Bakuman｡/Heartwarming

• After their manga fails to get serialized, Aoki leaves Nakai to work with Koogy on a manga in Jump SQ. Nakai had invested everything in Hideout Door, and promised to improve his artwork and edit the manuscript outside her apartment until a snowstorm breaks out, after which Aoki comes out with an umbrella and agrees to work with him again.
• Also in that chapter is when some punks decide to beat him up and all he thinks is "must protect my hand" and after they leave he struggles to his seat and carries on drawing making this a Crowning Moment of Awesome too; A Mangaka's hand is his life. If it is damaged he can't work.
• The Official Couple Mashiro and Azuki take this trope Up to Eleven in terms of romantic heartwarmingness, especially when it's revealed that Azuki was in Love At First Sight with him at 4th grade when she saw how hardworking and dedicated to manga he was. With this ship, you will never be short of squee.
  • Even stronger when you realize we're lead to believe that it was Mashiro who liked her first.
• The exchange between Aoki and Kaya in chapter 66 became one of these (after the misunderstandings were over):

"Aoki-san, you can still talk with Takagi. In exchange, please be friends with me."

• In a recent chapter Mashiro and Tagaki replace Kaya's birthday present to Miho with their own, so when Miho opens the box, instead of Kaya's present, there is Mashiro's present instead, which is a beautifully drawn portrait of Miho. It leaves Miho speechless and Kaya confused as hell.
  • And then Miho prepares a counter-surprise to Mashiro! Kaya first serves Mashiro and Takagi a big Christmas cake, then, when they are both amazed by its great taste, she tells that it was Miho who made this cake, then Mashiro inside the cake suddenly discovers a memory key which contains a recording of Miho's voice first greeting everybody and then singing Christmas songs.
• Chapter 91, so unexpectedly: after hearing the final results and coming in first by a landslide of votes Mashiro requests that he have a copy of the graph Hattori was looking at, to show somebody. Of course, for legal reasons Hattori can't show him, but Mashiro remains persistent. Takagi tries to help, thinking that Mashiro wants to show it to Miho. Mashiro then convinces Hattori to go with him someplace. This someplace turns out to be a graveyard and it all clicks that Mashiro wanted to show his deceased uncle their hard work, while acknowledging that they've still got a long way to go. The absolute silence when he showed the grave the graph nearly brought this troper to tears.
• After Eiji's editor calls him saying Ashirogi's new manga PCP will be serialized Eiji jumps out of his chair cheering. Then he calls Mashiro to congratulate them and says that he's happy he can consider Ashirogi both a rival and friend.
• Another fantastic one with Chapter 114. Hiramaru has taken the initiative and taken Aoki Ko out on a date. By the end of the chapter, having spent half of it fleeing from Yoshida and then Yoshida, his editor, telling him NOT to confess, the other members of Team Fukuda, minus Eiji, arrive to cheer him on. He confesses to Aoki and asks her out. She says YES. Tears and happiness all around. Doubles at Crowning Moment of Funny when Aoki demands he continue drawing manga, and he sullenly agrees.
  • There's another really good one with that couple in Chapter 123 that doubles as a Crowning Moment of Funny. Hiramaru has just helped Aoki as an assistant with her manga and said he would like to stay with her just a little longer. Aoki's other assistants leave, obviously expecting them to spend quality time. Hiramaru and Aoki just look at each other and both very bashfully agree to just have tea. Awww.
• In Chapter 20, after Angel Days completely fails, Mashiro and Takagi go to the office to meet with Hattori, and read the comments they received. While many of them criticize the work, they mention that they want the main characters to get serialized, which comforts them.
• Azuma, an older, burnt-out mangaka and former assistant to Kawaguchi Taro is encouraged to make a one-shot by Hattori after his attempt at using Nanamine's scheme fails. He gets third place in rankings, much higher than anything else he has ever printed out, and along with getting even with Nanamine he says he can now face Taro's grave with pride.
  • Hell, anything involving Kawaguchi Taro qualifies, for some reason. Apart from the two cases mentioned above (Moritaka bringing the graph to the graveyard and Azuma finally being able to let go), the scene where Editor-in-Chief Sasaki pays Ashirogi a visit in Chapter 150, his first reaction when stepping in was to think "it's been twenty years..." It's somewhat YMMV, I guess, but when one thinks of Sasaki having worked with Kawaguchi back then, and him struggling to be impartial when dealing with Ashirogi...one can't help but feel happy for him, especially when he says that he feels he's done all he had to do at Weekly.
• Chapter 156: Mashiro is falling behind schedule trying to finish both the new chapter of PCP and the first chapter of Reversi. He vows to forgoe sleep until both are complete. Later that night, Ogawa, who has been rehired to work on Reversi, gets up to leave and expects the other asisstants to follow. They don't. They've all decided to keep working for as long as Mashiro does, even if they also have to go without sleep.
• Chapter 165: After Ashirogi finally get an anime for Reversi, Mashiro texts Azuki with the news. The look on her face is heart-meltingly happy, and instead of texting him back, she calls him and proceeds to act out all the dialogue of the female lead of Reversi, Naho, from the first two volumes while Mashiro listens. Its perhaps the strongest reinforcement of their promise since Mashiro was in the hospital
• Chapter 172: Doubling as a Crowning Moment of Awesome, Azuki does the above for her live-broadcast audition. She forgoes reading the script, not knowing if there were changes made to it that deviated from the manga (which, turns out, had a deviation which was just one word that was a typo from the WSJ publication--a typo corrected in the published volume), all because she had faith in herself and her ability as a voice actress and that she was that devoted to Mashiro and his work. This nets her the role, and it leads to a stunned Mashiro who is so overwhelmed by happiness and excitement that after all the years of hard work and patience, they achieved their dreams by their own merits, and that they're finally going to get married.
• The entirety of chapter 175 feels like this, but the most pivotal moment being Mashiro thanking Kaya for giving them the pen name Ashirogi Muto, as he felt the name always cheered them on to get as far as they did.
• Wow, almost a week since the release of the chapter and nobody bothers to mention the final chapter? Chapter 176: Mashiro comes to Azuki's house with a Ferrari, because that was what his uncle had planned to do with her mother. He picks her up, and their interaction as usual is adorable. They then take a drive together, and stop at her old house, where Mashiro first asked her to marry him. After reminiscing on their memories with each other (along with the usual nervousness), Mashiro FINALLY gives her a proper proposal, and then Azuki seals it with a kiss. The series ends with her saying "From now on, we can always be by each other's side", the both of them looking at each other lovingly. Daaaaaaaaaw....
  • And of course, you have the cover (at least in SJ Alpha) for that volume - Masahiro and Miho on their wedding day. It's a cover made of squee and win.

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