I’m so tired, I haven’t slept a wink, I’m SOOO tired, my mind is on the brink and welcome to my read-through of Bakuman Chapter 141 Age and Achievement in which Miura continues to suck, and we have a discussion about Ageism. Oh, and someone is back. Guess who?

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Age and Achievement Summary

Old Jump

A man drifts along a street. Meanwhile, Miura somehow fantasizes about his career trajectory to potentially being editor-in-chief (lol) after +Natrual starts picking up steam again, and Mikata’s Justice new TV Drama coming out.

Aida breaks this reverie to let him know he has a potential mangaka at booth 2. MIura confirms with the front desk that the mangaka – Azuma – has an appointment, and he’s going to check out the submission. Aida’s surprised by how gung-ho Miura seems about it. Miura thinks that competitions are good, but direct submissions are best.

He gets to booth number 2 and excitedly introduces himself until….

He sees an old-ass man sitting at the desk. Miura’s tone shifts immediately. He thought Azuma sounded younger on the phone. Miura, now unenthusiastic – classic Miura – has him fill out the survey just in case.

Azuma is shocked and offended at being written off immediately. He tells that to Miura’s face (hell yeah) and leaves. Miura gets offended by the old man’s attitude and decides he’ll never get along with the guy. He makes a snide remark as Azuma leaves.

Azuma calls someone and says that, like this mystery person said, Miura is no good. He left Shueisha without showing him the work.

The caller doesn’t believe there are many good editors there and instructs Azuma to call the office again.

Azuma does, and Hattori picks up. Hattori agrees to read his work and schedules a meeting for tomorrow at 4.

Hattori jots down the meeting then runs to his editorial meeting with Ashirogi.

Azuma calls his mystery friend and explains he got Hattori this time. The mystery caller is excited and asks which one: Akira. He’s the editor for PCP! That’s good.

I wonder who this could be. Jeez.

Azuma is ordered to share his work even if Hattori gets a little put off by his age. He’s confident Hattori will be interested in the work. He was hoping for Yoshida, but Hattori is more interesting. He laughs to himself.

A Cult-Hit Mainstream Battle Manga

At the studio, Hattori praises the boys for another strong chapter. He likes how the PCP team are being unwittingly trained by Sigma. Shujin explains they always need some kind of rival character. Hattori also thinks it’s clever that Sigma is made out to be an enemy of PCP. He could never come up with a character like this.

Shujin explains that it is meant as a test for their next work. Saiko freaks. Hattori doesn’t understand and Saiko thinks they should ix-nay on the ext-nay eries-say alk-tay. Shujin disagrees and thinks Hattori should know. Hattori’s eager to hear about it.

They want to make a Cult-Hit Mainstream Battle Manga next. He doesn’t know what that means. Shujin explains that it would be a cool-looking main character who’d be popular with readers and have battles. Hattori interjects – that’s just a mainstream character – but this is where it gets different: he’ll be an evil dark hero.

Hattori ponders: That might classify as non-mainstream in terms of Jump. But it will be difficult, and Jump might not approve if the character is downright evil.

Shujin thought that would be the case since it would impact the potential anime adaptation. They want an anime adaptation.

They want the reader to be like Sigma and question the morality of the character: is he truly a bad character? He also wants hattori to confirm whether that has chance of getting an anime or not. Saiko sees the calculation, but is surprised Shujin thought so far ahead.

Hattori is surprised as well but thinks it’s very in character. He likes the idea of a cult-hit mainstream battle manga.

He’s willing to take a look, too, but they have to keep PCP afloat for now.

He ponders their next work and hopes to remain their editor until then.

Panty Flash Fight?

The next day, Azuma waits in the same room. Hattori meets with him and takes a beat: This guy’s old, and working for Jump is not an easy job. He’s not sure the guy can keep up. Regardless, Hattori is very polite, unlike Miura, and asks to see the work. Azuma thinks he’s a step up: He didn’t frown.

Hattori then provides a survey. He explains it’s straightforward: just address, age, name, and a summary of his career and titles he likes. Azuma wonders if he has to write his age. He must. Azuma asks if age has anything to do with making manga.

Hattori doesn’t believe that age matters if one can create something Jump readers will like. That said, a weekly series requires a lot of physical and mental stamina. It helps to be young in that regard. Azuma decides to fill in the survey honestly.

The provided piece, ugh, Panty Flash Fight is outdated and offensive, but the art is excellent.

We peek into the manga and see that two “Pretty Soldiers” – Momo and Hoshi are squaring off in the Panty Try Arena. The Announcer has verified that, ew, their skirt inseams are exactly 3.5 inches and that the semi-finals – where 8 girls’ panties will be revealed – will be exposed in the ultimate panty flash battle. 48 cameras have been installed at just the angle to see them if the girl loses. The loser’s panties will be taken off and given to an audience member, which is why tickets are so expensive.

Unbelievably disgusting.

Hattori, however, has a different opinion. He finds the premise “silly”. They’re having battles in miniskirts. He’s also impressed that the panties are real and worn by the girls on the day they were scouted. The mangaka knows the basics. Each fighter has their special ability – he understands what Jump wants. After 4 pages of intro, we get to see the flashback of why we are where they are, but the main character is Momo’s younger brother, so the story is from a boy’s perspective.

…great.

He explains why the girls are entering the area and shows them being self-conscious about not wanting to show their panties in detail.

Hattori, baby, please stop.

He’s struck gold on Cult-Hit Mainstream Battle manga!

He’s incredibly enthusiastic about the quality. It has everything a manga needs: costume potential for cosplayers and cute girls in panty shots. But it’s still a serious battle manga and not just a panty shot manga. It has franchise potential. They should, in fact, do that from the start. Anime, TV drama, games, trading cards, and action figures.

Hattori continues to be disgustingly effusive in his praise for the work. He compliments Azuma on his quality as a professional and his ability to turn a simple idea into a good manga. Azuma thanks him. He asks if he’s shown it to other publishers yet.

Nope.

Hattori wants him to swear to god.

Sweet Jesus.

Yes.

Hattori is thrilled because they have one open slot for a one-shot. He is considering revising the title for the series but thinks it will retain its impact since it’s so attention-grabbing. Hattori lets Azuma know he wants it placed in the magazine as a one-shot. Azuma’s okay with that, but he wonders if he should lie about his age.

Jump is all about cultivating young talent. He assumes his age will be a deal breaker and’ll be rejected immediately.

Hattori explains that that’s basically true: if two mangaka brought in similar quality work, they’d angle for the younger mangaka. But ultimately, quality matters over all things. Age doesn’t matter. He also thinks that age does not determine one’s capacity to grow as an author. Azuma wonders if, as a 50-year-old man who has never placed in Jump, it would even be possible for him to get a series.

Hattori does.

It’s true that Jump is more interested in cultivating young talent, but it is not exclusive to young talent. Azuma will not let this go: he’ll get a different response as a 50 year old submitting and he asks to have his age hidden to make the likelihood of getting a series higher.

Hattori agrees that it would be better if the editorial team didn’t know his age. He decides to keep Aumza’s secret. Azuma thanks him, but Hattori wonders about who this guy is.

As he leaves, Azuma agrees that Hattori has a good eye for manga.

Cutting the Mustard

Heishi passes by Azuma on his way home and wonders what he’s doing at Jump after all this time. In the office, everyone marvels at the submission. How it’s serious, and a perfect manga for Jump. They’ve hit the jackpot!

Heishi asks what’s up, and Hattori gives him Panty Flash Fight to review for serialization. Miura thinks it’s excellent (what a jackass).

Heishi thinks it’s ….really good. He does wonder what Mikihiko Azuma final draft is doing here, though.

Miura has a moment of horrified realization at the order of events after he turned the guy down and laments that he overlooked him.

Hattori asks if Heishi knows him. Heishi was his editor ten years ago, and Hattori worries that he won’t be able to hide his age. Heishi saw him walking out of the office. Hattori explains that Azuma brought the work in.

Heishi’s surprised at the style change, or, more to the point, the general improvement. He’s always been able to draw cute girls, but he could never create a captivating story. So he never placed a one-shot in Jump. He worked in minor magazines and got into Shonen Three for a while. But all he was good at were panty shots, so they dropped him quickly.

Heishi agrees, however, that the work is good, although he’s worried about Azuma’s age.

Kosugi thinks it’ll be challenging to treat someone older than them as a rookie. He thinks younger people are easier. Miura would definitely feel awkward about it. Hattori cuts that ageist bullshit: Azuma wants to succeed with his new work and start a new chapter in his life. It’s important that they treat him like other rookies.

Kosugi thinks the age gap is too old for modern readers. It would be difficult for him to create a popular manga. Hattorit hinks that’s nonsense since he submitted something good. Miura points out that the logic is faulty: it would mean middle school and high school mangaka would be the best for creating popular works.

Yoshida quietly thinks that a professional would create something that would be age-appropriate.

Hattori advocates for Azuma to be given a chance. He will take full responsibility for handling him if they do (uh oh)

Heishi can guarantee nothing but he’s pretty sure this will make it in. Hattori’s keikaku to inspire the boys further is falling into place.

The next day, at Azuma’s apartment, he gets the news that his one-shot will come out on October 3 as part of Issue 44. Hattori asks him to draw the title page illustration in color. He’ll have it ready in half a day.

Hattori is confident in its series potential and wants to meet with him about a potential serialization. Azuma’s unemployed, so he’s free right now anyway.

He hangs up and then calls his mysterious caller. The one-shot succeeded in getting placed in the magazine. The simple idea of a girl losing the moment their panties get shown impressed the entire time. He’s one track for serialization. The mysterious caller (uh huh, I wonder who the fuck it could be) notes he’s going to get into Jump. It’s so easy.

hahahah

On that note, the chapter concludes.

Age and Achievement Reaction

It’s Nanamine

Oh no. Anyway.

Yeah, so I’m a little annoyed with the speed at which plotlines are getting resolved lately, and this particular twist is, uh…not unexpected. But I think of all the things that Ohba could choose to focus on in the manga industry, having Shonen Jump invaded by old people is not…my first pick.

I’m not going to lie, if this is going to be another 2-3 Chapter arc, I’m going to get slightly salty.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but most of the arcs lately have been 1 to maybe 5 chapters max. I kinda get it – the series is now clearly starting to genuinely run out of steam a bit – and there need to be some placeholder arcs as Ohba gears up for the final battle between Eiji and Ashirogi to make “The Greatest Manga of All Time” which, well, it’s a manga, I’ll give it a pass.

However, the lack of really involved arcs is starting to grate on my nerves a bit. And while I have plenty to say on age and working in Jump – it’s not an entirely dead topic – I’m kinda miffed that we’re doing these things so quickly and without really getting deep into them.

End rant.

Anyway.

I’m of Two Minds

Half of me is fine with this chapter; the other half is more than vaguely annoyed.

I was grumpy about the bait and switch in the first section. I cannot tell you how pumped when I thought that Miura was finally going to get shitcanned secret CEO style. Because honestly, the setup was perfect.

I’ve been done with Miura for a minute now, and I was low-key praying that this was some ploy by the higher-ups to judge his character and then give him the boot. So when it was not confirmed to be Nanamine but definitely Nanamine who was pulling the strings, I felt the greatest emotional blue balls of my read-through.

Please, have Miura get fired already. He sucks ass.

Anyway, my exhaustion with Miura notwithstanding, the meta-foreshadowing, as always, was very tasty.

We have now officially made Nanamine the “Sigma” stand-in for PCP. Which, by the way, is why they’re also engaging in these more or less self-contained arcs at this point. Because of PCP‘s in-universe success the series is able to rely much more on it as a vehicle for foreshadowing future plotlines because…

Metafiction is always commenting on itself.

And it’s just how Ohba do.

This also means that this “Old Person” getting a spot in the Jump ploy will be a morally ambiguous means of portraying an antihero. So, will Nanamine become an antihero?

Also, why am I so confident it’s Nanamine?

It’s Just Obvious

Come on. I think if you expected another “Rival” character to come in at this point that wasn’t Eiji who was going to engage in some Lawful Evil chicanery that was also NOT being revealed immediately and you thought it was going to be a new character, well, I got a bridge to sell you.

Because look, as this read-through has amply demonstrated, I’m right plenty of the time. But more than that, my predictions are often, and comically, wrong by a wide margin because of how I read things. Also humans are bad at predicting things, fuck you fight me.

But this setup is so obvious and so unambiguous that I don’t see how you could read it any other way. Also, the mystery character’s Jaw even looks like Nanamine’s. This is why character design matters.

But more than that, there is clearly some underhanded technique, and as I said in my run of read-throughs on the narcissist in chief, Nanamine is the Light Yagami-type character in this world—only dumber.

It’s going to be him. And I’m going to say, and I quote, “neener neener” when it’s revealed to be Nanamine.

But anyway.

Is the in-world Sigma using older people to get back at Jump?

This is where the good part of the chapter is:

Manga is fucking brutal

With the passing of Akira Toriyama, and the ill-health of Togashi, I think it’s hard to overlook the absolute toll that manga takes on its creators. It is a brutal industry made more brutal by the scheduling.

You are getting very little sleep, working on extremely tight deadlines, and you do not have a life while you are being serialized. It is incredibly physically demanding. Not to mention, there is not a lot of opportunity to stand, walk, get exercise, or eat healthy because cooking and exercise both require time that you will have to spend storyboarding, consulting with your editor, or drawing in time for a serialization deadline.

So, the debate about having an old person work for Jump is important.

And I think the series is, at least to some degree, agnostic on the idea. Partially because art as a career is notoriously unstable, and you have to provide for yourself somehow. But the taxing nature of the position is really suitable to younger people who aren’t so prone to breakage. And even then it sucks the life out of you.

There is no definitive clear cut answer as to whether an older person entering jump is a good idea or not. But it is also a totally valid take that denying them the opportunity is ageist and could prevent some really good manga from being released and made.

This is the part of the opening that I actually liked. It showed Miura being an absolute jackhole to an old guy because he was ageist. Meanwhile, Hattori was willing to give him a chance and struck gold.

The thing that is great about that is one side does not negate the other. They are equally valid viewpoints. That is why I’m okay with Nanamine being involved in it, at least right now.

But I think the series is leaning towards more “younger people need to make manga” because, on some level, they stand to benefit more from it than the older generation. But they also have room to grow and establish themselves over a long time.

A genuinely interesting moral question.

And there are some good points about how people who are old can write best for those who are young. It makes perfect sense when you think about it. High schoolers are still developing their skills and getting life experience. Older people have life experience, which usually makes for better writing.

But Veterans have more art skills, and there is less room to grow. Also, they would outstrip their editors’ age, and Japan is all about deference to elders. And that’s not even accounting for the fact that art styles change over time.

See? A good debate with no clear answer. I’m all for it.

Although that leads to the other thing I despised about this chapter:

The One-Shot in Question and the Point of Diminishing Returns

Although I love me the metafictive element of this series, I’d be lying if the Panty Flash Fight (Ugh) page doesn’t strike me as pandering a bit. It might just be because Ohba was telling on himself during the copycat arc but this has not been a particularly inspired stretch of the story for me. It can’t be, not because it is just spinning its wheels a bit. especially now that we’re getting into more esoteric elements of manga craft and lifestyle.

So, the page of Panty Flash Fight felt a little played out. It’s not that it can’t be used effectively—it’s a really nifty narrative trick—but it’s been used so much that it’s starting to lose its savor.

And I just fucking hate the manga idea. Honestly.

I know it makes sense in world that Hattori is going to have no problem – his reaction face was hysterical, even if a bit out of character – but yeah, fuck this idea. Fuck it all the way to hell.

It’s so disgusting and over the top and just petty and misogynistic that even though it’s supposed to be this really cool, awesome manga, it’s just gross and weird.

But this is the manga industry.

It reminds me of a lot of death game-type stories. I read Juni Taisen recently, and it had some obnoxious fan service, so I’m a bit inured to this. Also, I’ve been in the anime space for years, which makes you kind of used to heinousness.

But Jesus fucking Christ man.

Anyway, it does set up a real concern:

Is Hattori Going to Remain their Editor?

This is a serious question because it was asked in the narrative, and if this series does well – assuming there is nothing more to it than Nanamine trying to get an old man into Jump – it’s a real threat.

Given that not all the editors are good, it’s of real concern that Hattori might be so busy that his boys’ work will slip or he will. It’s tough to say at this point. But it has now been put into play.

It would be a great dramatic irony if it happened at a point when the boys are pondering their new series because of Nanamine. It might be his play after all, unless it’s just chance (more likely).

I don’t know what Nanamine’s play is, but I can only imagine there will be more scheming before it’s quickly put out.

I guess we’ll just have to see.

Until next time,

Peace