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!
In volume one we’re introduced to Takuya, Minoru and their father Harumi. We’re introduced to their daily lives not long after the death of Takuya and Minoru’s mother and Harumi’s wife, who struggle to deal with raising Minoru and moving on without her. Aside from the pain of loss, we see different aspects of Takuya’s life (and how much it has changed) as well as the effect Minoru has on all their lives. Japanese culture plays a huge role and we see pressures on the boy’s father to marry as well as how their relationships with others play a role in their lives.
My thoughts
“Meet Nana Komatsu and Nana Osaki, two girls with the same last name, but very different lives and personalities. Nana Komatsu is naïve, childish and not the brightest crayon in the box, but she knows about love. By moving to Tokyo, will she find happiness with Shoji?
My thoughts
