Bakuman II Episode 24: Miraculous Turnaround

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Summary

At the serialization meeting, the editors decide that they aren’t willing to let go of Ashirogi Muto just on the grounds of a vote on whether they can beat Niizuma or not, and Perfect Crime Club is serialized. Ashirogi Muto celebrate along with Kaya, with Azuki sending Mashiro a recording of her singing in return for her portrait drawn on her birthday. Back in the editing department, the chief editor decides to swap the assignments of Miura and Hattori; meaning Miura will get +Natural and Hattori will return to being Ashirogi’s editor. While Niizuma is fired up, Fukuda’s Kiyoshi Knight hasn’t been doing too well lately and he looks to start a new one-shot.

Impression

Well, I can’t say I didn’t predict this given the fact that Bakuman is getting a 3rd season, but I’m glad the editors finally came round and decided not to let Ashirogi go just because they can’t beat Niizuma. It’s all about the potential they have to surpass a fellow rival, and judging it based on a single aspect is too harsh. Actually there’s Iwase as well, but she needs to be knocked down a few pegs anyway. She has a serious superiority complex going here. I do worry a bit about the whole “crimes” aspect and what this may mean in the long run, though lets bask in Ashirogi Muto’s glory for now, with a new serialization!

Though it’s true the chief editor is a complete knob, he’s extremely sharp when it comes to judging manga, which is probably why he noticed Hattori’s influence and swapped editors for Ashirogi’s continued growth. It’s only proper that Hattori is the one to guide Mashiro and Takagi to become one of Jack’s flagship mangaka after all, since he was the one that guided them all the way back when they were still in middle school. Besides, Detective Trap was always more popular than Tanto. I don’t know if the chief editor made Miura pair up with Iwase on purpose, either to relieve Hattori from being sexually harassed or to give Ashirogi an easier time surpassing +Natural. I mean come on, even that little girl pities Miura for having to work with her.

I guess in its own strange way, Bakuman is really a shounen manga/anime at heart – the characters improve exponentially from being in constant battles with their rivals, though here it’s by Mashiro comparing his art to Niizuma’s and extending his own imagination. It’s not only Niizuma and Iwase they have to look out for either – Fukuda’s not going to be a pushover with his new one-shot, and Hiramaru’s got his own uh…motivation to push ahead too!

We’ll probably just be wrapping up with the next and final episode, then it’s a break until Fall 2012, when we start with a whole new season and a whole new arc xD