Tuesday 2 April 2013

Bakuman Season 3 - Episode 25 (Completed)

After three series and seventy-five episodes, we come to the end of Bakuman.  Tissues at the ready...

With all of its major elements effectively put to bed before we even reached this finale, this last episode is really something of a love letter to the series and its characters, giving us one last look at what they're up to while reminding us that the rivalry between Nizuma and Ashirogi Muto still burns strong.


The real focus of the episode however is, of course, Mashiro and Miho's relationship, as it finally comes to fruition - unfortunately, this also means a reminder of just how stupid pretty much all of the romantic relationships in this series have been in terms of being both unbelievable and downright silly.  Still, it's hard not to enjoy the happy ending somewhat having enjoyed all of the trials and tribulations of the main cast up to this point.

Putting the daft romance concepts aside, this third season of Bakuman as a whole has been by far the most satisfying, not just because it largely ignored its romantic elements but also because it somehow managed to draw all of the best elements out of what has made the wider series so enjoyable - the drama, the tension, the strong relationships between characters.  This adaptation hasn't always been a triumph, but this final series hit the target far more often than it missed the mark, and as a result it's given us a fitting end to a show that has been both enjoyable and, in its own way, informative.  I would say "if only there were more series like this", but I'm not sure that Bakuman's particular slant on the world is something that could be readily repeated.

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