In Chapter 133, Takagi finally breaks down over the re-emergence of the PCP copycat criminal. By the end of the chapter he decides to put a copycat criminal ""in"" PCP so he can show his opinion on the matter. Meta enough, until you realise that Ohba has ""already"" done this with Death Note! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga_Murder

Reading this, you may think that this is how Ohba uses Takagi as his "voice" - except that he has done the same thing with Near in a Death Note one-shot. Mind Screw or Fridge Brilliance?

• You know, that may be the one thing that could get me to accept the one-shot as canon. That and telling myself L was performing a Secret Test of Character and Mello knew it.

And if that manga gets an anime, the meta will get even thicker!

While a some of the proposed names sound like interesting they would make interesting manga series, this idea might shed some insight as to why they aren't making such manga as Money and Intelligence, as well as the way they came up for the reasons why they were rejected. This would also serve to show that an idea that sounds good on paper might not be appealing enough in the eyes of the Shonen Jump editorial staff, or be good enough to make into a manga series. Additionally, they might have based some of the actual series on ones that were rejected to show how they might have gone if they had been given a chance.

Seriously, one of the characters has two voices: "ditzy, shouty ham" and "cold, calculating scorn." I can't think of any other seiyuu who fills those two roles so neatly.

There is some wierd guy who is an inspiration for Nizuma nad L, woman who looks like Iwase and Takada and some Magnificent Bastard who was inspiration of Light and Nanamine. There was also some Gonk with bizarre hair that was source of inspiration for Hattori and Ryuk.

• Confirmed at least with Hattori and Ryuk.

Since Mashiro and Takagi are Author Avatars for Obata and Ohba it's not a big stretch to assume this. To specify:

• Nizuma = Eiichiro Oda, being very popular mangakas with Crazy Awesome tendencies.
  • It has apparently been revealed that he's a dead ringer for what Toriko's mangaka looks like.
• Hiramaru = Tite Kubo, the only reason he is successful is because his manga is inherently awesome.
• Aoki = Mizuki Kawashita (creator of Ichigo 100%), as one of the very few female authors and one who writes fanservicey shonen romance.
• Fukuda... admittedly, I haven't figured out just yet who Fukuda is, though I'm strongly inclined towards the creators of Eyeshield 21.

With big revelations and a Cliff Hanger and the story will shift to a how we got there arc.

]] Due to the publishing schedule of Muto's two manga

• Confirmed 1 chapter later!

Well, in both there's supernatural beings who went to humans world following their own interests. What inspired me was definitely this page. This troper will bite his ear if it isn't Ryuk standing behind Schwarz... Going with the Alternate History theory that One Piece, Naruto and Bleach all ended by the start of this series because they started earlier, it follows that Tite Kubo never wrote Zombie Powder, or at least was rejected early on. One Piece and Naruto both had pilots with a significant gap between running the pilot and the start of the series, but BLEACH's pilot was shortly before the series started. If, on the other hand, there was no Zombie Powder, BLEACH could conceivably have been written much sooner.

Firstly, they could induce massive amounts of Cerebus Syndrome - it's easy enough to do with a crazy inventor - and either they'll find their proper audience niche in time, or the thing will be mercifully canceled. Secondly, if I'm reading it correctly as a Failure Is the Only Option episodic sort of thing, make a plot arc, as short as possible, that makes it so Tanto succeeds. (Though really, I think they'd do perfectly well with pure seinen. It's simply that Jump manga are more likely to become anime.)

• The latter of those two theories is more-or-less confirmed! Woot!

Rule of drama

You never know. She hasn't got much work as a female voice (as far as we can tell), so maybe she's better at boy voices.

• Aw, seemingly jossed. Oh well.

While we haven't seen as much about Azuki's efforts as we have of Ashirogi Muto's, she has had to overcome challenges and competition to progress toward her dream. It's likely that her obstacle will come in the form of 1)Her current assignment interfering with taking on a new role, 2)Her facing stiff competition for the series, and/or 3)Her relationship with Mashiro coming to light (Kawaguchi Taro's death was brought up in the decision to put Detective Trap on hiatus). Mashiro will most likely face an ethical quandary of whether he can (or should) push for Azuki being cast in the role, but Azuki will most likely say that this is something she has to earn herself.

• Relationships between voice actors and mangakas in real life aren't exactly uncommon. And based on how they handled the Drama CD bit, it doesn't look like there'll be a dilemma there.
• Chapter 166 confirms 3), at least the first part. And the public reaction is not very nice...
  • 2 and 3 ultimately come true, but Azuki prevailed in the end. 1 was jossed, since it was specifically pointed out that she had cut back on her assignments for the purpose of taking the Reversi role

It's possible that in her anger and desire to overcome Ashirogi Muto (particularly in the wake of Miura replacing Hattori as her editor and PCP getting #1 in the polls), she might go against Miura's suggestions (partly the result of his developing toward giving the mangakas more creative control), and make a critical decision that results in her series being canceled, effectively being taught a lesson about her obsession (although whether or not she learns it is up to her.

His mother never completely gave up on wanting him to quit manga, only going along with it because of his father and grandfather. She might suggest that his series isn't doing well enough to live on, or that it won't be an easy matter to get another series after the first one, and Mashiro convincing her to let him continue might take more effort than before. Given that he's already in college, and not quite as close to getting serialized as he thought (he'd initially planned to get an anime by 18), it's possible that the deadline will come into play.

• Jossed, as in recent canon he has decided to drop out of college.

In Chapter 93, Kaya is shown as not knowing about the deadline (she believes 6th is good enough), it's unlikely Moritaka's mother would have let him quit college if they knew he might be canceled in less than six months, and it's also unlikely Moritaka told Miho about it. The main question is whether they'll be more angry with Ashirogi Muto for keeping secrets, or their editor for putting this condition on them (the editors seem to find this unfair, since it would mean canceling PCP even if it's popular.

In Chapter 93, Hattori thinks that PCP is popular, and the editor shouldn't end a series just because it can't compete with Eiji's series, which may result in the readers demanding its return if it gets canceled. The main characters and Hattori seem a bit too certain that the arc will enable PCP to pass Eiji's series in the rankings, and this might be what unexpectedly goes wrong. This outcome might also go hand in hand with the ending of the Akechi arc of PCP, in which Akechi gets outwitted, but he and the PCP acknowledge each other as rivals.

• Wow, that sounds like an awesome plot! Though I don't think the editor-in-chief will budge again...
• Jossed; PCP surpasses Natural, is 2 votes short of Crow, and continues, albeit with the editor noting that it's wrong to cancel a popular manga.

Given his reaction to the manga in the latest chapter, it's a possibility.

• On the other hand, while this might help Ashirogi Muto, it would deal a devastating blow to Shiratori (especially considering the situation with his parents), so it's unclear he would do this for Ashirogi Muto's sake if he had any idea of the situation (Shiratori told Takagi, Mashiro and Hattori about it).
  • Alternatively, he will use this on Nanamine's series, should it get published. His reactions to the one-shot in the most recent chapter shows he isn't very impressed with it. Plus TO are writing him as a horrible person who actively subverts the system. Which is a bad thing.
    • Given the number of ways this arrangement could go wrong, pointed out on this page and in the series, it's possible Eiji doesn't think he'll need to.
• Jossed, Rabuta and Peace already got cancelled.
  • In fact, he used it on Crow.

PCP has the most focus, the most insight on the characters and plot, and the most buildup (it's manga that has everything that the duo learned in it, their best effort on their last chance to get serialized). While the anime is unable to get a sponsor, that could potentially be resolved somehow, possibly based on the series' popularity. Since Hattori notes that an Ashirogi Muto manga would have to be planned from the beginning for an anime to get an anime, and that it typically isn't possible to do so, it's less likely that they would make a fourth series, and perhaps even less likely that they would permanently separate in order for Mashiro to get an anime.

• Personally, I'm thinking that PCP will get an OVA - not shown on TV, so kids won't be so exposed to it, but an anime nonetheless!
  • This troper thinks so too. It's the obvious solution to the problem they keep repeating about kids being influenced.
• PCP will not get an anime adaptation until Jump decides to cancel Bakuman. The authors will then rush and make a grand finale using PCP. Until that day, they will keep doing countless side arcs, like they have been doing since chapter 100.
  • A more sympathetic interpretation of when and how this could happen is that the failure to get an anime and the struggle to find another way is largely a test of Mashiro and Takagi's patience and determination, as they seem to be less discouraged by news of their fellow mangakas who started around the same time they did or later getting animes, or by the fact that the time it takes is exceeding even their most conservative estimates (Mashiro's highest early estimate was five years, and it's already been about five years since the start). They're also willing to stick with PCP while doing so, unlike when they wanted to quit Tanto because it, among other things, would have been more likely to get canceled than get an anime. The lesson here may be that persistence, even when your ultimate goal seems unattainable on your present course of action, can pay off.
  • Jossed, Reversi is what wins Ashirogi Muto the anime.

Considering one of the greatest controversies surrounding JUMP is their policy of not allowing authors to end their stories if they're really popular, perhaps he'll use his to end his series on a high note (rather than let it be dragged on and on into mediocrity). After all, once you hit #1, where else is there to go? Would possibly double as a Take That by Ohba and Obata towards JUMP.

• It's worth noting that in the Viz translation he wants "the right to end any series in the magazine (he doesn't) like", so he may not be limited to one if this ever comes up again.
  • He is limited to one series. This is very clear in the original:「僕が嫌いなマンガをひとつ終わらせる権限をください」
• Oh cool, I'm not the only one who thought so. I was thinking Eiji will use his right to cancel Crow. It's been going on for 6 years, after all, and is maybe 300+ chapters by now. Maybe he'll try to save it from being a Franchise Zombie?
  • Confirmed in Chapter 135. He wants to end Crow on his own terms, at the height of its popularity.

He's going to draw it with Iwase or Aoki.

Bear with me here. I was reading the One Piece wiki's page on the Baku Baku no Mi, the devil fruit that the character Wapol ate. Apparently, Baku is the sound of chomping. If Baku means chomp, Bakuman could mean Chomp Man. Maybe.

• The "Baku" in "Bakuman" can be read several ways, and one of them is as in "Bakuchi" in "gambler," which fits with Nobuhiro's saying that people who can live off manga are pros and the rest are gamblers.
  • Eat-Man?
• OP here. As of chapter 155, the first part is possibly true.
• Not quite. There's a fake translation of chapter 155 going around. The correct translation doesn't mention the word Bakuman at all.

There's roughly one or two chapters per episode, 25 episodes in all, and they get serialized in Chapter 38. Neither the ending nor the official website seem to show characters such as Hiramaru, Miura, or others who debut after the main characters first get serialized.

• Most likely Jossed, another 25 episodes have been given the OK.
  • Still, that seems most likely for the first season to leave off, potentially on the cliffhanger as Takagi picks up the phone for the news.

Appearance-wise, he seems like an Expy of Light Yagami, especially in his more smug and devious moments, and he seems quite full of himself and his way of doing things. Given that Mashiro warned him that his tactics would eventually backfire, and given that the story suggests that editors and writers cooperating on a series is ideal, he will ultimately meet his downfall, and thus lash out at one or more of the following:

1. The 50 people that he consults online.
2. His editor, most likely for allowing him to do this.
3. The rest of the editorial staff, for not accepting his vision.
4. Ashirogi Muto.

• Confirmed spectacularly in chapter 124.

Once he actually gets started with his series, he's going to need actual drawing assistants to keep up with the workload. Fifty people online aren't going to be able to help with that. Whoever he gets would have to be pretty stupid not to notice his true nature when having to be around him so much. And Nanamine being such an unlikable asshole, his assistants would be quick to complain.

• He also isn't very good at keeping it a secret, since he tells Ashirogi Muto in the mistaken belief that they would approve, and they keep quiet only out of their desire to not snitch on him, with Takagi only telling Hattori after he reveals how much stress it's causing Kosugi (another person aware of the arrangement). I suspect that either Kosugi or one of the 50 people will eventually break the secret, leading to Nanamine's downfall.
• It looks like Nakai is going to be one of his assistants. Due to his previous experiences, I honestly have no idea how he'll react once he gets wind of Nanamine's true nature.
  • He knows, and is horrified at the idea, as to him, manga is a work you create by struggling and combining your efforts with those of others. This makes quite a bit of sense, when you consider how much difficulty he's faced in getting serialized, but it leaves the question of what he will do now.
• Confirmed to an extent; some of the ex-contributors post chat logs online, but while the editors are outraged, they're not willing to cancel "What Is Required" over its low ranking or this method alone, and give it five weeks to turn itself around.

Similar to the above, the point of Kosugi being the 51st is that he would be a tiebreaker. Eventually the entire 50 people will be split between two ideas, and Kosugi will figure out which one is the one that could bring the manga down, and will take that chance.

• However, if Kosugi did that, that would only affirm Nanamine's belief that editors only drag down a series. Nanamine must fuck up entirely on his own (or with his fifty online buddies) to show that his beliefs are wrong.
• Indeed, Kosugi is indeed trying to give good advice, but Nanamine's being a douche and refuses to listen.

• As of Chapter 122, he's lost at least two of his 50 people as a result of picking a fight with Ashirogi Muto, and considering that some of the remaining 48 think less of the two who depart, it's possible that internal conflict will force more out. He probably won't lose everyone (and may go out to recruit new help), but he notes that some of his sources are experienced editors, and while it's unclear whose input has more weight, it's possible that they may leave, and he will rely on the suggestions of the less experienced contributors.
  • He outright lied to his group about the ranking of his story in the latest chapter, so that will definitely have consequences once the final edition comes out.
    • Confirmed, he keeps saying that anyone who complains or disagrees with him should leave, so from 50 he's now down to something like 20.
    • And now, thanks to Nakai revealing his deception, there's no one left. From the names of those who are left, it seems as though "Ta-1", the experienced editor, quit with the first 30 or stopped coming at some point.

He seems opposed to how Nanamine does things, so throwing a minor wrench from the inside may be a good way to deal damage to him.

• Possible, considering how the minute details and backgrounds are said to have become more messy from chapter 3 of Nanamine's work.
• Jossed; Nakai appears to be concerned about keeping his assistant job and didn't expect that revealing the truth about the rankings would drive off the few who remained.

Yeah, it seems a bit soon for me too. I want to kick this guy around for a while. But a) his scheme is already showing cracks worthy of the early fourth act of Macbeth; b) the TO team is working overtime to rehabilitate November's image; and c) even given the above points, making the cancellation a nice birthday present for Azuki is still too soon.

• Based on Chapter 124, I'd say that it probably won't even get that far.
• Original poster here. A couple of days ago, I reread the first volumes of Death Note and Bakuman。*
  (Man, given the right
  frame of mind, the breezy self-insert romp is about twelve times as depressing as the morally questionable killfest will ever be.)]], and it turns out that ten weeks is the absolute minimum for a series' cancellation. So I change my theory to the one immediately below...
• It's worth noting that the serialization meeting in which it would have been canceled was on the 24th, so it's unlikely it would have happened, anyway.

Hopefully, this will not involve listening to Kosugi. I like to subscribe to this theory because dammit, Nanamine is too awesome a villain to waste. But given that he's in week five of ten, ten being stated in chapter two as the minimum period in which a series can be canceled, there's still some legwork the story has to do before it gets to that point. Can it not involve some kind of unexpected plot turn?

• Kosugi persuaded Ashirogi Muto to take him up on his challenge, although mainly as a way of completely and utterly defeating him to make him finally see the error of his ways, and Takagi seems pleased at the idea of being able to kick him around further.
  • And this fails, perhaps even worse than before. Almost nobody who voted for PCP also voted for Nanamine's series. He knows he's finished at this point.

I mean, seriously. She's a rich dude's kid, if I'm not mistaken. Why let a mangaka marry his daughter? For bonus points, the dude concedes because he either: A) Knew Mashiro's uncle, or B) Gives some additional stupid requirement and sees him actually try to do it.

• He's also an Overprotective Dad from what little we hear about him, as he moved solely so that Miho would not have to face sexual harassment on the subway or leave before he did (the implications for his other daughter, Mina, are not explored), and didn't like the idea of her doing a picture book (although Mashiro didn't, either, and she herself really didn't want to). She seems to be mostly keeping her relationship secret from her family, so it's unclear how her father would react to Mashiro, but if the time comes to meet with him like Takagi did, he will likely have a difficult struggle ahead of him.

It just makes sense.

• There's only so much room in the magazine at one time. That's been driving a lot of the plot. I doubt it.
  • You make it sound like the manga's following some enormous amount of mangaka. Off the top of my head, it's only following Ashirogi, Eiji, Iwase, Fukuda, Hiramaru, Aoki, Takahama, Shizuka, Shiratori and Nakai (if he even still counts). That's 9-10 mangaka, JUMP has space for 20. Most of them have styles that are completely different from each other as well, so it's not really much of a stretch.
    • There's also a mangaka called Arai, who doesn't appear to have had any coverage yet, but whose works are mentioned from time to time.
  • Real life manga appear to be running in Jump, too (Oda exists here, and given that One Piece is set to last for about 10 years, it'll probably still be running), although I'm not sure how many will be at the date at this point in the story, and there are a few other minor fictitious mangaka, such as Arai (whose series got canceled in the most recent meeting).
  • Jossed in at least a few cases. Shiratori never follows up on Rabuta and Peace, although his suggestion that he's willing to try again, and has his family's support, concludes his character arc. Nakai has not gotten serialized. Aoki has her third cancellation, and doesn't get another manga going.

It'll become a pure ratings fight for an arc, ending with either a full-on deadlock, or Eiji becoming the top mangaka in JUMP and cancelling Bakuman himself using his one series cancellation reward for continuing after the main plot's been resolved.

• The closest this series has gotten to Breaking the Fourth Wall is making a couple references to Death Note. It's one heck of a meta series, but not in such an The Order of the Stick way.
  • Fine. I still think it'll continue afterwards, just with the plot focused on beating Eiji.
  • Josseed; The last chapter involves the proposal

Seeing how he's already having a villanous breakdown, when he loses against Ashirogi in their storyline battle he will finally and completely lose it. Stealing the storyline won't work, so he'll steal either Mashiro or Takagi instead, forcing PCP to go on hiatus while 'What is required...' will hug all the fans, or so Nanamine will think. Personally, seeing how Mashiro is the uke (for lack of a better word) in the bromance relationship, he's the one who'll most likely be the victim. Though as fun as this might be, Bakuman doesn't seem to be that kind of dramatic manga so this might never happen, but one can always hope.

• Jossed; after his last-ditch effort fails, Nanamine is seemingly willing to give up hope until his editor convinces him to try again.

Who are also known as Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba.

• Jossed.

Nakai, at least has shown unease and disgust at Nanamine's method, and his memories of the managakas may result in this. OR, Kosagi will finally be able to get through to Nanamine after the series gets cancelled.

• Nanamine seems to have this confirmed, as Kosugi gets through to him and convinces him to change his ways. He has a few issues left on his serialization, but since people doing better than he has have gotten canceled, he'll most likely have to start over.
  • Jossed harder than anything before on here. Not only has he gone even further with his ideals, learning from his mistakes only in the sense of what went wrong with his original scheme, he's borrowed enough money and resources to fund and build an entire goddamn company, with the only real purpose of defeating Ashirogi Muto. He's so far from his supposed repentance it's scary.
• As for Nakai, he was shown quickly Jumping Off the Slippery Slope towards his Moral Event Horizon after a paticularily nasty Yank the Dog's Chain moment, but he stopped himself right at the edge of hitting Aoki. This was followed by Hiramaru, of all people, hiring Nakai on as an assistant, letting him keep his dream alive.

Takagi came up with it it in Chapter 12, in the same meeting in which he proposed the basic idea for "Money and Intelligence," and Hattori noted that there would be people interested in that kind of story. Five in-universe years and 101 chapters later, he mentioned it again after reviewing their results in the Love Fest. It's not entirely implausible that they'll consider it again, since they tried resubmitting Money and Intelligence while trying to get a work that could compete with Eiji.

It makes little sense that they completely forgot about it. Mashiro thought it was better than The Two Earths, and yet they still made The Two Earths.

• To be specific, Mashiro liked that Takagi could come up with an idea like that, not necessarily the idea itself (although Takagi brings this up when Mashiro asks him if he has "something better in mind"). Here's the dialogue from Chapter 6.
  Mashiro: You really are talented, Shujin. People normally don't think about so many details when they create a story! They start to think it's too stupid and ends up stopping! But unfolding that seemingly stupid story will- (cut off by Takagi expressing joy at being praised)
  • Jossed; They come up with an entirely new idea called Reversi

After all, there's No Such Thing As Bad Publicity. (Unless you're in charge of authorizing an anime adaptation, alas.)

• Jossed

Just look at Chapter 131.

• Jossed

• Jossed

• Jossed

I personally love it but there story's stalled

Like Death Note

all of his methods are to distract us from the fact that he cannot write a manga. Draw yes, writing no;. He's never shown being able to do one without serious help.

The constant references to Ashita No Joe, including it being Mashiro's favorite series, are foreshadowing his eventual fate. Mashiro already overworked himself into the hospital. He will continue to push himself to improve both PCP and Reversi. Reversi will get popular enough to get an anime and Azuki will voice the female lead. Having achieved their dreams, Mashiro and Azuki will get married. Their happiness will not last. Mashiro will overwork himself on Reversi and die happily, knowing that he achieved his dream. Takagi will be unwilling to continue Reversi without Mashiro and will end it. He will refuse to work with any other artist, and because of this, he won't be able to get another work published. Out of work and depressed, Takagi will get divorced and spend his days drinking. Meanwhile, Miho will give birth to a son. The son will take after Mashiro and become manga artist. Inspired by him, Takagi will recover and become a writer once more, and together he and Mashiro's son will create Shonen Jump's greatest manga.

• Will take place literary right after the premier of Reversi
  • The guests will watch the premier on a provided large TV right before the ceremony
• Will be very small
• Will be a Continuity Cavalcade
• Will be traditional Japanese
• Will be western
• Is where Kaya will reveal she's pregnant
• Wont happen until Reversie has aired a few episodes

Think about it, he gets extremely depressed and lethargic for weeks unable to do almost anything without constant nagging, then something happens and he has so much energy that he more than makes up for time lost. He seems to get more Hypomanic episodes than Manic ones though. Also people with the disorder are very creative and Otters 11 is supposed to be one of the more unique mangas in the story.

• Even in universe people notice he is strange and has problems. Although it does not really help that his editor likes playing with his soul to get him to write manga.

A friend pointed out how similar they look in this panel and I cannot unsee. Also worth noting: Mashiro - S, A and R = Miho.

• Technically, it's Ma-shi-ro and Mi-ho (Iwase notices that the "A" in "A-shi-ro-gi Mu-to" is from Azuki's name), so the names wouldn't be very similar when written in Japanese.

• Jossed, at least for now. Hiramaru's series didn't get serialized in the last meeting, while Aoki's and Nanamine's did.
  • But later confirmed at the next serialization meeting.

Look, the women in the story aren't getting anything done. At some point the authors have to notice that their manga is sexist. Crowning Moment of Awesome ensues, in which the women will save the men from a desperate situation. Or there will be a women VS men manga battle situation, and the men will be overwhelmingly defeated and forced to become slaves. Or something.

• Aoki won first place with her romance oneshot, defeating even Eiji. It's also a nice reversal of her fortunes, as she had been less able to write a romance for Jump without including a lot of fanservice.
• Aoki again, her new series, "The Gift That God Gave" having it's first two chapters taking first in both the early and real deal results.

We haven't seen much of him for a little while, and the snippets we saw fit his style: Very dark, almost too dark for Jump; and rather preachy (Tell a lie AND YOU DIE).

• Jossed; in Chapter 116, Mashiro checks the name, Toru Nanamine, and finds out that it's a boy who regularly sent fan letters for Detective Trap. Nanamine then appears in the next chapter.

If they think about it long enough, they may realize that their lives are interesting enough to be a manga and write Bakuman, causing an infinite loop just for the sake of it.

• Potentially going to be jossed, since the characters are gradually moving toward a "morally ambiguous" type of manga. Bakuman doesn't seem unusual enough to be a Takagi-style story.

From the most recent New Year's party Saiko finds out that Shujin and Kaya are considering having children, though Shujin backs off on the idea after realizing that they might need more money before deciding to bringing a baby into the world. In chapter 130 Kaya gets a fever and it sticks even through chapter 131 (near the end of 130, it was suggested she was faking to skip the reunion when Shujin noticed Kaya made a sudden improvement). Cue Shujin asking her what she would do if they had a kid who started imitating PCP in response to the PCP copycat robbing a bank. And just before he asks her she notes how she suddenly feels dizzy again. This troper has done her homework by checking the internet (and asking her nurse cousin); getting a fever is one of the possible symptoms of pregnancy, besides the common unusual cravings, nausea, and fatigue. It is a likely possibility that Kaya is indeed pregnant, especially since the couple considering the idea of raising a child has been brought up again. This troper sees this as an opportunity for the TO team to show how having a job in the manga industry affects family life, as juggling child raising and manga writing can get very challenging.

Plus this troper would think of this as an interesting and awesome plot development.

• Well, there's no evidence of it since that time (current chapter is 158), and her disease turned to be a bad case of cold or something, so... Keep your hopes up to later chapters, troper.
• Enough time has passed since then to disprove her being pregnant.

In chapter 113, Mashiro and Takagi look back on how they haven't necessarily had a normal young adulthood, and they should perhaps realize that it may be a few more years before they get an anime. In Chapter 130, Mashiro considers at what his classmates are doing and what while he is working hard on manga, and while he's satisfied working hard toward his dream, there's a part of him that feels left out. Perhaps if PCP gets canceled (by virtue of losing popularity or Eiji intervening) or goes on hiatus (if Mashiro and/or Hattori become concerend enough about how Takagi's faring), it might give him some him to enjoy himself a little, and it might give Takagi a chance to come up with an idea that will become popular and get an anime; they might take it the same way they took Detective Trap getting canceled, but ultimately see it as beneficial.

• I know I'm the last person with a right to point errors, with my terrible grammar, but that "give him some him to enjoy himself a little" has totally made my day.
  • Jossed.

He's the kind of guy who would realise that Mashiro needs an anime to get married. As it is, PCP seems to be a series that will go on a long time. He's probably realised that Mashiro is trying for a second series, but he doesn't feel that the quality would be that good. By cancelling PCP he'd give them a blank slate to create an anime worthy manga. Alternatively, being ridiculously Genre Savvy having recognised that Mashiro has the eyes of a hero, he has cast himself as the villian and will act accordingly.

• Jossed

• Jossed

And true to manga rivals, Eiji will be a good sport and keep Crow running.

• Jossed

Eccentric-yet-undeniably brilliant artists with little regard for social etiquette? Check. Seemingly clairvoyant abilities to predict human nature and/or manga popularity? Check. Lifelong compulsion to simply produce work, with little importance to its actual popularity/social consequences? Check. Affinity for birds? Check, check, check.

• Interestingly, their talents are sort of opposite. Trout produced commercially unsuccessful, badly written short stories brought up only by their penetrating insights of human nature and society - almost all of which were published in pornographic magazines. Eiji, on the other hand, is a wildly successful mangaka who uses his mastery of sequential art to draw exhilarating, but completely shallow battle manga.

• This can be explained by Trout's disillusionment with society. Committing suicide (at one point, Vonnegut kept changing his mind) in the early 90's, around the time Eiji would have been born, Trout would have not reacted well to life beyond death, and choose to spend the next life as the what he couldn't have been in the previous... a wildly successful manchild.

• Also, both have been on the record to have attracted beautiful young women, despite showing no interest or compliance to any social norms (in a creepy way). However, Iwase does seem to fall for any guy who praises her at all, so the validity is questionable...