''Le bleu est une couleur chaude'', a review

Review of  ‘’Le bleu est une couleur chaude’’ (Blue is the Warmest Color) by Julie Maroh.

As someone who loves to ship couples (and homosexuals are no exception), I have readed some fanfics online about it, like the very good South Park fanfiction named : ‘’Don’t Suck my Balls’’ by OnigiriReject, whose prime focus is on an unexpected (or was it?) love in between two arch-ennemies; Kyle Broflovski and Eric Cartman. Another one worth a try (really) is written by none other than Fantasiette, a compilation of ‘’one-shots’’ of erotic (but never going so far as to get an ‘’R’’ or ever ‘’N-C 17’’) pleasures and emotions between Spirou and Fantasio. Some of her work can be found at the end of this article as a link.

However, I had never read a real book about an homosexual relationship, from a library or book shop, before. That’s when the graphic novel I will analyse today comes into play.
I was walking down the shopping streets near my mother’s college, (as my shopping date with my sister had been cancelled because she was sick) when I entered a book store I knew very well. Unfortunately, the places and sections had been changed around and I was kind of lost. As I was walking past a table with some adult comic strips on it, I saw it. At first glance, I thought it was a boy with blue hair, like in some anime such as Sailor Moon, looking at me lustfully from behind. I picked it up and smiled a bit at the title. I opened it and stumbled across some pages. The first ones I saw was the beginning and end. I was a bit suprized that it was a lesbian story, but later on, this week, I kept thinking about it and searched some pages on the Net. Then, today, I couldn’t wait anymore and got to the nearest library. Just my luck, it was waiting for me in the Adults Comics Section and so, I began to read…and man, I wasn’t dissapointed.

So, with no further adew, let’s open the book!

Book : Le bleu est une couleur chaude (Blue is the Warmest Color)

Author : Julie Maroh

Edition : Original French Version, 2013, Glénat, 156 pages

Borrowed from a Library

Let us, as always, begin with the story :

Fifteen-years-old Clementine lives a fairly normal life, going to study in Litterature Class and hanging out with friends. While going out for a date with a boy named Thomas, she walks across a beautiful young girl with striking blue hair and matching eyes. Thus, for Clementine, begins nights of dreaming about the mysterious maiden and denying those urges and feelings. But fate would have it differently as her homosexual male friend Valentin takes her to a gay bar, during which she sneaks out and enters a lesbian one…

STORY ASPECT :

Wow…Where do I even begin with this story? First of all, it is very beautifully told through Clementine’s diaries as Emma (the blue-haired maiden), on her partner’s will, keeps them and read them. It goes from a typical retelling of a student girl who seems to fall for a boy to that of a battle, first between her desires and the education she had from her mother, then against the world and the forced secrecy. I have to say, although I am not what you would call a bookworm, I couldn’t wait to finish it when I was home. And while I am a bit dissapointed with the ending, which I find too typical and tragic, I think it leaves a perfect blank space to let ourselves be moved and think about what it could mean to the real world. It covers very well what most gay persons may endure coming out and such. I do not want to spoil anything as I don’t really think I should tell anything more, so that brings me to the visual aspect.

VISUAL ASPECT :

The cover stands out for it’s simplicity and sort of ‘’quiet boldness’’ as all you see is a lady with blue hair looking from over her shoulder at the reader with a small, almost sad smile. One can’t guess what could hide behind that smile until you open the first page, where you learn that Clementine has passed away. The technique of drawing seems to be a mix of watercolour and ink, sometimes using the pencil alone to add some effect. As for the colours themselves, it goes from dark, atmospheric colours to all sepia (safe from Emma’s hair and Thomas’s jacket) as we go into Clementine’s memories, then progressively more colourful (but still dark) as we get closer to the last chapters. As for the drawing style, it’s neither hyperrealistic nor manga-like, more like in Walking Dead, but minus the gory stuff and the usually inky coloring. It makes it pleasing to the eye and is not distracting, as the human proportions are appealing and lovely (especially during the love and dream scenes.). In short, it’s lovely and poetic to the story.


In conclusion, this comic strip is a must for those bold enough to move from homosexual fanfics to a real, published graphic novel about them or just someone who would love to follow the story of a french girl who falls in love, but doesn’t live a fairy tale, far from this. ‘’Blue is the Warmest Color’’ is, for me, a bit typical of a french fiction (at least, what I saw of it in their movies), but, besides that, it’s a very, very, lovely story and while I didn’t cry, I did felt touched by the story of Emma and her dear Clementine. May the odds soon be in their favours, when she will meet her again…

Review by sampea


Links for mentionned fanfics:

''Don't Suck my Balls'' by OnigiriReject

www.fanfiction.net/s/4636457/1…

''Yaoi Drabbles and One-shots'' by Fantasiette

French:

www.fanfiction.net/s/9546632/1…

English:

www.fanfiction.net/s/9546601/1…