Bakuman.

As a boy, Moritaka Mashiro wanted to follow in the footsteps of his uncle and childhood idol, Tarou Kawaguchi, the mind behind a hit gag manga. After a personal tragedy, he abandons that ambition and spends his middle school years focused on academics, planning for a steady salaryman future instead.

Everything shifts when Akito Takagi—his brilliant classmate and an aspiring writer—spots Moritaka’s impressive sketches and urges him to team up. Drawn back toward the world of manga, Moritaka finds extra motivation in his feelings for Miho Azuki: if he can help create a successful title, he hopes she’ll someday voice a character in its anime adaptation. Together, they begin chasing publication under the pen name Muto Ashirogi, aiming to rise to the top of Japan’s manga scene.