BAKUMAN: RECKLESSNESS & GUTS (VOLUME 6)
November 17th 2011 23:20
Category: Manga
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Story by: Tsugumi Ohba
Art by: Takeshi Obata
Translation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
English Adaptation: Hope Donovan
Touch up art & Lettering: James Gaubatz
Design: Fawn Lau
Cost: AU$14.95/US$9.99
There is something decidedly compelling about this particular manga series – it really draws you in although due to its particular subject matter it does this far differently from any other shonen manga. In fact I think for me it’s the fact that many many years ago when I was a hale and hearty youth I had ambitions of one day being a major comic artist with an award winning series to my name. Ah the dreams and ambitions of youth…I even went so far as trying to do well in tech drawing and art and doing freestyle drawing in my off hours. Sadly I didn’t apply myself as much as I probably should have so consequently my ambitions of comic book stardom are still sitting on the shelf…
Bakuman revolves predominantly around the efforts of Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi; a seemingly unlikely duo who resolve early on in their youth to become a force in the manga world – specifically within the Weekly Shonen Jump, one of the biggest comics in Japan. They aim to become serialized creators in Jump and to eventually achieve what could be considered as the holy grail of manga creators – an anime series. This latter goal of course isn’t purely about kudos, money and the right to sell really cool merchandise…no this aim also ties in with Mashiro’s crush on a girl who he has vowed to marry, Azuki Miho who is an aspiring voice actress or seiyu as their called in Japan. When they left middle school the two promised to marry when Mashiro was a successful manga artist and Miho a seiyu, the other part of this promise was that Miho would play the role as the series heroine.
Normally sickness wouldn’t be such a major issue in modern society but due to Mashiro’s work and the fact that his uncle, the famous mangaka Taro Kawaguchi, died due to overwork adds a twist to the whole affair. Mashiro’s mother doesn’t want her son to suffer the same fate as her brother in law…in fact she initially opposed her son attempting to become a mangaka in the first place. In the end she relented when her husband agreed to Mashiro’s dreams and ambitions, almost as if only he and Mashiro as the men of the household can understand the drive and motivation that moves them. That this choice is a choice of manliness…although I rather think it’s more about drive, ambition and convergence than a particularly masculine aspect.
The other thing that draws me into this particular series is just how much of the story is actually based on real life? Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata are successful names in the manga world and I wonder whether or not there is a bit of themselves in the two protagonists and whether there is a bit of others in the other major characters in particular the editorial staff and their various rivals, particularly Eiji Nizuma the child prodigy who with his series Crow has become a major phenomenon. Searching around on the web gave me no clues so perhaps I’m drawing a long bow here…but it is a very realistic manga not only in terms of its artwork (which is a feature of the art of both Takehsi Obata and the protagonist Mashiro) but also in its story. It’s almost as if you’re looking through a window into someone’s ongoing life and the struggles and aspirations they undergo each day and that I suspect is the whole idea. If reading a real life type story is your thing and you love manga and comics then Bakuman: Recklessness & Guts is right down your street…
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