D'aaaaw~!
PCP finally pits the chapter that can possibly defeat CROW when it comes to rankings. The big question is that if their plan in incorporating the color page as part of their chapter work to beat CROW or will it fail?
One thing that I like about this episode is that the chapter of PCP that featured the color page is properly distributed throughout the run of the episode. They end in some part of the chapter then show us a scene of people liking this page and how it can possibly beat CROW when it comes to rankings before resuming the page. It's a neat idea to make the episode not linear, and it caused viewers to want more of that PCP chapter.
As for the chapter of PCP that they keep on talking about in this episode, writing wise, it is really interesting. The only problem I have is that it is filled with too much Japanese in it. Too much Japanese in a sense that if you translate it in English, the essence of that chapter will be lost in translation as Sigma's invitation letter is filled with too much Japanese word and character play. I wonder how the official and licensed English translations of Bakuman will handle this chapter. Same goes with the group who will dub this episode. Also, I find the transition from manuscript to actual print really cool.
The final result of this showdown between PCP and CROW is finally revealed. If I will base it on their faces when they learned about the early results, it seems that PCP might be leading in the race. But it is not that important considering that the true test on who will win this showdown is on the final results. Much to their surprise, CROW won. To put it simply, CROW will indeed end in the next issue. This made Ashirogi realize that they are still miles ahead from what Niizuma is capable to do. He can end his manga in his own terms, something that authors can't do.
So what's next after CROW? We still don't know since as it turns out, Niizuma already created volumes of stories whose quality is on par, or even higher than CROW! It didn't help that it is just scattered around in the floor like it's nothing! But this is not what's important in this scene, but Niizuma receive a call coming from Fukuda congratulating him with CROW's ending. In this conversation, he mentioned something about the comments section, which Niizuma later read.
What's next is something quite interesting, what's funny about it is that as it turns out, Niizuma visited the homes of the manga authors to thank them for the comments they gave with CROW's ending, one of those houses is Ashirogi's studio. This is when we learned more of Niizuma, that even though he is happy drawing manga alone, but having rivals is what makes drawing manga even better. He sees Ashirogi as his eternal archrival, something that he declared for the first time in front of them. Since they are his eternal archrivals, he declares his next plan, to create the most popular manga in the world.
