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Bakuman. (TV)
Bakuman. (TV2) starts about here.
Bakuman. (TV3) starts about here.

Genres: comedy, drama, romance
Themes: manga, school

Plot Summary: Moritaka Mashiro, a junior high school student, content to live out a relatively normal life as any other does, is persuaded by his classmate, Akito Takagi, to become an aspiring mangaka when the latter realizes his natural talent as an artist. However, Moritaka is reluctant to pursue his dream as his uncle, once a mangaka with his own serializations, died from overwork trying to regain his lost status. With Akito's help, Takagi gets another classmate and his school crush, Azuki Miho, who is an aspiring voice actress, to voice in the anime adaptation of their future manga once it is completed. However, Mashiro also proposes to Azuki, who surprisingly accepts only on the condition she will marry him when both of them have achieved their dreams. With a goal set before him, Mashiro begins a long and struggling path to become a famous mangaka.
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Alright so I just watched the first episode and first impressions are kind of mixed. I thought the lead might drag out the "I don't wanna do it" thing for a little longer, but his backstory oddly enough managed to seem intriguing and generic all at once. The meeting they had at the end, at Miho's place, seemed so stupid and unlikely that I couldn't help but chuckle at it.

I'll watch for a bit more at least; the premise is somewhat old (I'm going to be drawing comparisons to my all time favourite, ef ~ a tale of memories ~, the whole time) but a fresh take as well if you look at it from the perspective of a rom com. The artwork is at least nice though nothing fantastic; and the characters seem interesting enough at this point (no glaring obvious people so far that I have pinned as "going to annoy the snot out of me") but I really hope their proves to be more to Miho than rich quiet girl.

I don't have high expectations but it's good enough to fill the high school romance quota for this season I guess.

I liked the first eppie even though it didn't stand out as anything special. My instinct is that this is a series that is just going to get better as it goes on and as more characters are introduced. I like the two male leads and I like the wanna-be seiyuu even though she's obviously insane spoiler[(I'm basing this on her acceptance of buddy's "marriage proposal" and subsequent insistence they not meet again until they've each attained their dreams.)]

My bold prediction: I won't be dropping this one.

I liked the references to Death Note and Hikaru no Go, and how the genius was the hyperactive one while the mediocre guy was the cynical one. Good role reversal of expected personalities there. And I found the bit about how hard it is to be successful as a Manga-ka really quite informative.

What I didn't like was the stupid vow the girl made. Yeah, that's just really dumb.

But I'll keep watching it. There's more than enough to hold my interest here.

I'm about to watch the first episode soon so hopefully I'll be able to comment better on the anime in a bit. But this is just some preliminary thoughts that I have on the show.

First of all I've read allot of the manga already and I really enjoy it. It has a refreshing blend of melo-drama and comedy. And the characters get progressively more and more interesting as the story progresses. Plus I like how the story usually has this jokingly cliched way of portraying real life scenes from manga-ka's lives as if it were a shonen action manga.

I was a bit surprised to see that no one on the staff was from the Death Note staff. I was half expecting it to be like "Oh it's a new Obata/Ohba anime which means Tetsuro Araki is back in a job". But it seems like they made, the most likely smart, decision to get someone new. It's the way it should be, Bakuman is such a complete 180 from Death Note. They really needed a whole new staff that works better with more comedy heavy shows.

One last thought: I wonder how they'll handle the length of the series. I think it goes without saying that one season wont be able to cover all the material of the manga so I wonder how the anime will play it off. They could get green-lit and set it up for a second season. Or maybe just create an ending by loosely tying together loose ends. Or maybe just kind of have an abrupt ending that makes everyone one go out and read the manga. I'm just wondering how it will turn out.

I watched it a few hours ago.

My first thoughts on it were, 'meh'. The premise sounds stupid (a show about a high-schooler wanting to me a mangaka) and the animation doesn't suit the theme, and I had such high hopes from the guys that brought us Death Note.

I was semi-wrong on both counts, the set-up wasn't to bad, it has been the better of first episodes from what I've seen of this season so far, and the proposal was cute, and the animation, I liked it, it's JC, so of course I liked it, but it seemed 'off', I dunno, maybe I need to get used it. Either that or JC have put all their top-notch staff into Index II and left the b-side for Bakuman.

In saying that, I will watch it.

Bakuman isn't slice of life or a romcom. Its genre slowly changes over time into a fast-paced suspense series, surprisingly enough.

Right now we're in a slump, because they're adapting by far the worst part of the manga. It only gets better after the characters graduate from high school.

Jaymie wrote:

Bakuman isn't slice of life or a romcom. Its genre slowly changes over time into a fast-paced suspense series, surprisingly enough.

Right now we're in a slump, because they're adapting by far the worst part of the manga. It only gets better after the characters graduate from high school.

THAT'S WAS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. Suspense. When I heard 'from the creators behind Death Note', I thought it'd be some grippy and suspenseful, a lot like Death Note, but you got my hopes up for it. Sweet.

Although it does worry me, I don't know about the pacing or the structure of the manga, but will the anime be faster and rush through it? I mean they are in what, grade 9 or something. Unless they decide not to go to High School, will we see grades 10 - 12? Or will that just be the first season (as this series is 24 episodes) and leave the rest for later...

well, the story followed the manga, but the animation was sloppy.

And 2 OP? Is that really necessary? I liked the idea of the Ultra Hero OP, but in that case, they shouldn't bring out the Bakuman OP...

Decent first episode. It hasn't completely hooked me yet, but I'll keep watching for at least another few episodes to see where it goes.

The two male leads are interesting enough. The big sticking point is going to be the would-be-seryu girlfriend. I've seen some grumbling from people that the manga is terribly sexist, but I haven't seen anything egregious in the anime yet. Just one more reason to give it another episode or two.

I'm feeling quite positive about this anime's future after the first episode.
It's funny and the pace is amazing. Just have to wonder though, if they will keep it up or if that is just an introductory overflow of information.
That girl and both leads are both interesting and likable characters.
Seems like an excellent addition to my weekly schedule alongside Shiki and Legendary Heroes.
Oh, episode 2 is already out. Great.

Yes, episode 2 steeled this series as one I am going to be watching this season. For once, it is not the female lead which is enticing me forward, but the interactions between the two guys. I pissed myself laughing at the scene in the sick bay, Takagi is hilarious, and their two personalities really work well together in order to make teh funnies.

Also, the animation is surprisingly good; for a series such as this you wouldn't always expect real fluid animation. Actually, I thought the same thing about Ika Musume, and Oreimo too... More money being put into anime these days?

Anyways characters are the hook, good art (especially character designs) a big plus, and an interesting story to boot. I am quite keen to see the rest of this; meaning I'll probably start reading the manga and ruin the anime for myself Sad

Episode 3 and I have a feeling that this series is fast making its way into my top 10 series of all time. I have a really good feeling about this one. From the premise onwards it has only gotten better and more interesting; the interplay between the two leads and their genuine desire to work is believable; and I like how they accurately describe and analyse the task ahead of them and work out exactly what they will need to do (as in, the series is going to go into the final details, not just throw in a montage and voila the manga is done). Miho's mum was cool and the thing with the spoiler[letters and the unrequited love] was a little bit sad whilst not being depressing or heavy-handed. The brief but funny references are great, and I am completely sold on the characters. Plus I like the voice acting (especially, again, those seiyuu doing the two male leads - it's really easy to listen to them converse, which is important in a series like this).

So yeah, obviously I won't jump the gun when it's only episode 3, but this is my pick of the series on show this season. Hopefully it keeps up; right now the show is so damn well balanced and I'm loving it. My only gripe with it is that I have to wait til episode 4 to see what happens next!

The mother is more interesting - not to mention more engaging and prettier to look at - than her own daughter (who's the main love interest).

It is really great to see the detail that goes on as to how a Manga is made. It strikes a good balance between giving us interesting information while still keeping the story enjoyable from a character standpoint.

This episode was very, very good, but not in an in-your-face kind of way. I wish more people would just give this series a chance. It is shaping up to easily be one of the best this season (definitely better than OreImo), and yet it seems overlooked.

I'm finding Bakuman kind of dull. Agreed that the stuff on manga making is interesting, but that's documentary stuff and hardly gripping dramatic material. They set up a romance (?) situation in the first eppie and then have done nothing with it, really. The show is decent enough to keep me going but I hope it becomes more engaging for me. Presumably when they finally get around to actually working on a manga, things might pick up.

All episodes seem to be going in this manner, so I can watch just first half and spare some minutes. As "how manga is made" it seems to be interesting (I hope it won't be too easy for them) but the romance piss me of like all other ones based on lack of communication. It was interesting once, but next time I see high school students who can't just talk to someone I don't know what kind of disease it is.

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