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Anime Review: Bakuman 2 - 20 & 21

Saiko, don’t worry: Shujin can get you a story worthy of an anime.

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Episode 20 decided to change the perspective of the story, by instead of focusing on Shujin, to focus on Saiko and his inner turmoils. It was shocking to think that one who has their manga in Shonen Jack would have some reservations over their story.

Saiko essentially served in the position of the viewer. All of his thoughts throughout the episode were essentially like mine. It was clear, as it always has, that Shujin should not be doing some humor gag manga. It has always been clear that his jokes just weren’t that funny for most people beyond the age of eight. Finally, it was also clear that his types of stories forced to be in the humor area couldn’t last long. I had to wonder if Saiko wondered why Shujin was so adamant about doing it just a few episodes ago. Miura maybe? Or maybe his marriage situation caused him to change perspectives and just feel as if he needed to do it so they can remain serialized and bring in the money.

Fortunately for him, he did have various occurrences to take place to get him thinking intently about it. First the shocking revelation that their biggest fan, Eiji, didn’t read the series, spoke volumes of their series to him. Next, the fact that Orihara, their assistant didn’t even chuckle when reading it again supported the idea of the type of humor that Shujin couldn’t come up with. Lastly, and perhaps the most memorable, the discussion with Hattori at the wedding forced Saiko to approach these emotions and finally take some action on the circumstances. Their editor, who nurtured them into great manga artists, didn’t even acknowledge their work and that was the last straw.

Episode 21 continued with the first of the serialization shattering decision both characters employed. Ashirogi Muto decided to end their serialization on account that they wanted a manga worthy of Eiji. However, in order to convince the editor in chief of their devotion, they put their entire career on the line, promising to create a manga worthy of serialization by the end of the year or else they would never draw for Jack again. I thought this was intense and unnecessary; however, Saiko and Shujin were serious about it.

Over the course of several months we saw them create a fantasy mainstream manga that failed to get serialized, as well as a manga building off of their infamous Money and Intelligence, which also failed. What was this even about and how could such amazing series fail? Well, perhaps it was just the way of the plot. I must say it will feel more impressive if they narrowly get a serialization out of the manga they create for this final meeting, which will take place in the next episode I imagine. I honestly didn’t want something similar to what was already done. Did we need yet another fantasy series with Crow and Kiyoshi Knight already in Jack? No, and Bakuman felt the same way too.

Overall, both episodes were good and worked well when seen back to back. Miura has had an enjoyable change of character. He has become more entertaining and enjoyable. Orihara getting more screen time was nice and I hope he remains. Lastly, Saiko seemed to have some pretty epic faces and poses. They were so memorable. This final arc to this season of Bakuman seems to be filled with potential and I can’t wait to see how it ends.