The Importance of ‘Blue’ in Blue Period: Interview with Tsubasa Yamaguchi

Blue Period is a story about growing as an artist. I’m curious if any of your experiences growing up as an artist mirror any of the characters in the series.

Tsubasa Yamaguchi: Oh absolutely! I wanted to draw manga ever since I was young, but didn’t think about making it a career until I made it to college. I used to go to art school, just like the main character, Yatora. So, that was definitely the main focus that I wanted to show in this story.

Right at the beginning, there’s an emphasis on the color blue. Can you explain the significance of the color and its use in the manga?

Yamaguchi: So maybe the use of the color blue wasn’t personal per se, but rather it was going back to Japanese culture. There is a phrase in Japanese that describes adolescence called seishun, which means “blue spring.” That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to emphasize the color blue. There’s also another manga creator, Taiyō Matsumoto, who wrote short stories. He had a compilation book, and in the end note, he describes a scene where all these juvenile delinquents hang out all night. Then, in the morning, the colors of the city look blue, which is the color of adolescence, and that description really left an impression on me.

So that’s the basis for the main character’s first painting in the story?

Yamaguchi: That’s right! In fact, I wish I had more opportunities to show the manga in color to emphasize the characters’ explanations about their works.

One character whose story resonated with me personally and many people I know was Yuka, who goes through an arc regarding their identity and finding out what they want out of life. Can you tell me a little about the inception of their character and the path you wanted them to go on?

Yamaguchi: So, you know, things like identity. I did go through the struggle of figuring things out myself as well. When it came to Yuka specifically, I had a friend who was kind of in a similar situation. So that’s kind of where I got the inspiration to go into this topic as well. But I think it’s just something that everyone goes through.

I’d argue there isn’t a character like her in many anime or manga these days, so it was great to watch and read about them.

Yamaguchi: I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the character so much!

As someone who doesn’t do much drawing or has a talent for it, I appreciate how much Blue Period broke down different styles and techniques. Before starting your story, how much research did you do into these different artistic methods? Are there any other techniques that stand out to you as difficult or hard to grasp?

Yamaguchi: I absolutely did a lot of research before I started to write the series. I talked to a lot of artists, teachers, and students to get a sense of what modern challenges and struggles are. What kind of questions are being asked in art school? I tried to get diverse perspectives through books and people. As for techniques that stand out, some things like drawing the figures are, of course, hard on their own. But then, to me, the most challenging part was finding my own style.

Do you have a favorite piece of art done by one of the characters in the series?

Yamaguchi: If I had to choose a favorite…all of them are my favorite! But there was one scene that stuck out to me. During volume two, the art club practiced drawing different objects as a subject. I also participated in this exercise in the past, drawing the same figure over and over again with other artists. But it’s been a while since I’ve done figure drawing, so I really don’t think I could do it as well as I used to.

So the art sticks out to you because you know firsthand how intense that is?

Yamaguchi: Yes, absolutely.

Is there any artwork in the real world that speaks to you the same way that some pieces speak to the characters in the story?

Yamaguchi: I don’t know if there is a favorite piece of mine that actually influences the manga itself, but I always liked the works of Francis Bacon. Also, fairly recently, I was going to write about Andy Warhol in the story, so I actually did an intensive study about him. Now that I know more about him, I think I appreciate his artwork a lot more.

Art can leave a strong impression on people. What kind of impression do you hope your manga leaves on your readers?

Yamaguchi: It’s a little subjective, maybe. When I began the series, I wanted to make a character who was different from what I had seen before. Instead of having a character who’s only good at one thing, I wanted to make a character who is somewhat good at everything but started from zero regarding art. I wanted the series to be easy to remember alongside Picasso, but I worry that if I express, “This is what I want you to take away,” then the fans might feel forced to feel that way, so I don’t want to make that happen. But when I’m reading somebody else’s manga, for example, I really enjoy those moments where I feel like my perspective on everything has been impacted. So I am hoping that maybe my manga will someday have an impact like that to the readers, too.