While live-action adaptations of popular anime series are controversial, on very rare occasions they manage to live up to their source material. With Prime Video investing more energy into distributing live-action adaptations of popular series like Oshi no Ko, it shouldn’t be surprising that the streaming service would release other, similar live-action adaptations for fans. One of the most impactful slice-of-life manga released in the last decade, Blue Period, originally created by Tsubasa Yamaguchi is one such series, which was adapted to live-action in August 2024 after the first season of the anime adaptation came to an end.
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Blue Period follows Yatora, a high school sophomore who’s popular and excels in his studies. Despite his successes, he has no idea what direction he wants to take once he’s finished with school. One day, Yatora is presented with an out-of-the-box art project that leads him to discover how deeply important expressing one’s feelings through art can be. From that point forward, he finds himself drawn to the members of his high school’s art club, and developing his own skills as a budding artist after impulsively deciding he wants to get into art school. The live-action film from Warner Bros. is shockingly faithful to the original work, and the performances, especially from Gordon Maeda, who plays Yatora, are phenomenal.
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Blue Period‘s Live-Action Film Works So Well Because Of the Story’s Premise
Other than the story taking place in a very believable, real-world setting, Blue Period‘s live-action adaptation works so well because the story is driven by an undeniably human feeling. Yatora’s apathy toward life completely shifts once he’s introduced to traditional art, and with the support of the people around him, he’s able to truly realize what his calling is. Additionally, Blue Period does an excellent job exploring how exhausting it can be to pursue a future studying and working in a creative field. Yatora’s first mentor and schoolmate shows him this firsthand as she struggles with applications to get into art school, and Yatora himself constantly struggles with feelings of self-doubt.
The live-action adaptation of Blue Period captures each of these concepts flawlessly, and the direction from Kentaro Hagiwara, who previously directed the live-action adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul in 2017 as well as Our 30 Minute Sessions in 2020. As previously mentioned, each of the performers in the film makes the cast of Blue Period feel like fully realized individuals despite only having two hours to tell their stories. All in all, it’s an excellent adaptation and stands out among other, less impressive, adaptations of popular anime and manga franchises.
Source: Prime Video
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