Bakuman, volumen 4: Llamada y víspera

Bakuman [バクマン] #4

by Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata (Illustrator)

¿¡Se separa el tándem!? ¡Después de que Shujin haya sido incapaz de mantener su promesa de finalizar un storyboard para el final del verano, Saiko le comunica que ya no cuenta más con él! ¿Van a seguir cada cual su propio camino sin que sus sueños vuelvan a cruzarse jamás...?

¡¡Lo que nadie imaginaba es que en realidad estarían tan sincronizados!!

Genres: Manga, Comics, Slice Of Life, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Shonen, Young Adult

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Tsugumi Ōba (Profile in Japanese: 大場 つぐみ), born in Tokyo, Japan, is a writer best known for the manga Death Note. His/her real identity is a closely guarded secret. As stated by the profile placed at the beginning of each Death Note manga, Ōba collects teacups and develops manga plots while holding his knees on a chair, similar to a habit of L, one of the main characters of the series.

There is speculation that Tsugumi Ōba is a pen name and that he is really Hiroshi Gamō. Pointing out that in Bakuman the main character's uncle was a one-hit wonder manga artist who worked on a gag super hero manga, very similar to Gamō and Tottemo! Luckyman in all aspects. Also that the storyboards drawn by Ōba greatly resemble Tottemo! Luckyman in style.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty tense for a lot of sitting around and waiting.

The boys are back together and this time they push forward to create a detective manga. This gives them something to fresh to work on and they most compete with two friends who are also putting out work for the new shonen gold cup! After they all get good ratings they are forced to wait to see who gets picked up for a new series.

It's tense, funny, charming, and well crafted. You get to see a lot of the behind the scenes stuff about making manga and I love almost all of it. The negative is sometimes it is overly wordy at moments but honestly it's easily pushed away for the characters are so well crafted. It helps the love stories seem to actually be getting better too.

Maybe the best volume yet, this series continues to impress. A 4 out of 5.

[awwsalah · Rating 5 out of 5]

it seems they've became pro's even they got new editor even assistance. man things getting more more interesting. reading this is like living manga artist life. but too much dialogs it's like reading a novel not a comic. but I'm enjoying it.

[Chia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

"Saiko: You're necessary for me"
"Shujin: Saiko...*stares intently*"

uhuuhhhh~ The bromance is subtle on this one. xD

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

yeet YEET I love this series so much!! it's entirely about creatives being creative and trying to make it in a highly creative and competetive industry and it's awesome and it feeds my inner amibition monster XDD

[Robert Kirwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic!! I actually got so wrapped up in the story I got so emotive when the main events happened!!

Artwork continues to be amazing.

Each volume gets better!!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooo I am so excited for the guys! (that is how I know I am supper invested) I especially loved the stuff about how manga get made. I want more Azuki!

[Odo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5.0

[Nicolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the entire series, which I rate it 5 stars.

Bakuman is the follow up work of the Death Note creative team, which is composed of writer Tsugumi Ohba and artist Takeshi Obata. However, in my opinion, I believe this is the better work.

Bakuman is the story of two teenagers breaking into the manga industry and they going to do it in their own unorthodox way, just like this manga. This manga is so unlike the usual ones. It's not a battle manga, which is the most popular and successful manga genre. Yet, it's like a battle manga because it has rivals, training montages, and other tropes of the genre.

The creative team is firing on all cylinders. The writer creates a genre-bending work and gives Obata-sensei a massive and appropriate canvass to flex his extensive art range, give us the best artwork of his career. The entire story is dense yet light, because it is full of ideas and concepts, like the other manga titles of the main characters' rivals. I wouldn't mind those spun off.

The story is engaging and funny, and gives the fans a satisfying ending. I only wish they included an epilogue to help the reader decompress after reading the last few volumes because it gives you a massive sensation of "finale high".

Aside from the killer story and the amazing art, this manga gave the reader a new way to appreciate and enjoy manga.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a volume full of action as Mashiro and Takagi compete for the Gold Future Cup in order to get a chance to get a serialization in Shonen Jump. Because of its focus on action, the intensity ramps up and I am actually less interested in what goes on, ironically. We do get to know (and like) much of the chief competition, so that's pretty interesting, at least. Girlfriend Miho, who is working on her career to become an anime voice actress, continues their agreement to not get together until they have both accomplished their dreams, which is annoying, but the depiction of the other girlfriend Kaya is even more annoying, mainly brainless eye candy for the fanboys,which is of course a typical feature of shounen. But on the whole this continues to be entertaining.

[Subodh Garg · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5

I finished Bakuman, the series by the duo Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. It is a simple story about a boy (Moritaka Mashiro) in his third year of middle school deciding to become a manga artist on the persistence of his friend (Akito Takagi). Takagi will write the stories while Mashiro will do the art. Together, they tell their ambitions to his crush (Miho Ayuki), who aims to be a voice actress and decide to get married if and when she gets to voice the heroine of their series. A simple premise, but one that allows for myriads of twists and turns. They begin their manga journey with the pen name Muto Ashirogi.

This is a review of the entire series. Please keep that in mind.

The authors introduce various other mangakas with the most important being Eiji Nizuma, Ashirogi Sensei's biggest rival, a 15-year-old manga genius. They face various hardships along the way, from writer's block to unrequited confessions; from copycat imposters to tight deadlines; from all-nighters to hospital stays. It is a heartwarming story which will motivate you to fulfill your own dreams. The ultimate Shonen Manga.

The authors accomplished everything they set out to do. I cannot think of a single thing to improve in this masterpiece. It is short and concise (only 176 chapters), with no redundancies or detours. It also teaches the readers the grueling discipline required to be a mangaka, the hopes and dreams attached with it and the ins and outs of manga publishing. The Editors and the Editorial Department play as much of a role in the story as the mangakas. How the manga and the artist are tied together and how can gleam an insight into the author's psyche by reading their works. How to deal with success and imposter syndrome. How to actually write an engaging manga and what happens when you actually succeed in your dreams. This and so much more is presented in such an engaging manner in the series.

Heartily recommended to everyone. Can't wait to read more!!!

[haven ⋄ f (hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decently done.

I’m not sure how the story can be much more longer than maybe 7 volumes with how this one played out. We shall see though (if I can make it through them).

This one continued building up the tension right up near the end. It was okay. The ending made me lose my interest. I don’t really care for Mashiro’s love interest.

I’m not sure why I’m reading this except for inspiration and for knowledge about the manga creation world. It’s sort of interesting though.

[Julie (Let's Read Good Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

This was really good. The awkward interactions between Moritaka and Miho didn't even bother me as much. The lead up to the Gold Future Cup was interesting, and the art is spectacular. Not happy that Kaya gave up her dream of writing cell phone serials to make dinner for the boys, but what do you expect from a boys manga? Still, ugh.

[Sinta Nisfuanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ekspresi 'berbicara'

Seri ini ekpresinya benar-benar mempengaruhi cerita. Mulai dari yang bete karena pisahan, deg-degan mondar-mandir nunggu keputusan, sampai histeris dengan hasil yang meledak dengan tawa dan tangis.

Sukak sekali meski ditutup dengan Hattori yang datang bersama seseorang.

[Aleetha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The struggle is real.

[Blake the Book Eater · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love these characters and their journey is so fascinating! Each volume has so much story in it that I can’t wait to see how it will progress! They finally have their own series in Jump!

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very solid here. This gets me excited to make art.

[Yuki Murata · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume there was a little conflict between the protagonists and it made the story more interesting. I cannot say the details about it, but I think that was a good change as an arc.
The more I read, the more curious I am about what makes manga popular.

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very happy that Mashiro and Takagi finally started working together again and also could get their series. However, I am worried about Miho... Not only about her voice actor work but also about her relationship with Mashiro. I think that if she wants to meet with him, she have to tell him directly!!!

[estrawberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot of waiting, could’ve shown the waiting part without actually making me wait through it all, like watching a 5hr unedited youtube video kinda.. other than that, I’m glad that things are progressing :>

[Kai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently, Shujin did not make storyboards. Moreover, Shujin goes steady with Miyoshi. Because of it, Mashiro misunderstands the relationship between Ashirogimuto. And then, Mashiro decided one thing. The decision lead to give a good or bad influence on Ashirogimuto in this volume.

[Rahul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good continuation to the series.

[Wataru · Rating 4 out of 5]

The love of Saiko and Azuki made me feel nostalgia. I am Japanese student, so I don't know how I can explain this feeling in English, but it's called "Tokimeki （ときめき) in Japanese. Plz google it if you wanna know haha. I enjoyed this one sooo much.

[shar zar · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10
They picked a perfect time to elaborate on the already introduced characters. The growing cast makes it more fun. There are more people to root for that way. The different drawing styles were exquisite as well.

[Ricardo Marín]

5 / 5

Sabes que una historia es buena cuando dentro de ella hay otras historias buenas. ¡Qué emocionado me tiene esto!

[Aca · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤

Their bond became even stronger and this is a quite happy volume.

❤

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bakuman: Phone Call and the Night Before continue where the previous tankobon left off and contains the next nine chapters (26–34) of the on-going manga series.

Having seen the rift between Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi, Akira Hattori, their editor, decided to encourage them to work independently for a couple of years. Hattori doesn't understand the urgency in getting serialized, because they're still in high school. While Eiji Niizuma is just a year older than them – he is a genius and outlier. So, it is in his hopes that they will grow independently and after they graduate he would encourage them to work together again would be a perfect time to talk about serialization.

However, Mashiro and Takagi figured out what Hattori was trying to do, so they conspired to work together in secret while keeping Hattori in the dark. Kaya Miyoshi also helps them, transferring her dream as a writer to helping Ashirogi Muto team's dreams come true. So, she becomes their researcher, assistant, and cheerleader.

They did surprise Hattori in their meeting and he finally acquiesced for letting them being serialized, but under two conditions: that they enter the Golden Future Cup, a magna tournament, and placed well, while completing a whole chapter in two weeks for eight consecutive chapters and if they still want to be serialized while they’re still in high school then Hattori would do everything in his power to help them get serialized.

Two new characters were introduced in Bakuman: Phone Calls and the Night Before: Yuriko Aoki and Koji Makaino whose stage name is KOOGY. They are new manga artists that are participating in the same contest with Ashirogi Muto and Shinta Fukuda.

Yuriko Aoki is a female manga artist/writer and when first introduced to Ashirogi Muto, Takuro Nakai was working with her as her assistant. Aoki was a successfully Shojo manga, but her latest story seem to fit Shonen more and her editor asked her to join the contest. Her demeanor is aloof, tight-lipped, extremely haughty, judgmental, and extremely dogmatic. Hopefully, there's a backstory of why she's like this, because right now she's a tad two-dimensional.

Koji Makaino whose stage name is KOOGY is both a musician and a manga artist who has a huge fan base. He takes an advert out in the paper telling all his fans to vote for his entry in the Golden Future Cup, which got the other manga artist angry. Makaino is shown to be very egotistical, believing that his fans would vote for him, because he is a very popular musician.

In the end, it was Ashirogi Muto and Shinta Fukuda that won first placed as Niizuma predicted. However, it doesn't mean just because they won that they would get serialized – it's up to the editorial team. As promised, Hattori talked to his section boss asking him to support Ashirogi Muto, because despite being in high school, they could handle the work of being professional manga artist and showed their rough drafts as proof. In the end, of the thirteen promising entries for sterilization, Ashirogi Muto became one in four chosen to be serialized.

Tsugumi Ohba was written well. He really captured the nerves of waiting to hear whether who won the Contest or who would be serialized. I also enjoyed the fact that Ohba drove into the process of how manga get serialized and how things work in a manga publishing house like Shonen Jump, although I think he simplified things a tad. Ohba still has the problem of being extremely verbose, but I'm getting used to it. As always, I have nothing but praise for Takeshi Obata and his illustration skills.

All in all, Bakuman: Phone Call and the Night Before is a great continuation of the series. I can't wait to see what happens next as Ashirogi Muto become professional manga artists with their first serialization.

[Monika Kilijańska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Takagi nie wyrabia się. Mashiro nie może zaś czekać, w końcu jego miłość czeka! Rysownik postanawia więc wymyślić coś na własną rękę. Nie jest to jednak takie proste. O sytuacji dowiaduje się nadzorujący duet pan Hattori, któremu nie w smak niesnaski pomiędzy chłopakami. Na szczęście jak zawsze znajduje jakieś wyjście z sytuacji. Czy Takagi i Mashiro znowu będą razem tworzyć, czy może każdy znajdzie gdzieś indziej zajęcie? Przecież już raz Mashiri współpracował z innym mangaką, Eijim. A wielkimi krokami zbliża się konkurs Gold Future Cup, którego dobry wynik często jest trampoliną do sławy i zanimowania serii. Czy jednak uda się im pogodzić pracę, konkurs, działanie samodzielnie ze szkołą, która akurat się rozpoczęła?

W konkursie startuje też dwóch znajomych Mashiro, z którymi współpracował podczas asystowania Niizumie: zwariowany motocyklista Fukuda i nieco starszawy, niezwykle drobiazgowo rysujący Nakai, współpracujący ze scenarzystką Kou Aoki. Czy jednak czarnym koniem nie będzie piosenkarz Koogy, który postanowił zawiesić karierę muzyczną i spróbować sił jako mangaka? Przecież takie połączenie generowałoby jeszcze większą rzeszę fanów mandze!

Nie tylko w życiu mangaków się dzieje. Azuki zaczyna powoli dostawać pierwsze role, także śpiewane, choć niekoniecznie ma ku temu talent. Ale nie tylko jej głos jest rozchwytywany – przykuwa ona uwagę także urodą, dlatego jej agent namawia ją, a może nawet przymusza, do wystąpienia w albumie, prawdopodobnie ze strojami kąpielowymi. Wmawia jej, że kiedy skończy się anime, w którym użycza głosu, Żeńskie liceum pod wezwaniem św. Visual, nie będzie miała innych stałych ról jeśli będzie przebierać w ofertach i nie pokazywać się. Do jakich ustępstw jest zdolna cicha dotąd Azuki, by zdobyć sławę, a z nią miłość Mashiro?

Więcej na https://www.monime.pl/bakuman-tom-4/

[Nisa Greennnpanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5 stars

Summary:
Akito Takagi aspires to be a manga writer, but he has poor drawing skills. He approaches his classmate, Moritaka Mashiro to be pair up with him into becoming manga creators. Mashiro rejects the idea at first. Takagi then convinces Mashiro when he brings them to Miho Azuki's house. Takagi tells Azuki about their dream of creating manga. Mashiro, who has a crush on Azuki, then "proposes" to marry Azuki if he is able to create a manga that will later be animated and Azuki will be the seiyuu or voice actor for the anime. The duo then set off their dream, going through many challenges and failures along the way, to create a manga that has potential to be animated.

Review (for the whole manga):
I first read this manga when it was published in a local comic magazine here in Malaysia, known as Kreko. Decided to reread again because I didn't finish the whole manga the first time (because I skipped a few volumes of the magazine, so I missed out some chapters of the manga). This manga is interesting as it shows you the "behind the scenes" of the manga industry in Japan. I have heard some people say that being a mangaka is not an easy job that will rake in money. Mangaka have to compete with many other mangaka from various publication companies. If your manga is no longer preferred by the readers, it will get dropped. All that is depicted in this manga series. Hardwork is sure the no. 1 key to success in this field. Overall, I really like this manga (plus the fact that it's created by the duo who made Death Note, Vol. 1: Boredom. ;)

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Bakuman. The way I am churning out manga like butter does not suit it. To put it bluntly - don't read Bakuman volumes back to back to back. I'm getting burnt out, haha. Just as a manga artist burns out trying to meet deadlines. The series features a lot...A LOT of dialogue.

Miyoshi and Nizuma make my day. Probably because they have the most personality and have the least rants. For all the dialogue these people can sound a lot like stiffs. I understand that in a business about comics there would be some stiffs and some stiff dialogues, but every one of these characters falls victim to it, the exception being the aforementioned peeps.

Volume 4 still features a lot of cool insight into the manga making contest and competition, because that is part of the essential ingredients. There are surveys, meetings with editors, rivalries, serialization meetings and more. As exciting as it sounds sometimes... The unlikely romance between Azuki and Mashiro looks like it's about to turn towards reality. There's enough character interaction that a lot of different paths can be taken.

I can't find volume 5 around here, pretty sure I have it. Time fore a small break.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man I just love this series. It continues to be a really interesting look at creating manga in that rarified air of Shonen Jump. This volume had some really interesting insight into what goes into the editorial decisions of what series to greenlight and why. And what happens to series and artists that don't get chosen. I also liked that they had some small moments with Azuki showing her voice acting career. Voice acting in Japan seems like a very weird world and I wish they went into that in more depth, but I do enjoy seeing that character getting some spotlight.

The cast grows with Aoki - who is a great addition and I love that her opinions on what manga should be are so different from her colleagues. It makes for a fun discussion when all the rivals are in the same room talking about their works.