Hey there babe-raham lincoln, and welcome to my read-through of Bakuman Chapter 117: Fan Letter and Blog in which I yap a little too much about what makes a narcissist and I’m weary of our new character.

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A brief note on release schedule for the future: while I have enjoyed posting whenever the fuck for this blog, it is now possible for me to, at least for now, resume my Friday posting from several years ago. Starting with Chapter 118, all future posts will be released on Friday. Cheers.

Fan Letter and Blog Summary

A New Rival?

The boys review the letter they received from Nanamine, which is a sweet congratulations on getting serialized. He hopes to turn his own manga hobby into his job at some point. He admires their work on their dark one-shots and how different they are from regular Jump stories, especially Money and Intelligence.

I’m feeling nostalgic.

Saiko is surprised that he noticed the difference in their work at such a young age. Shujin is pleased to hear that he’s following his dreams of being a mangaka.

Saiko finds letters Nanamine sent during Tanto’s run in which he’s far less kind. Nanamine is disappointed that they pursued comedy, and Shujin remembers the letter for mentioning that he’d lost a future rival.

The two recognize that he’s similar to them in many ways, starting at the same age and getting serious in 8th grade, but they’re both shocked by just how good he’s gotten at such a young age.

Shujin’s pleased that Ashirogi inspired him to go this far. Saiko wonders if Nanamine made a story like this specifically to catch the boy’s attention.

Saiko admits that he’s rooting for him now, with that knowledge in the back of his mind.

Shujin is inspired to work even harder himself. As far as non-mainstream manga goes, this is even better than PCP and Trap.

Damn, son.

Saiko counters; it’s probably too much of a cult series. Shujin’s still impressed that Nanamine did this all by himself, while they’re a team.

The two discuss whether there’s a theme running underneath it all. Shujin thinks it might be about how man must work together to survive in a perverse way. Saiko didn’t think that far ahead, but he definitely sees his point.

Shujin desperately wants to compete with a new rival who can extend the length of Bakuman challenge them in the magazine. Saiko agrees.

The two send out their scores.

Kosugi and the Editors Meeting

The Treasure meeting takes place on June 22. A new editor, Kosugi, thinks Classroom of Truth is undoubtedly a masterpiece and that its controversial elements could attract readers’ attention.

Miura – of all fucking people – is a little more circumspect: Since Ashirogi gave a glowing review, he’s hoping to give it the final or semi-final to gear it up for serialization.

Aida kills that in the cradle: it’s simply unsuitable for Jump. Miura thinks it stands out, though. Especially now that battle manga is so done. Kosugi agrees.

Game recognizes game and Sasaki agrees that Nanamine is very talented. He asks who the editor will be for this artist. Aida mentions that all the finalists are in his group, so Kosugi gets dibs.

Miura needles Kosugi about getting lucky bagging such a talented rookie like this.

Sasaki thinks that Nanamine has the right stuff to begin drawing storyboards for a series. However, if they do that, it has to be Jump material with the right content and for the proper demographic.

Heishi agrees but also points out that despite being excellent, many of the work’s elements are not suitable for younger boys.

Miura plays devil’s advocate: the average reader is over 18 now. Heishi doesn’t see that as a reason to target their material upward. If anything, they should aim lower in their demographic.

Kosugi sees the challenge of making Classroom of Truth Jump Appropriate, and Miura gets on my nerves a bit by telling him that it’s the editor’s job to do that. Sasaki orders Kosugi to have him revise Truth for Jump or propose Young Jump as an alternative.

Kosugi isn’t overly concerned; since they own the rights, they won’t have to worry about the series popping up anywhere else, but it might be best to make it a runner-up so it can be printed.

Sasaki affirms what Heishi already said: it goes against everything Jump stands for and, therefore, cannot be published in Jump. Miura – dear god, shut up, man – continues needling his kohai: don’t let the goose that laid the golden egg getaway!

Jesus, Miura.

Yamahisa and Yoshida notice the editors leaving the meeting, and Yamahisa runs to ask them about Classroom of Truth. According to Aida, it hit the final round but won’t progress further. Yamahisa breathes a sigh of relief on behalf of Shizuka, who would be ruined if that series competed with True Human.

Miura, in fine form this chapter, needles Yamahisa with the plaudits Nanamine got for his one-shot and the comparisons to Ashirogi and Shizuka. Sasaki wants him to write for the magazine. Neener neener.

Yamahisa asks who the new editor will be: Kosugi, the new guy.

Enter Tohru Nanamine

Kosugi overhears the convo and muses about his luck at being given a super-talented rookie, but he wonders what kind of kid would come up with something like this.

He calls Nanamine and introduces himself as an editor for Jump.

Kosugi is shocked by the…uhm, enthusiasm with which Nanamine receives the phone call. Nanamine believes he’s won the Treasure Rookie Award and somehow congratulates himself in all caps, even though all manga is in all caps.

Kosugi informs him he did NOT win, which elicits another extreme response from Tohru. Kosugi explains the content was just a bit too mature for Jump.

Nanamine histrionically beats himself up for not going far enough with his self-censorship. He was sure he’d win.

Kosugi’s relieved to find the author of such a dark manga so…cheeery. Maybe things will be okay?

I do not like that narrative poetry turn.

Nanamine barrels through and shouts and asks whether they noticed his talent. Kosugi doesn’t know how to answer and explains that yes, that is the case, and Kosugi will be his editor. Nanamine is thrilled by that. Because, of course, he is.

Nanamine shouts his enthusiasm and says he expected this much – uhm? OK? – and when Kosugi tries to be accommodating, Nanamine explains that this was a worst-case scenario.

Something’s up.

Kosugi invites Nanamine to Shueisha’s office so they can meet. Nanamine can come right this minute. He changes his mind at the last second because of his work schedule as a pizza delivery boy. He’s willing to call in sick to come meet, however. Kosugi explains that there is no need to do that. He can just come in on Friday at 3 p.m. – Nanamine’s free day. Nanamine will look up the address for Jump on his own.

Kosugi – and I – are exhausted by the entire exchange.

Great Ideas

On Thursday, June 25th, Hattori commends the boys on another good chapter. The boys are curious about the Treasure Rookie results. Hattori remembers to tell them the results: one honorable mention. The boys are surprised, and figure Classroom of Truth would end up higher. Hattori corrects them: Bloody Table Tennis made the cut.

The boys are shocked and ask why. Hattori explains it’s the same reason that Shizuka got the Eiji Nizuma Award. It’s not suitable for Jump. Sometimes, an artist will send work that’s too mature to show off their skills. The only thing they have in common is their desire to write for Jump. Hattori thinks Classroom of Truth is better than Shizuka’s work and one of the best submissions they received. Shujin gloats about how he knew the work was special and how Nanamine’s beating them at their own game.

Hattori thinks he’s got a skilled hand that feels veteran and a powerful imagination. The most amazing thing of all is that he is only 18.

Shujin points out the various games in the story, some of which we didn’t see: tell a lie or die, form pairs and decide which of the pairs will die, and hide and seek with yourself. Saiko thinks he did a great job with all of them. Shujin agrees and reiterates an important lesson: Manga is all about great ideas.

Shujin thinks that he nailed great ideas with Detective Trap and PCP, but Classroom of Truth somehow surpassed him for novelty and thoughtfulness. Saiko tries to keep Shujin from slandering their own work. Hattori gets the point, though. For plot-driven writers, interesting premises and ideas are king. Especially for non-conventional stories.

Shujin asks a question that I’m sure won’t be relevant to the next arc: Are great ideas born spontaneously or only after careful thought?

I have thoughts.

Hattori thinks that’s a good topic to chew on as he leaves. Saiko wonders about all of these topics

Enter Tohru Nanamine Pt. II

On Friday, the next day, Nanamine is as loud and boisterous on the phone as he is when he introduces himself. He introduces himself casually to his editor and expresses his excitement at everything happening.

Kosugi introduces himself and provides his business card, as one would expect in Japan. Nanamine is thrilled to see Kosugi’s email address and phone number on the card, which surprises him as he hadn’t heard about that.

Hmm.

When asked what he means, he explains that he read online that editors don’t give their number or email to just anyone, so they’re not on the cards. Kosugi confirms that most editors only put their work numbers on the cards. The idea amuses Nanamine and sees story potential in it.

They go to an editorial room, and Kosugi lays out two potential options: redo Classroom of Truth for a younger audience or draw something entirely different.

Nanamine interrupts to express his admiration for Ashirogi sensei. He then explains he figured out that Takaaki Akido from Loveta & Peace is also one of the members of the Ashirogi team. He used that as inspiration for the idea of facades versus true intentions and ripped off the setting from Enigma.

He catches himself: Rip-off is a bad word for it. He thinks that’s what manga is all about in the end.

Uhm…yikes.

You read and digest the material and fuse it into something new that reflects your personal style.

Oh…uhm. yikes. I don’t like this guy.

Nanamine…continues with his monologue by way of dialogue: even though Classroom of Truth is his very first submission it’s really just all the things he likes thrown together. This is his first time actually finishing something, though. He just throws in the towel halfway. He also admits that, even though he shouldn’t have, he started promoting his work left and right because he was so confident in the work.

He thought the Jump folk would have the “Guts” to run it, but he was wrong.

Hoo boy. I really don’t like this guy.

Nanamine’s voice carries over to Yujiro’s own editorial meeting. He both assures Kosugi that Jump needs that mindset, but they’re also very conservative compared to other magazines. Yujiro privately wishes he’d shut up.

Big same.

Kosugi asks if Nanamine has actually sent his story to other companies. Nanamine confirms he has not. Kosugi asks politely for him to bring all future work to–

Nanamine cuts him off. Holy shit. I’m going to bust a vessel. He assures Kosugi his dream is to work in Jump and Jump only. He want to meet Ashirogi in person and talk to them face to face. .

Yujiro walks in and asks about Nanamine. When asked how he knows his name, Yujiro explains that Nanamine is being too loud and he needs to tone it the fuck down. Nanamine apologizes in his backhanded way by explaining he thought he should be loud and clear….literally.

Hmm.

After their meetings, Yujiro asks about how it went for Kosugi. Kosugi apologizes for the noise, but Yujiro expresses admiration for the new mangaka. He’s friendly, easy to talk to, and social. Kosugi’s glad that Nanamine is evidently easy to work with and has no trouble speaking his mind. He has a bright future.

Aida’s surprised to hear that, given how dark his work is. Kosugi explains he’s really cheery in person, so his writing was a conscious decision. The ideal author for Kosugi. Yujiro thinks he’s a calculating type, like Ashirogi.

Both Yamahisa and Hattori express mild, private alarm at the news that he’s a calculating type. But Aida is excited to hear that Nanamine will make a kids’ version of the classroom. He can’t wait to see it.

Abrupt Chaos

The following Monday, Kosugi comes into the Office to get an earful from Miura about some awful news: Nanamine uploaded the entirety of Classroom of Truth to his personal blog.

What….the fuck.

Kosugi is shocked to see it scanned onto his blog. Hattori points out he also posted comments on his disappointment that it wasn’t selected. He also enabled comments; thousands are commenting that Jump is a fool for not running a manga like this. Miura doesn’t get the politics and is just excited everyone liked it.

The office is bombarded with calls. Kosugi plans to call him immediately. Yoshida tells him it’s too little, too late, and assumes that Nanamine simply didn’t know better about what should and should not be confidential. Kosugi can’t get Nanamine on the line. Kosugi looks at the original copies of Classroom and sees that Nanamine didn’t put his address on the materials he sent, only his name and city.

Kosugi starts to question whether he got lucky at all.

The next day things get worse: the uproar from nanamine’s stunt has gotten the attention of mainstream media. Jump is slammed with phone calls explaining why they didn’t choose to publish. They’re making gaffes. It’s chaos. Everyone is yelling.

Kosugi finally gets in touch with Nanamine. Nanamine misplaced his phone and sees all the missed calls. Nanamine is “surprised” to learn he can’t put stuff like this on his blog. He was sure it would be good publicity. He also mentioned that the new version will be for a younger audience.

Kosugi yells at him to take the blog down.

Nanamine’s bummed but will do so. Yoshida confirms to himself that he was being a dingbat.

Shujin observes the chaos and how much people love the series online. Kaya asks whether he can even do that. No. Copyright. He can’t. Shujin’s not so sure, though, since he didn’t get an award for it, and it won’t be printed anyway. Saiko reminds them all that he’s still getting prize money as a finalist; not to mention telling the world what the results of the contest are before they come out.

Shujin points out however that this was all calculated from the start. When asked what Shujin means, he explains that the blog specifies he knew his work was good and wanted to ensure exposure to a wide audience. because fo this stunt, Clasroom of Truth is famous, and Nanamine’s the talk of the town.

Nanamine writes that his editor got mad at him so he’s shutting down the blog, and promptly deletes it, as the chapter concludes.

Fan Letter and Blog Reaction

Nanamine is Befuddling

First, now that we’re in a new rival arc and the “non-traditional” traditional battle shonen portion of the manga, I am riding high at the well-executed, though admittedly abrupt, tonal shift from the previous few chapters.

This is one of the few chapters in the series where we’re seeing some legit psychological warfare being implemented in a manga context. It is, in many ways, an opening salvo.

And I am fully behind that for a lot of reasons.

But I can’t pin down Nanamine yet.

My first instinct on meeting him is Holy shit, he is the most annoying character to date, and I hope this isn’t his actual personality because dealing with him is going to be an unholy headache.

But now that I’ve recapped the chapter – where I have to re-read it – it’s much more apparent to me that, on some level, this is an act. Nanamine is hamming it up for his audience – the editors at Jump – so that he can worm his way into their good graces.

There are subtle clues throughout the chapter that give him away: the, admittedly, cute fan letter to Ashirogi praising their dark writing, his backhanded compliments to Kosugi, and his seemingly intimate knowledge of Jump publishing practices. And then there was the end of the chapter—that final smile.

But there are also the more obvious—yet subtle—reaction panels from various people that clue us in that something isn’t right. More on that in a bit.

I can’t confirm it, but I’m pretty sure the dude is entirely full of shit somehow. But I don’t know his play yet.

Until we get a real reveal, though, I can’t say for sure who he is. It’s hard actually to get a read on him.

And that’s…frustrating.

Now, if him being the absolute worst, pretend enthusiastic guy is his whole schtick, that will be ungodly annoying. But…

I don’t know. I don’t think that’s the case. On a gut level, I get the sense that this is a bit of a put-on to lull me into a false sense of security.

And while this intuition is probably the actual truth: the dude is full of shit and just goofing it up, I have been wrong in the past. Although I don’t remember if I outright said it, I didn’t think Hiramaru would be…well, who he is. And that has bitten me. It’s the same with Fukuda.

So I’ll reserve final judgment until we get to the next few chapters. I will say, though…

Miura was Trash This Chapter

Holy shit, Miura got on my last nerve the entire chapter. How we treat those who are below us is often a sign of character, and…Miura is a dickbag to Kosugi.

Now it remains to be seen how long Kosugi will be here, although given that Nanamine – regardless of his character traits – will be a new rival for the boys, he’s probably got a lot more screentime ahead of him.

But Miura was firing on all cylinders in terms of being a total piece of shit. Miura just thinks he’s teasing his Kohai a bit, and it’s all in good fun. But the total obliviousness to Kosugi’s read-on things and loudly saying a bunch of obnoxious shit really grated my last nerve with a character who I’ve had such a tempestuous relationship with the whole time.

Okay, back to Nanamine for a bit.

Nanamine is *probably* a scumbag

So I’m going to review the footage one more time *re-reads chapter*.

Yeah. Nanamine is also going to be a piece of shit, and this chapter is already showing it.

So I have a lot of experience with Narcissists – one might be even hate-reading this blog right now! and if so, hey, bud, you’re still trash – and one of the things that Nanamine is exhibiting is a classic narcissistic trait: charm.

Excuse me, not genuine charm, that’s the important distinction—shallow charm.

He’s fooling everyone in the cast with this false charm. But not entirely. And in that sense, this chapter is incredible. Because it’s pulling off a complicated narrative trick of alerting us that Nanamine is a bad character, but showing us, for the time being that he’s playing a nice, happy-go-lucky, wannabe mangaka who is also a ridiculous prodigy for manga.

I wonder if the prodigy thing is a play, too.

In any event, I think I’m more comfortable with the depiction of Nanamine in this chapter in the context of barely veiled narcissistic personality disorder.

And although psycho-analyzing characters is not a good thing for me, who is not a clinician to do, my experience with narcissists plural allows me to re-experience the instinctual disgust that comes with seeing this, admittedly very easy to fall into charm.

But let’s dissect how Ohba is making it clear it’s a mask

The Overly Cheery Demeanor With Barely Concealed Contempt

So this is a team effort, but Nanamine’s dialogue boxes, filled with boldface and multiple exclamation points, are a great way to sell the uncanny valley of his dissembling. If you’re not paying attention closely, he just seems like a happy-go-lucky mangaka wannabe who is very enthusiastic.

But that opening letter indicates he’s got a bit of a mean-streak. And in the chapter, he’s got more than a bit of a mean-streak. He reveals consistnetly that he’s been doing a lot of research online about Jump. He also lets slip his point of ivew that he “ripped off” Enigma for Classroom of Truth.

I know I should just use the final part of the chapter to indicate that he’s up to no good. But I want to dissect this because when I first read this chapter, I actually fell for the act, to a degree, but I was immediately turned off by it.

And now that I’m reviewing, it’s clear that the dude’s opinion of himself is…grandiose, to say the least. The fact that he was telling everyone about his work before it got published is a rookie mistake, but I’m pretty sure he did that because he knows how to manipulate people.

Despite Yujiro getting genuinely frustrated with his tone of voice during the meeting, he still likes the kid. That likeability and shallowness is also the peak behavior of a narcissist.

But there’s also the way in which he portrays himself as enthusiastic. It’s cutting. All his assumptions serve his self-opinion while also simultaneously cutting the person in front of him. The little comments about Jump being his favorite magazine while simultaneously being too conservative and lacking “Guts.” The way he’s willing to alter his schedule at the drop of a dime to get what he wants. Losing interest in Ashirogi because of Tanto.

Even his self-effacement when it comes to Classroom of Truth is clearly designed to be just self-effacing enough to be genuine, but he’s humble bragging: he knows how good it is and he’s emphasizing it.

And his constant interruptions of Kosugi are a sign that he can see that Kosugi is, if not naive, then someone he can put on the backfoot with force of personality.

And then there’s the blog….uh oh.

Blogs are…blogs

So this is a blog and it’s a way for me to shout into the void with the hopes that people will read and enjoy my work and maybe pay me for it too. But it’s also a bit of an ego trip because I get final say over everything and I like the power.

That means my work struggles in some ways, but mostly, it’s fine. This kind of blog is not as popular as it used to be, which makes me almost not feel like a narcissist for making it.

However, one of my initial goals was to find a route towards creative arts by building an audience that would be willing to engage with my work. I don’t think that’s necessarily narcissistic, but more ambitious.

What Nanamine does with his blog is straight-up malicious, but it has the same ultimate goal, so I feel weird about it.

Now I should have put the pieces together from this point that he’s a scumbag. That last little face at the end was very clearly a slip of the mask. But yeah, doing things that are not *quite* illegal but also highly immoral is a pretty classic narcissistic behavior.

So yeah, Nanamine is a narcissist. Terrible if you have to deal with him in real life – and I think Kosugi is going to find that out sooner rather than later – but it is great fodder for a villain.

And now I’m piecing together that he made the anti-jump stuff to use this tactic for serialization. Yeahh…let’s talk about that briefly.

Jump Suitability

This is a debate that rages to this day – should Jump diversify by maturing or should it stick to its roots? – and the question is debated long and hard on blogs and the internet.

The answer is…it’s complicated.

I’ve been reading Jump for almost seven years now, and I’ve read every new release as it is released. I’ve been falling behind a bit lately, but I keep up with Jump and read each chapter.

I think the answer to whether the debate is actually very adequately answered here: they’re willing to experiment with mature content, but their primary readership and message have always been geared towards teen boys, and they need to stay on brand.

This is the actual reason why so many manga in Jump that start dark generally end on a note that most people who like Seinen don’t like: happily or with a bit of gun shyness around doing heinous things to heinous people.

Ultimately, regardless of whether a manga is dark or not, it’s going to adhere to the masthead of Jump: Hardwork, Friendship, Victory. That is the brand that Jump is pushing. And so every series—no matter how light or dark—is going to feature some element of that. That means certain tropes will appear in every manga, and certain ideas will crop up.

Now, there’s variance, obviously. Chainsaw Man goes against the grain, hard. But it was so popular that it could get away with it. And then there are gag series that can do whatever the hell they want.

But Jump is going to maintain its brand. And its brand is a positive, earnest shonen manga that shows the benefits of fighting for what you want and succeeding against the odds through your own diligence and with a little help from your friends.

And Nanamine KNOWS that, and probably wrote Classroom of Truth with that in mind. He was probably angling for Jump to reject his work or not give him a placement so he could go to his blog, drum up support, and build a case for him being serialized on raw talent.

And if that’s the case….

We’re in the Death Note phase of the manga and I am pumped.

Now that I’ve worked through it, I’m pumped.

I think this chapter was, after considering it, a top-tier chapter. We’ve been introduced to a new villain or rival, but now I’m leaning more toward villains (seriously, narcissists suck). We get a little bit of insight into Jump editorial practices, but mostly, we have an excellent case of keikaku *that means strategy* being played by the authors themselves.

They’re setting up a character in a roundabout way, and the details don’t quite gel completely. This creates an uncanny valley, which gives me a lot of faith that Nanamine is going to be an existential threat to the boys.

This is a good note about writing in general: thought always goes into writing. There is an element of artifice to this, but if you keep the details consistent, you get a consistent personality, and that’s good.

I want to see where this is going because I think this series is headed into Death Note territory. Nanamine is meant to be a new L/Eiji stand-in, and things are about to get very dark.

I love the light and the lowkey…

But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to how dark this can get.

Next time, maybe I won’t figure it out in a blog post.

Until next time,

Peace