History YMMV / Bakuman

** As of Chapter 102, Shiratori. As if having a crummy home life wasn't bad enough, [[spoiler:when he makes a good enough concept for a manga and works with Takagi on it and makes it great,]] his mother [[AnimationAgeGhetto someone who knows ]],[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and cares nothing about manga]], doesn't give a shit and gives him an ultimatum:[[spoiler: move to Paris to pursue only art, or quit being a mangaka's assistant and work for his father's makeup company. Though, he ''is'' aware of [[YouCantGoHomeAgain another course of action]] [[TakeAThirdOption he could take...]]]]

** Iwase, too, gets treated as this from time to time. [[BrokenBase Other circles]] of the fandom [[EnsembleDarkhorse like her]] and consider her a victim of [[UnfortunateImplications author sexism.]] Ironically, Ohba appears to be fond of her.

*** It could be taken as them praising the character in question for playing the system that ''exists'' but it can also be just as easily taken as them praising them for confirming to it and even encouraging the conformity.

*** Or you can take this as them praising the character in question for playing the system so well. Neither character actually comments on it from a moral standpoint, they simply comment on it's ''existence''.

* MissedMomentOfAwesome: Let's be honest. Who wants to read a single original manga idea mentioned in Bakuman? That's right, no one. WE WANT TO READ THEM ALL. The Two Earths, Money and Intelligence, 100,000,000 Minutes, Future Watch, Hitmen 10, Detective Trap, CROW, Otters 11, + Natural, Perfect Crime Party, hell even TANTO would be entertaining!
** There's now going to be an Otter 11 spin-off, so less Missed Moment and more SureWhyNot?
** The last few pages of Chapter 24 of Perfect Crime Party are featured in Chapter 98.
** A good portion of "Classroom of Truth" is shown in Chapters 115 and 116. It's a fairly good concept, but has some significant flaws (including lack of exposition on the setting or characters to the point where the main character's name is not revealed for several pages).

* FanPreferredCouple: Aoki with either [[BirdsOfAFeather Takagi]] or especially [[spoiler:[[OppositesAttract Shinda]] [[RescueRomance Fukuda]].] In the end, [[spoiler:Takagi ends up married to Miyoshi, while Aoki is in a relationship wtih Hiramaru]].

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: It's OK to lie and manipulate a lonely, and quite possible depressed man, if you need him to write more manga. {{Played for laughs}} with Kazuya Hiramaru and his editor.

** [[spoiler:Nakai]] tries to salvage the situation with [[spoiler:Nanamine's]] manga by telling his contributors that the ranking has fallen to 16th and they need to work hard to reverse it. The few left over then desert [[spoiler:Nanamine]] after knowing for certain that he lied.

* CharacterDerailment: In the middle of the all young cast of manga-ka and authors [[spoiler:Nakai]] was a rather unique fellow, [[spoiler:he]] was older and obviously more plain looking than the others, [[spoiler:the guy]] who has been failing at getting [[spoiler:his]] work serialized and get [[spoiler:himself]] a [[spoiler:girlfriend]] for the past 10 years apparetly started to feel hopeful again after meeting Morita and Akito. Being the artist for [[spoiler:Aoki]] made [[spoiler:him]] try [[spoiler:his]] hardest to make [[spoiler:her]] notice [[spoiler:him]], working in [[spoiler:the middle of a snow tempest sure helps]]. When it looked like [[spoiler:Nakai]] would be developing along with the other main characters, all began to break loose when [[spoiler:he]] and [[spoiler:Aoki]] started to disagree with each other, [[spoiler:Nakai]] became more and more selfish, working with girls for obvious second intentions; [[spoiler:he]] really hit the bottom when [[spoiler:Aoki]] needed [[spoiler:him]] again which also revealed [[spoiler:his never seen before self-absorbed and blackmailing {{Jerkass}} side]], from this point on [[spoiler:Nakai]] clearly managed to get [[spoiler:himself]] a solid {{Hatedom}} as apparently no fan of the series really cared when [[spoiler:he was PutOnABus]], and judging from how well the series is doing without [[spoiler:even mentioning him off panel]], [[spoiler:Nakai]] might not [[spoiler:come back, ever]].
** Keep in mind that many fans of the series didn't really care for [[spoiler:Nakai's]] presence since the very begining, even when [[spoiler:he]] looked likeable and the target [[TheWoobie Woobie]] only a very small minority gathered to become [[spoiler:his]] fandom; with that said, when [[spoiler:Nakai]] got "derailed" hard, the people who never noticed him started hating the guy because both Ohba and Obata ensured [[spoiler:Nakai's]] {{Jerkass}} status to be really easy to hate, this of course afected [[spoiler:his]] mini fandom to the point of leaving them speechless with their favorite character turned into a "villain" over-night.
** [[spoiler:Nakai]] going on a bus is accompanied by him realizing that he had been wrong, perhaps making this an OutOfCharacterMoment. Interestingly enough, Mashiro, one of the few people who still sympathizes with him, was the only one present when he talked about his struggles.

*** [[UnpleasableFanbase Not good enough.]]

* RomanticPlotTumor: The romance is typically regarded as the worst part, particularly in the anime. The manga creation process is the heart and soul of the story, and very interesting, and yet more and more time is devoted to melodramatic hijinx involving the protagonists' love interests. This is not helped by certain UnfortunateImplications regarding the female characters.

* {{Crowning Moment Of Awesome}}: Takagi punching out a classmate that mocked Mashiro's artwork. Takagi again [[spoiler: threatening to quit Jump if he and Mashiro can't work together]], and recently [[spoiler: Aoki slapping and telling off a rather full of himself Nakai when he tries to bargain working with her again only if she dates him.]]
*** The first has occurred in the anime and it was EPIC and ''satisfying''. Shujin PAWNCH!
** There is a, in this troper's opinion, overlooked but very cool one for Hiramaru in Chapter 48. So far, we've seen nothing to make us take him seriously, or give him much respect. Then, when the Editor-in-Chief is telling Ashirogi Muto they are on Haitus till April, no matter what... Hiramaru suddenly comes to his feet, gets in the Cheif's face, looks him square in the eye, and says 2 lines. And it is the most deadly serious he's ever been shown thus far. It's all but a ShutUpHannibal. It even shows up loud-mouth Fukuda. And then Hiramaru, who has an addition to avoiding work, storms out to work on his manga, leaving his editor in utter shock.
---> Hiramaru: "What is with your excuses? This is ridiculous." *Storms out*
---> Yoshida: !!..... "Hiramaru, where do you think you're going?"
---> Hiramaru: "To work on my manga."
** Chapter 67 is a pretty much just a series of [[CrowningMomentofAwesome Crowning Moments of Awesome]] for [[spoiler: Fukuda, of all people. After finding out Nakai's JerkAss proposal to only work with Aoki if she'd be his girlfriend, Fukuda storms over to his work and swiftly punches Nakai in the face for jeopardizing his own career by being such a dick, while simultaneously causing Nakai to expose what a JerkAss he really has been to the other girl he had a crush on. Fukuda then rushes over to the restaurant where Aoki was being menaced by a very perverted Ishizawa, shoves his freaking face into the floor and offers to help teach Aoki to draw her comic BigDamnHeroes style. And he does all of this within the space of like twenty minutes. ''Damn''.]]
** And Chapter 70's a chance for [[spoiler:Hattori]] to unleash a DeathNote quality XanatosGambit: [[spoiler:Akina/Iwase Aiko working with Niizuma Eiji]] to reignite the rivalry between them and [[spoiler:both members of Ashirogi]] taking full advantage of their personal lives.
** Up till now, Yamahisa's just been a {{Jerkass}} lech out for his own career. He's also Shizuka Ryu's editor (the guy who got the "Niizuma Eiji Award", a recluse {{Hikikomori}} who plays video games and doesn't talk). Shizuka Ryu finally submitted a name and is actually motivated to be a proper mangaka. His mom disapproves. Very vocally. So, Yamahisa's still a lech out for his own career, but [[http://www.mangareader.net/219-48538-7/bakuman/chapter-78.html this]] makes you want to cheer for him.
---> '''Yujiro''': *applauds*
*** Then again, the rest of the editorial department then calls him out for being a {{Jerkass}} to Ryu's mom.
** [[spoiler: Takagi gets another one in Chapter 124. After having entered into direct competition with their former fan, the SmugSnake Nanamine, Mashiro and Takagi face a lot of early pressure due to Nanamine's calculated way of doing things and massive outside assistance...but when his third and fourth chapters plummet in the polls, Nanamine has a VillainousBreakdown and challenges Mashiro and Takagi to compete with him by running the same story in both manga, where he feels he can outmaneuver them. Takagi chides Nanamine for grasping at straws and hangs up, accelerating Nanamine's breakdown.]]
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: Fukuda is riding his motorcycle against the setting sun, out to get [[spoiler:Nakai for being a jerk to Aoki.]] He suddenly realizes he has no idea where he is going.
** '''Shuujin''': "I WANT TO BE POPULAR!"
** The entire chapter where Mashiro and Takagi trail Hattori in disguise.
** When Kaya finds out Takagi can touch type he shows (off screen) the [[http://www.mangareader.net/219-57359-13/bakuman/chapter-100.html other things]] he can do without looking (IfYouKnowWhatIMean).
** Early on, when Mashiro and Takagi find out that "Money and Intelligence" ranked third and believe they cannot make first place with a cult hit, dramatically throw their manuscripts in the river. They then realize how environmentally unfriendly it would be, and then flee the scene before someone sees them.
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: [[spoiler:After their manga fails, Aoki leaves Nakai to work with Koogy on a manga in Jump SQ. Nakai had invested everything in Hideout Door, and promised to improve his artwork and edit the manuscript outside her apartment until a snowstorm breaks out, after which Aoki comes out with an umbrella and agrees to work with him again.]]
** Also in that chapter is when [[spoiler: some punks decide to beat him up and all he thinks is "must protect my hand" and after they leave he struggles to his seat and carries on drawing making this a CrowningMomentOfAwesome too; A Mangaka's hand is his life. If it is damaged he can't work]].
** The OfficialCouple Mashiro and Azuki take this trope BeyondTheImpossible in terms of romantic heartwarmingness, especially when [[spoiler: it's revealed that Azuki was in LoveAtFirstSight with him at 4th grade when she saw how hardworking and dedicated to manga he was.]] With this ship, you will never be short of squee.
*** Even stronger when you realize we're lead to believe that it was Mashiro who liked her first.
** The exchange between Aoki and Kaya in chapter 66 became one of these (after the misunderstandings were over):
--->"Aoki-san, you can still talk with Takagi. In exchange, please be friends with me."
** In a recent chapter Mashiro and Tagaki replace Kaya's birthday present to Miho with their own, so when Miho opens the box, instead of Kaya's present, there is Mashiro's present instead, which is a beautifully drawn portrait of Miho. It leaves Miho speechless and Kaya confused as hell.
*** And then Miho prepares a counter-surprise to Mashiro! [[spoiler:Kaya first serves Mashiro and Takagi a big Christmas cake, then, when they are both amazed by its great taste, she tells that it was ''Miho'' who made this cake, then Mashiro inside the cake ''suddenly'' discovers a ''memory key'' which contains a recording of ''Miho's voice'' first greeting everybody and then ''singing'' Christmas songs.]]
** Chapter 91, so unexpectedly: [[spoiler:after hearing the final results and coming in first by a landslide of votes Mashiro requests that he have a copy of the graph Hattori was looking at, to show somebody. Of course, for legal reasons Hattori can't show him, but Mashiro remains persistent. Takagi tries to help, thinking that Mashiro wants to show it to Miho. Mashiro then convinces Hattori to go with him someplace. This someplace turns out to be a graveyard and it all clicks that Mashiro wanted to show his deceased uncle their hard work, while acknowledging that they've still got a long way to go. The absolute silence when he showed the grave the graph nearly brought this troper to tears.]]
** After Eiji's editor calls him saying Ashirogi's [[spoiler:new manga PCP will be serialized]] Eiji jumps out of his chair cheering. Then he calls Mashiro to congratulate them and says that he's happy he can consider Ashirogi both a rival and friend.
** Another fantastic one with Chapter 114. Hiramaru has taken the initiative and [[spoiler:taken Aoki Ko out on a date. By the end of the chapter, having spent half of it fleeing from Yoshida and then Yoshida, his editor, telling him NOT to confess, the other members of Team Fukuda, minus Eiji, arrive to cheer him on. He confesses to Aoki and asks her out. She says YES. Tears and happiness all around. Doubles at CrowningMomentOfFunny when Aoki demands he continue drawing manga, and he sullenly agrees.]]
*** There's another really good one with that couple in Chapter 123 that doubles as a CrowningMomentOfFunny. [[spoiler: Hiramaru has just helped Aoki as an assistant with her manga and said he would like to stay with her just a little longer. Aoki's other assistants leave, obviously expecting them to spend [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean quality time]]. Hiramaru and Aoki just look at each other and both very bashfully agree to just have tea. Awww.]]

* {{Narm}}: Extolled as a desirable trait for serious manga to have. Really.
** To clarify, it's seemingly serious scenes that can come off as funny if you look more closely, but don't necessarily seem that way to kids.
** That said, PCP: Perfect Crime Party can come off as an utterly ridiculous sounding name to English speakers.

* {{Anvilicious}} - The main criticism about Moriya's stories - They're genuinely good ideas, but they're too preachy for Shonen manga according to the editors.

* PanderingToTheBase: Ashirogi attempts this after reading a bunch of fan letters, and the result [[TakeThat is shit]].
** Their editor justifies this by saying it supposed to be ''their'' story, not the fans, and it's also indicated that the ones who write fan letters are not necessarily representative of the majority of the readers.
** [[spoiler:Nanamine's]] style of editing and creative process could be an even bigger TakeThat or {{Deconstruction}} of fan-pandering. His manga's ratings drop lower and lower because of taking too many suggestions from his select fan-pool, to the point it becomes a cluttered mess and eventually gets [[OneEpisodeWonder ten-weeked]].
* ProtectionFromEditors: Miura loves comedy. The duo's talents lie in drama. Guess what they're gunning for?

** Though this was reversed in a later chapter, when Nakai got a bit too confident and tried to use emotional blackmail to play the two women he was obsessed with against each other. This resulted in [[spoiler:Aoki ''vehemently'' rejecting him, and it later turned out Kato wasn't interested either].

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: Fukuda is riding his motorcycle against the setting sun, out to get [[spoiler:Nakai for being a jerk to their Aoki.]] He suddenly realizes he has no idea where he is going.

* {{Anvilicious}} - Seems to be the main criticism about Moriya's stories - They're genuinely good ideas, but they're too preachy for Shonen manga.

* PanderingToTheBase: Ashirogi attempts this after reading a bunch of fan letters, and the result [[TakeThat is shit]].
** Their editor justifies this by saying it supposed to be ''their'' story, not the fans, and it's also indicated that the ones who write fan letters are not necessarily representative of the majority of the readers.
* ProtectionFromEditors: Miura loves comedy. The duo's talents lie in drama. Guess what they're gunning for?

* CharacterDerailment: In the middle of the all young cast of manga-ka and authors [[spoiler:Nakai]] was a rather unique fellow, [[spoiler:he]] was older and obviously more plain looking than the others, [[spoiler:the guy]] who has been failing at getting [[spoiler:his]] work serialized and get [[spoiler:himself]] a [[spoiler:girlfriend]] for the past 10 years apparetly started to feel hopeful again after meeting Morita and Akito. Being the artist for [[spoiler:Aoki]] made [[spoiler:him]] try [[spoiler:his]] hardest to make [[spoiler:her]] notice [[spoiler:him]], working in [[spoiler:the middle of a snow tempest sure helps]]. When it looked like [[spoiler:Nakai]] would be developing along with the other main characters, all began to break loose when [[spoiler:he]] and [[spoiler:Aoki]] started to disagree with each other, [[spoiler:Nakai]] became more and more selfish, working with girls for obvious second intentions; [[spoiler:he]] really hit the bottom when [[spoiler:Aoki]] needed [[spoiler:him]] again which also revealed [[spoiler:his never seen before self-absorbed and blackmailing {{Jerkass}} side]], from this point on [[spoiler:Nakai]] clearly managed to get [[spoiler:himself]] a solid {{Hatedom}} as apparently no fan of the series really cared when [[spoiler:he was PutOnABus]], and judging from how well the series is doing without [[spoiler:even mentioning him off panel]], [[spoiler:Nakai]] might not [[spoiler:come back, ever]].
** Keep in mind that many fans of the series didn't really care for [[spoiler:Nakai's]] presence since the very begining, even when [[spoiler:he]] looked likeable and the target [[TheWoobie Woobie]] only a very small minority gathered to become [[spoiler:his]] fandom; with that said, when [[spoiler:Nakai]] got "derailed" hard, the people who never noticed him started hating the guy because both Ohba and Obata ensured [[spoiler:Nakai's]] {{Jerkass}} status to be really easy to hate, this of course afected [[spoiler:his]] mini fandom to the point of leaving them speechless with their favorite character turned into a "villain" over-night.
** [[spoiler:Nakai]] going on a bus is accompanied by him realizing that he had been wrong, perhaps making this an OutOfCharacterMoment. Interestingly enough, Mashiro, one of the few people who still sympathizes with him, was the only one present when he talked about his struggles.