Blue Period (Japanese: ブルーピリオド, Hepburn: Burū Piriodo) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsubasa Yamaguchi. The series has been serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon since June 2017, with its chapters collected in 19 tankōbon volumes as of May 2026. The series is licensed in English by Kodansha USA. An anime television series adaptation produced by Seven Arcs 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 in the General category and the Grand Prize of the 13th Manga Taishō award.
Contents
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 of blue that awfully touches him. This feeling would inspire his first drawing for art class, which he normally viewed 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 (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 very hard.
Characters
Yatora Yaguchi (矢口 八虎, Yaguchi Yatora)
Voiced by: Hiromu Mineta (Japanese); Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
Portrayed by: Gordon Maeda
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.
Ryuji "Yuka" Ayukawa (鮎川 龍二, Ayukawa Ryuji)
Voiced by: Yumiri Hanamori (Japanese); Marcy Edwards (English)
Portrayed by: Fumiya Takahashi
Yatora's friend and fellow art-club member. Yuka considers themselves to be a non-conformist and indifferent to the opinions of others. They were born male, but present as a woman, with their gender identity being a point of contention. Throughout the series, they struggle with pressure, non-acceptance, and abuse from their family.
Yotasuke Takahashi (高橋 世田介, Takahashi Yotasuke)
Voiced by: Daiki Yamashita (Japanese); Daman Mills (English)
Portrayed by: Rihito Itagaki
Yatora's classmate in prep school. He is stoic and aloof towards Yatora, often sharply criticizing his work and character.
Haruka Hashida (橋田 悠, Hashida Haruka)
Voiced by: Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese); Todd Haberkorn (English)
Portrayed by: Ikuho Akiya
Media
Manga
Blue Period is written and illustrated by Tsubasa Yamaguchi. The series began in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon on June 24, 2017. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on December 22, 2017. As of May 22, 2026, nineteen volumes have been released.
In North America, Kodansha USA announced the print release of the manga in November 2019.
86. "As the World Glitches" (世界、バグる。, Sekai, Baguru.)
87. "No Longer the Same As Yesterday" (昨日までと違う, Kinō Made to Chigau)
88. "The Screaming Canvas" (叫ぶキャンパス, Sakebu Kyanpasu)
89. "The Moon and the Sun" (月と太陽, Tsuki to Taiyō)
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on January 19, 2021. Seven Arcs is animating the series, with Koji Masunari serving as chief director, and Katsuya Asano serving as director, with scripts by Reiko Yoshida, character designs by Tomoyuki Shitaya, and music by Ippei Inoue. While the series had an advanced streaming debut on Netflix 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, 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".
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 Yaffle. It premiered in Japanese theaters on August 9, 2024, with Gordon Maeda starring as Yatora.
Reception
By November 2021, the manga had over 4.5 million copies in circulation. Volume 14 was Kodansha'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 in 2019 and 2021, respectively. In 2019, the manga was nominated for the 12th Manga Taishō and the 43rd Kodansha Manga Award 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.
The series ranked fourth on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 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's top 126 graphic novels for teenagers list.
Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network 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.