Bakuman 3 - 14 - Lost in Anime

There’s more than a little about this episode that has an air of finality to it.

OP2: “23:40” by Hyadain

With a new cour comes a new OP and ED for Bakuman – quite probably the last we’ll ever see. And they set that tone, especially the OP sequence, which is extremely Mashiro-centric with lots of glimpses of the hazy past, and seems to suggest a re-focusing around the core themes of the series as we reach the final stage (presumably). As for the ED, it’s similarly reflective and heavy on still shots.

As I’ve said before, Niizuma may be the one character in anime who gets the most impact in the least screen-time – both in terms of pure entertainment value and impact on the plot and characters. He’s a force on both sides of the Bakuman fourth wall, and when he does decide to assertively insinuate himself on events you can bet the stakes will be high. I know there are people with his type of ability in the real world (he’s based on one, in fact) but Niizuma is the most like a manga character of any of the characters in this manga. He’s a mangaka superhero, really – a guy who seemingly has no limits but those he places on himself, and is generally free from the petty jealousies that drive most people (especially artists) in their public and private lives.

It hit me a few moments before Eiji actually said the word “Crow” which manga he wanted to end – which I guess means at least for me the writing of this scenario worked perfectly. It made a certain amount of sense that he might be targeting PCP, and even more that it might be Natural (though that wouldn’t be his style) but ultimately, it makes the most sense for him to use his special power against himself. The nature of the guy’s freakish ability is that pretty much simply be deciding to, he can take his manga to #1 and keep it there – and I would argue it’s for a noble cause. I’m sure this is being set up as a gray area and it makes an excellent plot driver, but my feelings on this are pretty strong – why shouldn’t a guy who’s produced big-time for his magazine be allowed to end his manga when he sees fit? “Go out on top” is something often talked about and rarely done, and if Eiji has the balls to do it I say good for him – he knows better than anyone else what the right time to end Crow is, and it seems he’s known it since he started writing it.

If he can pull this off, no one should have any complaints because he’s certainly set himself a high enough bar. Not only did he volunteer the condition of 10 straight weeks at #1 with Sasaki, but upped the ante when the others in “Team Fukuda” objected. Ashiroghi-sensei has a pretty good beef – if Eiji quits Crow before they beat him they’ll feel pretty unfulfilled – but it isn’t as though they haven’t had plenty of chances. I have no doubt that Niizuma is plenty pleased to see the inspiration he’s provided to his competitors – bluntly, there’s no one else who could have that effect – but I also think he fully intended to win this challenge. And I find myself rooting for him to do so, as much as I’d like Ashirogi to reach the top – he deserves to end his story as he sees fit, and in RL I’d be pretty excited to see what he comes up with next.

Everyone else’s story continues apace, and the funny thing is that for all his eccentricities Eiji is as professional as they come. He knows Natural isn’t especially good at the moment but he does his job – delivering great art ahead of schedule, without it impacting his own manga – and he’s smart enough to know that even though he could make Natural better, Iwase would never stand for it. Meanwhile Giri continues to ride the strength of its anime adaptation and has finally nipped PCP for 3rd place, and it’s never been more clear to both Mashiro and Takagi that though they’re still young, they’re being passed by here. PCP, it seems, may have run its course as a career-builder for them – and their quest to find the right serialization and win the likely battle over ending PCP that would come with it is surely going to be a major driver in the final cour.

ED2: “Yume Sketch” by JAM Project

14 comments

Ishruns

January 8, 2013 at 12:40 pm

Actually the chapter in the manga this is from was around the time that Tite Kubo wanted to end bleach but was forced to continue it into the current shambolic arc (well except for the soul city arc, all of bleach was pretty crappy)

So I think this episode is about this weird phenomenon in Jump's editing department. Ohba and Obata sensei might have suffered from it as well during Death Note.

azeriraz

January 8, 2013 at 12:48 pm

My money is on Death Note suffering from this. As much as I want to believe Bleach was forced to continue, I'm just not 100% sure.

Kob264

January 9, 2013 at 7:19 pm

Well, is a known fact that Dragon ball was going to end after Freezer, but the editors cmbinced Akira Toriyama to keep going.

Nadavu

January 8, 2013 at 12:46 pm

I don't see how Niizuma ending PCP could have made any amount of sense at all.

Nadavu

January 9, 2013 at 12:31 am

that is to say, had he done so, I'd be very disappointed with the writing.

scineram

January 8, 2013 at 6:29 pm

I was surprised as well Enzo didn't even mention Death Note. These guys must have been pissed they couldn't end it there. And there is also Bleach indeed. I don't like the editorial department.

I also disagree that they are going to end PCP. I thought the whole thing with Mashiro when Eiji started working on another manga with Iwase was telegraphing them eventually doing two series concurrently. PCP is what Takagi is best at after all, and will always be their dearest child, but they need a more more suitable manga for a TV adaptation.

Murkel

January 8, 2013 at 8:45 pm

Actually, the last frame of the ending is not a spoiler. It's their first manga, Two Earths. If you look closely you can see the two earths in the background and Mashiro's art is still pretty rough.

And damn, despite knowing what's going to happen this episode got me all pumped up.

admin

January 9, 2013 at 12:07 am

Is that Two Earths? Wow, I didn't even notice.

fantasticmemes

January 9, 2013 at 12:25 am

I just can't see them ending PCP. I mean, how long did it get them to end Tanto in the second season?

darkkodiak

January 9, 2013 at 3:31 am

Oh man, I can't have any more love for Nizuma. As little screen time he gets, this one, in my eyes, made him the protagonist of the show while Team Fukuda are the antagonist. I really like his reasoning to wanting to cancel his own manga and I sympathize with but I guess that is the conflict one must face when in the business of selling art. Instead of being a super hero I consider Nizuma more of an old school shounen hero. He has amazing abilities but he also has ethics. I really hope he does win because in a way I want Ashirogi Muto to move past trying to overcome Nizuma and go back to what originally got them into the manga business.

admin

January 9, 2013 at 12:57 pm

Yeah, believe it or not I debated whether to use the word "shounen hero" instead there, because that's not a bad way of describing what Eiji is. He's the closest thing to a shounen hero, which is way I say he's the most like a manga character in the manga.

Mads

January 11, 2013 at 8:21 pm

I'm really in love with the way you write Enzo, so many details and so many insights I'd otherwise have missed.
Bakuman keeping us on the edge of our seats as usual!
In other news, chihayafuruuuuu-
ahem.

admin

January 11, 2013 at 10:32 pm

Saturdays are trying to kill me but yes, Chihayafuruuuu…

Thatguy3331

January 13, 2013 at 9:36 pm

Well saw the episode today and while ths subs were shitty quality, I really liked the episode and find myself rooting for Nizuma. A particular thing that I think a creator of any series is responsible for is mapping out their story and having a clear cut idea of how its going to end and setting things up like that so it can have that proper ending while keeping the story in overall good quality ain't easy. Having to keep going and scrambling around to start from scratch sounds like heck for an author to me (though given Nizuma's skills he could write around that if he loses)

While I want him to win, I honestly don't see him doing so…

Bakuman 3 – 14

Guardian Enzo

14 comments

Ishruns

azeriraz

Kob264

Nadavu

Nadavu

scineram

Murkel

admin

fantasticmemes

darkkodiak

admin

Mads

admin

Thatguy3331

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Lost in Anime

Guardian Enzo

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14 comments

Ishruns

azeriraz

Kob264

Nadavu

Nadavu

scineram

Murkel

admin

fantasticmemes

darkkodiak

admin

Mads

admin

Thatguy3331

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