Blue Period - The Dichotomy between Talent and Hard Work 

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I will never forget my art teacher telling me that saying talent as a compliment is basically a slap in the face. That's why I always complement people on their skill or the work they've put in, rather than their "talent."

This manga... is so realistic. I understand the MC and relate to it so much bcs I also studied STEM in highschool. I was considered as a "smart" student. I have been doing art since I was in middle school as a hobby I enjoy. So, as a senior year student, the thought of enrolling to art school crossed my mind. But people around me said: "You are smart, you should be a doctor and study medicine. Studying art is not worth your time. You are going to be jobless. Plus it's expensive. Don't you think it'll be a waste? Studying medicine is better." But at the end, I applied to an art school and got accepted last month. However, this didn't end my anxiety. Because studying art and doing it as a hobby, it's really different. Doing art for hobby is all fun. You just... doing it for yourself when you are bored. But studying it? It really gave me more pressure as I found myself (who usually being the best one in STEM subject) being at the bottom. This situation made me compare myself to others. I envy those with "talent"... I struggled so much. Reading this manga made me realize I shouldn't cry about being "talentless" and I should practice harder! Also thank you for your video and analysis. It's good!!! 😭😭🥰 (Edit: Thank you for the heart-warming replies. I didn't expect my story got so many likes. A little update on my journey. I actually applied to 2 universities. One with art major and one with communication. And I suprisingly got accepted in both (Art first and the the communication). Since the communication major one is more cheap and considering that I love it too as much as I love art, I sadly decided to drop the art major off. But I'm still as passionate doing art and still dreaming of being a professional artist! Enrolled into art school or not, this video is still so impactful for me! 🥺❤️)

I agree, also "smart" is one of them too. I worked my ass off to get straight A's (used to be a straight F/1.8 GPA student) and I am annoyed when people say how smart I am, when in fact I have adhd and dyslexia so I spend 15 hours studying a stupid math problem until I get it. I really appreciate how you explain this to people to spread awareness

My little sister is ridiculously good at art for her age. Constantly I hear her being praised for her talent and her gift, but I saw her drawing daily before she got to that level. It's her dedication I praise her for. Talent is just Passion + Practice, that's something I didn't realize for a long time, but I think everyone should know. Your ability is due to your hard work and dedication to it, and with enough dedication you can develop any skill, even one that seems so far out of your reach.

I cried listening to this. The same way I cried reading the manga. This doesn't just hit art students but everyone struggling with their career

talent compliments can sometimes also be like, "oh youre so talented, i could never" which puts the artist in a position of having to comfort the other person for not having that skill.

To be very honest, this manga saved me from falling into the abyss. Though art and design are 2 different spectrums where sometimes they connect, it's really hard to push forward being a designer. Constantly thinking of creative solutions often leads me to burnout. What I was lacking in my life was motivation and like the art teacher rightly said in the manga "Kids who don't have passion for something, they won't be motivated". This struck a chord and it really helped me get out of the dark room.

I remember I was doing an academic drawing of Apollo's head and I just couldn't get to capture his character's shapes right, I thought that I should ask to leave the class for today, but then I felt like that would be slacking and I stayed. That was one of the worst decisions of my life. I feel everyone watching me and seeing that what I draw looks awful I held my tears all that time in class. Just as I left the school a bursted into tears and couldn't stop no matter how hard I tried. My face gets really red when I cry, so I took 1 hour walk home instead of bus. If 5 years ago someone would say that it happened to me I wouldn't believe them. I redid that Apollo's head next time it looked much better but I think that's not the best of me. Every time I hear word talent towards my works I think I'd cry remembering all the hours I spent drawing and scraping my art. Blue period will always has a special place in my heart. Thank you for that amazing video and sorry for venting.

After watching this I have an even greater respect for all the artist who put the time and effort into following their ambitions.

Can I just say your editing is breathtaking

My partners mother said I was “talented” in the sense that I was born with the ability to just draw. When I told her that no, I was not and put in years and years of work and studying, she completely brushed off what I said and said, “You still have to have the natural born gift.” No. No one is just gifted the ability to draw. Everyone can draw. It is a skill that requires a lot of patience, studying, practice, and most importantly, time. Yeah, some learn faster than others, but anyone can reach master level of drawing if they put in the time to do so. I honestly hate the word talented. I have had so many people say it to me while brushing off my hard work. I wasn’t like a lot of artists who say they were always drawing. I didn’t start drawing until I was 12. It never interested me until a friend of mine who was younger than me came into my life and she was so good and made a lot of comics that it inspired me to want to do the same. At that time, I could only draw stick people. Now I can do photo realism along with my own stylized art style. So, when people brush off my hard work as something I was “born with”, it really bothers me. Another thing that bothers me are people who say realism doesn’t require as much skill as stylized art… Most people that I see that can do stylized art can’t do realism that well. They both require different appearances when drawing, painting, or whatever. Realism I find much harder and much more time consuming than stylized art any day.

It’s why blue period holds such a dear place in my heart, as a med student (primarily dealing with stem and requires lots of studying) who loves art like writing and drawing. All those requires hard work and willingness to improve yourself, sometimes making a fool of yourself to learn things you aren’t familiar with. It’s why i relate to yatora and many characters in blue period, their struggles are so real and it motivates me to do better as a student and to make stories that i and other people can see themselves in my own approach. (This video also introduces me to blue period and witch hat atelier a year ago, so thank you so much for making this video!)

this really touch me...being an artist as a hobby and going to art college to get a career within. I feel every single pain.

"talent is basically how fast you can learn or understand something, it doesn't determent your hard work" my 2nd year high-school math teacher Mr.Abraham

I relate to this because I’m 16 and people always ask me how I’m so talented at drawing and I say “I’ve been practicing since I was in kindergarten for hours and hours”, and I feel like all of the hard work I did really paid off

I really like art. Ever since I was young I have always been attracted to lines and colours. I have also been complimented by teachers and friends that I am talented in art and has the tendency to pick up things more quickly than my peers. However, I was also born in an Asian country to a set of a conservative family. Every time I came home with an excitement to showcase my art, a little part of me always died whenever my family brushed aside my works with complimentary dismissal words such as “That’s very nice but you don’t have to bring your artwork home, it clutters our home.” to sometimes straight dismissal of “waste of space”. However, I was still allowed to buy art supplies and create them, just if I give the piece away afterwards or discard them. So, the notion of an artwork always have to have purpose to other people or its useless has begun to grow by then. But still, there was this sweet dream that one day I could become an artist and create art for a living, that I never told my parents for they wanted me to go through stereotypical “safe” jobs. But then my brother went to uni to major in photography which is a closely related major to art and I thought “will my dream be able to come true?” But years passed and he graduated but eventually did not work in art related job. My parents started arguing and the financial strain from my brother’s private art uni tuition fee is evident on our family’s economy. So I started high school with pressure from my parents that again art is not a stable major and it is useless to pursue my talent there and to keep my grades stellar instead. I knew at that point that my parents would never allow me to pursue art related majors, but i still dreamed. I started doing volunteer photographic and digital designing in my local youth community as an outlet for my passion. My parents were okay with it as long as it is a hobby, so I pushed myself to the limits creating works and arts. Then my high school graduation was looming and I had to choose a major for uni. I had debated architecture, graphic design, interior design, multimedia arts, and other artsy majors that doesn’t really screams pure art as a way to soften the impacts to my parents. But in the end my plans never succeeded and I had to settle for studying to become a biomedical scientist, a STEM major. I still haven’t been able to fully put down my attachment to art so I dedicated 18 kg of my baggage for my art supplies. It is sad that the only times I ever used them is to take study notes and to make greeting cards as my mindset of creating purposeful art is very hard to change. I cried reading blue period and my youtube history is full of art related videos for a future that I wasn’t allowed to dream of. I am sad to see my “artistic talent” dwindling down to being just an “aesthetic” person. But this is my choice and I felt like I have betrayed my “talents” and myself. Your video truly hits home and as a person who gave up on arts I just hope that there are other people that are stronger than me and does not give up due to social pressure. Sorry for the unnecessary life ramblings and story. I just wanted somewhere to pour my regrets and lingering feelings.

Maybe for others this might be another manga analysis with insane effort put into editing and framing with perfection but for Artist this is going to hit too close to home perhaps too close to give cathartic experience. I'm definitely reading this asap.

I'm tearing up because that hit so close to home. Imma just share some shit even tho no one's asking lmao. As a child, I've always found STEM subjects simple and quite robotic. "As long as you remember the method and put the effort to remembering them, you'll find yourself in a situation where life is just as simple and robotic" was my mindset all my life. I never had bad grades because of this, but my way of living that time was pretty monotone to say the least, like it wasn't sad, but it wasn't particularly happy as well. I mean, I was able to watch anime, read books, or maybe even draw random sketches, but all of them were just hobbies of mine and none of those were things i was passionate about. I guess, until I heard a certain pianist moved me through his playing. I was ashamed for even thinking of *crying*, because "why the hell would i cry over a random piece?". After thinking about it, I realized that playing the piano is something I wanna do with my life. From that moment on, I worked to achieve skills and technique I never had. At this point, I'm so fucking frustrated about my lack of "talent" and I'd usually summarize it as "It's because you have no talent that you can't do it" but ohoho, how wrong I was. I'm still bad af, but I know that practice takes hard work. Plus, I know that I'd have to give it up eventually since I'm at least aware that I need to face reality soon enough.

This is why representation in the art community is so important, so many of us didn’t even realize that these struggles are normal, because people dismissed our hard work for talent, so much to the point that we believed it

As someone who did Art alongside stem subjects I can tell that the amount of dedication and committed work ethic needed to do art is undermined by a lot of people.

I cried to this because im such a coward for not taking the risk of choosing art, which is what's best for my happiness. Instead I chose one from the stem courses, in hopes for better job security Edit: im shifting courses. Gonna chase my dreeams!

As an animator and an animation student, this really hits home. People don't really see on how much an artist puts into one piece of artwork or 5 seconds of an animation frames. It's the little things that normal people don't usually see unless explained or studied. It's really sad that art doesn't get the credit that it deserves most of the time. This video really shows how littlest details and hours to years of hard work make a huge difference. I myself is struggling to even animate, like making a character move it's limbs or doing something that a normal camera can't do and its frustrating to animate a project that you can't finish earlier than you want it to. I've experienced loosing motivation because of people who are better at animating and even younger than me, countless animation being produced like it's competing against each other on who's better, while I'm here making a 20 second of animation takes me like a month or more for me to finish. And yet, as stubborn as I am, I'm still doing it because I love it. I guess this is where the saying goes like "As long as you love what you do, you'll always continue to push yourself to strive for it even if it's impossible." I suppose that applies to all artists who really wants to pour all of their hard work to produce something amazing and I for one, is going to continue to do that. No matter the struggle, no matter how hard and frustrating it is, even the impossible, we can do it. I know we can. (Great video by the way, I accidentally made a reaction essay out of it HAHAH)

I hate how the word “talent” is always just applied to creative fields like writing, music and of course art, I’m sure talent may exist in other things such as in the world of sports but besides that it’s always applied to artist “Hey your a talented artist!” “Your a talented writer” “your a talented music-“ and so on it’s so discouraging.

My professor always said "talent is nothing but skill, therefore talent isnt a real thing. Anyone can become skillful if they try."

This made me realize how much effort my friend, someone who’s good at art, put into her drawings. I haven’t read this manga, but I do plan to after exams lol, but I can already feel how close this will hit. Before my friend was even as good as she is today, she didn’t even how to draw anything. When we first met, I was into art as a hobby and something to do to pass the time in class, and I introduced it to her. I didn’t really need to put in the effort to draw somewhat mediocre, so she always saw me as someone better at art than her. As the years passed by, I took a more STEM and academic-based path in school. She took a more fine arts path. Everyday she always drew something new and different than the day before. Slowly I saw her art grow, but I never realized that she was always drawing something at all times. Every time she was on her phone, it was a piece of art that she liked or a new challenge to draw. Soon, very soon, she was so much more better than me. I always thought that she was just talented, but I was clearly absorbed into my own thoughts and feelings to not come to the realization that the reason why she was so much better was her effort. 1 year, 2 years, 3 years and on she never stopped drawing. I now have so much respect for the time she now puts in. Thank you for listening to me talk.

RU-vid algorithm better make sure this video get the recognition it deserves. Kudos once again for this good video

I think what hit me so hard with this series is that he had to choose between job security and his passion. Its a brutal truth that making it as an artist financially is far from easy. However other jobs aren't any more secure like many people think. Those doctors and lawyers deal with immense stress and insane work hours. Not to mention many health and legal risks that mean one wrong step and they lose their income. Art for many people may not lead to reliable income but it offers a lot of skills that are more flexible when it seems the world is coming down around you.

I was caught off-guard when the MC's academic prowess was mentioned because I haven't read the manga or watched the series. I just assumed he grew up making art, but as someone who started getting into art at a fairly mature age, I feel seen. It felt bad to go from "gifted child" to "artist" when I wasn't a young child anymore. That hit a little close to home.

That's why this manga is award-winning (I don't know what awards and Blue Period really deserve that)

I have zero experience in art and I'm trying to get into it that is why this manga is really relatable to me

it’s actually beautiful how i discovered the manga while i was at my lowest point in life. it is heaven-sent and i couldn’t ask for more.

Honestly, I never thought that art was a joke, if anything, it's way harder because when it comes to certain subjects, you only have a right and wrong answer, however, on the arts, everything is way more subjective and you also need to be on top of your game because that's one helluva competitive field.

9:36 reminded me of that one awful memory I had with my mom. She said, "Stop pursuing a career in writing. Find a more secure job." And boi the trauma came back full force, now my heart aches to write more and prove that she's wrong. Everything you said is spot on and I'm definitely sharing your video to my friends who think that talent is better than hard work.

as an artist this made me so emotional i always hated being called "talented" and you literally described my thoughts thank you

I just found this video and it truly hits home. I am a dancer and create drawings on my free time. The word "Talent" pops up all the time and it is a little heart breaking for people to see your hard work and see it as something you were born with.

“ So a big thank you to those of you who have watched till the end” No, A big thank you to YOU for taking so much of your time and doing an in-depth explanation of blue period, specifically Yaguchi. You made me see the things I’ve already seen in a much deeper color. Making them hit deeper, near home. Thank you so much. You’re awesome. I hope to see more of your beautiful videos in the future.

It must be the universe telling me a message and aligning things together because I'm currently reading a book about grit and this video pops up in my RU-vid recommended. If anyone's curious the book is called GRIT by Angela Duckworth. It's about passion and perseverance, I also saw the Will Smith interview in the book which was mentioned in this video around 4:36 - it's crazy how everything is tied together. Great video! Thank you for posting this, I'll definitely consider giving this manga a read.

The editing is so sublime! Thrilled to see a video on this topic - it was precisely Mori-senpai's line about not being talented that made me fall in love with Blue Period. I think I gave up on art years ago because I didn't see the value in learning and putting in the hard work and was daunted by the idea of there always being "someone better than me." Blue Period has really given me a lot of food for thought - it's been a reminder of the mindset I had back in the day, but it has also inspired me to move on from those regrets and pick up a new artistic hobby. Great video, really encapsulated Blue Period's spirit!

This manga made me realize that even though I was blessed with "talent" nothing beats it more than hard work and perseverance, so rather than being ignorant of the fact that one is considered "good" already, one should still strive to do their best and continue growing and keep that burning passion🙌🏽

I am not a painter, but I am a writer, and the struggle I face resonate a lot with artists. You get to the point that you question yourself and somehow see the futility when your hardwork don't produce any result, especially when it comes to people's interest, while also being anxious if all this time you only are able to create something because of your "talent" alone.

I promise that whenever I'm feeling demotivated about everything, I'll rewatch this video over and over again to remind me of how I felt your message the first time I've watched this video. thank you for making this.

This hit me real hard. I finished highschool and I want to pursue art, animation as a Career. I love it so much. But it isn't a stable job in my country and I'm so scared. I don't like the STEM subjects as much as I like arts. And this just hit so close to home. I'm crying because I can relate. So much.

When I decided to learn how to play the piano my cousin tried to discourage me saying “you need talent to play piano.” I told him that’s the type of thinking that halted him when he wanted to learn and that no one comes out of the womb knowing how to play Fur Elise without putting in the work to learn piano. It also annoyed me because blindly labeling it as talent is belittling the years effort someone put into learning a skill. I’m still a novice (only been 2 month) at playing piano but it’s been fun so far.

As someone who studied science and math almost most of my life and as someone who is graduating as a STEM student, finding art really is something special, specially since I planned on choosing fine arts as my course for college. I guess I can connect to yaguchi when it comes to finding someting new, refreshing and special at the same time. The first episode brought tears because persuing art when all you have done is study your whole life is pretty hard.

man, I can feel the dedication you put in your videos, what an excellent work

This is the sign that I should pursue my dream, I thought that i didn't have a dream. I always try to limit myself in spending time drawing because I'm planning to be a doctor and now I realize that this video was a sign to me and that I have a dream and I shouldn't limit myself.

I do stand up, and when I’m felling talentless, I come here. I’ve watch this video more times than I can count (more the 10, I’m not saying a can’t count beyond 10,…11. see!) But this video feels like a warm place for all creative people!. Thanks

This made me realize why I always felt what I felt when someone said, “imagine being talented in art, I can’t even draw a stick figure”. I felt kind of like my hard work wasn’t a thing and that it just came naturally to me like you said. Of course yes, I know I am naturally gifted in art but only to a certain extent- I can pretty much replicate anything I see if I work hard enough, and that’s pretty much it. Everything I draw, paint, make, I put in a lot of work in, and I think that’s the case for most artists. I know people mean well, but it still feels like a slap to the face

My perspective towards 'talent' really changed. Thank you for this, it made me remember again why I love Blue Period ♡.

not an artist, but a gymnast here. i am a “good gymnast” to most, but ive worked my ass off, doing serious training 9 hours every week since i was 2. im bad at gym. ive put in so much work and im not even that good. when people that have only done it for 2 years have gotten better than me.

That panel when he said "I'm scared of drawing" got me.

I love the contrast between Yotasuke and Yatora. Yatora is a hard worker while Yotasuke is a talented individual. Yatora's hardworking nature allows him to excel in different fields. Yaguchi on the other hand does not have anything other than his talent. They don't understand each other because of their differences. I love how the author handled their conflict. Their dynamic is amazing.

i never defined the word talent as a natural gift. to me it was always something you're really good at. and that to me always subconsciously meant something ur good at because you worked hard at it.

I’m a 2nd year art student who born with average talent’ in art. Ever since i studying in art school, I find drawing scary and it never failed to make me feel insecure. Yes, Drawing as a hobby, and drawing as a career are very different. But this manga, and the way you put it into words, makes me remember how much I love the world of art. thank you very much for the reminder.

Aaahh why did I cry, this is so true, everything about this narration is true. The blue period really speaks for the artists' life. It does feel good when people call you "talented" but being talented is not really true, there's no such thing. Everyone can learn art and it's not "talent" you see, it's the hard work and all of those all nighters of artists who LEARN and PRACTICE art more than anyone does.

I came upon this manga accidentally and god damn is that accident click one of the best thing that happened to me for it made me feel inspired to draw again. When i first first started drawing, my mom saw what i drew and told me how i was "talented" in drawing and just like the mc felt, i was happy that i finally found something that im passionate about. But as time goes on, i saw how other people are much more artistic and advanced compared to mine, and i felt rlly small. I told myself over and over again that I've only just began, its only normal that their art is much more advanced to mine since they did start practicing and drawinf earlier than me. But after like 2 years since i started, i slowly lost my interest in drawing. I still draw but its not like before, where im passionate and happy about it. I stopped drawing and its been almost a year since I've last drawn because i got really insecure and down about my art because no matter the effort i put into it, i just couldn't seem to draw that good. This manga made me realize lots of things like how normal it is to go through a period of time where we would feel like we've come to a stop and is just going through circles in our art. And that's what made making art rlly beautiful and special, because of the time and effort it takes just to create a piece. The dedication it takes to keep moving. And how process, growth and practice is important. I cried lots of times reading this manga and i will too in the anime version of it, I'm rlly looking forward to the anime im so excited

This convinced me to read Blue Period, thank you

You can really feel the passion and effort put into this video and how perfect of an example is on this topic of hard work. Thank you for this amazing breakdown on one of my favorite manga this year!

I'm finishing a career I don't like, I always wanted to be an illustrator yet my parents never let me, I thought "well I'll draw as a hobby" but after seeing this video I think I'm just going to pursue my dream before it's too late. At least try it out cuz I need a lot A LOT of practice. Thank u sm for this video, I needed this

It hits so close to home sometimes. All the art student struggles. I always find myself crying with the characters because "I know how it feels!" and "I went through that, too!"

I started reading this manga the same year I applied for art university and I could relate to Yatora so much it hurts. I could instantly tell that the author went through this art journey herself, because everything she portrayed was so raw, real and emotional. She's showing the side of art world that I haven't seen portrayed ever in manga/anime/maybe pop culture in general. I cried a lot while reading this, because I could relate to it on a whole different level.

YOU MADE ME CRY, THANKS.

I am not an artist nor I really want to be in the future but reading this manga was still such a relatable experience for me. For me, it was the dreading preparation period for entrance exams that really hit me. The amount of effort you put into preparing for that single entrance exam and the anxiety you feel along the way was really familiar to me. The context for that in this manga might have been art but nonetheless, the feelings any student holds before entrance exams are all pretty much similar. That said, I still really enjoyed the artistic side of this manga. I always love it when I dive into the world I didn't know before and Blue Period has a really amazing depiction of the artistic world that I can't help but get captivated by it. The common misconceptions of the (Main Character) about art at the beginning of the manga was pretty much the same with me and it really was an experience when this manga proved it all otherwise. I just realized that this comment has nothing to do with the message of this video lol. I apologize, but I just really wanted to share my thoughts after being reminded of Blue Period. And dang, I just want to metion that the editing for this video is insanely beautiful.

Honestly I don't even believe in the word "talent" and think it should be taken out of the dictionary. That "perfect" kid in your class puts sooo much effort into everything and the amount of focus and concentration is genuinely tiring. This video BEAUTIFULLY portrayed underrated professions/hard work. Art is beautiful but it had it's stages to be so beautiful. I loved this video sm, I had to subscribe!

Bruh i- Im a young artist and ive gotten so many "compliments" saying how talented I am for a young person. I've been drawing non stop since i was 2. Like till the point I was creating my own sketches/sketchbooks for me to color because thats what I wanted to draw and create. I've always been creative but I'm only at the level i am right now because of the constant drawing ive been doing every single day for basically my whole life. Also not to mention how I want to study art for college but my mom always contradicts saying its a waste of time and i wont even be making money.

I don't necessarily mind people saying that I have talent since I know they mean it as a compliment, but it does always feel like no one is bothering to take my hard work into consideration. I'm much more proud of my hard work that got me to where I am today than I am of the drawings that I can make now. It's the payoff of all that work that makes me good, not some inherent talent I was born with. I was actually really bad at drawing when I was younger. I started drawing when I was just a little kid, as soon as I was physically able to hold onto a crayon and putting that crayon to a paper and draw liness (according to my mom lol). And I never stopped since. I got into manga when I was about 6, started drawing the characters I liked and my own OCs. I got into drawing realistic art and portraits when I was about 14. I'm now 24 and would say I've only been confident in my own art for about 4 years or so. I didn't just wake up one day, pick up a pencil and start drawing photorealistic portraits without much practice. It really makes me sad when people tell me stuff like "I wish I was as talented as you", because I'm really not talented. I just chose to dedicate a ridiculous amount of time into my craft.

This was so well put together and gorgeous, adored the segment where you talked about the different shading techniques

Refering to "talent" for many people is just the easy way out. By saying " I'm just not talented" they just mean "I don't want to put in the work". It's ok, you don't have to be good at everything but if you really want something you need to put in the work.

As an artist myself, the only thing i can say is "Thank You". I always felt the word "talent" so discouraging, trowing away all my effors, and now you make a video about this with my favorite manga. Thanks "Lines in motion".

Your video hit right at home for me. I have always loathed when people said I was talented, because of the amount of time I had put in. Also being told “that is so good, all I can draw is a stick figure”, bothers the hell out of me.

My husband and I just finished watching the anime version. I went to a fairly prestigious art school 10 years ago, whereas he has always seen art as "not for me" so wanted to understand it more. This story got me to the brink of tears over and over again. I haven't made space for art in my life recently and it's like this painful burning itch inside me. I'm desperate to pick up a brush again.

Thank you for the explanation. It really pisses me off when people say "Oh you're so talented ,I can't even draw a stick figure". And when I reply with "You've never even tried", they sometimes reply with "I don't even want to". It feels like a SLAP on the face. You can't compare yourself with someone who actually loves drawing and works hard. PLEASE to the people who don't draw, don't say someone is talented, tell them that they are skilled and have worked hard to be where they are, that's a compliment, the one above isn't.

I'm incredibly blessed to have this in my recommendation. As a child I've loved creating - may it be music, drawing or writing - but then I was hit by the very harsh reality that took its form from my parent's and my friend's words, that I wasn't talented enough to succeed doing anything related to the arts and humanities. . All around me, my peers would joke (and I desperate to fit in, would joke in kind) that my pursuit of the arts would eventually leave me with a lifetime of regret - desolate and homeless - and it would be better to not take that risk at all. After watching this video, I proceeded to read the manga and of course cried my eyes out when Yataro told his parents and insisted on it. It was something I could never do when I was a teen, something I thought would be a slap to the face to all my parent's hard work. So my passion for the arts gradually gathered dust in the back of my mind in favor of obtaining skills that would be useful to my profession (I'm in the medical field so studying, skills training and the occasional sleep took a huge portion of my time). . And here I am depressed and scared of picking up an artistic hobby again because I myself have gotten into the mindset that my time would be best used for something else (like learning stocks or learning about coding). I honestly never thought that this singular video and Blue Period would make me reconsider my thoughts and help me acknowledge my passion for the the liberal arts but I am so grateful for the reminder. . It's been a long time since I've last touched my paints and pencils and it's been a year since I last wrote any story on any paper or my laptop, I just might try creating again. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

When I was a kid I used to love art and won competitions, but as I grew older I started to notice my family's financial situation and forced myself to start studying towards a more "realistic" career. So reading Yatora's journey into art felt too relatable to me because I was just like him but instead of chasing that passion and I was too scared of taking the risk, I didn't believe I was "talented" enough. After years of not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, years of locking up my dreams and reading this made me deconstruct what I believed about art and how to approach it. But now that I've read this, it gives me more than enough reason to pursue my dreams again.

As an artist surrounded by friends and family that would constantly verbalize how impressed with my talent they were, and as an artist who only applied to colleges for a major in science, I feel like my life would have been different if I had read this manga or watched this video before deciding to keep art as a hobby

One of my favorite things to observe in Webtoons (the site) are the thumbnails of the chapters aligned in columns. You can see the progression of the artists art through the series. Some examples are Unordinary, Spaceboy and Rebirth. It's amazing to see how the artist upgrades their art one bit at a time over the period of a month or a year, and you can actually see where they decided to thicken the line art, soften the shade or add feet and hands to their characters XD

This is such a gentle topic to cover because as an artist myself who is also struggling to differentiate the idea of dedicating myself to a career in either what I want or what I feel I must do. I can't help but tear up hearing about such a relatable story all us artists go through. It's hard to push towards our hobbies because we fear they might be short-sighted because we were taught to separate our wants from our needs and find work that serves the economy. As a child born under a lesser fortunate family, I have been conditioned to put aside my passions and work towards a future I might not even want. But because I know it'll bring in the money to support the rest of us it is hard and suffocating to tell my family I still question where I stand. Growing up I have been made to believe that a passion for art won't get you far in life and that only people with the talent can make it. It's just so frustrating to hear and it hurts because like so many other artists I feel pressured to impress them with my art just so I can be taken seriously. But even that doesn't mean I will be heard because I know the fear of being judged so well from the first line I make. All I ask is to someday find courage in my art and this manga helped clear a way for that to happen. I've never cried over something like this probably because I've never seen it addressed before. I'm just so thankful that I'm not the only one feeling this way because I now know this lonely feeling doesn't truly mean I am truly alone.

Every time I see really good art, I think to myself how hard they must’ve worked to get to that level, and that if I put in that much work, I too can someday (hopefully) reach their level

"If you knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all". - Michelangelo "Your blood, sweat and tears were summed up as simple genius" - Dōjima Gin , Food Wars

Also: a fellow artist or an older, more experienced artist/teacher saying you have "talent" is the exact opposite, because they know how it feels already to misuse the word.

I had never realized how much work artists put into their art. I'm an artist myself and I had no idea. I've always seen amazing artists and assumed their talent had gotten them that far. I knew they had put work into it, but I didn't realize how much. I presume the reason I don't see how much work I've put into my own art is simply because I've never worked that hard for it. "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." All of the hours I've put into improving my art, it was all because i wanted to.

i actually stopped drawing a year ago, a few years ago i loved drawing so much that i used used to draw something everyday, i started thinking I'm not gonna be as good as other big artists who were much better than me at my age, i slowly forgot how much i loved creating my own art. But this manga gave me a new perspective, I'm picking up art again and wanna practice different forms of art. I've come to respect those crazy good artists and stopped dismissing them as "talented". I realise now that they are good in art because of the time and effort they put in

As an artist...I felt every word. Calling someone "talented" is like a backhanded compliment sometimes. And we sometimes deny calling ourselves talented, because people would undervalue the effort we actually put into our craft.

8 years ago I was shy, incompetent, had not any talent and introvert. Now i solve rubik's cube under 30 sec, nicely play guitar and piano, a sketch artist, can paint, do dramas , make movies, can give speech in front of a croud. What i learned is the only thing that's stopping you is your inability to start anything..,, nobody is god gifted, or we all are god gifted... The only thing you have to learn is get up from your bed and just start the journey, you'll learn everything in the way.

I think Blue Period was by far my favorite manga that I've ever read. Both the storytelling and how consistently fantastic and memorable each character is. I really think it will stick in my head for a long time

Tysm, I found this morning after watching blue period trailer. I know this manga is so special for artist development that being struggle or new and this video already explain that. I cried.. this is what I looking for.

Compliment the talent made them arrogant, compliment the accomplishment made them strive for more. It is you who is going to boost them up or break them down. Think wisely.

This actually made me cry a little bit, it really hit close to home...I'm having a difficult period with my art and with what I want to do with my life and my art. Watching this video inspired me on so many different level. It made me rethink my approach to my art and my abilities in general. Thank you, thank you very much :)

The picture animation residing inside this video is immaculate.

As an art student who is struggling with choosing a career decision in life, I find this discussion really informative and relatable In my opinion. What I find really great about this manga is that It really realistically depicts how Art can be seen In a lot of different perceptions, especially In the part where the main character realized that Art takes effort and work ethic, not just talent.

I think you just helped me realize that me drawing the same characters over and over is not really being lazy, it's me being so stubborn about my own self-criticism that everytime I look at them I go "I can do better!"

As an aspiring artists myself blue period actually shows me how much I actually have to learn and how far behind mi stills are but that actually gets me excited cause it only means I can still get better

This was such a great video! Thinking back on it, I think it was reading Blue Period at the end of 2020 that kind of got me motivated to try and improve my artistic abilities for the first time in years. I think you did a wonderful job crafting a video that both captures the spirit of Blue Period and feels really motivational.

oh... so this is why... Just a few days ago i think, i complemented a guy who makes music for his "pure talent". He reacted like he was a bit insulted. I thought it was just me thinking that... lol I'll never compliment anyone for their "talents" ever again. I want people to know that somebody sees and appreciates their hardwork and effort they put into the stuff they're creating.

This made me cry because I had the same belief that other people are talented. When I can't get the same result as other people I would think that's because I'm not talented. Now I wanna read this manga

im terrified of drawing anything not beautiful that it has ruined casual art for me. i grew up being told that everything i drew or created was always beautiful even before i made it. “it’ll be beautiful, come on, you always make beautiful art, you’re so talented,” it’s not a big deal but i’ve been in love with art since a child and have been working hard my whole life to be able to create something that even i am proud of. even now i am not where i wish i want to be. i can’t draw without getting nervous that what i am drawing is not perfect. there are hundreds of pages of my art that i’ve thrown away because it was never good or beautiful or enough for me. i’ve only talked to one of my friends about this, and she told me casually that i am talented, and that it is a compliment. as she is not an artist or very interested in art, i brushed it off but it bothers me how she didn’t understand what i was trying to say. something else that has always upset me is when my friends or straight-up strangers who tell me [jokingly] that they hate me for being talented. how they despise me for being good at something i’ve worked years at to try to perfect. it’s always irritated me when friends get upset that they aren’t ‘as talented’ as i am even though they don’t put in the same amount of effort that i put into my art. it’s so irritating and demeaning how they think that my drawings can be created when i blink. i’m quite adept at croquis, a quick sketch of someone doing something random. i really enjoy doing them but because i’m so fast at them my friends mistake it for me not even trying to draw when all i do is apply what i’ve learnt. shape language, anatomy, the perspective etc. i can do it quickly because i’ve spent ages studying and constantly learning how to do it. haha, this ended up as more of a rant than just talking about my experiences, sorry.

My whole thought process was put into words because of this video. Some of my classmates would say "good for you cause you're smart" and I would just say "no I just study hard". And now I am trying to venture in the world of art, and I've never felt this conflicted in my whole life. Art is something you cannot let go once you've started. I am still on the fundamentals and this is where intimidation is so heavy you might just want to give up.

sometimes when I'm reading a web comic or watching an animated series I start to ponder how long it must have taken to draw everything, let alone how long it must have taken to get to that level

People in elementary used to say that I’m talented at art. I drew every single day and each time I drew something I was always unsatisfied with my work. Hearing that I was talented made me a bit sad.