Ranked #54

Bakuman. 2

First of all let me begin by saying this Anime is written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata who made Death Note and unlike some of the other works that have been produced since this anime has the special sauce too. MAYONNAIISEEE.

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This is the sequel of the first Bakuman which continues the story of Takagi Akito and Mashiro Moritaka; two teenagers who aspire to be mangakas with a popular long running manga serialization that gets turned into an anime. Mashiro in particular wants their career to take off quickly because of a promise he made with Azuki Miho, the girl he'd been in love with since elementary school, that the two of them would marry once they accomplished their dreams as they try to make a name for themselves in the intense business world of manga publishing.

Animation-wise with J.C. Staff at the helm of the much-anticipated anime adaptation, you’d expect some pretty damn good animation. Luckily, the studio delivers fluid movement and great attention to detail.

The art was once again really well done and high quality like its predecessor. The art was quite good throughout each episode. The anime’s art shows a great amount of detail yet still maintaining that slice of life environment in the anime. Something which intrigued me the most, in terms of the art, was the displaying of the stories each manga artist made. By animating the storyline and having a narrator explaining the information in the manga, improved the anime. The character themselves were well illustrated and fluidly animated.

The voice acting was very good for the characters. I felt that the character's representations through their vocal expressions suited them perfectly and portrayed their attitudes and personalities nicely.

Then there's also the OPs and EDs. They're not terrible, but they are definitely boring and I skipped them nearly every time. Granted, it's not a big thing and has nothing to do with the actual story, but for a series that's all about creating stuff the public will like, they sure dropped the ball in this aspect. Overall I didn't find anything too annoying throughout the anime series regarding the soundtrack. It was well presented.

It was nice to see the variety of characters, with their assortment of personalities. They definitely added depth to this anime.
As with the story, this season of Bakuman only touches on its cast of characters and what we learn of them is only the tip of the metaphorical iceberg. That being said, the two central protagonists develop reasonably as they embark on their quest to become published mangaka.

Whether it is Takigi's boldness, Moritaka's determination. the surprising feminess of tomboy Miyoshi, The eccentricness of ingenious mangaka Eiji Nizuma, and some others. almost all characters were well written and had great chemistry with each other. The two main characters go through development as their bonds and determination are tested.

For anyone with an interest in the behind-the-scenes workings of a large manga publication, and particularly when it comes to the shounen genre, I can’t recommend Bakuman enough.

Bakuman season two delivered the same type of feelings and emotions that the first season did. Following Saiko and Shujin through their life as they pursue one of my dreams has been wonderful. read more

They say you can measure how good a anime is by how fast time seems to fly by when watching it, if that's the case, Bakuman 2 is one amazing series.

The first season of Bakuman was great, the story, the characters, the atmosphere fitted perfectly, though It did suffer from pacing problems and could of been adapted better. This time however, J.C Staff has stepped up their game, managing to fix those problems and make Bakuman 2 one hell of a enjoyable anime and probably the best slice-of-life series I've seen yet.

= Story [9] =
Bakuman starts exactly where it left off from the first season and gets right into the story. I won't say much to avoid spoiling it for people who happen to see this review before watching the first season but this season has a lot more drama and romance, which make for some very intense scenes and memorable moments.

Something, that is unique to the story of Bakuman is how realistic it is. The two main characters aren't always successful and positive like you find in most shonen series and there isn't any shock twists which would be impossible to find in a real life situation, well maybe one.

= Art [9] =
I never get tired of the art in this series, It's amazing how J.C Staff can make the manga illustrations look so realistic and the amount of detail and effort they put into the backgrounds.

The character designs are nothing special but they don't really need to be, If anything, the only character design I can fault is Shuujin's/Takagi's, It's just that he looked a lot different and a lot better in the manga, though I don't really mind the change.

= Sound [8] =
I have to admit, I didn't like any of the first seasons OP and ED's that much, though Bakuman 2 has some great ones which really suit the story-lines in this season. The OST remains nearly entirely the same in this season, which is a good thing since it doesn't feel overused yet and suits the anime perfectly.

All of the VA's do a great job reprising their roles and the newcomers fit their parts perfectly in my opinion.

= Character [8] =
There's a lot more Character development this time around, which is welcomed especially for the minor characters such as Aoki and Nakai, who really annoyed me at first, but then actually became likeable.

The romance side of Bakuman shines through a lot more this time around, which also helped character development a lot, though some of the relationships became a bit boring and repetitive during the the second half of the story.

=Enjoyment [9]=
Bakuman 2 is one addicting ride, the story and the characters really draw you in and makes you want to finish the whole series in one go, which not just any anime can emulate.

If you're a fan of first season, you'll love this sequel, all the spirit and fun of the manga and prequel are maintained in Bakuman's second anime outing, which leaves us eagerly awaiting the third season.

=Overall [9]=
Overall, Bakuman 2 outdoes it's predecessor in every aspect, with faster pacing, a more 'tighter' and entertaining story, great character development with art and sound to top it off. If it wasn't for a slow down during the the latter episodes with the story and characters, I would've considered Bakuman 2 a masterpiece. read more