For a manga about making manga, this may seem obvious, but it details so much about the industry! I found myself enthralled with all of the aspects of this industry I learned. It made the story not only better, but gave it the sense of realism that very few manga of an variety could manage to do. It even managed to raise the stakes for certain aspects.
The cast and supporting characters were all widely different but they never felt out of place. Normally you see background characters and their stories sometimes go unfinished but not in Bakuman. All the support cast of mangaka get their time to shine and by working through their own plots and stories we advance overall.
This isn’t to say the manga is without flaw because I do have some issues with it. My main problem is that somewhere around the 100+ chapter range a “villain” was recycled and their rivalry with the top mangaka seemed to go nowhere. This problem was resolved rather quickly but I think the manga would have been fine without it.
Now for the story, art and MC:
The story felt beyond realistic and made me so hooked I would read 30-40 chapters in one sitting. It always managed to have high stakes and raise them as well, even though it only had to do with creating manga. No plot points were left unresolved and the satisfaction you get from certain points are indescribable in terms of enjoyment.
The art is solid, nothing super spectacular like Berserk or something. I will say the art is amazing in a different sense though, for different manga within the story they managed to make it look different and it added to the realism. I thought that kind of touch made the art superior to some other works I’ve read in the past.
Lastly, our MC, he stayed strong within his ideals and never wavered in the face of adversity. I didn’t sense much grow in his character but the way he was meant to be portrayed, strong will and never fault (typical Shounen MC), worked perfectly for both his work and love.
I can’t really say enough good things about this manga. It truly is a masterpiece.
10/10 something you NEED to read in your lifetime.
