Television series

Bakuman

Name: Bakuman
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Anime
Released: 2010
Cast: Satoshi Hino, Atsushi Abe, Saori Hayami, Sayuri Yahagi, Ayumi Fujimura

Coming-of-age

Bakuman follows two high school boys chasing their dream of becoming manga artists, racing against time and rival creators to get serialized in Japan's most prestigious magazine. It's a love letter to creative ambition itself—how ideas get made, how failure teaches you, how your best work comes from genuine stakes. For anyone who's ever wanted to make something that matters.

TVMaze rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love stories about craft and ambition, where the pleasure is watching two obsessive teenagers grind through deadlines, rejections and rival artists until their work finally gets good, much like the workplace drama of Chihayafuru.

Skip it if you want a show that moves fast or keeps its stakes high from episode to episode, since much of it is talk about pitches, sales numbers and drafts that can feel repetitive over 75 episodes.

What it asks of you: It asks for a long commitment, roughly 75 episodes of about 25 minutes each, with a patient rhythm that lingers on process and rewards you for staying with the characters.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Haikyuu!!2014

A sports anime that captures the same hunger—teammates pushing each other toward a singular goal, small victories that feel earned, the joy of mastery. Every match matters because the characters care with their whole hearts.

But If sports anime leave you cold, the volleyball is window dressing. It's really about the grind, and if that doesn't move you, neither will this.

Shirobako2014

Follows young animators trying to make it in the industry. Same DNA as Bakuman—the creative struggle, the industry politics, colleagues becoming friends. It's tender and funny about how hard it is to make beautiful things.

But Slower than Bakuman, less melodrama. If you need constant plot momentum, it meanders. And anime industry knowledge helps but isn't required.

Death Note2006

Another anime about young people in intellectual contest, both trying to outwit each other. Fast, addictive, stratospheric stakes. The cat-and-mouse dynamic has real bite.

But Tonally completely different—darker, colder. The warmth of friendship in Bakuman is replaced by manipulation. And it loses steam halfway through.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Bakuman

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Bakugan: Battle Planet2018

Same competitive DNA, same joy in the grind of getting better. Bakuman asked 'what if we treated manga like sport?'—this asks the inverse and discovers the same thing.

A children's anime about kids playing a trading card game competitively. Genuinely well-constructed tournament arcs, character growth, and (unlike most kids' anime) the adults aren't idiots. The stakes feel real even in a silly medium.

But It's made for children, and it doesn't pretend otherwise. The drama is smaller, the register is lighter. If you need adult stakes, this won't feel weighty enough.

Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei2010

College student tries on different lives looking for the perfect one. Kinetic, stylish, and funny. About ambition, friendship, and how you can't outsmart your own heart. Aired the same year as Bakuman and asks similar questions.

But The animation style is aggressively weird and won't slow down for you. If you need traditional anime prettiness, this is the opposite.

Мажор2014

From Fullmetal Alchemist's creator. Students at agricultural school learning who they are and what they want. Smaller stakes than Bakuman but the same warmth and humor, and genuine growth.

But Pacing can feel slack. High school slice-of-life in a rural setting won't appeal if you're looking for plot urgency.

Chihayafuru2011

Three friends devoted to competitive poetry. Stunning animation, the same intensity of rivalry and camaraderie, and a protagonist whose single-minded passion is genuinely inspiring. Romance, too, but not sentimental.

But The sport is Japanese competitive poetry—if that sounds niche, it is. And it's slower than Bakuman, more reflective.

March comes in like a lion2016

Professional shogi player trying to find his place in the world after terrible loss. Melancholic where Bakuman is bright, but the same focus on mastery and the people who matter. Visually stunning.

But Much darker. If you're watching Bakuman for the optimism, this will feel like the inverse. Also structurally complex in ways that can be confusing.

Carole & Tuesday2019

Two girls on Mars become musicians and chase a dream together. The passion and grit are there, and it's sincere about how art gets made. Colorful, fun, unironic about ambition.

But The ending is messier than Bakuman's clarity. And if you're not into the aesthetic—very 80s, very synth—it can feel thin.

Perfect Blue1998

Both are about the price of being seen. Bakuman celebrates it; Perfect Blue tears it apart. Watch them together and you understand what you're really asking for when you chase fame.

A pop idol quits to pursue acting and descends into obsession and terror. Satoshi Kon's masterpiece is about ambition's dark side—the cost of visibility, parasocial terror, loss of self. Technical marvel and genuinely unsettling.

But It's brutal and sometimes hard to follow. Nothing like Bakuman's warmth. If you watch for comfort, this is the opposite—it will unsettle you and earn it.