Average, ordinary Moritaka Mashiro has always assumed that he’ll have an average, ordinary life–finish high school, go to college, become a businessman. Sure he enjoys drawing, but that’s not a skill you can build a life with. But when top student Akito Takagi discovers Mashiro’s talent, he decides that Mashiro is the perfect person to team up with to create manga. Mashiro never considered being a manga creator–not after what the manga industry did to his uncle–but he can’t deny that together he can Takagi make an excellent creative duo. But is talent and skill enough to succeed in the manga industry?
If any creators are going to craft an enjoyable, exciting story about the ins and outs of the manga world, it’s going to be Ohba and Obata. The pair received acclaim for their dark thriller Deathnote, which distinguished itself from other manga through Ohba’s strong plotting and Obata’s realistic art. In Bakuman, they combine forces again to build a more realistic world, neglecting neither the hard work of being a creator nor the power of positive thinking to make dreams come true. Instead of using a dry nonfiction “how to draw” or “how to create” framework, Ohba and Obata give readers a story that walks them through the process of becoming a manga creator. Along the way, readers learn a lot about how manga artists are made….
This review was originally posted at Good Comics for Kids. Please visit the original post to see the rest of the review.
Bakuman, vol. 1-3
Author: Tsugumi Ohba; Illustrator: Takeshi Obata
Volume 1: ISBN 978-1-4215-3513-5
Volume 2: ISBN 978-1-4215-3514-2
Volume 3: ISBN 978-1-4215-3515-9
VIZ, 2010-2011
