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REVIEW: Bakuman GN 1


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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 11:32 pm Reply with quote
This series is probably the best slice of life manga since Genshiken. In case anyone is wondering why (which may or may not be the case, since you just read an actual reviewer's opinion and thoughts) but I think it's worthy of praise mainly because of the mostly accurate depiction of the life and times of young manga artists and the relationships that have with others and the women they eventually marry.

In addition, the main characters and even the supporting characters aren't all mightly. Through out the series, there are a barrage of bumps and mishaps, some ranging from small to exceptionally massive. Not only that, but there are manga stories going inside the manga itself that obviously are focused on almost all the time as well.

Although the author of this series may have made a series that doesn't interest me in the least, the fact the series isn't overly dramatic and or doesn't become too strange is really commendable. In addition, despite what some people will say, this series does portray the women cast members in a very positive and strong light. One female character creates her own story on her own, works hard at it with only minor help and eventually is able to publish more of her work without the help of any men or anything of that nature. She also establishes that she can be successful without having a man by her side and created her own capital, so to speak.

Bakuman (which translates to Ghost man, but explaining the title would be a giant spoiler.) is a fantastic series that is intelligent, but at times quite hilarious, but still is a great read. This series does indeed have character development and has several time skips.
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FeralKat



Joined: 06 Jan 2005
Posts: 402
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 11:53 pm Reply with quote
Teriyaki Terrier wrote:
In addition, despite what some people will say, this series does portray the women cast members in a very positive and strong light.
No it doesn't.

I was really looking forward to this series, but the sexism isn't even subtle.
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ptj_tsubasa



Joined: 04 Feb 2009
Posts: 129
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 11:59 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
(and let's be honest here; the whole thing is basically a stylized account of how Ohba and Obata met)


I was under the impression that the two didn't become acquaintances before Ohba presented his script of Death Note to the editorial department. That was what they implied in one of the interviews in How To Read, anyway.

So basically the artist was assigned for the story. A very rare case, apparently.


Last edited by ptj_tsubasa on Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:07 am; edited 1 time in total
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minakichan





PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:00 am Reply with quote
B+ FOR ART WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT Obata is a genius for whom A+++++ is not enough.

But okay, the SD in Bakuman are uh, a little WEIRD. I feel like they were much more natural in HikaGo.

I think when you start seeing how VERSATILE Obata gets with drawing manga convincingly in a million different styles (including absolute perfect reproductions of other Jump mangaka), you'll realize what an absolute genius the man is though.
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maaya



Joined: 14 Oct 2007
Posts: 976
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:38 am Reply with quote
FeralKat wrote:

I was really looking forward to this series, but the sexism isn't even subtle.


Like "too intelligent girls are unattractive and have a bad character and never can get married. Miho knows that so she doesn't study too much, which actually makes her intelligent."?
Don't remember what they said exactly, but it really made me believe that Ohba simply is a sexist. The females characters in Death Note were horrible already, but in Bakuman he took it one step further.

Too bad this series wasn't reviewed by Casey Very Happy
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15574
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:03 am Reply with quote
Yeah, I don't really get why you'd throw the female readers who made your last manga series a hit under the bus. But then Katsura's gotten away with a lot more degrading material.
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Penguin_Factory



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 732
Location: Ireland
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:21 am Reply with quote
Quote:
In addition, despite what some people will say, this series does portray the women cast members in a very positive and strong light.


I don't really see how. In the first volume alone there's a bizarre sequence where the two male leads have a long, rambling conversation in which the main love interest is praised for being cute and polite instead of studying. From what I've heard it only gets worse after that.

Don't get me wrong, I love this manga, but the sexism practically drips off the pages. I read the scanlations ages ago before it was licensed, and when I revisited the first printed volume I had forgotten just how blatent it was.
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:14 am Reply with quote
FeralKat wrote:
No it doesn't.

I was really looking forward to this series, but the sexism isn't even subtle.


Wow, I'd seen a review of this manga before and it sounded really interesting. I don't think it touched on this at all (yes, the reviewer was male, but he has pointed out misogyny in the past so I'm surprised this got through without notice). Given what I've now read, I think I'll pass on this title.
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Dimlos



Joined: 02 Mar 2008
Posts: 226
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 6:31 am Reply with quote
minakichan wrote:
B+ FOR ART WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT Obata is a genius for whom A+++++ is not enough.
Obata isn't that impressive, really. His art is decent, but I'd really put it at C+/B-, at best. There are better artists out there.
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Gwydion



Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 158
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 6:31 am Reply with quote
To be honest, I now love this manga, but even I wouldn't have continued reading past chapter two had I not been such a huge fan of Obata's artwork. A little bit of sexism doesn't generally phase me, but I was disgusted by chapter two. Thankfully the series does have Obata as the artist, though, because as it's gone on, I've really come to love it, though it does still occasionally make me roll my eyes at how it treats female characters.

I was very happy to finally be able to purchase the first book in English, but at the same time, I highly doubt I'll be reading through much of that particular volume again as it's by far the worst, in my opinion. I'll end up rereading the others but skimming through 1 just for Obata's drawings, most likely.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3495
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:31 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
Yeah, I don't really get why you'd throw the female readers who made your last manga series a hit under the bus. But then Katsura's gotten away with a lot more degrading material.

You'd be amazed how many Japanese women and girls actually buy into these sexist ideas, though. I was once informed that there are three genders in Japan: men, women, and women with PhDs (i.e. they can't get married). Obviously not all women believe this tripe, but it won't get the negative feedback it might in America, so the authors get away with it. Mangaka rarely write works with a Western audience in mind.
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Pants



Joined: 18 Nov 2007
Posts: 18
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:38 am Reply with quote
It's a Jump manga and you complain about sexism? Rolling Eyes I mean really, how many female Jump authors are there? There's Amano and that's pretty much it. Mangas don't need female characters to be good, that's just pure [inflammatory troll comments removed]
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hissatsu01



Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 963
Location: NYC
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:47 am Reply with quote
Now there's a contribution to enlightened discourse. Sigh.
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championferret



Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 765
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:54 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
But then Katsura's gotten away with a lot more degrading material.


....I have no idea what you're talking about. Examples? The female characters in D.Gray-man are nothing but inspirational to me (...even if one is an evil psychopath. She's awesome and that's what matters)

Anyway I kind of roll my eyes everytime someone gets all up in arms about SEXISM in any manga (particularly shonen manga, whereas no one seems to care much about the gary-stu infestation that is so much shojo manga), and more often than not it just makes me go 'really guys, really?' Character x is an idiot. They're also a girl. HOW SEXIST. <---I especially despire this line of thought, but...
The way I saw Bakuman; the 'sexist' lines seemed to me to come from the boys when they are basically idiot kids. They're like 15. Most boys are sexist at that age. It was so ridiculous I thought it was more making fun of the boys than anything else.
The thing is, I didn't even notice any of this 'OMG SEXISM IN BAKUMAN' until people started ranting about it elsewhere for all the impact it made on me when I first read it. Looking back, it is stronger in the earlier chapters but it phases out pretty quick. That's one of the things I like about the manga, it does show a great deal of time passing. I mean in the current chapters, they're in college, and by this time there's been some pretty good female characters in my opinion.
Say what you will about Aoki, I think she's a great character. Just because she started out in a not very flattering light doesnt make the manga sexist. It's called character development - she was a bitch, and then she developed more and now she's pretty awesome and actually my favourite character.

It's sad to see people getting turned off the manga by commentary on the internet instead of checking it out for themselves to see if they feel that way as well, though.
But well what do I know, maybe I'm just a big evil sexist. Rolling Eyes


Last edited by championferret on Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:02 am; edited 1 time in total
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Anime Remix



Joined: 16 Dec 2009
Posts: 354
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:54 am Reply with quote
Even IF this series has sexism in it. I really don't care. Why? I don't pay attention to it, Anime hyper. I haven't notice sexism at all because I'm way to focused on what's going on in the story (Does this tell you that I'm a complete fool who doesn't have time to try and notice everything wrong in a series ?). If there was racism involved, I'm pretty sure I would of noticed it (Of course I would! But, that's a different story). Wink

Anyways, Bakuman, great series. I love it. Manga about Manga = WIN. It's a very different kind of Shonen series. Anime exclamation
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