Hey guys, it’s me again, with another review. This week I decided to change it up with a manga… about creating mangas! Have you guessed what we’re about to take a dive into? I won’t be giving any hints, so grab a friend as we jump into Mr. Ohba and Obata’s creative world of Bakuman!

Bakuman is an extremely unique slice-of-life-romantic-comedy-drama manga, starring two junior high-school boys, our main characters: Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi. One day, after Mashiro leaves his notebook at school, he heads back to retrieve it only to be confronted by his classmate, and most prominent member of his school, Takagi, who is known and admired for his extreme intellect. Though there’s a twist, he doesn’t want to confront Mashiro about just anything…but rather about the doodles and drawings, found in the back of his book, representing another classmate known as Azuki Miho, Mashiro’s crush! Takagi suggests that Miho must like him too (as he sits in the back of the classroom, he proudly proclaims that he can see and notices many things); and agrees not to tell Miho anything about what happened…but there’s a catch! Takagi proposes a strange thing.

“Mashiro, make a manga together with me!” Although the proposition is beneficial to Mashiro’s skill, he declines. His decision heavily influenced by an incident involving his uncle, a formerly serialized mangaka who died from overwork trying to regain the fame he once had. Later on, Mashiro recieves a call from Takagi, telling him that he’s about to tell Azuki about their discussion, and that he should tag along… WHAT?! Wait… How’d he get Mashiro’s number anyway…?! And so, shortly after arriving Takagi tells Azuki that he’s been well informed by her friend that she has the dream of becoming a voice actress. Not a bad dream I’ll tell you that! I know once in a while we all get in our corner pretend to rehearsh lines! What’s surprising here is that she actually admits it; Takagi moves into phase two of his plan…

He informs Azuki that he’s going to become a mangaka…and then forces Mashiro to do the same. In the blink of an eye Azuki lights up like a Christmas tree and express her enthusiasm towards the young boys, which rekindles Mashiro’s dream. Not just to become another statistic within the world of business, and obtaining an office job. But chooses right then, and there, to become a mangka instead! Mashiro promises Azuki the lead role in their first anime, to which she eagerly agrees. Something suddenly sparks in Mashiro… Was it the look on her face? Or the sheer yearning to be with the girl he loved for so long that pushed him over the edge…? Because in the midst of the hype and confusion…

When our dreams come true…will you marry me!?

Certainly, this wasn’t a part of Takagi’s plan… Mashiro shouts the one sentence that would change his, and his classmates lives forever…

Bakuman for me is a really great read, I mean, it has it all. The creators, the story, the drama, the jokes, everything’s there for you to enjoy at your disposal. When you first start off with the characters, you’re immediately caught up in their vigor to be the best there is. Their determination knows no bounds and their ability to get up after falling is truly remarkable and encouraging. The reason I picked up Bakuman is because, as an artist, myself, a lot of things that were narrated by Mashiro just…clicked. Mind you it can be understood by readers who are not into art, but the way he speaks and the choice of words just, hits you because he himself is an artist.

The story relies heavily on character interactions and drama, and allows the creativity of each author to shine throughout the course of the story. Take Mashiro and Azuki’s relationship for instance; even though they were so in love with each other there were still obstacles that caused their faith to falter, and that, in turn, gives the reader a more real-life setting. Not only that, they solve things like a real couple, and think like real couples do with all the worrying and anixiety that comes along with a relationship. Choosing instead to put us in a seat that is comfortable, and not so foreign. Something where we can totally understand, or even relate to enough to say… “Hey, I’ve been in that situation before.” or something close to it.

One of the main reasons I started reading Bakuman was not only because of its innovative storyline, but because of who was behind it. Long writer Tsugumi Ohba and his artist Takeshi Obata once again paired up to bring us something other worldly, in a familiar world… I love this pair to death, and to be honest they’re two of my favorites. Especially its artist Takeshi Obata, who’s dramatic drawing brings to life the already vivid world Tsugumi had set before him. I think the only qualms I would have about the storytelling was the it’s long-winded sometimes. So if you aren’t into manga with lots, and I mean LOTS of words, brace yourself if you’re interested in picking this manga up.

The main thing I read Bakuman for are the tips and knowledge it presents to its readers about the world of mangakas, and just how hard it can be to set yourself in it. I noticed that a lot of the techniques Mashiro uses to draw, I also use, and it makes me feel more inclined to read further into the story. I want to find out just how much more they can pass on to me, or what else can I pick up on. Words like ‘name’ is apparently a term used to describe a rough draft for a chapter, and should be drawn out for a editor to look over before each meeting. Things like these, I feel a bit more knowledge, and more experienced. It also has aspects for young writers, showing them avenues they too can use. Just looking at your life may inspire you to write something that may one day storm the literature industry by surprise…!

Bakumen also specializes in character development. It puts the right amount of focus onto each aspect of the current story, and also on it’s side characters. I love the fact that every character can be somewhat redeemed, and I find it hard to hate on any of them. They’re all working hard towards their goal, and they’re going all within their means as an artist, as a writer, as friends to encourage each other to be the best they can be. I also love the fact that the main characters always have a goal, trying to surpass someone, and most importantly…trying to surpass themselves.

Although Bakuman hasn’t been out for very long, they have some loyal fans, and enough to even warrant an anime that’s supposed to be airing this upcoming Fall! So if you can, start reading. It’s been serialized in english so support them! Encourage your friends everywhere to support the industry you love, the industry that even now is continuing to inspire artist, designs, and writers alike. Alas, we’ve come towards the end. But fear not! I’ll be back again next month with another, hopefully, spectacular review. This has been Meringued Mangas and I hope to see you again next time~.

Don’t forget to stop by the forums in my section to recommend a manga you know that’s not as popular as it should be, can be, or ought to be! Here, on 918thefan’s forum.]]> http://918thefan.com/2010/meringued-mangas-bakuman-review/feed/ 4 http://918thefan.com/2010/meringued-mangas-choosing-mangas-2/ http://918thefan.com/2010/meringued-mangas-choosing-mangas-2/#comments Mon, 10 May 2010 02:29:53 +0000 Kibs http://918thefan.com/?p=7533

So, some of you may or may not know that the original intent for Meringued Manga was to introduce readers to new series that were extremely good but not widely talked about. Well, this week we’re going to try a different approach! I headed over to different forums, including 918 The Fan’s, asking and researching their thoughts on their favorite mangaka’s. Some of the replies were kind of surprising, but nevertheless intriguing. Here’s what they came up with:

“Hiromu Arakawa all the way for me. Any mangaka able to come up with a series as fantastic as Fullmetal Alchemist and make it look so great is well worth being a favorite.”

I would say Natsuki Takaya. Not just for her works with Fruits Basket, but also her new work, Twinkle Stars, which I own! In French!

Hiro Mashima, I just think his style is real good. Somehow it reminds me of One Piece…..

I’m going to be extremely generic, and say Tite Kubo. Bleach was the FIRST Manga I ever read, and I owe the fact that I’m even here to the amazing first arcs in Bleach.

YuYu Hakusho – I love the artwork despite how poorly it may seem, fights are great too.

Hiro Mashima because he’s funny and his art style is a little over-exaggerated. Reminds me of One Piece. I loved Rave Master

Taste really does vary from person to person. But the one thing every mangaka mentioned had in common was their ability to produce mangas with quality! I mean, it’s no doubt that in some aspects, their drawings must be on par with a quota; but the thing that really drives people to read from these inspiring artists is their determination to satisfy their customers and readers with their captivating stories. I think that’s what we as readers feel when we read a chapter every week, or every month. Take Natsuki Takaya for instance, at first glance, a reader like me, who’s so widely into Action, Seinen (mature male), and Supernatural would stay away from her works. But after reading Fruits Basket, I can appreciate the work that she spent developing her story and characters, even though it’s of a Shojou genre. She approached the climax of a love triangle in a away not many people would, because it’s very hard to pull off a satisfactory ending with that concept.

One of the ways you can tell a good mangaka from afar is by their ability to produce unique stories, and by their ability avoid cliché plot devices. Now this is not an easy task, as almost every manga will have at least one cliché plot device. Mangaka’s like Naoki Urasawa (20th century boys), Hiroya Oku (Gantz), and Mohiro Kitoh (Bokurano), are good examples of magnakas who make a great deal of effort to keep their stories unique. I’d like to note that ” ” avoid this as well, which is impressive because it’s hard to give your character life-like emotions without your mind straying towards the stereotype.

Urasawa Naoki author of Monster, Pluto, and 20thCB

We may think that it’s easy to avoid; that listing the things that are common in stories we can detour our minds away from them. But did you realize it’s not to easy to create a new story from scratch, without the assist of clichés? This is where we can see the obvious line that separates mangakas with talent from the latter. Another excellent example of this is Hiromu Arakawa.

From what we’ve learned already, we can safely say that asking someone their favorite mangka is the equivalent of asking someone what’s their favorite manga. They both go hand and hand; which brings me to another point. I find that a lot of individuals had Kubo Tite (Bleach), Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), or Kishimoto Masashi (Naruto) in their lists. This is not that all surprising considering their popularity in Japan. What is interesting was that there were very FEW people that liked them as a mangaka. Let me explain what I mean by that.

Earlier I said that; “The thing that really drives people to read from these inspiring artists are their determination to satisfy their customers and readers with their captivating stories”, so ask yourself; How many people do you know that read the big three and think highly of them as mangka’s, or just manga’s that are okay and pass the time? I mean, I doubt that they respect them any less; they’re in the top 3, of course, and obviously required some level of respect for their work.

Simply put, it’s hard to feel the drive that you feel from other artists work. And it may be because of their popularity. The more widely a manga is known, the less people appreciate it’s work (Mangas like Fullmetal Alchemist being an exception).

Hiromu Arakawa's self-depiction the famous author or Full Metal Alchemist

Naruto is loved for its backgrounds…and for Sasuke. As a mangaka I feel Kishimoto focuses too much on that one aspect of the story! There are other characters that we’d love to see, and while Sasuke and the others are very important to the group, it could prove fatal to a manga’s success if you fail to provide development for your side characters. Now if we go to One Piece, I think this might be the closest we have to reaching the quota I mentioned before. Hardly anyone complains about it, and if it is, it’s usually commented on the randomness One piece brings to its readers. Like our surveyors mentioned very early in the review, he has a similar character style, and story telling to Hiro Mashima who is also famous for his outrageous plots.

So when I say that the determination of a mangaka can be felt, those are the aspects I analyze to reach that conclusion. Though, it’s 50/50 when it comes to the big three, as they only have a week to prepare something for us to read. So most mistakes are excused, not like D. Gray Man and Claymore, who have months for their chapters and sometimes produce average storytelling. Remember, sometimes when looking for a manga to read, it could be a better to approach the situation by:

1. Finding out the author of mangas you’ve read.
2. If they published anything new/old.
3. If there are other mangakas that have similar tendencies and writing styles to mangakas you already love.

While this method might not be 100% satisfactory, it should help you choose a manga that you’ll love overall. I hope you’ve learned something from this; I sure have! Every time I write a review I learn something new about a manga I’ve read, and a different way to look at it. So I hope that I’ve brought something new to your table as well. Thanks for sticking with me again this week! Enjoy the rest of your features here at 918 The Fan, I’ll be seeing you again, soon.

Don’t forget to head over to our forums and hit me up here if you have any suggestions, critiques, comments, or just want to say hello!

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s not Batman, it’s me, Llian! I take it you’re here for another dose of Meringued Manga’s monthly review, so let’s not waste any time and get right into it shall we?

This week I had originally planned to look into a comedy manga, but I figured that I’ll stick with the shonen genre for one more week. We’ll be taking a look into the story of Katsura Hoshino’s D.Gray Man! Recently D.Gray Man has been changed from a weekly manga to a monthly one. That’s okay, because the story seems to be even better than it once was, and the artwork has also picked up tremendously.

D.Gray man recites the story about a world filled with Akuma’s (demons) that were created by the Millennium Earl; and a young boy named Allen Walker, just one of an organization of many Exorcists who use ancient substances, called Innocence, to battle against the Earl and his army of Akuma. Katsura’s manga was serialized in 2004 in Weekly Shonen Jump. Today, they have released nineteen (19) volumes; and was recently transferred from releasing weekly, to monthly, in November of 2009. There has even been an anime adaptation of 103 episodes that aired from October 3rd, 2006, to September 30th, 2008. The anime has been licensed by Viz Media, and the manga by Funimation Entertianment in the United States.

The story starts off with a monologue; referring to the chosen people known as Exorcists who hunt down those covered in Darkness, otherwise known as Akuma. Two police of a small town are investigating the disappearances inside an abandoned church. Several travelers with no refugee take shelter there, and when they wake up in the morning everything except their clothes vanished. They townspeople blame it on a curse, because of an incident that took place there two years earlier, but Officer Moore knows that it’s nothing more than a strange rumor heading around town! …Yeah right.

As she and her partner survey the church, they come across a cat. As officer Moore takes the cat a swarm of bats fly through the hallway and a strange, disfigured hand grabs officer Moore and slams her into a chair. To the readers surprise, it is none other than an adorable little boy, Allen Walker, who proclaims that the cat (whom I’ve nicknamed Stoler) has eaten a valuable assets of his, given to him by his master. Officer Moore questions Allen further on the matter… Let’s just say it doesn’t go well for Allen and he ends up getting handcuffed to a chair~ They hear a scream by Officer Moore’s partner, but it’s too late. He’s pinned to a wall with star markings all over him! And shortly later, he breaks into dust…ew. Well now we know why the travelers have been disappearing and leaving their clothes behind, but what’s causing this? The dust that starts to settle makes Officer Moore sickly, and Allen saves her as she passes out.

When she awakens, we find that she’s in a police station and her superiors think that Allen was the one that killed her partner Officer Charles. Allen..killing Officer Charles? I know some cute kids do some vicious things in mangas, but this is preposterous!! Allen explains that he knows who the culprit is, and he’s willing to help them find him, after Officer Moore returns home to her immobilized brother… I think I have a good idea who this culprit is as well. Allen begins explaining to Moore that an Akuma is a weapon created for evil, by evil that targets humans. Now, normally something that abnormall you’d be able to spot right? Wrong. Akuma’s have the tendency to take on human shapes so it’s quite difficult to tell if a person is an Akuma or not, without proof of seeing their true form. This is where the fun starts! Allen’s left eye has the ability to see whether a person has an Akuma in them or not!

As it turns out, Officer Moore’s brother was indeed the culprit. Through a quick but educational battle, Allen frees her brother’s soul, and heads off towards one of the main headquarters for Exorcists, The Order. Also, Stoler the cat did not survive through this catastrophe! A moment of silence for Stoler…

Now for my thoughts on this manga. It’s still ongoing, so there is nothing definite to what I’m feeling, but it was definitely a good and amazingly interesting read. I mean, the battles are amazing, and for the most part, every explanation can be understood with ease. Until the more recent releases… but we’ll tackle that bridge when we get to it. I think the characters are really unique, even for Allen in all his Michael Sueness. Yes, I said Michael Sue. And honestly, this manga has one of the best character developments I’ve seen in a long time. I’m not talking about “oh yeah I just got an awesome power up” I’m talking about a character growing through his trails and learning something from it. I’m talking about a bit of personality change and a growth in maturity. When it comes to the character, you will definitely not be disappointed. Even the antagonists are lovable! You hate who you need to, and you love who you’re supposed to.

Story-wise, this manga is pretty up there. The story is really unique and it gets the job done by ensnaring it’s readers. The only thing I’d comment on is the lack of substance in the main arcs. There are times when the arc is really boring because it’s been drawn out a bit too long. I think it’s just a matter of preference, though, so if you enjoy long arcs then there shouldn’t be a problem. Her artwork has improved drastically over the cross of this manga, and I have to say there was never a time I hated it. I loved all three phases she went through. They were probably due to her hand injuries (she her hurt hand twice, I think). So taking time off from drawing led to some different styles when she came back, and for a while she was also on hiatus. I think that’s the reason D.Gray man’s popularity decreased over the years, but it’s still holding on strong, and I commend it for that.

Once again we’ve reached the end. It’s sad for me, I hope you liked this review, I worked very hard on it~ Thanks for sitting through, next month I’ll probably be doing something a little bit different, just for you guys! So make sure you check it out!

RIP Stoler!

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