Bakuman Season 3 - Episode 1

Bakuman is, err, back, for its third and what should be its final series.  There are certainly no prisoners taken amongst those of us who couldn't entirely remember what happened at the end of season two, with this new series jumping straight into the thick of some romantic drama.

With season two closing out with the news that Ashirogi Muto's latest outing, PCP, nabbing the number one spot in the rankings with its first chapter, it seems as if all is well for Mashiro and Takagi.  Meanwhile however, preparations are well and truly underway for the anime adaptation of Iwase and Eiji's +NATURAL - and guess whose the favourite to nab the role as the show's main heroine?

Thanks to Miura's big mouth, news that Azuki is in the running for the female lead role soon reaches Mashiro, leaving him torn - he doesn't want her to take the role and thus almost certainly lose out on the lead role of any potential PCP anime adaptation, but who is he to interfere in her career?  While Mashiro refuses to intervene, Takagi and Miyoshi are less inclined to leave it up to Miho, imploring her to drop the role.  While PCP's artwork is suffering thanks to a preoccupied Moritaka, crunch time fast approaches, and with Iwase determined to take Azuki on board simply to scupper Ashirogi Muto's plans, somebody is going to have do something drastic, and fast.

So begins another series of Bakuman, which I have to admit I have missed somewhat during its break between seasons.  Although I'm hardly thrilled to see us leaping straight into the thick of Azuki and Mashiro's relationship and the insane premise upon which it stands, this was still a relatively fun reintroduction to the show and its main characters, and even these romance elements felt a little less clunky than they have at other times during previous series, for which I can only be thankful.  With some very manga-centric goals set up as the centrepiece of things moving forward at the end of the episode, I'm certainly looking forward to delving into the manga industry and its friendly (and not-so friendly) rivalries once again over the next six months.