BAKUMAN

(REVIEW BY ROOPAYAN GHOSH)

Anime:- Bakuman

No. of Episodes- 25+25+25

Genre:- Shounen/Romance/Slice of Life

Rating:- Animation-9, Music-8.5,Story-9.5,Characters-9.5, Enjoyment-10(46.5/50)

If you look into my ratings carefully the only place where this anime loses out is in the music department. Everything else is just perfect. This is the only shounen that I have watched which manages to create such a tense atmosphere of battle without any fistfights and superpowers. It made me understand that so much can be done with the shounen genre if the authors have the right inspiration. (This goes for the anime itself and also one of the vital themes of the anime as a whole!)

The animation was spot on. Above par but definitely did not reach dizzying heights. The character sketching involved more “rounded” edges than sharp edges(specially the girls) and that is a welcome change. The artwork of the sceneries are good if not exceptional. Where this anime lacks is the music department. Somehow my favourite music came in an anime opening within the anime. That was a tad weird. That being said, I never felt any real lack of music, so I assume it must have been just good enough and a bit above par. The story is what Bakuman excels in. The tension created throughout season 2 and 3 ending at a beautifully orchestrated climax was a treat to watch. Season 1 was a tad slow and dragged a little. Just a little though and that brought down the ratings a bit. The characters are sketched out well. The various points in the life of a mangaka(which is the central theme here) are beautifully potrayed. What I liked was the attention to the side characters and not only the main characters. In a shounen running for 400 ep like Naruto, it is not such a difficult job to flesh out characters, but for a 75 ep anime, to flesh out 15 odd characters is no mean feat. And about enjoyment, this is the first 60+ episode anime I have marathoned since FMA:B(which incidentally is my favourite), so you can call this anime “unputdownable”

Verdict:- Absolute masterclass! The way it mixes shounen, slice of life and romance is brilliant. Some anime creates characters and stories which are worth remembering. This is one of them. A must watch!