The manga industry is a competitive field. Authors and artists of Japan spend their whole time trying to come up with the best form for their version of the comics. This competitive side of the entertainment industry is most beautifully shown in the Manga-turned-Anime: BAKUMAN.

BAKUMAN started as a manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and drawn by Takeshi Obata, both are the team behind Death Note. The story follows a young artist, Mashiro Moritaka who teams up with an author named Takagi Akito to create their own Manga story. Mashiro made a promise to Azuki Miho the girl he loves, he promises that when their manga becomes an anime and she voices the heroine, they’ll get married. So, the story of dreams began!

BAKUMAN is a great slice-of-life show. It explores the hardships of being in the competitive field of Manga, and the Japanese mindset of putting work before personal life. If you’re the type who doesn’t care about the Manga-making aspect of it, you might still enjoy it as a strong story about guys who are chasing their dreams. At times, BAKUMAN has a romantic-comedy feel to it. Mashiro and Azuki’s romance is a long-distance one without many interactions, but the romantic life of Takagi and the other characters is a joy to watch.

The main protagonists’ personalities are colorful. Mashiro is shy but stubborn, and values being professional. Takagi is more cheerful and talkative, but has a short temper compared to his partner. Their character progression in the story is interesting too. They aren’t an amazing artist and author duo from the start. Watching them grow by facing challenges, and learning the secrets of the trade, sometimes from seemingly-unrelated events or characters feels relatable to me somehow.

The other important character in BAKUMAN is Niizuma Eiji, the rival of the protagonists.  He’s only a year older than them, and is a genius who thinks of interesting stories on the fly and draws them pretty fast. Yet, he makes mistakes and learns from them. For the majority of BAKUMAN, he’s always a step above the protagonists, and they always try to catch up with him; which is something they would’ve achieved already if Niizuma wasn’t improving all the time.

There’s also the protagonists’ editor, a man named Hattori, who notices their talent from the start and strives to make them grow. He has a good eye for storytelling and art and he likes to plan things in the long term. He’s one of the pillars of the story and many game-changing events were inspired by him.

There are many other characters who play a big role in the story and have their own character arcs that tie seamlessly to the main plot. For example, Hiramaru is a lazy genius who hates work, but still manages to create interesting story. His romance sub-plot throughout the series deserves a watch!

There are no characters in this series who are extra. Every character feels like a person you could meet in real life. All the manga artists, editors and characters who aren’t in the industry are fun to watch, but realistic enough to enhance my immersion in the series.

BAKUMAN feels like an action series despite lacking any action. The characters compete for the No.1 position in the magazine, and every episode in the series is packed with thrilling moments. The anime adaptation of the 2008 manga was released between 2010 and 2013. There are three seasons totaling for 75 anime episodes. Despite the third season being rushed, compared to the original manga; the anime deserves a watch for all the reasons I mentioned and more. BAKUMAN is one of my favorite anime series of all time!

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.