Bakuman – 03

Is DNA scary? According to Akito, yes, yes it is~

~Since the first episode, I’ve been wondering how I should address the main characters because they have so many ways to call themselves!  It can be Moritaka or Saiko, or Akito, Takagi, or Shuujin, and I’m twisting around in my chair crying out, “WHAT SHOULD I SAY IN THE REVIEW?! ;A;” So I think I’ll stick to their last names to try and not confuse myself any further. Yet, I like their nicknames Saiko and Shuujin…-sigh- I don’t know.

Anyways, back to our hysterical pair, in this episode our two boys quickly head over to Moritaka’s uncle’s apartment after Moritaka’s phone call to Akito in the last episode. They arrive at the ninth floor and head in.

Inside to Akito’s surprise is a wonderland of hero figures, with all the Jack (a parody for Shonen Jump) magazines that had serialized his Uncle’s manga. Yet there’s more as they head into the main workplace where the whole walls are lined with manga.

Oh gosh all that manga…*drools*

Akito asks to see his Uncle’s manuscripts, and Moritaka leads him to the closet where the names (drafts showing where the panels of a manga split and where the lines are put in) and manuscripts are. Moritaka also explains about the whole process of a manga, and that Akito pretty much as to do the names.

Despite that, Akito gets fired up and the two begin to talk about what kind of manga they want to draw and of course about their favorite mangas. They also end up making a goal that by the time they turn 18 they’ll make their manga into an anime, and with that they begin to study all the names and manuscripts.

You can do it Akito! All your fangirls believe in you~!

It seems that Moritaka is suddenly overwhelmed by all of this, and heads outside. He then calls his father, telling him he thought his uncle had committed suicide but realizes his mistake. His father responds by asking him about a line from a manga, which suddenly gives Moritaka courage, and he thanks his father, hanging up his cell phone.

Back in the room, Moritaka finds a small box hidden beneath boxes of manuscript. Upon opening it, he realizes it’s the letters from the girl that his uncle was in love with from middle school. They had went to different high schools and exchanged letters over the years.

The boys hesitantly decided to read the letters but there isn’t much other than everyday conversation.

At least they promised not to reveal any of its contents x’D

Akito the creeper isn’t pleased with boring letters…

After reading the disheartening last letter that tells of the girl getting married to another man, Akito notices something else in the box.

Dude are you seriously crying? |’D

In it is his uncle’s middle school album (I guess that’s what they call yearbooks in Japan?). They quickly locate the girl and see that she looks just like Azuki!

NO WAAAYYYY!

Uncertain if it’s Azuki’s mother for real, Akito decides that they should visit her mother when Azuki goes off to dance class.

And how did you know that? You’re such a stalker Akito x’D

Once Azuki leaves the next day, they ask if they come in, and explain why they’re there.

Nooooo, this isn’t creeper-ish at allll….

Found Death Note reference Number 3~!!

Her mom kindly lets them (surprisingly). The boys first apologize for reading the letters, and then Akito begins to ask her about how she felt for Moritaka’s uncle.

She tells them she did indeed like him, but she, nor his uncle, could tell each other their feelings. Azuki’s mother also tells of how she found out his manga had been turned into a anime, and she went to read the manga where a certain character’s story was a message to her from him.

Oh gosh, those curls in her hair are like freaking dinner rolls….

Azuki’s mom then asks which boy is the one that wants to go out with Azuki, bringing some surprised reactions from them. Before leaving, she gives them her support, telling them to be great mangakas.

As the episode closes, Moritaka gets a burst of motivation, crying out that he will make this dream come true, that he will start to practice in manga style~.

End thoughts: Azuki’s…mom’s….hair….looks…soooooo weird! They look like dinner rolls or something. I was watching it, going, “What the heck is with those curls?!” Even Moritaka was like, “I think I’ll have Azuki give up on the long hair rolls at 42….” hahahaha.

Anyways, enough bashing of the ridiculously cute, innocent mom, I really loved that sudden twist that Azuki’s mom was the girl Moritaka’s uncle was in love with! When I saw the picture in the album, I literally yelled out, “NO WAAAY! WHAT?!”. It got me all hyped up! Earlier in the episode, it was more of a calm, ‘oh that’s so sweet’ mood, and then it gets all Takagi-Moritaka hysterical on us, which suddenly throws you into a fit of laughter! It’s their hilarious, intense, WTF expressions that get me, not to mention Akito with his ‘DNA! it’s totally scary!” thing and his random plan to actually go to Azuki’s house to ask her mom in person x’D I swear Akito comes up the most spontaneous plans ever, but that’s why we love him, right?

I really enjoyed the explanation about the names and manuscripts for manga by the way~. I’ve never actually been formally informed on how that works, and I’ve just been guessing up to this point, which is probably strange for a manga connoisseur such as myself. That reminds me, I TOTALLY WANT MY ROOM TO BE LIKE HIS UNCLE’S *A* My manga collection isn’t even HALF of that, gah! I was staring at the screen in awe like Akito, seriously.

Overall, I really, really liked this episode. We still are in the introduction stage, but it’s keeping my interest up surprisingly! I was expecting that I’d eventually get bored, but these past episodes have really been quite entertaining, and actually inspiring. I swear, whenever I watch this show, I get that urge to go out and do something! And I’m really lazy, so the fact that a simple anime is getting me pumped up means it’s quite something ^^ Even Akito’s hyperness and spontaneous-ness is getting to me!

Preview: Now Moritaka’s has seriously gotten the urge to make a manga, and starts to practice his skills, and practicing saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I’.

But what’s this about a choice? And why is my Akito crying?! Sadly, I’ll have to wait till next week ;A; Until then~.

About Hoshi

A tired, over-dramatic 20 year old college student who likes manga and cheesy Korean boy bands. Prone to succumb to laziness and refuse to work for hours on end.