Blue Period | E5 and E6: You are your own enemy.

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Yaguchi is such an interesting character. He makes Blue Period worth watching for sure because watching him constantly fight with himself as Yaguchi tries to navigate the world of Art has been extremely fascinating.

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Yaguchi is a very critical person, he’s very hard on himself. He wants to create a masterpiece that he would be proud of, he wants to make something that he can call his own. His drive to be the best is also what kills him because Yaguchi is hard on himself. Which results in him thinking negatively about his own work when they don’t look equally as good or better than those around him. This is something I think everyone can relate to, in that respect, we are our worst enemy. Then when we find something we’re proud of that also gains the praises of others you then find yourself getting full of yourself. This is what happened to Yaguchi, once his F-100 became something that he was proud of and was praised by his teachers, he became full of himself and slowly lost his way.

Something that was made apparent to me was that Yaguchi takes one step forward, then takes two steps back. However, it’s the learning process he goes through from these experiences that really interests me. We see a character actively work through these problems, these mental blocks and feelings of doubt. It’s almost as though we’re riding on a crazy rollercoaster with many ups and downs and that’s very fun. If there’s one thing Blue Period should be known for, it would be character development. I’m only six episodes in and the Yaguchi we saw in episode one is an entirely different person than the one I saw over the past few episodes.

Episodes five and six also highlighted the importance of strong supporting characters. While Mori’s art inspired Yaguchi to take up art and is someone he continuously looks to for encouragement. His teachers in Mayu Ooba and Masako Saeki play a major role in helping guide Yaguchi. I love how they both encourage him in different ways, Ooba is very eccentric sometimes you don’t understand what she’s saying half the time. But somehow, someway, in doing so forced Yaguchi to think and to take the time to fully understand what she’s trying to tell him and it seems to work. While Saeki is that teacher that helps motivate and empowers you, she’s that person who’ll guide you towards overcoming whatever you’re facing. But she won’t help you cross the line, Saeki will let you do that on your own accord. In both cases, they’re helping build Yaguchi up and are supporting his journey of self-discovery. Mayu Ooba and Masako Saeki are what supporting characters should be.

Personally, I enjoyed episodes five and six. I thought they were extremely interesting. With every passing episode, Yaguchi becomes more fascinating and is someone who has grown a lot on me.