「夏とネーム 」 (Natsu to Nemu)
“Summer and Name”

I admit it. I love Bakuman. Not only for the great story, or the detail they put into it when they talk about mangka things. I love it because of how they make it feel real. I don’t know about you, but I’ve attempted to do the fusion dance multiple times with my best friend. I shortly followed up with getting super mad at him when he didn’t say the words right and messed up on his form. Who wants to end up being a fatty when they fuse together!? This week’s Bakuman was AMAZING. Between Takagi and Moritaka, the brotherly feeling has grown immensely. Like I said earlier, it takes a really good friend to do the fusion dance with you. It takes your best friend to start insulting the way you did your dance. From the intricate steps to the pitch of your “FUSION”, it has the power to make or break friendships. The friendship between our dynamic duo continues to amaze me with how much it’s grown in such a small period of time. For the everyone out there, back when you were little, I’m sure you remember what it was like to sleep over at a friend’s house. Freezing your butt off since you’d argue over who would sleep on the bed, eventually leading to no one using it. Talking through the night since neither of you can sleep. Doing stupid things instead of sleeping even though you’re both tired. Trying coffee for the first time to try to stay awake longer.

Besides the fusion dance (a sign of awesomeness) both Takagi and Moritaka bust out their skills this episode. Takagi, the man in charge of creating the “name”, actually has some pretty amazing ideas. From the two ideas he pitched, I personally thought the story of a second world was only mildly interesting. Having a second earth to fix the problems of the original one, it really makes you think about how different the world could be. But I didn’t feel the same rush of excitement Moritaka did. While I’m glad they went this idea for their name, I must admit the baseball “name” would have been pretty funny. Gurasan Pitcher – The blind pitcher who wears sunglasses! Moritaka on the other hand has set some pretty high standards for his work. In charge of actually bringing the ideas to life on paper, it was really awesome to see the different steps artwork goes through before it’s finalized. From name, to rough sketch, clean sketch, to ink. It’s pretty hard work – especially when your hand ends up like that. While Takagi manages to finish his work a lot quicker then Moritaka I think it’s pretty thoughtful with what he decides to do with his extra time. After Moritaka decides to start art from scratch after they see their rival, Niizuma Eiji’s work in Shonen Jump Jack, Takagi attempts to try what Moritaka does. Seeing how he can’t draw or ink worth crap, he teaches himself how to cut out the tones and has the battle scars to prove it. In the end, both Takagi and Moritaka finish their name together – unsure of their work but feeling damn proud and finishing with a glorious handshake.

On the relationship forefront it looks like Takagi will finally get some action. Whether it’s wanted or not, it looks like he doesn’t have a choice. By not thinking before he spoke to Miyoshia Kaya (Yahagi Sayuri), Azuki’s best friend, it looks like Takagi is going to end up in an awkward situation whenever they get close to each other. Somehow Takagi manages to phrase his words to sound like he wanted to talk to Kaya. Leading Kaya to think that he’s hitting on her. With this kind of behavior coming from Takagi, it really surprised me. I’d expect him to be better than Moritaka with relationship type things, not the other way around. Then again, it’s hard to tell if Takagi actually likes her or not. Especially when you add in the fact that Kaya competed nationally in some sort form of martial arts – maybe Takagi will “begin” to like her. Moritaka on the other hand still does NOT have Azuki’s phone number. I refuse to accept any of his deluded fantasies until he mans up and actually gets Azuki’s number. Especially when he shows such skill in understanding how relationships work, except when it comes to his own.

*Do you guys prefer to refer to Moritaka and Takagi by their last names or as Saiko and Shujin?

 

Preview

59 Comments

      1. Same here, last names please. Also, for future posts can you just write “Shonen Jump” instead of the “Jack” bullshit? Obviously this blog is not limited by any legal restrictions on the name like the anime is.

        Thanks!

        bunny
      2. In this adaptation of Bakuman, it’s called Shounen Jack and not Jump. It’s not bullshit; its how they refer to it. Since I’m reviewing the anime, I’m going to call it what they call it.

        Of course thats why I have Jump crossed through to make sure that anyone who doesn’t get it, gets it.

      3. Takaii it’s up to you. It’s just I think most (if not all) people who watch this understand that Moritaka is trying to get published in Jump. Using “Jack” in the anime just takes away all the emotional significance, and you continuing to use Jack in your posts is I think taking away from the overall impact.

        bunny
  1. love this episode… saw it last night 🙂
    Fusion dance was great… though did not have a best friend to do it with me… 🙁
    is it just me or the “name” they came up with sounded like element hunter in a way?
    hope to see more of the relationship front though… man, they got to get the phone numbers (or mail addresses… for some reason Japanese people are using mail addresses for texting?)
    can’t wait for next episode…

    jrj
  2. The 2nd Earth idea reminded me of Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini or maybe to a lesser extent, The Island.

    I completely agree with you though Takaii, Bakuman is quickly becoming one of my favourite anime this year. Everything about it is good, the characters and their chemistry, voice acting, story and it’s realism also the mix of humour and seriousness.

    I can’t wait for what’s to come.

    Oh and it’s clearly “Fu-ssi-on” – drawing out the Fu and ending with a quick “on”.

    duh
  3. Great episode review Takaii!

    Hmm well since they refer to eachother constantly as Saiko & Shujin, it might be more natural for the reader to read those names thus minimizing the “lagg in the brain” 😀

    Haven’t really got any issues myself, but hypotheticly, using the names might just make things easier to follow when reading.

    Keep up the good work!

    Kendrake
  4. “*Do you guys prefer to refer to Moritaka and Takagi by their last names or as Saiko and Shujin?”

    Go random and do either of them LOL cue “who’s ?” “Isn’t that ?”

    entropy
  5. Great episode. I love this series too. Personally I prefer the 2nd earth story to the blind baseball pitcher one. If Earth 2 takes off and becomes a hit then they could come out with a 2nd series and it be the baseball one. But to make the blind pitcher be their 1st story (as unknowns just starting) it would be DOA when they try selling their manga to an editor.

    Karmafan
  6. Haven’t really had the need to refer to them so far, and I haven’t managed to remember their first or last names, hence in my mind I think of the two as the blue-haired guy and the blond guy with glasses.

    I have gotten to love Bakuman myself, the fusion moment really bumped up the coolness factor (and regurgitated my memories of DBZ). Considering the fact that it’s this good after only 5 episodes it’s hard to imagine to what lengths the story might go; also, the fear that it might get bad later on is starting to increase. But from what I’ve gathered the manga is good (great?) so the anime /should/ turn out the same right?

    By the looks of it, they aren’t in for a warm welcome at Shonen Jack. Should prove to be interesting, though I can’t help but feel sorry for them after all the effort they put in. That Eiji kid must be some sort of a freak to be that good on his own…

  7. The problem with Saiko and Shujin is that it’s just their nicknames for each other and everyone else calls them either by their last names or by their actual first names. It wont be easier in the future either as they will get an alias that they will also be called by. I think the majority uses their last names thou, so it’s probably the best bet for keeping it simple.

    Znail
  8. Nice post Takaii 🙂
    Bakuman has become my favorite anime too!
    I like the pacing of this show and how much it relates to real life!
    Do you read the manga?
    Ah and according to me,you can go with Saiko and Shujin!
    That suits them better 🙂

    Fai D Fluorite
  9. I’m a little disappointed in the animation, especially of Kaya, she looks way cuter in the manga.
    Also too bad that they changed the hairstyle of Saiko and Shujin to what it looks like in the manga NOW, and not back then. Back in the beginning of the manga, their hair was a little longer and more ‘wild’, and by the time they grew up it changed a bit to what we have now.

    Nevertheless, the anime is pretty good. 😉

    virox
  10. Being an aspiring writer, this show has a particular emotional catch for me.

    😀 I’m usually watching with inspired tears saying “Yeah man! Live the dream!”

    Still, it’s weird how they got the rights to Bakuman but NOT to Jump. What? Why? How?

    yanipheonu
    1. It’s not about the rights, but about the restriction of NHK as a public broadcaster. They cannot do ANY kind of PR or CM. “Bakuman” is a title of a manga, so it’s OK, just like a title of any other manga, novel or movie. You can always mention titles of some arts. But Shonen Jump is a name of a magazine so it’s considered as a name of a commodity which you cannot mention on NHK programs.

      U Doh
  11. Saikou and Shuujin, definitely. That’s what they call each other in the manga 🙂

    Moritaka and Takagi sound weird becaue one’s a first name and the other a last. If it were Mashiro and Takagi or Moritaka and Akito (lol I don’t think many people even remember that that’s his first name, it’s so rarely mentioned) it would be okay I guess.

    And agree with virox. Kaya looks better in the anime. Actually, so does Azuki.

    saladesu
      1. I wonder if they plan to have the characters look the same the entire series? They age in the manga and that is why they look different. But as they use the later looks now I guess they will look the same now and later too.

        Znail
  12. Definitely Saiko and Shujin. Since I’ve been a Huge Bakuman fan since it’s inception, the names they use to refer to each is what I’m most familiar with. Thank you so much for continuing to cover this awesome series!

    Stephs a Geek
  13. I prefer Saiko and Shujin since I followed the manga before the anime began, and… tbh, I didn’t recall that Saiko was Mashiro Moritaka until the anime started. XD;; (Takagi was somehow easier to remember…)

    Every episode of Bakuman makes me excited for the next!

    karayuquex
  14. Having read the manga, I can anticipate you that 80% of the dialogues in the series are between the two protagonists, who always refer to each other as Saiko and Shujin. That said, I ‘d go with the nicknames instead of their real names, because those will be hardly ever heard in the rest of the series…

    Lorenzo
  15. Saiko and Shujin are both amazing and what a great friendship! I was on the fence when Bakuman was announced for this Fall but now, I just can’t get enough of it. Great show and you’re right Takaii, it does have a great sense of realism.

    Shinjiro
  16. last names preferred please and thanks!

    and im really glad that you have continued the summary writing of Bakuman. i dont remember if i recalled this correctly, but in the sneak peek summary of all the new series coming out this season, it was said that the chance of blogging this series was kinda low, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore?

    either way im glad you’ve enjoyed it so far! i’ve read the manga and was SUPER ecstatic to hear it was going to become an anime 🙂 i hope you its to your liking from here on out! 😀

    Trinitystar
  17. Saiko and Shujin , after a few more eps you are gonna forget their real names like I did.
    Kaya is more pretty in the anime which I didnt like ,in the manga she is more normal not uber beatiful.
    And I love the ending with both running to their dreams.

    BoozerX
  18. “In the end, both Takagi and Moritaka finish their name together”
    Actually, isn’t it more accurate to say that they finished their manuscript together?

    By the way, I really liked the idea of the 2 earths. The baseball one didn’t interest me, but then again, I’m not really into sports manga.

    Yuumei
  19. Saiko and Shujin. Everyone calls Mashiro Saiko anyway. Saiko is just the alternative pronunciation of the kanji for Moritaka

    ps. Moritaka is Saiko’s first name. His surname is Mashiro

    k

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