Bakuman 1

**THIS WAS TRANSLATED FOR ShinraTensei Scanlation Group PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION! Thanks!! :)

pg 1

Bakuman

pg 5

contents
chapter 1: dreams and reality
chapter 2: stupid and clever
chapter 3: pen and name
chapter 4: parent and child
chapter 5: time and key
chapter 6: start and finish
chapter 7: smile and erythromania

pg 6

chapter 1: dreams and reality

7 years ago
name on door: Mashiro
voice: there there, have another drink, father

Uncle: Taka, I heard you got another award for your art?
Taka: Oh, you're here too, uncle?

Uncle: I have to show my face once in a while, like Bon and New Years, and here ya go...
Taka: Thanks

Uncle: Wow, even the minister of education's name is on this one

pg 7

Uncle: looks like you're going to be an artist or designer in the future

uncle never mentions "manga-ka" (comic artist) as a possibility

pg 8

chapter 1: dreams and reality

pg 9

adults always ask us "what's your career path?" and "what are your dreams for the future?" now that we're in our 9th year of mandatory study // I, Mashiro Moritaka 14 years old, always answer "I don't know" or "I haven't decided"

taking the path to the better high school, college, company is 'normal' // the way to live a normal life

pg 10

I don't want to cause my parents trouble or be called an anti-social seclusionist // that's why I come to school even though I'd prefer to stay home and play games or face the computer monitor

I'll become a salaryman I didn't even strive to become just because I don't want to be called a freeter (job hopper) when I'm older

But I'm already behind in the race to the top in a company by everyone who has good grades now // life out of school is only a continuation of life as it is now

pg 11

the future is boring, and the act of living is such a bother // this is how I view life after living as a good kid for 14 years
teacher: this section will be in tomorrow's exam

pg 12

I recently read a book by some great philosopher or great thinker that said // "The greatest event and the the best thing worth living for in life is love" // that's something a womanizer that's always playing around with girls would say, but for someone like me that can't even speak to the girl I like...

pg 13

love is simply something sorrowful and agonizing // my crush that will never be fulfilled drags my life into the abyss

pg 14

teacher: your grades from your first semester of senior year is going to affect your entry-exam so I advise that you all do your best on tomorrow's exam

classmate: I can't believe we're seniors already // I don't want to think about entry-exams // ahh I want to play games

pg 15

friend: Suzuki, Saiko- (nickname for Moritaka, the kanji can be read "saiko-"), do you guys wanna go see a movie since we have a half-day today?
suzuki: Nice! that erotic one?

mashiro: we got a half-day so that we can study, so I'm going to study. see ya
friend: saiko-, so boring
suzuki: I...think I'll study too

mashiro: I'm home
mom: welcome home Moritaka, is instant ramen okay for lunch?
mashiro: yeah, bring it to my room

pg 16

*sigh*

tomorrow is Japanese and math... // huh?

I forgot my math notebook at school / I can study without it but / I don't want it to be left there until tomorrow morning

pg 17

what a drag...

teacher: what's wrong Mashiro?
mashiro: sorry, I forgot my notebook

mashiro: !

pg 18

Takagi Akito

What are you doing? Don't you have to go home and study to maintain your status as our grade's top student?
I guess he's taking it easy since he's naturally smart, but I wonder what he's doing here alone

! My notebook!

pg 19

crap he now knows I like Azuki

takagi: don't look so serious // it's not like a deathnote

mashiro: why do you have my notebook?

takagi: because I sit all the way in the back

m: ?

t: I know what you draw in this notebook during class hoping no one notices // I also knew you forgot it

pg 20

t: so, sorry, but I looked at it after everyone left and I knew you'd definitely come back to get it

t: so I waited for you

m: waited? what's he scheming

t: it's pretty impressive // Azuki Miho, she's quiet so she doesn't stick out but she's the cutest in the school

m: Takagi like Azuki too...

pg 21

t: I think Azuki likes you too
m: !

m: no...no way! // we've never even had a conversation and how would you know anyway?

t: I told you // because I sit all the way in the back

m: what, you're saying you can comprehend everything about this class by overseeing us from the back?
t: yup, pretty much

m: ......

pg 22

t: but if you don't feel that she likes you, then my prediction about Azuki liking you might just be a hunch
m: damn...you gave me false hopes just now / shit

t: don't worry, here's your notebook back // I won't tell anyone your secret

m: well, thanks

t: BUT

t: there's one trade-off
m: I knew it

m: what?
give up on Azuki? I don' t even have the guts to tell her how I feel anyway

pg 23

t: team up with me and become a manga-ka with me

t: I've always loved manga and it's always been a dream of mine to become a manga-ka // I've thought about it and I need your drawings, I need you

m: the smartest kid in our grade like manga? his dream? what's he thinking?

pg 24

t: having been born a boy, I want to be big, I want to be rich / my looks and singing ability aren't at a high enough level to become a celebrity and I'm not particularly good at any sports // but I have literary talent and you have artistic talent // Japanese manga is a honorary part of culture! I'm going to make a name for myself and leave my name in history with a manga!

m: you, a talented writer that's received many awards for your essays, writes the story and I draw the pictures... // interesting...

t: right?

m: but I pass

t: "but I pass" huh? you must love manga too
m: yeah, to read

pg 25

m: there's no way we can become a manga-ka, those who can are truly talented people who were born with it, and it's only a select few // the rest are just gambling

t: gambling?

m: a manga-ka is someone who can make a living forever just by drawing manga // even if they get picked up by a weekly magazine, there's a survey every week for readers to rank the manga and if you're unpopular, you're gone after the 10th week

t: ? why is he so knowledgeable?

m: it's just a gamble unless we either hit the jackpot on the first try or we get to the top by trying numerous times to become a successful manga-ka / even he author of "deathnote" that you mentioned earlier wrote somewhere that if he doesn't find work soon he'll starve and die
t: wow, that's shocking. but the series is pretty short

pg 26

m: only 0.1%, no that's 1 in 1000 people, so 0.001%, 1 in 100,000 people can become successful manga-ka's out of everyone that strives to be one // if we team up, it's 0.0005% since our earnings will be split in two

t: you've been verbose about this all of a sudden, and where are you pulling these stats from? // did someone tell you this?

m: I guess I can tell him, he's probably not a gossip

m: my uncle was a manga-ka...no a gambler
yes, he "was"

pg 27

t: liar
m: it's true

t: WHO?
m: here it comes
you wouldn't know if I told you, "kawaguchi taro" an old...

t: WHAAAAT!! I USED TO WATCH THE "Super hero legend" ANIME WHEN I WAS A KID // I BOUGHT THE COMICS WHEN I WAS IN 6th GRADE AT A USED BOOK STORE, I LOVE THAT MANGA!

m: wow he knows such an old manga? I always thought he's more than just a kid that studied a lot

pg 28

t: it's decided!
m: huh? what is?

t: you've got manga-ka in your blood and you're knowledgeable about manga. plus you can always ask your uncle about stuff // it's perfect!

m: you say it's in my blood, but he's my uncle - my dad's brother // plus, my uncle is already...
t: no there has to be genetics involved

t: !

t: actually, Kawaguchi Taro drew poorly, but you're good so maybe there's nothing to do with genetics // a manga with those drawing skills is inded a gamble...
m: ....

pg 29

I don't think I should mention anything more about my uncle to him

m; anyway, I don't want to do it so if that's the trade-off I don't need my notebook either / see ya thief
t: WAIT!

t: don't you think about using your artistic talent in the future?
m: not at all

t: that's such a waste! you still have 7 years if you go to high school and college, it's worth giving it a shot // sure it is a gamble but you can't win the lottery unless you buy it / same thing, you can't win if you don't draw. is the probability higher or lower than winning 300,000,000?

m: the probability of success is higher than winning the lottery...uncle used to say something similar

pg 30

t: come on, let's try it

m: you know writing manga is different from writing a book report
t: of course
t: I cater those essays towards what I know the judges want to read // so I just have to cater what I write to publishers and readers

m: why don't you go after the Naoki award?

t: well, manga brings more profits these days and I like manga more than novels // I can feel the dream
m: brings more profits, huh...dream...it is alas a gamble

pg 31

m: then you should do the art yourself too, or you can enter your stories and have someone else do it / there are plenty of people that draw better than me
t: what? are you aiming to get a steady job like a civil service employee?

m: no, I haven't even thought about the future...I thought someone who's smart like you would aim for a job like that
t: then why are you so resistant?

m: ...because...

m: I don't know when asked like that...but I think it's just bothersome...
t: .....

m: ok, I'm leaving to study, thanks for the notebook

pg 32

t: YOU..YOU'RE GOING TO BECOME A BORING OLD SALARYMAN!! // THAT'S ALL YOU'LL GET OUT OF LIFE

m: you're the unique 14 year old that already has a dream and is striving to achieve it // I'm the normal one

t: IT'S BETTER TO KNOW EARLIER // LIFE PASSES BY EVERYONE WHO CAN'T MAKE DECISIONS

pg 33

t: THINK ABOUT IT, ARE YOU OKAY WITH HOW THINGS ARE? WE COULD DO IT, YOU AND ME!
m: so persistent

m: fine, I'll go home and think about it
t: eh? really?

m: yeah, but my answer is probably no
t: fine! just think about it really hard, and if it's still a "no" I'll give it up

pg 34

I've lost my will to study...

A manga-ka...

Manga-ka

pg 35

I wanted to become a manga-ka when I was in elementary school // my uncle was my hero and I spent all my time at his studio

m: why did you become a manga-ka uncle?
uncle: it's still a gamble

m: oh? why this gamble?

uncle: I wanted to be popular with the girls

pg 36

m: girls like manga-ka?
uncle: I dunno, but if I get famous and become rich, then I figured girls would like me

uncle: don't tell anyone I said that
m: that smile is scary...

uncle: there was a girl I liked in junior high
m: yeah?

uncle: I had barely spoken to her by the time we graduated
m: what a short story

uncle: but I got a letter from her on graduation day
m: a love letter! go uncle!

pg 37

uncle: nope, it just said something like "good luck to us both"
m: oh

uncle: and I wrote back "good luck to us"

uncle: we weren't even going to the same high school, so we just exchanged these letters saying "how are you? good luck to us" without even really seeing each other
m: hmm that's kind of nice?

uncle: yeah, I bet I was the only one who beat around the bush as much as I did // but after that we graduated high school an she started working at an elite company and I was going to a low rank college

pg 38

uncle: by that time I started to think I wanted to marry her, so I started to panic that continuing this path I'd be a nobody at a tiny company. I wanted to do something that would make her accept me // since I had no money, I thought I'd try to be a writer or manga-ka since all you need is a pen and paper

m: wow so you wanted to marry her even though all you two did was write letters?
uncle: yeah, we'd never written things like "I love you" but I had liked her all through junior high - she was so pretty and nice / I thought I had a chance with her since she gave me a letter

m: ...well, I suppose so

pg 39

uncle: I finally got picked up by a magazine to serialize my manga when I was in my last year of college so I gathered the courage to tell her how I felt and called her
m: OH! and?

uncle: it was a mistake to ask her for her latest news
m: ?

uncle: she had been promoted to the CEO's secretary and I thought she's amazing! // but meanwhile, as someone walking a career tightrope, I compared myself to her and found such a wide gap that I couldn't tell her my feelings for her

m: but you had told her by the time your manga "super hero legend" became an anime right?
uncle: I was 30 by then and she was already married

m: oh no...

pg 40

uncle: I lost the gamble of love
m: you lost, huh...

uncle: but I was able to work hard because of her and I'm still not giving up on manga because I'm hoping she's looking out for me somewhere // she wouldn't learn about my hardwork if I was just a salaryman, right?
m: hmm

uncle told me the story so happily // I understood how he felt even as a fourth grader

pg 41

but 2 years after we had this conversation... // when I was in 6th grade, my uncle died

my parent told me it was from overwork, but I think it was suicide. that way it's more like him, someone who always said life is a gamble that you either win or lose

None of his work after the anime sold at all and he wrote 2 more in 7 years but they didn't work out. I also found out after his death that he had a lot of loans out // the second I learned of uncle's death was when the path of a manga-ka had disappeared from my brain

mom: Moritaka
m: hm? what?

pg 42

mom: you make me make you ramen but you come home so late...

mom: what are you doing!? you have an exam tomorrow! // you won't even get into Minami High this way!

what the hell // why can't everyone leave me alone about my future

pg 43

team up with me and become a manga-ka
you won't even get into Minami High this way!

Shit, I'm going to end up as a nobody in a small company
YOU'RE GOING TO BECOME A BORING OLD SALARYMAN!!

SHIT!!

pg 44

*phone vibrates*
I don't know this number

t: hey, it's me, Takagi
m: Takagi, how did you get my number?

t: Suzuki told me
m: that's against the rules
t: anyway

t: I'm going to Azuki's house now to confess to her so come with me
m: HUH!?

pg 45

he knows I like her too, what's he thinking?
m: wha...what you can't confess your love to her by yourself you wimp...

t: no, it's just meaningless without you there so come quick

m: I don't get it
t: I won't screw you over, I like your drawings and I like you
m: you okay? you're confessing love to the wrong person
t: huh? oh yeah...no really...

t: I found out something crazy about Azuki so we have to tell her!!
m: ?

m: so why do I still have to come with you to tell her...
t: just come! I'll be at Lawson on Nishi-chou, alright?

pg 46

what's he getting so excited about, what did he find out about Azuki

t: I was waiting for you Saiko-!

m: it's not Saiko-, it's MORITAKA
t: so what, everyone calls you that
m: yeah but I don't want you to...

t: ok, come on! she's right there
m: wh...why do I have to go too

t: what a nice house, very fitting for our madonna
m: indeed...

pg 47

t: he...here goes

m: have you ever pressed the buzzer at a girl's house?

t: have you? then you do it
m: nope, and don't wanna, it's your confession

t: then don't be snarky, here goes

m: wow he really pressed it!
I wanna go home!
t: don't leave me here, you!

pg 48

Azuki's mom: yes
m: uh no, her mom!

t: Uh, I'm Takagi a classmate of Miho-san and I have a question for her about tomorrow's exam... a question...
m: why's he stuttering
A's mom: Takagi-kun?

A's mom: the Takagi-kun that studies a lot?
m: wow, her parents know that much about him, he must be welcome in this family...?

A's mom: just a second
t: uh, yes
m: is she suspicious?

Azuki: yes
m: whoa it's Azuki's voice!

pg 49

t: can you come outside? I have something important to talk about

A: something important from Takagi-kun? I don't want to go...

A: Give me a second
m: ohhh boy Azuki's coming out! I wonder what she's wearing

m: hey you should have mentioned I'm here too!
t: oh

t: oh yeah! but I was in a state of panic so...sorry
m: well I guess you're panicking since you're about to confess your love to her

pg 50

A: Mashiro-kun...
m: Azuki...she looks so cute...

m: uh no...our eyes locked...and I started at her for a few seconds....I hope...I'm not red

pg 51

a: oh no...I hope I'm not red
t: just as I thought

t: Azuki-san
a: yes

t: I came to confess that I'm going to become a manga-ka
m: !?

m: what!? why is he saying such a stupid thing to her...wait, confess...this?

pg 52

t: I heard from your friend Miyoshi-san // you're aiming to become a voice actor, right?

m: what!? a voice actor!?

a: yes
m: she admits it!

m: wha...wha what? there's no way she can become a voice actor // she looks so quiet but she's dreaming about such insane things!?

pg 53

t: I hear you've been bringing your recorded tapes to production companies
m: what are you serious? she's been doing something that embarrassing when she's been looking so innocent this whole time? there...there's no way she can become one. we need to all calm down and think about this realistically

t: and you've been praised by the producers that you've got potential right?
m: eh? potential? really? Azuki as a voice actor? if she can be one, I'd cheer her on

wait

but if she does succeed she'll be famous and there will be a gap between her and normal old me..
uncle: I compared myself to her and found such a wide gap that I couldn't tell her my feelings for her

pg 54

t: and Mashiro has something to add
m: eh?

m: me? what am I supposed to say? what, that I like you or something?

m: I'm

m: going to draw and he's going to write

pg 55

a: I knew it! great! you guys can do it!

m: wow her eye's are sparkling, Azuki's eyes are sparking // beautiful

m: so...so if our manga becomes an anime we want you to do the voice of the heroine...

a: really? I'm so happy! // I'll work hard!!

pg 56

a: I'll definitely become a voice actor and be in your anime, great!

m: then when that dream comes true..

pg 57

wowwww she's so excited, she said "great!" with such a smile and she came so close to me and she's so cute so cute...Azuki...

everything is moving so fast I don't know what's going on but Azuki's dream and my feelings...

"there was a girl I liked in junior high school"
"I wanted to marry her"
"marry her"
"marry"

m: will you please marry me?

pg 58

a: eh?
t: eh?
m: eh?

t: what are you saying?!
m: yeah what am I saying...I'm still 14...

oh, I remembered uncle's story and....shit I'm so embarrassed / she thinks I'm stupid! / I have to correct myself

pg 59

a: Mashiro-kun

m: ye yes! // I'm sorry, just now, that was...

a: ok, I promise...

m: what? promise what?
a: ....
m: you don't mean about the marriage?

a: yes...
t: WOOOOOAAH!!
m: WOAAAH!?

pg 60

what the hell is going on!? wait, no this is great / I can marry azuki!

a: but I won't see you until the dream comes true
m: huh?

m: what? she won't see me anymore?

m: Uh um...you're not going to see me until our manga becomes and anime and you become a voice actor and then we'll suddenly marry?
a: yes, so that we don't get distracted from making our dreams come true

m: what? is this some romanticized path? isn't that difficult...

pg 61

a: until then, we'll send each other mail to comfort one another

m: comfort each other, that's nice but why mail and not the phone? no but we can talk about things through mail that's too embarrassing on a phone. Plus we've never even spoken to being able to mail each other is...

ah! this is kind of like... / the same scenario my uncle was in...

m: so this is what it was about
t: ?

I get it uncle I get it / you guys also had this innocent relationship too

but I made a promise to marry if our dreams come true, so my situation is better than yours was

pg 62

a: you don't want to?
m: NO I DO! I'll gamble! I mean, let's do it!

a: oh, my mother's here. bye

m: I will become a manga-ka

t: wow // everything worked out as planned, well beyond what I planned Saiko-

t: let's become Japan's top manga-ka
m: Japan's top is impossible considering the low birth rate in these recent years, and we can't surpass "Dragonball" or "One Piece" at this point
t: you make those analyses so realistically

m: plus, my becoming a manga-ka doesn't necessarily mean I'll team up with you
t: WHAAAAAAT
m: I'm going to the bookstore
t: hey Saiko-!

pg 63

m: I realized I don't even have Azuki's number or mail address // plus, I'd see her at school... / did she mean see me just the two of us? // whatever, that's stuff to think about later

I will become a manga-ka! and I will marry Azuki!