The BEST episodes of Bakuman
Every episode of Bakuman ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Bakuman!
The series follows talented artist Moritaka Mashiro and aspiring writer Akito Takagi, two ninth grade boys who wish to become mangaka.
#3 - How It Should Be and How It Ends
Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/16/2013
Following Azuki securing the role of the lead female character, Hattori, Mashiro and Takagi begin discussing their intention to end the Reversi manga in July. Later, Mashiro calls Azuki to congratulate her and they make plans to meet once the first episode of Reversi finishes airing. Hattori tells Heishi about Ashirogi Muto's plan, which he rejects and orders Hattori to convince them to continue the manga. Hattori explains this to Mashiro and Takagi and they decide to think about their final decision. However, Takagi has a separate meeting with Hattori. He states that he will end Reversi in 8 chapters and surpass Nizuma in both rankings as well as volume sales, making Mashiro the best mangaka in Shonen Jack, wanting this to be his wedding present. Hattori decides to take responsibility reflect the words of Director Torishima: 'when the company and authors are at odds, a good editor should stand by the author'. Heishi, having heard the same words before, sides with Ashirogi Muto and informs the animation studio of their decision, which they accept. When the final chapter is published everyone is awestruck at the spectacular climatic battle between the two protaganists. It is such a smashing success that the manga volumes sell out within a day, surpassing the sales of Zombie Gun by selling 1.22 million copies per volume. Finally, at Reversi's end, Heishi, summons Ashiro Muto to Yueisha where they meet Nizuma and their motivational rivalry continues.
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#5 - Dreams and Reality
Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/30/2013
Hattori meets with the production staff and cast of Reversi's anime as production gets underway. At the studio, Mashiro reveals to Miyoshi of his intention to propose to Azuki after Reversi's premiere and thanks her for creating their pen name: "Ashirogi Muto". As Miyoshi leaves, Mashiro and Takagi reflect on their journey thus far. Elsewhere, Azuki reveals her and Mashiro's plans to meet after the anime to her mother, while Mashiro reads his uncle's diary. Later, after the anime premieres, Mashiro picks up Azuki in an fashion, honoring one of his late uncle's dreams and they talk about the times they had been together. Soon, Mashiro takes Azuki to visit her former home where they recreate the scene of the first time Mashiro approached her at her house, before proposing. Azuki answers by kissing him and promises that they will be together forever. Eventually everyone attends Hiramaru and Aoki's wedding where Azuki catches the bride's bouquet of flowers. Finally, Azuki and Mashiro move into Azuki's old house together with the intention to officially have a wedding ceremony if Ashirogi Muto's newest work gets a serialization. With their dreams finally achieved, Mashiro ends the series with a monologue, stating that dreams are not achieved by someone telling you so, you have to make them a reality yourself.
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#8 - Cooperation and Conditions
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/19/2011
Mashiro and Takagi discuss how to improve the concept behind the story, now known as Detective Trap, and Takagi begins looking over many detective stories that Hattori sent him. The two meet with Hattori, insisting on proceeding with Detective Trap while still in high school, and Hattori tells them that in order to get serialized, Detective Trap must do well in the Golden Cup, and they must bring him a 19-page story every two weeks to show that they can do so every week with assistants. They succeed in keeping up in spite of the difficulty involved in doing so, and are officially entered into the contest.
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#10 - 10 and 2
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/4/2010
Mashiro and Takagi meet with Hattori, who says the manga artists liked their work, but the editors judging it thought it would never be published. Mashiro, wanting to progress faster than he is now, wonders if he could submit a work for serialization, and Hattori is doubtful. The editor in chief says that work needs to be good to be serialized, but Mashiro and Takagi are not good enough yet, and need a good main character to do so. Their early attempts are unimpressive, but Hattori suggests that a cult hit that only 20 percent of the reader base would read, but consider their favorite, might be a way for Mashiro and Takagi to get first place. Takagi mentions an idea he has called Money and Intelligence, in which people sell the contents of their minds to others, and Hattori suggests that they work on it.
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#11 - Yes and No
Season 1 - Episode 25 - Aired 4/2/2011
Thirteen series are submitted for the serialization meeting and are discussed by the team captains, editor in chief and deputy editor. Of all 13, Detective Trap and Otter 11, a manga by newcomer Kazuya Hiramaru, are chosen for serialization. Mashiro receives congratulations from his rivals, who promise to get serialized themselves to compete with him. Mashiro then reflects on how far he has come and how far he has yet to go, before he receives a call from Azuki, who congratulates him and tells him that their dream will come true. Hattori stops by with a man called Miura, who will be their new editor.
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#12 - Chocolate and NEXT!
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/11/2010
Mashiro and Takagi work on Money and Intelligence while applying to the relatively easy North High School. Miyoshi questions why Mashiro and Azuki are not seeing each other, and Takagi concludes that Azuki wants to remain focused on her dream. Mashiro and Takagi get accepted into North High School along with Miyoshi and learn that their work will run in the seasonal magazine NEXT. Hattori tells them that the editors are planning to use them to make Nizuma look good by comparison, but he tells them this is their chance to impress them and win against Nizuma.
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#13 - Call and Eve
Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/26/2011
Koogy's manga does poorly in the Golden Future Cup, leaving Mashiro and Takagi, Fukuda, and Nakai and Aoki as the top contenders. An unprecedented two-way tie happens, with Fukuda and Ashirogi Muto both getting first place. Azuki calls Takagi to thank him for supporting Mashiro and encouraging him to pursue becoming a manga artist, but is too embarrassed to congratulate Mashiro directly herself. Having won the Golden Future Cup, Mashiro and Takagi prepare to submit their story for serialization.
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#16 - Hot Spring and Confirmation
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/23/2013
Mashiro, Takagi and Miyoshi go to a hot spring for the short new year holiday. Mashiro and Takagi contemplate how far they have come since middle school. As the year begins, the editors at Shonen Jack have a tough time deciding which series, Zombie Gun or Reversi should get an anime adaptation since both have compelling circumstances. Yujirou explains this to Nizuma who turns down the offer, but when he learns that Reversi will take its place he changes his mind. Aida asks for Hattori's approval in selecting Reversi but he is torn. He knows Ashirogi Muto might end the manga before the anime even starts and feels obliged to tell this, but then the offer might be pulled. Hattori discusses this with Mashiro and Takagi who both immediately agree on the anime, but they realize they may have to prolong Reversi for a year and thus sacrifice its quality. Takagi promises that he will not let Reversi's quality waver and Mashiro finally tells Hattori why Takagi would go so far for him: because of the promise he made to Azuki. Hattori realizes that he was wrong to worry too much about it and wants to support them. Afterwards Yujirou and Hattori try to make convince Heishi their manga should get an anime and become the flagship series. Later, Hattori hurriedly bursts into Mashiro's studio with news of the outcome.
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#17 - Imitation and Unconsciousness
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/29/2012
As Mashiro and Azuki ponder the effects that the robbery would have on PCP and Takagi, the Chief and Hattori decide to support Ashirogi Muto as much as possible. However, Takagi's mental state has already been greatly affected. This causes him to write lower quality stories and eventually he reuses old ideas he once rejected. This results in PCP's ranking dropping from the top five to the 12th place. As PCP enters a slump, Yujirou confides in Hattori of Nizuma's deal to cancel one manga should he get the top spot in the rankings, which may happen soon. This leads Hattori to become fearful of PCP's serialization. As another bank robbery occurs, the thieves leave a card, claiming they are PCP, which enrages Takagi but he finally finds a way to resolve this.PCP's next chapter is about a copycat crime intended to make it seem like the PCP protagonists had done it, but is foiled by their rival who realized the real PCP wouldn't commit criminal acts, much less claim it was their doing. As the results of the rankings come in, PCP jumps back to 3rd place with Mashiro and Takagi expressing that their manga does not condone crime.
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#18 - Correction and Declaration
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/2/2013
Hattori announces that the Reversi anime will begin airing in October and Mashiro breaks into tears as their dream is at last within reach. Heishi calls Nizuma and explains why he rejected Zombie Gun, since it will help Ashirogi Muto to rise to his level and secure the future of Shonen Jack. Azuki calls Mashiro to congratulate him and recites lines from Reversi. Later Ririki Kitami blogs about her meeting with Mashiro and his involvement with Azuki, which goes viral across the internet. As rumors begin spreading, everyone worries the public will accuse Ashirogi Muto of favoritism to Azuki, something that could damage her career. This is confirmed when Mashiro, Takagi and Hattori meet the animation committee for Reversi. Mashiro tells Azuki that she should deny any relationship with him on her weekly radio broadcast to preserve her image. However, instead she goes public with her relationshiptells everyone about their promise. This has a mixed effect on the public. In the end, Mashiro calls the show and tells the public to believe in Azuki as they always have and adamantly states that she will get the part of the lead female role in Reversi by her skills alone.
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#19 - Battles and Copying
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/8/2011
Mashiro has come to the conclusion that doing mainstream battle manga is the way forward, and draws characters from other battle manga to polish his skills at drawing this type of manga, Meanwhile Nizuma's manga "Yellow Hit" is on the verge of being serialized, but Nizuma's editor learns that he is planning on submitting "Crow" instead, and brings him down to the editorial offices. At the same time, Mashiro and Takagi are meeting with Hattori, who tells them that they are not suited to mainstream manga and that the mainstream authors who are popular are considerably more talented. Nizuma meets Mashiro and Takagi, telling them that he liked Money And Intelligence and wants to be friends with them, before drawing a name in front of them. Hattori hopes that demonstration will convince them that they're not able to compete with him in mainstream manga, but they remain determined to do so, and he gives them six months to submit a good mainstream work before he steps down as their editor.
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#20 - Last Chapter and Comments
Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/19/2013
Yujirou acknowledges Nizuma's determination and states that he will support him in ending CROW. As Ashirogi Muto's next chapter of PCP is published, everyone marvels at their brilliance in using the colored page the way the did. The page itself is an invitation for the protagonists of PCP to meet the mysterious "Sigma". The page shows the portrait of PCP's leader, Matoko, which is altered by "Sigma" to detail the date, time and place of their meeting. The idea is that the readers are able to engage themselves in the puzzle by using the colored page. As the results come in, Ashirogi Muto ties in second place with Road Racer Giri while CROW takes first place yet again. As Takagi and Mashiro think about their defeat, they realize it was their rivalry with Nizuma that brought them as far as they have come, and express this in the comments section for CROW's final chapter. As Yujirou congratulates Nizuma on ending CROW, he is shocked to discover Nizuma already has many other manga's drawn. Eventually Nizuma visits Takagi and Mashiro and they both express their admiration for being each other's rivals as well as Nizuma's joy of making friends based on their shared passion for manga. Finally, Nizuma tells Takagi and Mashiro that his next work will be the greatest manga ever written.
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#21 - Mic and Script
Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/9/2013
After the radio broadcast, Azuki's fans seem to have calmed down and Reversi gets a lot positive attention. The anime producers want to hold a public audition for the female lead role and let the public vote who should get the role, which would be unfavorable for Azuki sinds she won't be judged objectively. Despite this, Mashiro agrees, not wanting to let people think she got the role through connections. During the auditions Azuki's performance is excellent but people notice that she mentioned "Schwarz" instead of "Weiss" during her performance, like all the voice actresses did before her. Worried how the different line in the script will affect her, everyone is worried. Later, during the show, the director of the program makes a short announcement in which he states the script was based on the published Shonen Jack magazine edition, where the mistake was printed in, but that this was corrected in the manga volume. Since Azuki used the manga volume to learn the lines, she didn't make the "mistake" the other voice actresses did without knowing. He tells the public that no one is "wrong" and that this fact should be considered in the votes. In the end Azuki wins by a huge margin and Mashiro, Takagi and Miyoshi celebrate Mashiro and Azuki's dreams finally getting fulfilled.
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#22 - Drawn Out and All at Once
Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/9/2013
As Ashirogi Muto struggle to meet deadlines for the Shonen Jack and Hisshou Jump magazines, a backlog of work starts piling up. As Mashiro and his three assistants, along with help from Takagi and Miyoshi push themselves to their limits to complete the storyboards, returning professional assistant, Ogawa, steps in with two new assistants and is able to complete the storyboards. As the competition between Nizuma's Zombie Gun and Ashirogi Muto's Reversi takes off, Reversi manages to take 1st place in the rankings for three consecutive weeks. This results in Nizuma changing one of his antagonists for Zombie Gun and rises to the top once again, showing up the weakness in Reversi for having two protagonists. As Takagi realizes this, he slows the pace of his story to match the standard battle archetype which further results in their ratings dropping to 5th place. Eventually, after a discussion with Hattori, Takagi calls Mashiro and they both agree that Reversi may not be a long running manga, even managing 50 chapters. However they discuss being content with resolving the conflict between the protagonists in the most interesting way possible, rather than prolonging it. Nevertheless, for the sake of himself, Mashiro and Azuki, Takagi promises to go all out and turn Reversi into a masterpiece they can all be proud of.
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#23 - Feast And Graduation
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/18/2010
After celebrating by eating out, Hattori, Takagi and Mashiro discuss Money and Intelligence, and what changes they need to make to it. Hattori says that they should wait until graduating from high school to go for serialization, and that even Nizuma is going for it too early. Miyoshi tells Takagi that Azuki is moving and hopes that she will see Mashiro at least once before she does. Mashiro insists on keeping to their promise despite not knowing how long it will take until he is able to fulfill it, but meets with Azuki on the way home from the graduation ceremony. He asks how long she will wait, and she promises to wait forever, pleasing him.
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#25 - Cover and Center
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/12/2013
With Nizuma's ultimatum clearly set, only seven weeks remain until the end of CROW. Yujirou decides to inform the entire editing department of Nizuma's intentions, much to their frustration but eventually decide to do all they can for their authors to surpass CROW. As the weeks close in, everyone does their best to improve their manga, with Fukuda introducing a new character in Road Racer Giri and Takahama beginning a new story arc for Seigi no Mikata while utilizing their cover spreads. As Ashirogi Muto decide how to compete against Nizuma, they decide to utilize the strength that PCP possesses: its unconventionaliy and introduce a mysterious new anti heroic character called "Sigma". As the results come in, CROW remains 1st while Road Racer Giri and Seigi no Mikata place 2nd in consecutive weeks followed by PCP, with the editing department's favorite for beating CROW being Seigi no Mikata. However, with everyone's manga greatly improving, the voting gap closes between everyone else and Nizuma. Hattori is able to secure a colored centered page for Ashirogi Muto in the 36th issue of Shonen Jack. After brainstorming, they come up with an idea to plant a hidden message within the colored page, which would only become apparent once the readers finish their chapter and with this, Ashirogi Muto challenge CROW.
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