks her if their dreams become reality, will she marry him? She says yes, only if their dreams become true, and not otherwise!! Now, the lives of wannabe mangakas begin!!!

Nominated for the 3rd Manga Taisho Award (2010).
Reviews (58)
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BAKUMAN review
by
Melike5
Apr 01, 2021
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 underdog triumph, the eccentric genius. However, what the TO team did was to masterfully play and subvert the stereotypes against the angles of (1) the character being a character; (2) the character imitating another iconic character from a different manga, (3) the characters subverting their own stereotypes. For instance, the shy female heroine is pragmatic to a fault; the hungry upstart genuinely motivated but deeply flawed; the underdog triumph is rife with false-starts and bad puns; the eccentric genius an extremely loveable presence that is always uplifting his generation. (Plus the macho guy never gets a girl, yet a shoujo female character falls for an endearingly awkward creep.) I know other female reviewers dislike the sexism of Ohba's writing, but frankly I believe sexism is a universal - if not doubly worse in American comics within the Marvel tradition. Read the art for art, not as political commentary, yo.

I loved the beautiful nuances, and highly meta approach towards manga as a craft, art, discipline, business - but above all as an obsessively all-consuming passion. The realism of everyday compromises for art; the unassailable spirit for growth; the pain of growing a brand beyond a team's control - are all masterfully played out within a manga that's more than a manga about manga. I loved that it contains multiple historic manga references; displays diverse manga genres through the display of both art and plot; the elegant interplays of diverse sub-plots where romance, friendship, family, and career are all given very even and diverse representations within a galaxy of memorable characters.

Bakuman is not a manga that will be serialized, turned into merchandise, become a best-selling movie - but it will enter into the cannon of global comic history, and nearly achieves what one of the characters claim, will be the "best manga in the entire world".

(PS: Bakuman also contains one the best English translations I've ever read in a manga too.)
BAKUMAN review
by
oponn_7
Apr 01, 2021
this is a truly amazing manga with a score range of 8s and 9s. the manga is very interesting and gives insight into the manga world, giving readers a newfound sense of awe and respect for all the work and dedication that goes into the pieces we are reading.

the story concept for bakuran was really refreshing and different from other series i've read. however, i'm not sure if it is just me or not but it took me a while to read. this is not that lengthy of a manga compared to some others ive read, (the longest being over 500 chapters long) but i paced out the reading a considerable amount. despite this being a great manga, i had to put it down and take a break from it multiple times, i would say that it is too much to try to read this continuously. it's not quite that the manga gets bad or boring at times, but i just do not feel like i want to continue reading it at the moment. a few days later i would resume reading and FLY past the pages and chapters, unable to put the manga down. i repeated this reading_on hold_reading-again spikes for a course of 3 weeks when i could have easily finished it in a little over a week. perhaps because the manga was too intense for me that i had to read it in this cycle.
many of the manga concepts introduced in the manga really struck me as something i would love to read such as money & intelligence, classroom of truth, detective trap, and reversi (ig dark manga like the ones shujin write is my taste lol), i also was quite interested in fukuda's series and would have like to read those as well.

when i first read the manga, the art (and the plots of the dark stories shujin comes up with) struck me as being familiar so i did some research believing that it may possibly be by the same creator as a favorite series of mine, Liar Game. it wasnt; however it was by the same creators of Death Note which explains a lot and while i never got into death note, i do acknowledge it as being a decent piece.
one thing i really love about this manga is how different art styles are used throughout to show different artists' styles in their manga series. i really love the pointillism nakai used for aoki's manga, and nakai's art in general, too bad with what became of his character... ( aannnddd transition onto next point w/o giving anything else away)

for characters, i was on the fence whether that should deserve a 9 or an 8. i feel like there are too many characters and some being somewhat unnecessarily and detracting, there was not enough time to fully develop all the characters nor would i feel the readers, myself included, would really care if some were never in the picture to begin with. many of the side characters who are important throughout the manga became ghost characters towards the end, only appearing briefly as to remind readers that they exist, this goes for much of team Fukuda.

nonetheless i thoroughly enjoyed this manga with little room for complaints, any complaints i have being minuscule.
BAKUMAN review
by
Profesor_Teto9
Apr 01, 2021
Bakuman is a shonen series which articulately redefines the genre of shonen manga. It is a unification of several meaningful ideologies that taught me the following things:

- Nobody achieves great work with little efforts. Even the gifted ones slog through blood and sweat to get to where they are today.

- Work hard in silence and let success make the noise.

- Everyone needs a friend who is brutally honest, even if the truth may hurt.

- Your loudest competitors are your greatest source of learning.

Storyline:

Following the adventures of two protagonists towards achieving their dream of being successful mangakas, the manga provides insightful information about the process of manga making without boring you to every detail. From the conceptualization of an idea to the actual implementation of the works, the story provides perceptive information on the process of manga making.

Thanks to Bakuman, I am now able to better appreciate the efforts behind every manga and anime I watched.

The flow of the story is appropriately set out, with 20 volumes spanning a story of over 10 years. It is very unlike your typical shonen manga where a day spent by the characters can span over several volumes. Pages are often filled with details and extensive dialogues, which gives readers a lot to digest. Hence, if you are looking a Bleach / Naruto / One Piece equivalent, then Bakuman is definitely not for you, since it is very story based and less expressive in terms of graphics.


Characters:

The interaction among the characters are kept at a practical, sense making level, with them straying between the lines of competitors and friends. The character development is gradual and it is only towards the end when you back-tracked to the much earlier volumes that one would realise how much they have grown.

However, I personally do not feel a personal sense of attachment to the characters and the only one that attracted me and cracked me up is Niizuma Eiji, the prodigy who happens to be portrayed as the main good-natured antagonist.

Art:

The art, though clean and easily discernable, is somewhat lacking in terms of expression. Due to the intensive blurbs of dialogues, it appears like more attention was paid to the words than the drawings. However, for an unusual manga which is substantially story-based with lesser focus on the graphics, I do not see this as a major problem.


Overall, Bakuman is not a manga which will keep you at the edge of your seat. It is something that takes time to digest and better read in a slower, leisurely pace.
BAKUMAN review
by
iridi12
Apr 01, 2021
I avoided Bakuman for the longest time. A creative work about creatives struggling to succeed in the very medium they’re portrayed in just seems…masturbatory. However, I recently gave the series a chance and was quite surprised with it. The story is simple: Classmates Mashiro and Takagi decide to pursue their dream of becoming professional mangaka together, ultimately aiming at having their work adapted into an anime. Set over ten years, the themes are more about growing up than necessarily coming of age. Mashiro and Takagi set out after a dream and have to come to grips with the fact that it’s not a singular thing, but an accumulation of smaller victories.

The series features tons of interesting characters, fantastic artwork, and a story that follows a definite shonen pattern (work hard, persevere, overcome obstacle, repeat). There are a few drawbacks though. While a good number of the characters are interesting, the sheer number of them means a fair few aren’t fully rounded out. I think one of the illustrated popularity polls showed someone ranked at 41st, which should give you some idea. One character’s neglect in particular bothered me because they were fairly central to the plot and didn’t really see much love until the end of the series. Besides that, the only other negative was that the pacing seemed really uneven.

On to the good stuff. If forced, I’d label Bakuman a slice-of-life dramedy; however, Bakuman isn’t a series easily confined to one genre. There are times when it acts like a romance, times when the pacing and art resemble a battle series, and still other times when there are some serious mystery elements. This flexibility of the story and art is perfect because it allows them to show and comment on a wide range of manga, which is what you want in a manga about the business of manga production.

The aspect about the business and creation of manga turned out to be the biggest draw. If the story was getting a little slow, there was still always the promise of some insight of how to construct a serialized story or how the editorial side works. The fact that Obata and Ohba teach about various aspects of the business of creating while still telling a compelling story, without seeming to lecture, is incredible.

Overall, this is a very good series that should have a little something for everyone in it. I would definitely recommend, particularly for creative types that like to tell stories in any form.
BAKUMAN review
by
Tuskus6
Apr 01, 2021
Hello once again. My last review was a fun and a quite relaxed review of lucky star but now...imma step up and review a more serious manga...bakuman. But before we start i dont want you to confuse this master piece with the "bakumon' where they throw around coloured balls that turn into beasts..hehe

GENERAL REVIEW

Bakuman had a great story unique from others because they were in a manga about making manga (i assure you after you read this you too will be a pro editor). The starting was a bit slow but it slowly built upon its flaws and added romance, action and a hint of rivalry between comrads.


GENERAL CHARACTER

bakuman desplayed its own sense of character and stood out among all other animes withen the slice of life genre. Not only did it hook me but it also brought knew things into the story that kept me on the edge of my seat. overall it had great charcter and i expected nothingless from the creators of deathnote

DISLIKES

The plot twists and the opening could be considered...weak and the charcters began to become less and less appealing -mentally-.
I also think that the artist should have picked a better style to fit the story instead of going with his trade mark style, just because it worked in deathnote.

ART

The art was nice and refreshingly different compared to most of the extremely cute or 'sexy' style. Of course it had great line work and facial expressions but i still personally think it wasnt "anime" enough for this genre and writing type.

FINALIZATION

I enjoyed this manga completely and only had a few petty problems with the plot and art. so for its final grade i will give it a -drum roll please-
8






BAKUMAN review
by
Jagory8
Apr 01, 2021
Story-This is a not mainstream shonen manga ,instead of battle between the good and the bad,it used the complete the manga every week before deadline and competing with other with paper & ink.It's very interesting idea and it's good.The manga let us reader more know about the side of the manga industry,which is pretty dark and sometime good.Like U don't have result, u out of the business.It have up and down like battle manga,but the mangaka succesfull put this consent inside.They failed but learn and start over again,and this manga let us know that between love drawing and make manga is totally two different things.Manga is a product that need to be sell, so be mangaka is no very easy and have many money and relax.
Story-9/10

Character -The characters are well draw, almost every one u can remember it own name and it own personality.The face have many feeling and can tell us clearly what the character fell about .The development also very good,not only the MC but like minor C like editor also improve along the way.And it's all +,they also show character that we have,like nakai or some bitchers.Many ppl said that female character is less development and I agree of it,just have little female but I think coz it's Shonen manga.
Character-8/10

Art-It is good like death note's art.All the character have a his own unique look,and I must admit that ONLY THOSE GUYS CAN REALLY MAKE WRITING OR DRAWING ON PAPER like Goddamn epic.
Art-8.5/10

Enjoyment-I pretty enjoy coz the plot story is very uniq & very enjoy while reading form act to act but at the same time, it's very heavy dialogs, sometime need a rest and continue to read it,
7.7/10
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