Art Prep School Arc

Yatora enrolls in a competitive art preparatory school to train for university entrance exams, where he meets driven peers and confronts the gap between passion and skill.

The Art Prep School arc follows Yatora as he enrolls in a specialized art preparatory school, an institution dedicated to intensively training students for the brutal entrance examinations of Japanese art universities. Here Yatora discovers that raw passion is not enough, because he is surrounded by talented and obsessive peers who have been drawing for years and possess technical foundations he completely lacks. The prep school environment is demanding and humbling, forcing him to confront the enormous gap between his enthusiasm and his actual ability. He spends long hours practicing fundamentals such as still life sketching, value studies, composition and color theory, often producing work he considers disappointing while watching classmates create pieces that intimidate him. Throughout this arc Yatora forms crucial relationships with fellow students who shape his growth as an artist. He befriends Haruka Hashida, a knowledgeable and friendly student with a Kansai dialect who has visited countless museums, and encounters Maki Kuwana, a skilled rival from a family of accomplished artists, alongside the eccentric large canvas painter Yakumo. He also continues alongside his classmate Ryuji Ayukawa, whose own struggles mirror and contrast his own. The arc explores how art is taught, critiqued and refined, depicting the genuine difficulty of art education with remarkable authenticity drawn from author Tsubasa Yamaguchi's own experiences as a graduate of the school. Yatora repeatedly faces self doubt, jealousy and exhaustion, yet slowly builds technical competence and a clearer artistic voice. The arc emphasizes that becoming an artist requires both relentless practice and the emotional resilience to keep creating despite constant comparison and criticism.