Shonen Beam

[scanlation by Binktopia]

Mashiro may be right in saying that the tactic of having Crow in +Natural isn’t unfair, but Takagi is entirely justified in feeling upset. This has seriously muddled the rivalry.

This is a ton of dialogue. When the artist has to use character icons this often to help the flow of speech, perhaps a more concise rewrite of the script is in order.

Maybe Miura hasn’t learned and evolved as much as we previously thought. Here he is getting ahead of himself again.

I've got it! I'll crystallize my hair!

This is quite an unusual and excessive amount of time being spent discussing the difference between places in the table of contents. As could be reasonably assumed given that I run this kind of website, I’m a fan of such detailed nerdery, but I’m aware that I’m decisively in the minority. Discussion over which votes to aim for is a little esoteric for a shonen audience. This could be done with deliberate irony, contrasting PCP’s dilemma with the real-life trouble faced by a series as alternative as Bakuman, but it’s still a bit lengthy and awkward. Focusing on specific storyline elements to use in PCP would be easier to understand.

There’s further irony to be found in how dialogue-heavy this chapter continues to be, as the characters are discussing… the acceptability of dialogue-heavy shonen.

"Dialogue-heavy" doesn't begin to cover it

A decently long arc by chapter 25 seems almost mandatory. I can’t imagine being engaged by a series of that length that hasn’t attempted at least one full-length arc.

Hattori’s speech about Ashirogi “surpassing their editor” is yet another sign of the series being closer to its end than its beginning. Certainly, it won’t be wrapping up immediately, or even within a few months, but clearing this hurdle eliminates a major obstacle between now and the end of Bakuman.

Final Flash: Enjoyable chapter, but the sheer volume of dialogue prevents it from being as interesting or impactful as previous chapters.