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Bakuman. Vol. 20 (2012)

by Tsugumi Ohba(Favorite Author)

4.38 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

4088704665 (ISBN13: 9784088704661)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Shueisha

series

Bakuman

review 1: In SummaryBakuman reaches its conclusion! Unlike Ashirogi’s Reversi, the Bakuman series did feel like it went on a bit too long. Even in this last volume, Akito’s “wedding present” to Moritaka seemed an unnecessary extra hurdle to be overcome. However, the manga does an excellent job of bringing Miho back to the forefront with the Reversi audition, and the final chapter provides a satisfyingly sweet ending to Miho and Moritaka’s ten-year long-distance romance.The ReviewVolume 19 did an excellent job of returning Miho to the spotlight, and Volume 20 takes advantage of the buzz generated from the public declaration of her relationship to Moritaka. She already had a lot riding on the Reversi audition, and the stakes shoot through the roof when it turns into a live I... morenternet competition. Shonen manga is all about battles, and the climax of Volume 20 is a voice actress battle!Actually, the underlying concept is kind of far-fetched. Despite the hype touting the audition as the contest for the most popular voice actress, Kaya’s bored comment of, “This is long…” is entirely warranted from an objective standpoint. Still, the characters are so emotionally involved, it doesn’t matter. For the most part, the series has been about Ashirogi struggling to come up with a series worthy to be animated. Now it’s Moritaka’s turn to wait for Miho to do her part to make their dream come true.Following the audition results, Ohba-sensei does a thorough job of wrapping things up, perhaps a little too thorough. After the adrenaline rush of the Reversi competition, Akito’s goal to boost sales of the graphic novel are somewhat ho-hum, even if Ashirogi accomplishes another achievement because of it. The part I found surprisingly brief was the farewell glimpses of Ashirogi’s fellow mangaka. Final volumes generally provide what-are-they-doing-now cameos, and Bakuman allots only five pages to that segment, most of which gets taken up by Eiji. But what that does is leave plenty of space for Miho and Moritaka’s first date. The entire last chapter gets dedicated to it, and considering they’ve been going long distance for ten years, it deserves the space.By this time, readers may have forgotten Moritaka’s dead Uncle Nobuhiro, a major factor in his career and his decision to pursue Miho. Ohba-sensei neatly reintroduces him at the close of the story with a few “instructions” for Moritaka, and given the numerous ways Moritaka’s life reflected his, it’s a nice touch. It’s funny, sweet, and poignant all at once as the nervous couple step into that long-awaited moment, and the final pages provide a satisfying conclusion, signifying the end of one journey and the beginning of another.
review 2: Finding the manga series Bakuman was written by the same team that wrote Death Note made me jump for joy. I started the series over a year ago, patiently waiting as the last volumes came out, too slowly for my own liking. I promised I wouldn't review the series until it was all over and I finished the last volume #20 and had to stew on it.Unlike their previous work, Bakuman is a realistic story about a pair of boys who decide they want to team up to be a manga team. Mashiro is inspired by his uncle's own work and finds a story about him and the girl he loved, promising only to write in letters until he was successful at manga. His own crush is an aspiring voice actress and they decide to only talk via phone or text until he has an anime that she becomes the lead voice actress in. At which point, they will get married.Beyond that main plot, there are the other manga artists working for the magazine, who have their own stories and personalities. My favorite of which is Eiji Nizuma – their rival and very much like the character L in their Deathnote series in mannerisms. I love his over the top ways and his predictions along with the manga he creates.All in all, this was a series that made me laugh and cry and I will hope that their next series will be coming out soon, because Obata and Ohba make a brilliant team. I can't help but wonder if a lot of their experiences with creating manga together fell into this book as it gives a deep insight into the process and politics of the manga serialization world.Final Verdict: If you like manga at all, read this series. It blew me away and I highly suggest the series to anyone – no matter what kind of manga you usually read. less

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