A ~~anime~~ manga just has to be good to be serialized.

And Bakuman accomplished just that. A 3 season anime that pulled me in much harder than I anticipated. As someone who started this show with no expectations, the expectations I did not have were completely blown away.

#Plot (9/10)
Bakuman is an anime about making manga, which came from a manga about making manga. The story focuses on Saiko and Shuujin who begin as middle schoolers and chase their dream of becoming manga authors. The plot of the show interested me from the beginning as someone who likes all things anime and is interested in “meta” shows such as Eizouken and the more recent The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio. The plot is straightforward but unique to me as a more detailed look into how manga actually comes to fruition.

The other aspect of the plot is the driving force behind Saiko (and later Shuujin), the desire to impress a girl. They sort of dress it up as “wanting to achieve a dream” which is technically accurate, but Saiko really only pursues it to such a large extent because of Miho (and for Shuujin, Kaya). It’s a little cheesy but it works here.

#World/Setting (7.5/10)
(95% of the show takes place in Ashirogi Muto’s studio, Eiji’s studio, or Shonen Jump Jack’s editing department. The series doesn’t really need any more variation than that, but it also isn’t very diverse.

#Characters (8/10)
I generally liked all the characters and found their motivations believable. My only real gripe here is about Saiko. His seemingly unwavering drive and deeply skeptical nature felt somewhat forced at times to me. Like while waiting for results of various competitions throughout season 1, Saiko is almost too calm compared to Shuujin. Yes it’s possible for this to naturally be the case, but it still seemed somewhat unrealistic to me. It was also somewhat unbelievable that he never wants to hang out or meet Miho. The idea that he’s following in his uncle's footsteps by only having a true relationship with her when they both reach their dreams felt unrealistic. Especially since his uncle explained that he made a mistake by doing so. This is a middle/high school boy we’re talking about (despite their maturity), so the fact that he wouldn’t speak to Miho even when they sit directly next to each other threw me off.

#Visuals (7.5/10)
So I actually think for an anime about drawing manga, the visuals are very mid here. There are plenty of shows from this time period with very similar art styles, but there are also other shows from 2010 I think look better (such as K-On and Angel Beats).
#Audio (7.5/10)
Average.

#Enjoyment (8.5/10)
Genuinely don’t know what it was about this show, but I think once I hit episode 7 or so, I could not put it down. Something I’ve realized about myself after watching this and the currently airing Trillion Game, is that I really enjoy clear-cut, linear progression of characters trying to reach a goal (part of the reason I love Dr. Stone so much). Seeing Moritaka and Takagi steadily improve their skills and overcome road bumps every so often was very entertaining and left me steadily wanting to watch more and more. This is a show I did not know anything about going into, but will definitely be continuing in the future.

#Score (8/10)