Carlo Santos of Anime News Network praised the conflicting viewpoints of the protagonists and was surprised that the series succeeds , not only as a manga about manga , but as a slice-of-life story about the dreams of youth . However , Santos remarked that the series could learn from Ohba and Obata 's previous serial '' Death Note '' ; commenting that the beginning is not as gripping and the plot twists are " pretty weak " and " seem like petty contrivances . " Despite this , he believes that the series is " another hit . " Christopher Butcher reviewing volume one for About.com had strong praise for the art , calling it " quite possibly the best-drawn manga out today . " He also enjoyed the behind-the-scenes information on the manga industry . Like Thompson , Butcher did state that while he enjoyed it , he has reservations about recommending '' Bakuman . '' because it is " horribly sexist . " The film was number-one at the Japanese box office on its opening weekend , with . It earned during the October 18 weekend . At the 39th Japan Academy Prize awards , its editor Yasuyuki Ōzeki won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Film Editing award , while Sakanaction 's '' Motion Music of Bakuman '' won the Outstanding Achievement in Music award . The film was also one of two releases that won the Popularity award , alongside '' Maku ga Agaru '' . Matt Schley of '' Otaku USA '' wrote that '' Bakuman . '' is " a real celebration of and testament to the unique power of Japan 's comics culture " and the best live-action manga adaptation he 's seen this year . '' Kotaku '' s Toshi Nakamura also suggested that it is possibly the best live-action manga adaptation he 's seen . However , he said the motivational romance between Mashiro and Azuki was " surprisingly inconsequential " and boring . Mark Schilling for '' The Japan Times '' gave the film four out of five stars , with strong praise for director and screenwriter Hitoshi Ōne
39th Japan Academy Prize
39th Japan Academy Prize
Bakuman