Bakuman. - Reviews

This is a show with a very nice story to it. There may be no action but the story is very well thought out. It also shows how hard it really is to write a mange and get it turned into an anime. By just watching this i learned many things that i never knew. I would recommend watching this if you like shows with a story line over just random fighting.

This series has a very unusual mix of shonen, slice of life, comedy, and romance. Centered around two young, inspiring mangakas (people that want to make mangas for a living) and their love intrests, this series shows a fairly inspirational plot line filled with many a ddetermined young (and sometimes not so young) man.

Story: 9/10

Well, I suppose the story isn't anything amazing, but it is well done. The two main characters go through many trials and tribulations in order to try and get a manga published in Shonen Jack, each of them for their own reason. Frustration from lack of sucess, anger between partners, love in relationships, rivalry between competetors, and desire to succeed is all put into this story, and it is all done well.

Animation: 8.5/10

Very unique character designs abound in this series. Characters that look their part float around, making this a very attractive series to watch. There is not too much action to speak of, but what is there seems to be done well.

Sound: 9/10

This series does a great job casting voice actors that fit the characters. Fairly recent big names in anime such as Atsushi Abe (known largely for playing Touma in Index) and Satoshi Hino (known for playing Saito in Zero no Tsukaima) for the male leads and Saori Hayami (Sakie in Eden of the East) and Sayuri Yahagi (Haruna from to Love-ru) are the lead characters. I would also like to point out that Nobuhiko Okamoto does a near perfect job with Nizuma, a competing mangaka. The OPs and EDs are all well done and the sounds within the series are all well done as well.

Characters: 8.5/10

This series does a great job making characters that you don't like at first, then FORCING you to come to like them. Nizuma is the main example of this. Pretty much all of the other characters are well done and very likable. The best part is that few, if any, of these characters are direct ports of older characters, which you find very often in slice of life series, or just series in general this day.

Overall: 8.75/10

The only real drawback to this series could come from the slow pacing they keep up throughout the series. If you are interested in the process of making a manga, or inspired to accomplish something, this is a great series to watch.

I have always thought it was ludicrous to review an anime when the series isn't even half way through. I'm writing this after marathoning the first 5 episodes after only planning on watching the first to fall asleep too. Its now almost 4 in the morning and I'm still not sleeping due to sheer excitement.

I have not been this excited about an anime series after only watching the first few episodes....well, ever.

As its only 5 episodes in, I promise I will go back and finish this review. I just want to let everyone know that if your not watching this, your missing out on something truly special.

Even if the series goes bad, you can still appreciate what a glorious start it has had. Though, after taking a sneak peak (tiny I swear!!) at the manga, it only gets better from here.

Point blank, best opening episodes.

Watch it. Now.

 

Update: 12 episodes in

Wow, just wow. I'm being blown away. This shit is pure gold. I would never think an anime about writing manga could be so exciting and intense. Many of the scenes made me think back to when I watch Hikaru No Go for the first time thinking "Its a fricken board game, how exciting can it be?" Boy was I wrong that time, and Bakuman is just as good.

What makes Bakuman better then Hikaru No Go is the relationships are being muched more flushed out, and with much more depth. On the romance side, while not completely believable, it is damn interesting, with some great characterization.

As a whole, the characters are fantastic. I've been cheering for our main leads since day one.

Animation is pretty good; what one would expect from an anime of this quality. The character designs were great. Finally, an anime with characters whom eyes are not larger then the rest of their face.

While some parts of Bakuman might be overly dramatic (particularly the relationship between the male lead and his girl), this is making one hell of a coming-of-age anime.

This is going to be considered the best anime of this winter season; maybe even the best anime of the year. Even if it is only half as good for the remainer of the season, this will still go on my wall as a top 10 pick. On its current path, it is a contender in the top 3.

I'll repeat what I said earlier.Watch it. Now.

 

P.S.

Some might find it a little sexist with its focus on the males with the women seemingly only there to support the men. However, if this trivial matter turns you off from an otherwise absolutely brilliant show, then you have no business watching anime. Seems like half the shit that the studios pump out this day are genre stereotypes with sexism in one way or another.

 

I thought that this anime was a little slow with the plot and the story line, but it was able to get the main message across. I would highly recommend this anime to other people who want something a little more soothing and not so action packed like AOT or Tokyo Ghoul. It has easy and relatable characters because no matter what you're dream is, you (most likely) have gone through some struggle or turmoil to get it which this anime illustrates perfectly. Overall, it was a really well done anime even though it had its downfalls.

Bakuman is by the same wonderful geniuses that created one of my personal favorite series:

Death Note.

 

But be warned Death Note fans, Bakuman doesn't have an L or a Light, nor is there any criminals being murdered.

The story, I will say, slightly drags on. I almost decided to give up on the anime when I was on the 10th or so episode. I'm glad I didn't though, because the suspense became riveting as the story line progressed, and I couldn't help but finish it all in one night...even if I was almost too tired to keep my eyes open! And on the last episode I cried, which is a good sign. All good animes should make you cry or laugh or have some kind of emotion!

The characters were wonderful and unique as all of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's characters are. They all had their own little quirks, weakeness, and strengths. I really started to like Niizuma Eiji towards the end for his extreme uniqueness, but I'll say that Takagi had a slight similarity to Light from Death Note. (In his looks anyway.)

Overall, I'd give this series a 9/10. It kept me interested for quite a while until it started slowing down, but it wasn't too bad to drop. It started heating up again quickly and made me happy towards the end in a feel-good sort of way. I would recommend this anime to almost anyone for it's art, story, and pretty much everything about it.