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Mar 31 2012 11:58 AM
Bakuman 2, the immediate sequel to the 2010 hit prequel series. Taking off from when Mashiro and Takagi just go their first serialization, the show progresses all the way to serialization of their third work, PCP.

Story wise, this is much better than the events of season with a great mix of suspense, romance, and strong character development. While Tanto's serialization was definitely boring as expected, it was still enjoyable to watch on average. I was actually worried at one point that they may not get to PCP's serialization but really glad to did and very much excited for the third season this fall. A good cliffhanger and stopping point to leave at the end of the second season (even though I know what happens afterward).

Animation wise has improved since the first season by a little bit, mainly transitioning from a SD show to an HD title. Art, however, got a bit cheap. Whether or not it was meant to bring out the personality of a few characters, it felt wrong at times or misplaced.

The OP was good and first ED was even better. Really disappointed when they switched to the second ED since it was really boring, and likely the worst of the 4 ED themes thus far. The rest of the music and voice cast stayed the same as the first season.

Enjoyment? The first 10 episodes of this show were a really thriller with Mashiro meeting up with Miho for the first time since middle school and the romance was fantastic. On the other hand, the follow-up with Tanto was probably the bottom of this series but can be treated as your typical "shounen training arc." The good thing about this arc was that it wasn't the type of arc where the protagonists suddenly get amazing at manga. There was a lot of build up material, which really separate it from a lot of the other shounen titles currently available (obviously barring the action).

Overall, a modest improvement from Bakuman 2010 and I really look forward to Bakuman 2012 later this year. It's a good watch and a nice change of pace from shounen titles constantly being action driven like Bleach, One Piece, and Naruto. I guess what's ironic is that Bakuman 2 is effectively telling the story of itself, which makes it a rather unique approach. The highlight of the second season for me is still when Mashiro was in the hospital but the series definitely manage to hold its ground throughout. With this, we reach chapter 91 of the manga out of the currently 172 available, which leaves plenty of room for adaptation. Next series should be when things really get going, especially as the Bakuman manga seems to be getting closer and closer to its end. Fourth season (if there is one) will likely be the last.

Preliminary Score: 8/10
Final Score: 9/10

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Mar 29 2012 02:36 PM
A great finale to this season. Even though its sad to see it end its good to know it will come back in fall 2012.

I can understand that PCP was successfull for people under 10 and over 18. The kids enjoy the pranks while the adults the stuff around it.

Overall this season was even better than the first one with the introduction of strong rivals (Hiramura & Iwase) and the ups and downs Takagi and Mashiro had to go through like Mashiros illness, Traps cancelation or the ultimatum of the Chief Editor (who really dropped a bomb at the end). Ok it were far more downs than ups, but still you could see those two and the people around them grow stronger through this. At lot of scenes were quite emotional too like Nakai leaving or Kaya finding out about the meetings of Takagi with Iwase and Aoki.

9/10 from me (first season was 8/10)

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Mar 28 2012 10:24 AM
Yeah, I know what your getting at but at the end of the day, it cannot be proven that this series is based on that. However, my train of thought has passed yours many a time, which has lead for me to research the past of the mangakas that are involved in the making of Bakuman. I believe certain elements are true, hence, it could be semi-autobiographical.

I was actually thinking of Death Note and how awesome it was just to say "Yagami Light-o".....I really do like Death Note but Bakuman is just superb and will have a higher place than Death Note in my mind.

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Mar 28 2012 08:23 AM

But Bakuman is about how they created death note. It is a way of the authors giving us a insight into the creative process of producing manga. I wouldnt really compare the two since Bakuman cant exist without death note.

Regardless, Im not a fan slice of life in manga/anime but Bakuman definitely has a great edge compared to others I have read and watched. The insight it gives has been fascinating.

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Mar 28 2012 07:51 AM
I just watched the finale episode of Bakuman season 2, excellent and absolutely loved it when they got 1st place with their 1st chapter for PCP, already knew it was going to happen with PCP but it was pleasing to see them celebrate in anime form.

The OP for Season 2 is excellent, "Dream of Life", it really makes you pumped up with a warm giddy feeling inside.

I was just thinking of Death Note and Bakuman about which was the better work from the mangaka. I know most ppl would sway towards to the Death Note side and I personally would sway to the Bakuman side. Death Note was amazing up to the point where L is no more, it was still kinda good but I felt it lost its flare by then. However, Bakuman just keeps on getting stronger and stronger. I love the manga and the awesome anime adaptation of Bakuman.

Season 2 was great, I felt it got better than the first season and I'm rewarding this great season a 10/10 rating.

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Mar 26 2012 04:18 PM

So basically when they create death note .

Cant wait to see if season 3 contains the audition because I have really started to like Miho now.

Edit: Had to be put them in spoilers because not everyone here has read the manga and I don't want others to be spoiled just by reading a post, if it's in a spoiler tag, the choice is given to them to be spoiled.

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Mar 26 2012 03:34 PM
Did a mini-marathon of catching up with S2, went from ep 18 to 24, mainly because I know the last episode will be subbed and released soon.....waiting "patiently" for it.

Damn, I'm gonna have to wait till October for season 3, which I know is going to be awesome with Reversi .

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Feb 29 2012 08:22 PM
Caught up with S2. The thing about it is Ohba and Obata are rifting on past mangaka relationships at WSJ. Mashiro and Takagi definitely represent the creative process Ohba and Obata went through to create Death Note. So the audience who are familiar with this knows straight away that Tanto was doomed from the start because AM arent going hit it big until they create something akin to Death Note.

The relationship they share with Muira I cant help but feel is a rift on Akira Toriyama and the uneasy relationship he had with his editor Torishima Kazuhiko. Basically, Dragonball was a gag manga with light action elements until Kazuhiko influence/forced him to go the battle manga route leading to the first Ten-Kaichi tournament. Anyone that knows Toriyama and his Dr Slump manga knows he is primarily a gag mangaka. I cant help but think they are reflecting this in how Muira was coasting as an editor telling AM the manga is fine even though AM clearly arent suited for it.

I guess Hattori represent the ideal editor since he enables mangakas to be true to their own style while also managing and negotiating the politics of WSJ.

I think that someone like Eiji should have a stricter editor precisely for the fact that hieis so talented. Sometimes talents can be just splashed all over a page while looking good means nothing.

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Feb 25 2012 04:08 PM
Yes I wonder what the editor-in-chief is thinking too sometimes. Back then when he told that redhair guy to just do what the editor says I thought "Is that manga his or the editors?". If he doesnt want to put comedy in it then he shouldnt. And its not as if the editors are always right as you see with Miura. But the biggest question is defenitely why they still have Miura around, after all he failed the third time in maybe a year or so.

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Feb 25 2012 11:03 AM
Tanto ending was inevitable and couldn't have happened soon enough. I've been hating on Tanto from the beginning but I can appreciate the writing aspect of it. Showing the guys go through some extra hardships and not just letting them find success after one previous failure or two. The downside is that the editor-in-chief left Miura as their editor. He may grow to become marginally competent at his job but I just don't see it. It feels like that working relationship will eventually come to a head sometime down the road. I also came away thinking that the editor-in-chief is mostly all talk; in reality if you have talented employees you will at times bend the rules for them. He threatens to fire Ashirogi Muto if they cancel their serialization. He gave that big speech a few episodes back about it's the mangaku's job to make the story interesting and to follow the editor's instructions blah blah blah. Then when all the cards were put on the table and Mashiro was so defiant he ended up caving. Where did all that self-righteous babble disappear too then? It was a little awkward when Azuki told Mashiro that he loved him over the phone near the end of the episode. They still rarely ever talk to each other. I guess that's something I've just got to look past at this point.