Bakuman 01 [Anglais] [Broché]

Bakuman is a favorite of mine, and I've been looking forward to the release of this first book for a while!

An artist myself, I've always been interested in the creation process of manga, so this series naturally grabbed my attention. Far from boring and pedantic (as some manga about manga are apt to be), it explores the inspirations and aspirations of two friends (and the almost courtly teenage love of the artist of the pair and his hopeful voice actress crush) as they work to accomplish their dreams.

As expected of this author/artist pair (speaking of Ohba and Obata, but you know...), the art and storytelling are pretty, exciting, and funny. Its slice-of-life genre is a relief from all the popular fantasy shounen series.

The translation and printing of the English book are extremely well-done as well, and, as an added bonus, at the end of each chapter they have the storyboards of one or two pages by both the writer and artist, a really fun and awesome treat!

I absolutely adore this series. I'm a creative professional and small business owner, and pull much of my inspirations from comics, movies and games. I've shipped my own share of "dud" projects, as well as some I truly believe in; I've even had my share of successes too, so I can relate to the thrill of the struggle and the reward. Bakuman somehow manages to condense the process, the technical, the ups and downs, the business, the thrill, the competition, rivalry (that it's positive), life, and the very idea of creating something original in to a body of work that's easy and exciting to read. Sure, it's a Manga and it exaggerates things, but who wants to read about a half arsed effort?

Creative people often have their "staples", timeless favorite works that inspired them. It's especially rare to find something after you've "grown up" that can only be described as EXPLETIVE awesome, and even more rare to find something that resonates deeply. If it was Watchmen or Dragon Ball that lit the fire, Bakuman is like feeding the flame with gasoline in a high oxygen environment. It's a series you'll want to proudly display next to that 2nd extra special Blu Ray collectors edition of Fight Club you bought for "the shelf".

Especially in later volumes, the creators masterfully crafts believable competing series from all the story's authors, especially if you've followed classic or current Jump series over the years. They skillfully suggest tactics, reasoning, and solutions to winning in a chart position race. Like seriously, as insane as it sounds, a businessman or someone in marketing could learn from this Manga. Maybe that's a stretch, but if charting and tactics play a role in your business, you'll be highly entertained. I just can't get over how well the writer knows his market. Tactically, not to mention story pacing and distillation enough for it to be a mass market series. From the perspective of a creator, there's so much meta going on here, it makes Inception look like Dr. Seuss. I cannot praise this series enough.

I can't wait to fill my shelves with the English volumes. But like the serialization meetings in the story, if Bakuman is up for cancellation, please cancel a different series instead! ;) Skip the early results, my survey card has Bakuman in all 3 slots. :D

Thanks Viz!

When you read the story, you just know that the mangaka duo aren't making any guarantees on the success and happiness of its characters. That lack of a "safe feeling" is what makes this series far more addicting than other Shonen series that cradle me. Also, I've never been a mangaka of Shonen Jump, put the way they portray the inner workings seems EXTREMELY honest and realistic. They go so far as to drop the names of the most famous Shonen mangaka out right now, and even have them currently running in Shonen Jump with our fictional protagonists. At the very least it's the most detailed/educational series I've read about aspiring mangakas so far. I sometimes like to think that I have an understanding of how the world of anime/manga works, but this series has definitely re-educated me.

As I read this series I get an overwhelming feeling that this mangaka duo are channeling a lot of their experiences from trying to get Death Note (specifically) published in Shonen Jump. They even reference Death Note (as a series) several times in the first few pages, it's almost as if they want to plant that seed in the reader's mind so they make comparisons as they read on. Also it's interesting to note that the author Tsugumi Ohba is unknown to the public. Ohba's real identity (and gender) is a closely guarded secret.

This series is GREAT! It blows away all other series with stories about characters aspriring to make it in the manga/anime industry. If you don't believe me on how great this series is, look at how highly it's ranked in Japan. My little review here is a pathetically small drop in the bucket of all the praise that is out there for Bakuman.