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Sunday, August 21, 2011

REVIEW: Bakuman

Ok so this is the first time I've written a review and I won't lie when I say I tend to like anything that will distract my eyes but I feel this would be a nice addition to my blog...

Anyways today I thought I'd review my current favorite manga, Bakuman. It's written by Tsugumi Ohba and the art's done by Takeshi Obata. Reconize those names? They're the same people who brought, us Death Note! Here in America they're only on volume 6 of the manga (released early August) while in Japan they're on volume 14 of the manga and currently released two seasons of anime. While both seasons of anime have been licenced by Media Blasters in the US, no release dates have been set... Boo...

Ok so let's get on with the actual review portion. The first thing that attracted me to this manga was it was about two kids trying to create their own manga and at the time I was dabbling in the idea of it myself. So while sitting there, reading my Shonen Jump magazine it felt only natural to read the three chapters they had released early. It's very heartwarming to start off telling you about the main characters, Marshiro's uncle, and how he was once a great manga artist before he worked himself to death, causing Marshiro to loose his wish of becoming a manga artist. Little did he know that one day he would meet Akito Takagi who is aspiring to write his own manga but he needs an artist. Of course Marshiro doesn't want to do it due to the gamble it puts him in and what happens to his uncle but that's not the kind of answer Takagi wanted. I guess what happens next is kinda clesae but there's a slight twist. Takagi is a reallly smart person... So he calls up Marshiro one night and tells him to come down to Miho Azuki's house, the girl Marshiro's been crushing on since middle school, Takagi tells Marshiro that he's going to confess to her, and wants Marshiro to be there. Of course Marshiro goes since it is his dream girls house. Turns out Takagi was not there to confess his love but tell her that he was going to start a manga and knew she wanted to be a voice actress. This was news to Marshiro so in an attempt to actually talk to Miho he agrees to draw in the manga with Takagi and when their manga gets animated he wants her to voice the main character. He gets caught up in the moment and what came next shocked me so I'm going to cross it out if you don't want it spoiled... Being caught up in the moment Marshiro proposes to Miho but they must never "see" each other again till their dreams come true. Ok yeah, so it's a little cheesey but it's different and something I did not see coming. I'm gonna stop summarizing now and try to actually tell you what I like so much about this manga.

To start, I loved Death Note so I had really high expectation and as the manga went on it really grew on me. I found myself laughing, crying, and believing in them as much as they did. What goes on between Marshiro and Miho is sooo cute and different but you'll be surprised by some of their actions. The characters you meet along the way each have their own distinct personalities and theirs not really any overlap between all of them. All I can say is six volumes in it has never really lost my interest and I find myself skipping pages just to know what happens! I guess in short I love all the characters, not in a fangirl way but more in a "you are awesome/hilarious/cute/epic" At times the story doesn't feel all realistic (mainly with Marshiro and Miho) but it never turned me off from the situation at hand. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'd give it a shot and if you dont like it, I'm sorry. If you do that's great! As an added bonus at the end of each chapter they will show a piece of the story board that went from Ohba to Obata to the printer which is something entirely unique. I totally reccomend this and can say it's not boring, it's not a book that's chapter after chapter of them sitting and creating a manga. There's plot behind everything and from I've read so far, NO FILLER! I hope you will at least read volume one wheather online or bought (Borders is having a pretty big sale >.>)

For those intersted in reading it there's a link to buying volume 1  here

I hope you guys enjoyed my review of Bakuman, I hope to do it again with some of my other favorite manga/anime as time goes one.

Until Then!!

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