I think that Bakuman was great and incomparable to Ohba x Obata's other works, namely Death Note. It's refreshing, inspirational and not too dramatic. It's well-paced and not too cliche though it can be repetitive sometimes. It's not your typical shounen. The romance may be boring and unrealistic for most but the story makes up for it(IMO).
Also, I know that each and everyone of us is entitled to their own opinion. But I think that calling any work, in which someone put blood and sweat to make, crap or worthless is very rude. Empathy is much appreciated. I don't really have anything against you guys so don't kill me, alright? Peace!

We all like to read manga, but we never think about how it's made and how much effort was put into it. Well this manga is exactly about that and it changed how I read other mangas.

Although there is romance in this I thought the mangaka showdowns (especially the one between Ashirogi Mutou and Eichi) were a lot more interesting. And for the Mashiro-Azuki romance I didn't care at all. For me they were just two people who liked each other because they both had a loose screw in their heads (and Azumi's helmet haircut annoyed me to death...). The other romances were fine.

I liked how the mangakas in this were both friends and rivals at the same time. There's a lot of characters in this, a lot of them I loved, most of them I liked and some I wanted to stab in the forehead with a fork (*cough cough Miura cough*). My favorite was Yoshida though.

This is why I like manga so much, it can take some completely normal and boring element from daily life (like someone doing their job) and it makes it so interesting and engaging.
I'd recommend this to experienced readers, because to manga beginners it might seem long and draggy.

I was a few month ago when I bought the last volumn of Bakuman. I didn't feel so excited. I just thought that I had to buy it to complete this series. Reading this volumn didn't make me feel any better. It was just the same old pattern with the expected happy ending.
Today, I re-read the first two volumns of the series. They was so engaging that I forgot to study for the exam tomorrow. This series had a really strong start. A manga about manga, a close look into the industry, a realistic plot,.. everything was novel and brilliant. I didn't recall that it was this good. I finally realize that the following volumns, especially those last ones, went down a lot compared to its strong start. Some arcs were too long and somehow ridiculous, even repetitous at some points.
However, I still strongly believe that Bakuman is a good manga. Not only did it bring you enjoyment but also a deep knowledge about manga industry.

This manga is a victim of its biggest weakness. The combination of its strength and parts that were all over the place.
It is wordy. Lots of text. Which is great for engaging parts but it makes more boring parts downright painful some times.
And with the way it went all over the place even losing the track of main supportive cast... 20 volumes of the wordiest manga I remember. Could've easily lost 5 volumes.

And the second half is the guiltiest of going all over the place

Tempo(manga time per volume) is inconsistent and some of the stretched out periods overstay their welcome.
Still 8. Might be to generous though.

Greatest piece of story-telling ever created. It may be an exaggeration for lots of people, but no matter what I read, what I watch, nothing captivates me to the same extent that Bakuman. does. To those of you who find aspects boring, I understand that it requires patience and I understand that there are parts that are repetitive... name any Shonen manga in which there aren't, but the only time you'll be wasting on this masterpiece, is the time taken when flicking from one page to the next. This is more than a ten. This is the kind of story other Mangakas aspire to.

I rather enjoyed shounen manga that wasn't typical battle or harem genre.
Characters were good for most part, especially mangakas were all great with some depth.
Art was from pretty good to excellent, most because i like the style.
I felt story as too short (i wish epilogue to be published someday) but better quit when you're ahead
and not dragging series meaninglessly.

What the first volumes had was excitement -- I will always love the scene in which editors and authors face off. The latter half tried to hold on to the momentum with limited success.

Bakuman endevoured to talk about writing, but without anything worthwhile to say, and beyond the reality of the current manga publishing industry, nothing interesting either. By the double digits volumes Bakuman has resorted to character posturing and tired speed lines. Dialogue suffer the same dilemma, saying a lot while actually saying nothing.

When they stop being underdogs, how do you make readers continue to root for them? Not by demonizing others is a good step. Focus on character development, maybe, because *there was none*.

If I could give more than +10 rating I would. This is a 11 or 12 easily. Maybe a bit too much text and too little humor? But its amazing for what it is. Example: Noblesse is pretty amazing and you can read it again and again. However at the same time its a bit superficial (shallow in content), Bakuman blew me away. I have read 400 mangas and this one left me content. I don't think I can read a manga again in the future without referencing it to Bakuman.

to conclude, READ IT.

... Last updated on May 12th, 2012, 8:41am

Part 1:
It tells you a lot about how hard someone has to work to get serialized in a magazine, and how it all happens. The characters are awesome and their thoughts, ideas and actions seem very natural. The romance is cute. There's lots of text, but that's kind of the intention of this manga, to tell you all kinds of things along with the plot development.

Personally I didn't get hooked on the anime, but with the manga it's easy to skim through chapters when you feel like it. It's definitely interesting, the manga making process; but also the deep friendships, blooming romance and the connection between those two. Either way both manga and anime are pretty well executed, I can only recommend you to give it a go and read it (or watch the anime).

One of the most incredible things about this manga is that the introduced characters (bar temporary side characters) so far are very very likeable, and all have different characters, traits and dreams.

Part 2:
Going to be honest here. The MOMENT the manga starts focusing on romance: Takagi love rectangle, Nakai love triangle etc. (starts mid ch. 60-ies), it goes terribly downhill in my opinion. It's not where the focus should be. Making manga, having hardships & breaking through, ups and downs when being serialized etc., the sweet blooming love between Mashiro & Azuki: perfect. But stupid and LONG WINDED drama isn't needed here. I struggled through but found that from then on there was a definite decline..

... Last updated on March 18th, 2012, 11:19am

This is absolute PERFECTION! I'll admit although it's up on my top 5 list, it's not my fav fav. The reason for that is personal taste and nothing else.

Let's say this, my opinion is that this manga exceeded the limits of it's settings with execution. Alot of times mangas have interesting settings, but the mangaka failed to pull that potential out. Bakuman I feel is the complete opposite.

This is my opinion only, but I feel like these types of manga that gives a light atmosphere, is limited in potential. They simply don't leave strong enough impression on you. For example, mangas like God's Child, NANA, and even Death Note, they leave a much stronger impression on you than mangas in the school life genre. Those that focus on the extremes of human emotion, I feel they have more potential to make it right there at the top of my list at least.
However, in Bakuman's case, if not for the limits of the topic and my taste, the execution of the story can only be said to be the best of best. Therefor, it's the most perfect manga I've read probably. It crossed the borders of limits with skill and not potential.

... Now, biased time over lol. This manga always catches me by surprise, totally unpredictable and never lets you down. You think one way and it'll turn out not the other way but one you never dreamed of. Keeps you on your toes reading. This is probably a huge reason to the below mentioned too, having to be able to just drop all the thinking and predictions and follow the plot. With that said, this is definitely a very standard shounen manga, with the fact that it's under slice of life and doesn't focus on physical fighting. I find this a very refreshing change. There's nothing wrong with stereotypes, they just have a whole bunch of replicas. I'm sure there was a day when we all enjoyed the very basic and run-of-the-mill mangas. The problem with that though, every manga is pretty much the same once you swap out the character names. However, in Bakuman and other rare cases, they give you the very basic and standard shounen, in a new way. I do love shounen, but it's hard to find one that doesn't bore you out.

Another thing, as someone who came from watching animes first, I do enjoy very much how well Bakuman leads our emotions. I cooled down a lil after dropping season 2 and picking up the manga, but it's definitely one of the best in that area. Yea... basically means I'm a huge fan of Ashirogi Muto. There's many who says the main characters are on the weak side, but I have to say I argue against that. Sure, they do have a bit of a more realistic and um... less aggressive? personality. I gotta say, that's a huge reason to my love for them. (Not that I don't love the others as well.) I feel they fit Bakuman perfectly, and a large part to keeping the manga original in a way.

Again... there's probably people with different thoughts, but for me, these types of manga just aren't taste. But I still love it enough for it to be in my top 5. It's my opinion, nothing more nothing less.

(One thing to mention to all those Bakuman haters out there, yes, you rare few. Stop judging a manga for what it's not. You don't like shounen? How did you get here then = =.)

... Last updated on April 8th, 2012, 1:49am