The Mashiro x Azuki Thread

[saladesu]

This thread is for everything Mashiro x Azuki. They are the central couple in the series and yet! We see so very little of them. In fact, we hardly even see Azuki!

First off, what did you think of how they even got together? Personally, it was pretty ludicrous, imo, the whole proposal thing and not seeing each other until the promise is fulfilled. Well, this is manga after all. Other than that, what do you think of their whole relationship with each other?

Also, as their being together hinges upon whether and when Ashirogi can get an anime (and Azuki gets to be the voice), it remains to be answered: how long more will Azuki (and Saikou) have to wait? Bakuman being a shounen manga, I doubt they will break the promise they have with each other.

And am I the only one who dislikes that this relationship (and its significance to the story) seems to be getting pushed aside while Ohba takes his detours for side plots? While they have been entertaining as well, I really do miss seeing Azuki, or at least seeing that Saikou remembers Azuki exists (he hasn't even been shown texting her in a while) :darn

[MRachu]

well to me azuki its just a filler right now and this buggs me ......here is the deal
bakuman started as a school like thing in which they had interactions with people
all that is gone,there are no real life kind of vibe to it anymore
in the beginning the relationship with azuki looked very fantastic but well thats love
takagi problems with girls ,mashiro texting and kinda talking with azuki
right now its manga 99% in the start it felt right the shojo tone to it a little romantic side to it
right now is ITS A BATTLE BETWEEN MEN thing
i even thought that mashiro actually was going to fail being a mangaka and marrying azuki anyways
cause in the start of the series its kind of hinted thats he is going to fail

[saladesu]

Yeah, Azuki feels like just a filler character right now despite actually being the female protagonist so to speak. It's quite a pity as I liked her character and really want to see more of her. Even if she doesn't play a major role or anything, it would be nice to see the romance side of things a little, even if it's just a text message conversation between Saikou and Azuki, showing that he still depends on her for little things.

I liked the school setting but I don't mind the current "working world" kind of setting either. I guess they got to interact more with other people (classmates) when in school but now it's the same old people - the Fukuda gang, editors, other mangaka. All the more that squeezes out Azuki's place in the pages of this manga.

I never thought Mashiro would end up failing as a mangaka - after all in shounen manga, the protagonists are supposed to overcome even the toughest situations :XD Besides, I don't think Azuki will accept anything other than the full promise being fulfilled.

[MRachu]

yeah youre right salad i mean the shounen hero always win
i had the idea of mashiro no becoming amangaka when in the start says
uncle:im sure when you grow up youre going to be a designer of an artist
mashiro:but my uncle never said mangaka
im guessing the uncle knew how hard it was and didnt want something similar to mashiro
anyway to me love wins everything was the answer with azuki
you know "im leaving everything as a famous mangaka for my love"kind of thing
everybody knows hes going to get azuki in the end right know
im more intrigued with the whole aoki ,nakai,hiramaru love triangle
i think oda has a surprise there

[dzundzun]

Mashiro x Azuki-I don't think it's going to happen.I mean at this rate Azuki will have to wait another 5 years for Mashiro to fulfill his part of the promise.I don't think she's going to wait forever,and also I think that Mashiro is going to be virgin his whole life.

[alphabeta]

I can see a future arc where the whole Mashiro/Azuki business will be brought up again, and it will be definetly connected to how she has found another man or something like that. She'll have enough of the waiting, and her current love-life is more important than some promise she did after getting emotional back in 8th grade. In the end Saikou will be put before the dilema. Love or Manga. Ohba just can't waste such a good oportunity. There's too much room for him to use his psychological style of writing. I can't wait for such an arc :eyeroll

[suicune123]

I too think this manga has gone off topic. I loved the romance between azuki and mashiro, not only are they like the hottest couple in manga at the moment, but i loved the way they loved each other. now the manga is all about the 'manga'. its ridiculous, i want more romance, i know the mangakas are exactly good at doing romance, but they shouln't go off the topic totally. this was one of the main reasons i stopped reading the manga for like half a year, because the story lacked romance, and thats what made it interesting.

[saladesu]

I'm thinking we'll be seeing quite a bit more of this couple, now that Ririka is in the picture and looks like she wants to be the third wheel. Anyway, how much trust do you think Azuki has in Saikou? I'm thinking Ririka's presence will push her to the very boundaries of that trust and faith she has in him.How this will impact the story, we don't know yet, but I'll just be happy to see more Saikou x Azuki interaction. Bakuman has definitely been lacking that as of late!

[alphabeta]

Like I said a long time 2 posts ago, the topic of MashiroxAzuki will be brought up again. Though, back then I predicted Azuki to find someone else. Now it's more likely that it's Saikou who'll have to prove his willpower. I agree that Riruka will play a bigger role in the future. She has two possible options. Try to seduce Saikou and achieve her plans, leaving Saikou to deal with Azuki. Or try to seduce Saikou and fail to do so, but then change from Saikou to Azuki (RirukaxAzuki :yuri) and try to ruin their love-life through various types of provocations.

In the end, MashrioxAzuki will prevail, the only question is how much screentime Ohba is ready to spend on this arc.

[MangoSango]

Does anyone know the chapter where Azuki originally fell in love with Saiko's drawing (the one with a grinning kid and ducks in the background) as a kid?

[Knifeshade]

When Mashiro was in the hospital?

/checks

Yeah. Hospital. First instance was 46. (http://www.mangareader.net/219-15617-3/bakuman/chapter-46.html)

[MangoSango]

Thank you so much! I've been meaning to reread that flashback scene for a while since it's one of my favorites. Thanks again!