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|Gender = Female |
|Gender = Female |
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|Age = 14 (Introduction) |
|Age = 14 (Introduction) |
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| − | |Age 2 = 24 ( |
+ | |Age 2 = 24 (end) |
|Status = Alive |
|Status = Alive |
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|Date of Birth = May 8, 1993 |
|Date of Birth = May 8, 1993 |
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|Seiyu = [[wikipedia:Ayumi Fujimura|Ayumi Fujimura]] |
|Seiyu = [[wikipedia:Ayumi Fujimura|Ayumi Fujimura]] |
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|English Voice Actor = [[wikipedia:Veronica Taylor|Veronica Taylor]] |
|English Voice Actor = [[wikipedia:Veronica Taylor|Veronica Taylor]] |
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| + | French voice actor : Camille Donda |
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| − | |Manga Debut = [[Dumb and Smart|Chapter 2]] |
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| − | | |
+ | |Manga Debut = [[Chapter 2]] |
| + | |Anime Debut = [[Episode 2]] |
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| ⚫ | |Partner=Eiji Niizuma (+Natural)|Height=164 cm|Weight=57 kg|Aliases=Aiko Akina|Family=Unnamed father|Family 2=Unnamed mother|Family 3=Unnamed younger sister|Blood Type=A+|Age 3=30(current)}}'''Aiko Iwase''' (岩瀬 愛子, ''Iwase Aiko'') was a classmate of [[Moritaka Mashiro]] and [[Akito Takagi]] during Jr. High. When she appeared with [[Miyoshi Kaya]] at Takagi's house after his suspension, she revealed that she liked him, but didn't want him to be a mangaka. She reappears in chapter 60 as a student at ''To-oh University'' along with [[Yuriko Aoki|Ko Aoki]]. She competed against [[Ashirogi Muto]] with her first manga, [[+Natural]]. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | '''Aiko Iwase''' was a classmate of [[Mashiro]] and [[Takagi]] during Jr. High. When she appeared with [[Miyoshi Kaya]] at Takagi's house after his suspension, she revealed that she liked him, but didn't want him to be a mangaka. She reappears in chapter 60 as a student at ''To-oh University'' along with [[Yuriko Aoki|Ko Aoki]]. She |
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| + | Iwase has short black hair with a small flip at the bottom and considered to be very beautiful. She's really feminine and often wears elegant outfits, however she also wears more casual clothes. |
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| − | == |
+ | == Personality == |
| − | Iwase is an academic achiever in school. She's difficult to get along with |
+ | Iwase is an intelligent girl who was an academic achiever in school. She's difficult to get along with due to her strict and high-standard nature thus she leads a rather lonely life. Strong-willed and dutiful, Iwase works hard and stays focused on her goals. |
| ⚫ | |||
| − | She took notice of [[Takagi]] during their middle school days as the only person that managed to out-rank and out-score her in academic performance. For her, giving out a simple hand-shake was a huge deal, as it meant a physical sign of respect and even going out together. However, she was so subtle to Takagi that she entirely missed the chance to properly convey her feelings. Her occasional mouth of challenge to Takagi only suggested to him to maintain this one-sided rivalry, but in reality, she was encouraging him in her subtle romantic intentions. |
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| + | Pride is what defines the character of Aiko Iwase in Bakuman. She doesn’t take losing very lightly. After noticing that Takagi had overtaking her in the school rankings, she confronts him but not with any animosity towards him. She instead wished for them to encourage each other. From that day onward, she viewed Takagi as her rival but also someone she had feelings for. |
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| + | She admired how talented he was when it came to academics, that’s why she was highly disappointed when he chose to pursue manga. To her, Takagi was throwing away his immense talent and wasting it on something trivial and childish, a decision she tells him that he’ll regret for the rest of his life. However, he smiles and tells her that she can laugh at him if he does fail to which she responds she couldn’t. Iwase was ignorant to the idea of passion and pursuing something you love as opposed to following a set path. |
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| − | Things started to change when she realized Takagi dropped in his school ranking and even stopped caring about his scores. In a unexpected confrontation between Takagi and Miyoshi, it was only then that he realized her feelings. When he was pressed to choose between her and Miyoshi, Takagi made it clear he's focused on being a mangaka more than romance. When Iwase wanted Takagi to not pursue his ambitions to continue their academic rivalry, to her surprise, he's happy with his life choice and intends to attend North Yakusa High (a less challenging school) for the sake of working close with Mashiro. Disappointed and saddened, she left Takagi alone, but she never gave up on him. |
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| + | At university, Iwase continues to question why manga was so important to him as shown when she asks Ko Aoki why she chose to write manga. Aoki gives a similar answer as Takagi; saying she loves Manga, and agrees on setting up a meeting for these two as Iwase wants to show him what she’s become. |
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| − | Iwase worked in publishing to prove her literary works are superior to Takagi, unfortunately, it was another unofficial rivalry that he didn't realize until they were reunited again during their college years. Upon their first meet, she started a debate about literature superiority; between manga, literary ability, and success, she revealed a more competitive immature side of her. Because of her pride and ego, she's still affected by Takagi's choice as a manga artist and choosing Miyoshi over her. To prove her superiority, Iwase decided to venture into becoming a mangaka herself; she wrote [[+Natural]] and had [[Eiji Niizuma]] draw the art. This created a renewed one-sided rivalry with Takagi with her manga, but it was also her unusual attempt to convince Takagi she's the better woman to him in career and love. Unfortunately, her means to gain Takagi's attention failed as Takagi chose to marry Miyoshi. With her chances with Takagi gone, both Takagi and Iwase agreed to continue working hard with their mangas as colleagues in the field. |
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| + | When they meet, Iwase offers him her first published novel and tells him he should be capable of writing novels as well and that he’s still wasting his potential on manga. Takagi refuses and tells her novels and manga shouldn’t be compared because both of them have been created by hard working people. While novels have their own audience, manga is also capable of reaching millions of people and thus entertain those millions. This reason alone gives manga meaning. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | This time, instead of walking away, Iwase decided to write manga as well. While she still acknowledges Takagi’s talent, what was once admiration became an inferiority complex. She wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with him yet she’s under the impression that no matter what she does, Takagi would just brush it off as nothing special, not to mention her romantic feelings towards him still exist and play a significant in feeding this inferiority complex. |
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| − | Although she started to have romantic feelings towards Eij Nizuma, who is doing the art for her manga. When Eiji acknowledged that she was talented, led Yujiro to worry and try tell him to take it easy. Eiji reassured Yujiro that he is a very talented boy that why he writes Shonen manga. |
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| + | Takagi tells Iwase he would acknowledge her if she’s able to be serialized but only for her skill, he’s still going to marry Miyoshi. She tells him she won’t accept their marriage and provokes him by saying that if he does worse and still gets married, then she’ll still be able to keep her pride. When this does eventually happen with her debut manga +Natural, Takagi is forced to feed her ego. At this point, we can wonder if her love hasn’t actually turned into an obsession created by her ego because he rejected her. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | |||
| − | Iwase has short black hair with a small flip at the bottom. When she reappears later in the story, she has her hair cut slightly shorter, though it still has the same shape. She is considered to be very beautiful by many people, including Hattori, herself and Miura. |
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| + | Despite how prideful Iwase is, there’s a moment where you get to question her sense of pride; when she goes through the list of candidates to play the heroine for her anime, she comes across Miho Azuki, Mashiro’s girlfriend, and is then determined to have her play the heroine in attempts to crush her rival’s dreams. This shows how low she’s willing to beat Takagi. After all, it was manga that took away the Takagi who had talent. |
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| + | |||
| + | However, this all changes when she learns about the condition revolving around PCP; if PCP is unable to go head to head with Crow or +Natural by their 25th chapter then the series will get cancelled. This moment showed a side of Iwase that we didn’t know she had; compassion, albeit not in the traditional sense but compassion nonetheless. |
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| + | |||
| + | It’s true that she wanted to beat Takagi but she didn’t want just to win because their manga got cancelled. She also realizes that exploiting any little advantage she could get her hands on wouldn’t feel right either and tells Takagi that from now on, she will compete fair and square. Deep down, she enjoys competing with him and tells him that if he loses then it would be a proof of his lack of talent. Takagi takes this to heart and thanks her by giving her the acknowledgement she wanted for years. |
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| + | |||
| + | A few years since +Natural is published, Iwase gets news that the latest chapter has dropped to 15th place. If it wasn’t for Niizuma doing the art, the manga would have been cancelled long ago. With her editor being passive to suggestions and Niizuma no longer finding enjoyment from the story, she begins to lose confidence in her work as there’s a much bigger gap between her and Takagi. This amplifies when she overhears a group talking about how boring +Natural has gotten. Out of desperation, she tries to call Takagi but doesn't due to her pride. Calling Takagi would make everything she told him earlier all for naught. How humiliating would it be to have to ask her rival for help, someone who finally acknowledged her as his equal. She felt like Takagi, Niizuma, her editor, no one needed her anymore. |
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| + | |||
| + | When Takagi hears that Iwase has stopped writing, Mashiro decides to talk to her and tells her that if she wants to quit then she should do so. However, he lets her know that Takagi still views her as his greatest rival. Once she opens the door, fellow manga artists from team Fukuda welcome her with open arms. For the first time we see her break out of her bubble but she still stays true to herself and refuses to face them. However this time, maybe something has changed in her. Perhaps this is the moment when she discovers the answer to the question she had from the very beginning; why manga? |
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==History== |
==History== |
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===Beginnings=== |
===Beginnings=== |
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| − | Iwase was born on May 8, 1993, in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saitama_Prefecture Saitama-ken], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan Japan]. Her past is unknown, however, it seems there are elements within her past that motivated her to be a highly competitive person. |
+ | Iwase was born on May 8, 1993, in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saitama_Prefecture Saitama-ken], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan Japan]. Her past is unknown, however, it seems there are elements within her past that motivated her to be a highly competitive person. |
| − | == |
+ | == +Natural == |
| + | '''+Natural''' is a popular serialized [[manga]] created by [[Aiko Iwase]] and [[Eiji Niizuma]]. Because of its popularity, it became an [[Anime]]. After Hattori received the final script from Iwase. he suggested to [[Yujiro]] that they let Eiji draw it, because it would get [[Muto Ashirogi]] fired up to beat it. Being both rivals to [[Ashirogi Muto]], the two successfully published +Natural and it became Jump's new top manga. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| − | One day, while checking her school-ranking, she was surprised that someone out-ranked her in academic performance. Upon learning it was Takagi, she took romantic interest in him as she saw him as the only one that can challenge her. Unfortunately, Iwase is a poor communicator and couldn't successfully convey her feelings to Takagi. In her own personal logic and methods, she went up to Takagi and congratulated him with a ''Let's do our best''-handshake; she at best left Takagi feeling confused as he never understood her reasons for approaching him and the handshake as a romantic gesture. To her, it actually signified the beginning of their romance and even "seeing one another." However, things got complicated after a series of events between [[Miyoshi Kaya]] and [[Moritaka Mashiro]] (both classmates). |
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| + | Eiji was happy to draw the series, and said that he liked the story a lot and that he could handle drawing two series at once. However, in Chapter 134 Eiji says that +Natural's story is getting boring, evidenced by its decrease to 15th place. Eiji states it is due to its repeated plot of enemies being beaten down by the main characters. As the manga veers on the edge of cancellation, Iwase becomes depressed and is unable to write the next plot, but with encouragement from Takagi, Mashiro and the rest of team Fukada, she is able to get back up and continue writing. In Chapter 149, [[Miura]] reveals that +Natural has moved from 16th place to 9th place. It's because of this popularity boost that it is featured on the Jump cover that Eiji's new series, [[Zombie Gun]], was featured in. |
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| − | ====Takagi's Suspension & Love Confrontation==== |
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| − | Iwase continued her egotistical and one-sided rivalry with Takagi, however, things began to change when he befriended fellow classmate [[Moritaka Mashiro]]. She noticed the two are together often and didn't think much of it until his grade-ranking dropped. At first, she thought she was just being on top, but realized it was something else after Takagi got suspended for punching out fellow classmate [[Hidemitsu Ishizawa]]. |
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| + | '''Characters''' |
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| − | After Takagi's suspension, she decided to go visit him to see if he's alright. Unfortunately, Iwase was surprised to see Miyoshi at his apartment as well. The two talked and was surprised to find out Takagi was two-timing them as both claimed to be involved with him. Shocked to know there's even a relationship with either two, the situation remained tense until Mashiro made his badly-timed appearance. Both Miyoshi and Iwase awaited for Takagi's decision on choosing one of them to date. However, Takagi responded by saying everything is a misunderstanding. Takagi explained he never made any real romantic intentions to either of them, especially from a mere handshake from Iwase. While he didn't turn down either girls, he explained he's currently focused on developing a manga with Mashiro and that it would be difficult to find time to date either them; he hoped the explanation would be enough to turn both away. However, Iwase sealed her fate when she forced the issue. |
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| + | * Manabu is the main character. |
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| − | Iwase demanded to know does Takagi like or hate her and he said he liked her more than hate. However, not wanting to offend Miyoshi, he also said the same thing to her as well, causing anger between the two against him. Unfortunately, Iwase doesn't see manga as a worthwhile pursuit and told Takagi to give it up to re-continue their rivalry and academics. However, Miyoshi supported Takagi's ambitions and was willing to wait for his availability if it meant being with him. To her shock, Takagi even mentioned that he's going to North Yakusa High, a lesser high school, for the sake of being close with Mashiro to continue their dreams. Sadly, Iwase thought everything Takagi is doing right now is throwing his life away as well as her respect. Without saying much, she tearfully left the door. Because they're seniors already, they graduated not long and parted ways without keeping in touch. However, Iwase secretly monitored Takagi's manga exploits and founded a new one-sided rivalry to prove her views are right. |
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| + | * Mimiya Sayano is the heroine. |
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| + | '''Manga plot''' |
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| − | ===Re-Kindling Rivalry with Takagi & Being a Mangaka=== |
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| − | ====Getting Published & Seeing Takagi Again==== |
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| − | [[File:AikoIwase.jpg|thumb|left|Iwase as she currently appears in the manga]] |
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| − | Several years have passed and Iwase never forgotten Takagi. To prove her decisions and path was correct over Takagi's, she began her own path towards literature publishing, but also privately studied on Takagi's manga works to understand him. After high school, she gained entry to the prestigious To-Oh University, where she eventually had her first book published. Her story gained her the ''Newcomer Award'' on the March issue of Shosetsu Subaru Magazine and her book published by June. After successfully publishing her first book and gaining notoriety, Iwase felt it was time to find Takagi to prove herself to him once again. |
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| + | A boy discovers he can bend spoons after watching a television program on psychic powers. He then finds he can move small objects with his mind, and everything he tries works out. He forces a chicken egg to hatch, however what hatches is neither human nor monster. The people with these abilities are referred to as a Psycholife. |
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| − | Iwase knows how to find Takagi, but she had too much self-respect (more like prideful) for herself to seek him out. Instead, she befriended a mutual colleague to both of them, [[Yuriko Aoki]]. With the help of Aoki, Iwase would have the chance to see Takagi again at the local zoo. Knowing herself, she was afraid she couldn't convey her words properly and decided to write it down in a letter. She prepared a copy of her novel, with the letter inside, and hoped to show Takagi that he too can be a successful writer and be a good student at the same time. However, things never turned out the way she had hoped. |
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| + | The series once had a crossover with Eiji Niizuma’s other manga series Crow. |
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| − | Without telling Takagi about Iwase, Aoki convinced him to meet at the zoo; Takagi was surprised to see Iwase again. Iwase proceeded to show her recent successes, her book, and hoped to prove to Takagi that literature is a higher form of culture and that she's able to maintain high grades throughout the entire time. Unfortunately, Takagi merely complemented her success, but didn't side with her views and decided to leave. Before he could leave, Iwase asked Takagi will he continue working on manga and Takagi was perplexed over the question. Iwase had hoped that her success would convince Takagi to refocus on high-academics and work on something more cultured like literary publishing, but Takagi wasn't interested. The two then debated over the fine points between manga vs literature and personal success. Unable to sway Takagi, Iwase surprised both Aoki and Takagi by announcing she'll venture into manga to prove she's better at being a mangaka than him. |
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| ⚫ | Iwase is barely seen in the rest of the manga after this. At one point she was seen to read the ending of [[Reversi]]. In the anime, she was mentioned by Miura and other editors while working hard to improve the story of +Natural. In the anime ending, +Natural got fifth position on rank surveys. However, it is mentioned in the end that +Natural was canceled. [[Kosugi]] then becomes her editor and tells her he has plenty of ideas for a new Manga. |
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| − | She then accused Takagi of acting superior, but Takagi tried to be graceful and complemented her superior beauty, brains, and writing abilities. Unfortunately, the mention of Miyoshi displeased her as she didn't know they're still together; she demanded Takagi to date her over Miyoshi if she's better than her, but Takagi likes Miyoshi more. Disappointed, she accused Takagi of lying to her and stormed off. |
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| + | == Relationships == |
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| − | Soon after, she submitted [[+Natural]] to Jack. [[Akira Hattori|Hattori]] was impressed by her abilities and corrected her to perfect her story. Not long, Nijima Eiji got involved as +Natural's artist. Being both rivals to [[Ashirogi Muto]], the two successfully published +Natural and it became Jump's new top manga. |
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| + | '''Ko Aoki''' |
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| + | Iwase attends To-Oh University with Ko Aoki. |
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| − | After Hattori returns as Takagi and Mashiro's editor, her new editor is [[Miuro Goro|Miura]]. Her writing and plot are praised for being very well made. However, she comes in last place for the Super Leaders' Love Fest. As she becomes daunted by the prospect of Eiji ending a manga, she is beset by worries from her fellow mangaka in Team Fukuda, who worry that Eiji is planning on ending +Natural, of which Eiji states contains a boring story due to its repeated plot of enemies being beaten down by the main characters. The rankings also decrease from single to double digits as it veers on the edge of cancellation. She brings this concern to Eiji, and upon hearing that he planned to end Crow, she immediately leaves to write the plot for +Natural, which seems to become more popular due to Eiji's success at ending Crow on a high note. Iwase becomes depressed and is unable to write the next plot, but with encouragement from Takagi, Mashiro and the rest of team Fukada, she is able to get back up and continue writing. |
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| + | '''Akira Hattori''' |
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| ⚫ | Iwase is barely seen in the rest of manga after |
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| ⚫ | After being rejected by Takagi, Iwase transferred her romantic feelings onto [[Akira Hattori]] (she claimed to have fallen in love with his editing abilities). However, Hattori felt inconfortable and maintained a professional distance until he was later redirected to work with [[Ashirogi Muto]] again. Spurned by the fact that no romantic interest ever returned her affections, she stopped pursuing romance altogether and focused on her work to become the best manga author. |
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| − | ==Notes & Trivia== |
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| + | '''Eiji Niizuma''' |
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| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| − | *Iwase greatly resembles Katsura Hoshino, mangaka of ''D.Gray-man'', in appearance. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| − | *It appears she may suffer from an inferiority complex. |
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| − | *Her issues are left unresolved. |
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| + | When Hattori stops being her editor, she seems to start going this way with Niizuma until it turns out she was actually trying to convince him to do a crossover between Crow and +Natural. It's still implied afterwards, however, that she might like him more than a co-author. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | == Etymology == |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | *The name '''Aiko '''means "love, affection" (愛) ('''ai''') and "child" (子) ('''ko'''). |
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| + | *Aiko's surname '''Iwase '''means "rock, crag" (岩) ('''iwa''') and "swift current, rapids" (瀬) ('''se'''). |
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| − | == |
+ | ==Trivia== |
| ⚫ | |||
| + | * Iwase resembles [https://deathnote.fandom.com/wiki/Kiyomi_Takada Kiyomi Takada] from [https://deathnote.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page ''Death Note''] by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsugumi_Ohba Tsugumi Ohba] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Obata Takeshi Obata]. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | *Iwase greatly resembles [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsura_Hoshino Katsura Hoshino], the mangaka of ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.Gray-man D.Gray-man]''. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | *Iwase's favorite novel is Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami |
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| + | |||
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | ==Site Navigation== |
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{{Bakuman Characters}} |
{{Bakuman Characters}} |
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[[Category:Female Characters]] |
[[Category:Female Characters]] |
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Latest revision as of 20:12, 21 March 2024
Aiko Iwase (岩瀬 愛子, Iwase Aiko) was a classmate of Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi during Jr. High. When she appeared with Miyoshi Kaya at Takagi's house after his suspension, she revealed that she liked him, but didn't want him to be a mangaka. She reappears in chapter 60 as a student at To-oh University along with Ko Aoki. She competed against Ashirogi Muto with her first manga, +Natural.
Appearance[]
Iwase has short black hair with a small flip at the bottom and considered to be very beautiful. She's really feminine and often wears elegant outfits, however she also wears more casual clothes.
Personality[]
Iwase is an intelligent girl who was an academic achiever in school. She's difficult to get along with due to her strict and high-standard nature thus she leads a rather lonely life. Strong-willed and dutiful, Iwase works hard and stays focused on her goals.
Rival-love with Takagi[]
Pride is what defines the character of Aiko Iwase in Bakuman. She doesn’t take losing very lightly. After noticing that Takagi had overtaking her in the school rankings, she confronts him but not with any animosity towards him. She instead wished for them to encourage each other. From that day onward, she viewed Takagi as her rival but also someone she had feelings for.
She admired how talented he was when it came to academics, that’s why she was highly disappointed when he chose to pursue manga. To her, Takagi was throwing away his immense talent and wasting it on something trivial and childish, a decision she tells him that he’ll regret for the rest of his life. However, he smiles and tells her that she can laugh at him if he does fail to which she responds she couldn’t. Iwase was ignorant to the idea of passion and pursuing something you love as opposed to following a set path.
At university, Iwase continues to question why manga was so important to him as shown when she asks Ko Aoki why she chose to write manga. Aoki gives a similar answer as Takagi; saying she loves Manga, and agrees on setting up a meeting for these two as Iwase wants to show him what she’s become.
When they meet, Iwase offers him her first published novel and tells him he should be capable of writing novels as well and that he’s still wasting his potential on manga. Takagi refuses and tells her novels and manga shouldn’t be compared because both of them have been created by hard working people. While novels have their own audience, manga is also capable of reaching millions of people and thus entertain those millions. This reason alone gives manga meaning.
This time, instead of walking away, Iwase decided to write manga as well. While she still acknowledges Takagi’s talent, what was once admiration became an inferiority complex. She wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with him yet she’s under the impression that no matter what she does, Takagi would just brush it off as nothing special, not to mention her romantic feelings towards him still exist and play a significant in feeding this inferiority complex.
Takagi tells Iwase he would acknowledge her if she’s able to be serialized but only for her skill, he’s still going to marry Miyoshi. She tells him she won’t accept their marriage and provokes him by saying that if he does worse and still gets married, then she’ll still be able to keep her pride. When this does eventually happen with her debut manga +Natural, Takagi is forced to feed her ego. At this point, we can wonder if her love hasn’t actually turned into an obsession created by her ego because he rejected her.
Despite how prideful Iwase is, there’s a moment where you get to question her sense of pride; when she goes through the list of candidates to play the heroine for her anime, she comes across Miho Azuki, Mashiro’s girlfriend, and is then determined to have her play the heroine in attempts to crush her rival’s dreams. This shows how low she’s willing to beat Takagi. After all, it was manga that took away the Takagi who had talent.
However, this all changes when she learns about the condition revolving around PCP; if PCP is unable to go head to head with Crow or +Natural by their 25th chapter then the series will get cancelled. This moment showed a side of Iwase that we didn’t know she had; compassion, albeit not in the traditional sense but compassion nonetheless.
It’s true that she wanted to beat Takagi but she didn’t want just to win because their manga got cancelled. She also realizes that exploiting any little advantage she could get her hands on wouldn’t feel right either and tells Takagi that from now on, she will compete fair and square. Deep down, she enjoys competing with him and tells him that if he loses then it would be a proof of his lack of talent. Takagi takes this to heart and thanks her by giving her the acknowledgement she wanted for years.
A few years since +Natural is published, Iwase gets news that the latest chapter has dropped to 15th place. If it wasn’t for Niizuma doing the art, the manga would have been cancelled long ago. With her editor being passive to suggestions and Niizuma no longer finding enjoyment from the story, she begins to lose confidence in her work as there’s a much bigger gap between her and Takagi. This amplifies when she overhears a group talking about how boring +Natural has gotten. Out of desperation, she tries to call Takagi but doesn't due to her pride. Calling Takagi would make everything she told him earlier all for naught. How humiliating would it be to have to ask her rival for help, someone who finally acknowledged her as his equal. She felt like Takagi, Niizuma, her editor, no one needed her anymore.
When Takagi hears that Iwase has stopped writing, Mashiro decides to talk to her and tells her that if she wants to quit then she should do so. However, he lets her know that Takagi still views her as his greatest rival. Once she opens the door, fellow manga artists from team Fukuda welcome her with open arms. For the first time we see her break out of her bubble but she still stays true to herself and refuses to face them. However this time, maybe something has changed in her. Perhaps this is the moment when she discovers the answer to the question she had from the very beginning; why manga?
History[]
Beginnings[]
Iwase was born on May 8, 1993, in Saitama-ken, Japan. Her past is unknown, however, it seems there are elements within her past that motivated her to be a highly competitive person.
+Natural[]
+Natural is a popular serialized manga created by Aiko Iwase and Eiji Niizuma. Because of its popularity, it became an Anime. After Hattori received the final script from Iwase. he suggested to Yujiro that they let Eiji draw it, because it would get Muto Ashirogi fired up to beat it. Being both rivals to Ashirogi Muto, the two successfully published +Natural and it became Jump's new top manga.
Eiji was happy to draw the series, and said that he liked the story a lot and that he could handle drawing two series at once. However, in Chapter 134 Eiji says that +Natural's story is getting boring, evidenced by its decrease to 15th place. Eiji states it is due to its repeated plot of enemies being beaten down by the main characters. As the manga veers on the edge of cancellation, Iwase becomes depressed and is unable to write the next plot, but with encouragement from Takagi, Mashiro and the rest of team Fukada, she is able to get back up and continue writing. In Chapter 149, Miura reveals that +Natural has moved from 16th place to 9th place. It's because of this popularity boost that it is featured on the Jump cover that Eiji's new series, Zombie Gun, was featured in.
Characters
- Manabu is the main character.
- Mimiya Sayano is the heroine.
Manga plot
A boy discovers he can bend spoons after watching a television program on psychic powers. He then finds he can move small objects with his mind, and everything he tries works out. He forces a chicken egg to hatch, however what hatches is neither human nor monster. The people with these abilities are referred to as a Psycholife.
The series once had a crossover with Eiji Niizuma’s other manga series Crow.
Iwase is barely seen in the rest of the manga after this. At one point she was seen to read the ending of Reversi. In the anime, she was mentioned by Miura and other editors while working hard to improve the story of +Natural. In the anime ending, +Natural got fifth position on rank surveys. However, it is mentioned in the end that +Natural was canceled. Kosugi then becomes her editor and tells her he has plenty of ideas for a new Manga.
Relationships[]
Ko Aoki
Iwase attends To-Oh University with Ko Aoki.
Akira Hattori
After being rejected by Takagi, Iwase transferred her romantic feelings onto Akira Hattori (she claimed to have fallen in love with his editing abilities). However, Hattori felt inconfortable and maintained a professional distance until he was later redirected to work with Ashirogi Muto again. Spurned by the fact that no romantic interest ever returned her affections, she stopped pursuing romance altogether and focused on her work to become the best manga author.
Eiji Niizuma
When Hattori stops being her editor, she seems to start going this way with Niizuma until it turns out she was actually trying to convince him to do a crossover between Crow and +Natural. It's still implied afterwards, however, that she might like him more than a co-author.
Etymology[]
- The name Aiko means "love, affection" (愛) (ai) and "child" (子) (ko).
- Aiko's surname Iwase means "rock, crag" (岩) (iwa) and "swift current, rapids" (瀬) (se).
Trivia[]
Aiko as the main character in +Natural
- Iwase resembles Kiyomi Takada from Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.
- Iwase is placed 10th in the popularity polls.
- Iwase greatly resembles Katsura Hoshino, the mangaka of D.Gray-man.
- Iwase's favorite manga is Adolf ni Tsugu by Osamu Tezuka
- Iwase's favorite novel is Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
References[]