The "Inside Baseball" segments - about the creation of the story and how manga gets made and published are still some of the best parts of this series. However, I really don't feel like Ohba's particularly good at writing female characters. ( )

I was tensed on the edge of my seat with this one. All the work put into this is awesome. It is killer to see such great work. ( )

I was tensed on the edge of my seat with this one. All the work put into this is awesome. It is killer to see such great work. ( )

A good solid volume with lots of development. I like Shuujin's rather strange relationship with Kaya, a mixture of attraction, companionship and competitiveness - it has some verisimilitude to it that reminds me of schoolfriends' relationships that often left me puzzled. In truth, it's vastly more interesting than Mashiro and Miho's far weirder relationship built on lofty ideals.

There's lots of insight into the industry in this volume, which can get a bit heavy. It nicely showcases the challenges of even trying to get into manga, and how this emotional rollercoaster grows even more exaggerated in the hands of idealistic teenagers with unrealistic ambitions. ( )

Ehh...as a mental exercise it must have been a fun idea to make a battle manga out of doing manga, but considering that I don't really care about battle manga, I'm not so enthusiastic. Especially since I can't see any good in the goal of selling out as soon as possible.

Getting an inside view to the inner workings of the manga industry is the part that interests me here, now if they would only dump the characters and the plot.

I might pick up the next book if I'm bored enough, or I might not.