Bakuman. 2 Review

They say you can measure how good a anime is by how fast time seems to fly by when watching it, if that's the case, Bakuman 2 is one amazing series.

The first season of Bakuman was great, the story, the characters, the atmosphere fitted perfectly, though It did suffer from pacing problems and could of been adapted better. This time however, J.C Staff has stepped up their game, managing to fix those problems and make Bakuman 2 one hell of a enjoyable anime and probably the best slice-of-life series I've seen yet.

= Story [9] =
Bakuman starts exactly where it left off from the first season and gets right into the story. I won't say much to avoid spoiling it for people who happen to see this review before watching the first season but this season has a lot more drama and romance, which make for some very intense scenes and memorable moments.

Something, that is unique to the story of Bakuman is how realistic it is. The two main characters aren't always successful and positive like you find in most shonen series and there isn't any shock twists which would be impossible to find in a real life situation, well maybe one.

= Art [9] =
I never get tired of the art in this series, It's amazing how J.C Staff can make the manga illustrations look so realistic and the amount of detail and effort they put into the backgrounds.

The character designs are nothing special but they don't really need to be, If anything, the only character design I can fault is Shuujin's/Takagi's, It's just that he looked a lot different and a lot better in the manga, though I don't really mind the change.

= Sound [8] =
I have to admit, I didn't like any of the first seasons OP and ED's that much, though Bakuman 2 has some great ones which really suit the story-lines in this season. The OST remains nearly entirely the same in this season, which is a good thing since it doesn't feel overused yet and suits the anime perfectly.

All of the VA's do a great job reprising their roles and the newcomers fit their parts perfectly in my opinion.

= Character [8] =
There's a lot more Character development this time around, which is welcomed especially for the minor characters such as Aoki and Nakai, who really annoyed me at first, but then actually became likeable.

The romance side of Bakuman shines through a lot more this time around, which also helped character development a lot, though some of the relationships became a bit boring and repetitive during the the second half of the story.

=Enjoyment [9]=
Bakuman 2 is one addicting ride, the story and the characters really draw you in and makes you want to finish the whole series in one go, which not just any anime can emulate.

If you're a fan of first season, you'll love this sequel, all the spirit and fun of the manga and prequel are maintained in Bakuman's second anime outing, which leaves us eagerly awaiting the third season.

=Overall [9]=
Overall, Bakuman 2 outdoes it's predecessor in every aspect, with faster pacing, a more 'tighter' and entertaining story, great character development with art and sound to top it off. If it wasn't for a slow down during the the latter episodes with the story and characters, I would've considered Bakuman 2 a masterpiece.