Akito Takagi (commonly called Shujin) is one of the two main protagonists of Bakuman. He is an aspiring mangaka who is very smart and gets the top grades in his school. Akito is classmates with Mashiro and when he discovers Moritaka's drawing ability he convinces him to write a manga with him when he discovers and tells Moritaka that the girl he likes (Miho Azuki) wants to be a voice actor for an anime.
Appearance
Akito is quite tall and skinny, he has longish blonde hair, brown eyes and wears glasses. He is quite often seen wearing a large pair of headphones around his neck
Personality
Akito is usually quite a happy and enthusiastic person, especially when it comes to manga. He gets along well with most people and is usually the one who does most of the talking for himself and Moritaka. He is very loyal and protective of his friends and he shows this when he punches someone who is insulting Moritaka and his art.
Relationships
Moritaka Mashiro
Moritaka and Akito start off not knowing each other that well but after Akito convinces Moritaka to write a manga with him they become best friends. Akito and Moritaka work very well together, they are both very determined and they almost always get along.
Kaya Miyoshi
Kaya is Akito's girlfriend and is also the best friend of Moritaka's girlfriend Miho Azuki. After they begin dating, they are rarely seen without each other.
Akira Hattori
Mr. Hattori is Akito and Moritaka's former editor, and worked with them until the serialization of Detective Trap. His knowlegde of manga has been a key part of Akito and Moritaka's success.
Eiji Nizuma
Eiji is considered a high school genius and has prodigious ability for creating manga. Though Eiji is a major rival to Akito and Moritaka, they compete respectfully and have a friendly relationship.
Akamaru Jump
In Akamaru Jump, Akito and Moritaka created a manga called Money And Intelligence. Money and Intelligence was a one-shot story about a future where people's minds were bought and sold as commodities. The manga was published and highly praised, especially by Eiji
The manga Takagi made Money and Intelligence
Breaking Up
During the school holidays Akito promises to think up a story for the Golden Future Cup while Moritaka practices his drawings. Akito gets writers block and decides to help Kaya with her ambition to become a famous writer. Moritaka thinks that Akito doesn't care about making manga anymore and decides to split up with him and do manga on his own. Akito didn't really want to split up with Moritaka so he goes to Mr Hattori and asks him what he should do. Hattori tells Akito to keep working on his stories and then in a couple of years to go to Moritaka and ask him if they want to work together again. Akito agrees with this idea but then a couple of days later he talks to Moritaka and they find out they they were both having the same idea for a manga and they get back together again.
Golden Future Cup
For the Golden Future Cup, Akito and Moritaka both came up with the idea to do a mystery manga. They end up deciding on a story called Detective Trap. The manga is about a con artist who works for the police to help catch criminals. Their manga was very successful and ended up winning.
New Years Party
Detective Trap's Serialization
Moritaka has been working extremely hard while Detective Trap is being serialized. He has been getting less and less sleep and he finally collapses. He was taken to the hospital after that. He is diagnosed with a liver infection which requires surgery. Mashiro wants to keep working while he is in the hospital so that the Trap won't have to go on hiatus, whereas everyone else believes that his first priority should be to get better. Mashiro tries to convince Takagi to bring him his materials, but Takagi decides to call Azuki to see if she can convince him to stop working. Azuki goes to the hospital the next day and begins talking to Mashiro from outside his room.
Two of Me, Hitman10, and Future Watch
Two of Me
Two of me is, as the title suggests, are about two of the same people. They can't decide which one is the real one so they agree that one of them should go to a different environment. That way, they will be different. They drop a pencil and the person it points has to leave.
Future Watch
The son of an inventor father makes watches that travel to the future. Apparently, if you push the switch on the watch that is set 7 minutes ahead, then you will travel 7 minutes into the future. The son tries it and calls himself from 8 minutes ago. He tells him that he can travel to the future by using the watch. Takagi wants to add battles to Future Watch. As for Two of Me, he wants to make a fantasy world.
Hitman10
The final manga they come up with is a gag manga. Hitman ten is about the top ten hitman fighting each other to become number one and receive a billionaire's prize. They main character is one of these hitman.
Help from Aoki
Miyoshi's Absence
Marriage Proposal
Manga
Akito has authored two successful manga so far: Money and Intelligence, and Detective Trap, a mystery manga which won the Golden Future Cup and has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump.