This review is for all 3 seasons, also might not be spoiler-free.
Before I had finished my first watch-through Bakuman became my favorite anime. Being relatively new to anime—the shounen-like plot patterns still held some novelty, as did the passage of 10 years over the course of the show without major skipping. The main thing I took from the show was this idea that the highest good to pursue in life is having a dream and conceding nothing towards achieving it, which resonated with me at 19 years old, and still to some extent does at 24. The show left me with a feeling like
...
no other anime before it, a burning motivation and excitement at the notion that I could grab onto some dream and work really hard at it and achieve greatness. The problem is I hadn't ever seen a sports anime, and the other problem is that I don't think that dreams are really what's at the heart of this show anymore, I think what Bakuman actually communicates is that the highest possible good in life is self-sacrifice for an indifferent employer... and viewed from this perspective the show loses much of its charm.
This theme is well exemplified, I believe, in a sequence towards the end of the third season in which Shiro goes to his elementary school 10 year reunion (weird concept from a western perspective), already at this point a fairly successful mangaka. He is treated as a minor celebrity by his old classmates when he first arrives, but then they quickly lose interest and begin planning fun trips and group activities. When an invitation is extended to Shiro he declines saying essentially that his 100+ hr a week schedule could never allow him to. He leaves early and meets Shuujin, they look up at the night sky agree that they are glad they chose their path instead of being normal. When I first watched this scene I saw a choice between frivolity and art/greatness, where sacrificing the former for the latter is clearly virtuous. On second viewing I saw a choice between relationships and the bottom line of your employer, in which case I think sacrificing the former for the latter is gross.
Running throughout the series is this idea that what is best is what is profitable, the best manga is the one that has the most viewers and sells the most volumes, the best mangaka is the one who works the hardest and makes the most money for the publisher. Niizuma isnt a genius because he produces great art, it's because he produces profitable manga quickly and is working all the time. Ashirogi is essentially the same, what made them great sometimes, especially towards the beginning, is Takagi's story lines being complex and mature, and if that was really the thing being explored and developed throughout the course of the series I think it would have been a lot more interesting, but the real thing that ultimately makes Ashirogi great is that they are both willing to sacrifice everything for the job. Whether it be education, mental or physical health, relationships, really anything that isn't manga. But the point I am trying to get at is what is being strove for is not an artistic achievement but a commercial one.
In most respects Bakuman is unexceptional: The plot meanders often falling into long periods of "you placed x in the rankings" -> "we have to work harder". Most side stories are boring, especially Azuki's. The relationships between most characters feel shallow and can mostly be summarized through phone conversations consisting of "I saw you placed x in the rankings, congratulations, but I'm are gonna work harder and beat you!". The romance central to the plot is based on too much magic and pixie dust and on re-watch I was no longer capable of buying into it whatsoever. The character designs are fairly distinct and stylish, but for a show with 75 episodes the lack of different locations and character outfits felt claustrophobic/repetitive (though there are a few exceptions, Mashiro wearing the same striped shirt for 10 years bugged me for some reason), the animation is nothing special, but that isn't surprising for a show with this length and with so few (if any) flashy set piece moments. The OPs and EDs left no real impression, but the re-use of a very limited number of background tracks got tedious (I could happily go the rest of my life without ever hearing the "montage of hard work" track ever again).
I am perhaps more harsh here than I should be on my former favorite anime, this likely stems from how highly I once rated it and my frustration at the magic of it's first viewing being lost, but I waited 75 episodes for that magic to return and it never did, all I got was something bordering on a propaganda piece about how you should sacrifice everything to work hard for someone to make more money off you... and maybe that says more about me at 24 vs 19 than it does about Bakuman. 6/10
Oct 10, 2019
This review is for all 3 seasons, also might not be spoiler-free.
Before I had finished my first watch-through Bakuman became my favorite anime. Being relatively new to anime—the shounen-like plot patterns still held some novelty, as did the passage of 10 years over the course of the show without major skipping. The main thing I took from the show was this idea that the highest good to pursue in life is having a dream and conceding nothing towards achieving it, which resonated with me at 19 years old, and still to some extent does at 24. The show left me with a feeling like ... |
