Tsubasa Yamaguchi

“… It’s like … I became an adult without actually growing up.”

Yotasuke is still so aggy, socially stunted, but emotionally vulnerable. But I get him in a way. Art isn’t the only thing to him, and it’s annoying for him when people think that's all he does or wants to talk about. In this volume, we see another side of him, and he *GASP* makes a friend.

Because this manga loves to be so deep it can’t sleep, Yatora (read: we ask) asks do you have to love art to do it? If you just show more have a natural talent for art, is that enough? If you love art, should it be your career? All probing questions most artists have asked themselves.

Still, enjoying this series! This volume was very emotional. The majority of the art professors still make me want to fight them. They come off as so rude and pretentious all the time. But Yatora be eating it up, so who I am to stand in the way? show less

Why did this feel like a boss battle? I’m impressed how this series manages to continually up the ante/ tension with art.

“Somehow when I’m drawing […] my brain is attached to my hand.”

Yatora is still in crippling self-doubt with his artistic imposter syndrome, but he’s made it to his 2nd year.

I still have a low opinion of the majority of the art professors here, and while the latest one is quirky, he still appears to be a pretentious professor trying to “weed out” students. show more So many seem to be trying to break the students' spirits. But maybe he's not all bad?

There’s also a new wildcard character who is charismatic, which makes Yatora question whether staying in art school is worth it.

“Making a choice is both a luxury and exhausting.”

Ultimately, I learned a lot about art here. I knew about gesture drawing and sketching, but not the other types or the breakdown of the definitions. show less

“Art is fun, you know. And those who are true to themselves make truly great art. Because art is a language without words.”

Really good! I’m not just saying this as an artist too. Here, Yatora’s been coasting through life telling people what they want to hear and careful not to make himself an outcast – until he finds he can express his true feelings with art.

“…Hard workers who do things they like… Are unstoppable!”

While I don’t regret not going to art school, Yatora asked show more some of the exact questions I had about whether it's worth going to art school and could you make stable money with an artistic career. I'm excited to see his journey as he grows as an artist.

There are so many relatable things here, the merit of learning to draw realistically can help influence your stylized work, how not to compare your art to others, how art comes easily to some like prodigies, and how you should enjoy what you make.

If it's worth anything, reading this made me want to practice still life and perspective-drawing again.

*sn: first time I saw a typo in a commercially-published book. It happens, guys. show less

“Art is like food you can’t chew. You don’t need to force yourselves to say something tastes good just because everyone else likes it.”

This series is still so refreshing. It makes you think every stroke of pencil or paintbrush must have a purpose. Yatora is still majorly dealing with imposter syndrome, which could be annoying for the readers to still see he’s dealing with, but this is a realistic look at how we often beat up and discredit ourselves in our own heads.

Forgive show more yourself.

I can’t wait to see how Yatora’s art progresses in college. The only downside is the post-doc professor who is slightly inappropriate. show less