BAKUMAN by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
Official description
“Is becoming a successful manga artist an achievable dream or just one big gamble?
Average student Moritaka Mashiro enjoys drawing for fun. When his classmate and aspiring writer Akito Takagi discovers his talent, he begs Moritaka to team up with him as a manga-creating duo. But what exactly does it take to make it in the manga-publishing world?
Moritaka is hesitant to seriously consider Akito’s proposal because he knows how difficult reaching the professional level can be. Still, encouragement from persistent Akito and motivation from his crush push Moritaka to test his limits!”
Reflection
A sticker on the front cover states that the manga is “From the creators of Death Note,” and they make sure you know it. Not more than 20 pages into the manga, someone brings up Death Note. And again a few pages later. And again in the second half of the book. But this was more than just a Death Note lovefest.
“Haruna Aizawa thinks that school life is just like a monkey mountain — all the monkeys form cliques, get into fights, and get back together again. The school that she just transferred to is no exception. There’s even a boy called Macharu Yamashita who reminds her of a baby monkey!
“Her whole life, Hikari Hanazono has been consumed with the desire to win against her school rival, Kei Takishima — at anything. He always comes out on top no matter what he does, and Hikari is determined to do whatever it takes to beat this guy … somehow!
“School life is a drag, and home life is no better. Sometimes it seems like the devil really does exist!”
“Ayumu Shiiba is studying for the all-important high school entrance exams. She is struggling to get by, but thankfully has help from her best friend Shii-chan, who is at the top of their class. But when the test results come back, their friendship falls apart — Ayumu surpasses Shii-chan’s scores and gets into her high school of choice while Shii-chan doesn’t!
My thoughts
