Live Action Bakuman Movie Coming in 2015

Yes, I know that we're all desperately awaiting news of the Death Note movie, but in the meantime there's this.

Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's second collaboration Bakuman is being dramatised for the silver screen. It will appear in 2015.

Bakuman is the semi-autobiographical story of two Japanese school-boys trying to make it in the world of manga creators. Ohba and Obata undoubtedly pooled their own experiences into making it as realistic as possible.

Takeshi Obata will be personally involved in the Bakuman film, as a consultant staff member. No word as yet whether Ohba will also be on board.

It will be directed by Hitoshi Oune, known for the movies Moteki, Koi no Uzu and The Vortex of Love.

Already cast in the title roles are Takeru Satoh (Mashiro Moritaka, aka Takeshi Obata in disguise) and Ryunosuke Kamiki (Akito Takagi, aka a very good manga writer like, for example, erm, Tsugumi Ohba).

The actors have already co-starred in the upcoming film Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika-hen (Eng: Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno) another manga movie adaption. Their roles are, respectively, Kenshin Himura and Sōjirō Seta. Which should be deliciously confusing, when both films are out!

Bakuman., Vol. 1

Bakuman., Vol. 2

Bakuman: First Issue Anime DVD

Bakuman: Second Draft Anime DVD

Bakuman follows the fortunes of Mashiro, a talented teen artist determined to make it as a mangaka. He co-opts his classmate Ryunosuke to write the stories.

Together they traverse the roller-coaster journey involved in breaking into the tough manga industry. While most definitely a story, with plot-lines and all, the manga also serves as a kind of career guide, for people seeking to follow in their footsteps.

Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata began their collaboration on Bakuman in 2008, two years after Death Note was over. It ran for 176 weeks, with chapters serialised in Weekly Shonen Jump, ending in April 2012. Bakuman has already spawned an anime adaptation, which was aired between 2010-2013.

Is anyone excited about this? Personally I'm quite meh about it.

Back in the day, I rushed to grab the first of the twenty volume paperback Bakuman manga. I thought I'd be reading something akin to Death Note. I only made it as far as the third installment in the collection before giving up.

It wasn't that the story was bad. Quite the opposite, as would be expected by this pairing. But it certainly wasn't Death Note, and the overt sexism burned.

Nevertheless, my teenage nephew read on to the end with all signs of enjoyment.  I guess that I wasn't the target audience.  How about you?