as with any addiction, in some cases I’m scared to talk about the hold Bakuman has on me. I called the series one of my best Manga of 2011, due to how much I delight in and anticipate reading it, but I well know that it also has flaws, mostly relating to its horribly cardboard female characters. Still, I look forward to each new volume with terrific gusto, because I love following the struggles of the manga artists and the details revealed about the industry, especially how they work with the magazine staff who are their bosses.
The boys’ original editor is now working with Iwase, introduced in the previous volume as a rival for Takagi, the writer. I like her skills, but her motivation to beat Takagi as a way of forcing him to be interested in her is ridiculous. The rest of her attitudes, though, are quite amusing. When told her series was accepted for serialization, her editor is amazed that she’s not much more excited. She responds, “It’s just that I’ve never failed an exam or had a submission turned away in my life.” I could grow to like her.
Perhaps I ought to follow Ed’s guidance of simply ignoring any relationship story pages and just read the bits about making comics. That especially goes for the subplot of Takagi promising his girlfriend they’d get married if their new story got accepted as a series. I suspect that’s to allow for comedy bits, such as Mashiro pretending to be her dad so Takagi can practice asking him for her hand, but it’s at best funny in an unpleasant way. few American readers can relate to either wanting to get married so young or the girlfriend’s lack of any ambition or goals for herself.
Anyway, Iwase’s artist is Nizuma, taking on a second series in a groundbreaking decision, and he’s always a pleasure to see much more of, because he comes the closest to “crazy obsessive artistic genius” in type. (I wouldn’t want to work with him, but he’s terrific to read about, especially how everyone else uses him as a barometer for talent.) how all the other young creators take the news of the new series allows for checking in with the broad cast of supporting players. I particularly like the brief mentions we get of Hiramaru, the one who can’t make a deadline without his editor sitting in his room staring at him. He’s developed a crush on miss Aoki (who’s shown on the cover), and his editor is taking terrific advantage of this romantic pressure point to keep him working. (I like her, too, in her quiet certainty and her request to only work with female assistants to avoid complications.)
The much more I read, the much more I share the guys’ dislike for their editor, who doesn’t seem to know much about what he’s doing. even when he is clear on his goals, they’re not the same as what the young boys want, pointing out how what’s good for the manga magazine and the company may not be the best thing for the artists. He does get some development this volume, though, learning to make different kinds of choices.
The conflict in this installment is that the boys’ new manga is doing well, but it’s a joke-based series that mostly appeals to kids. It’s successful, but none of their pals like it, because it’s too young for them. Those friends, meanwhile, are working on series that rank higher, so the men have to figure out whether to be satisfied with what they have or strive to create something much more artistically challenging. In short, it’s the classic argument of art vs. commerce, whether a working developer ought to objective for prestige and recognition or stability and money.
Once again, we’re left with a cliffhanger that puts the guys’ profession on the line, all the while they’re shaking up the typical way of working. It becomes clear that Takagi’s marriage is another way of ramping up the potential effects, because he’s going to have a partner to support. changing his state is a way of signifying the significance of learning to make adult decisions. I ought to have had much more faith in the Bakuman creators — they use their characters like paper dolls, the women especially, but there’s always a dramatic purpose behind it. (The publisher offered a review copy.)
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