“Bakuman” is a window into the life of someone who rose from the bottom to the top and is inspiring more than anything else. The story is centred around a novice artist who decides to draw manga with the help of his friend and his growth as a human being and an artist is what makes this really intriguing for me. There’s also a stupid side-plot about him and a girl agreeing to get married if they accomplish their dreams but I mean, fuck that shit.

The story has bits of comedy, bits of emotional drama, segments where the author explains to the readers how the manga / anime industry functions in Japan; I mean to be honest this is probably my guidebook to manga and anime in terms of being able to recognize good and bad art, stories, et cetera. 

The more interesting parts of the manga are the face-offs between different artists and manga authors AKA “Mangakas” with the protagonist with this constant competition for who wins the most awards, gets highest ratings and all that. And on paper it sounds really boring, to read a manga about dudes drawing manga while also being explained to about how they’re drawing the manga; but “Bakuman” just makes it work at the end of the day.

Did I also mention that this manga has the same author and artist as “Deathnote”?