2011 fall | Episodes: 25 | Score: 8.3 (220330)
Updated every Saturdays at 17:30 | Status: Finished Airing
Type: TV
Producers:NHK | Shueisha
Streaming: Crunchyroll
Synopsis
With the serialization of their new manga, "Detective Trap," the writer-artist team, Akito Takagi and Moritaka Mashiro, better known by their pseudonym Muto Ashirogi, are one step closer to becoming world-renowned mangaka. For Mashiro, however, serialization is just the first step. Having promised to marry his childhood sweetheart and aspiring voice actress, Azuki Miho, once his manga gets an anime adaptation, Mashiro must continue his to popularize Ashirogi's work. A tremendously competitive cast of ambitious mangaka—including the wild genius, Eiji Niizuma; the elegant student, Yuriko Aoki, and her older admirer and partner, Takurou Nakai; the lazy prodigy, Kazuya Hiramaru; and the abrasive artist, Shinta Fukuda—both support and compete against Muto Ashirogi in creating the next big hit. As they adjust to their young and seemingly untested new editor, the dynamic duo struggle to maintain their current serialization, secure the top spot in Shounen Jack, and ultimately, achieve an anime adaptation of their manga. With new rivals and friends, Bakuman. 2nd Season continues Takagi and Mashiro's inspiring story of hard work and young love. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Voice Actors
Abe, Atsushi
Hino, Satoshi
News
05/06/2014, 03:09 PM
According to Natalie, it has been announced that manga Bakuman. will receive a live-action movie for 2015. The director will be Hitoshi Oone. The illustrator of the ...
12/14/2010, 08:02 PM
According to Weekly Shonen Jump, the second season of Bakuman was announced. It will start next autumn. Source: Scan of WSJ
Reviews
MrSlamboni
DISCLAIMER: THIS HAS A POSSIBLE SPOILER FOR SEASON 1. It's hard to say whether this is an improvement over the first season, or that this is just the natural progression from everything they set up in the first season. Nevertheless, the second season has been more enjoyable than the first in every way. Mashiro is more likeable as a character, but that could just be the writers being attentive to the fact that Mashiro is now a university student. We get even better developments and drama than season 1. Now that Ashirogi Muto are serialized, the stakes feel even higher than before. The competition is more fiercenow that they are in direct competition with actual professionals, as well as new rivals appearing over the course of the season, ready to pull the rug from underneath them. Everything you would expect from Bakuman is still here but even more ramped up. The tension, the competition, the drive, etc. It's all great. The romance is still poor. Too simplistic and unrealistic. However, on all the other aspects, Bakuman does great. There is a stupid arc but the rest of the show makes up for it.
CyanCheetah
Bakuman the second inning. This season was good. This one really really showed the struggles of mangaka. The humour was good as well. What I really like about Takagi and Mashiro, they never give up. It is super hard work. Second season is about how they want to make a manga that makes in impact and beats Niizuma. They make gag manga and stuff but they arent fulfilled with the work. Nowadays people do jobs for money but these people are driven by passion. It is quite mesmerizing.No spoilers but this season is good. The OP was alright The animation is quite good The side stories are also finally progressing!!! Side stories progression is slow. I like this season but I liked first season due to the fact that in the first season they really stepped it up and discovered their passion. It was that spark that really impressed me. This season is a solid 7/10 Thanks! -CyanCheetah
Kameluka
Sexist. The writers do not know how to write female characters. All of the female characters have serious problems with them and they are certainly not treated as equals. The female lead asks her boyfriend's permission regarding her career. Miyoshi is mistreated by Tagaki soooo many times yet she does everything she can for them, i.e., cooking, cleaning, looking after them, etc. There is a constant sexist tone throughout the whole series that ruins the show for me. For example, the "women cannot understand a man's dreams" line from season one. All of the female characters are either unreasonable or obedient to a male character,except Azuki's mother which is probably because she did not have screentime. The story itself is nice, a bit repetitive but doesn't bore you. I would enjoy the show if it wasn't this sexist.
joesque
[This is some extra thought to my already-written Bakuman S1 review. ] As I said, this anime's central plot about the lives of mangakas is really good. EVEN BETTER THIS SEASON, I'd say! However, some elements haven't improved, rather I feel like I should bring them up again with emphasis. Oh yes, the romance between Miho and Mashiro is less creepy and whacky now that they're talking on the phone. Anyhow. Writing female characters is Ohba's Achilles heel. 1. The show is obsessed with Miho's "purity". 2. Aiko - that could've been an amazing character, was written to be snobby, uptight, and prideful. Not only that. Her entirestory could've been about being a mangaka like the other important side characters. But nope, she's female. She HAD to be involved in SOME sort of romantic setting. (or sexual - one or both of these two things are inescapably attached to female characters in 60-70% anime) She was given a 30-year-old simp. She's put into a convoluted love-triange (a whole other complaint). She's the only one involved in the ecchi genre. [Minor spoilers regarding Nakai] He sits out in freezing snow outside her apartment working extra hours so that she'll consider him back. During the duration of the whole show, they keep bringing up his romantic obsession with her. But just to excuse his behavior this time, they suddenly start redirecting the spotlight to his passion for manga. In the real world, what happened to Aoki-san was that she was guilt-tripped and manipulated. People who have experience with stalkers and being guilt-tripped would know. Oh, did I mention he's 30 and not a high schooler. Yeah. 3. Tagaki and Miyoshi's relationship is so forced. He only says he likes her while putting virtually nothing into their relationship. In fact, he's extremely dismissive of her, her feelings, and rude most of their screentime together. This leading to marriage as a plot tool to 'fix' a forced love triangle is a cop-out. But at least we get a conclusion to the romance.
VnArch
*This review covers Season 2 with Minor Spoilers of Season 1 & 2 After getting their First Serialization in Shounen Jack, both Mashiro Moritaka and Takagi Akito were excited to continue their work with their Editor Hattori Akira until they found about their editor change. The Second Season of Bakuman continues the Story of Mashiro and Takagi and their struggle to continue their Serialized Manga. Story: 8.5 It’s hard to see Sequel these days continue with the same pace without declining its quality from the Prequel. But in terms of Bakuman, I would just say the Story got even better. After Mashiro and Takagi’s editor got changed, itwas quite hard for them to understand each other as their editor was new and inexperienced and they were even more inexperienced. Which brought clashes between them quite often, and how they overcome this and progress to move forward is shown in this season. This Season was not just focused on the Protagonist but even showed the stories of other Mangakas which were also great. And the Romance between Mashiro and Azuki also got a better development as in the first season it got cringey at some points. This Season had a better Story than its previous season. Art & Animation: 7 Not much change, Animation was just the same as the First Season, pretty good. Same goes for the Art but again, which Art are we talking about? Because all of them are awesome. So, I won’t talk much about art as I don’t want to waste your time and let’s move on to next one. Sound: 7.5 Just the same as Art & Animation, nothing much has changed here either. The soundtrack is most likely the same, the new Opening was great and better than the first season, but I like both the ending of the first season. So yeah, pretty much the same. Characters: 9 Bakuman has always been great because of the characters. And this Season was flowing off with Character Development, almost every character got some sort of Development whether that was positive or negative. Mashiro Moritaka: Unlike Season 1, Mashiro was much more mature in this Season. He didn’t take decisions selfishly and gave a better thought on most of them. That doesn’t mean he was completely changed; he was acting childishly at some points but was a lot mature here. Takagi Akito: His Personality may seem just like the First Season; he still got his development and his romance with Miyoshi Kaya gets a lot stronger in this Season. And his Stories and plot got even better. Miura Gorou: The new editor of Mashiro and Takagi, he started off as someone who only cared about Mangaka’s Manga getting serialized to someone who understood that Manga should not be just fine it should be good and interesting. Hiramaru Kazuya: Probably the funniest character throughout the series. He makes the show really likable and never fails to bring a smile on the viewer’s face just like Niizuma Eiji. Aoki Yuriko: She seemed just another cold-hearted girl at the beginning of the show but she got the most character development throughout the series and became really likable and my favourite girl in this series. Enjoyment: 8.5 Bakuman Season 2 continued with the same pace but this time it was a much more enjoyable experience. This season progressed with Mashiro getting closer to fulfilling his dream and getting an Anime adaptation for his manga. Overall: 8 Though the score of both the Seasons are Same, I liked this season more than the previous which you guys would have figured out till now. There are much more inspirational moments in this season and much more funnier moments in this season as well. Just watch this show if you haven’t already
iSakuraSnow
Bakuman is a super realistic lens into the life of mangakas, and considering the fact that the people who made Bakuman is also an artist/author pair -just like the main protagonists-, I wouldn't be surprised if this anime was a remixed story about their life after making Death Note, which is hinted at in season 3. With 3 seasons and 75 episodes, Bakuman is obviously pretty long for a realistic work, and if I were to rank them from best to worst: 3, 2, 1. Although I believe season 2 was better than season 1, season 2 had its own faults. The problems I hadwith season 1 is that I felt that the story was too realistically slow and that they wasted a lot of good story premises. To be frank, I didn't think any of the future story premises -except the last one- were any better than the ones from season 1, but I still sat through everything and listened to the editors when they claimed that Ashirogi Muto's recent manuscripts were "SO GOOD!" However, the problems that I had with season 2 is that there were so many things going on, and I felt that some scenes/problems deserved more time and others less. For example, Bakuman season 2 really showed us all the good in Nakai, only to burn his character into ashes and make him forever hated. In addition, I understand that it was an essential part of the story to show how much power an editor has on a serialization and that they were only trying to introduce and develop Miura as a character, but I feel like they wasted a lot of time with the conflict and I didn't enjoy being forced to sit through the development of Tanto (their gag manga that definitely did not suit Ashirogi Muto). However, although I disagree with some of the pacing and the character/scene devotion, the story was still pretty good, the relationship developments were nice, and season 2 sets up for 3 really well.
SEJEEDZ
I had watched the first season along with a few episodes of the second season a while ago, but I had to stop for some reason I can't remember. So, I decided to go back and start the second season from the beginning. Bad idea... Now I know why I decided not to stick to watching the second season. Even as I'm typing this, I still can't grasp the stark difference between my thoughts on the show vs the majority's opinion. I felt betrayed by the score, so I thought I'll throw in a different perspective regarding the anime. The first season felt like an inoffensive storythat was just okay to watch (from what little I remember), but this second season was a trudge to go through. I had to force myself to watch another episode with the idea that it'd get better eventually, but unfortunately it got worse. The entire season could be skipped, and nothing would change except a few set pieces. Near the end, I decided not to continue on with the third season since I realized that I lost my interest. Now the characters. The way I'd describe the majority of them would be: Obnoxious. They barely have any redeeming qualities. They are one dimensional and only serve as convenient devices to keep the story moving along. Romances are thrown in out of completely nowhere and only feel as though they are introduced and used for motivation. Character development consists of complete 180 degree changes in personality and character thought processes are indescribable. The story consists of a popularity contest between manga authors of the same publisher. It starts with them calling each other rivals, telling each other that they'll beat each other next time. Then, they come up with ideas haphazardly and start working on them, hoping it'll get NUMBER ONE IN THE RANKINGS!.... then if they get a good ranking they congratulate each other, if they don't then they say they'll beat each other next time. There are some stakes thrown in to each of these repetitions because the makers know if they don't include those in, then there would be nothing left of interest. But then the stakes are pummeled as soon as push comes to shove, and you start wondering why they were included in the first place. Artwork is okay, nothing special but it's decent. Actually, it was nice to see different manga authors with different drawing styles. Sound was okay too, serviceable enough for the show. It's difficult for me not to spoil stuff while talking about my experience watching this anime, so I feel that right here would be a good place for people to stop reading. But for those who've watched the show or don't care about spoilers, please continue... ------------------------ SPOILER WARNING ------------------------ I mentioned the characters being obnoxious. So let me expand on that... The main characters Mashiro and Takagi aka Ashirogi Muto stand true on that statement the most. They are childish, whiny, arrogant and stuck up, with these inflated but fragile egos. They are constantly bitching about being popular and getting the best rankings and would change their entire story they worked on to get ranked better. They feel like they only want to be manga authors for the sake of becoming famous, getting anime adaptations, and striking it big. Mashiro is especially guilty of this to the point where almost every word spoken out of his mouth made me go "oh just shut up" in my head. Mashiro's art is very good and never needs any polish. Takagi is just this genius who can think of a good story on the spot, but is otherwise really bland. Ah who am I kidding, everybody in this show is bland. But still they crapshoot everywhere because the season needs to stretch to 25 episodes and the makers need some form of progression throughout the series. Of course, every "rival" has this behavioural pattern as well, although not to the same degree. They're all different flavours of "I'll work hard and beat you next time!" and "I wont lose to you!". Niizuma Eiji is shown as this super genius with an eccentric personality, and serves as the main rival to Ashirogi Muto. Both as manga authors and being super annoying to look at. Sheesh, his screams still ring in my head. He has no "I'll work hard and beat you next time!" but he does have "I wont lose to you!". Fukuda is this angry man that rages at everything and is a hardass with a caring heart. He is the angry version of "I'll work hard and beat you next time!" and "I wont lose to you!". Hiramaru was a character that I found decent. His dynamic with his editor was predictable but okay to watch. His shtick is that he is forced to draw manga while he wants to do other stuff. He is the unwilling version of "I'll work hard and beat you next time!" and "I wont lose to you!". Nakai is just a plain creep with fragile self esteem. Iwase is an arrogant woman with too much time on her hands. A vindictive and narrow minded individual with the weirdest motivation. She is the vengeful version of "I'll work hard and beat you next time!" and "I wont lose to you!". Aoki is a manipulative, heartless and proper woman who does a 180 degree personality change into become a blank slate. She is the female version of "I'll work hard and beat you next time!" and "I wont lose to you!". Moving on with other characters, Azuki is Mashiro's girlfriend and nothing would change if she was replaced by cardboard. Their relationship makes no sense and makes you wonder how the hell they fell in love and decided to marry each other in the first place. Miyoshi is a convenience. Miura is just this loudmouthed, boisterous man who actually achieves nothing. NOTHING. His purpose is solely to act as an obstacle and he comes in to achieve only that, then to leave after he has been overcome. To me, it felt like he is the only reason the second season occurred. If you take out the portion of the anime from the point where Miura is introduced as Ashirogi's editor to where Miura is exchanged back to Hattori, then apart from Nakai leaving the picture and the serialization manga names changing, nothing happens. Oh I guess Takagi and Miyoshi get married? I don't even know how or why they decided to do that. Felt like it was just convenient to throw in because they're both best friends of the show's main romance. Hattori is a decent character. He's the only one that made me laugh once in a scene in the entire season, but still he seemed like a genuinely likeable and competent editor. Don't get me wrong though, still a bit bland. The chief editor is shown as this very competent and serious dude, but to me he seemed like a really indecisive prick. First, he says he'll put Ashirogi on hiatus for a whole year since Mashiro got sick due to overworking and for some reason was sick and needed to get surgery, so he needs rest to recover. But then he's like "naah jk". Second, he tells his editors to vote for Ashirogi's manga serialization to see if it can compete with Niizuma Eiji's work, since they're all incompetent and can't judge their own publications. The condition is that if it can't compete, then Ashirogi's contract would be terminated. The editors vote 4 to 3, saying that Ashirogi can't beat Eiji with this at the end of the episode. BUT NOOOOOOOO, since this show can't have that happen, just at the fucking start of the next episode, they editors are like "But sir! Ashirogi's career is at stake! Let's leave it in the hands of the readers to decide!" so the vote changes to 7-0 in favour of Ashirogi's serialization. Are you fucking kidding me?! Are you telling me that all that time spent into coming to these dilemmas was for nothing? Why can I see these predictable outcomes from a mile away! Things like these make for a very frustrating viewing experience and you're left thinking "What was the point?". Near the end, a conversation gets shoehorned in about manga authors focusing on story vs popularity and this is where I realize why there is such an obsession with rankings. Mashiro basically declares that he writes manga only for popularity's sake, and to me personally (even though I do not read manga) that was indication to not watch the third season. ----------------- SPOILER END ----------------- Actually, now that I think about it. This show unintentionally, through it's own dialogue, the way it's story is written, the way it's characters interact and behave, tells me a lot about how some manga authors think and go about creating a manga. That is really interesting and odd since none of the actual content depicts any semblance of realism. The thought processes and dialogue of characters really commentate on the thoughts of the makers themselves as they were making the show, and how shallow the whole thing is. Making a weekly publish in a manga while coming up with what happens next every week will not make up a good story or an interesting read unless the whole thing's planned from the beginning. Shounen mangas have this problem the most, and this show magnifies this by showing us the actual time and thought put into them. These works are done purely for the purpose of running a business, and authors' ideas are reworked and washed down to make them more mainstream at the cost of originality. Overworking their authors by giving them breakneck deadlines while manipulating their want for becoming popular as fuel for encouragement for working hard. This makes me understand why I never liked shows like One Piece, Naruto or Bleach. I always felt like the stories in them were made up on the spot and pieced together, dragging on for no reason other than maintaining viewership, popularity and fanbase. Bakuman is one of these shows but with no battle scenes or action.
Big-Boss_X
3 Seasons Combined Review At first i thought that i should watch all seasons and then write a combined review but after it was all done it was too much to write so instead i will do a (Pro/Con) list for the main elements of the show Story (8/10): Pros: - A good take on the Manga industry although i am sure that the real thing is more complicated than this it was good to have some sort of insight (Simplified as it was) - A good amount of Drama. The whole thing moved to high gear halfway through the second season and it was going up after that. TheRomance idea was extremely far fetched but was still great to watch as the lack of day to day interaction actually made it better and less cliché imo - Good comedy Cons: - Some stuff get a little repetitive - It was kind of predictable, so there was no suspense factor for me. - Although the show was trying to show how "cutthroat" the manga industry is. It was extremely lenient with the MC at some points which took away from the realism enjoyment and added to it's predictability I mentioned Characters (7/10): Pros: - A huge cast with many great characters that ranged from completely nuts to simple and lovable - Kaya Miyoshi (Best Girl) :D - Kouji Yoshida (Simply loved his scenes) :D Cons: - Barely noticeable character main characters growth. The anime (in it's 3 seasons) supposedly spanned 10 years but even to it's last episodes i still felt like i was watching a high school drama - Everyone is so fuckin understanding o_O I mean what thae actual fuck. I realize that this a Shounen anime but things need to have a limit - Related to the point above, the show also lacked real assholes. one can have too much "Friendly rivalry" to last a lifetime in this show Art and Animation (8/10): Pros: - For an anime about Manga it offer some really great and different types of art - Environments and character design was good Cons: - It had some issues with size a depth perception Music & VA (7/10): Pros: - Catchy and upbeat OPs and EDs - Good voice acting Cons: - The soundtrack (during the actual anime) was repetitive. I believe it was the same during all three seasons Effectiveness (7/10): It was a good and entertaining show with a good amount of drama and comedy and sweet (Although super imaginary) romance but it was "Too Shounen" if this was an actual term if that aspect was toned down a bit i would have enjoyed a lot more Overall (7.4/10)
Traesket
It's been a long time since I've hated a character that's supposed to be "good" this much and I don't even remember if it has ruined a show as much as this one before. I absolutely loathed President Laura Roslin from Battlestar Galactica, but the show actually made something out of her even though she's a terrible human being. Miura however might be the worst character in Anime. He's the villain of the second season, but everyone acts like he's a perfectly nice guy. He's incredibly selfish, he's not in touch with his authors will or strengths at all and everything he touches turns toshit but he and everyone else just keeps saying that he should be trusted. He alone brings my score of this season down by like 2 points, which is quite a feat. In fact, now that I think about it, the characters in this season is a lot worse than in the first one. Azuki Miho and Kayo basically disappeared (not that I loved them before but they were alright). Nakai turned from somewhat pathetic but likeable, to absolutely wretched. Hattori is only there a few times and when he is he absolutely brightens the show. The art continues to be great and the soundtrack is pumping at times. The story is so-so because of the forementioned character.
Anastazia12
Bakuman 2 has proven to be an excellent story demonstrating the Tsugumi/Takeshi pair capability to handle another genre of manga/anime. Someone who hasn't done there background look on the creators may not have even noticed it was the same team that brought us the masterpiece, Death Note. The art is very bright and while some mangaka's style can be evidently recognised in all of their work (eg. Mitsuru Adachi), this team's art in Bakuman is much different from the previously produced Death Note. The story was adequately paced, not too fast or too slow and keeps the reader's interest. Sometimes, however, because it is notthe traditional type of shounen anime, there is this feeling like they wanted to still create the tension of a battle in the plot. The battle between mangkas. At times the line "I am definitely not going to let you win" felt like an overused line. I began to get fed up of hearing it. I was only concerned about the "battle" between the leading protagonist and their antagonist, but the story had all these "side battles" that just felt over bearing as everyone never wanted the other to win. Significant character development can be seen in several of the main and supporting characters, which is always good. One particular value I appreciated that was resonated in season 2, was the conflict of wanting to share your own story as a mangaka but there was also the battle of producing what would sell, be popular and keep you serialised. As a designer I understand this struggle. I was disappointed at time as I felt that one of the supporting characters was insisting in the beginning that she would tell her story her way even if it meant loosing her contract but she seemed to change later on producing work that I did not expect her to. They claimed to want to "change Jack"...however I was not too sure if they indeed motivated change. What was the change that they wanted? However I continue to season 3 to see how the plot continues to unfold.
florizeta
Normally, the second season always sucks or it's not as interesting as the first one but... They did it! nope, not what the characters did but what the Bakuman's author did. You'll have to find out. This anime is so amazing, it left me speechless. The art is the same as the first season but the story, enjoyment... IT'S A MASTERPIECE! Yaass! it truly deserves a 10/10 because it was perfect! I can honestly say I enjoyed every episode. You can ask my sister how much I laughed (and chocked T_T) but seriously! I can't believe a single person disagreeing with me. Throughout the wholestory, the goal is the same. If you watched the first season you'll know what I mean. It made me even want to watch/read the manga they created e.e That's all. Shortest review ever! .-. it's so good. Its got that perfect balance I always enjoy in anime. Comedy, romance, seriousness, suspense, etc. It doesn't get you like "ughhh tired of the same thing over and over". I gotta admit it, I hated how they kept bringing up the surprises out of nowhere. Looking forward with HIGH expectations for season 3~ >:) It just leaves you wanting more...
ForeverFizz8
I can distinguish this series from its prequel and sequel due to some powerful scenes (which I will not spoil). To me, that makes it special, but other people might think the real value is elsewhere. Story (10/10): What makes the story one of the few 10's out there is that it combines romance, comedy, a tale of growing up, and mixes it with what may be the greatest motivational shounen I have come to know. If i had to find one flaw, it would be that I could never amount to Ashirogi's (the main mangaka duo) drive to succeed. Art (7/10): The art's nothing special, except for themanga shown in the anime. It looked like it was drawn professionally and makes you want to read the fake series, even if you can't. One thing that always bothered me about Bakuman though, was random moments where the characters' faces would get a new design just to express an quick emotion with a comedic effect. Sound (8/10): I can replay the openings and endings just to remember this anime masterpiece, which is a plus. The ost though never really stood out, only puts in noise where it could have been awkwardly silent otherwise. This is only in Japanese, but they get so into the roles that you forget there are people speaking into a mic. It adds a lot. Character (10/10): Why another 10? Bakuman 2 does the most out of the 3 series to bring out the purpose of each character. After one series, you can really start to bond. Enjoyment (10/10) & Overall (9/10): I loved it so much, that I started collecting the manga just to relive the story. It is one of those series that everyone must see if they are at all into motivational stories that go above and beyond what they think shounen is.
simon999
Just finishing the first season I fell in love with this series and quickly moved onto the 2nd and folks.....it did not drop the ball in anyway bakuman the first season earned a 10 from me and the 2nd season does the same it did nothing wrong (in my opinion) and makes the series a must watch for any anime watcher the 2nd series adds a few new characters and some new hurdles for are 2 young manga artist to go through but just to go over a few select things that just made this series addicting to me was the addition of the new editorthey got and how he was at ends with the protagonists and I myself could not decide if I liked him or disliked it changed so much! and then the growth of the relationships and romance im just a sucker for that stuff as well as great comedy from kazuya and me being a huge aoki fan now all this is to watch this series the 2nd season does not lose any spark that the first made and from what I see most people think it improves what the 1st did
NonOtaku
First of all let me begin by saying this Anime is written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata who made Death Note and unlike some of the other works that have been produced since this anime has the special sauce too. MAYONNAIISEEE. Trying to find L? Sorry you'll have to look somewhere else. This is the sequel of the first Bakuman which continues the story of Takagi Akito and Mashiro Moritaka; two teenagers who aspire to be mangakas with a popular long running manga serialization that gets turned into an anime. Mashiro in particular wants their career to take off quickly because of a promise hemade with Azuki Miho, the girl he'd been in love with since elementary school, that the two of them would marry once they accomplished their dreams as they try to make a name for themselves in the intense business world of manga publishing. Animation-wise with J.C. Staff at the helm of the much-anticipated anime adaptation, you’d expect some pretty damn good animation. Luckily, the studio delivers fluid movement and great attention to detail. The art was once again really well done and high quality like its predecessor. The art was quite good throughout each episode. The anime’s art shows a great amount of detail yet still maintaining that slice of life environment in the anime. Something which intrigued me the most, in terms of the art, was the displaying of the stories each manga artist made. By animating the storyline and having a narrator explaining the information in the manga, improved the anime. The character themselves were well illustrated and fluidly animated. The voice acting was very good for the characters. I felt that the character's representations through their vocal expressions suited them perfectly and portrayed their attitudes and personalities nicely. Then there's also the OPs and EDs. They're not terrible, but they are definitely boring and I skipped them nearly every time. Granted, it's not a big thing and has nothing to do with the actual story, but for a series that's all about creating stuff the public will like, they sure dropped the ball in this aspect. Overall I didn't find anything too annoying throughout the anime series regarding the soundtrack. It was well presented. It was nice to see the variety of characters, with their assortment of personalities. They definitely added depth to this anime. As with the story, this season of Bakuman only touches on its cast of characters and what we learn of them is only the tip of the metaphorical iceberg. That being said, the two central protagonists develop reasonably as they embark on their quest to become published mangaka. Whether it is Takigi's boldness, Moritaka's determination. the surprising feminess of tomboy Miyoshi, The eccentricness of ingenious mangaka Eiji Nizuma, and some others. almost all characters were well written and had great chemistry with each other. The two main characters go through development as their bonds and determination are tested. For anyone with an interest in the behind-the-scenes workings of a large manga publication, and particularly when it comes to the shounen genre, I can’t recommend Bakuman enough. Bakuman season two delivered the same type of feelings and emotions that the first season did. Following Saiko and Shujin through their life as they pursue one of my dreams has been wonderful.
Danno
Bakuman is both entertaining and educational. It shows that it's not so simple to write or draw something that people will appreciate. If you want to make something truly good, you might have to revise and redo it several times as they do in this series. I like that Bakuman shows how difficult it is; it makes it more realistic. It's still entertaining at an anime level, though, since the characters passionately aim for the top. * * * S T O R Y * * * It's rather original and is likely to draw in anyone with an interest in anime/manga. It has somepretty good drama and whatever in it. * * * A R T * * * I'd say the "typical anime faces" (such as oAo) they sometimes have kinda lowers the quality of this series. I like that they have some more original types of gag faces, though. The art and animation looks quite nice overall. Some of the parts where they showed storyboards/"names" were poorly drawn and dull to look at. I think they should've at least had more panels/actions shown so we could see the story, not just hear a narration. Manga is all about the visuals, after all. There were some good moments with the more elaborate manuscripts, though. * * * S O U N D * * * I think Mashiro sounds a little too wimpy. The music didn't stand out to me whatsoever. Their relaxed, "everyday" country-ish music is just pretty boring. They live in a city, so why the country bumpkin music? There's other music more appropriately fitting the anime, but none of it is memorable. * * * C H A R A C T E R S * * * Yes, yes, people hate Miura. I think Miura was another good display of what the world of manga can be like. He also developed into a decent editor after realizing his flaws. As an obstacle, he created more entertaining points in the series and made the end result all the more satisfying. Mashiro and Takagi are always developing and learning to see manga from different perspectives. They change in other ways, too, making unexpected decisions as the story progresses. Other characters develop, other characters stay the same. That's the way life is, including when it comes to a manga artist's aspirations (or lack of). * * * E N J O Y M E N T * * * Compared to the Bakuman manga, they cut out a lot of the more technical aspects of planning and writing manga. They kept the "Tanto arc" short and sweet, really. It also feels like they balanced things out so that Azuki would seem like she has more involvement in the series. I know people complained about how small her role was in the manga, so I think this is a good change. It was pretty easy to neglect and forget about her in the manga, but I think it's important to maintain this romantic aspect based on true love. One thing I didn't like is how they made it sound like panty shots are not only normal, but necessary in the world of manga. Honestly, things like that cause people to label all manga as bad. I think panty shots should've been treated as a cheap way to get votes from perverts, not something a female manga artist should strive to achieve. It's sad to think people would be unable to appreciate a good story unless it had softcore porn in every chapter. * * * O V E R A L L * * * Good story, nothing really disappointing (other than the panty thing), satisfying ending. I didn't find this too addicting, but maybe that's just because I read the manga already. This is some quality anime.
kenikki
"More of the same" has never rung so true, and yet have been so fulfilling. This season is very much alike the first season, both in content and quality. They are so alike that I think some people will complain that it's TOO alike. I am not one of those people.I loved the first season, and I loved the second season just as much. I marathoned it in two days and I never got sick of it. In fact, despite having a very satisfying conclusion, it left me wanting more. The biggest minus is that it can at times be a bit childish and cheesy. Mainly howsome "inspirational" speeches are handled. It's because of those sort of scenes and sequences that make me unable to recommend this to anyone who isn't already an anime fan. 8/10 Full review here: http://kenikkiscorner.blogspot.se/2012/10/bakuman-2.html
EternalWinds
Quote from Mashiro, slight spoiler from episode 25 but for a good reason. "Parents use to say "Manga will make you stupid." But manga gradually came to be recognized as having cultural value That's why I think you should draw a manga with content and quality that you wouldn't be ashamed to say has cultural value But since we don't have the ability to do that we have to draw it with popularity in mind. I think it's okay for anyone to draw manga like that in accordance with their abilities." Wow! that single quote made me drop the score from a 7 to a 4. I was thinking aboutgiving it a 7 and giving it good reasons why. But after mashiro said this and with absolutely no protests from the other characters. I lost respect from him as a character and this series. I even lost respect for the manga author for writing something like that.. This could be a mis translation from the fansubbers so I don't know if its legit or not. I generally find nothing wrong with the main character doing commercial art, im fine with that. Its just the way he said it just reek of self-esteem issues. Why in the hell would I want to follow a story with a main lead not believing himself. In a way he is no different from another particular 30 something side character. Both just as equally pathetic. remember when that side character(Nakai I believe?) screamed "Im comfortable being a assistant." Yea... same thing, and yet he gets the most flak from everybody, while Mashiro gets ignored He never changed since season 1/episode 1. He still have inferiority complexes about his work and his rivals. always doubting, always rewriting(which may do more harm then good.). And when we finally witness some growth from him he shoots himself in the foot with his insecurities. I'll tell you this much, If a manga author in the real world said something like the quote above. would you read his/her manga? If you would then I feel sorry for you. I did however enjoy the growth from the the other characters especially from Aoki and Muto Ashirogi's Editor(who I believe received the most out all the characters.) The show can have its funny moments. I thought the parts with Izuma and Hattori was funny. I liked the first season even though its completely over the top and unrealistic at times. Its just that after what Mashiro said and the nonchalant attitudes afterwards, You just get the feeling that you're just wasting your time. They are never going learn that racing towards rankings and popularity is a dead end. Even though they spent the WHOLE DAMN SEASON trying to write the manga they want. And when the fail they blame talent not their attitude and contradictions they keep making over and over again. I guess its sort of realistic, since there are alot of aspiring artist like this. But trying to make this into a shounen about manga is just going to cause more tragedies since its coming from a big time manga author. You think that im going alittle to far from just one quote from a episode. But this quote is all you need if you want to watch/read this series or not. If dont mind this you will probably enjoy this. But Hattori was wrong, they are never going to surpass Nizuma.
Miharu-Kun
They say you can measure how good a anime is by how fast time seems to fly by when watching it, if that's the case, Bakuman 2 is one amazing series. The first season of Bakuman was great, the story, the characters, the atmosphere fitted perfectly, though It did suffer from pacing problems and could of been adapted better. This time however, J.C Staff has stepped up their game, managing to fix those problems and make Bakuman 2 one hell of a enjoyable anime and probably the best slice-of-life series I've seen yet. = Story [9] = Bakuman starts exactly where it left off from the first seasonand gets right into the story. I won't say much to avoid spoiling it for people who happen to see this review before watching the first season but this season has a lot more drama and romance, which make for some very intense scenes and memorable moments. Something, that is unique to the story of Bakuman is how realistic it is. The two main characters aren't always successful and positive like you find in most shonen series and there isn't any shock twists which would be impossible to find in a real life situation, well maybe one. = Art [9] = I never get tired of the art in this series, It's amazing how J.C Staff can make the manga illustrations look so realistic and the amount of detail and effort they put into the backgrounds. The character designs are nothing special but they don't really need to be, If anything, the only character design I can fault is Shuujin's/Takagi's, It's just that he looked a lot different and a lot better in the manga, though I don't really mind the change. = Sound [8] = I have to admit, I didn't like any of the first seasons OP and ED's that much, though Bakuman 2 has some great ones which really suit the story-lines in this season. The OST remains nearly entirely the same in this season, which is a good thing since it doesn't feel overused yet and suits the anime perfectly. All of the VA's do a great job reprising their roles and the newcomers fit their parts perfectly in my opinion. = Character [8] = There's a lot more Character development this time around, which is welcomed especially for the minor characters such as Aoki and Nakai, who really annoyed me at first, but then actually became likeable. The romance side of Bakuman shines through a lot more this time around, which also helped character development a lot, though some of the relationships became a bit boring and repetitive during the the second half of the story. =Enjoyment [9]= Bakuman 2 is one addicting ride, the story and the characters really draw you in and makes you want to finish the whole series in one go, which not just any anime can emulate. If you're a fan of first season, you'll love this sequel, all the spirit and fun of the manga and prequel are maintained in Bakuman's second anime outing, which leaves us eagerly awaiting the third season. =Overall [9]= Overall, Bakuman 2 outdoes it's predecessor in every aspect, with faster pacing, a more 'tighter' and entertaining story, great character development with art and sound to top it off. If it wasn't for a slow down during the the latter episodes with the story and characters, I would've considered Bakuman 2 a masterpiece.
EmoRikki
Bakuman. Oh how I love thee. You seemed like a simple show about drawing yet you got me hooked. You caused me sleepless anxious nights and cost me about 100$ in manga. Now a season 2? Why not take all my monies? This show is amazing. Don't ignore it lightly. Think of it as a good show to help motivate you in life. Things seem more possible and its amazing how they try and sometimes succeed and sometimes don't. The 2nd season brings more of the good stuff that the first season set up. I will admit I was bored at some parts but thereare other parts that easily make up for it. New characters, new challenges, and new adventures await. Whats next for the amazing manga duo? Well watch and find out. Trust me, if you liked the first season then you wont be disappointed. Enjoy it now and then join me in the wait for season 3! =]
AnimeFan500
Bakuman season 2 continues the realistic life of a manga artist. What they go through and how they have to deal with them. Just when things are getting good, something tragic happens and we get to see how the characters handle this situations. Bakuman 2 continues the story of Mashiro(Saiko) and Takagi's(Shujin) dream of becoming a manga artist. While in last season we find out their manga Detective Trap is getting serialized but now they have a new editor-- Muuta-san and Hattori is no longer helping them. At the New Year Party, we see everyone here XD but we find outthere is a new manga artist Hiramaru Kazuya. He used to work for a business company but now got into manga and already has it serialized. His Manga Otters 11 is very popular. Saiko and Shujin has another rival they must defeat in order to reach their goal ( besides Nizuma Eiji, Shinta Fukuda, Ko Aoki.....)
Animanga