i'm a fan of takeshi obata's drawings thats for sure. i love the details and everything.
the first few chapters got me hooked- i thought it was funny and interesting, however unfortunately i quickly loss interest. the pace is much too slow for my liking and the romance is mediocre.. the girl's character is completely flat. too bad it had lots of potential but just fell flat and boring.

I have to say, when I first looked this up... I didn't think I'd like it. I was totally hooked after the first chapter. I think it's really interesting to tell the story of mangakas', and I honestly want to know what's going to happen!

Recommended. I can see there are some haters... but every series has to have a few.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this series, but even more so if I admitted this series couldn't have been so much better, the same kind of feeling I had when I read Death Note, though this series is truly more similar to Hikaru no Go (hard for anyone to miss that).

At the moment only chapter 71 has been out, the story has been dragging on for quite a while. But if it's the author's wish to make the readers anxious for the duo to get back on the right track, with the original editor, and their original style, then I must say the author has done a wonderful job, and as such it's unfair to rate the series now.
One thing is for certain though, the romance bit is a little superficial, more like just some kind of device to get the main plot moving. It fluctuates between being funny and being lame, but is always far-fetched, unattended and shounen-ish.



... Last updated on February 7th, 2010, 4:20am

The process of manga creation is probably of interest to anyone with a greater-than-average interest in manga itself. Bakuman's focus is ostensibly, about that process (which differs greatly from the production of mainstream comics in the U.S.), but thankfully goes deeper than that. You get some insight into the differing motivations for creating manga (love, money, popularity, boredom, etc.) through the interaction of some eccentric and varied caricatures, which progressively evolve into more complete characters (again, thankfully).

Bakuman is an easy-going read, in my opinion. The art is solid (albeit non-consistent—it’s sort of like Obata can’t get used to his adopted “lightweight” style, and doesn’t know exactly what to eliminate to sell the style 100%). The story is lighthearted, and overall enjoyable. You wanna see the protagonists succeed, get the girl, etc. Redundant critique of clichés aside (you have to expect them in shonen), that doesn't excuse it from dropping off into some formulaic plots and twists.

Basic pattern is as follows: Our heroes want to get serialized in Shonen Jump, present new series to editor, meet with editor’s critique/praise/flat-out rejection. If “critique,” revise with protagonists reading manga of some vague genre and some library books to get new ideas to make the manga better. If rejected, all of the above plus some dejected dialogue and heavy moods. If praise, 2 chapters or so of sweat droplets and pacing (can you picture one of those “follow the arrow” diagrams yet?). At this point, either the manga succeeds in getting serialized, or doesn’t. It’s fun at first to see the protagonists win and lose, but it’s starting to strike like clockwork. Yes, I understand these are the tenets of crafting tension, but really…when will things start moving?

My other main concern is the complete preoccupation with “getting popular.” Yes, I know Mashiro wants the manga to get popular enough to warrant an anime, and then marry his voice-actor wannabe bride-to-be, but honestly, the pandering to demographics is startling (which might be a subtle and intentional poke by the authors…I mean, did you see how awful Tanto’s character design is? Heart-head?). Considering Takagi’s talents in crafting off-beat stories, it’s a shame to see his talents wasted in “battle manga” and “funny scenes.” Hopefully the time comes when they snap out of their short-sighted ambitions and go back to dark, cult manga (feels soon…perhaps 3-4 chapters if all goes well with Hattori’s master plan). Now, considering Takagi’s new grasp on humour, perhaps the new project will combine a sinister plot with some black comedy, and strike an unexpected chord with a mass audience.

I’m obviously still hooked. This is mostly nitpicking. There are many series far worse, and with better starting premises than this. So, even with some predictable things going on, Bakuman has remained pretty damn fresh after 70 chapters.

... Last updated on January 28th, 2010, 11:17am

For Complainers:

Like I tell everyone to become a mangaka isn't easy. Coming up with a story and have to draw that suits the story thats not something anyone can do. If you are reading this manga it explains how much work these guys are putting just to entertain us and to make a living. For people who complain about the filler episodes for One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach here's your answer: READ BAKUMAN!

My Opinion:

I know there has been many other mangas that tell a story about mangakas but this one has to be truly the best! Explains every little detail on how mangakas do their job and how they make money and what they do to become number one. It's so popular that many kids in Japan want to become mangakas in the future and they can learn what they have to do by just reading this manga. Not only that it is also going to become an anime in the Fall so that's something to look forward too!

Okay, I thought Bakuman was seriously great. It's really interesting, the characters are easy to get close to, and the art is simply amazing. The art is so detailed, and it really amazes me at how much the plot is developed at the same time. I liked Death Note too; the only reason I'm not too big of a fan is because the protago..nist...er...main character Light, was a bit hard to sympathize with and because it was a bit too dark and serious for my taste. But Bakuman is really light and interesting; we finally get to know how Jump works. I was really surprised when I saw how small its fandom was.

I never read a manga before about how the main characters become mangaka's. It's new kind of manga so the plot isn't predictable at least to me. The story starts out interesting but after chapter 60, it doesn't look as interesting and may be starting to worsen. Hopefully it gets better and fresh like in the beginning of the series.

I have read up to the current chapter(61). The whole plot is just amazing. Its a inside view how the magakas work. Also the romance is really good you just want to keep on reading. I am going to read more when it is released.

I have read all the current chapters and it really does make me want more of it. It's fun and exciting to know more about the world of manga through reading this and it has a very informative aspect about what & how the manga world works.

... Last updated on November 11th, 2009, 4:34am

This somehow reminds me of Hajime no Ippo, showing a career of a young boxer/mangaka in lots of details...
I like that story doesn't go at snails paste, art is good also.
Good that this is so much different from Death Note.

Though the only thing that bothers me is that there might be no real climax in the end, but ill have faith in authors.

... Last updated on September 29th, 2009, 2:31am