Member-only story
Exploring Art and Life in ‘Blue Period’
A coming-of-age manga about career choices and passion
High school — you’re just old enough to start figuring out who you are but also still not an adult.
And yet, teenagers are often expected to act as adults. Earlier and earlier, they are being asked to decide what they want to do as a career so they can customize their courses, extracurriculars, internships, volunteer work, and every other part of their lives to best set them up for that career.
How can anyone, much less teenagers, be expected to pick one career for the rest of their lives? But we continue to require literal children to make the decision when they have no idea about the realities of the job or the steps that will be needed to get there.
And this is where we meet the main character of Blue Period. Yatora Yaguchi is a high school student of contradictions. He is considered a “delinquent”, conveyed to the reader by his bleached hair, earring, and friends, but is also a hard worker who studies rigorously to increase his chances of getting into a good college, landing a job, and being successful in life in general.
And then, one day his art class surprises him. He puts in effort and finds he actually enjoys it. This sets him off on a new path. At first, he’s hesitant. Art…
