Summary: Moritaka Mashiro likes to draw, but it’s not what he considers his defining trait. After his uncle, a formerly-popular mangaka, died of overwork trying to replicate his own success, Moritaka never really considered art a serious endeavor. One thing he does take seriously, however, is his crush on his cute classmate Miho Azuki. When the smartest boy in his class, Akito Takagi, finds a sketch Moritaka drew of Azuki, he suggests they team up to create manga together. Moritaka has misgivings at first – trying to break into the field is too big a gamble – but before he knows it, the two grow determined to get their manga into the popular Jump magazine.
Content warnings: a whole lot of sexism, but nothing worse than that
Would I recommend it: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no
Note: I apologize for the quality of the images – I took pictures of the book using my phone
I’ll be honest here – I did not go into Bakuman in good faith. I started it knowing full well about Ohba and Obata’s disdain for women. The series is well-loved and critically acclaimed enough that I’m sure that there’s plenty to like about it, but since I am specifically taking aim at the parts that frustrate and anger me, I’m pretty much blind to those elements. No, I read Bakuman expecting to hate it and, shockingly, was correct.
There’s a lot of ways for media to be sexist. Objectification and male gaze are constant sources of irritation even in otherwise good series; and with some series it’s as simple as forgetting women exist beyond decorations and failing to give them a role to play in the story. I wouldn’t describe any of these as actively misogynist so much as thoughtless adherence to pre-established tropes and expectations. That’s what makes it frustrating that it’s as prevalent as it is. That also has the side effect of making it shocking to come across a series that doesn’t just ignore or marginalize women, but treats them with active scorn. That’s why when I read the first volume of Bakuman, by the same writer/artist team as Death Note, I was taken aback by its naked misogyny.
I Have a Heroine Problem 