Eiji's penchant and talent for mainstream, and the eventual serialization of his former assistants, Fukuda Shinta and Nakai Takuro, draw a comparison between him and Masashi Kishimoto, mangaka of Naruto.

It's speculated that Niizuma Eiji is based on Eiichiro Oda and Tite Kubo.

Ashirogi Muto appear to be based on Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.

The quote is a popular line from the character Rohan Kishibe from the manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable.

Early on, Moritaka states 'I Refuse' to Takagi, prompting Takagi to claim that the line proves Moritaka's love for manga.

'Osaru' seems to refer to the giant monkey form in the Dragon Ball series.

'LL' seems to refer to L, the most intelligent detective in Death Note.

The first of Nanamine's buddies to leave are 'pai', 'LL', 'e231', and 'osaru'.

Kaya Takagi 's favourite manga is One Piece.

Yuriko Aoki's favourite manga is Kimi ni Todoke.Shinta Fukuda's favorite manga is To-Love-Ru.Dragon Ball, by Akira Toriyama, is Shuujin's favorite manga.This is a direct reference to the Character 'Misa Misa'/'Misa Amane' From Death Note. In the 3rd Bakuman Manga on page 93 in the top right corner its possible to see 'Misa Amanegawa'.Shinta Fukuda resembles Mello from Death Note.Eiji Niizuma resembles L from Death Note.Hattori Akira resembles Ryuk from Death Note.Iwase resembles Kiyomi Takada from Death Note,? another manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.Shun Shiratori bears a resemblance to Near from Death Note.Moritaka occasionally sits in the same position as L, a character from the manga Death Note, which was also created by Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba.

Takagi bears a slight resemblance to Light Yagami from Death Note, another manga created by Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba.

There are several Death Note references.

Moritaka states that his favorite manga is Ashita no Joe.

Bakuman, Band 1 by Tsugumi Ohba