Bakuman: Volume 5: Yearbook and Photobook

by Tsugumi Ohba (story) and Takeshi Obata (art), 188 pages

The boys have gotten their own series, but now the work really begins. They need contracts, they need assistants, and, hardest of all, they need to get used to working with a new editor. Regular popularity poll rankings determine whether a series stays or goes, so should the kids change their story to boost the numbers or stick to their guns and let their fan-base grow?

I love this series more with each volume. The window into the manga publishing world is fascinating. The fact that the creators got the OK to use real names and faces in the business (companies, editors, creators, series) just adds to the believability of it and lets you appreciate the fun extremes they go to with some of the characters' personalities.