Moritaka Mashiro, a junior high school student, content to live out a relatively normal life as any other does, is persuaded by his classmate, Akito Takagi, to become an aspiring mangaka when the latter realizes his natural talent as an artist. However, Moritaka is reluctant to pursue his dream as his uncle, once a mangaka with his own serializations, died from overwork trying to regain his lost status. With Akito's help, Takagi gets another classmate and his school crush, Azuki Miho, who is an aspiring voice actress, to voice in the anime adaptation of their future manga once it is completed. However, Mashiro also proposes to Azuki, who surprisingly accepts only on the condition she will marry him when both of them have achieved their dreams. With a goal set before him, Mashiro begins a long and struggling path to become a famous mangaka.
I followed "Bakuman" as a manga for quite a while and I'm surprised to say they've made a great anime adaption of it. As there's not much action, a lot of explanations and pretty big time skips, I used to think Bakuman would not make a good anime.
The story is interesting because it shows us the difficult process of creating a manga and getting it to become an anime. It's still an anime so I don't know how much of it is actually true but I believe at least the amount of work needed is genuine.
I'm amazed that a comic about the everyday life of some kids trying to be something as 'boring' as manga writers could become this popular. This simply shows how well the story is told and how the plot twists keep you coming back for more.
Since this show 'teaches' us how manga is created, there are a lot of explanations. At times this leads to some heavy dialogue but usually it's merged almost seamlessly in a conversation between characters and illustrated with images.
The art is good. I can't say I love the style they used but it isn't irritating.
The soundtrack of Bakuman was a bit unusually. I got the impression bands and instruments were used more than in other anime.
There were moments where I had to restrain myself from watching another episode because it was getting to late. It's simply inspiring to see the main characters work so hard. It made me want to try harder at whatever I was doing and become as good as I could.
If you like anime and manga, I think you should watch Bakuman just so you know how much work was put into your entertainment ;)
