Episode 3
Yatora has ‘graduated’ from the art club and joins Yuka at the trade school and it’s an incredible shock for him. It looks like he still has so much more to learn about art both in composition and understanding. There was quite a lot packed into this episode! Not only were we introduced to some interesting new characters, but we also got to learn a little more about Yuka as well.
It’s a little sad to see Yatora call his new classmates’ geniuses after their activity with the statues. I don’t blame him for thinking that way though… Prior to going to cram school, his only experience with art was with the art club in which he was seeing significant improvement in his own art. But now, he’s taking it to a new environment full of people who all have the same aspirations as he does. He has to slowly come to terms in understanding his own experience and the experiences of those around him. I wouldn’t go so far as to call them geniuses, they just have different focus and relationships with art. And I think it’s perfectly okay to be a normal guy.
This week we got to meet Yotasuke, a character who is certainly not looking to be friends with Yatora, or really anyone in the class. So far, he’s trying to do everything by himself, but Yatora keeps crossing his path – I’m looking forward to seeing these two interact more! I appreciate his bluntness and that straightforward nature may be helpful to Yatora as the season progresses. He definitely had the best faces in this episode. We also got to meet Hashida, who is much more friendly and open. He’s still serious about art, he just goes about it in different ways. What I appreciated most about him in this episode is that he was able to offer a different perspective about viewing art. I love the comparison to food. Everyone has their preferences and ‘impressive’ doesn’t always mean the best. Sure, people will give it praise when it reaches a certain tier, but are they just saying it just to say they understand? And I like that Yatora takes that to essentially mean, you don’t have to like a painting or even understand it in the way the artist did, but rather – is there something you like about this painting? Does it strike something with you. And that’s a nice way to look at it. You don’t actually have to stare at a painting trying to find the value in it. Rather, it’s good to find what you enjoy. I hope he’s able to carry that knowledge into the future!
I… keep flip flopping back and forth about my feelings on Yuka-chan’s moment in this episode. I knew it was coming, and I really appreciate how it was handled in the manga. However, I just don’t think this episode did it as much justice – it really could have packed quite the punch. I’m happy that Yuka is able to express some of their feelings in this episode, with why they choose to dress the way they do and how they appreciate the ways that girls interact with them. Yuka is also able to express their interest in dating boys. But there’s struggle in trying to figure out what they prefer – but the line ‘if only I were born a girl’ definitely packs a punch. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how Netflix will translate this scene. I wasn’t the biggest fan of how Yatora referred to Yuka during this whole interaction. I’m looking forward to seeing more of their development!
Hoo! Looking back on this episode, there was certainly a lot of content covered. I feel like we’re moving so quickly. But I’m also excited to see what we’re going to be seeing next and how much more Yatora will learn in the future!
Episode 4
I think this was the best episode yet, and perhaps that was due to the high emotions all around. This episode, those in the cram school get split up only to come together for a competition of their works. Yatora’s passion for art is sparked once more after hearing some harsh words and all around some beautiful art and visuals sprung out of this most recent episode.
This time around we get to spend a little bit of time with Kuwana, the girl who comes from a family of artists. While we didn’t get to spend much time with her, we get to see the ways in which she views the world. As they both enter the classroom their met with the unforgiving eyes of the graduates all of whom have some more experience under their belt. It’s here where Yatora learns that art can be more than just a simple technique. People will do things to get the upper edge. Unfortunately, this does introduce him to the idea of ‘exam art’. While it doesn’t affect him as much as Yotasuke, it does contribute to his spiral at the end of the episode.
But first, before we get into the sad and emotional, I just wanted to say how nice it was to see Yatora spend time with his friends again! It’s nice to see him still having a good time with them and that they generally support his endeavors. They don’t quite ‘get it’, but at the end of the day does anyone ‘get it’ correctly? It’s clear that everyone that we’ve met so far has a different story, or a different purpose with their art and at the end of the day, is their actually any definitively good art?
That being said, Yotasuke was brutal in this episode. First it started after their evaluation where he announced that he would be dropping out of cram school. Hashida hinted that there’s more to Yotasuke than we’ve been led to believe, so I am really looking forward to learning more about him in the coming episodes. But then, when the two of them meet up at the Cultural Festival, Yota doesn’t hold back on his evaluation of the student’s pieces. He consistently says that the pieces he’s looking at aren’t good, but we have yet to figure out what he considers good. And yet his bitterness doesn’t even come close to what he told Yatora. Like dang!! I can’t even say that Yatora was overreacting, Yota’s words cut deep and …. well, they were probably uncalled for, but it produced some spectacular art. You go Yatora, kill everyone with your art.
Like I mentioned before, I think this has been the best episode so far and I really appreciate how we ended. I’m looking forward to Yatora’s growth and seeing how all these emotions ultimately end up impacting his artistic work. I’m excited to see if he’ll truly do anything to kill them all with his art.
