Review: Bakuman, Volume 1: Dreams and Reality by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Title: Bakuman, Volume 1: Dreams and Reality

Story by: Tsugumi Ohba

Art by: Takeshi Obata

Published by: VIZ Media, LLC

Released: August 2010

Source: Library

Summary: Moritaka Mashiro is living the life of an average Japanese middle school student. His exam to get into a good high school is coming up, so he must study, study, study! Fourteen is the age where you must start thinking about your future and career. He enjoys drawing, but knows that must always remain a hobby.

Then Akito Takagi comes up to him with a proposition, team up and become manga artists! Takagi will write the stories and Mashiro will do the art. Mashiro is unsure about this because his uncle was a manga artist, and Mashiro knows how he struggled. After much convincing, Mashiro agrees and puts his all into becoming a great artist and publishing a series by the time they turn 18.

Sure becoming manga creators is a gamble, but Mashiro and Takagi are determined to succeed!!

My Thoughts: I just think the concept for this manga is super interesting. A manga about creating mangas. I've never heard of a series like that before. I don't know what kind of plot this will have, or how they will stretch it into multiple volumes, but I'm interested. It will be cool seeing all that it takes to create a manga.

This manga is from the duo that created Death Note, which made me more interested to read it.

Volume 1 was a pretty interesting read. I liked learning more about Japanese culture. I already knew that school was important there, but the level of pressure is unreal. Deciding what you want to do with your life and career at 14 just made me panicked. I'm a lot older than that, and am still unsure.

I'd read a lot of reviews where people were complaining about the sexism in this series. I didn't really see it that way. To me, it just showcased a different culture. 

One thing about this duo and the mangas they create is that they are always so wordy. They tend to take me a little longer to read. The art is really pleasing though.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to continue with this series. I just find it interesting. All the work that goes into making a manga, and just the process of it all. I do wonder how it will get stretched into multiple volumes. Will the story be enough to keep my interest?

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5

Interesting, Very Interesting