Blue Period Volume 16 Review

This assignment is about ‘creating the show itself’. Yatora Yaguchi (second-year art student)  

Yatora has won a prize in an art competition! Yakumo Murai won the overall top award but a prize is still a prize and it’s only the first time Yatora has entered. So why is he suffering from imposter syndrome? Even a meeting with his old schoolfriends, including pâtissier-in-training Koi whose wise words usually help him centre himself, doesn’t quite offer the reassurance he’d anticipated. And then the second semester of the second year begins and he decides to sign up for an unusual assignment set by Professor Choya: a two-person show. “You’ll pair up with someone… or you’ll act as if you’ve paired up with someone and exhibit your work. Which means you can go with someone famous, fictional or who you can’t meet in person.” At first, Yatora describes this as a ‘pretty fun assignment’ but he soon comes to regret his decision. He’s also desperate for cash so he asks Yuka (Ryuji) for help. Which is how he ends up working at a host club! The most fascinating host at the club is Johann and poor Yatora, bemused by the whole host club ethos (the huge sums of money expended by clients, the drinking culture) finds himself wondering exactly what he’s got himself into.

Having decided that Francis Bacon is the artist he’s going to ‘pair with’ for his assignment, Yatora also discovers – after much research and soul-searching – that maybe he’s not the best of choices for him, after all. Although, given the fact that – on more than one occasion – observers and fellow students have been saying to Yatora that his work reveals that he’s interested in portraying people, Bacon is known above all for his portraits, disturbing as many of them are. Exhausted by working at the host club and trying to work out why Bacon no longer seems like a good fit for his assignment, is he going to be able to produce the work for the show in time – or has he made a terrible decision?

The return of Yuka (Ryuji) will be welcomed by all Yuka fans – and also a cause for celebration is the inclusion of four colour pages, so important in a manga about artists (mangaka Tsubasa Yamaguchi uses colour in such an impactful way). There are some great scenes between Yuka and Yatora, not least the moment Yuka rescues the innocent (clueless?) Yatora from being propositioned in Kabukicho; lost in his thoughts about Bacon and his project, he doesn’t realize that he’s hanging out in a pick-up place. These two are still looking out for each other – and Yuka is very perceptive when it comes to helping Yatora straighten out his ideas about his art. It’s Yuka who points him firmly in the direction of Andy Warhol when he’s floundering on the assignment.

Is this the first crossover Tsubasa Yamaguchi has created from her own works? The dark and handsome host Johann also appears in Kamiya (although with just the one ‘n’ as Johan), the vampire tale from Nude Model and Other Stories. However, it takes too many shots of tequila (trying to keep up with the clients at the host club) to bring about a hungover moment of true revelation about what Francis Bacon’s work is all about.

This volume is also all about Yatora trying to figure out who he is – and if he really is an artist. Whether it’s his friend Koi telling him, “You’re gonna be an artist, aren’t you?” or Professor Choya (who turns out to be surprisingly approachable), we get to see through Yatora’s eyes the difficult questions he asks himself about the direction his art is taking him in. We also get to learn more about Warhol and Bacon (filtered through the characters’ thoughts, and maybe even glimpse what Yamaguchi herself has come to think about their work and their processes).

Translation for Kodansha is by Ajani Oloye with lettering by Lys Blakeslee and, as in all the other volumes, their work results in an effortless read. The very detailed two pages of translation notes at the end of the volume are another bonus, as well as four 4-koma strips. Volume 17 is due out in February, so happily, there’s not too long to wait this time. And in the brief afterword, the mangaka reminds us that there’s now a live-action film as well (currently available to watch on Amazon Prime Video).

Blue Period continues to go from strength to strength; you can read it as a slice-of-life for the character growth and interaction alone – but it’s the way Yamaguchi weaves the art into the narrative, as viewpoint character Yatora is learning and growing as an artist, that makes this such a fascinating and deep dive into its subject matter. And the art? Gorgeous and eye-catching, as ever. Highly recommended.

Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.