What They Say
A badminton guy falls for a basketball girl. Do these sports-crossed lovers have a chance?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With this series launching back in the spring of 2021 in Japan as Ao no Hako, it’s moving really well through its second year as it’s only getting better and better. Mangaka Kouji Miura definitely has some talent here in not just the storytelling but the visual design side, presumably with her team of assistants, to give us something that feels really rich and detailed. I had randomly picked the title in the late teens from the Shonen Jump site as something to try out a few chapters ago and got hooked on it – which is why I’m still here talking about it. Though the relationship aspect is simple and the sports elements aren’t deep, the combination of what we do get with the artwork ended up delivering something that made me want to keep coming back for more.
When it comes to way this series works, Kouji Miura doesn’t hold back. We’ve had more intense moments in relationships, or near-relationships, than most other series ever have that are far longer and I really appreciate it for that. With Ayame having set things up so that Taiki and Hina could talk and have a romantic moment, Hina’s push to basically confess again but to insist that Taiki not respond has become incredibly problematic. While it may have worked the first time around to give him a little time to think about what he wants, the reality is that Taiki has had to make a decision. And Hina’s attempt to have it as a kind of Schroedinger’s Relationship here has become toxic. Taiki actually does the right and mature thing by saying that not only is not fair to Hina by not making a decision, but it’s also not fair to him and to Chinatsu either because he can’t in good faith try and see if there’s something there with Chinatsu if there is this “fallback” relationship of sorts. And Hina, in his mind, does not deserve to be a fallback girl either.
For Hina, she reminds me of Hikaru from Kimagure Orange Road when confronted with this truth. Hina’s attempts at basically begging him to not respond, and then to keep an open mind and give her a chance, are hard to watch because you know she’s just roiling with emotions and not wanting to lose something so special to her. But his making clear he won’t reciprocate is critical and she’s just torn to shreds by it, even as gently as he tries to present it. Seeing her run out into the night, the rain, and the tears flowing while Ayame sees that part just makes it all the harder because you want that kind of comfort to exist for her. And Ayame will provide it surely, though it’s off the page, but it’s a hard watch all while we see a slightly uncertain Chinatsu wondering where Taiki is at this point.
In Summary:
This is a powerful installment. It reminds me so much of a key sequence from Kimagure Orange Road that it really gave me shivers. This series continues to be one of the best projects out there and I can’t recommend it enough as a whole work while also thinking it works exceedingly well on a chapter-by-chapter basis. And I don’t find that true for a lot of manga because so many have a really decompressed feeling about them rather than telling a story. Blue Box continues to push its characters and have them deal with things that happen and it alters the course of their lives, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. I’m eager to see what’s next for these characters and the emotional fallout in so many areas.
Content Grade: A Art Grade: A- Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+ Released By: Shonen Jump Release Date: November 13th, 2022
Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.
