Review written by Jammer
Writer: Tsugumi Ohba
Artist: Takeshi Obata
Age Rating: Teen
Moritaka Mashiro is in his last year of middle school. He's gone through his whole life as a good and responsible little boy, ready to become a cog in the giant machine that is corporate life. And though he doesn't really say it, he's grown sad and lonely due to this fact. At the back of his mind he's always something else for himself. Enter Akito Takagi, the classroom genius. Despite Takagi natural talent for schoolwork and solid work ethic, he's decided to become a manga writer, and he wants Mashiro to be his artist. Throw in a little bit of motivational love into the mix from Mashiro's crush Azuki, who says she'll marry him as soon as his manga gets turned into an anime, and you have Bakuman, the new manga about manga from Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, the creative minds behind the ever-popular Death Note.
I'm a big fan of sports shonen. I love how these stories are just able to focus purely on the sport, the love of said sport, and the motivation behind the protagonist to become the best he possibly can at said sport. Sure there may be a little bit of a love story on the side, but it's nothing that would take into shojo territory. Interestingly enough, Bakuman is walking that fine line between being the sports shonen of manga, and putting a little too much emphasis on the romance for a shonen manga. That being said, I wouldn't say that the romantic elements hold the story back or inhibit it. It actually works quite well and does nothing but service the story and the protagonist's motivation to become a great manga artist.
Characters Mashiro and Takagi are likable enough. Takagi more so as he is the more outgoing of the duo. He wears his motivation on his sleeve and is the kind of person any artist would absolutely love to be around. My problem, however, comes in the form of Azuki, Mashiro's love interest. I know I'm reading too much into a kid's manga here, but beautiful girls who are too shy to even talk to boys, I hate to say it, do not exist. If they do, it's usually due to some kind of social awkwardness. And the idea that these Azuki and Mashiro will go the next four and a half years completely devoted to each other without actually seeing each other is also incredibly ridiculous considering they've hardly said three words to each other. I suppose the whole romanticism of the idea is supposed to be the whole point, but I can only take so much before I can call shenanigans.
Also apparent was the sexism in the series. I remember not too long ago when sexism in Bakuman was a fairly big topic online. While I can't say whether it's horrible or not, I will say that it seems to be a product of Japanese culture rather than bias on the part of the author. We've grown so used to seeing so many strong women in anime that we tend to forget that despite what is in their pop culture, the roles that women are thrown into are far stricter than any of us in Western culture are willing to understand. Take what you will from that. It was a bit distracting to me, but not enough for me to lose track of what the story was really about.
Now that I've gotten the most negative aspects of the volume out of the way, let me say this...for an artist of any caliber, be it writer, filmmaking, drawing, etc...this manga is truly inspiring. Like I said before, this is basically a sports shonen about manga, so every aspect of the process is broken down for the reader. It really made me respect the entire process and made me want to work hard at whatever it is I want to do in life. As a writer, the manga made me very curious as to what kind of stories Takagi would conjure up in the future, and made me even more curious as to how far this story would delve into the manga that Takagi and Mashiro create.
I look forward to seeing these two flourish as they gain more experience and insight into the manga world. Enough so that I can forgive whatever thinly veiled semblance of a plot device they used to get Mashiro motivated. All negative aspects aside, I found this first volume to be incredibly enjoyable, well worthy of the $9.99 retail price. Even for those who have no particular interest in how manga is created. The hard work ethic needed in any creative process is universal.
Rating: 8.5/10
Pros: subject matter; it's incredibly inspiring
Cons: unbelievable female characters; some of the lovey-dovey coincidences, while cool, seem forced
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 12:30AM 
In this episode of Shootin' the Shit, we have Diego from the Hunter x Hunter Podcast and eventually Doctor from the SSAA Podcast join us to discuss such crucial topics as the latest movies, anime, and of course whatever the hell pops into our minds. Next week we will either be going over the manga "Toto" or something else, depends on the postal service.
