Блакитний період, Том 2

ブルーピリオド [Blue Period] #2

by Tsubasa Yamaguchi, Цубаса Ямаґучі, Микола Побережник (translator)

Без мистецтва життя Ятори Яґучі були не таким яскравим, як здавалося. Тепер воно кардинально змінилося й наповнилося барвами, які хлопець хоче передати на полотні, аби здивувати весь світ своїми картинами.

В Ятори обмаль часу, щоб підготуватися до вступних іспитів у найпрестижніший університет мистецтв Японії з найвимогливішими викладачами. Яґучі старанно та наполегливо шліфує свої вміння й готується до мистецького конкурсу. Чи є в хлопця шанси змагатися з визнаними геніями й тими, хто з дитинства займається мистецтвом?

Шансів немає тільки в того, хто відмовляється від участі…

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Contemporary, Young Adult, Art, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 2018

About the author

Tsubasa Yamaguchi (山口つばさ, Yamaguchi Tsubasa) is a Japanese mangaka.

Reviews

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m actually really enjoying Blue Period, but the way that Yuka’s character is being handled makes me rate it lower. At best, it’s an issue of text being lost in translation, and at worst just blatant transphobia and/or homophobia.

The author says that Yuka is a (cis) man who likes to dress as a woman and uses he/him for Yuka. Meanwhile, Yuka specifically hates to be called by her birth name, uses she/her, and for all intents and purposes lives as a woman. Only the main character and the author treat her has a man. She dates men, but does not refer to herself as gay, and struggles with coping when men reject her after finding out she is AMAB. She just wants to live as her true self, which is dressing and presenting as she does right now.
To me (a trans person) she reads as a trans woman or as transfemme but according to the author, she is not. So what gives?

I’m sticking with the series because I truly do like it, but I can only put up with this for so long. I deal with enough transphobia in real life, I don’t want it in my fiction, thanks.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fine enough how-to book for aspiring artists, but a rather flat reading experience for me. The balance between personal drama and the informative lectures from art teachers is better this time, but the main character doesn't really interest me and we're only given dribs and drabs about his classmates and teachers.

I may return to this in the future but don't feel like I'll be missing out if I don't.

It does make me nostalgic for Bakuman, Volume 1: Dreams and Reality, a fun and informative series about teenagers becoming manga creators, and the more recent Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey Vol. 1 a dramatic and melancholy autobiographical look at the student/mentor relationship.

[literarylesbian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This manga is just 😩😩

[二六 侯 · Rating 4 out of 5]

這集談到試題會隨時代改變，臺灣也是如此。比如我應考的時代就沒有創意表現跟美術鑑賞這兩科。

附帶一提，每年臺灣報考美術術科的學生大約是三千多人（從民國85年到110年都差不多），是音樂術科的三倍，約莫和考體育術科的學生人數相當。如果你學科很不錯卻想報考美術科系，真的會如本書描述的遭到家長和同儕質疑（甚至學校的導師會問你這樣真的好嗎）……

2021/10/9更正： 民國91年美術術科考試僅有兩千餘人報名，該年不少學校沒採術科考試成績而是獨招，這並不奇怪；但到92年美術術科報名人數竟然達到六千餘人，是90年的兩倍，真是挺耐人尋味……目前沒搜尋到相關研究，專攻美術教育菸酒生可以考慮研究這個現象。

https://www.ceec.edu.tw/files/file_po...
https://exam.derekr.com/

話說回來日本的美術補習班教真細啊。我是在小鎮的畫室學習，升學氛圍沒那麼重。記得當年老師很少教各類構圖組成，但若是構得爛就免不了一頓唸（我很駑鈍所以總不知自己錯在哪，特別挫折）。現在的學生從小就學藝術鑑賞，大概可以避免當年土法煉鋼的迴圈吧。

p.68 主角翻閱的是文藝復興畫家利比修士和印象派畫家竇加的作品，都是大都會美術館的收藏。
p.73、78、79 展場出現的繪畫有荷蘭畫家維梅爾、美國二十世紀畫家Tannar、後印象派名家梵谷和美國十八世紀畫家Rufus Hathaway的作品，竇加的芭蕾舞會又登場一次（p.95 他跟維梅爾會再出現），也都是大都會美術館藏品。（美國在二戰結束後才成為西方藝術發展的重心，所以在此之前的美國畫家知名的不多。）
p. 127 主角練習視線誘導時仿效的是克林姆的Mohnfeld，沒有譯出。
p.99 「第27筆」的對頁彩圖應該是模仿馬奈的《女神遊樂廳的吧台》

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know whether to continue with this series. It's a kind of frustrating reading experience, because it has the seeds of what could be incredible, but it gets so bogged down in Art 101 lessons that it loses track of its characters. For so much emphasis on "composition" and "drawing the eye," you'd think Yamaguchi would be better about drawing the reader's attention to some actual character development.

I was initially hopeful that we'd gotten past the "here is how to draw a still life" bits of the first volume, and when we were purely interacting with the characters, it had some sparks of greatness. I was glad we got to see more of Yatora hanging out with his old friends, and his new prep school classmates are interesting - although not explored too much beyond the surface level.

This volume finally has some intriguing stuff with Yuka, in particular, although I'm not really sure what Yuka's deal is. A guy who identifies as male and simply (as stated in the text) enjoys dressing in women's clothes, being pretty, and dating men? Or is that just Yatora's limited understanding of how gender works? We're mostly getting all of this filtered through his eyes, so while he is starting to think of Yuka as a little less "weird," he still files people in certain categories. It doesn't seem to have occurred to him that Yuka might be a woman - and he continues to use Yuka's birth name, which no one else does. I assume (hope?) this is something that changes as they get to know each other more in future volumes.

At least they bonded a little after Yuka's devastating breakup, although some of that impact got wiped away by how quickly Yuka bounced back and just moved on to the next guy. I really would've liked to spend more time with Yuka and to see more of a relationship - friendship, mutual understanding, etc - developing between Yuka and Yatora.

There were a few other good bits. I liked Yatora's conversation with his mom, with the emphasis on how art helped him to understand and appreciate her more. For all that he talks about how art is important to him and this is his passion now and he's giving up everything else to pursue it, I just...don't really see that in practice. There's none of that same passion from his initial blue painting, when he truly saw the world differently and it transformed his entire perspective on life. Now he's just slogging through typical art classes, trying to get into school, to do...what? He's been creating art for about a year, and he's already lost his inspiration? Why does he even WANT to paint?

That's kind of the message of this volume, I think - figuring out the answers to those kinds of questions - but it gets way too bogged down in material that made me feel kind of like I was sitting in an introductory college course. Yamaguchi hasn't really figured out how to blend exposition with the natural storytelling flow; when a literal art instructor isn't on the page to give lectures, other students will step in with paragraphs of expository text, in ways that just do not happen in normal day-to-day conversations, even if you are in an art museum.

The pacing was also really, really weird. There were numerous points where I rubbed the pages between my fingers to try to figure out if some were stuck together and if I'd missed transitions. We time-jump a lot, and it's not always clear why or when or what's happening. While the character bios at the beginning of the book call Yatora a second year, he's already gone through his senpai's graduation and turned into a third year barely a handful of pages into this volume. Then he does his spring prep school, then summer prep school, and I really have no idea what's going on with the rest of his classes (or life) in the meantime. It's all...confusing. Fragmented and muddy, like the low-quality reproductions of art that's supposed to be a series of impressive oil paintings but look like badly photocopied charcoals instead.

Even the conversation with Yatora's mother - a high point of this volume - was odd, because in Volume 1, it seemed like she'd already accepted that this was his path, but this time around, they argued about it for so long that he had to nap in a classroom to recover. It's disjointed and disorienting and I can't figure out what's supposed to be happening next. If we've already skipped basically an entire year between volumes, what's the rest of this series like? With the current pacing, he'd be getting into art school in the next volume, which means the next 10 volumes would be...him taking college art classes? Just the idea of sitting through those lectures is making me tired.

I think the reality is that I keep trying to like this manga, but I don't. I feel like I'm missing something, when all the other reviews for this series seem to be absolutely glowing. I just don't see it. I can't connect to the characters, which makes the story fall far too flat.

I'll still try the anime when it's released - my delighted gasp when I came upon the four colored pages in the middle of this volume mean that I'll probably respond a lot better when all these longwinded discussions about color theory are actually reflected by color images. I'd hope, too, that the anime's pacing will be handled better, with more focus on the characters themselves, but we'll see.

I would love to learn more about Yuka, and to find out if Yatora ever discovers what he wants to say with his art, and what his style really looks like. I think Yamaguchi using other artists' work is actually a major flaw. There's no wow factor like with that huge, detailed painting that made Yatora want to pursue art to begin with. Most of the other pieces are small, indistinct, and created by other artists. Using someone else to paint Yatora's pieces distances the creator from their own main character and makes me feel like...if they don't even understand Yatora, how am I ever supposed to?

I gave it a good try, but I think two volumes is where I'm stopping, at least for now. Like Yotasuke, I'm calling it quits...this extended prep school is not for me.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yatora trying to convince his mom about an art degree gave me flashbacks to convincing my dad about an English degree.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yatora’s journey continues, but, while he’s got a destination in mind, the particulars of his route continue to elude him. Faced with the prospect of telling his parents about his life choices and not knowing what exactly those choices might entail, there’s quite a bit for him to sort out if he wants to stay in his new world.

This book continues the strengths of the first volume as Yatora moves deeper into the creative space from his old life. One thing I truly love about this series is how nuanced the characters are. It derives all of its drama and conflict from believable places, not narrative curveballs pulled from thin air.

And you can feel how much everybody involved adores art and creativity and wants to share the joy of the process, while also not sugarcoating the realities of what these students are getting into (the very concept of ‘exam pieces’ makes perfect sense in really depressing way).

Plus, these characters are so interesting. This is a cast and a half - I think the way Yatora’s friends stand by his choices and the interactions with his parents are all worth singling out. The way Yatora explains his desires to his mom is maybe a little over-sweet, but I can’t say it isn’t affecting and one of the book’s standout scenes.

For having a trigger warning for suicide and contact info to the Trevor Project on the first page, I was expecting things to get a lot darker with Yuka than they did. Not that that’s bad - Yuka is a fascinating character and Yatora’s growing acceptance of them is so satisfying that I wish they had more scenes together. Heck, I would read a Yuka book; this is a type of character we hardly ever see handled like this in manga and this book is enriched by their presence.

4 stars. An unbridled celebration of creativity, but also seen through the lens of the realities behind that creativity. It’s also a story about freedom to be yourself and, yes, the struggles of being yourself, both in a medium and just in your own existence. Some books you just read and feel ‘this is special’. I did that all the time here.

[Palmer Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s bewildering I’ve never read a manga before and ultimately strange that I chose to read this one first. I could not have made a better choice.

Yatora is a relateable character for me as someone who is academically gifted and is enthralled by learning yet continually falls into traps of delinquency and debauchery. He’s never pursued the arts out of secret jealousy and disdain for himself hidden behind a mask of likability. So far his arc is deeply moving and surrounded by characters of eccentricity and utter brilliance.

A couple scenes in this volume deserve specific praise:

Yatora asking his mother to get into Tua and how willing they were to allow him to chase his dreams regardless of personal consequence and prior convictions was a wonderful cultural demonstration of their sheer willpower and determination to succeed.

When he noticed his mother’s body ravaged by motherhood for the first time was such a creative scene to show sacrifice and what art teaches; the subtle act of noticing.

The queer representation and dysmorphia through clothing or gender continues to be as importantly casual as teenagers discovering themselves.

Fucking adored this.

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was right to think that it would take more than one volume to convince that this story is for keeps. Case in point: Chapter 5 (5th Brush); it's a great sequence when the protagonist faces his mother and convinces her to let him go to art school. This is the best chapter yet. I'm going to have to take this story to the end of the line.

The cover features a character in the running for my favorite, the enigmatic cross dressing Yuka-chan.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

"El arte no versa sobre lo que es correcto, sino sobre la impresión que causa en uno"

Empecé esta serie porque oí que era un "spokon de arte" y el primer tomo se llevó una buena calificación al resultarme original por ser tan distinto a lo que estoy acostumbrada a leer en manga, pero este segundo tomo ya no se salva.

Yatora es un chico de bachillerato que descubre su pasión por la pintura y decide esforzarse al máximo para entrar en una universidad de bellas artes, pero se percata de que está muy lejos de su meta, de que es un novato en este mundillos y de que debe aprender y conocer más a otros artistas y sus obras si quiere tener alguna opción de pasar el examen de ingreso.

Si a alguien le fascina el arte y quiere estudiarlo, este es su manga. No es mi caso, pero reconozco que la charla, muy corta para mi gusto, de Yatora con su madre, cuando le explica qué quiere hacer en un futuro, me ha gustado bastante, ya que me sentí identificada con el protagonista. A Yatora le plantean si es posible vivir del arte, cuáles son sus salidas profesionales..., etc. Yo también pasé por esa conversación con mis padres aunque el tema no era el arte. Si hubiera descubierto esta historia cuando todavía no había empezado la universidad, me gustaría mucho más. Afortunadamente, la charla fue bien y Yatora y yo estudiamos lo que nos apasiona.

Sin embargo, que me sienta identificada con el protagonista no quita que el manga se me haga aburrido en su mayor parte. La autora se explaya una barbaridad en técnicas de pintura (repito que a quien le interese este tema, amará el manga) y esto no es tan malo, pues si es un "spokon", las explicaciones son entendibles y es lo que espera el lector. El problema es que prefiero una explicación sobre algún deporte al arte, pero para gustos los colores. Eso sí, donde se alarga la autora es en dejar claro todas las universidades de bellas artes existentes en Japón, sus precios, cómo entrar, los porcentajes de alumnos admitidos cada año... Si viviera en Japón y fuera a estudiar arte, le estaría muy agradecida a Yamaguchi-sensei por la información, pero como no se cumple ninguna de las condiciones pues me agotan esas páginas.

En cuanto a los personajes, aparte de Yatora, solo me llama la atención Yuka y no porque también quiera estudiar arte.

Un punto a favor de la autora es que, cada vez que un personaje pinta un cuadro, da créditos al artista de dicha pintura en la vida real, que desconozco si serán artistas famosos, dibujos de sus fans o si da clases y son de sus alumnos.

No sé si continuaré esta serie, porque tampoco es que pasen grandes cosas en ella. Yatora va del instituto a la academia y a algún museo/exposición a veces. Por ahora mis ganas son escasas y el único incentivo para seguir con el tomo tres es llegar al ocho y conocer al personaje de su portada.

"Moriría si tuviera que seguir lo que dicta la sociedad"

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This manga has taught me more about Art composition,inspiration and it's inner world of artists than I really wanted to ever know.
However saying that ...it shows what a good Magna this is...by the fact it's interesting, comprehensible and I'm coming back for more.

[ash ౨ৎ ⋆｡˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i live and breathe and eat and sleep the yatora and yotasuke content. they’re all i need.

[Mariza · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[prisca💋 · Rating 4 out of 5]

le tome 2, toujours aussi sympa 👌🏼

[Kendrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters and ideas of Blue Period snap into focus in Volume 2. Having discovered a love for art, Yatora has developed prodigously in skill. However, his ambitions to apply to Tokyo Art University, as well as his plans for attending an evening art class, require him to finally disclose his passion for art with his parents. For readers who have followed Yatora’s on his journey, this somewhat inevitable confrontation between one’s aspirations and parental expectations comes to a head at the start of Volume 2. Building on Yatora’s established personality, namely his people pleasing nature, Yamaguchi showcases Yatora’s struggle to pursue art in the face of conventional wisdom. The character work invested into this chapter is engrossing because Yatora has always given others the answers he thinks they wanted. Seeing him have to work for his own beliefs in a messy, often confused fashion stuck with me on my first and subsequent read throughs.

Additionally, it is becoming clear how Yamaguchi uses her characters to arrive at broader messages. One specific example involves a sub-plot involving Yuka*, a cross-dressing classmate of Yatora’s. In volume 2, Yuka’s gender presentation comes up when she goes out with a man on a date. When Yuka discloses her gender and is broken up with, Yuka talks with Yatora about gender presentation and societal expectations. Sensitively handled, I read Yuka’s gender ambivalence as a foil to Yatora’s own struggles with becoming an artist. Both Yuka and Yatora do not yet have a clear grasp of who they want to be. Who does at their age? I hope Yamaguchi will touch again on Yuka’s struggle for identity again in a future volume.

I can see why this manga has been picked up for an anime adaptation, despite its somewhat ‘niche’ plot involving the creation and enjoyment of art – a subject most people find off-putting. As a surrogate for readers, Yatora’s confusion about who gets permission to determine what’s good in an art piece is juxtaposed against the opinions of his fellow classmates and artists. Their explanations of art, grounded within the recognisable format of preparing for university (and beyond that, the future) makes otherwise difficult, theoretical questions easy to relate to. And each character has their own nuanced personality and memorable design. I’ve been reading some shonen manga recently and it’s struck me how uniquely each female character in Blue Period is drawn. One character introduced in this volume is Ooba – a loud, boisterous female teacher. Yamaguchi uses a stylized design– with bold blocks of colour for her hair and apron, and thick lines for her hands and lips. You get a visual sense of her teaching method and personality right off the bat.

My only gripe in this volume is that there are fewer moments compared to volume 1 where I was swept up by the art and writing. Volume 1 had clear execution issues but incredible highs. This volume, more solidly put together, unfortunately doesn’t reach that same level. But the important thing is that Volume 2 spends its time building narrative stakes for events down the line. I end this volume excited to read more.

*Yuka’s gender is more amorphous my review would suggest, as the translations have Yuka refer to themselves as a man, but at the same time present as female and go by female pronouns. To be safe, I’m using she/they pronouns going forward from here.

[Larisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

"my art will kill them all."

enough said. that mic drop sold me. i am absolutely in love with this series and i truly feel like i found it at the right time in my life. blue period resonates with me so much on a personal level. the art is phenomenal and the mangaka's style is just chef's kiss!!! this volume had so many panels where i just gasped and had to close the manga & put it down so i could just...take a moment to breathe because of how hard the art hit me. i know at this point i'm just gushing but blue period really deserves all the praise it gets. my only regret is not discovering it earlier but better late than never.

really happy that we got to know more about the characters and i'm so interested to see how yatora and yotasuke interact in the future. i'm honestly really interested in all the characters and hopefully we get to learn more about their backstories in future chapters.

also, i love the pacing of the manga so far. it doesn't drag at all, which i am very thankful for. looking forward to volume 3! at this rate i feel like we're getting the entrance exams in the next few volumes already and i am Very Excited to see yatora's growth.

[Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This volume had heart and talked real. Rarely do the 2nd volume of a series blow me away as the first. But man, this was something else.

Yatora is a great protagonist. His conversation with his mom really hit me. I also appreciated that while his friends don't look like it - they are good guys and extremely supportive. Hell, they were ready to throw down when Yotatsuke made Yatora cry.

Also Yuka just shot up as a favorite character. I wouldn't mind seeing a spin off where she is the protagonist. Hoping that I see more Yatora and Yuka interactions because that park scene----!!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

a lot of interesting stuff about art, but the plot kinda fell flat for me. dont think ill be continuing with the series

[walkingtragedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

did u know it’s physically impossible to be straight and good at art 😔☝️

[♔ Kalon ♔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good volume, capturing the various frustration while doing art is so accurately depicted. More exposure to art from various maestros and a lot to learn even if have been doing art for a while. Wasn't as engrossing as the previous volume but was good nonetheless.
The family problem of choosing art as a career, the overwhelming feeling of not being good among the peers are all so well conveyed to the readers. The only problem with this volume in my opinion was the lack of character development and the reading felt a little flat.

[Robert Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume really starts to get into the world of oil painting and taught me some really interesting things about composition, though I kind of wish that the paintings were in color sometimes, the author has to tell you what colors some things are lol.
There was also some good moments of tension and more character development and exploration, but I slightly prefer the first volume, though that’s fair cause I always like the beginning of a story.

[Blake the Book Eater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this volume! The supporting characters are coming into their own, and Yuka is definitely my fav and I hope she gets the recognition she deserves! Plus Yaguchi’s drive to pursue art is genuinely inspiring!

[ale (taylor's version) everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

TE AMO YATORA AAAAAAAAAA

[marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

words cannot describe my love for blue period

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

want to know more about takahashi and kuwana👀

[isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

gostei menos do que o primeiro
nesse eu senti que as coisas passaram mais devagar
não foi desinteressante, de nenhuma maneira
mas mesmo assim, menos coisas aconteceram em relação ao primeiro tomo

[Nadia (Coleccionista de Historias) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Mik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estoy siendo muy fan de este manga y encima me dejó con ganas de volver a dibujar, ayuda.

[Caitlyn Smallwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute banger of a series so far. The main character is so stupid but in such an endearing way

[Clar · Rating 5 out of 5]

VALORACIÓN: 4'5 estrellas

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