History Headscratchers / Bakuman

** That's a problem inside japanese fandom. May not make any sense, but it's real.

* So what the hell was the problem with Azuki having a boyfriend in the first place. That's the one thing that confused the hell out of me, the part where an internet guy figures out that a popular voice actress has a boyfriend. Some fat nerd puts 2 and 2 together and for some reason the whole world wants to kill poor Azuki now? I really don't get it. It starts in chapter 168 by the way.

* So what the hell was the problem with Azuki having a boyfriend in the first place. That's the one thing that confused the hell out of me, the part where an internet guy figures out that a popular voice actress has a boyfriend. Some fat nerd puts 2 and 2 together and for some reason the whole world wants to kill poor Azuki now? I really don't get it.

**** Bleach isn't sexist? Most of the time the female characters are never able to stand their ground in a fight without a last minute save by a guy. And lets not even get into the overabundance of insane breast sizes....

* ItJustBugsMe that anyone period can say they read this manga and say Shujin doesn't loves Miyoshi. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? And why would the author break up a couple that's been well-established since the beginning of the freaking manga? [[YourHeadAsplode Just...just...]]

** 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, a {{YMMV}} 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.

* Ok, this is just me adding to the whole "Bakuman is sexist" discussion and asking...Why? Bakuman is NOT sexist. First off, the whole bit about "men have dreams women don't understand" is pretty easy to get. It's basically just another way of saying "it's a boy thing" or "you just don't understand a man's romance" or "men have their own way of doing things". THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. Also, I took the reason people don't have a good impression of Iwase at first was because she seemed pretentious and dismissive of manga and that her reasons for doing what she did was simply because of her rather one-sided rivalry with Takagi.

* Ok, this is just me adding to the whole "Bakuman is sexist" discussion and saying...Why? Bakuman is NOT sexist. First off, the whole bit about "men have dreams women don't understand" is pretty easy to get. It's basically just another way of saying "it's a boy thing" or "you just don't understand a man's romance" or "men have their own way of doing things". THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. Also, I took the reason people don't have a good impression of Iwase at first was because she seemed pretentious and dismissive of manga and that her reasons for doing what she did was simply because of her rather one-sided rivalry with Takagi.

* How are the producers of the anime going to convert over 100 chapters worth of material into a 25-episode anime? DeathNote had 37 episodes for 108 chapters, making a roughly 1:3 episode-chapter ratio, and even then, the producers cut out a fair amount from the last part, including the last two chapters. Considering that Bakuman probably will have at least as many chapters as Death Note by the time it ends, making it at least 1:4 (if not closer to 1:5), I can only see the producers removing even more (perhaps the entire Tanto arc?), or significantly changing the plot.

** 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 women are CloserToEarth. "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, a {{YMMV}} 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.

*** The two are writing for a ''boys'' magazine, so it makes sense to focus more on the male demographic and consider that the writers of fan letters may not be the best source of advice (additionally, the main characters were mainly focused on keeping their manga in the magazine instead of doing what makes sense for the story). I wonder how things would have gone if they'd chosen to
*** Uh, Tite Kubo writes for a boy's magazine. So does Masashi Kishimoto, and niether have such blatant sexism. Go read Shounen Jump and bring back a story that is more sexist than Bakuman...(or Death Note, or Hikaru No Go....)

* Also, why did Aoki offer herself up to Nakai? If she was the one who wronged him, kudos to her, but hell, SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG.

** Now that you mention it, it seemed weird to me at first. But first of all, they get more detailed in Perfect Crime Club. Secondly: after all, the things you mention that they usually discuss ''are'' the things that matter when somebody's choosing a manga to read. Or to put it differently, when you're looking for a fun manga, what matters most is whether or not it's the genre of manga you like (like an action-filled shonen, a tear-jerker of a shojo, or a violent seinen), not whether or not Character 1 is going to turn against Character 2. Precise details usually don't matter ''that'' much; either people like what happens and keep reading, or they're dissatisfied with how something has turned out (like some character getting unfairly accused) and keep reading hoping that things'll turn out okay, eagerly staying as loyal readers until they get some assurance that things'll be fine. The readers who scream "Oh noooo!" when reading Naruto are the ones who turn the pages the quickest, being the most eager to find out what happens next. The reason somebody likes a manga is because of its genre, its art and its style of writing - not particular plot points. And while I'm at it - they do discuss the characters fairly often, especially in Tanto.