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A review by thekarpuk
Bakuman, Vol. 19 by Tsugumi Ohba
4.0
Wikipedia references a critic who called the first volume of this series sexist. I mulled over it and realized that the critic may have unwittingly criticized Japanese culture when he thought he was just criticizing a comic.
Volume 19 has a plot thread involving the scandal of a voice actress having a secret boyfriend. Super unfair? Certainly. Sexist? Most definitely. But this is not Ohba's invention by any stretch. From what limited understanding I've gained on the topic, it seems like young Japanese women in entertainment are supposed to reflect a ridiculously chaste persona, and do sometimes have secret relationships that their publicity people keep hushed up.
Bakuman has consistently made me shake my head at the weird nature of the Japanese entertainment system, and through the blur of culture I can't tell if it's intended as criticism, or merely an exploration. That's sometimes the awkward thing about consuming Japanese media, I can't always tell what the creator actually thinks on the matter.
Still, these books are more fun than they have any right to be considering how mundane the industry their talking about actually is.
Volume 19 has a plot thread involving the scandal of a voice actress having a secret boyfriend. Super unfair? Certainly. Sexist? Most definitely. But this is not Ohba's invention by any stretch. From what limited understanding I've gained on the topic, it seems like young Japanese women in entertainment are supposed to reflect a ridiculously chaste persona, and do sometimes have secret relationships that their publicity people keep hushed up.
Bakuman has consistently made me shake my head at the weird nature of the Japanese entertainment system, and through the blur of culture I can't tell if it's intended as criticism, or merely an exploration. That's sometimes the awkward thing about consuming Japanese media, I can't always tell what the creator actually thinks on the matter.
Still, these books are more fun than they have any right to be considering how mundane the industry their talking about actually is.