
Some thing, or rather many things, or rather everything, about Bakuman makes it seem like it’s from another era of anime. I can’t speak for the feel of the manga, but I know what I see when I turn this show on each week. I see a flashback to the 90s!
What first alerted me to this other-time feeling in Bakuman was the opening song. “Blue Bird”‘s lilting quality and sweet sound strikes me as unexpected for this shonen series. The character designs, especially Miho, the female lead, and her mother feel very much informed by Masakazu Katsura of Video Girl Ai fame (which also ran in Weekly Shonen Jump). In any case, they aren’t pulling from what is a modern and currently popular aesthetic. More than anything else though, it is the hopeful, sweet, and endearing pursuit of their dreams (and loves) that makes Bakuman seem nostalgic.

