Bakuman is a metamanga you MUST Read. at Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

Bakuman is a metamanga you MUST Read.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Popularity: 6% [?] Published by tj_han June 21st, 2009 in Manga Reviews

People constantly and right talk about the likes of Genshiken as an otaku bible, but the relatively new (started in 2008) manga Bakuman offers an even better perspective. See, Genshiken is from the viewpoint of the consumers, that is, otaku. Bakuman stars two wannabe-mangaka who single-mindedly want to be successful Shounen Jump serialised pros, and get their own anime. The view point is completely different and it is very educational, to say the least.

Bakuman is written by Ouba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi, which are the people who brought you the somewhat epic Death Note. Obata is already quite the legend in Jump, and so has tonnes of experience in the manga industry, which he sets out to share with Bakuman. The manga is chock full of insider information, which even the average Japanese might not be aware of, much less the typical weeaboo, whose interest is spread out among manga, anime and games.

Saiko is a 14 year old artistically-talented kid whose uncle was a somewhat famous one-hit wonder gag mangaka, who died tragically due to "overwork" after his manga series got cut by the infamous Jump chopper. He believes the true reason is suicide and thus discontinued his childhood dream of being a mangaka. Takagi, on the other hand, is a brilliant classmate who aspires to be a mangaka but knows he does not have the artistry to handle the drawings. He desperately recruits Saiko who turns him down at first, but later accepts when Takagi sort of matchmakes him and his crush, who turns out to be a seiyuu-wannabe. So the crush, a pretty ojou-sama character named Azuki, makes a promise to marry Saiko when she gets to play the heroine of his Jump-manga anime adaptation. The catch is, they now have to follow their dreams and cannot talk to each other or date at all until then. By a quirk of fate, Azuki’s mom and Saiko’s uncle, the dead mangaka, shared a similar relationship, but after 10 years, Azuki’s mom couldn’t wait and married a rich man instead. Saiko and Takagi are determined to succeed and the manga charts their journey from n00bs all the way to the pro-level. Bakuman also features plenty of Jump staff and mangaka, some of which are disguised as other characters.

In a sense, Bakuman is quite similar to another one of Obata’s manga, Hikaru no Go, in that there’s a lot of wowing and "you’re so talented and awesome" lines without ever showing us how so talented they are. There’s a huge amount of social commentary on the manga scene, and criticisms of Jump, which is quite generous of the magazine, since Bakuman itself is serialised in Jump. It also shows off the inner mechanics of the company, which is actually the best part of the manga. It has completely changed the way I look at all manga, not just shounen. We always laugh at the likes of Bleach and Naruto, but I’m sure once you read Bakuman, you’ll be able to appreciate why the mainstream shounen titles are made that way. You’ll also learn to appreciate the huge amount of work that goes into the creation of a manga, even a 19 chapter weekly featuring nothing but fighting scenes and "I’ll show you my true power!!!".

The interesting feature of Bakuman is how despite it not appearing to follow the typical Jump formula, which they themselves describe, if you look deeper, it totally does follow it. You have talented main characters who have a simple to understand fighting reason, attractive love interests, stronger enemies who will join them soon and manga battles in the form of the dreaded Jump questionaires.

Please read Bakuman, it’s worth it. With only 42 chapters out, it’s possible to read it all in half a day, which I did. It’s bumped off one of my favourite manga to become top 5 material for me.

Popularity: 6% [?]

10 Responses to “Bakuman is a metamanga you MUST Read.”

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1 animekritik 25 comments Jun 21st, 2009 at 8:30 pm

well, initially your review made it sound like it was a real metamanga, but by the time you got to the seiyuu-wannabe deal to gget married etc etc it sounded like just any other fantasy story.. so in the end it sounds like a manga that happens to talk about the manga world, but without really breaking out of the pattern, as you said at the end. parametamanga?
2 tj_han 1442 comments Jun 21st, 2009 at 10:31 pm

The metapart actually only truly comes in when they do discussions and meetings with their editors and fellow mangaka. Beyond that, it’s jump formula.
3 Kiri 2 comments Jun 22nd, 2009 at 11:24 am

Definitely agree that Bakuman is a must-read, especially for the great insight it gives on the industry. As an artist myself, a lot of the characters’ struggles really hit hope, and are an occasional source of inspiration.
4 Sapphire Pyro 3 comments Jun 22nd, 2009 at 11:45 am

I love this review! You’ve mentioned a lot of the good parts of Bakuman!

It having similarities to Hikaru no Go didn’t occur to me until you’ve mentioned it though. They somewhat have a similar sense of rivalry. Cool~
5 ghostlightning 23 comments Jun 22nd, 2009 at 7:20 pm

I read 31 chapters STRAIGHT after reading this review, only to pause to make this comment. Thank you for sharing this!

However, I think you may want to reconsider calling it an otaku bible at all when none of the characters are otaku, and actually manifest aversion to be identified as such.

They read and make manga, that’s it. They only watch anime to catch a particular seiyuu’s performance because they know her personally. Given that manga is so popular there that consuming a lot of it doesn’t equate with otakuness at all.

Otherwise it’s everything you say it is and I’m soooo hooked.
6 tj_han 1442 comments Jun 22nd, 2009 at 11:23 pm

Sorry, my sentence wasn’t very clear. I am referring to Genshiken being the otaku bible, and how Bakuman offers a new perspective. I didn’t mean that Bakuman is an otaku bible, and also I do know the characters do not think they are otaku in the Japanese sense but you have to admit, they are quite otaku.
7 ghostlightning 23 comments Jun 23rd, 2009 at 2:38 pm

Yeah gotcha! Post coming up soon. I’m sooo pumped about this manga. I finished reading all the scanlations after posting that comment (I may have slept for a bit though).
8 Hbubble 1 comment Jul 8th, 2009 at 6:07 am

I am a writer not a visual artist in any sense of the word. My boyfriend, however, is an artist and avid comic enthusiast. Thus, I and my laptop have been subjected to the ridiculous (almost anything directed to young girls), the non sequitor (Fairy tale, FMA), the contrary (Bleach), and the…whatever you want to call Naturo. Even, Claymore, of which I was a staunch supporter for its originality, complexity, and commitment to the fourth wall, has sold out on me. I know there is a cultural divide and language barrier that separates me from their creators’ true meaning, but I confess myself unimpressed.
I do not devour manga, but I know relevance, viability, and importance when I see it. Their are a few manga that are mainstream which I love wholeheartedly. OHSHC is by far the funniest, most ludicrous thing I’ve read, but therein lies it’s charm; OHSHC knows it is ridiculous; the author, the characters, and the readers laugh together. I also love D-Gray Man; it’s use of symbolism and its emotional latitude are refreshing in a traditionally “he-man” supernatural/action comic. On the dramatic side, I love Bokura Go Ita because it’s the most raw expression of second love, the truest testament of misery and disgust I have ever read anywhere (including books). So, I don’t hate everything mainstream. I really like some of it very much.
The stuff I dislike, I feel no disdain toward; they just have no intrinsic value or meaning - That is what I had thought until I read Bakuman.
Now, I see those Jump panderers feeding the collective, the mob as it were, their weekly dosage of gilded heroism, fan service, and gratuitous blood, and I confess myself impressed utterly by their ingenuity - all because of Bakuman.
I could spend several hours commenting on the social commentary - which I find artful, accurate, and pretty considerable, seeing as though I probably can only pick up on a quarter of the references because of the geographic/culture divide, and I already think rhetoric is everywhere in Bakuman. It’s way deep for Jump; it’s deep for anywhere. I felt 10 again when I read it over the first time. I made my brother who is ten read it, and he said it made him feel “like a big boy.”
Bakuman is pure idealistic fantasy wrapped in realistic paper. It has everything you could want: drama, action, big laughs, love, suspense, but, most importantly, a feeling that transcends all of the rest - faith. I know that sounds weird, but I cannot describe it in any other way. Saiko and Takagi make you believe that anything is possible; that in any field you choose, there will be big-lipped editor-fairy godmothers, diverse interesting peers to challenge and cheer you, and the possibility of accomplishment which surpasses even your predecessor who inspired you to begin in the first place.

The construction is effortless, even if their is a bit of Jump’s a b=#1 evident. But before I or anyone else move to defend Bakuman from anyone who would call it hypocritical, I have to say that Bakuman makes the most blatant use of literary/plot devices I have ever read in a manga. There is foreshadowing (editor’s prediction that they would surpass Eiji in three years), hyperbole (the school/work/pedaling way to meetings/up night/never eating/never sleeping), metaphor (Saiko’s uncle’s romance with Azumi’s mother), motif (”the Jump weekly ratings”…every week), parallelism (each mangaka in comparison to his or her or their manga/ each sort of corresponds), symbolism (too many to mention), and, of course, repetition. So, is it such a great leap to assume that Bakuman’s inherent hypocrisy is intentional, a carefully wrought irony which, once again, offers rhetorical commentary and criticism of the system.

I say it is! I think Bakuman is brilliant. It isn’t posing, taking itself too seriously, or making me want to get a another hobby. It’s got unique style, a defined voice, and a strength than has not waned over the six months or so that I have been reading it. (Also, no contrived, scary monsters - Unless, you count Hiramaru.)

Anyone considering reading Bakuman should forgo rumination, and just do it. At the very least, it’s worth a few laughs and an honest-to-god grin.

Do not use any < and > for your own sake. It will end the comment there and then. Also, there is an automatic IQ filter which weeds out comments made by those who accidentally got transported from the stone age.

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