When Motivation and Art Meet: Blue Period Museum Exhibit

What is Blue Period?

Blue Period is a Japanese manga that was published back in 2017. It is now continuing on with 15 volumes to date. The story follows our main character, Yatora Yaguchi, a high school student just drifting by in life when one day after a night out with his friends, he sees Shibuya in a different light.

A blue light! From there, he begins to think of drawing from a completely different perspective as he puts more effort into his artwork at school before joining an afterschool art club program. Readers follow his story as he navigates his new passion as well as the ups and downs that come with being a creative individual, not feeling good enough, a competitive art field, and struggling to just figure out who he is in life.

Why the Love?

When I first watched the anime, I had no idea what the premise was about, just that it looked interesting. From the first episode, they had me hooked! As a writer and creator, I knew exactly what the main character was feeling and could completely identify with him. Trying to find yourself and finding motivation is something everyone experiences at some point in their life. That being said, this series gave me so much motivation to pursue my goals even if I didn’t find them attainable. I recommend this series as it truly moved me and inspired me to pursue my passions.

Ticket to Art

I saw the flyer for the Blue Period exhibit months ago when it first came out; however, I didn’t get a chance to go until recently. Buying the tickets was relatively easy. I just reserved it my phone (using the e+ app) and picked it up at a local convenience store.

Read the Fine print

Please make sure to read the fine print on the ticket. I made the mistake of going on a day when the exhibit was not open. The ticket specifically said that it’s only open on the weekends and Fridays, though I went on a Wednesday. Opps!

Blue Period Museum Exhibit

This gallery was held at the ATC Gallery around Cosmosquare Station. It was my first time going there and I was thoroughly impressed with what it had to offer.

Food

Right at the entrance to the exhibit, they had a food truck that had different kinds of food and drinks inspired by the manga and anime.

Entrance Ticket

In the beginning, I showed them my ticket and was given an entrance exam pass with a Blue Period picture on the back. I thought this was such a cute little memento to have.

Walking In

From there I walked in. You can pay to have the audio guide for ¥800. I believe that it was the voice actor for the main character as well as an additional guide that you can choose from to narrate the experience for you.

Art for the Heart

After, I walked through the entire exhibit. Least to say, it was so nice to see the manga and anime pictures.

Reading the words again and seeing the pictures up close reawakened my love for the series.

It was also cool to go around and see the artwork that the actual characters painted in the manga and anime. I felt like I was in the anime as I walked around and viewed the art.

Not to mention they had statues of the characters inspired by real-life art. It was such an interesting sight to see how they posed and styled the statues to represent different art statues in history that fit each character’s personality.

Towards the end, I was excited to see that Blue Period was going to have its own roadshow at the end of this year. I got to see some of the clips from the movie as well as the clothes that some of the actors wore during filming.

I was surprised that the actors looked extremely similar, if not EXACTLY, like the characters in the manga. If you have seen live actions then you can understand why I was surprised….. It may be a bit early to say, but my expectations are quite high and I’m excited to go watch it in November.

Gift shop

Of course I bought some items from the gift shop. One thing I really liked is that a lot of the items were reasonably priced. I expected everything to cost an arm and a leg, but the tote bags, books, and small trinkets were very well-priced.

I thought about things that I needed and ended up just buying a pen and some postcards.

Photo Booth

There was a photo booth directly outside the exit of the exhibit. I didn’t take my picture, but I thought it was awesome that they had a photo booth where you could take pictures like a painter and take pictures with the characters.

The Overall Impression

My final thoughts are that it was really fun to go to the Blue Period Museum Exhibit. I might be a bit biased, but the series left a huge impression on me and I think that everyone can benefit from feeling motivated and inspired to do their best. That being said, immersing myself in the experience and going to this museum was very special to me. I recommend everyone to watch the series or read the manga, especially if they are getting lost in their life~ Motivation and inspiration is just a click away~~~