Alternative title:

バクマン。 (Japanese)
爆漫王。 (Chinese (Taiwan))

Genres: comedy, drama, romance


Bakuman (バクマン。, Bakuman literally - "Burst of Laughter Man") is a shōnen manga by the creators of Death Note, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. The manga is about two boys in 9th grade who wish to be mangaka, or manga artists. The two main characters are accomplished artist Moritaka Mashiro (真城最高, Mashiro Moritaka) and aspiring writer Akito Takagi (高木秋人, Takagi Akito).

The first chapter was released in Japan on August 11, 2008 serialized in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump. There are several references to pop culture and Japanese manga throughout it alone; among them the successful series Death Note, the previous collaboration by Ohba and Obata.


Plot Summary: Bakuman tells the story of Moritaka Mashiro, a normal high school student who doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up. One day he draws a picture of Azuki Miho, a girl he is secretly fond of, during class and forgets the notebook at school. He comes back to find a boy named Akito Takagi waiting for him with his notebook. Takagi tries to convince Mashiro to become a mangaka with him, only leading to Mashiro's disagreement. Mashiro goes home and starts to think about his uncle, who was a mangaka at one point. Mashiro is interrupted by a phone call from Takagi, who says that he is going to tell Azuki that Mashiro likes her. Mashiro runs down to Azuki's house to find Takagi waiting for him. Once Azuki comes out of the door, Takagi tells her that he and Mashiro are aiming to be mangaka. Mashiro then learns that she wants to be a seiyū and has shown promise in the field. Mashiro, once again, thinking about his uncle, accidentally proposes to Azuki. Azuki promises that she will marry him, after their dreams come true, with the condition that they must not see each other until it happens.


Vintage:

2008-08-11 (Japan, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump)
2008-08-27 (Taiwan, serialized in Formosa Youth)

Official websites:

集英社 -POP WEB JUMP- バクマン。ストーリー紹介 (Japanese)

Other links:

MANGA ONLINE－マンガオンライン－「バクマン。」 (Japanese)
Jumpland Mangaonline (English)
Bakuman (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia

Manga covers:

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2008-08-11 (Japan; First Chapter)

wow this looks very interesting and from the creators of death note! You know its gotta be good!

hahaha its so cute
and i love the current anime references

wow! i am amazed by this and serioosly???????????????????????????????? a gierl for a change caz i was tired of just seeing guys in his art caz i always wasnted yo see girls and guys!!! woot!!

Totally different from Death note
But since it's by the same authors I'm willing to give it a try

omgosh, from the creators of death note?
totally checking this out.
i hope someone licenses it so i can own it too

Dang, this sounds interesting. and from the creator of Death Note, too. That's more icing on the cake!

I don't know if you guys noticed, but the 7th chapter has been translated
http://www.onemanga.com/Bakuman/7/

wow this sounds interesting! with the creators of Death Note it must be good xD

Creators of Death Note?
I guess I have no choice in the matter.
*goes off to download*

DELETE DELETE DELETE DELETE DELETE

Hahaha this manga turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought
I hope they (forgot their names already X_X) make it big soon :]]

ROFL; i'm reading it right now...and loving the references!

I thought I was keeping up with this manga but apparently not? *stares at first poster's colour pic* THEIR HAIR COLOURS ARE BLUE AND BROWN/BLONDE? xD

Love the Death Note references.. was Gevanni also one? the young one on Near's SPK team, no?

The artists behind DN are true geniuses.
This manga should also be good. ^___^

Chapter 10: http://www.onemanga.com/Bakuman/10/

this stuff is pretty good
the storyline is kinda original and not like the normal ^^
i like it

Do you think many people start reading this because they wrote Death Note beforehand?? I know I did =P

It's turning out to be a really good manga!! It is absolutely genius stuff...

In the beginning, I didn't know that the same author who created Death Note created this.
Forgot which chapter I stopped at but I love

--angel

i LOVE THIS MANGA!!!!
The feel of the storey is a lot different from DN but I can totally see the style of the mangakas in there ^^
and I love how they do shots from weired angles esp the fish eye shots!!! lol and the kid who draws crow was freaking cool Xd ahahahahaha

ahh the manga is getting draggy now D:

wow, anyone still keep up with this?

i think it's really starting to pick up again XD

^ I still keep up with the series



Chapter 57:

Oh! It's up to the readers now. As much as I'd like Future Watch to win (it seems more interesting), I have a feeling that Ten will be the winner. Eiji is hilarious with his comments. Did you see how you decorated Ashirogi Muto's rating of 5? Haha.

^ we should fire up this thread again hehe

yeah... i do not think the mangaka will let them succeed so easily =w=
LOL love eiji! he is so entertaining XD i wonder what kind of person wrote ten? i am kind of losing track of all the different characters... and more just keep coming "orz

It's kind of a bummer tho.

I mean, Ten will most likely win simply because it's the most 'jump' like storyline. But I think Ten would've done much better as a battle manga with light humour rather then a gag manga. Having Ten win is just like re-affirming Miura's obsession with gag manga. Which, I dunno about you guys, is a bit disappointing. I mean I know that Ashirogi needs to learn and grow and expand out of their normal genres but I think Miura needs a lot more 'maturing' in terms of being a good editor. And having Ten lose would be perfect for that. T_T Boooooo.

But that's just me. Lol. I'm just uber annoyed with Miura. =X

But EIJI IS SO CUTE. =) He made me smile like no other this chapter.

Chapter 58:

Ouch. Seems like both series scored low. I was hoping that Future Watch would do better after reading that Ten was 10th, but 9th? That's quite disappointing. I'm still hoping that Hattori will come back to be their editor. Will they get serialized? I wonder what'll happen next.

I only chose to read this because it's done by Death Note author. It's pretty good and I read the whole 55 chapters in a day. xDD