One Great Panel: Blue Period

Still taking it in.

Anytime I write one of these One Great Panels, I go back and find when exactly the panel was in the context of the story and this was, far and away, the hardest I’ve had to look. Because I couldn’t place when Yatora had this moment. Mostly because he could have had this moment at just about any point on his artistic journey and it still would have been impactful, just in slightly different ways. Yet, the moment it happens is probably the best moment, because of what’s on either side of it.

The funny part is that there’s really not much context to this panel, which kind of adds to the mystique of it, or the universality. It’s a notion that I think any artist of any type can relate to.

This is the very first panel of chapter 5. Er… stroke 5, sorry.

Context: At the end of the previous chapter, Yatora has determined that he is a regular person, and has to rise to the level of genius. No small feat. To start off this chapter, he is with his old friends, drinking at a bar. This panel is very much a hinge. It’s Yatora in two worlds and recognizing it. But not fully abandoning one to move on to the other.

Given the nature of Blue Period, and how it’s all about art, it only makes sense that there are going to be some panels that are gorgeous. And while this one is a close-up, there’s no lack of artistic flourishes. For starters, the shading is magnificent, though every single panel is shaded to perfection. But it’s the facial expression that really evokes a reaction.

In a way, Yatora looks very self-assured. Arrogant, almost. Which is not his nature as an artist (as of yet). He’s still a newbie. Among his friends though, there may be a low-key arrogance that he has become an “ascended” version of himself, or a better version, even if he doesn’t consciously express this notion. That being the case though, when does that original version of himself that didn’t make art start to seep into the current version that does? And where is that separating line, if there is one?

I love this panel because it’s so relatable. As I often moan about myself, while I love being a creative, an artist, a writer, whatever you want to call it, it has afford me far more frustration than anything else ever would have. Such is art. It’s perfectly imperfect and it’s never going to be good enough. But there’s nothing else like it. It’s the pursuit of perfection that you have to accept will never be fully won. Like entering a maze knowing there’s no way out.

In that sense, Yatora has blessed and cursed himself by becoming an artist (as we all do?), and I find that notion, mixed with his arrogantly subdued expression to be so thought provoking. Even as I write, I think of the multitude of ways this panel can be taken and can’t settle on any one takeaway.

What’s also noteworthy is that he’s smoking here; a small detail without context. Previously, Yuka has called Yatora out for being a “social smoker.” He doesn’t actually smoke unless he’s fitting in with his old group of friends. With rare exceptions. But the fact that he’s smoking here opens up two possibilities—either he’s still holding onto that past version of himself, or he’s changed to the point that smoking is a part of his new self.

Either way, it signifies change, or pending change. As all artists must face, especially in those origin moments when they discover their artistry, or discover something new about it. And that is so much of what Yatora is all about—change. Finding himself, in all the complexities that entails.

This won’t be the last One Great Panel for Blue Period. Stay tuned.