I’m in love with the world, through the eyes of a girl, who’s still around, the morning after, and welcome to my read-through of Bakuman Chapter 147 Expendables and Fighting Spirit in which Sasaki tells us how he really feels, and it is glorious

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Expendables and Fighting Spirit

We’ll Never Lose!

Picking up at the same moment the previous chapter concluded, Nanamine expresses that he’ll never be satisfied until he destroys Ashirogi with his “own” work. Saiko finds the desire to bring them down almost flattering, but he’s never going to forgive Nanamine for exploiting Azuma and the others, and promises never to lose to him.

Nanamine thinks that’s an amusing train of thought, but has complete faith in his perfect system. Does Saiko have any better ideas in the meantime? Saiko points out that art is, ultimately, made by people. Even if he can’t beat Nanamine’s system, he’ll still beat Nanamine’s smug face into the dirt.

…fuck yeah.

Nanamine taunts him further: his company will write the perfect story, and he’ll draw it. Then he’ll use it to ruin Ashirogi completely. Saiko, flustered, thinks that, at the end of the day, all of it is Nanamine. The system and the manga it produces and…

Saiko loses his train of thought and promises never to lose to someone who uses others, laughs at their hard work, and throws them away.

The next day, Shujin is amazed to hear of how cool Saiko was in his confrontation with Nanamine. Saiko won’t let him get away with it. But they saw the system up close, and it’s a machine that spits out good manga.

Saiko is aware, but PCP’s still doing very well, and even if he gets a series, they’ll still beat him. Saiko reminds Shujin of his taunts. Shujin is mindful of it, but the monitors are the greatest asset for the company: they can never truly flop with actual readers directing them.

Saiko doesn’t care. They’ll magically do better than him with his monitors. Shujin gently points out that they can’t just give the manga to Nanamine’s monitors to review. Shujin ultimately thinks that, regardless of all of this, if he tries to turn in one of his stories, there’s still no guarantee of success because of, y’know, the editors.

Saiko almost wants him to get a series just to beat him into the dirt.

They’ll Never Lose

At Azuma’s, Hattori explains that Ashirogi gave him the sitch. Azuma thinks he’s cooked, but is grateful to have been given a place in Jump. Hattori wonders if that’s really true. He’s not upset at all?

Azuma has considered his options and believes he doesn’t have what it takes to work in Jump on a weekly series. Hattori wants Azuma to consider Panty Flash Fight his foot in the door for a comeback. If he gives it another shot, he could be right back in the game. He has a few ideas that would go well with Azuma’s style.

Azuma thanks him, but he’s fine with the thought of it.

Hattori’s disappointed that Azuma won’t even give it a try.

Meanwhile, Yujiro explains the whole situation to Fukuda and Co. Arai sensei confessed to the whole scheme, and even Nangoku dropped by to apologize. Yujiro finally understands Eiji’s cryptic “Recycling” response when he hears about it (oh, that makes sense). Fukuda thinks Eiji is super human.

Yujiro calls out Nanamnie’s terrible decision-making about hiding the company, but he’s going to do his own work from now on.

Fukuda yells that if that was actually the case, why didn’t he do that to start? Because he needed guinea pigs. Yujiro agrees. Fukuda hates that’s the case.

Takahama, Aoki, and Hiramaru all get the news from their editors and are equally disgusted and, for some reason, sleep deprived.

This is an A+ visual gag.

Takahama and Aoki are disgusted by the behavior and swear to defeat Nanamine no matter what. Hiramaru, playing the rule of threes, thinks it’s good that he’s only competing against Nanamine because otherwise his series would be well and truly cooked.

Yoshida chastises his ward for not having empathy for the artists in their forties and fifties being used.

Hiramaru panics when he hears that artists in their 50s are still doing this. He thought he could retire at 30 if he did this.

That’s true if you’re popular.

Nakai munches in the background. Fuckin’ Nakai.

Nanamine, Fearless Leader

At Shinjitsu, Nanamine thanks everyone for their good job: they’re the real deal, truly, and all their works have proven that they can make hits.

However, the Jump editorial office is not ready to accept their innovative methodology. Because of this, they have been denied acceptance into the magazine. If only they had informed the magazine of their methods earlier. The tragedy! Azuma might never work on a series if things continue as they are.

Jesus.

The writers are shocked to learn of this development. Hibiki, however, finds it a bit sus.

Nanamine’s speech continues: They must carry on and create EVEN MORE AMAZING MANGA. They will show the world that their method is the best and prove what Shinjitsu is capable of. They must carry on for the victims, Azuma and the other veterans. For the future of manga itself, Nanamine, their brave, fearless leader, shall take up his own pen!

Lol, kay buddy.

Everyone’s confused, particularly Hibiki, who thinks it’s…uhm, gauche that Nanamine fired the veterans Eric Andre style.

Nanamine’s motivational speech continues: Let us prove our true value! Let us get a real place in Jump with their next piece of work, which will, of course, be his! They must band together to create the best and first piece by Shinjitsu corporation!

If the storyboards are good, they will get double pay. The people whose artwork is the best will be his assistants and will be paid accordingly. In other words: no matter how much money it takes, they must write a story that will lead them into he future!

How inspiring.

The team is shocked, then slowly applauds Nanamine and his money. Nanmine’s standing orders are simple: they have until the 23rd to give him the perfect storyboard for serialization.

Hibiki is confused by everything that just transpired, but his job will be secure if he stays by his side, so he rolls with it.

Oy.

Heated Debate

At Jump’s offices, Aida and the other editors argue furiously over Nanamine and his methods. Is the fact that the manga is good enough?

Yujiro thinks it’s scummy and inappropriate to run a mangaka who actively uses veterans in such a self-serving manner. Miura plays cheerleader. Aida ripostes: The veterans knew what they were getting into and withheld the information from the editorial team. They’re not blameless. Miura, again, chimes in as a support team.

Sigh.

The other editor, who was previously Ageist, sees the vets as victims more than anything.

Miura stumbles on a point that requires nuance.

Miura is eager for blood and wants to turn the tables on Nanamine, no matter the complications.

Hattori asks about Kosugi’s reputation. Aida thinks it’s shot anyway at this point.

Yamahisa thinks this is all academic and pointless. Just let Nanamine do what he wants.

Goddamn it Yamahisa.

Kosugi offers to speak to Nanamine directly, but Aida wants him to hold off until the editorial team makes a decision. Yamahisa – his old scuzzy side, at least – points out that Nanamine is a golden goose who is spending a fuckload of money just to bring them good manga. It’s too good to pass up. Miura defends the honor of Jump and thinks they’re all being duped.

Sasaki and Heishi watch the meltdown quietly.

Yamahisa reminds him that Nanamine could take his process to another magazine and give them a hit. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em is his philosophy. It’s not a big deal. Miura thinks it is and seeks backup from the other.

Hattori steps in. He finds it personally distasteful. Even if they’re losing Panty Flash Fight, he thinks there are unconsidered long-term consequences: Can it really be a sustainable model for a long-term series?

Aida chimes in on another, very important, point: not everyone who tries their best can become a famous manga artist, no matter how much money is poured into it. There’s also timing and luck that play a huge role. You can’t buy that.

Yoshida also doesn’t buy this method: storyboards should be the work of one person. Yamahisa’s surprised by Yoshida’s answer; Yoshida, for once, is not a total scumbag. He prefers manga that is straight from the heart, their own completely unique effort. Yujiro doesn’t want Nanamine to be off his leash and doing whatever he wants.

Aida decides to cut the debate short and brings Kosugi to discuss Sasaki’s methods. What does the editor-in-chief have to say?

He can’t approve of this method either. Regardless of his skills as a mangaka he has serious character flaws: THANK YOU.

Yamahisa plays devil’s advocate: Does good character matter? Miura thinks so and asks Yamashia to shush.

Aida thinks that means it’s a hard no on accepting his work. Hattori freaks at that and mentions that, while he doesn’t like Nanamine’s methods, Ashirogi wants to compete against him with PCP. Takahama, Fukuda, and Aoki also wished to participate. Yamahisa thinks they should just compete in the magazine to let them butt heads over it. Yoshida laments that only Hiramaru didn’t want to compete with Nanamine in the magazine.

Sasaki asks after Eiji’s thoughts. Yujiro thinks they were strange. Eiji wouldn’t want to compete against someone who doesn’t love what they do, but he knows that Ashirogi is all about that life and wants to put up a fight. So let them fight each other.

Yamahisa continues lobbying for this showdown. The rookies will benefit from this matchup too.

It all comes down to Kosugi’s wishes: what does he want?

Kosugi relates to the team Nanamine’s earnest desire to make an amazing manga for him. That was the last he heard from him. Kosugi admits that, no matter the method, he’d still look at a storyboard an artist brought to him. Even if it’s great, they can make it even better.

Everyone thinks that’s kinda sus and Miura asks if Kosugi would really be willing to put up with all that bullshit again. Kosugi promises to put his foot down this time.

Sasaki asks Kosugi to get Nanamine on the phone, to the surprise of everyone.

Sasaki’s Favor

Kosugi calls Nanamine who was “thinking of him” and relays that the editor-in-chief wishes to speak with him. Sasaki is put on the line and Nanamine wastes no time in glazing him up.

Sasaki relays to him that he knows about Nanamine’s “interesting” method of making manga. Nanamine’s so glad that Sasaki sees the light and understands where he’s coming from. It’s all to help make more popular series.

Sasaki doesn’t give a shit how much money he’s thrown away to create the stories, the treatment of the older creators is completely unacceptable.

Fuck yeah.

That said, Sasaki will give Nanamine a chance and allow him to turn in a series storyboard so that he can make it in the top three with his one-shot.

Nanamine’s frustrated by it being a one-shot, the editors think that the top three is particularly harsh for a placement requirement. Even Yujiro says it’d be a waste to throw a way a fourth place rank. But Sasaki is unshakeable on this: if Nanamine doesn’t make it into the top three, he’ll never work for Jump again and must find another magazine to make his manga in.

Nanamine fumes: There’s no point in any other manga. He then remembers how well the one-shots with his method did and how his company’s monetary promise is fueling his co-workers to greater heights. The top three will be no problem. Nanamine agrees to the conditions and thanks Sasaki for the privilege.

Sasaki tells him to thank Ashirogi and team Fukuda for the privilege. He wouldn’t have given him this opportunity otherwise. They want to compete with him, so for their sakes, he’s letting this happen.

Mic drop.

Nanamine totally misreads this as Sasaki favoring the boys over him as a personal slight and with an ugly glare, he’s ready to win as the chapter concludes.

Expendables and Fighting Spirit

Sasaki is the best. Love him.

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate how much of a fucking unit of pure lawful good that is Sasaki, editor-in-chief.

One of my favorite things in life, not just stories, is when someone breaks character. Usually, that means that they act one way most of the time, but when the situation calls for it, they let loose, just the tiniest bit.

And Sasaki usually just quietly puts up with the nonsense that’s coming to him regularly. He’s a master of being relatively stoic, at least regarding everything that doesn’t have to do with Ashirogi (LOL).

Even when you kind of want him to express his real feelings on a situation, that would be unbecoming of a leader. It’s one of the real challenges of leadership: you can’t just let everyone know what you’re thinking because you are representative of something greater than yourself, and your words and thoughts reflect the thing you are leading as much as they are a personal feeling.

So far, Sasaki has been close-lipped about his real thoughts on things. Even when he admits wrong or sets up the stakes for an existential challenge, he does so dispassionately, restraining himself.

I had a professor in college who was similarly stoic and quiet. When you talked with him, he would rarely react or speak his true thoughts on things. So when he revealed his real thoughts, it was kind of shocking, but also pleasant and nice to see the human side.

Which is to say, I ATE THAT FINAL SPEECH THE FUCK UP.

I have been waiting for someone to take Nanamine down a peg in a way that would penetrate his thick fucking skull for about 20 chapters now. I know it’s supposed to be the guy failing of his own volition and all that shit and being his own worst enemy – which, jesus, yeah, we’ll get to that- but honestly, I’m pleased as a peach that someone he cares about – again in a transactional sense – would bitch slap him with his real thoughts.

Sasaki put some stank in that. And it’s so satisfying. Not just because it’s a figure of authority coming out to play, it’s also the one person who would truly, and really, piss off Nanamine.

And at this juncture, I want his jerk off to disappear. And it’s not because he’s not a compelling character, and it’s not because he doesn’t provide a unique challenge to the main characters as the antagonist.

Nanamine is Exhausting

There, I said it. Like, he’s chewing the scenery and he’s hamming it up with his villainy, but unlike Light, who is as fun as a morally questionable protagonist-cum-villain, Nananmine is so exaggerated in the most tiring ways that it’s not even fun when he’s an opponent.

I was initially quite excited with his appearance in his first arc because I think it’s a real signal that we’re heading into the endphases of the story – even if I didn’t know that the story was over in a little under 30 chapters, it would still be clear – and that’s through the metafiction of the dark hero character that leads into the Death Note type story.

But, just like Death Note, Nanamine has really run his course as a character. There’s very little left to do with him unless they plan to redeem him. And he’s gone so far off the deep end at this point that I don’t see how they could realistically redeem him after all the shit he’s pulled.

It’s not just that, though. He’s simultaneously insecure while charming, and his philosophy is so obviously and unambiguously flawed that, as I’ve said a few times now, his moral ambiguity rings hollow.

Like, I think the sequence with him and his ghostwriters is a great bit of character work and exemplifies all of his most interesting and worst traits quite effectively: he believes that only money is a sufficient motivator and not camaraderie, he’s capable of spin and charm for the people who don’t know him super well and he’s also capable of covering up his own nefarious behavior in a self-serving way.

And it’s effective as character work because you can see the emptiness behind all he does. You can tell that he truly believes that money and intelligence are all that matter.

It’s sad, too. He’s so committed to this that he’s willing to waste a lot of money to prove a point.

Which is also why Sasaki’s verbal smackdown was so satisfying. Because it hits Nanamine in his softest spot: his desire for recognition.

But not only that, Sasaki’s real win was cutting to the bone of what Nanamine is doing. I’ve been referring to the ghostwriters as ghostwriters because they are…ghostwriters. It’s not a new concept, nor is it particularly compelling.

But Sasaki put it so much more succinctly and pleasantly: piss money into the wind to give them a hit.

Even though I find Nanamine so thoroughly annoying and exhausting, both because of his annoying behavior and his villainous manipulation, I think the cleanest takedown of his whole shebang is that it’s not special. He’s literally just a petulant rich kid throwing money at a problem to prove that he’s the smartest, bestest boy in the room that everyone should love him.

And…he’s not. He’s just a spoiled brat throwing money at a problem in the mistaken belief that that will solve the problem. It’s wildly effective in establishing just how his “Shinjitsu” is just a thing that other artists have done since time immemorial: throw money at their art in hopes of getting a return. And believing that money is key.

It’s actually connections.

Ba dum tsss.

By the way, let’s talk a little about that editorial meeting

Poor Kosugi

So while the meeting itself was pretty entertaining and a good reminder that the editors aren’t a monolith—always worth reiterating—I was surprised by the simultaneous callousness surrounding Kosugi and some points that I think are appropriate to consider.

Again, timing is such a massive part of this whole thing. You can have the greatest idea with the best execution, and it can simply come at the wrong time for the wrong audience and flop super hard. Fundamentally, at heart, all entertainment is a crap shoot.

For example, if I had written this blog in the heyday of blogs—way back in the early 2000s—I might have gotten a higher volume of regular readers. Maybe. There are no guarantees, though.

And so I side with Aida on this one: money isn’t unimportant, but it’s also not essential to being a successful artist: making good art is the key to being a successful artist. And good art comes from the self.

So Nanamine is cooked, no matter what—discounting his status as the villain for a second—and while I found Yamahisa in peak scuzzball form this chapter and Miura to be…well, himself, for better or worse, I want to focus on Kosugi because I think that Kosugi is an interesting case study in the thing I talked about last chapter.

His personal reputation has taken a massive hit because of this association with Nanamine, and it sounds like the team is ready to consign him to sitting by the wall duty if they haven’t already.

And I think that speaks to the reality of Japanese work culture. Sure, Kosugi still works there, but he’s not doing anything significant, as far as I can tell, and he’s only dealing with Nanamine because he was his editor previously. It’s very sad, honestly. So I think the cultural frame does matter.

But it is still less clear to me that they dislike the method of churning out ghostwritten hits, if it would provide them a hit. They dislike that Nanamine abused people and caused harm, which makes sense in the real world.

But they still haven’t authoritatively ruled on whether or not the idea is a good one. I for one think it’s kind of a dumb idea that only works if you have oodles of money. Even then, it would be such a massive waste of money to make only one successful manga with it that it would border on impossible to sustain.

By that same token, I think the editorial team – if it were not so abused – would be fine with it, especially if it were on the up and up. Which, again, undercuts a significant portion of this arc’s setup.

I will say, though, that the recognition that Nanmine has existential character flaws was so satisfying to hear. And although the debate on whether creators need to be moral people is a whole other can of worms, I’m glad, in this case, he was so flawed as it pertains to the matter of creating stuff, that I think it’s nice that his flaws can’t cut the mustard

Man, that’s disappointing. But, at least we got something else of greater value:

Eiji’s Prediction and the Final Battle

So yeah, we finally know that recycling and discarding refer to the vets unambiguously, and he basically predicted the future. Again, good for him.

I guess that kinda makes sense. Honestly, what this arc really demonstrated is that some artists could benefit from being in a duo relationship with another artist rather than working solo. Specifically Azuma, who I think if he were willing to just focus on the art would probably profit considerably from the possibility.

But yeah, womp, womp. We got the answer, and it feels smaller than I anticipated in review. Although it’s undoubtedly the lynchpin of Nanamine’s downfall—he’s going down in an earlier round (but not early enough)—I probably placed a little too much emphasis on it.

However, it did lead to one of my favorite sight gags of the series: all of Team Fukuda sleep deprived and furious. These goobers are just too adorable when they’re overworked and exhausted. If it weren’t so brutal, it would be even more charming.

And, at the risk of pointing out the obvious, we now have the contractually obligated final manga battle between Nanamine and the others. While Nanamine’s loss is not a matter of debate, at least not to me, how he loses will be particularly interesting.

Will Azuma be involved? Azuma spent most of this chapter being a bit of a sad sack who has lost faith in himself, but he’s still an active player in the final battle, so it’s really hard to say whether he’ll play a role in it.

But of course, team Fukuda is going to join the fray to take Nanamine down with their righteous rag. Eiji is out of the game for the time being, so he won’t be involved.

This means that, in all likelihood, the boys will beat Nanamine into the dirt.

I know that Nananmine’s method is “perfect” and will have to reflect his sense of being the villain. So he’s sure to have the boys on their back feet.

But I don’t know who will ultimately win, other than Nanamine, who is obviously going to lose. Maybe I should leave it there.

Maybe Azuma will win, but I don’t know how, especially since he doesn’t have any content being worked on and has recognized, to some degree, maturely, that he doesn’t have the mettle for manga making.

I didn’t even mention the boys in this chapter, but again, they were sidelined in favor of the other characters. I guess the big thing was that Saiko was extra cool in the opening battle with Nanamine, and his defense of Azuma was great. I was also amused by the fact that he’d want Nanamine to get a series just to get him fucked over again.

I also didn’t comment on it, but it’s clear that the guilt was too much for Arai and Nangoku, so this whole scheme was destined to fail. Not accounting for Nanmine being a fucking moron.

But I guess we’ll see how the boys deal with this final battle in the next chapter.

Let’s hope it’s something satisfying and we round out this arc in a good way.

Until next time

Peace