Tamal Kundu
Based on a manga series written and illustrated by Tsubasa Yamaguchi, Netflix’s ‘Blue Period’ is an inherently Shounen TV anime. But as it offers an earnest look at the inner turmoil of the protagonist and his and his family’s financial struggles, it also becomes a coming-of-age story.
The plot revolves around Yatora Yaguchi, a second-year high-school student who is quite popular and a decent student but lacks direction and purpose in his life. And then, he discovers art and realizes it’s the piece he has been missing all this while. Here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘Blue Period’ episode 1. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Blue Period Episode 1 Recap
In episode 1, titled ‘Awakening to the Joy of Painting,’ we are introduced to Yatora and his circle of friends: Utashima, Sumida, and Koigakubo. They watch soccer, eat, drink, and smoke together. Outwardly, Yatora is extremely social and seems to spend very little time studying. So, when he gets high marks in his tests, his friends think he is a genius. In reality, as he tells them, he is a hard worker.
However, nothing seems to interest him. Yatora goes through life in a haze. He does various things, including studying and hanging out with his friends because those things are part of a pattern. But then, one day, while visiting the art class to pick up the pack of cigarettes he accidentally left behind earlier, Yatora sees a painting that one of his seniors made, and it has a profound impact on him. He becomes acquainted with Ryuuji Ayukawa, a member of the art club. Their relationship is initially antagonistic, but that changes as they get to know each other.
Blue Period Episode 1 Ending: What Does Yatora Choose to Study in the Future?
Yatora chooses to study art in the future. However, he is well aware that his family’s financial condition isn’t good enough to put him through a private school. So, by default, his choice has to be a public school. The problem is that there is only one viable option in that regard, the Tokyo University of the Arts, where the painting department has the lowest acceptance rate in Japan.
It hasn’t been an easy decision for him. Being from a working-class family and understanding the full reality of his circumstances, he is extremely skeptical about a career in art at first. The starving artist is a regularly used trope in literature and entertainment because it’s based on truth. Very few artists go on to find any form of success in life. Moreover, a part of him even questions whether he has the talent to make it as an artist.
But Masako Saeki, the art teacher at school, tells him about Picasso and how commercially minded the genius painter was, assuring Yatora that his reservation about financial stability is neither unique nor problematic. Maru Mori, the senior who painted the beautiful artwork that deeply resonated with him, helps him understand the value of experience and knowledge compared to raw talent. All these things, combined with Yatora’s own experience while painting his vision of Shibuya, make the decision for him.
Yatora feels the joy of expressing his inner visions by bringing the blue Shibuya to the drawing paper. That painting also connects him to his friends like never before. He feels that he has been able to communicate with them for the first time. When he approaches Saeki and tells her about his decision, she, like any good teacher, offers him both encouragement and explicitly lays out issues that he will face in the pursuit of his dream. She makes him realize that it will be an uphill struggle for him from this point onward. But what is important is that Yatora has made that choice and taken that leap of faith. As Saeki tells him, when a hard worker does something they love, they are unstoppable.
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