I’m not sure why, but I really felt bad for Azuki this episode. Maybe it was cause she was a complete wreck the whole time.

Summary

The serialization for Detective Trap has started, and after finding out more about their assistants, Mashiro and Takagi hope that they end up doing well in the early results of their first chapter. Meanwhile, Azuki has been offered a chance to do a photo shoot that may boost her entire seiyuu career, but she isn’t sure if that’s what she really wants.

Impression

We had the “awkward silence” for Bakuman II this week, as will happen in conversations now and again. In a room with six people though, I expected more of Ashirogi Muto shakes head

Son, I am disappoint

Count on Miyoshi to pull a randomly personal question to senior assistant Ogawa, who equally surprisingly replies that he has a girlfriend, knocked her up at some point, and is now living with her. Why I suddenly see that happening with Takagi and Miyoshi at some point, I don’t know. We also learn more about Takahama, who is apparently a fan of Disney (SO AM I) but is unwilling to associate with the other two as they are happy to just stay assistants. I originally thought he was just a prick, but I was glad to know he was an okay guy instead of an unsociable jerk. He reminds me of a younger version of Nakai actually, a person who wavers between an assistant yet wants something more.

The main part of this episode concerned Azuki, who we haven’t seen for quite some time. Last I remember, she had gotten a seiyuu role in a late-night anime, and did an OP/ED I think. So basically we have this perverted manager, who wants to take a sexy photo shoot of Azuki so he can fap later at night in his expensive house.

…Okay, maybe not, but the photo shoot part was true ^^ And the problem Azuki has with it is that though it will boost her popularity, she’ll be showing a lot of skin, and Mashiro won’t be very happy about that. I actually think that she’ll have to do one eventually – if you’re as hot as she is, and have a fanbase, to easily move up in the this kind of world a photo shoot is one of the best steps. I mean, look at all the Charlotte Dunois stuff that’s been churning out ever since her “Ichika no ecchi” from Ep 6 of Infinite Stratos. Yes I still remember that. The fact is, that sex sells, and I think Mashiro knows that but wants her all to himself xD In the end their relationship gets better, and though they haven’t spoken in person since the proposal, it looks like they can talk more easily on the phone now.

Next week seems to see an interesting development – remember that musician bastard who made Colorfusical? Yeah, the guy that tried to cheat by getting his music fans to vote for him in the Shounen Jack poll. He’s back, and this time I’m assuming he’s trying to team up with Aoki, and its possible to succeed, given her quiet disappointment over not having Hideout Door serialized.

…In any case, it won’t be long before the Azuki doujin starts popping up all over the place, now that whoever makes these has material to base it on.