Art therapy in the form of anime.
In 2021, Netflix released the anime Blue Period, based on the manga of the same name by Tsubasa Yamaguchi. The title immediately gained immense popularity both in Japan and abroad, and for good reason.
What Is Blue Period About?
Yatora Yaguchi is a talented high school student with no particular goal in life, he just goes with the flow. He hangs out with his friends, does well in school, and dreams of graduating and going somewhere. Everything changes when the young man happens to notice a picture in the school art club that touches him to the core.
Afterwards, Yatora tries to draw something himself. The first attempt turns out to be ridiculous, but somehow heartfelt. He is surprised to find that he has finally found himself: in painting. There is very little time left until the end of the year and he has to learn almost from scratch – is it worth it?
Blue Period Is a Touching Story of Finding One's Place and Passion
The first (and only) season ends with the entrance exams, showing the path of a future artist in amazing detail. It's interesting that some people see nothing but "simple everyday life" in the story, while others feel like they're in the eye of the storm for almost the entire series, as if one wrong step could completely pull the ground out from under Yatora's feet.
A short but surprisingly addictive series has every chance of either passing by or hitting a nerve. The passion with which Yatora devotes himself to his creation will bring tears to the eyes of sensitive viewers more than once.
This is perhaps an important difference between Blue Period and a typical heroic shonen, where the learning process is also given a lot of screen time: it is one thing to train with the goal of becoming stronger, and quite another to find what allows you to express yourself more accurately.
Blue Period Is a Perfect Title for Those Who Want to Explore Art
However, the topic of creativity is not the only thing that can interest the viewer. As often happens in anime about some kind of "passion," the characters' obsession itself becomes a separate theme.
Something similar can be seen in Keep Your Hands off Eizouken, where the various stages of creating an anime are described in detail.
Blue Period tells a lot about the works of famous and not so famous artists, color theory, composition and other technical (but not only) aspects of painting. Of course, it cannot be called a full-fledged encyclopedia, but as an introductory course for those who do not understand anything at all, it would be a perfect choice.
Where to Stream Blue Period?
Blue Period is available to watch on Netflix.