Blue Period: A Depiction of Gender and Sexual Fluidity

gamerant.com:

Ryuji is a side character in the short anime series Blue Period. He challenges both gender and sexual norms both directly and passively at various points throughout the series. How the anime deals with Ryuji as well as how the other characters interact with him spans nearly the entire range of how people who present in this way get treated in the real world. Without being overt, or distracting from the main character’s story Blue Period manages to give a remarkable depiction of the challenges that nonconforming genders and sexualities can face. As well as the impacts that such things can have on the individuals facing those challenges.

Blue Period follows the story of Yaguchi, a young boy who struggles to find his purpose in life. When he is invited to the art club by Ryuji, he discovers something that he is very good at and has a passion for. The rest of the story isa tale of self-discovery couched within preparations for university entrance exams. Yaguchi has his sights set at the top, and nearly burns himself out with all of the work that he puts into achieving his goal. He is only able to succeed by falling back on the support of his friends and teachers.

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Ryuji is a student in the same year as Yaguchi at their public high school. He is a male character, however, vastly prefers to wear feminine clothing. Enjoying the style so muchthat his ideal profession is to design fashion. More than just wearing feminine clothing, Ryuji wears his hair long and has a higher-than-average voice. Because of this, he is repeatedly mistaken for a girl throughout the show.

Ryuji is part of the school’s art club and studies traditional Japanese painting. Later Yaguchi discovers