Dreams & Reality

A couple of years ago, a good friend of mine, who also has a great taste in manga, recommended this manga. The name in itself sounded weird to me. “Bakuman?” I wondered.. what would this manga be all about? All he said was “it’s a manga about manga and created by the author/illustrator of Death Note”. I was into manga’s for couple of years by then and so the idea about getting to know more about this world piqued my interest in it. Also, knowing that it’s the work of the pair who created the famous manga Death Note!

For those who do not know, “Manga is a style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels, typically aimed at adults as well as children. And mangaka refers to the author of the manga.”

What was so great about this particular manga that I’m writing this, you’d ask? Well, for me, everything about this manga was fantastic. Before reading it, I was not even close to knowing how the manga industry works. But now I do. And I truly appreciate the work of every manga artist out there. As I know how many hardships the mangaka has to go through to get his/her work published and to keep it going for years and years. How it affects them mentally and physically! I always used to think it was an easy job, drawing manga’s, but after reading Bakuman my entire perspective has changed. The dedication and passion they possess is far beyond than what I imagined!

Back to the manga itself, the art is fantastic, the shadings, perspectives, faces, the detailing, etc. The character designs are done to perfection. The story is gripping and you’d feel nothing is out of place. The pace of the story makes you go on and on reading it till your eyes hurt. The most important thing is the character development though. Very well handled I must say. Every side character is given enough importance and enough time to develop and blossom throughout the story.

Going ahead, I’d say that I haven’t come across a manga which shows human emotions in such an apt manner. A host of emotions are on display in every volume. One moment you’re happy the other moment you’re laughing your ass off and the very next moment you feel sad. Coming back to the art again, I’d especially like to mention Takeshi Obata’s skills with which he has crafted this manga. His mastery can be seen when he makes you laugh only by the expressions of the characters. Even the antagonist or the competitors of our protagonists I can say, have a very cheerful vibe to them and keep on providing comic elements. The best being Niizuma Eiji. I liked his character more than even the protagonists.

Talking about Tsugumi Ohba, a mysterious writer whose identity is kept a dark secret by Shueisha, the publishing house of the manga. After knowing that he was the author behind Death Note a super selling Mystery/Thriller manga, I had not imagined he would be able to write such a slice of life manga! But well, they say the greatness of a writer lies in his flexibility to switch genres and yet hold on to that magic. And magic is what Ohba has delivered! His punch lines are simply amazing and well timed. The sadness of the characters can be felt through their words and so is their excitement and happiness.

You will feel the ups and downs in the path of the protagonists as they strive to reach their ultimate goal. Also you’ll feel a sense of achievement when they do reach it. That is exactly how captivating Bakuman is. And when you finish reading the manga, you’re left with an emotion that is so fulfilling that you’d certainly want to read it again.

Anyways, 180 chapters and 3years since, I have read it over 3 times, watched the entire anime series twice. And also recently I started collected all the printed volumes as well. Why not buy the entire box set for a discounted price? Reason being, the anticipation of getting the new copy delivered to me each times makes me feel super excited and I feel just like the protagonists who eagerly wait each week for the results of their hard work. And I can surely say that I will be reading them 10years down the line as well, for Bakuman for me is the most complete manga in every sense that I have ever read.