It was almost to be expected after Obata’s last few projects, which were little more than average: he teams up again with the writer of ‘Death Note’. Their new manga series, ‘Bakuman’ is just starting in Weekly Jump, with a first chapter of 58 pages.
Obata and Ohba do the only sensible thing in their situation: they come up with a story that is completely different from ‘Death Note’, but allows for occasional ‘Death Note’ references to keep the fans happy. ‘Bakuman’ is about two boys trying to become mangaka, which could become the perfect basis for a lot of self-ironic reflections on the authors’ own careers. The first chapter does have a bit of talk about what a tough job it is even for established authors, which does sound like Obata’s own experience with ‘Ral Grad’, the (rightfully) cancelled ‘Death Note’ successor. But these parts are not particularly funny, nor are they revealing anything new about the business, unless you are completely new to Weekly Jump manga.
I don’t feel ready to review this manga after only one chapter. I will wait a few chapters more to see what kind of series it will become. The first chapter was a little uneven and left me unsure what I thought of it or expected of it in the future.
It was a little boring, too. A lot of time was spent on showing the main character be depressed, pessimistic and disillusioned about his future. It took until the last ten pages for him to perk up and declare his intention of becoming a famous mangaka. That scene suddenly made the manga look like a comedy or even a parody. I’m just not sure if that was intended. After fifty pages of depression, I cannot take the sudden burst of optimism seriously at all. But ‘Bakuman’ isn’t funny enough to be a comedy, and that’s mostly because of its protagonist, who is dull as a brick, and who somehow made ME feel depressed about life halfway through the chapter. If the second chapter will have more of him angsting about the future, I’ll probably quit reading this manga for mental health reasons.
So far: average shonen manga about a boy who wants to follow a dream and become the best in his chosen profession. Biggest problems: very slow pace, lame emo main character. The artwork is nice, definitely more lively than ‘Death Note’, with a more interesting character design. Not sure what to think of the romance aspect yet, but if that isn’t a parody, I’ll barf.
Tags: Bakuman, Manga review, takeshi obata, Tsugumi Ohba
August 11, 2008 at 11:20 am
[...] Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata have started a new series, Bakuman, in Weekly Jump, and Anna reads the first chapter at Manga, not [...]
August 24, 2008 at 9:58 am
heii…i love bakuman so much^^.
October 25, 2008 at 5:53 am
ya..i love bakuman 2..
seem like obata and ohba in manga..
November 8, 2008 at 2:55 am
i really love this series but its not better than Death Note (^3^)
December 19, 2008 at 2:16 am
The series definitely gets better as the chapters go on. I felt it was the same case as Death Note – the first few chapters are introductory and a bit dull, but they set the stage for the upcoming fast-paced action, which reads easy and is surprisingly suspenseful.
December 19, 2008 at 7:25 am
Don’t compare it to DN, compare it to the manga with a similar theme orsubject matter. The only thing it shares with DN is the pretentiousness, although it’s actually more obnoxious in Bakuman. This whole “cult VS mainstream” thing really strikes me as ego-stroking. The kids’ awesome cult manga, “Money And Intelligence” sounds from the title alone like a really blunt, ham-handed allegory for how the authors perceive their career.
I have looked at fan reactions and know they eat it up gleefully, so it’s apparantly working: DN fans are probably easily satisfied as soon as you assure them that they’re more awesome than the rest for not reading those filthy mainstream battle manga, but the intelligent cult hits.
(Except Death Note isn’t cult, it’s about as mainstream as manga get these days.)
But yeah, I keep thinking Bakuman might get better. Develop their rival beyond a caricature to make the dull, stupid, immature heroes look better, maybe. Give them some setbacks. No, their manga coming third place only doesn’t count, especially not since they are immediately assured that it’s just because of the stupid little children and – ew – girls! who just didn’t “get” their manga.
And in comes the only female character who isn’t a pretty male wish fulfilment (yet is still not a particularly rounded charcter) and states that she doesn’t want to keep doing karate, but something more ~feminine~. It’s really lines like that that throw me off this manga again and again. Karate is good. Karate means you can defend yourself. Women shouldn’t be able to defend themselves, but rather need the protection of their heroic male partner, I guess? Thanks, Bakuman. I sure as hell hope none of the female readers are buying into this crap. I know some are. I have seen girls agree with some of this nonsense. I doubt they’d agree with it if it was an unknown mangaka stating it, but it’s Ohba, and they want desperately to believe that Ohba is insightful and deep, instead of a shallow, misogynistic hack. Sad.
December 29, 2008 at 11:24 pm
in this society some thing are girly or boyish. is it wrong for a girl to do something she thinks is more feminine?…anyway I love this manga. it seems like a average romance shonen story just with an unfamiliar plot.It makes the story have a wonderful originality.
December 30, 2008 at 12:39 pm
No, but it IS wrong for an author to consequently portray “girls doing feminine things” as good, and “girls doing masculine things” as bad.
January 18, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Well…………..my two cents here….
I liked the first cover very much—-and the very first chapter, especially the classroom scene in the very beginning—-BUT, never before have my feelings towards a manga changed as fast.
To sum it up—it´s boring as hell (most of the time).
The main character (don´t even know what his name is) is unlikeable as hell. He just keeps whining and depressing everyone. And even the forced humour in later chapter doesn´t change that much.
The other, blond guy, is more likeable- even interesting. And I found myself wanting to read more about his story as time progressed.
Though I must say that his constant display of arrogance gets on my nerves.
About the whole femalebashing stuff——-well, there is a certain antifemale aura. I don´t know what Obatas or Ohbas problem there is, but it is not very pleasent to read.
I mean, I could overlook the whole “more feminine” rubbish, especially since we´re talking about Japan, but it gets worse with each chapter.
Or is there a gender that would like to hear that they´re stupid, petty, not meant for bigger things than the kitchen………..annoying, it really is.
But as always, it´s up to you people to decide if you want to give this one a shot or not.
February 14, 2009 at 5:06 pm
The story is lacking more female characters(female mangaka), but it does have a strong female character(miyoshi) The main character to me seems most likable. the writer is a little bit too emotional and I find him doing unbelievable things like jumping up and complaining about feelings ect.
maybe its just me…I just like the fire in his eyes…maybe its an artist thing…
3…’s
April 11, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Just my two cents –
I don’t believe Bakuman is bashing battle manga, or especially trying to promote “cult” manga – after all, Nizuma draws battle manga and it’s “excellent” – it’s just not the protagonists’ style.
I don’t think the authors were especially trying to say that learning karate was bad either – after all, Miyoshi remains a rather violent character (beating Takagi up and all) but both boys acknowledge that she’s nice and she’s still lovable. However, I also agree that the series seems to be encourage quite a flat viewpoint towards females…
August 16, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Man, I can’t disagree with this review enough–this series is HILARIOUS. It reminds me of the movie ‘Singin’ In The Rain’–it’s a manga about making manga, poking irreverent fun at the industry, the product, the process, the creators and the creation, with crazy protagonists clashing against equally crazy antagonists. It’s all lovingly stuffed with drama, slapstick, solid information, and massive hyperbole. I marathoned…jeez, I don’t know, 40 chapters or something, and I couldn’t put it down. I love this series to soggy bits. Crow-Boy in particular is made of win and awesome.
Maybe you got a sloppy translation, or something?
August 16, 2009 at 8:24 pm
No, I did not get a sloppy translation or something. I just don’t like this manga for actually a variety of reasons. Get used to it, people have different opinions.
August 17, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Oh, it was just a thought–after all, a bad translation has dampened my liking for many a series, and I thought that perhaps that had happened here.
Please, there’s no need to get upset about my post–I certainly did not mean to make you angry!
August 23, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Please understand I am simply getting tired of hearing people tell me why they think I don’t like their favourite manga. “You don’t like it because you were expecting a second Death Note”, “You would like it if you ever tried drawing manga!”, “You just read a bad translation”, etc etc.
I was originally planning to write a review about Bakuman at its 1 year anniversary, but frankly, I am fed up with getting Bakuman fans whine at me and insult me and belittle me. If you want a place to rave about Bakuman, do it elsewhere, all the commenting on this blog will not change my mind, or make this a better manga than it is.
August 20, 2009 at 1:55 am
i found bakuman is pertty good