Bakuman 43

This weeks Bakuman chapter is free for anyone's use since Akatsuki Group is not releasing! Enjoy. However, due to a few requests, I cannot make this exclusive for anyone.
proofed by c_k (7/1/09)

Page 43: Jokes and News

Takagi: Chapter 10 ranked in 6th place… Go us…!

Saiko: We’ll rank high as long as the story is good and the mystery is well-developed. Let’s keep at it.

--

Takagi: The story and mystery… That’s all up to me… / Above all else right now, I need to work on the dialogue and comic effect… / I think I’m going to go insane.

Miyoshi: You are a little insane already.

Takagi: Hey Miyoshi. You’ve been making fun of me lately, haven’t you?

Miyoshi: Okay fine, I’ll stop.

--

Takagi: So you admit it?

Miyoshi: I’ve been trying to lighten the mood since you guys have been so stressed out over the rankings!

--

Takagi: Oh… Okay.

Miyoshi: I’m like a nude-maker*.
*She means mood-maker but is trying to make a joke.

Takagi: Jokes that try to be clever like that aren't funny…

Miyoshi: Sorry…

--

Takagi: Thanks anyway.

Miyoshi: What!? Don’t thank me all of a sudden! It’s weird!

P2

Saiko: The name for chapter 14 is good. // Make a final draft and show it to Miura-san. I think we can rank really high with this.

Takagi: Really?

Saiko: The mystery is solved in a cool and extravagant way. The dialogue is much better than before too.

--

Miyoshi: Now that you’re done with chapter 14, Takagi-sensei… / Here’s my book report for the 9 mystery books I read this week.

Takagi: Oh, thanks.

--

Saiko: Hey, Shujin.

Takagi: What's up?

--

Saiko: Don’t you think we should pay Miyoshi a bit for her efforts? She’s been doing a lot.

Takagi: It’s fine. She likes helping… Don’t tell her that because she’ll definitely ask for money.

Saiko: You think it’s okay…?

P3

Miyoshi: What are you guys whispering about? So rude…

--

Saiko: I was just telling Takagi that you’re a pretty cool chick... But it’s embarrassing to tell you…

Takagi: Yeah…

Miyoshi: But you just told me…

--

Saiko: Thanks.

Miyoshi: What the...!? What’s wrong with you guys today? You’re creeping me out!

--

Miyoshi: And don't thank me. It makes me feel like an outsider. It's also my dream for Ashirogi Muto to succeed, you know. // It’s everyone’s dream, including Miho’s! Just because my name is Kaya doesn’t mean you have to leave me out of the loop!*
*Outside the kaya means outside the loop. She’s trying to make a pun.

Takagi: I told you puns like that are dumb!

--

Miyoshi: Anyway, hurry up and get your series to become an anime!

Takagi: Yeah… I’ll think of a story that’s even better!

--

Saiko: Both Shujin and Miyoshi are doing everything they can. // I have to improve my skills too… I can improve the style, the format and the backgrounds…

P4

<Niizuma’s house>

--

Assistant: Sensei, how is this background?

Niizuma: HMMM! Make it more zukyuuuuun in the back!

Assistant: Okay… zukyuuun in the back…

--

Hiramaru: Niizuma-kun! / It’s Hiramaru.

Niizuma: Ohh! Hiramaru-sensei!

--

Assistants: The guy that writes “Otter Number 11”... // but why?

--

Hiramaru: Please hide me!

Niizuma: Are you being chased by bad guys?

Hiramaru: More like I’m being chased by the police!

P5

Hiramaru: I respect every mangaka out there. Not everyone can write 19 pages every single week.

Niizuma: You do it too!

--

Hiramaru: I can’t take it anymore… I don’t mean to brag, but I’m a responsible and hardworking person, but this job is insane! / Working at an office is 100 times better than this…. No, it fits me better. // It’s great to have at least the weekend off… / But now, I can’t even make time to sleep… / Even when I do sleep, I have nightmares about manga and wake up…

--

Niizuma: My editor says it's a job you can only do if you enjoy it. I love it so I have a great time!

Hiramaru: That’s true… I don’t really like manga so it’s not a fun job for me…

--

Niizuma: I’m sure if you talk to the chief about quitting, he’ll let you.

Hiramaru: What? He’s not stopping me…?

P6

Yoshida: This is Yoshida from Shueisha!

Hiramaru: Yoshida!?

--

Yoshida: Hiramaru-kun! I know you’re in there! Come out from there at once!

Niizuma: Wow! He is like a cop!

Hiramaru: How did he know I was here…

--

Assistant: I called Shueisha and told him! I’m letting him in now!

Hiramaru: You!

--

Assistant: You’re such a pain in the ass!! People like you break our spirit and make me really angry!!

--

Assistant: We’re all striving to become mangakas and are doing assistant jobs because we can’t get serialized! But you have a series and are complaining about it! That’s so screwed up!!

Hiramaru: I’m sorry…

--

Hiramaru: What should I do…

Yoshida: Just draw manga.

Niizuma: Poor guy…

Assistant: Not at all!

P7

Sfx: flip

Sfx: drawing sounds

--

Miyoshi: He draws so well…

--

Miyoshi: Mashiro!

Saiko: What?

--

Miyoshi: You haven’t been sleeping during class lately… When do you sleep?

Saiko: Around 5am to 8am…

Miyoshi: Isn’t that kinda tough…?

--

Takagi: Today, we get the early reports for chapter 11.

Saiko: Oh yeah, it’s Tuesday…

P8

Saiko: Oh crap…

Takagi: What!? You think chapter 11 is going to rank poorly?

--

Saiko: No… It’s just that I’ve been making everything so detailed that I’m a bit behind on my work…

Takagi: That’s a surprise… How much do you have left?

--

Saiko: The assistants are coming tomorrow but, I haven’t even finished my drafts…

Takagi: Is it going to be okay?

Saiko: I’ll do an all nighter.

--

Takagi: Don’t overwork yourself. We’ve been trying to meet Friday deadlines, but Miura-san said Mondays are still okay too.

--

sfx: phone vibrates

Takagi: Oh, I bet he’s going to tell us the rankings. I told him we’d be out of school by 3:30.

--

Miura: Good job! Chapter 11 ranked 7th in the early reports! Chapter 10's high ranking wasn't a one-time thing!

Takagi: But we went down a rank…

--

Saiko: 7th… Our popularity is getting there…

P9

Miura: Hey hey! It’s just one rank lower than last time. It’s nothing to be upset about! We can do it!

Takagi: I know!

--

Takagi: Go us!

Saiko: I’m going to get us to rank higher by improving my art!

--

Saiko: Eh? Who's calling?

--

Saiko: Oh, it’s Azuki. She has a new job…

Message: I’ve been chosen to do a bunch of small roles in a kid’s TV show on NHN! It’s called, “Afternoon Chance!” and its on every Friday at 5:45 with a 10 minute anime segment called "Tomboy Ninja Squad." Wish me luck!

Miyoshi: She said she was auditioning a lot! I guess she tells you the good news before she even tells me!

Takagi: Wow, all of us are getting great news!

--


Saiko: I’m going to the work place, so I’ll see you tomorrow!

Takagi: Good luck!

Miyoshi: Bye!

--

Miyoshi: Mashiro has only been sleeping for 3 hours a day… He’s not even sleeping during class…

Takagi: 3 hours!?

P10

<Nakai’s house>

sfx: fax machine

Assistant: Sensei, there’s a fax coming in.

Sfx: drawing sounds

Nakai: Oh, thanks.

--

sfx: drawing sounds

Nakai: It’s a name from Aoki-san.

--

Fax: To Nakai-sama
WJ Aida
Chapter 3 early reports: 11th place

Nakai: Chapter 3 ranked 11th in the early reports… It’s gone down a lot from chapter 2 which was 5th in place… Shit… // But… The first two chapters were extended chapters so maybe that's why they ranked so high…

P11

Nakai: Ahem… / I need to make a phone call outside.

Assistant: Okay…

--

Nakai: Aida-san, can you ask Aoki-san to redo the name for chapter 6?

Aida: Redo!? Wait a second…

--

Aida: I gave her the go ahead on it. / I can’t ask her to redo it.

Nakai: Why did you give her the go ahead on this? It’s becoming too fairytale-like again and there isn’t enough action. I can’t draw anything interesting for this.

--

Aida: No action? Well, he’s right about that… // We’ll increase the movement next week but I can’t tell her to redo something when I gave her the OK already. You should just draw as you are told.

Nakai: Fine… / click

P12

Nakai: This is Nakai.

Aoki: Yes?

--

Nakai: Can you please redo chapter 6!?

Aoki: Why!?

--

Nakai: I think it’s good overall, but there should be more action in this. / Make more use of the panels and… / make it more extravagant!

--

Aoki: Aida-san said it was good.

P13

Nakai: Please, Aoki-san! / Try to divide it into 2 chapters. / Expand the action scenes and make it more impressive. // I’ve been in this field for over 15 years and have more experience than Aida-san in that sense. Can’t you please take my word for it this time?

--

Nakai: And… How do I say it… // I think the readers might find all the narrations annoying because it’s too literary. It’s not a shoujo manga, so please understand that this is a shounen manga!

--

Nakai: Please! This is for our “hideout door”…

Aoki: Okay.

--

Nakai: What!?

Aoki: Okay. I will do as you say because you sound very dependable about this.

--

Nakai: Dependable…!

Aoki: I will trust you, but only in regards to manga.

P14

Yuujiro: We did it! You ranked 6th in the early reports!

Assistant: Wow!

Fukuda: YEAAAHH!

--

Fukuda: What about Niizuma, Ashirogi and Nakai?

Yuujiro: Why those three?

--

Fukuda: ‘Cuz they’re friends and rivals of team Fukuda!

Yuujiro: Uh okay.

--

Yuujiro: CROW was 3rd, TRAP was 7th and hideout door was 11th.

Fukuda: YEAAHH! I showed you, Ashirogi! I’ve outranked you once again! Now all I have to do is outrank Master Niizuma and rank 1st!

--

Fukuda: Let me see all of them. I’m starting to get worried about Nakai-san now…

P15

Yuujiro: Where’s the manuscript? I can’t wait any longer.

Assistant: Give me 2 more hours! I can’t handle all the work, being the only assistant!

Fukuda: My poor artwork doesn’t need a bunch of assistants working on it! Stop complaining! I’ve been helping with the tones too.

Yuujiro: Can you finish up while I meet with Fukuda?

Fukuda: You should join this meeting too, Yasuoka!

Assistant: Wha!?

--

Fukuda: I’ll give you a 1000 yen bonus every time you come up with a good idea that I can use! // Don’t you think joining the meeting will be a valuable learning experience?

Assistant: Of course!

Yuujiro: Who’s going to finish the manuscript?

--

Fukuda: All 3 of us can finish it after the meeting!

Yuujiro: I guess if Yasuoka-kun is going to stick around it’s a good idea to have him join the meeting… // Anything goes if it’s to gain popularity…

Assistant: You’ve got it! // Let’s meet so we can discuss how to rank 1st!!

P16

Saiko: Aah!

--

Mom: Moritaka, it’s 7:00.

Saiko: Sorry, I fell asleep…

Mom: That’s what I thought when I saw you weren’t in your room this morning when I checked.

--

Saiko: Oh no!! I haven’t finished inking in or drafting the last 3 pages!! // The assistants are coming at 4:00 today!

--

Saiko: Mom, can you call the school and tell them I’m taking a sick day?

Mom: What are you saying!? Go to school!

Saiko: Please! I’m in trouble! The assistants are coming, but I haven’t finished yet! / I have yet to miss a single day of school this year so please do this! Manga is more important to me right now!

Mom: Just this once…

Saiko: Thank you!!

--

Saiko: How many pages can I finish by 4:00…

P17

Ogawa: Mashiro-san… This is all you have for us?

Saiko: Sorry… I fell asleep…

--

Ogawa: It’s going to be impossible to finish this by 9:00 on Friday…

Saiko: What about Saturday?

--

Ogawa: I’m sorry but I have to be elsewhere on Saturday since I’ve only been coming here Wednesday through Friday since chapter 3. / And I’ve been taking Sundays off…

Saiko: Okay… I can have the deadline extended to Monday and I’ll finish it by myself on Saturday if we don’t finish on Friday.

Takahama: I can help.

Katou: Me too.

--

Katou: Don’t feel bad, Ogawa-san. It’ll be okay as long as you can direct us with what to do…

Takahama: We’ll just get paid an extra day.

We finished up on Saturday and had our meeting then but since we felt bad making Miura-san work on his day off, we decided that we’d finish everything by Friday as we usually did from then on.

P18

May 17th Series Meeting / TRAP chapter 12, early rankings: 8th KIYOSHI chapter 9, early rankings: 9th hideout chapter 4, early rankings: 13th / Everyone was safe.

--

June 2nd The rankings for chapter 14

Miura: We did it! We did it!!

Takagi: Huh?

--

Miura: We ranked 3rd along with CROW!

Takagi & Saiko: WHAAAAAT!?

--

Saiko: We ranked the same as CROW? Eiji… // We’re side by side with Niizuma Eiji…

Takagi: We might get our series to become an anime too if we keep it up, right!?

Miura: You idiot! We’re only on chapter 14. You kids are always getting ahead of yourselves!

--

Saiko: An anime… Oh wow… // Azuki has started her voice acting again… Our dreams… It’s not impossible to make our dreams come true by the time we’re 18…

P19

Fukuda: TRAP and CROW are both 3rd!? / Shit, I can’t even be happy about ranking in 6th!

Assistant: I still think 6th is pretty good!

--

Aoki: I’m glad I listened to you for chapter 6. I can’t believe we suddenly ranked in 8th.

Nakai: Just leave it up to me! Please show me the names before showing them to Aida-san from now on.

Aoki: Okay.

Hiramaru: I’ve slacked off on the name and art so the readers are starting to be disappointed. / My rankings are going down so I should just take some time off…

Yoshida: Ranking 9th means you’re still popular so keep drawing!

Sfx: drawing sounds

--

Yuujiro: I guess you might think this is good news… / CROW and TRAP ranked the same.

Sfx: drawing sounds

Niizuma: The same!?

--

Niizuma: It is good news, but… // I don’t want to lose to Ashirogi-sensei!