(L) Bakuman (TV) (All Seasons)

[Kaoru Chujo]

The winner of the early season, for me. They adapted the story well, with the right pace, and the lead guy and girl (Abe Atsushi and Hayami Saori) were great, in my opinion. Second lead guy just okay (Hino Satoshi).

I didn't just think the drawing was okay, I thought it was excellent. Not splashy, but simple and strong.

[Shiroth]

Well that was one huge let down. Pretty horrid character designs aside, i found that the flow of the story just didn't work at all. I mean i'm always one to treat adaptations as their own story, though when the manga works so well in it's format, an anime just doesn't do it justice at all.

I was planning to watch this show just for Hayami Saori, though if it turns out to be just a copy of the manga (which J.C. Staff are known for at times), then i'll give it a miss. Will just check it out now and then for the side characters.

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

They adapted the story well

By any chance have you read any of the manga? Because personally i didn't see how this was adapted well. The pacing was pretty horrid.

[omimon]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

Well that was one huge let down. Pretty horrid character designs aside, i found that the flow of the story just didn't work at all. I mean i'm always one to treat adaptations as their own story, though when the manga works so well in it's format, an anime just doesn't do it justice at all.

I was planning to watch this show just for Hayami Saori, though if it turns out to be just a copy of the manga (which J.C. Staff are known for at times), then i'll give it a miss. Will just check it out now and then for the side characters.


By any chance have you read any of the manga? Because personally i didn't see how this was adapted well. The pacing was pretty horrid.

I'm the polar opposite of you, if an anime doesn't follow the manga word for word frame by frame, I will put a hissy fit.

[Kopi]

The first half felt abit different from what I was reading with the "What are you planning to do when you graudate?" stuff.. I think it's because it's been a long time since I read the earlier chapters. The opening needed more of the other characters/manga stuff as it felt like this adaptation was going to focus on the love aspect more.. well it's just an opening so ..
Other than that AWESOME episode!

Can't wait

Spoiler for spoiler for char?:

for Eiji Niizuma to appear

[DJ Trouble]

I was thinking I wouldn't like the character designs because it seemed like they were trying to copy the manga, but I actually wasn't bothered by them. I guess being in color and moving can make things better.

It looks like they're following the manga, so I'll hopefully get pulled into the story in a few episodes like with the manga. I'm kinda worried about how long this is going to last though.

[Lange Neus]

I got warm and fuzzy due to the hikaru no go reference, got my judgement clouded and ended up liking the first ep. I suck. I promise I'll be as disappointed as the rest of you next ep!

[iceyfw]

i don't know about this. i have mixed feelings about it. the drawing is kind of a nit-pick for me on the bad side, but i have seen far worse than this. i will have to see how the next few episodes go and at what pace.

[kayote]

i was hoping for more of Genshiken feel to the anime. i think it would have suited Bakuman.

[Falkor]

won't comment on the artwork (unless someone prompts me to), but I would have probably loved to see a more vibrant/colorful/brighter color palette and background art. something like ookami's would have been nice, but it's also fine like this.

cannot quite remember the beginning of the manga, but I liked this episode and how things got started. I can't wait to see the remaining characters, though, and their different interactions. oh and less of Saiko's monologue would be nice, too.

random thought: last scene was very funny/cute.

Originally Posted by Shiroth

Pretty horrid character designs aside.

eh, what part of the character design was "horrid"?

I don't see anything particularly bad with the character designs. They have captured fairly well OBATA Takeshi's style from the manga (most prominently in the eyes, mouth, nose and overall proportion of the head). probably the only thing that can be a little distracting to the eye is the hair highlight in both Saiko and Miho (I cannot quite remember, however, if the manga also had this strong contrast, especially in the color illustrations). but apart from that, I can't quite see what is "horrid" about the character designs.

[germanturkey]

interesting premise. "we won't meet until we're successful and communicate only by texts." i wonder how that'll work out...

[ZODDGUTS]

Originally Posted by germanturkey

interesting premise. "we won't meet until we're successful and communicate only by texts." i wonder how that'll work out...

In real life not so well. But in manga I'll work somehow. Seriously the romance in this series is so bad it comes out nothing more than a wishful fulfillment. There's going to be alot of moments that's going to make you roll your eyes.

[RyougaElliot]

^You'd be surprised how many people in Japan primarily communicate between texts/emails.

Email culture here is very different than in western nations.

I have a few friends who had met once, communicated only by texts and email for a month or so following, met up and got together. Yeah, this is definitely a bit extreme, but not quite as ridiculous as it seems.

[wingman32x]

Watched episode 1, and it looks to be a very solid and faithful adaptation. The OP was weird though. That being said, I'm not going to watch it weekly... at least not yet. I only have room for 5-7 new series, and Bakuman's spot is better off taken by a series I'm not reading. However, I'll pick it up during it's second cour. By that time, I should have enough time open.

Anyway, the show nailed the character designs. Kaya looks a bit weird though. The jokes were funny, and the overall mood of the series was captured well. Good start.

[gonzo562]

kaya only appeared briefly but i didnt like her voice

[Roardel]

Originally Posted by RyougaElliot

^You'd be surprised how many people in Japan primarily communicate between texts/emails.

Email culture here is very different than in western nations.

I have a few friends who had met once, communicated only by texts and email for a month or so following, met up and got together. Yeah, this is definitely a bit extreme, but not quite as ridiculous as it seems.

That's right. We Japanese use e-mail so often, most of them are nonsense and stupid. For example, "Good morning" "Hi" "I'm going to school" "Me too" "See you later" "See you"... They use it more often than telephone.

And do you know twitter is very popular in Japan? Some schoolboys and schoolgirls tweet more than 800 post par day. "Good morning" "Thank you for good night" "I'm to eat breakfast" "I'm in toilette" "Mom gets angry and hurry me to school" "I prepared" "I'm going to school"... They use just as they talk.

So, Saiko and Azuki's promise is not so strange. Just show their shyness and politeness. Of course it's very exaggerated, though.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

The winner of the early season, for me. They adapted the story well, with the right pace, and the lead guy and girl (Abe Atsushi and Hayami Saori) were great, in my opinion. Second lead guy just okay (Hino Satoshi).

I didn't just think the drawing was okay, I thought it was excellent. Not splashy, but simple and strong.

I more or less agree. My tolerance for mediocre animation quality is pretty good if I'm interested in the premise, and I think this is an exceptionally interesting premise. I'm only a modest fan of "Death Note" but I respect the talents behind this, and I think an unflinching look at the manga industry has a lot of potential. Plus, I really didn't mind the character designs. In a season where the focus seems overwhelming on action and over-the-top ecchi comedy, this one might be a nice change of pace.

[FlareKnight]

Overall liked the first episode. Haven't seen the manga at all so get to go at this fresh. Did a solid job introducing characters and getting things set-up. Curious to see how things move along in the series.

That was one heck of a promise. Great job just blurting out that proposal . Talk about a tough thing since they both have to make their dreams (though it is anime so they'll somehow make it in the end). Still the positive is that there is a safety net of neither getting involved with someone.

I'll say nice job by Takagi to rope in Mashiro. You bring him along to tell Miho about his future plans and really what else is there for Mashiro to say? Will be interesting watching those two interact and try to get their manga going. Pretty reasonable for Mashiro to say taking down One Piece is impossible .

[chickdigger802]

man wtf is wrong with Takagi's face 90% of the episode? Can't believe this eps got past QA, oh I forgot, nintendo is the only company in japan that uses that nonsense =)

Hopefully they improve on it, like how Fairy tail's animation got steadily better over the seasons.

[D-Gold]

The proposal was just as funny as in the manga. This episode gets a 10/10 from me just for that.

[k//eternal]

If the manga that people draw appear as anime clips, this will be ridiculously good.

Might be slightly confusing/unfitting, but I love the manga snippets in the original and hope they'll do something interesting with them here.