BAKUMAN

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.)

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.

Im gonna make this quick and short, this is an anime about two young and aspiring manga artists who wish to get their work animated as a means to achieve the dream of Mashiro (on of the co main characters) and the dream of his late uncle.

The story has depth and minor characters who seem to have no purpose will sometimes come back and cause trouble and competition for the main characters. You get to see how competition and rivalry boost their moral and how they push through struggles and adversity.

And plus the ending is probably the most wholesome it'll get for a shounen manga, SO read read and read it some more it wont let you down i promise!

From the creators of the infamous "Death Note" comes another work from the fame duo (Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata). Now the name "Bakuman" may be forgettable or be sometimes misheard as the now famous anime "Bakugan" but the difference is really out there. The story revolves around two teenage boys Mashiro Moritaka, and Takagi Akito and the wondrous world of manga. Well its not that spectacular but this manga will change your mind. The world of manga is very difficult and rewarding as the story shows the ups and downs of becoming a mangaka.

The reason I like Bakuman is because its different from many shonen mangas out there and from the famous Weekly Shonen Jump magazine it really stood out to me. The story became interesting as the story introduces various different artist and their different types of manga.

The other reason why I like this manga was the fact that the creators thought of different mangas inside the story and made it sound so awesome.

The different mangas inside the story are memorable as you hear the titles over and over again and they become stuck in your mind.

I highly recommend this title if you want a break from the fighting and nonsense of other shonen magazines as you will learn to appreciate how manga really works in Japan.

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.

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.

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

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

There is something quite charming about Bakuman, I first picked up Bakuman vol. 1 at my local Library and after realizing that Bakuman was made by the same two people as Deathnote I had to have more.

Bakuman will reveal ton of information about the Manga industry and with a great story and awesome humor you might end up getting all 20 novels.

Bakuman reveals how Manga is created. From storyboards to rough drafts, presenting, publishing and animating.

If you ever wondered how Manga like Naruto, Deathnote, Inuyasha, or King of Tennis was made then give Bakuman a whirl.

Bakuman's reading time is about 3 to four hours a book for me which is much longer that books like Naruto. (which take me about 30 mins

)

Gonna try my best to explain what i can as im not the best reviewer, basically if you have a dream of being a mangaka then read this manga! or watch the anime if you dont have time to read..? its a story of 2 students who team up to become mangaka, their goals change each time they met their last. there dream was to be published, then to have a running series, then have their series become animated. you meet all sorts of characters and see how the life of a mangaka is like. you will finally understand how hard it not only is to get published, but how stressful it is to keep up with weekly chapters as you might not take it is so thoughb it really is. you will learn how some writers or artists will go days with barely any food or sleep just to meet the deadline for the weeks chapter. it will really give you an appreciation for the manga you read.

"People who have a dream and are striving toward it... People who are searching for a dream... I want to support those people." - Miho Azuki

Is there a dream you want to achieve? That dream can only come true with a lot of hard work, but if you keep at it, the payoff will, indeed, be great. I'm sure that's the message that Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, the ones behind "Death Note", wanted to convey in this manga. From the moment I heard about this manga, I knew I had to read it and watch its anime adaptation. After getting a box-set of the entire manga series sometime after completing the anime, I began to seriously read the manga, and I've got to say, I enjoyed it just as much as the anime.

Ladies and gentlemen, aspiring mangaka of all ages, here is my review of "Bakuman."

Moritaka Mashiro is a middle school boy who basically doesn't know what to do with his life. He used to want to be a mangaka, but he gave up on that dream after the death of his uncle, who was a mangaka. However, one day, he accidentally leaves his notebook at school, and when he goes back to get it, Akito Takagi, his genius classmate, is waiting for him. Takagi has seen Mashiro's drawing of his crush, Miho Azuki (who we later find out dreams of becoming a voice actress), and asks him to team up with him to create manga. Mashiro refuses at first, but when Miho finds out about it, it ends up leading to a promise that once one of Mashiro and Takagi's manga gets an anime adaptation, Miho will voice the heroine; then, Mashiro and Miho will get married. (They agree not to actually see each other until then, though.) The story of "Bakuman." follows Mashiro and Takagi as they strive to create manga, meeting friends and rivals along the way.

I guess I should start with the artwork. Now, the artwork for this manga, drawn by Takeshi Obata, is rather good. Some of the character designs reminded me of characters in "Death Note"....but hey, they're from the same mangaka duo! What do you expect me to say?! Speaking of the characters, there is a great number of likable characters in this manga, and all of them get great development. I especially liked Shinta Fukuda and Eiji Niizuma; both of them had some really funny moments.

Now, let's talk about the story. I can think of a few other manga that have a mangaka as one of the main characters, if not THE main character (Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to, etc). However, what I love about the story in THIS manga is how it portrays a story like this. Not only does it give us a more realistic look at the manga industry (heck, I sometimes even wondered if it was secretly Ohba-sensei and Obata-sensei's autobiography), but it's a kind of story that inspires you to chase after whatever dream you have. Seeing Mashiro, Takagi, and all of the other mangaka who appear in this series doing (or drawing, I should say) what they love.... it just really gets you motivated, you know?

Overall, Bakuman is a pretty good manga. If you're looking for a realistic and/or an inspiring read, this is the one. Whether or not you end up liking it.... well, I guess that determines whether or not Ohba-sensei and Obata-sensei succeeded in their gamble.

Bakuman, a pumping, realistic series of chasing your dreams and self determination. This is truly one of my favorite manga series BY FAR. I would even go as far as to say I like this more than I like death note, mostly because of how relatable this series is to me personally. I myself being a 15 year old who loves to write stories, and hope to become a proffesional mangaka with by best friend leo (which we actually planned to do before this series came out) so this series is extreamly relatable. The author does a spectacular job of potraying the daily struggles of the people who created the works that have gotten us all through some hard times. But what really makes this series is the characters! The characters in this series are like a rainbow of different personalities and characteristics. From the love struck Mashiro to the lazy Himura. I also loved all the references to manga and Weekly jump (such as when takagi was listing off jump manga with swords in them). There are also some characters that remind me of Weekly jump mangaka. An example of this would be Enji Nizuma, who is an extream otaku and a workaholic, which is very similar to Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece. Another example is Himura who I consider to be Yoshihiro Togashi. Think about it, they both are kinda lazy, have had two hit series, and have married a fellow mangaka. Overall this series is a fantastic tale of the struggles of manga artists and their passion for manga, a series that i consider to be a must read!

Bakuman, huh?

Well, I first heard of Bakuman through a friend who recommended me, the first two or three volums were good...but nothing more, the good stuff began in the volum 4, that was when I began to be trapped in the story.

I'll resume all my points of view in one phrase:

The Story is excelent (since volum 4) and the end is a big crap.

That's all, read it, you'll enjoy it for sure, it have very good characters (such as Niizuma Eiji) but those autors don't know how to end a manga. That's all, and it's because the end that i give it a 8, if the end were other i would give it a 9 for sure, because, you know, it's a manga of 9. Except for the ending.

Greetings.

I'll keep this brief as many have already said what needs to be, which makes me happy. So I'm just gonna throw in some of my opinions and feelings I had for this series when I read this about a year ago during my junior year summer break.

I LOVE this series. I can not and probably never will, get to enjoy a manga as I had with this one, at least not for a while. I have not read everything in the world but I can wholeheartedly say that this has to be one of the best. Shounen Jump can really throw some curve balls sometimes. The great rivalries made me envious and helped me root for the two main characters. The longtime romance was gripping, and while childish, was very entertaining and satisfying. The representation of a mangakakas life (while I'm not sure entirely accurate) showed me for the first time that authors were not just lifeless husks who draw without a care in the world while sitting on piles of money. While the manga isnt a realistic representation and probably falls under the 0.000001% (not literally) of cases of reality, it was very endearing to read such a well made text based manga about... manga.

I will admit however the series had its slight problems. It isn't meant for those that gloss over huge walls of text (which means those people probably aren't reading these reviews now that I think about it), has some less then interesting characters, and completely discards that one old classmate girl who was (*S*P*O*I*L*E*R*S*) an author that later became a mangakaka to compete with blonde MC... only to be later forgotten for the most part (*S*P*O*I*L*E*R*S*).

But overall, it was a good ride, and it is worth rereading if you already read it. I should do the same really.

This manga is about two boys on their quest to make manga for Jump. It sounds simple enough but with deadlines, rivals, and even love they are in a constant state of battling with work to reach the top.

For a manga about making manga, this may seem obvious, but it details so much about the industry! I found myself enthralled with all of the aspects of this industry I learned. It made the story not only better, but gave it the sense of realism that very few manga of an variety could manage to do. It even managed to raise the stakes for certain aspects.

The cast and supporting characters were all widely different but they never felt out of place. Normally you see background characters and their stories sometimes go unfinished but not in Bakuman. All the support cast of mangaka get their time to shine and by working through their own plots and stories we advance overall.

This isn’t to say the manga is without flaw because I do have some issues with it. My main problem is that somewhere around the 100+ chapter range a “villain” was recycled and their rivalry with the top mangaka seemed to go nowhere. This problem was resolved rather quickly but I think the manga would have been fine without it.

Now for the story, art and MC:
The story felt beyond realistic and made me so hooked I would read 30-40 chapters in one sitting. It always managed to have high stakes and raise them as well, even though it only had to do with creating manga. No plot points were left unresolved and the satisfaction you get from certain points are indescribable in terms of enjoyment.

The art is solid, nothing super spectacular like Berserk or something. I will say the art is amazing in a different sense though, for different manga within the story they managed to make it look different and it added to the realism. I thought that kind of touch made the art superior to some other works I’ve read in the past.

Lastly, our MC, he stayed strong within his ideals and never wavered in the face of adversity. I didn’t sense much grow in his character but the way he was meant to be portrayed, strong will and never fault (typical Shounen MC), worked perfectly for both his work and love.

I can’t really say enough good things about this manga. It truly is a masterpiece.

10/10 something you NEED to read in your lifetime.

So I finished reading Bakuman some years ago after watching the anime. Currently I am re-reading it and I am 18 volumes in. Because I have lots to tell about this, I would like to offer a review for others to read! This review is including the plot of the first chapter. So if you value not to get spoiled on this, please look at another review or read the first chapter before reading this review!

Bakuman was created by the illustrator/story author duo Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba who worked before on a manga called Death Note and who later worked on Platinum End. Bringing in lots of manga creating experience from their own career, they have lots of stories to tell and insights to give about the manga industry. And thats what Bakuman is about: Its a manga about creating manga. To some degree, it might be even valid to say that Bakuman is a "kind of" autobiography of their own life as mangaka.

-- Story --
The story follows Mashiro and Takagi, whose dream is to be published in Weekly Shounen Jump and get an anime adaptation of their very own manga. But as it turns out, the daily life of a manga creator is filled with struggles and hurdles that need to be overcome. Starting from a very young age, still in school, Takagi cleverly forces Mashiro into forming a manga creator tag team. He notices that Mashiro likes to draw and that his artwork is excellent. With this, they have a team consisting of one person in charge of the art and one person in charge of the story.


-- Characters --
The characters are really enjoyable and seem to be realistic. There are hard workers, geniuses, strugglers and many more archetypes. Even though the cast of relevant characters is rather big, they all have their own role and its easy to understand their motivation and goals. Another thing that I really like about the character development is the fact, that this manga covers a big timespan in the life of the characters. They went from being school kids, to university students and several years later. Therefore all of them have the possibility to grow and build up a individual personality.

Its also interesting to observe how the relationship between the characters changes. How bonds are formed and how they grow together. Of course not every character is likable, just like in actual real life - and there are also antagonists. But like in an professional work-life environment Bakuman does a good job of showing that its important to get along (to some extent) with people you don't like as much as others. Antagonists are still not likable, but the relationship between the characters is portrayed in a way that they try to get along, even if they don't like each other - a good lesson for my own life.

-- Art and Presentation --
Takeshi Obata is an absolute master when it comes to creating amazing manga artwork. Even though Bakuman is not known for many action scenes, wide spreads or really punchy visuals, the art style and quality is always on top. Especially compared to some of his early works (for example Blue Dragon Ral Grado) his art made a huge leap into a sphere not reachable by individuals like me.

Bakuman is very VERY communication heavy. Almost every page has a ton of text. Its a story about talking. At some point I even needed to take a break, so I took some days off from reading after volume 10 and focussed on something else. This doesn't mean it is boring, but it might be a bit overwhelming. Conflicts are not solved by fighting, but by talking. And of course by battling with your manga serializations!

-- Realism --
The most crucial factor why I love Bakuman so much is the realistic portrayal of the manga industry. Of course I don't work in the industry myself, so I don't know the details. But what is told in the story seems very realistic, logical and I think many of the industry insights are true and based on own experience of the authors.

The struggles of the characters seem also very realistic and believable to occur in the life of a mangaka. I will not name examples to avoid spoilers of the story. But there are several.

Actually I am surprised that such a "realistic" and "conversation heavy" manga like Bakuman survived in the harsh environments of Weekly Shounen Jump for this long. I would have expected the typical Shounen demographic reader to say "well, this is just talking. Boring. I want action" and then downvote the manga in the questionnaires (I learned about how manga questionnaires work and how its decided which manga to cancel from Bakuman). But Bakuman survived until the story reached a fulfilling conclusion with its final 20th volume.

The passion of the characters for creating manga might have been a big factor that readers of Shounen Jump liked it enough to reach a conclusive end. I remember reading the final chapters of the manga and it made me shed tears because I was so invested with the characters.

-- Whats good, whats bad? What kind of reader will like Bakuman? --
So in the end... Who will probably like Bakuman? People who are interested in the manga industry, who want to learn how manga are created in a way that goes beyond the drawing part will enjoy Bakuman. People who are interested in publishing routines and how the whole industry works together also have a lot to learn from this manga. Also people who like characters with intertwining story lines have a high chance of liking Bakuman because the characters have time to grow and form deep relationships over several years of plot.

I would advise against reading Bakuman if you are not interested in consuming lots of text, because Bakuman has an insane amount of text per page.

I've been wanting to read Bakuman since pretty much it came out, but always had a habit of forgetting the name and who it was by. Well, now, I'm enjoying!!! It's rather fun to see kids enter a world that most adults even with talent, struggle to be success.

Same as Death Note, the dialogues are a bit lengthy for my liking, not that I don't mind reading, it just seems to be a lot one page. The art is great, you can tell that these kids are in middle school, no exaggeration and all that jazz. It's cute to see the awkwardness of having a crush on someone, and for someone who is 19, it's quite nostalgic. The characters are fun and they bring a smile to my face when having their goofy moments. You also get to see the development of how they bond. Of course, they have their flaws with themselves and/or with someone else, however you will find a way to make the best of one another.

As an overall, I'm enjoying myself and honestly, reading this is inspiring me to finally work on my story after 6 freaking years! It's great. Worth a read!!!

“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”?

A story about two boys trying to make it in the world of manga and publishing work in Jump, facing trials along the way.

Story: I thought it was an interesting concept; realistic, enjoyable and it showed me an insight in to the world of the mangaka, something so many people, including myself, have dreamed of becoming. That aside, there are parts it does extend a little too long but otherwise good all round. The romance aspect of the story, between Mashiro and Azuki, is interesting but a little annoying at the same time - who doesn't want to see the person they love?

Art: Very good, I expected nothing less. The art differs depending on the scene types and it was also enjoyable to see the difference in styles of the series that the characters have drawn, from our main duo to the rivals and friends that are introduced along the way.

Character: I like the characters, I think many of them are well developed, all though others could use some work. Some of the minor characters could use a little work but I find the majority of them have realistic personalities, except for Iwase who in my opinion seems a little off. Proud, intelligent women don't need the justification of a man, which is what she seems to be trying to gain, so I find that a little unusual.

Enjoyment: I found it very enjoyable, the story line, though it does follow along some predictable lines at points, does pull it off in a unique way and I was drawn in from the first few chapters. A bit wordy in places, with quite a lot of banter about ideas, but it is well thought out and presented.

Overall: I recommend Bakuman to anyone who wants to immerse themselves in something interesting and well drawn :)

I feel that Bakuman has an extremely unique story because the plot about the life of mangakas really show me personally how hard it is for a mangaka to be famous and published in magazines before they actually get serialized. I begin to appreciate mangakas EVEN more than I used to. The manga is worth reading because it shows the determination and passion that people have in pursuing what they like, not what others tell them.