Bakuman Page 75

The end of Tanto?

「 75 – A New Home and A New Series 」Shuujin and Mashiro are stressing over the results of the first chapter of Tanto, especially after seeing how successful a debut Niizuma’s new series Natural had. With Miura still as confident as ever over the series’ direction, Mashiro and Shuujin are not so sure if they can see this panning out in the long term. How will the other chapters fare?

Bakuman「 バクマン」

Page 75 – A New Home and A New Series
Read Online @ ONEMANGA

Summary: The newlyweds Shuujin and Miyoshi had just closed a deal on their very first home, which they got really cheap thanks to Miyoshi’s dad’s connections in his real estate job. With their personal lives on track, Shuujin worries about his professional life as he is still unsure about Tanto’s results. The two head off to the studio to hear updates on their status and to work on the contingency chapter, just in case the first one tanks. By having the backup more battle-like, they hope that they can gradually change it to a battle manga, but Takahama doesn’t agree that it’s a good idea since it was pretty much a similar approach to his own failed manga. Miura soon calls with the results and the group were shocked to hear that they debut at #5, behind Natural and Crow at 3rd and 4th respectively. Miura reiterates that since it was a gag manga, 5th place was a great start and that it will maintain a healthy position throughout it’s run. They were still disappointed though, as TRAP had previously debut at 3rd. Azuki soon emails Mashiro saying that she thinks Tanto would be a massive hit with the kids.

At home, the Takagi couple are busy unpacking their belongings but it seems that Shuujin is still decidedly down. When asked, he says that rather than the results of Tanto, it was the bed that the couple had to share that got him down. Shuujin gave Miyoshi full reign on what bed to buy, but it ended up being very extravagant, akin to beds found in love hotels. Embarrassed at what others might think, Shuujin tries to take down the frilly curtains but fails after losing at janken. The two were interrupted by the doorbell however and were surprised to see Iwase at the entrance with a congratulatory bouquet of flowers for the newlyweds. Miyoshi isn’t convinced with her new attitude and when she pestered her for answers, Iwase replies by saying that she does not have the same feelings for Takagi anymore as she sees herself superior to him now. When the couple wish her all the best in finding that “talented” person, Iwase says that she already has, as she starts to develop feelings for Ashirogi’s former editor Hattori.

The next day at the studio, Mashiro was shocked to hear the news but is sure that Hattori is smart enough to handle the situation properly. The assistants soon arrive and bring good news as Orihara claims that his 9 year old brother along with his friends loved Tanto. This boosted confidence in the Ashirogi group, as they see new light in their series. Elsewhere, Iwase confesses her feelings to Hattori at a meeting but Hattori is too shocked to answer. Seeing as she is way too young for him, he tries to find an answer that will both save their professional relationship, as well as her feelings.

A couple weeks go by and Tanto’s results keep flowing in. Rather than maintain a top 10 position, the series has kept a steady ranking of 11th for consecutive weeks. Mashiro is not satisfied with this and through a meeting with Miura, the group were able to come up with a solution to increase Tanto’s popularity; by creating a catch phrase that kids will love to say. The chapter ends at Niizuma’s where Hattori announces that chapter 7 of Natural came in 2nd.  He also tells Niizuma that Tanto is finally settling in between 10th to 12th. He thinks that they were doing a great job for a gag manga and when he asks for Niizuma’s opinion, he was shocked to find out that Niizuma had stopped reading Tanto altogether, seeing as Niizuma loved Ashirogi’s work and he always reads everything in Jump.

My Thoughts: That was not the debut I imagined. 5th is pretty damn low no matter how you cut it and although they’ve been saying that gag mangas operate differently, I have the same opinion as Mashiro that 11th place is not a desirable place to be, no matter how big a following they generate from the kids in Japan. If I’m not mistaken, Natural too would be able to gain a massive kid following thanks to it’s pokemon-esque premise so if Tanto is to face-off with Natural, a top 3 contender every week, then there will be no chance in hell for Ashirogi to ever defeat Niizuma and Iwase.

I’m also undecided about the whole “Catchphrase” idea. Wasn’t that one of the big epiphanies of TRAP? Putting in stronger lines and more gags? And how did that work out? Ok, ok, it did work for a while before hospital-gate, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to keep the series afloat. And it will probably be better (and easier) to convince kids with catchphrases than older, mystery loving readers so this might not end up as bad. This is all well and good but seeing Shuujin stress so much over gags and inventions, as well as the duo openly admitting to their assistants that gag was one of the taboos when they started out as mangaka does not bode well for their future. We all know that this manga is just a stopgap in time for their major hit in the next arc, but I would have liked it better if they would try to go with their strengths. Too late to complain about that now I guess, since that argument has been going on since the day TRAP ended.

Once Ashirogi finds out that Niizuma has stopped reading Tanto altogether will be a day to behold. Since Niizuma and Hattori both agreed that Ashirogi was part of the future of Jump, it was shocking to see that he had stop supporting Tanto altogether in the span of one chapter. And with Natural climbing up to second place, it won’t be long before they gain top spot and Niizuma will be able to head to the chief editor to ask for the end of a series of his choice. I have no doubt in my mind that this will probably be the sequence that the arc is heading towards and I would love to see Ashirogi’s reaction when Miura gives them the call that Tanto is ending because of Niizuma. A long shot and still ways to go for sure, but it’s interesting to think about. Maybe the duo won’t react too badly, providing that they know that this is not the position and following that they really want.

As for the little romance brewing for Iwase, I hope Hattori shuts her down tight. It was funny to see that Hattori thought that she looked like a kid to him, and he is right. The gap between the two is probably around the same as Nakai and Aoki, maybe even more and Hattori is a mature and calculated person so hopefully he won’t fall into that hole. Seeing as a few weeks has passed since their meeting, and Natural is still as strong as ever, I won’t be too surprised to see the two dating in the next release, with Hattori being reluctant of course. I doubt it though, I hope the two manage to sort this shit out, without ruining their professional integrity.