Bakuman 2 - 13 - Lost in Anime

This has been an excellent season on Bakuman, but I’m not at all sure I like the direction this is headed.

I liked the first season of this series, but I certainly acknowledge the flaws that caused others to dismiss it – I just didn’t find them to be deal-breakers. This season, on the other hand, has been a big step up for what I see as two main reasons. First, the pacing has been accelerated to the point where there’s a sense of urgency in every episode, and something meaningful happens every week. And second, the series has narrowed its focus and honed in hard on what really matters – the manga industry, and Ashirogi Muto’s attempts to crack it. The best parts of Bakuman were always the nuts and bolts look at manga and the unapologetically boyish tale of the chasing of a dream, and they’ve driven nearly every ep this season.

By contrast, this episode felt slow and frankly a little odd. There was a soap opera quality about it that I didn’t especially care for, and I just couldn’t get myself psyched up to really care about all the side threads it seems to be setting up. And I have a real problem with Iwase as a character, at least so far. She didn’t make much of an impression during her brief S1 appearances, but what she did wasn’t especially positive. And she’s hit the series like a slap in the face now. Really, who the hell does she think she is? She arrogantly dismisses manga as an art form, demeans the career of a woman she claims to admire, and treats Takagi as if he has something to apologize to her for, which he most certainly doesn’t. Now I fully acknowledge that this dislike of her may be intentional at this point, but it doesn’t make her any more of a pleasure to watch.

Somewhat more interesting is the relationship building between Takagi and Aoki. We knew Aoki was looking for a male perspective to help her with her male protagonists, but now Ashirogi (unwisely, IMO) have decided to try a gag manga with a child as the main character and a female crush for him to pine over, and Takagi is acutely aware that he’s not the best at heroines. So a chance meeting at the zoo while he’s researching animals as possible anthropomorphized females leads to a late-night conversation that carries over into the next morning. It proves helpful for both writers, but it also seems to indicate that Aoki is falling for Takagi. I’m not crazy about the idea of a love triangle in Bakuman, especially this one, but it appears we may be headed that way.

As we leave things, it’s pretty much a mess all over. Ashirogi are pursuing the gag manga as a one-shot in “Next”, though it’s clear Mashiro is still down on the idea (ironically, as the MC seems based on him). Iwase has forced Aoki to set up a meeting (ambush, really) with Takagi where she treates him like crap but manages to slip him a copy of her LN, which contains a note with a much kinder tone – and amounts to a confession and a threat to steal him from Miyoshi. I don’t think Takagi is interested for one second, but alas he doesn’t notice the note, which falls out of the novel as Miyoshi is cleaning the apartment. I feel terrible for Miyoshi, who’s been incredibly supportive of both Takagi and Mashiro, but I still can’t quite bring myself to care about this rabbit hole of a plot twist. Hopefully this will amount to a detour, and not a derailment, because I liked the track things were on a lot better.

8 comments

ShuffleAir

December 28, 2011 at 7:47 am

Wait. Didn't Deen produce Giant Killing? And I'm pretty sure JCStaff has some other good shows in the past.

elior

December 28, 2011 at 7:55 am

enzo when are you going to do a review for episode 12 of shakugan no shana final?

admin

December 28, 2011 at 8:02 am

Been traveling – possibly tomorrow.

Shuffle, you're right – brain freeze.

Airon

December 28, 2011 at 9:05 am

This time I'll have to disagree with you G.Enzo, if anything I think it's about time that Takagi and Miyoshi's Relationship got some development. Throughout this season I've been so caught up in the manga part of Bakuman that I forgot that these characters had a life outside of it. We got a glimpse of it for Mashiro when he fell ill, and thanks to that we got loads of development for him and Azuki. Now we need to see what's going on with Takagi.
For a while now it's felt like he and Miyoshi aren't even a couple, they're all good friends. More importantly, it feels like it's a Trio of friends, not two friends and a girlfriend. I really enjoy Miyoshi's character, but she's supposed to be one of the author's Girlfriend, not their secretary/housekeeper/friend. And more importantly, they're 18 now, they're adults not kids and what they have should move on to an adult relationship. Long story short, they feel like a couple in name only.
Now, I don't foresee this becoming a large plot point, I don't want it to either because I'm here for the inside look into manga, and I don't think we'll lose Miyoshi as a character anytime soon. I think this storyarc will serve to give some major characters (Aoki, Takagi, and Miyoshi) much needed development that's outside the scope of the manga industry. no more than 3 episodes on this topic is all I expect, or think is necessary.

Karmafan

December 28, 2011 at 6:58 pm

Takagi will deal with the Miyoshi problem in an interesting way and you had better get used to Iwase because she is here to stay.

darkkodiak

December 28, 2011 at 11:42 pm

DAM THIS EPISODE AND MANY LIKE IT!!! It makes me want to give into the temptation of reading the manga lol. I also disagree with you about Takagi/Miyoshi/Iwase/Aoki plot that is developing. As much as I love the pseudo documentary of the manga industry, Takagi's relationship with Miyoshi always felt distant. Like Airon pointed out, they seem to be in a relationship in name only and I support a little time taken off to explore that relationship. It was fantastic when time was taken to grow Mashiro and Azuki's relationship, and I'm hoping for the same effect for the other couple in the series. Let's not forget how AWESOME a girlfriend Miyoshi is.

Nadav

December 30, 2011 at 6:28 pm

@Karmafan Every time I read the comments to a bakuman review, I get hit in the face with a nasty spoiler. Please, be more considerate! I don't care how 'vague' it is (and this week's isn't vague at all), a spoiler is a spoiler, and it SPOILS the fun for the rest of us. Take heed, I beg of you.

admin

December 31, 2011 at 5:34 am

Thanks for mentioning that, Nadav. If I could add spoiler tags for comments, I would.

Bakuman 2 – 13

Guardian Enzo

8 comments

ShuffleAir

elior

admin

Airon

Karmafan

darkkodiak

Nadav

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Lost in Anime

Guardian Enzo

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8 comments

ShuffleAir

elior

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Airon

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darkkodiak

Nadav

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