The highly anticipated Blue Box anime adaptation of the popular school romance manga by Kouji Miura premiered this past weekend on Netflix. Blue Box tells the story of Taiki Inomata, a young high school boy, as he explores his romantic feelings for the popular and talented basketball player at his school, Chinatsu Kano. This season of the anime is set to air for two cours, totaling 24 episodes.
As a manga reader of Blue Box, I was excited about the announcement of its anime adaptation and found myself super impressed with the key visuals as they were revealed. Episode one is a strong start for the series, and it appropriately sets the stage for the tricky situation Taiki finds himself in with Chinatsu, making exploring his feelings all the more difficult.
Admittedly, anime with sports themes aren’t my cup of tea, and recently, neither are anime that deal with puppy-dog love high school romance. Horimiya is an example of a high school romance I simply can’t get myself to enjoy, even if there’s nothing particular to hate about it. I’m in my 30s and past the point of relating to teenage characters and high school scenarios.
However, when I picked up the Blue Box manga on the Shonen Jump manga app, I felt the story was easy to read right before going to bed. I quickly came to enjoy Kouji Miura’s soft and expressive illustrations, and every single chapter ended in a cliffhanger that kept me turning (swiping?) pages on the app until I could barely keep my eyes open. Blue Box isn’t a series that I should like given my preferences, but Kouji Miura has lured me in with likable characters, despite them being emotional teenagers that I can’t empathize with easily.
The Blue Box adaptation is stunningly animated by Telecom Animation Film (Orange; Shenmue The Animation), and I think it honors Kouji Miura with its soft colors and delicate lines. The environments in Blue Box are simple places as most of episode one is spent in the school’s outdoor areas or in the gym, but the use of light and color makes each scene remarkable. For example, I love the scene where Taiki comes across Chinatsu outside of the school’s gym where the sun is setting. Even such an unremarkable place becomes special with these touches from Telecom Animation Film.
The story in Blue Box doesn’t seem all that interesting until the last few moments of episode one. A high school boy athlete has a crush on a high school girl athlete. The high school girl athlete’s dream is to succeed in going to a national event. The high school boy wants to see her achieve that dream. At first, Blue Box doesn’t stand out, but becomes more interesting once Taiki realizes Chinatsu will be living with him and his family due to her parent’s moving abroad – not a new twist in anime (I’ve seen Marmalade Boy!), but a fun one.
Directed by Yuichiro Yano, who also worked on episodes of Kimi ni Todoke and Don’t Toy With Me, Ms. Nagatoro, Blue Box episode one has good pacing and manages to fit foundations that are vital for the story within 20 minutes. Character designer Miho Tanino, who worked on Tower of God, brings Miura’s characters to life, mirroring the art style of the manga.
As long as the anime adaptation accurately follows the manga, I know what will happen in these next 24 episodes. That won’t keep me away, as Blue Box‘s anime seems to have a lot of hard work and love poured into it. I hope to see you guys weekly for my continued thoughts on the anime as it airs.
Blue Box is streaming on Netflix.
© Kouji Miura /SHUEISHA/ Blue Box Film Partners