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Bakuman, Volume 12: Artist And Manga Artist (2012)

by Tsugumi Ohba(Favorite Author)

4.3 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

142154136X (ISBN13: 9781421541365)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

VIZ Media LLC

series

Bakuman

review 1: The ongoing story of our two favourite manga creators was starting to get a little thin by this volume. The ongoing scenes of Muto Ashirogi coming up with a new idea, then waiting for the results of the readers' polls from their editor was beginning to feel a bit samey. Fortunately, the story focuses on one of Ashirogi's art assistants for a few chapters, telling his own battle to create manga. It's refreshing even if a bit cliched.One thing that really did grate in this series is the treatment of Kaya Takagi. Aside from being fan service early on in the series, by this point she seems to exist merely to sweep the floor of Muto Ashirogi's studio, bring them food, and squeak when groped by her husband. It can be argued that female characters do not fare well in Bakuman--the... morey seem to fall into the category of villain, window dressing, or innocent doll. It's an odd failing of this series, which is so successful on many other levels. Still enjoying the series, overall. The art is wonderful, the backgrounds exquisite, making this one of the most beautiful manga series in awhile.
review 2: One of the things Bakuman has going for it is its ensemble cast. I've always liked ensembles for the wider variety of stories they let you tell. And you know what's the mark of a story that's utilizing its ensemble cast to its fullest potential? Mixing up the character interactions. Right now Bakuman has a large cast but they tend to talk to their own particular groups exclusively. Which fine sure, I obviously talk more with my close friends or colleagues than everyone I know but still. Mix it up! The plot has a golden opportunity right now with the Readers Fest competition. Mashiro wants to compete, Miss Akina's looking for an artist. Instead of overloading Akito with three mangas running concurrently why not pair them up? They've barely interacted so far so it would be new ground! And there's already story tensions built in vis-a-vis her rivalry with Akito.I'd also vote for Miho VA-ing Akina's series on the same grounds but Ohba already shut that one down. :( Obviously Miho's career has to be dependant on Mashiro's. I mean it's not like the readers could possibly be interested in learning more about her outside of her role as the love interest? Or that any of them are disappointed in the relatively narrow track this series has taken wrt to the manga industry when just bothering to expand her character would have let us see another side of production with voice acting? Man every time I try to review a Bakuman volume my critiques always basically boil down to it would be 1000 times better if Ohba could pretend to care about the girls for more than two minutes. So many wasted potential storylines! It's like a case study in the ways sexism is actively debilitating to stories, like I can't just take off my feminist glasses because my basic interesting-storylines glasses see the same thing. 3 stars less

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