#look at them. i cant draw chibis but look at my creations i love them. ugly lil babies

[dantereviews]

Manga Review: Bakuman

8/10

Bakuman is the story of Mashiro Moritaka, a talented young artist and Akito Takagi, an extremely intelligent writer, as they strive to achieve their dreams of becoming a pro mangaka duo and rising to the top of the manga world in the famous magazine ‘Shonen Jump’. 

Considering that this manga itself ran in Jump and is made by a two-man author/artist team, its basically the most meta manga ever created. And the cherry on top is that the duo behind Bakuman, Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba are the same duo behind the towering monolith that is Death Note. As someone who not only enjoys manga, but has an interest in the behind the scenes production of it, Bakuman hit all the right spots to get me very interested. And I am glad to report that it really delivered. 

Reviewing Bakuman is kind of difficult. Part of that is because its a long journey at 176 chapters, so trying to go over it all is a big job. But another part is that the subject matter is so different to most manga that it really stands out. To use terminology from the text, I’d call Bakuman a ‘non-mainstream mainstream battle manga’. Its about the two leads making manga, but functionally its about their battles with other authors to become the best, especially their main rival Niizuma Eiji. Bakuman manages to perfectly capture the spirit of shounen: pure hearts striving to achieve their goals - but without any violence. Its a pretty refreshing change of pace from the regular battle series and psychological thriller that dominate the market.

The tone is a good place to start with my analysis. As I said, its pretty light-hearted. The story follows two straight-forward, determined individuals who just want to create great art and show everyone their potential. The manga is quite funny, always throwing in little gags and funny side plots to keep things flowing and natural. It also has some heavier moments, dealing with people who’re greedy or lustful but always with a sincere attitude. I think that sincerity really carries the manga because by being a straight story about mostly good people it avoids a lot of the common bad guy/good guy cliches and just keeps the good times rolling.

The characters are very strong as well. The two leads are approachable enough to root for all the way through, even if they arent as emotionally complex as some deeper series. The large side cast is also really interesting, following the other authors in Jump as they also try to make their own names. Some of them, like Hiramaru, the lazy author who just wants to take a break but is constantly manipulated by his editor into continuing to draw, and the author Takagi’s wife Kaya who is always at the studio helping out, are so much fun, and their presence is necessary to insert some more fun and variety. The series constantly introduces great new characters while continuing to focus on and grow the core cast.

And one of the coolest aspects of Bakuman is the manga inside the manga. As a series about Mangaka creating their own series, of course those series feature heavily. Its very cool to see the creation process and eventual realisation of so many amazing ideas and visuals, all of which could be made into real life manga of their own. Following the plots of the stories-in-the-story is pretty exciting alone, before even considering all the main duo have riding on how well the stories do. 

I do have two main criticisms. Firstly is that despite having a great story with new developments occuring and twists you didnt foresee, the goals and strategies of the characters are uniform nearly all the way through. The two main characters very quickly decide to become mangakas and reach the number 1 spot in Shonen Jump - and then continue to chase that goal for the entire series. I still got entirely sucked into that journey, but I will say that it was a bit too monotone, and for someone looking for a deep story that goes through multiple layers this could be a big hurdle to enjoying it.

Secondly I have to criticise the art. Artwork is one of the most fundamental aspects of manga - its what you see and how you process the medium after all. In keeping with its less mature aura, the art in Bakuman is light and exaggerated. There are lots of chibi and reaction faces, and the normal art style definitely has a rounder, more gentle style than most manga. But maybe because the story is so grounded in reality, aside from having very recognisable and interesting character designs I cant say the artwork was particularly impressive at all. Theres only so many ways to make a guy hunched over a drawing table look cool after all. I think this series isnt so much about the visuals as the story, and it definitely takes second place in terms of artwork to a lot of other manga.

Bakuman really hooked me, and I ended up binge reading most of it in a short amount of time. As a manga enthusiast, it showed me another side of an industry that I really like and gave me a very comfy kind of atmosphere. I loved reading about the interesting ideas the characters were thinking up and seeing all the goofy antics they got up to. And at the same time, I admired their hard work and determination to work through setbacks and create something amazing. It isnt the prettiest or the most intelligent manga, basically the opposite of Death Note. And thats what makes it so impressive - beating out the traditional genres of manga and forging its own fun and, most importantly, interesting path to success.

I give it an 8/10 and a hearty recommendation.