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Bakuman

Bakuman written by Tsugumi Ohba and drawn by Takeshi Obata

Bakuman follows the story of high school student Moritaka Mashiro, a talented artist who does not know what he wants to do with his future. One day he draws a picture of Miho Azuki , a girl he is secretly fond of, during class he forgets the notebook at school. He comes back to find that his classmate Akito Takagi is waiting for him with his notebook. Takagi tries to convince Mashiro to become a mangaka, a manga artist, with him, only leading to Mashiro's disagreement. Mashiro goes home and thinks about his mangaka uncle, who had only one successful series before he died in obscurity. Mashiro is interrupted by a phone call from Takagi, who says that he is going to tell Azuki that Mashiro likes her. Mashiro runs down to Azuki's house to find Takagi waiting for him. Once Azuki comes out to meet them, Takagi tells her that he and Mashiro are aiming to be mangaka. Mashiro then learns that she wants to be a seiyū, a voice actor, and has shown promise in the field. Mashiro, once again thinking about his uncle, accidentally proposes to Azuki who accepts. However, she will only marry him after they achieve their dreams. Mashiro and Takagi after sending in several manga, begin a manga series titled Detective Trap. Shortly after the series is canceled, Mashiro and Takagi begin their work for their next manga series, Run, Daihatsu Tanto!

Source: Wikipedia.org

REVIEW:
Bakuman is one of those manga that once you've read a couple of chapters, it'll be really hard to stop reading. It started out with two boys trying to fulfill their dream of becoming a mangaka. Although it may sound too cliched as there are a lot of slice-of-life mangas where the characters are trying to fulfill their dreams but this one is different for behind Mashiro's dream of becoming a mangaka is his promise to Azuki, his fiance, that once their dreams are fulfilled, they will marry.

Unlike other mangas, there are less school scenes, is fast-paced and the focus is more on their life as a mangaka which is a good thing because it prevents the story from being too out of the original story and will make the whole story draggy. Also, the twists are unexpected where unpredictable team-ups of characters are formed, new rivals unveils themselves and interesting plots are made by the characters.

The characters and their realationships with each other is pretty interesting. They are all rivals but at the same time, they are friends who help each other out to improve each of their own mangas. As you read more chapters, you'll see how each character develop and change through their experiences. An example would be Mashiro who at first, is a boy who had 'no directions' in life. He just accepted what life gives him until he meets Shujin who made him want to become a mangaka again like he did when his uncle was still alive. Another would be Azuki Miho who at first would be seen as a quiet, shy girl but as the story progresses, you'll see her expressing herself more. Also, the characters just speak out their minds at their will which makes it funny and very entertaining so you'll never get tired of them.

But, a not so good thing about this manga is that at a certain point, you'll think that the story just repeated itself. Ashirogi writing a story then having some quarrel with their editor and then, Ashirogi joining Akamaru and getting serialized. After a while, they get cancelled. So they wrote a new story, fought with their editor, joined Akamaru and again got serialized. Despite of this, the story is very catchy and every time a chapter is finished, a cliffhanger is left which makes you want to read another chapter.

I'm really looking forward to the Anime version of Bakuman later this 2010. In the meantime, let's hope that this manga written and drawn by the same duo who made Death Note, will keep us entertain and inspire us to fulfill our own dreams.

FINAL BYAKU RATING: B