Review of Blue Period

Most animes that people rate highly are usually ones they can relate to on a personal experience. I enjoyed RELife more because I could relate to it, but the animes that I find it more impressive when an anime that I can't relate to, manages to elicit feelings of empathy despite never having been in that position. And Blue Period is one of those. I'm not artistic by any means. I know a handful of people who've done art in high school but never gone further, and then one person who went on to do something art related in further education. But I can't relateto the struggles of the artist.

What Blue Period managed to do for me though, was make me care about the characters. It immersed me fully into Yatora's life. I was cheering him on so bad. When he felt frustrated, I felt frustrated. I was truly rooting for Yatora. As someone who has absolutely no clue what to do in the future, I, for some reason, took comfort in watching a character struggle towards a future he knew he wanted. Instead of making me stress while reflecting on myself, I ended up enjoying every minute of Blue Period.

Now I don't know whether this is what artists truly go through. If not, well... no comment. BUT, the portrayal of the struggle of artists was a sight to see. I never imagined it would be this hard, but thinking about it, it makes sense as to why it is. Art is one of the few subjects that don't have a correct answer. It's totally open to interpretation and so hard to stand out among the many artists.

In short, I loved everything about Blue Period, right from the story/plot to the characters. I don't consider this anime to be your typical one. It had the perfect balance of Slice of Life and Drama. The characters were all interesting. Yatora, his friends, even Kuwana, all enjoyable characters. I LOVE that Yatora's friends look like delinquents but were supportive of him from the start. I love that Yatora felt so human on the screen.

I enjoyed the OP, ED and the music used in between. I loved the art style and character designs. I loved Ryuuji's part in it. It just felt, real. All of Yatora's struggles felt like something that would happen to someone in real life. In the middle of one of the most important periods in his life, Ryuuji needs him and Yatora steps completely out of his comfort zone rather than following his usual "model student" act. And he grew from that. Both of them, unsurprisingly.

If it wasn't clear already, I enjoyed this anime a lot. I even briefly thought about giving it a 10, but figured 9 was just right. Not a masterpiece, but highly highly enjoyable and thought provoking. I highly recommend watching this anime. It probably is dependent on your tastes, considering the amount of differing comments, but I didn't expect to enjoy it this much, yet here I am.

I'll be back for a second round without a doubt. The anime ended but it is definitely just the beginning for Yatora's future in art.