Accidental Aesop: First impressions aren't everything. While Eiji comes off as tactless and arrogant at first glance, his remarks about drawing when he was younger hint at how it was the only form of entertainment available to a poor kid like him(and he turns out to be using his manga to help out his parents), and even his demand to cancel a manga if he becomes the top manga artist turns out to be a way to end his series at the height of its popularity. Similarly, Fukuda, who comes off as abrasive at first glance, turns out to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who forms a group of collaborating manga artists, and the initially cold Aoki proves able to warm up to people like Takagi and Hiramaru over time. Contrast Nakai, who seems like a Nice Guy at first glance, but has hidden feelings of resentment and entitlement, and whose darker depths later become apparent.
One can argue that Nakai never quite Took a Level in Jerkass, and was mainly repressing the less admirable aspects of his personality, as he never admits how much Fukuda's reminding him that his career is going nowhere upsets him to his face. Over time, he does so less often, such as when he loses his temper at an assistant when Hideout Door is doing poorly. Similarly, considering that he accuses Aoki of causing his present situation by rejecting him, it's possible that his long history of failure is more his fault than he's willing to admit.
Toward the end of Hideout Door's serialization, Nakai becomes desperate to stay serialized, while Aoki refuses to compromise her vision. Is Aoki self-centered and inconsiderate of Nakai (especially given his long struggle to get serialized), or is she simply staying true to herself like a good artist should? Is Nakai's concern understandable, or is he so desperate to stay in the magazine (not to mention work together with Aoki) that he disregards her wishes?
Iwase: Snobby and obsessed with competition? Or is she a talented woman who is determined to prove herself, but is a victim of Unfortunate Implications and/or Takagi's dismissing her as being fixated besting him?
While the editor in chief is largely seen as unreasonable for putting Detective Trap on hiatus while Mashiro is hospitalized, it's possible to conclude that he's the Only Sane Man concerned about Mashiro's health but unwilling to end his career over this, like his mother wants. Considering that the main characters realize that the editor has valid points later on, and he's generally portrayed as a tough but fair Reasonable Authority Figure, it's possible that the story even intended for him to be seen this way.
Does Mashiro really love Azuki or does she just love the ideal he has about her? Especially if we take into account that due to the promise they made, their interaction is minimal and they cannot get to know each other well.
Anvilicious: When Mashiro and Takagi end up writing their story according to reader suggestions due to understandably being desperate to keep Detective Trap going, Miura, of all people, notices something's off and calls them out on it. He then points out that the fan mail doesn't represent the majority of the readers, and the readers are there for Mashiro and Takagi's story. It's not exactly subtle in how it criticizes merely pandering in an attempt to gain popularity. The arc with Toru Nanamine also has Mashiro and Takagi being challenged by a manga that is entirely written by multiple fans, with the man who publishes it being extremely arrogant despite being unable to spot inconsistencies in "his" writing.
"Shin-Takarajima" (New Treasure Island), the optimistic alternative-punk ending theme for 2015 live-action adaptation of Bakuman by a Japanese group Sakanaction.
The anime's second opening, " Dream of Life" the second opening of the anime, is no slouch either. The awesome instrumentation and vocals are backed up by lyrics that uncannily match the show.
Iwase. How sympathetic is she, and how does this compare to how she is intended to be seen?
Same goes for Kayoko Mashiro, for not only being a nagging mother, but for being very strict and hardly supportive of her son's dream to become a manga artist (especially considering the circumstances that inspire him to do so). Some believe she has valid reasons to do so, given what happened to her brother-in-law, but others see her as being unreasonable. Granted, she does gradually loosen up and become a bit more willing to tolerate Moritaka going into manga.
Iwase, to some of the base that believe that her portrayal as a snobby bitch because she's smart and talented is sexist. On the other hand, Takagi later accepts her as a rival, which could indicate that we are not meant to agree with his initial reactions.
The Editor-In-Chief is portrayed as unfair for putting Detective Trap on hiatus while Mashiro is hospitalized, then extending it until he graduates from school. All of Mashiro's rivals go together on a strike in protest and their editors start agreeing with them, and eventually the Editor has to compromise. A few reviewers instead expressed that while Mashiro's passion is admirable, and he managed to draw in these conditions, he really shouldn't be working while in a hospital, especially when his uncle's death from overworking was brought up in the same arc. His stubbornness didn't save Detective Trap from cancellation due to low ratings anyway.
Diagnosed by the Audience: Eiji Niizuma's odd mannerisms, difficulty of understanding social norms despite himself being sociable, atypical Limited Wardrobe, and unparalleled genius, are believed to be indicators of Asperger's.
Hattori is rather popular for being a good mentor to Mashiro and Takagi, as well as to his kohai Miura.
Hell, just look around some manga forums and you'll see this series is full of them. Hiramaru, Eiji, Aoki, Iwase.
Chapter 110 gave the results of a new popularity poll, with some very interesting results. Yoshida (Hiramaru's editor) made #9, beating out Iwase (#10) and Hattori (who tied at #12 with Kaya) and all the other editors. Aoki Ko was #8, Fukuda was #7, but Otters 11 (not Hiramaru, but the manga character he created) made #6, the only manga-within-manga character here to get notable rank. Takagi was only #5, beaten out by Azuki (#4). But the real surprise was the top three — Hiramaru was #3, Mashiro was #2, and Niizuma Eiji was #1 by a wide margin (1700 votes to Mashiro's 1200). In Japan, the Hiramaru/Yoshida subplot seems to be the up and coming darkhorse.
Epileptic Trees: The series started a popular real-life theory that Tsugumi Ohba was actually just a Secret Identity for Hiroshi Gamou, the author of popular 90s Gag SeriesLuckyman. Evidence for this is that Nobuhiro's manga and later career heavily resemble Gamou's, making his death very strange from a meta sense, Ohba's own art shown in the volumes closely resembling Gamou's, and that Ohba himself has literally zero credited work prior to Death Note, suggesting he had a career prior under a different name. When asked, Editor-in-Chief Sasaki pointedly declined to answer.
Fan-Preferred Couple: Aoki with either Takagi or especially ShindaFukuda. In the end, Takagi ends up married to Miyoshi, while Aoki is in a relationship with Hiramaru, and is ultimately engaged to him.
Hilarious in Hindsight: In-universe. The third chapter has Mashiro forcing Takagi into making a name, with Takagi complaining that he could just give Mashiro a script. Guess how Eiji and Iwase make +Natural work, and how Mashiro and Takagi start taking the lead with PCP?
The authors' occasional Take That! towards Jump SQ becomes hilarious as their next work, Platinum End, is serialized there.
Iron Woobie: Nobuhiro "Taro Kawaguchi" Mashiro. The girl he likes, one of his main reasons for being a mangaka, found another man? He believes he got this far because of her, and she's still watching him. His contract got canceled? He thinks it's an opportunity to start over as a newbie.
Miura would like you to know you need more gags.Explanation Miura has a strong preference for gag manga, whereas the main characters are best at serious manga or "serious humor"
Posting images of the editor-in-chief during discussions of real-world canceled Jump series.
Nanamine's Classroom of Truth manga. Let's face it, that got incredibly disturbing at times. Also overlaps with Paranoia Fuel.
Paranoia Fuel: In Classroom of Truth, you could, out of nowhere, be put into a survival tournament against the people you work or go to school with every day. The person who outwardly seems like a Reasonable Authority Figure is willing to kill you so he can survive. And if you have any secrets you want to keep from others, you can't, lest you die.
Squick: Hiramaru's briefly mentioned medical condition that causes him to urinate blood.
Miura gets some hate for being overly pushy and trying to force Mashiro and Takagi to do gag manga, in spite of his lack of experience. Some of these reader reactions may be intentional, since the main characters are somewhat frustrated with having him as an editor, although they do accept that they can't blame him for all their troubles.
Quite a few fans have been clamoring for an Aoki/Shujin ship, despite his Official Couple status with Kaya and his powerful confession of love to her coupled with a marriage proposal which she accepts.
This seems to have blown over and many fans seem to have moved on to shipping Aoki with Fukuda after his Big Damn Heroes moment, offering to help her with her manga despite the two having a less than stellar start. However, like the above example, this ship was sunk in Chapter 114, where Hiramaru asks Aoki out and she accepts, and Fukuda is shown to be a Shipper on Deck for them.
Strangled by the Red String: Azuki and Mashiro have almost no interactions with each other due to promises, making it hard to believe all the devotion they have for each other.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Nakai. The narrative indicates the audience is still supposed to feel some measure of sympathy for him, yet the majority of them has long since completely lost the capacity to be able to. The characters are split between those who have some sympathy for him and those who do not.
Previously Nakai, who'd been trying to get serialized and a girlfriend for over 10 years, without any success. Especially after he gets canceled because Aoki refuses to change anything. This was broken however when he acted like a total dick towards Aoki on rebound after being rejected by another girl, and has quit manga entirely. However, recent flashes to him show he's not completely content...
As of Chapter 102, Shiratori. As if having a crummy home life wasn't bad enough, when he makes a good enough concept for a manga and works with Takagi on it and makes it great, his mother, someone who knows and cares nothing about manga, doesn't give a shit and gives him an ultimatum: 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 another course of actionthat he decides to take.
Azuma. He's been out of work for some time, and it has obviously taken its toll on him emotionally. As such, he turns to Nanamine, only to get cast aside when he's deemed to be not good enough. This makes it considerably more awesome and heartwarming when he does actually succeed on his own.
" (New Treasure Island), the optimistic alternative-punk ending theme for 2015 live-action adaptation of Bakuman by a Japanese group Sakanaction.