Bakuman

is a 2015 Japanese coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Hitoshi Ōne, based on the manga of the same name by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. It tells the story of two Japanese high school students who attempt to break into the competitive world of manga. The film was produced by Minami Ichikawa, with music by the band Sakanaction, and distributed by Toho. It stars Takeru Satoh, Ryūnosuke Kamiki, Shota Sometani, Nana Komatsu, Kenta Kiritani, and Hirofumi Arai. Bakuman opened at number one at the Japanese box office on October 3, 2015, and has grossed over $13 million. It was nominated for several awards, winning Best Picture at the 25th Japanese Professional Movie Awards. It also earned Ōne Best Director at the 35th Japanese Movie Critics Awards and Yasuyuki Ōzeki the Japan Academy Prize for Best Film Editing. Plot High school classmates Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi, one an illustrator, the other a writer, decide to team up to create a successful manga series. Moritaka desires to impress his crush, Miho Azuki, with whom he makes a promise to have voice a character in the anime adaptation of one of his works and marry once he has a successful manga. Mashiro and Takagi successfully pitch a manga to Weekly Shōnen Jump, the biggest manga magazine in Japan, which wins second place at the Tezuka Awards. The two make friends with Shinta Fukuda, Kazuya Hiramaru, and Takuro Nakai, three manga creators who also entered the competition. But, it is fellow high school student Eiji Nizuma who bests them in the competition and becomes their rival. Shortly following the other four, Mashiro and Takagi eventually get serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump. Under the wing of their editor Akira Hattori, the two vow to beat Eiji and be the first to get to the top spot in the magazine's readers' ranking. When Mashiro has a health issue, Weekly Shōnen Jump editor-in-chief Sasaki decides to put their manga on hiatus until they graduate. However, with the help of their friends, Mashiro and Takagi create a chapter that not only has Sasaki change his mind, but also reaches number one in the rankings. However, their manga is cancelled shortly after. The film ends on Mashiro and Takagi's last day of high school, with the two enthusiastically discussing plans for their next manga.