It can often be the case with Bakuman that it’s hard to tell where documentary stops and fiction starts, and this is one of those times. There’s been a meta quality to the whole “Reversi” storyline ever since it started, really from the moment Mashiro started talking about unconventional battle […] Read more

When it comes to drama, emotional honesty can overcome an awful lot. I’ll be very honest – I had some serious reservations once it became clear which way this episode was headed.  Bakuman set itself a pretty high hurdle to leap with the public audition storyline, and to say I […] Read more

The buildup to the end continues on all fronts. I mentioned in my Chihayafuru post earlier this weekend that Arata is like the dark matter of the Chihayaverse, in that he has a tremendous impact on the story without actually being seen.  Well, it’s pretty obvious that Azuki Miho very […] Read more

Has that long-awaited moment family come? It’s always been pretty obvious that Bakuman is as much as anything a love story, but an unconventional one – a chronicle of the authors’ undying love for the art of manga, and the people who dedicate their lives to it.  That’s a noble […] Read more

Once again it’s two eps or the price of one. There are lots of very interesting things going on in this episode of Bakuman, though none of them can trump the explosive potential of the last few seconds of the episode and the preview.  I think we’re in for a […] Read more

It seems obvious that things are rushing along at a brisk pace on Bakuman these days, because there’s a very discernible sense that each episode is really two episodes in one.  Whatever happens before the break would probably have been a full episode in prior seasons, but the order has […] Read more

In the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld, “It’s so nice when it happens good.” Yes, the above could certainly be applied to our heroes in this episode – it was a good time indeed to be Ashirogi Muto.  But I selfishly speak of myself instead, as it’s one of the […] Read more

In a sense, all of Bakuman up to this point has been a prelude to what happened this week. It’s interesting that we ended up getting an episode about arguably the two least likable major characters in Bakuman, Iwase and Sasaki.  And it worked damn well, too – half of […] Read more

Leave it to Kaya-chan to sum up Master Eiji in a nutshell – “He’s almost too cool.” I think this episode sums up the genius of Bakuman as well as any in the series, among three or four eps I could say that about.  What Ohba and Obata have done […] Read more