Summary Key Points:

[spoiler]

• Saiko struggles with mastering the G-Pen for use in inking their eventual manga
• The boys learn of Nizuma Eji, the middle school prodigy mangaka, who’s already won the Rookie Award in Shounen Jump
• Saiko and Miho have an encounter

[/spoiler]

Opinions: (B)

This was definitely a bit of a slow episode, and I really did feel like the whole Azuki/Saiko romance thing is getting a bit too much emphasis at this point. I mean, I really do like said couple, but I really am wishing that the plot begin to move towards their first manga project. In the manga, the romance is definitely a part of Bakuman, but its just that, a part, a nice change of pace from how focused Shujin and Saiko are at making manga.

That gripe aside, this was a decent episode. The whole part with the G-Pen gives us a look into how manga is inked over in Japan, and how difficult it can be. Saiko is struggling quite a bit with it, but you gotta admire the guy’s drive and determination for getting good.

Shujin and Saiko also learn of Nizuma Eji, who’s only been briefly mentioned here. Eji, for those who have read the manga, becomes a very prominent and very interesting character in the series later on.

The final part with Azuki and Saiko was a bit cute, but I really do think it was a bit over emphasized. Overall, I think this episode had a few pacing issues, and there just wasn’t enough interesting content for the viewer to enjoy.

Every series has a slow episode though, and while I may gripe on that, it still was far from dull or boring. I do hope they amp up the pace a bit though XD

Preview:

No preview since this was a double Episode review. The evil beast called College had me preoccupied, so I missed covering this episode last week XD