Anime Reviews: Bakuman Episode 15 - Debut and Impatience

Hattori explains to Mashiro and Takagi what they need for a good mainstream manga.  Namely good characters, simple, exciting battles, and a cute heroine.  He also mentions that humor is important.

Nizuma admits that he thought of the name on the spot, rather than thinking of it beforehand.  Showing that he is in fact what the others consider a genius, someone who can just write what he wants.

Nizuma tells his editor that he sees Mashiro and Takagi as his rivals.  But not in an antagonistic way, the way he says it it comes across as like he has a friendly rivalry in mind.

Azuki, who I don’t think we’ve seen on screen for a few episodes (not a good thing to do with a love interest) gets a bit part in a late night anime.  Seeing Azuki’s progress Mashiro asks her to wait for him.  Which of course she promises to do, as long as he stops sending her emails like that.  Truly this is a strange romance.

This episode was an interesting one, and I'm not sure I mean that in a good way.  For one a good portion of the episode was focused on Azuki getting ready for an audition, wondering if she will be good enough for it, etc.  Her segment takes up more than half of the episode, and ends with her going to her audition.  I think most of it was filler, or at least extended far beyond what was in the manga.

For a show that is already the slowest pace of any show that I will actually watch this was not the smartest of moves.  Azuki does not make a good viewpoint character, if for no other reason than that she is very quiet.  Very little is said, and when it is said it just lacks the energy that Mashiro and Takagi exude.  Not my favorite of episodes, but by no means a terrible episode.  I do somewhat enjoy the more leisurely pace of this series, even if my attention does end up wandering during the episodes at times.

The first season has about ten episodes left, and already I can see that Bakuman might suffer the same fate as Death Note.  Both are well written (I haven't read Death Note, but my friend, who doesn't like anime or manga anymore, has said that is well written and interesting.  This is high praise), but both work much better as reading material, not an animated series.  Not to say that the story is bad, but a crucial part of TV and movies is that the story keeps moving and exciting things happen.

Even if it does end up one of the less popular shows out there I still love Bakuman, I just might not be a huge fan of the anime.  Like I've said before, I'm a bigger manga fan than I am an anime fan.