This whole adventure started when two men decided to share their dream (albeit for a different reason) and follow it through no matter what obstacles they face with their unwavering resolve. What followed was one of the best plot-driven stories I had the pleasure of enjoying.
Story
I should start by pointing out that for me there are two things about the story that must succeed in order for the plot to be interesting. Number one - the story itself has to be interesting. Number two - the way it's presented must be interesting - this includes pacing.
And Bakuman does both in a superb manner. We have two men trying to create the best manga that ever existed - personally I was allways kind of interested in the process of manga creation and I admit even though I don't know how the market really works - the way it was presented here made me want to try and make a story myself (that is despite the fact that my drawings would horrify people...) - it's not easy and your goal isn't just laid in front of you - but it pays of if you mange to actually do it.
Now I believe the reason why pacing is so great is because it's so uneven. At times we will spend and entire episode with our characters thinking over one issue but then there are also episodes with 3 timeskips a few weeks each. This helps us focus on what's important at the moment.
Sometimes the focus is on micro - when they discuss what to change in a chapter of their work. Sometimes the focus is on macro - when we have multiple timeskips that show how their changes influence the popularity over a larger span of time. With this we can look at the story from two different perspectives and it's not boring.
Art
I don't think many people would argue but the art was really really good. Maybe not Makoto Shinkai good but still - right below that. Also please note that if it was made in a Makoto-like style I would probably rate it lower since the art is very fitting for the characters (I had a slight problem with the gag/parody animation but only a minor one) and it trully is a pleasure to the eyes.
Sound
It rarely happens but I actually enjoyed every single one of the openings and endings and the music in the series itself was were it was supposed to be. It wasn't something that would grip my heart but then again - this isn't a story about musicians. For the most part I'd say it did the job it was supposed to do.
Characters
Oh yes - this is the main reason I loved it so much. Characters for me are absolutely the best part of the series - it doesn't mean it's perfect of course.
So let us begin with our double protagonists - Takagi and Mashiro.
They are the driving point of the entire story obviously but for me what steals the show is the chemistry between them. You can really see how they try their best and how they support each other over the span of all three seasons.
There were moments where I thought "what he's doing is stupid" but then I reflected - maybe I wouldn't do it but Mashiro would - it's very fitting for his character.
If I were to choose my favourite however I'd pick Takagi - I loved his resolve. In every single season he did things that made me think "he's awesome". The only problem I had with him is I believe he should really pay more attention to his wife.
As for female protagonists - Kaya and Miho.
Miho was the weakest of all the characters in my opinion - I found the concept she thought of "not seeing each other" as being silly but I must admit it really was a sweet thing. Not to mention I can't even imagine how I would feel if I was working for something so hard for so many years - I believe that feeling would probably be worth all that wait. Probably. Yeah... probably. She had a weird feeling for me nonetheless but she grew on me and while I had a problem with her in the first and second season - I was totally fine with her in the third.
As for Kaya - I think she's my favourite character here. Partly because she's so invisible in the third season. It's allmost like the story wouldn't even change at all if you take her out of it. But it only makes her greater in my eyes since I couldn't wait when she shows up. Her emotions towards our male protagonists, her cheerful cheering (pardon me for that) and the dedication she puts into helping them makes every scene with her in it a real feast. I think the real strength of her character is also what we don't see - as her support for our mangaga duo is only seen on the surface as it would seem.
I won't write about every single character since it would take too long so I'll just try to summarize it real quick.
Most of the characters introduced were very enjoyable to watch and they all had their unique... "quirks". Nizuma seemed completely insane, Aoi and Fukuda focuse on her work, Hiramaru is incredibly lazy - and it goes on. What we get is a pretty wild mix of characters with different views on obtaining the same goal.
Enjoyment
It goes without saying that I enjoyed this series tremendously but I can't convey all of that in just a few simple words. Even though there were moments I found less interesting - I still couldn't stop watching and I launched one episode after another. This is the pinacle example of the syndrom I call "I just started an episode and it's already end credits" where you get so completely absorbed by the story that you lose the sense of time.
I would like to trully recomment the entire series for everyone - you shall not be dissapointed!
