Bakuman

[Spark Of Spirit]

Since we talk a lot about Bakuman weekly, I thought it might be nice to put it all into this one thread. Especially now with the end of another arc and the starting of a new one beginning soon.

This was a good chapter, as it feels like Nakai is finally getting the wake up call that he needs and in the harsh way that he deserves. I'm hoping this will end well for him before everything goes to hell, and the next arc begins proper.

I always get a kick of Fukuda's extreme poses when he does anything (even when he simply sits down in front of Nakai like that), and Hiramaru jumping out of his car like a sentai hero. Great mix of humor with serious moments (and some serious humor on top of it!) made this a good chapter.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

To be honest, I think the author did such a good job of making Nakai the lowest of the low in terms of despicabal ass-holes, that I don't even feel like he deserves a chance to redeem himself anymore. He'd beyond the point of unlikable at this point, and to be honest it feels more like his true character is just that of a perverted old fat guy rather than that part being what's on the outside with the determined mangaka spirit on the inside. It just feels like he's a character who wants to take the easiest way out of everything to get what he wants. It was nice to see him finally realize what a douche he is at the end of the chapter, though.

Anyways, to be honest, I kind of want to see some more focus on what Ashirogi is doing, once again. You could argue that they were a big part of the last arc, but really we didn't get to see very much of what they were doing with PCP, and I kind of really want to see whether they will raise PCP even higher in quality to the point of getting close to overtaking Eiji, or if they will finally come up with that new manga idea that they have been discussing for a long time, now.

[Spark Of Spirit]

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The eff?

Anyway, I sort of agree with you about Nakai. But I do think he was a whole different person before he met Aoki and even though he had a crush on her, when he did the manga (and was away from her) he really did do his absolute best and cranked out some great looking art. I think he let the success go to his head, and since he was such a weak person he clung to it hard and deluded himself into thinking he was some kind of misunderstood genius that everyone was out to get. Hopefully after this series of events he might realize how much he's wasting his life and everyone else's by being an assholic manbaby with entitlement issues. He was a lot less of one when he was with Eiji as an assistant.

But I guess we'll just have to see where this goes since it's one of the few loose ends left before they can progress the main story again like I think they will.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, Nakai is now Hiramaru's new (and apparently only) assistant. Can't say I saw that one coming.

You know, this chapter was nice and all, but after reading yet another chapter that focuses on side characters, I REALLY feel the desire for Ohba to get the focus back on track with the main characters, now. The side characters are great, and getting to learn more about their lives is a big part of what makes this series work, but sometimes the author needs to remember that the main reason we are into this story is to see the challenges that Ashirogi face together. I honestly want to see them come up with that new manga that can potentially get an anime adaptation, or at the very least come closer to surpassing Eiji in popularity in the questionnaires and ranking.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I don't think Hiramaru had assistants before since he was only doing gag manga. But I'm sure this will advance Nakai's character arc faster, so that's fine with me. I'm pretty sure this is the end of the mini-arc, anyway.

I think the main story will continue after this. Probably with that reunion they were talking about.

[Spark Of Spirit]

That was an interesting side chapter to focus on how their life goal really took them aside from everyone else, but the ending of the chapter... Uh oh. Dealing with controversy should be interesting in how it can affect their work, their careers, and their personal lives. This could be an interesting arc coming up.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Ah, So now it looks as though the manga will be tackling the subject of controversy. The last few arcs were fun but deviated too much from the main story with how Ashirogi was coming along with PCP. This latest development is so interesting because it may prove to have both very positive and very negative repercussions. On the obvious negative side of things, this may cause many parents to protest for PCP to be banned for being a bad influence on their children and youths in general, whereas as for kids themselves, it'll only make it the most popular topic of discussion for everyone, and may greatly increase the manga's popularity if it doesn't get canceled due to the controversy. Now THIS is the type of plot point that I've been waiting for. I'm really eager to see how this will develop.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, it looks as though Takagi has only fallen even deeper into his slump. At this rate, even if he comes up with a regular quality chapter if given one more night, Mashiro's artwork will suffer for it since he will have less time to draw. It looks like Ashirogi is in a pretty crappy situation right now. Hopefully they'll be able to break out of their slump before PCP suffers the same fate as Detective Trap.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Here's hoping Takagi can shake his nerves and come back strong.

I don't think Eiji is trying to be #1 for any other reason than to BE #1, though. When he made that claim he was a lot more of a selfish kid back when he started out.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

This week's chapter was great (and I mean that for both Bakuman AND PCP, from the page of it that we got shown ). It looks like the second controversy that came up in the news actually had the reverse affect on Takagi and rather than depressing him it pissed him off so much that he ended up using his next chapter to directly say F-U to whoever the copycat criminals were.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Ooh, nice social commentary by Takagi. 

I wonder if this is the end of the arc? The last page seemed to indicate that PCP went back to its normal rank and Takagi was back to 100% again. Not that I'm complaining, but its rare these days were the author wouldn't drag out the conclusion beyond a simple page like this.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Holy shit! It looks like Eiji is actually going to go through with trying to end a series since he's now at #1. I wonder if the Editor-in-chief will really let him go through with it, and if he does, then I wonder what he will choose to end.

[Spark Of Spirit]

A lot seemed to happen in that chapter, but I'm wondering if we're being throw a curve-ball here? It's very possible that he forgot all about that proclamation and is more interested in something else we haven't even thought of yet. Or he could be ending Natural because Iwase isn't even trying anymore.

Who knows what goes through his head?

I like the pairing of Hiramaru and Nakai with Yoshida manipulating both of them to varying degrees of success. It keeps their gag manga antics fresh and humor in the story, even when focusing on other aspects of the story.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Ha! I knew it! I pretty much predicted that Eiji would choose to end Crow since he seemed to be growing tired of working on it. I thought it was cool how at the end of the chapter, though, every challenged him and he said that if anyone can beat him just once for the #1 spot before he reaches his final chapter, then he won't end crow. This should prove to be very interesting.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Great chapter. Now this will truly be a battle manga!

Though I do hope Eiji is able to end it, oddly enough.