One of the more underrated aspects of manga & anime that fans take for granted, is how
much intense passion and backbreaking work authors invest into their artwork.
Usually, the plot and characters are at the center of the spotlight when discussing a
series quality.
Though, the art and music are just as important because they are two other major elements
that can truly transform a decent project into a phenomenal piece of work.
And one of the most predominant franchises that helps validate that claim is blue period!
A drama SOL manga written & illustrated by tsubasa yamaguchi.
Published in kodanasha’s seinen magazine monthly afternoon since june 2016.
Blue Period is a critically acclaimed manga ranking high in various magazines with its
best being top 4 on kono manga ga sugoi!, list of best manga of 2019 for mana readers.
Recently it’s been adapted into an anime by studio seven arcs; a relatively popular
established studio, mostly known tonikawa; over the moon for you & the lyrical nanoha
anime series.
So, there was obviously a vast amount of hype for the adaption of such a beloved manga.
It seemed as if blue periods popularity would spike tremendously, with its reception being
among SOL masterpieces such as clannad, haruhi, and 3 gatsu-no lion.
Well unfortunately that was a short-lived dream, as apparently blue period has received
an extensive amount of criticism from source readers.
However, as an anime only, is blue period really that bad?
Blue Period starts with introducing us to the protagonist Yatora Yaguchi; a moody delinquent
who’s secretly a hard-working student with exceptional grades.
Right from the get go, major conflict has already been established with his character.
Despite his impressive intelligence and grades, he’s a passionless husk of a man, only working
hard to make his family proud by obtaining a secure future.
Hell, even socializing with his so called “friends” brings him little joy, as he
equivalizes that to meeting a quota.
It’s not until he has an encounter with a gorgeous painting in the art club, does
the first spark of passion ignite inside him.
Then were introduced to the deuteragonist of the story; Ryuji Ayukawa, a talented & snarky
non-binary artist.
She ridicules Yaguchi for his smoking habits, exposing him for only participating in smoking
to fit in with his clique.
Thus, results in conflict between the two with Yaguchi hitting Ryugi with two stingers
that secretly foreshadow two major plot points in the story.
First the main conflict being that enrolling in art academy is frowned apon, because it’s
notoriously hard to make a living as an artist compared to other industries.
While the second subtly discloses Ryuji's gender when yaguchi stated “you have a pretty
face”, which resulted in Ryuji retreating in annoyance.
So, it's clear there’s a long history between the two, but I find it odd how 5 episodes
in, and we’ve yet to get the backstory on their relationship.
I’m not sure if it’s like that in the manga or if the anime cut important chapters.
Nevertheless, Ryujis sensei “Masako Saeki” disputes Yaguchis argument with a brilliant
rebuttal; explaining how while money is important, art is a fun hobby that passionate people
thrive towards making it their livelihoods.
While also exposing Yaguchis shallow nature; encouraging him to be honest with himself
once in his life.
And this is the crux of Yaguchis conflict throughout the first episode.
He’s always been meaninglessly floating through life, doing things he doesn’t care
for to appeal to his peers & families wishes.
It’s not until he has a meaningful conversation with his senpai Maruo Mori about art, does
he finally attempt to put effort into something for once.
Which in this case being painting, and in a great scene, we get an abstract visualization
of how Yaguchi feels, as he passionately paints his hometown shibuya.
However, at first Yaguchi doubts his skills and passes it off as a joke, only for his
friends to realize the true meaning behind his painting, which is the moody shibuya which
holds a special place in all their hearts despite its griminess.
Then from here on, Yaguchis character blossoms as he finally discovered his passion in life.
Which resultsin him joining the art club which is shockingly only full of women.
You would think art is a very even gender participated hobby, but I was never an artist
so I could be wrong.
Still, I can strongly relate to Yaguchis situation because I was a part of my high school's journalism
club, which literally only had one guy excluding me.
Nevertheless, in most anime this would be where the actual plot kicks off.
Though, strangely not in blue periods case.
Because in the next episode, we spend time learning about the art club members which
hardly matter in story except Ryuji and probably Mori.
Which I find disappointing because personally I enjoyed these characters, and would’ve
been fine if they were the main cast.
This is also were I first noticed pacing issues.
Throughout this episode Yaguchi is slowly but steadily improving his craft, though is
notably insecure when comparing his art to his peers.
However, Mori is the one artist where's his jealously expands into admiration.
An interesting student & rivalry dynamic formed between the two, which finalized Yaguchis
commitment of getting accepted into the tokyo university of arts.
However, suddenly Mori graduates at the end of the episode and departs just like that.
Where’s the build up?
It feels like were missing 1 or 2 episodes leading up to this event because it didn't
hit me emotionally what's so ever.
It also doesn’t help that the focus shifts from the art club to the prep classes next
episode.
Now, the third episode is where blue periods quality truly shines!
First were introduced into a large ensemble of new characters in the prep classes.
Each of the major characters helps further Yaguchis development in their own unique way,
while also being exceptionally written themselves.
With one of the most important ones being Yotasuke Takahashi; an arrogant and closed-off
asshole who turns down all of Yaguchis attempts to be friendly.
Though despite his douchebag personality, he’s easily one of the most talented artists
in their class, so at least he has some credibility to be a pretentious art geek.
Similar to Mori, Yaguchi views Takahashi as a genius that he wishes to imitate, because
of his lack of natural talent.
So, Yaguchi continuously pesters Takahashi despite him clearly avoiding his presence.
Then when Takahashi finally tells yaguchi to fuck off, he suddenly starts wailing in
tears.
Now usually I would be on Yaguchis side, but I actually sympathize with Takashi because
you have to be dense to not realize your advances are not wanted after being side eyed for the
millionth time.
Thus, one of the most awkward friendships I’ve ever experienced in anime is formed!
Nevertheless, the next scene is what truly shocked me.
At first, Ryuji was seemingly introduced as the main love interest of Yaguchi.
And I was already immensely attracted towards this character.
A hot tomboy with a cool hobby and loveable personality.
However, I didn’t expect such a drastic shift in their character.
See, at first Ryuji casually asks out some random dude on a date which I assumed would
end in failure, consequently resulting in her being depressed.
Only for Yaguchi to swoop in to cheer Ryuji up, thus developing a stronger bond with Ryuji
inevitably falling for Yaguchi like most romance anime.
Come on folks, don’t act like you haven’t experienced a similar same tired plotline
in numerous romance series by now....
Nevertheless, in a major twist, Ryujiwas still turned down but not for any of the reasons
I imagined.
It turns out Ryuji is actually a bisexual crossdressing guy who identifies as male but
likes donning female attire because it makes him look cute.
So ryuji was rejected because he hid his gender and I didn’t even realize Ryuji was a guy
until this moment.
Yaguchi referred to him with male pronouns before but I thought the translations were
off because blue period has some of the worst subtitles I’ve seen in a while.
So, I was heavily shocked by this reveal, though not just because of his gender, but
because of how phenomenally this scene was handled.
Ryujis breakdown is one of the most realistic depictions of genderqueer issues I’ve witnessed.
The feeling of not belonging in society because your being is an anomaly.
Never truly accepted by neither gender, as women only view them as a toy to vent their
frustrations but not as a potential love interest, while reject them all together.
Thus, leaving them feeling isolated with nobody to truly accept them.
And this is coming from an outsider's surface value understanding of genderqueer problems.
The situation is likely far more complex than I realize.
Though, what really sold this scene was the level of maturity exerted from Yaguchi.
Despite him not understanding genderqueers issues, he’s still willing to learn and
accept that Ryuji isn’t much as a weirdo as he believed.
However, at least Ryuji wasn’t harshly rejected.
I know a lot of guys reaction would be 10 times worse.
So, the fact he got a hug and was called normal is heartwarming.
Well, at least he gets over rejections fast at least.
Though I doubt he learned his lesson, so don’t come crying home once you get rejected for
not being honest upfront again Ryuji...
I know at first, I criticized the blue period anime for not emotionally moving me but episode
3 to 5 has really swayed me.
And this level of substance and depth overlaps the entirety of the story.
The writing is excellent and while I’m not intrigued by the premise because I’m not
an artist.
The characters are so brilliantly written to the point that their passion and motivations
resonate with me, making me invested into learning more about the medium.
They feel like real human beings with relatable issues and realistic dialogue unlike a large
majority of characters in other anime.
I want to see Yaguchi develop as an artist and character, while rising to the top of
the ranks.
And I’m fascinated in seeing how Ryujis subplot will develop in the future.
Still despite my leaps of praise, I can’t ignore blue periods glaring flaws.
When manga readers said the pacing is bad, they weren’t lying!
Even as an anime only, the pacing feels fast as events that feels like they should be on
full on arcs end abruptly, and the relationship between Yaguchi and Ryuji still hasn’t been
answered yet.
If it’s like this is in the manga, feel free to correct me but this awkward pacing
does hinder blue periods quality.
Also, the animation doesn’t do the story justice.
See, in most SOL anime I’m fine with mediocre animation as long as everything else is great.
Though in blue periods case, the meticulous and vibrant art of the manga needs to be given
that extra oomph to truly represent its glory.
Basically, it needs to be on kyoani, shaft, or studio OLMs level.
Just looking at any of their works, and it’s evident how vast the quality of production
is for their SOL anime compared to blue period.
Nevertheless, Overall Blue period is a solid 7.5!
A great story carrying a mediocre produced anime despite its rushed pacing.
I’m overjoyed I finally watched blue period after sitting through a bunch of mediocre
& flat-out trash anime.
Despite its flaws, blue period is still one of the best anime of fall 2021.
If you’re in the need of quality shows to watch this season; as of now the best are
easily Mushoko Tensei S2, 86 Season 2, Kings ranking, and blue period.
There’s other decent series like komi-san and mieuroko chan as well but I recommend
the best anime I’ve listed first.
Don’t forget to like, subscribe, share, and most importantly have a great day, and
I will see you next time!