Second to last episode. Go!
Well, we're almost there, the end of the first season. It's been an interesting several months for me, watching this show. On the one hand I find the slow pacing of this series somewhat deplorable, especially in the early stuff; but with how things are picking up it looks like the second season could be a definite winner. And then again, at least there was an ongoing story to this one that actually kept me coming back, as opposed to some other anime (that will remain nameless) that I've been loosing hope for.
Picking up fromt he cliffhanger from last episode we find out that Koogy did poorly in the results, and won't be considered for serialization, or to win the competition. Shady Detective Trap and Kiyoshi Knight tie for first place, while Hideout Door gets second place. However, all three are chosen to be submitted for the serialization meeting.
Azuki asks Mashiro for Takagi's phone number, and she then calls Takagi to thank him for every he did for them by asking Mashiro to create manga with him. Miyoshi gets annoyed and takes the phone, forcing Mashiro and Azuki to talk.
At least that's what I remember happening in the manga. I can't be sure, it's been a while since I read it. But that doesn't happen here, instead Azuki hangs up. And while it isn't a big deal, it still feels disappointing. Even if it wasn't added by the anime, it's still frustrating.
All the manga-ka meet with their editors, and work on their serialization submissions. Azuki in the meanwhile talks to her mom, who worries that Azuki might be doing the same thing she and Mashiro's uncle did. The scene is kind of slow, even for this show, so I wouldn't call it my favorite part of this episode.
The manga-ka meet with their editors again, this time the editors all say that everything is ready for the serialization meeting. Hattori talks to Aida and shows him how much extra work they have been doing to prepare for getting serialized while still in school. Aida, impressed by how much they got done, agrees to be their advocate during the meeting - in case any of the other editors don't think they can be serialized while still in high school.
The episode ends the evening before the serialization meeting, and we're left with another cliff hanger.
Compared to other episodes this one felt really substantial. It's definitely because of the increased cast, and like I've said, it's a shame that Bakuman didn't take advantage of that earlier. As we move into the last episode of the season I have to admit that I'm surprised at how excited I am for the second season. I love the manga, as I do with all the shows I review, but the first...majority of this anime really didn't grab my attention. It was good, but only good enough. And with these most recent episodes I can only recommend this series to anyone that hasn't been watching it.
If you read my reviews and don't watch the show, I highly recommend you take the time to watch it all the way through before the second season starts. It will be slow goings at first, but by the time you reach this point you won't be able to wait for the second season to start. It might go faster if you marathon the show, I haven't tried that yet, so I can't really say. But twenty five episodes is only about eight hours or so...I think...I'm not exactly good at math, but I think I got it right. (Twenty Five episodes times twenty minutes each equals five hundred minutes, divided by sixty minutes equals about eight hours...right?) Either way, it's an investment, but the entire season can easily be watched in a day.
One more episode to go, and I can't wait. If the other three anime that I review keep going until season two starts then I'll have to figure out how to fix my schedule, because I'm definitely going to be reviewing season two. One of these days I'm going to stop doing weekly reviews and just review entire series...
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