Bakuman Complete Box Set – Volumes 1–20

Discover the complete story of two aspiring manga creators with the Bakuman Complete Box Set, bringing together all twenty English-language volumes of the acclaimed manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, the creative team behind Death Note.

Published by VIZ Media under the Shonen Jump imprint, this official box set contains the entire Bakuman manga from Volume 1 through Volume 20, with an official total of 3,864 pages. It also includes the bonus Otter No. 11 mini-comic and a full-colour double-sided poster.

Unlike many action-focused Shonen Jump titles, Bakuman takes readers behind the scenes of the manga industry itself. The series explores drawing, writing, deadlines, editors, reader surveys, competition, anime adaptations and the enormous amount of work required to create a successful weekly manga.

Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi

The story centres on Moritaka Mashiro, a talented young artist who enjoys drawing but initially has little interest in becoming a professional manga creator.

His classmate Akito Takagi discovers his artistic talent and approaches him with a proposal: Takagi will write the stories while Mashiro provides the artwork, and together they will attempt to become professional manga creators.

Mashiro understands how difficult that goal can be. His late uncle worked as a manga artist, so he has already seen some of the pressure and uncertainty involved in the profession.

Nevertheless, a combination of Takagi’s determination and Mashiro’s feelings for aspiring voice actress Miho Azuki pushes him to reconsider.

VIZ describes the series around this central question: what does it really take for two young creators to succeed in the manga-publishing world?

Creating Manga Professionally

A large part of Bakuman is devoted to the process of developing manga.

Mashiro and Takagi have to learn how to create one-shots, develop characters, submit work to editors and eventually compete for serialization.

The series explores many aspects of professional manga production, including:

• story concepts
• character design
• storyboards and names
• manga artwork
• editorial feedback
• reader surveys
• weekly deadlines
• serialization meetings
• cancellations
• rival manga creators
• volume sales
• anime adaptations

Rather than making success appear simple, the manga repeatedly shows the amount of revision, disappointment and hard work involved.

Competition in Weekly Shonen Jump

One of the most interesting aspects of Bakuman is its competitive environment.

Mashiro and Takagi are not the only talented young creators trying to succeed. They encounter other writers and artists with different strengths, working methods and personalities.

A particularly important rival is Eiji Nizuma, an exceptionally talented manga creator whose work regularly performs strongly in Shonen Jump rankings.

The competition between creators pushes Mashiro and Takagi to improve, experiment with different genres and think carefully about what kind of manga they want to create.

At the same time, the rivals are not portrayed simply as enemies. Many become friends, collaborators and sources of inspiration.

Manga Editors and Publishing

Editors play a major role throughout the series.

Bakuman demonstrates how a manga editor can help creators improve their work while also representing the commercial realities of a publishing company.

Characters have to deal with reader rankings, meetings, deadlines and decisions about whether a manga should continue or be cancelled.

For readers who are curious about the Japanese manga industry, these sections provide an entertaining fictionalised look at how weekly manga production can work.

The series should still be understood as fiction rather than a documentary, but Ohba and Obata’s experience within the manga industry gives the subject unusual detail.

Dreams, Work and Relationships

Although manga publishing is the main subject, Bakuman is also about long-term goals.

Mashiro and Takagi begin their journey when they are still students, and the series follows their development over a number of years.

Their professional ambitions affect friendships, relationships, education and their personal lives.

Mashiro’s relationship with Miho is closely tied to their shared dream: he wants to create a successful manga that receives an anime adaptation, while she hopes to become the voice actress for its heroine.

That promise gives Mashiro an additional personal reason to keep pursuing his career.

Complete 20-Volume Story

One major advantage of this product is that it contains the entire series.

Readers do not need to purchase later volumes separately or wait for the story to be completed.

The box contains:

1. Bakuman Vol. 1
2. Bakuman Vol. 2
3. Bakuman Vol. 3
4. Bakuman Vol. 4
5. Bakuman Vol. 5
6. Bakuman Vol. 6
7. Bakuman Vol. 7
8. Bakuman Vol. 8
9. Bakuman Vol. 9
10. Bakuman Vol. 10
11. Bakuman Vol. 11
12. Bakuman Vol. 12
13. Bakuman Vol. 13
14. Bakuman Vol. 14
15. Bakuman Vol. 15
16. Bakuman Vol. 16
17. Bakuman Vol. 17
18. Bakuman Vol. 18
19. Bakuman Vol. 19
20. Bakuman Vol. 20

VIZ identifies Volume 20 as the conclusion of the series, completing Mashiro and Takagi’s long pursuit of their manga dreams.

Premium Extras

This official edition includes two notable collector extras.

Otter No. 11 Mini-Comic

The box includes a bonus Otter No. 11 mini-comic, based on a fictional manga that appears within the world of Bakuman.

Double-Sided Poster

A full-colour, double-sided poster is also included with the original complete box set.

If your stock is pre-owned or has previously been opened, check that both extras are still inside before advertising them as included.

From the Creators of Death Note

Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata are also the creative team behind the internationally successful Death Note manga.

VIZ identifies Ohba as the writer of Death Note and Bakuman, while Obata’s work includes Hikaru no Go, Death Note, Bakuman, All You Need Is Kill and other manga.

Readers who know the pair primarily for the dark supernatural atmosphere of Death Note may find Bakuman surprisingly different. It focuses much more on creativity, professional ambition, friendship and the publishing industry while retaining the pair’s strong storytelling and detailed artwork.

Who May Enjoy This Box Set?

The collection may particularly appeal to readers who enjoy:

• manga about manga
• Shonen Jump titles
• slice-of-life manga
• creative-industry stories
• school and coming-of-age stories
• comedy and drama
• competition and rivalry
• Death Note creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
• complete manga collections
• anime adaptations

It may be especially interesting to aspiring artists, writers or comic creators because so much of the story focuses on developing creative work and dealing with criticism, deadlines and competition.

With the complete twenty-volume story, premium collector items and dedicated presentation box, the Bakuman Complete Box Set is an excellent choice for manga readers who want the entire series in one collection.