History Headscratchers / Bakuman

** Maybe they thought it would weed out people that wanted to join thinknig it would be a cake walk.

** Furthermore. That one line Saiko's father says actually explains and makes sense when you think of it in the context of a common trope, how WomenAreWiser. "Men have Dreams that Women can't understand." Think about it in the context of that trope, in that women are typically wiser and more knowledgeable than men. The line means in that context that women, with more common wisdom to them (like why being a manga-ka is a painfully bad idea from a logical standpoint) therefore actually go against dreams because of that wisdom, being by that logic unable to understand why a man would seek out a goal that makes no sense. Men, by the same logic of having less wisdom, are in turn perceived as being able to dream bigger than women, unrestrained by common wisdom of what is "the smart thing" to do. The men will, by this logic, have seemingly insane dreams the wiser women can't understand. So there you have it, an explanation of how that one line is actually a subtle case of PositiveDiscrimination for ''both'' genders; women are wise, but therefore are much more grounded in their realities, while men are less wise and therefore much more free to dream big and accept the consequences.

* Given some of the damning things that this work says about the industry, how'd Weekly Shonen Jump allow them to get away with this?

** Simply put, Nakai was allowed redemption by Hiramaru's offer for a few different reasons. One being that they were both drunk/punch drunk, and not entirely all there. Second, Hiramaru was considering Nakai to be NotSoDifferent to what he himself could become, and felt like giving the guy a hand. Third, and this is what really matters, Nakai held himself back from hitting his MoralEventHorizon. With Aoki right there for him to assault/whatever the hell else he could think of, he basically had the woman he hated in his hands... But stopped himself. By holding himself back from attacking her, he stopped himself from jumping any farther down [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope the Slippery Slope,]] and Hiramaru took this opportunity to give Nakai a hand in moving on. This stops Nakai from having a grudge against Aoki and frees her from any feelings of guilt, Hiramaru gets to look semi-badass in front of the woman he likes, and Nakai himself gets another shot at life as a mangaka, and this time without having Nanamine's influence.

* Why doesn't Nanamine just start his own magazine after being defeated the second time? Yeah, his ego is bruised as he didn't defeat Ashirogi the way he wanted to, but in the end he did just want to create manga, right? He has four floors of a building, massive staff, so many one-shots and potential series that ''are'' popular; as a new magazine, he'd seem to do fairly well. It's not ''Jump'', but considering how much money he's put behind his story production already...

<<|ItJustBugsMe|>>

** It's worth pointing out that Mashiro and Azuki are, despite their humble beginnings, essentially Japanese celebrities, being half of a best-selling mangaka duo, and a voice actress who could reasonably expect to land a main heroine role, respectively. It's natural that they'd attract a fair amount of attention and controversy over their relationship. Miura once says "Voice acting is a job that sells dreams[[note]]I wonder if he means people fantasizing about getting together with their favorite idols, or imagining them as someone who wouldn't settle down with someone[[/note]], so I can understand the fans being annoyed, but..." Additionally, with the exception of the anonymous posters and Miho's manager (who has virtually no respect for her individual wishes, as seen in the gravure photo album incident back when Mashiro first got serialized), ''everyone'' thinks that Mashiro and Azuki haven't done anything wrong, which could underscore how unreasonable the backlash is.

* About the sexism, right in the beginning Shujin points out that the hardworking Iwase just creepy guys out while Azuki is "smart" for not trying too hard and choosing a "girly dream" she can enjoy instead of aiming high.

* When the characters wink solemnly or their noses become quasi-realistic, what does it ''mean''? (Any HikaruNoGo readers willing to pitch in here? I have a tentative theory for the first bit that Obata just has a thing for people covering their right eyes.)

*** I don't mean the whole sexism angle that gets widely debated from fans of the series. I mean the absurdity of the whole thing. There could have been a point where like their parents, Mashiro and Azuki could have gotten bored of the arrangement and eventually one of them decided to start a relationship up with someone else. That would have made all the hard work and time that they were apart just to be successful before being together completely pointless.

** It's worth pointing out that Mashiro and Azuki are, despite their humble beginnings, essentially Japanese celebrities, being half of a best-selling mangaka duo, and a voice actress who could reasonably expect to land a main heroine role, respectively. It's natural that they'd attract a fair amount of attention and controversy over their relationship. Miura once says "Voice acting is a job that sells dreams[[hottip:note:I wonder if he means people fantasizing about getting together with their favorite idols, or imagining them as someone who wouldn't settle down with someone]], so I can understand the fans being annoyed, but..." Additionally, with the exception of the anonymous posters and Miho's manager (who has virtually no respect for her individual wishes, as seen in the gravure photo album incident back when Mashiro first got serialized), ''everyone'' thinks that Mashiro and Azuki haven't done anything wrong, which could underscore how unreasonable the backlash is.