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stylized as BAKUMAN。 is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, the same creative team responsible for Death Note. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from August 2008 to April 2012, with its 176 chapters collected into 20 volumes. The story follows talented artist Moritaka Mashiro and aspiring writer Akito Takagi, two ninth grade boys who wish to become , with Mashiro as the illustrator and Takagi as the writer. Some characters resemble real authors and editors of Weekly Shōnen Jump, and many manga titles mentioned in Bakuman have actually been published in the magazine.
It is the first manga released online by Shueisha in multiple languages before becoming available in print outside Japan. In 2009, Viz Media licensed the manga for English release in North America. Besides releasing the series in collected volumes, they also released it in their online manga anthology Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha. A 75-episode anime television adaptation of the series by J.C.Staff was broadcast for three seasons on NHK Educational TV from October 2010 to March 2013. A live-action film adaptation was released in October 2015.
Bakuman topped the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list for male readers in 2010, was the seventh best-selling manga series of 2011 and the 10th best of 2012. The manga has over 15 million copies in circulation.
After submitting many one-shots to Shueisha, Ashirogi begin their first serialized manga in Weekly Shōnen Jump, Gitantei Torappu, which is eventually canceled due to its declining popularity, after Mashiro is hospitalized for overworking on it. Their next series is the gag manga Hashire! Daihatsu Tanto, which they give up on, realizing it will never be popular, coupled with Takagi's difficulty with writing rapid-fire humor. After being challenged by the editor-in-chief of Jump to create a superior manga to their rival's, Ashirogi develops their current series PCP -Kanzen Hanzaitō-. It is met with considerable popularity but due to its theme, is unfit for an anime series. When their rival, Eiji Nizuma, submits a one-shot for serialization, Ashirogi competes by submitting Reversi which replaces Perfect Crime Party while the latter is moved to Shueisha's fictional monthly magazine, Hisshou Jump. After many conflicts involving the graphic novel sales and the voice actress choice, Reversi is chosen for an anime adaptation with Miho as the primary actress, after she passes a public audition. After fulfilling their dreams, the series ends with Mashiro officially proposing to Miho at the place they made their promise, the front gate of Miho's old home, followed by their first kiss.
When creating a chapter, Ohba did not meet with Obata. He would discuss things with his editor and create storyboards that were given to Obata. Obata then would create his own storyboards that were given to Ohba and their editor. The author said only minor changes were ever made and they never had disagreements. Obata said that when he started the manga, he struggled with the large amount of dialogue and information, not having enough space to draw the detailed backgrounds that he wanted. But he eventually realized that the dialogue is "the main character" of the series and shifted to making the art as unobtrusive as possible, such as using simple camera angles so that the composition was not too elaborate and the text could be read smoothly. Ohba referred to Bakuman as "a weird series." He revealed that the hardest part was coming up with new ideas as the story kept getting longer. But said because of this, he was able to include stories that he never initially considered.
When asked how accurate the manga process depicted in Bakuman is to reality, current Weekly Shōnen Jump editor-in-chief Hiroyuki Nakano said that as a work of fiction, some things are exaggerated for dramatic effect, "But it takes a lot of details from real life, so I think it's quite close." Bakuman features many homages to Fujiko A. Fujio's Manga Michi, a semi-autobiographical manga series with a similar premise that Obata is a big fan of.
Several chapters of the series were released on Jumpland's official website in Japanese, English, French, and German; the first chapter released on August 19, 2008. It is Shueisha's first manga to be released online in multiple languages before becoming available in print outside Japan. At San Diego Comic-Con in 2009, Viz Media announced it had licensed the series for English release in the US and Canada. The 20 volumes were published from August 3, 2010, to August 6, 2013. In addition to the collected volumes, Viz also published the series online in their manga anthology Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha (now known as simply Weekly Shonen Jump). Bakuman started with chapter 162 in the anthology's debut issue on January 30, 2012, and ended with the series' final chapter released on May 7, 2012. Viz digitally released the two Bakuman. Age 13 chapters in Weekly Shonen Jump on the same days that they ran in Japan.
In August 2011, Media Blasters licensed the first two seasons of the Bakuman anime for North America, including an English-language dub. The first seven episodes were included on a 2-disc DVD set released on November 22, 2011, however, the second was halted in February 2012. The first Blu-ray release was cancelled indefinitely in June 2012. Viz Media Europe acquired the rights for release in Europe and the United Kingdom in March 2012, in collaboration with Manga Entertainment and Kazé. After Media Blasters' cancellation, Kazé revealed the UK release would be subtitled only. In November 2012, Media Blasters officially announced they are discontinuing the series, but added that Viz Media might pick up the license for NA.
A play adaptation, Bakuman The Stage, ran at three locations in Tokyo and Osaka throughout October 2021. Written and directed by Worry Kinoshita, it starred Hiroki Suzuki as Mashiro and Yoshihiko Aramaki as Takagi. A recorded performance was released on home video on March 29, 2022.
A video game based on Bakuman was made for the Nintendo DS by Namco Bandai Games. "Bakuman.: The Road to Becoming a Manga Artist" was released in Japan on December 15, 2011.
A novel titled PCP -Perfect Crime Party- and based on the fictional manga of the same name created by Takagi and Mashiro in Bakuman was released by Shueisha on October 2, 2015. It was written by Sei Hatsuno, although Takagi and Mashiro's fictional pen name "Muto Ashirogi" is credited with the original story.
Jason Thompson referred to Bakuman. as "a love letter to the manga industry done in old-school shonen manga style." He felt that while it can be "text-heavy" on the process of making manga, it is ultimately a "heroic story of self-improvement, friendship and striving to succeed." Thompson cited the villain characters as the most interesting, but called the series sexist for only portraying its female characters as either "bitter, man-hating motivated by grudges against men" or "patient helpmates" striving to support them instead. Carlo Santos of Anime News Network was surprised that Bakuman succeeds, not only as a manga about manga, but as a slice-of-life story about the dreams of youth. Although he praised the conflicting viewpoints of the protagonists, Santos remarked that the series could learn from Ohba and Obata's previous serial Death Note; commenting that the beginning is not as gripping and the plot twists are "pretty weak" and "seem like petty contrivances." Despite this, he believes that the series is "another hit." Allegra Frank of Polygon seems to disagree with Santos' criticism, calling Bakuman. a "sweet, funny page-turner" that is gripping right from the start just like Death Note, only in "a completely different, far more low-key way".
Christopher Butcher reviewing volume one for About.com had strong praise for the art, calling it "quite possibly the best-drawn manga out today." He also enjoyed the behind-the-scenes information on the manga industry. Like Thompson, Butcher did state that while he enjoyed it, he has reservations about recommending Bakuman. because it is "horribly sexist." In an article discussing the underdevelopment of its female lead characters, Gregory Segal of Comic Book Resources wrote that some fans speculate the series' inclusion of such tropes is a form of meta-commentary on the traditional portrayal of women in manga.
The film was number-one at the Japanese box office on its opening weekend, with . It earned during the October 18 weekend. At the 39th Japan Academy Prize awards, its editor Yasuyuki Ōzeki won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Film Editing award, while Sakanaction's Motion Music of Bakuman won the Outstanding Achievement in Music award. The film was also one of two releases that won the Popularity award, alongside Maku ga Agaru. Matt Schley of Otaku USA wrote that Bakuman. is "a real celebration of and testament to the unique power of Japan's comics culture" and the best live-action manga adaptation he's seen this year. Kotakus Toshi Nakamura also suggested that it is possibly the best live-action manga adaptation he's seen. However, he said the motivational romance between Mashiro and Azuki was "surprisingly inconsequential" and boring. Mark Schilling for The Japan Times gave the film four out of five stars, with strong praise for director and screenwriter Hitoshi Ōne.
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