Eiji Nizuma becoming a bit more sophisticated with age, and engaging in some more complicated thinking, engaging in some well-meaning plotting to get the rest of the artists fired up. The rather complicated reactions of the other artists to his success are quite well-done, though at least early on, I found the editors stole the show. Obata's artwork is as good as ever, switching styles fluidly from realism to symbolic exaggeration in a way that always highlights rather than distracts from the story. It was also nice to see Takagi/Kaya's relationship progressing so solidly. ( )