is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by

Tsubasa Yamaguchi is a Japanese manga artist. After she graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, she created two one-shots before launching her first full series, a manga adaptation of ''She and Her Cat''. Following its completion, she launched '' Blue Perio ...

. The series has been serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's manga magazine ''

Monthly Afternoon is a Japanese monthly manga anthology published by Kodansha under the ''Afternoon'' line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of January 25, 1986. ''Afternoon'' has spawned many successful manga series such as '' Oh My G ...

'' since June 2017 and has been collected in seventeen volumes as of May 2025. The series is licensed in English by

Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, US, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 1st 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and man ...

. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series adaptation produced by

Seven Arcs is a Japanese anime production company and former studio, established on May 31, 2002, by former Pierrot and Studio Kikan-affiliated staff who had established studio Arcturus prior in 2000 with the intent of making animated series. The studio m ...

aired from October to December 2021. A live-action film adaptation premiered in Japanese theaters in August 2024. By November 2021, the manga had over 4.5 million copies in circulation. In 2020, ''Blue Period'' was awarded the 44th

Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...

in the General category and the Grand Prize of the 13th

Manga Taishō The is a Japanese List of comics awards, comics award recognizing achievement in manga. It is awarded annually to a manga series published in the previous calendar year of eight or fewer Tankōbon, collected volumes in length. The Manga Taish� ...

award.

Premise

Yatora Yaguchi is a fairly popular student who excels in school, but secretly grapples with feelings of emptiness and frustration. After a night out with his friends, Yatora sees the morning scene of Shibuya in a shade a blue that awfully touches him. This feeling would inspire his first drawing for art class, which he normally regards as a useless subject. However, later, when visiting his high school's art club and feeling passionate for something for the first time, Yatora decides to pursue art. He eventually aspires to attend the

Tokyo University of the Arts or is a school of art and music in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained artists in the fields of painting, sculpture, crafts, inter ...

(TUA) after he graduates from high school, the most prestigious public art university in Japan. The acceptance rate is extremely low, so to pass the entrance examination, Yatora must work extremely hard.

Characters

; : : :An academically gifted and diligent student whose friends are disinterested in school. After developing an interest in painting from his art club senior Mori, he is set down a path to attend art school. ; : : :Yatora's friend and fellow art-club member. Yuka considers himself to be a non-conformist and indifferent to the opinions of others. He is male but dresses in women's clothes. Throughout the series he struggles with pressure from his family. ; : : :Yatora's classmate in prep school. He is stoic and aloof towards Yatora, often sharply criticizing his work and character. ; : : :Yatora's classmate in prep school. Hashida dresses well and takes a very classical and theoretical approach to art, which shows in his work. ; : : :Another of Yatora's classmates from prep school. Her entire family attended TUA, and as a result she often struggles with feelings of inadequacy, despite being a highly talented artist in her own right. ; : : :Yatora's senior in his high school art club. To Mori art is a spiritual activity, and her pieces often incorporate images of religion and prayer. It is one of her works that spurs Yatora's interest in art. ; : : :The art teacher at Yatora's high school. She is his first art teacher and guides his first steps of him improving his artistic ability. ; : : :Yatora's teacher at prep school. She continually provides Yatora with valuable criticism and advice on how to overcome personal and technical obstacles as he continues with art. ; : :A friend of Yatora's from high school. He performs poorly in school and has a keen interest in sports. He is shown to care deeply about his friends. ; : : :A friend of Yatora's from high school. He is tall, quiet, and intimidating on the outside, but over time reveals his sensitivity, dreams, and emotional character to Yatora. ; : :Another of Yatora's friends from high school. He does not apply himself academically but is very interested in girls and highly devoted to his friends. ; : :Yatora's classmate at prep school. ; : :Yatora's classmate at prep school. ; : :Yatora's classmate at prep school. She always wears her school uniform to prep school, which is revealed to be to save money. ; : :A member of Yatora's high school art club. ; : :A member of Yatora's high school art club. ; : :A member of Yatora's high school art club. ; :

Media

Manga

''Blue Period'' is written and illustrated by

. The series began in

's manga magazine ''

'' on June 24, 2017. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on December 22, 2017. As of May 22, 2025, seventeen volumes have been released. In North America,

announced the print release of the manga in November 2019.

Volumes

Anime

television series adaptation was announced on January 19, 2021.

is animating the series, with

Koji Masunari is a Japanese anime director. After debuting in 1985, he has directed many series, including the anime adaptation of ''Kamichu!'', which won an excellence award at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2005, the anime adaptation of '' Magi: The Labyri ...

serving as chief director, and Katsuya Asano serving as director, with scripts by

Reiko Yoshida is a Japanese screenwriter. She has written and supervised numerous screenplays for anime series, live-action dramas and films. Her major works include ''Kaleido Star'', ''Aria'', ''Maria-sama ga Miteru'', '' D.Gray-man'', ''K-On!'', ''Bakuman'' ...

, character designs by Tomoyuki Shitaya, and music by Ippei Inoue. While the series had an advanced streaming debut on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on September 25, 2021, it aired on television from October 2 to December 18 of the same year on the Super Animeism block on

MBS MBS may refer for: People * Mohammed Ben Sulayem (born 1961), president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile * Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985), crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia * Mohan Bikram Singh (born 1935), Nepales ...

, TBS and other channels. Netflix is streaming the series on a weekly schedule outside of Japan since October 9, 2021. Omoinotake performed the opening theme "Everblue", while Mol-74 performed the ending theme "Replica".

Episodes

Film

A live-action film adaptation was announced on April 2, 2024. The film is directed by Kentarō Hagiwara, with scripts written by Reiko Yoshida, and music composed by Yūki "Yaffle" Kojima. It premiered in Japanese theaters on August 9, 2024, with

Gordon Maeda is a Japanese actor. He is the son of actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba. Maeda is best known for portraying Takashi Mitsuya in live action movie adaptation of ''Tokyo Revengers'' and Hyakunosuke Ogata in ''Golden Kamuy'' series. Early life ...

starring as Yatora.

Reception

By November 2021, the manga had over 4.5 million copies in circulation. Volume 14 was

's 12th highest first print run manga volume of 2023–2024 (period from April 2023–March 2024), with 145,000 copies printed. ''Blue Period'' was one of the Jury Recommended Works at the 22nd and 24th

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival was an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by ...

in 2019 and 2021, respectively. In 2019, the manga was nominated for the 12th

and the 43rd

for Best General Manga. In 2020, the manga won the 13th Manga Taishō and the 44th Kodansha Manga Award for Best General Manga. It was also nominated for the 24th

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Current ...

. The series ranked fourth on

Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...

's ''

Kono Manga ga Sugoi! is an annual reference mook series published by Takarajimasha since 2005 featuring yearly rankings and reviews of manga. The rankings are compiled by surveying professionals in the manga and publishing industry. The first two years saw two s ...

'' list of best manga of 2019 for male readers, 14th, along with '' The Fable'' on the 2020 list; and 15th, along with '' Longing for Home'' on the 2021 list. ''Blue Period'' ranked 16th on the 2019 "Book of the Year" list by '' Da Vinci'' magazine; it ranked 19th on the 2020 list; and 24th on the 2021 list. The series was also one of twelve manga series to make the 2021

Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...

's top 126 graphic novels for teenagers list. Rebecca Silverman from ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

'' gave the first volume a B+. She praised its coming-of-age narrative and characters (specifically the adults), while criticizing it for being too informative at times.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) Anime and manga set in schools Anime series based on manga Animeism Art in anime and manga Coming-of-age anime and manga Drama anime and manga Kodansha manga Manga Taishō Manga adapted into films Netflix original anime Seinen manga Seven Arcs Warner Bros. films Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (General)