Show me show me show me how you do that trick and welcome to my read-through of Bakuman Chapter 132: Handstand and Pulling Together, in which we discuss why re-hashes are sometimes okay, and the difference between recklessness and guts (meta)

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Handstand and Pulling Together Summary

A Rush of Blood to the Head

At Shujin’s apartment, Kaya wakes up to an empty bed and realizes Shujin hasn’t gone to bed again. She goes to wish him a good morning and finds him doing a headstand.

Wat.

He’s got writer’s block, so he’s trying a handstand and, surprise surprise, it’s not working.

Kaya’s just as confused as I am. Shujin falls over and knocks down his bookshelf. He’s frustrated: when he tries to create a story without caring about people imitating it he ends up with a manga that can’t be run in a Shonen magazine and when he tries the tried and true way he’s got total blockage.

Still, on a deadline, he jumps to his desk. Kaya realizes he’s still stressing about the robbery and tries to cheer him up. She mentions Lupin III being about bank robberies, too.

Shujin reminds her that’s not Shonen and there are fantastical elements in that show. PCP hinges on being realistic and plausible. Also, PCP’s protagonists haven’t robbed a bank. Shujin runs up against the limitations of the series he writes and, four hours later, still has no viable story.

Kaya suggests that he use the stockpile that he showed her when he was competing against Nanamine.

Shujin’s glad to remember it and goes through it.

He goes through a bunch of them, but many of them are not the right season, not the right time, but he finds one “Operation Optical Illusion” that could work. He then remembers he turned this idea down previously. He remembers his deadline and decides to “Make it better”

Oh, honey.

Exhaustion

At the Studio, Saiko is worried about how long Shujin is taking to produce the storyboard. Hattori asks as well: they’re out of time, and Shujin still hasn’t come up with the story.

Speak of the devil, Shujin arrives with a storyboard and asks for a look. Hattori is relieved but still concerned and decides to come in person to review it.

Later in the day, Hattori isn’t satisfied with the storyboard, but they don’t have any time to make it better. Hattori gives it the rubber stamp, and Shujin, exhausted, expresses relief.

Hattori notices his exhaustion and asks if he’s okay. Shujin downplays it: he’s fine. He usually has a stockpile of 1 to 2 chapters, but now he’s tapped out and needs to rush home to create the next one. Hattori wonders if they might discuss it first. Shujin explains he already has an idea of what he wants so he’ll have him check after he makes it into a story.

Saiko and Hattori are rendered speechless.

Saiko mentions that the story he used was an idea he came up with a while ago. Hattori is relieved to hear he has a backlog, but Saiko warns him that this is now the time to officially worry: while some ideas haven’t been used because of their seasonality, some aren’t used because they weren’t very good. He’s desperate if he’s resorting to this.

Hattori tells Saiko that he gave the green light, but the story isn’t as good as it could be.

Saiko promises to take care of Shujin, and Hattori agrees that Shujin needs someone to support him; he then orders Saiko to fax the storyboards when they’re done.

The Slip

Saiko tells us that Shujin soon uses up all of his backlog of ideas that weren’t the best of the best. As the series’ quality dips, its popularity shoots downward, and Shujin becomes even more stressed.

Hattori is alarmed that PCP is in 12th place and in double digits for the third week in a row. Yamahisa lets Yujiro know that Crow is doing very well and received more votes than last week. It’s within 20 votes of first place. Yujiro’s surprised to learn that Crow might actually get first place and remembers Chekhov’s cancellation (and Eiji’s old character design) again.

Ho shit.

He quickly reminds himself that Eiji might not be thinking about that, and he may not mean it.

Hattori notices, and asks why Yujiro looks concerned when Crow is doing so well. Yujiro deflects: Hattori’s not looking too great these days either. Hattori reminds him that PCP isn’t doing well; Yujiro doesn’t have the same excuse.

Yujiro takes a beat and then asks to get coffee.

Over coffee, Hattori learns of CHEKHOV’S CANCELLATION. HELL YEAH. He appropriately freaks out at the news. Yujiro tells him to be cool, man. Only Sasaki knows about it. Yujiro mentions that Eiji’s been aiming for first place lately; even if he does get it, that won’t make him the most popular artist in Jump, but…

Ellipses.

Hattori has a potential realization: Eiji sees PCP’s slump and he might be trying to fire Ashirogi up. He then has another, scarier possibility pop up: Eiji no longer sees the value of PCP and wishes to end it. He squashes that notion immediately because Eiji’s a huge fan of Ashirogi..he can’t decide one way or another.

Yuijro brings the space cadet back to reality by asking for his thoughts.

Hattori soothes Yujiro. He doesn’t think Eiji’s the type to arbitrarily cancel manga, and he doubts Sasaki would even let that happen. Yujiro is relieved to hear someone else with the same opinion. He resumes his cheery mood and peaces out.

Meanwhile, Hattori tries to figure out what Eiji is planning: Does he want to inspire Ashirogi or kill a series? Hattori also chastises himself for overthinking: Eiji could simply want to get first place.

Crisis Point

Hattori shifts his thinking back to his chief issue: PCP. The story’s charm is faltering, and the schedules are even tighter than before. They won’t be able to continue with the pressure building up as it is. If the cycle worsens, they will only get even more unpopular. Hattori calls Saiko to ask if the storyboard is complete.

Not yet; Saiko wants to know if it can wait until tomorrow.

Hattori’s confused: Shujin was able to finish.

Saiko didn’t like the story, so he rejected it.

WATTTTTT.

Hattori’s freaked out by this news. Saiko told Shujin to rewrite the story; Hattori reminded him of the y’know, deadlines. But Saiko points out what he already thinks: the story is worsening. Fast. The proof is in the rankings. If they place any worse, they’ll be canceled.

Saiko said that Shujin, and Shujin understood, so he promised to rewrite it by tomorrow.

Hattori is genuinely concerned now. He thinks Saiko is irritated by Shujin’s writer’s block, and he understands the reasons why, but he has to intervene, or Ashirogi may be done for good.

At Shujin’s apartment, Kaya wonders if Shujin will finally get some sleep. He won’t. He’s behind schedule, and at this point, Saiko would be making a storyboard.

Aida passes by Hattori and asks what the deal with PCP is. The schedules a mess and they are shooting down the bottom. Is the bank robbery something to do with it? Hattori acknowledges that it’s had an effect.

Aida understands that they’ve been avoiding actual crimes; now that they’ve been running for two years, they’re allowed a week’s break.

Japanese work culture gotta love it.

Aida asks Shujin to take a week off to come to terms with his feelings and have him create something good. At the current rate, they’ll miss deadlines, and they don’t want low-quality work in the magazine. Hattori agrees but struggles to believe that they’ll take that lying down, especially with the whole Saiko in the hospital incident.

Re-hash

The next day, Hattori reviews the storyboards. His notes indicate that it is “Starting” to take shape. Shujin freaks out at that, and then he asks Saiko for confirmation.

Saiko thinks it’s better than yesterday’s storyboards, but it’s a rehash of an old story.

The message in code is the same story as the code battle against Akechi during the best arc in the series. Several other plot points are from bits and pieces of the story that he’s seen before.

Shujin freaks out. He struggles to come up with storyboards and stays up all night, reusing old plot points and risking cancellation. It’s like he can’t even remember the stuff they used before.

Whoops.

Hattori reminds him that the story is decent, but they don’t have time. They only have one week to create their best work. If this is the best he can do, it’s the best he can do.

Saiko asks Shujin if he thinks this work is good enough. Shujin refuses to proceed. Shujin is shocked, but Saiko gives him an ultimatum until tomorrow morning.

Hattori reminds him that if he does that, Saiko won’t be able to make the artwork. Saiko offers to work overnight for three days if that’s what Shujin is doing.

Shujin promises to have something better by the next morning. He’ll go home and work on it, and he promises to make something Saiko will be satisfied with.

He slams the door shut.

Pushing past the limit

Hattori yells at Saiko: Shujin is at the limit. Saiko knows. Hattori tells him that Aida wants them to take a week off. Saiko flatly refuses the offer. Hattori then asks him to consider using Tanabe—the author of PCP’s novelization—to help them. He’d be happy to contribute to the cause.

Saiko also refuses that help. No one else can help them in this matter. Hattori is baffled. He asks if it’s because of Nanamine’s methods, but this is nothing like Nanamine’s methods at all.

Saiko shuts him up: it’s not about that!

Shujin rushes home and skips dinner. Kaya worries as Shujin explains that he has until morning to come up with a good story. Kaya’s furious to learn that Saiko rejected his storyboard again. Shujin tells her that Hattori wants to go with the current storyboard, but Saiko refuses to let it slide.

Kaya points out that Saiko is unnecessarily cold these days, and Shujin is working himself to death. Shujin nips that sentiment in the bud: Saiko is waiting because he trusts Shujin and believes that Shujin can write something good.

Saiko explains that they could take a week off, and that would probably lead to something better, but that would be missing the point. It doesn’t matter what the time limit is or anything else. Saiko and Shujin must create the best story and the best artwork that they can. That is the essence of Muto Ashirogi.

Shujin references the summer he and Saiko spent apart–how Saiko had faith that he’d come up with storyboards during the summer and broke his promise to him. He doesn’t want Saiko to feel that way again. They’re professionals.

Saiko fiercely promises to help Shujin get the best writing. Shujin reiterates their bromance: They’re professionals, and Saiko is willing to go to hell by giving him a tight schedule for art by waiting. Shujin cannot let Saiko down at this moment.

On that emotionally complex – yet truly inspirational note – the chapter concludes.

Handstand and Pulling Together Reaction

When Metafiction hits a little too close to home

Hoo boy, I wonder how much of this is Ohba talking from his metafictional soap box.

The thing that struck me as I read this chapter—aside from the end, which I really liked and want to discuss more in-depth—is how much of an explicit rehash this entire plotline is of the end of the Tanto arc. Like, almost beat for beat, it’s taking the same route. Shujin’s pulling away from Kaya, staying up late, and stressing himself out because he doesn’t have his mojo right now.

So, Bakuman makes a plot point about rehashing, which feels almost like a cry for help on Ohba’s part.

At this point, the manga would be about three years into its run. As we’ve discussed in previous read-throughs, there is such a thing as a narrative half-life. We are now hitting the point where the narrative is straining because it still isn’t quite over and has to keep going. So, I can only imagine how Ohba is handling that.

There is only so much that a writer can talk about in a specific story before it becomes repetitive.

To wit, this read-through has its share of tropes and repetitive qualities because a.) I don’t have an editor, b.) I like to repeat and riff on things from different angles. 3.) I’m forgetful.

So it’s not necessarily surprising that at this point, Ohba would be running out of narrative steam. The same thing happened with Death Note’s introduction of Near and Mello although that was kind of forced on them by Jump if I remember correctly. It’s just L 2.0. Not that I didn’t like those characters, but it’s a rehash.

But in this chapter’s defense.

The Conflict Feels Different

Ohba does well in this rehash because he obliquely acknowledges it in the text. More to the point, the engine of the conflict is very different from working on something that isn’t a good fit.

It’s working on something when you are in a deep creative rut. There is, in fact, a massive difference between those two things. And Ohba is doing a fairly good job of making that clear.

Unlike Tanto, where it felt like everything was spiraling out of control in a bad way, in this remix of that arc, Shujin is aware of what’s happening. While he’s going through the same narrative motions, he’s actively combatting it because he knows the heart of the issue: he’s afraid of causing more trouble.

Which, by the way, is super relatable.

And the fact that there is an underlying self-awareness here separates this from Tanto’s disastrous end. He’s not forcing himself into a shoe that doesn’t fit; he’s finding a way to get back into his groove after a very stressful event knocked him off balance. He’s even doing a headstand in a nice on-the-nose visual metaphor for finding balance.

But I think what really separates this version of this story from the previous version of this story is:

Saiko’s Guts

There. I said it. He’s demonstrating guts. This isn’t like the hospital arc where in the question of recklessness vs guts, it was pure recklessness. Right now, Saiko is demonstrating real grit and determination.

It speaks to the strength of the character building throughout the series that this moment of Saiko having to step up in a tough love sort of way feels legitimately earned, and climactic rather than shoe-horned in. Saiko has often needed the help of Shujin to get through whatever shit he’s currently working on. But right now, Saiko’s the more balanced protagonist, and he’s doing everything he can to support his friend. That is powerful.

And here’s where the real difference between Guts and Recklessness really exists (talk about a re-hash): Saiko is up against the wall in a way that he wasn’t with Detective Trap. This isn’t an unforced error but a legitimate existential threat to his and Shujin’s livelihoods and he’s taking a calculated risk.

Emphasis on the calculated.

Unlike the hospital which he just risked his health, Saiko has the bona fides to finish a chapter quickly on a dime if he really needs to. He is risking his health, but he’s used to the work schedule, and he knows the real cost of finishing on time. He’s willing to accept the cost, knowing the price.

But in the hospital arc, he was blinded by ambition to succeed to ultimately futile ends.

And not for nothing, but PCP is successful and dangling off a cliff. What actually sells Saiko’s need for tough love is the knowledge that if he lets things go on as they have, both of the current endpoints will be failure.

If you have no good options, make a third option.

All this is to say: this is not a frivolous endeavor for Saiko, but, rather, a genuinely earned moment of standing up to the challenges to support a friend who is struggling to get through a dark time for reasons outside of his control.

In other words, I have faith in Saiko’s decision-making here, where I didn’t have faith in him. And that really touches the center of this arc nicely: Ashirogi are a team, and they have to be each other’s support structure, even when everything’s falling around them.

And that actually makes this feel less like a re-hash than it would otherwise. Saiiko is in complete control here.

I’ll also say this is the good part of Shonen manga. For all the worst elements coming out to play recently, these moments of pure grit in the face of overwhelming odds and overcoming them through willpower are why I love Shonen so much.

But also

I just love bromances like this

I think it’s quite clear that this act of guts is also an explicit act of care. He’s doing this because he cares for his friend, and that care manifests as wanting him to do his best work.

Now, even though I railed hard against the hospital arc, I will admit that having your back up to the wall—under VERY SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES—can be extremely productive in getting you to make some of your best work. So that pressure should probably help Shujin out.

But he loves his friend and wants them to come out of this. And Saiko has faith in him. It’s cute. It’s totemo kawaiii. Deal with my weeby bullshit.

And even though I forgot about it, and I don’ blame Shujin, it is a reflection of how deeply sensitive he is that he still feels bad almost six years after it happened that he failed Saiko one summer when they were teens. it’s uberrrr cute to see how much they care about each other and want the other to succeed.

So in this context – as in a lot of shonen contexts – I think the pushing past the limit to level up is not only warranted but makes perfect sense narratively. an I’m rooting for the boys to succeed.

But let’s talk about that other thing.

Eiji and Aida

That other thing is a Japanese supervisor suggesting time off. WOW! Amazing! They’ve been working for two years and need a break.

Snarkiness about Japanese work culture aside, it is nice, again, to see the editors caring about the safety and well-being of their mangaka and actively working to make sure they don’t harm themselves.

Now the dark side of that is that PCP is successful, and if this were for a manga that was going to be canceled, the conversation would probably be different, but I will fucking take it.

But what I really want to end this chapter on is Eiji’s cancellation.

Who is he going to cancel?

He’s gunning for it, that much is clear—they even copied an image from his original appearance. If you haven’t read this chapter, you should go and look at his original character design just to see how they massacred my boy by making him easier and quicker to draw.

I actually prefer the current character designs, and I’m sure that Obata does, too, which is why they were streamlined. However, it’s still funny to me how much more sinister Eiji looked at the beginning of the series.

But yeah. He has a serious expression, which means he’s serious about ending a series. I guess that it’s not just a ploy to end PCP, even though that is definitely on the table. Especially given the timing of Eiji’s decision to do so. But that could also be the fact that it is narratively convenient for him to be gunning for the top spot at the same time PCP is cratering.

But if he cancels a series, which one could he realistically cancel? I’m sure we’ll get into the weeds of this in several chapters because this is very much the beginning of an arc, as far as I can tell. Or it’s dovetailing with the current arc super nicely.

But Eiji has a plan, and it involves canceling a series. Which could it be?

My guess is still PCP because my headcanon is that this series ends where Ohba and Obata began making it: just after Death Note’s massive success. And that would be kind of poetic for Eiji to cancel their series.

But my actual argument is that Eiji would cancel PCP after it’s gone on too long, and the mangaka are forced to keep creating it. That seems narratively appropriate to me. Ashirogi become victims to their own success and keep making PCP even after it’s long since passed its expiration date—after it’s just being milked for content.

That would be a total Eiji move to kill a series, so it gets a mercy killing. But I’m also speculating it would be a collaborative effort for the boys and Eiji to do so. At least, that’s what I think should happen. But that’s only because it’s in my head-canon and Ohba would do something like that.

I don’t think anyone else even comes close to being canceled. Maybe Iwase? I don’t know, maybe. I don’t see Fukuda, Aoki, or, God bless him, Hiramaru being axed because it just wouldn’t make any narrative sense.

So my guess, right now, is that it’s the boys. And that their read isn’t super off

But I guess we’ll have to see.

How will this arc conclude? Iunno, prolly with PCP prevailing, that would make sense.

Until next time,

Peace