This week Bakuman delves more into the manga world, giving us 3 requirements for making it in the publishing industry, without being a genius. The first being hubris, ie, a sense of arrogance, second is effort, and finally luck. I would be interested in seeing how true that is. There is probably a line of what is considered to be genius that needs to be drawn first. Like would you consider someone like Oda Eiichiro or Masashi Kishimoto as genius or did they have to work to get their manga out. That is one thing I would find more interesting, since the show is a lot of talk, they should talk about other Mangaka’s success. I did think it was funny that they called Jump, “Jack.” I wonder if they do that in the manga as well, even though Bakuman is published in Jump or if that is an anime issue with issues mentioning Jump since they aren’t a Tokyo TV broadcast. I know Gintama mentions Jump by name all the time, but they are also a Tokyo TV production.
For the most part this episode was all about how they need to succeed and how Niizuma Eiji a 15 year old already won the Tezuka award. When we finally get to see Niizuma at the end he was certainly a crazy looking mofo. I think it is kind of strange how they feel so inferior even though they just started out. I think the show is trying to really pace out how the characters will become famous and start to compete against the younger mangakas like Niizuma. I think the show needs to really kick into gear, we have had 4 episodes of them wanting to start their manga, but no real progress on what they will be making. I know Bakuman wants to show how hard it is, but I want to see more progression.
The last part of this episode was all about the relationships. I loved how Moritaka’s romance took over and was all we need to go to different High Schools. I would like to see more interaction between Moritaka and Miho. The glances and blushes can only go so far before they become an overused staple for the show. I did think the double look back was great. Also I wonder how Miho’s friend, Miyoshi will play a role in the series. She is in both the intro and end, but she hasn’t really gotten in face time. I loved her criticism of the art that one kid drew, so she would definitely be a great addition to the cast.
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