-Story-
The premisis of Bakuman is uncommon at least, and unprecedented at best. Two best friends trying to achieve an unrealistic dream despite the very real cost of losing out to the harsh world of propriety and stability? Cliché start. Any otaku could have seen that coming. But predictability stops there. Encyclopedic mangaka knowledge starts pouring in almost seamlessly with a steadily rising situation of where mediocre talent will not survive. It's complicated: sometimes, even genius and determination doesn't cut it - and life, at least in the Shounen Jump office, goes on with or without you. Bakuman's story makes sure to teach its readers a life lesson of what really goes on behind the ink-splattered nib pen.
-Art-
Anyone familiar with Takeshi Obata's illustrations will not be disappointed; that is, Bakuman's art is familiar and unobtrusive. The majority of characters are distinguished properly, and the styles are reasonably consistent, with the minor exception of backgrounds. Understandably, the art is marked as Fair.
-Character-
Bakuman's characters are memorable. True, characters like Hattori Akira can be classified as static, but rarely are they flat. It can be argued that the majority of the cast do not change; it cannot be argued that the majority are only known for a respectively singular personality trait. The protagonists of Bakuman, Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi, obviously develop in skill and maturity - but never in the usual sense. They face misfortune and successful, and the expected response is sometimes delayed or never made. And that's where the magic happens: Mashiro and Takagi don't do the "main characters always win" trope. They can fail, and there are no heroic rematches in Bakuman - lose, grow, and move on, because there's no going back.
-Enjoyment-
Bakuman was a learning experience for me. I don't regret reading it at all, and I very pleasantly couldn't predict the way the beginning, middle, and end of the series was headed. I was worried, thoughtful, happy, and sad throughout various parts of the manga at a genuine level of emotion. Of course it has bits that dragged a little, and I frankly didn't pay too much attention to the statistics of mangaka "failures", but Bakuman is something that taught me something I should have learned long ago when I first flicked through the first few pages of a worn and dusty Japanese piece.
It taught me to respect the professional dream hidden within the pages of what we all know as manga.
