Bakuman

Mashiro and Takagi have gotten their series, but they're in for a shock when Hattori is replaced by a new editor, Mr. Miura. The boys also attend the Shonen Jack New Year's party and meet Kazuya Hiramaru, a different kind of genius from Eiji.

Azuki's talent agency pressures her to appear in a racy photo shoot, saying it will be vital for her career. Realizing something is wrong, Moritaka abandons his work in the face of an urgent deadline to go see her.

Mashiro and Takagi become worried when they hear the early results for Detective TRAP. Meanwhile, when Aoki decides to team up with KOOGY, Nakai resolves to prove to her how hard he'll work in order to be a team again.

When TRAP gets a middling ranking in the surveys, Mashiro and Takagi start to think their new series might be in danger of being canceled. At the serialization meeting, Fukuda, Aoki and Nakai are up for getting new series of their own.

Miura wants Mashiro and Takagi to try to improve TRAP's ranking, and Kiyoshi Knight and Hideout Door begin. TRAP finally starts to become more popular, even going neck and neck with CROW in the surveys, when something worrisome happens to Mashiro.

When the editorial office puts their series on hiatus, the boys resist with everything they've got. Sasaki visits Mashiro in the hospital to talk but is confronted by Kayoko. Meanwhile, Fukuda comes up with a secret plan to help out.

Mashiro and Takagi find out about Team Fukuda's strike and call a meeting. Later, the two bring the final drafts they completed in the hospital to Sasaki, who has an important decision to make.

Mashiro is back in school and back at work, but some things have changed since he was hospitalized. The boys also receive letters from fans hoping for their return but are later informed that TRAP is in danger of being canceled.

Miura suggests that Muto Ashirogi do a gag manga for their next series, but the boys don't feel it's the right direction. As they try to figure out how to balance Miura's desires and their own, the boys come up with an idea that's sure to cause an uproar in the editorial office.

Future Watch gets high marks at the committee meeting, but Miura keeps the results secret so they can focus on their other storyboard. When the two stories are run back-to-back as one-shots, it all comes down to the rankings.

When Future Watch places a bit better than TEN, Miura dives into the data to support his direction. As he tries to convince the boys, he says something that he quickly regrets!

Aoki is told to figure out how boys think for her next manga, while Takagi is thinking about animals for his next series. Running into each other at the zoo, they make an agreement to share opinions, but the next time they meet someone unexpected appears.

The boys are working hard to create their new gag manga when Takagi notices that Miyoshi hasn't been coming by the studio. When he calls to find out why, he's in for a surprise that only gets bigger when he reads Aoki's new work.

The fight between Takagi and Miyoshi spreads to Mashiro and Azuki. Meanwhile, Aoki meets with Nakai to see about teaming up again. Later, Takagi tries to meet up with Miyoshi to explain himself, only to have his plan dramatically backfire.

Hoping Ishizawa can help her understand what boys want, Aoki is introduced to him, despite Mashiro and Takagi's reluctance. Hattori takes a meeting with none other than Iwase, who wants to start writing comics. Later, the boys' manga and Aoki's both get reviewed by the editors.

A lot of changes happen at the serialization meeting for Muto Ashirogi, Aoki, Nakai and Takahama. Meanwhile, Iwase produces a spectacular story, and Hattori comes up with a secret plan for it.

The rivalry between Takagi and Iwase is rekindled both personally and professionally as Tanto and +Natural are evaluated at the serialization meeting. When the truth comes out about the artist for +Natural, though, the editorial office is thrown into chaos.

Akito visits Miyoshi's parents to ask them about the marriage and discovers a link to Mashiro's uncle, Taro Kawaguchi. +Natural and Tanto start a week apart, so the boys are anxious to see how the two compare.

Though Takagi is wracking his brain for jokes, Mashiro learns that Niizuma no longer reads Tanto. At Takagi's wedding, Mashiro approaches Hattori for advice but only makes up his mind about what to do when his "rival" appears on TV.

Mashiro and Takagi, with Miura's help, come up with ideas for new storyboards to submit for the upcoming serialization meetings. Later, they learn that a certain someone was trying to help them all along.

Hattori fires the boys up with a new direction, encouraging them not to let their premise overshadow their story. Later, the two decide to follow Hattori around for a day and in the process hit on a "perfect" idea for a new manga.

After reading the storyboard for Perfect Crime Club, Miura is thrilled and has the boys create more for the serialization meeting. It's the best work the boys have done yet, but in order for it to be published, it has to be able to beat CROW and +Natural.

The serialization committee reconsiders their vote on Perfect Crime Club, but Sasaki believes that it will never beat CROW or +Natural. Meanwhile, Miura becomes the editor for +Natural, and Muto Ashirogi gets a new editor.

Muto Ashirogi begins working with a new methodology and revamps their series, even giving it a new name and hero. The manga then goes to print, though it is up against a one-shot from Fukuda besides CROW and +Natural.