I started watching this anime with the hopes of catching up to it within a twenty-four hour time period. I am enjoying the slow build up that this anime is giving to me as a viewer for starters. While, there is an area for improvement on what should have been not established within the first episode; I am willing to overlook those small details. Blue Box to me is different from the other sports animes that I have watched in the past, along with other romance animes that I have watched in the past as well. We usually, do not see these two
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genres mix all that much. However, as of this writing this show has given me two of the focal points of characters who I am able to care about in general.
We are introduced to our Taiki Inomata and Chinatsu Kano. Kano-chan is a member of her high school's girls basketball team. She is gifted at basketball, her mom used to play, and she is designed to be the next ace of the team and lead them to Nationals. Taiki-san is on the high school boy's badminton team. Taiki is a hard worker and wants to make it to Nationals as a first year in high school. Interestingly enough the high school and middle school are in the same place, so it was a transition made easier. Taiki's mother and Kano's mother both played basketball together in high school. A little connection like that goes a big way to help you see where our characters can get close or not bond over something as small as parents who were former teammates. Kano is very headstrong in the early stages, and her biggest regret is not getting further in basketball in terms of making it to the bigger stage in terms of school sports at a tournament level. We see that she is in love with basketball, and gets up early every single day to head to the school's gymnasium to practice. Taiki is the same way because he loves badminton and even though he is always second to her on arrival, it never wavered him to stop getting better.
Throughout the first handful of episodes, we see how our characters are acting in their environment. Giving the context that Kano has moved in with Taiki's family due to her family moving overseas due to her parents'work. For Taiki it is hard to adjust because he also likes Kano, but she doesn't know that at all. She views her as a kohai, a family friend, and a friend in those levels of aspects. Whereas Taiki views her as a senpai, friend, and overall a love interest. I am very happy by writing this sentence I am on episode five, and the living arrangement has not reached the typical levels of accidentally walking in on one another while in the bathroom, Taiki landing in between Kano's legs by accident, or anything else we have seen over the years in anime that is considered a trope between the MC main character and his love interest(s). What I see here is what I think a lot of other animes need to break a mold from in the over the top moments that are there for fan service. The Blue Box while wholesome, and has the animation where it can do fan service does not do so because it is not warranted, needed or called for.
Let me shift gears and talk about the secondary characters of this anime. As with any trio you have the straight-man, the teaser, and the one stuck in the middle which is Taiki. I will start with Kyou Kasahara who is the straight-man of the friendship trio. While he is straightforward he is able to read the room perfectly and is very forward with his take on Taiki's situations at times. He's the perfect friend for Taiki as it is clear where he can understand Taiki's pecking order in school. Kyou, is also on the badminton team with Taiki, and he can understand his friend's goals. Kyou is what you would call Taiki's eyes, ears, and his "shadow". He will push Taiki to the right thing, but he can't lead Taiki to the promised land of his goals. Hina Chouno is the teaser and girl of the friendship trio, her motives are obviously clear but she is so focused on stuff with Taiki at times she has to refocus on her stuff of being on the rhythm gymnastics team as a solo. She is designated as her respective teams next "ace" as a freshman. She was trained by her father who was a gymnast in his own right and the one who trained her. Overall, she is not my favorite character by a long shot but maybe that will change. Hina is also interviewed by a newspaper about her doing rhythm gymnastics. The expectations we see her try to persevere through is very serious and situational due to the being the daughter of man who completed internationally in his respective sport. Episode six was able to focus on the dynamic of Hina's perspective on things after she found out by accident that Kano was living Taiki and his family. Hina may feel a certain way about not wanting to be told and have it hid from her but giving the perception of Kano's popularity in the school it would have had a negative effect if anyone else found out.
It is amazing how Blue Box within the first few episodes has laid a groundwork of how sports can be viewed in a niche way. A majority of anime fans that I have come across do not watch sports animes. However, Blue Box does enough to show us as viewers what competition can look like from the eyes of teenagers for one. The pressure, training, games, practice, and having a lot of people expecting you to be the one to get to the goal that many could not have gotten to.
The next part of this review is where we are getting into the real meat and potatoes of character growth and development. How we as individuals lose in the moment can either make or break us. How rivals, people who look down on us, and how with all the practice you put in makes you gain a sense of clarity. Taiki is a first year and losing twice in the span of two days for separate tournaments. He won't realize his goal as a first year, but his resolve does not falter him overall. Importantly enough, we see how the school aspect has to take an important role as we all know how in Japan, final exams usually take place before bigger tournaments for students. National tournaments in sports for Japan are big for a lot of high school students who are athletes. Even after his defeat in the prefecture tournaments Taiki is still dejected because Kano is going to her respective Nationals in basketball. This is an important aspect of how Blue Box makes the characters and not just the main ones see the importance of final exams.
As Blue Box progresses, we come to find out and realize that Kano actually has feelings for Taiki. At the time she didn't realize that until after a while. While, I think that best girl in the anime has her own reasons I think what she has seen from Taiki in the past since living with him and his family have made her feel her a certain type of way. She wants to know if Taiki and Hina re dating, but she keeps it herself, as she doesn't want to step on any toes. The bis misunderstanding that has not been resolved is Taiki going to the fireworks festival with Hina. Kano-chan's basketball teammate saw them together, and she probably knows. As we head into the fourth quarter of Blue Box, I think it is important to see that this show how not everyone who is on their respective sports teams can't all be winners. It would be a perfect scenario, and also it would be very cliched. Having everyone come up short shows how much potential there is in the chase and not it all happening all at once.
Overall, I am thoroughly enjoying Blue Box as an anime. While, I like some characters, Hina as a character is not overall doing it for me. I find her to be too conflicting for her own good, she is too comical, and she does not hold a candle to the best girl in Kano-chan. While, Blue Box may not be an overall perfect love story the slow buildup in the anime is very much worth it in the end. This anime really goes to great lengths to get you to care about certain characters over other,s and provide some depth that an anime that has twenty-five episodes rightfully deserves.
Overall, I would rate Blue Box as a solid 7.8 out of possible ten. These last few episodes may make or break this anime being an overall 8 or staying in the overall 7 rating for me.
Feb 18, 2025
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