Netflix’s ‘Blue Period,’ based on Tsubasa Yamaguchi’s manga, is a wholly Shounen TV anime. Even while the novel focuses on the protagonist’s inner turmoil and family financial troubles, it also becomes a coming-of-age tale because of it.
As the story progresses, we learn more about the character of Yatora Yaguchi, a popular and capable high school student who is searching for meaning and purpose in his life.
Then he comes upon art and recognizes that it’s the missing puzzle piece. Episode 1 of ‘Blue Period,’ which is currently airing on Netflix, ends with a bang. WARNING: This section contains plot spoilers.
Episode 1 of the Blue Period (Season 1) Review
“Awakening to the Joy of Painting” is the first episode in which we are introduced to Yatora and his circle of buddies: Urashima, Sumida, and Koigakubo.
They enjoy one other’s company while they eat, drink, and smoke while watching soccer. Yatra appears to be a very gregarious person who spends very little time in the library or class if any.
As a result, when he achieves high exam scores, his peers believe he is gifted. He informs them that he is a diligent worker in reality.
However, he appears uninterested in everything. Yatra is lost in his thoughts. He engages in various activities, such as studying and socializing with his peers, because they all fit into a larger pattern.
A picture created by one of Yatora’s seniors is discovered while visiting the art class to retrieve a pack of cigarettes he had unintentionally left behind.
It has a tremendous effect on him. He makes friends with art club member Ryuuji Ayukawa. At first, their connection is tense, but things start to look up as they get to know one another.
In the last moments of Blue Period Episode 1, Yatra makes a career decision.
Yatra intends to pursue a career in the arts shortly. His family’s financial situation doesn’t allow him to attend a private school, however.
As a result, the only option left for him is a public school. Sadly, there is only one school that offers a painting degree: Tokyo University of the Arts. This school has Japan’s lowest acceptance rate.
The choice hasn’t come easily to him. Because he comes from a working-class background and is well aware of his predicament, he is initially dubious about pursuing an artistic profession.
Because it is rooted in reality, the starving artist is a common literary and cinematic cliche. Only a tiny percentage of artists achieve some level of fame or fortune after their careers. Furthermore, he even wonders if he has the talent to be a successful artist.
Yatra’s art teacher, Masako Saeki, assures him that his concern about financial stability is neither unique nor troublesome by relating stories about Picasso and how commercially minded the brilliant painter was.
Senior artist Maru Mori, whose work he admired, teaches him the importance of experience and wisdom above pure skill. All of this, as well as Yatora’s personal experience while painting his Shibuya vision, forces him to make a choice.
Yatra is filled with excitement as he brings the blue Shibuya to the drawing paper to convey his inner views. Thanks to it, that piece of art also helps him feel closer to his pals than he ever has before.
For the first time, he believes he can communicate with them. When he tells Saeki about his plan, she responds with encouragement while also outlining the challenges he will face in achieving his goal.
She makes him know that from this point on, it’s going to be a tough road. What matters, however, is that Yatra has made this decision and is willing to risk it all. When someone works hard at something they enjoy, they are unstoppable, as Saeki explains to him.