Forum - View topicBlue Box (TV).
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11443 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Blue Box (TV) Source: Manga (ongoing @ 16 volumes by Kouji Miura) Demographic: Shounen Animation Studio: Telecom Animation Film Genres: comedy, drama, romance Themes: badminton, basketball, school, sports Plot Summary: Taiki Inomata is on the boys' badminton team at sports powerhouse Eimei Junior and Senior High. He's in love with basketball player Chinatsu Kano, the older girl he trains alongside every morning in the gym. One spring day, their relationship takes a sharp turn. Air Date & Platform: October 3, 2024 (Thursday) Available on: Netflix Episode Count / Runtime: Pending Last edited by Tony K. on Thu Oct 17, 2024 5:10 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Edjwald
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So I've reached that point where I start looking ahead to the next season, checking out blurbs and looking up trailers for the shows I'm interested in. I'll probably watch 95% of the pilot episodes as per uze, beachcombing for hidden treasures. As for the other five percent, you'd have to shoot me with a tranquilizer dart and chain me down in front of a TV before I'd watch If My Wife Becomes an Elementary School Student or the first episode of Long Live Superstar season 3 - or at the very least have lots of posters whose opinion I trust sing their praises very, very loudly.
Anyway. there are a few anime that I have high personal hopes for, and this anime is one of them. One of my favorite sports anime of all time is the tragically unsequelled (it is too a word, I just used it) Baby Steps, which combines sports and romance in a tale about a peculiar kind of genius with a crazy work ethic. His freak pattern recognition skills come into play (literally) when he gets drawn into tennis by his fascination for a female tennis player. This anime seems like it would fit a similar groove. Plus, the artwork and animation in the trailer looked awesome. Edited to half-fix a run on sentence. |
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smurky turkey
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It does indeed not look bad but my issue with sports anime is that they often become very repetitive. It reminds me of those manwha where the mc powers up after a lot of hard work yet there is always another level or league above him and so it can feel like no progression was actually made.
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Edjwald
Posts: 1586 |
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I have the same issue with a lot (not all) of sports anime.
That's where a well done, lightly applied background romance can come in and take some of the narrative weight off of the competitive sport aspect's shoulders. I loved both seasons of Mix after avoiding it for the longest time. And if you consider any kind of competitive contest to fall under the sports anime umbrella, I also loved 3 seasons worth of Chihayafuru. And I'm looking forward to a second season of MF Ghost and that's the only reason I can think of to explain why. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1586 |
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This was a first class anime production. Great character designs, beautiful use of sunlight to bring out the well rendered backgrounds, music that either built or supported the mood throughout. Great stuff. The characters are likable as well, though I’d personally prefer it if the MC would dial back his lovestruck-osity a notch. Not that I mind him fixating on a love interest, but that’s about 90% of his personality right now, and I’d rather see a portrayal of a likable person in love than a school crush with arms and legs drawn on it.
I guess that’s the dividing line between me liking this anime a lot and me loving it, but some of that dialing down and character development should occur naturally due to the plotline where Chinatsu moves into Taiki’s house. At least, I’d think there would be less obsessive idealizing from a distance when they’re sharing a bathroom on a day-to-day basis, and more of a chance for them to interact naturally. We should also get exposed to more of Taiki’s own character traits as his own sports related journey advances. By the way, is badminton a huge deal in Japan? There was some other really well animated show about a female badminton player where she was getting so intense that I thought she was going to squat down, pull her panties down, and relieve herself on the court while howling in animal frustration. But I just figured anime in general was treating badminton with the same discretion and understatement that it treats the common cold. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4158 |
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Episode 1
I can't even...I think Chinatsu has as much character as her basketball but I am curious as to how Hina fits into this. I guess she's a rhythmic gymnast by the ending. I'm thinking love triangle with all points aimed at the next. [sips coffee] And then I thought about what I just thought but I'm not changing it. It's just a feeling I have about what's really going on in Chinatsu's life. But look at it... in that huge auditorium, it's the gymnastics followed by basketball and then badminton. But I didn't think about the placement until I saw Hina with that gymnastics ball. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2667 |
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It looks great and I for once am interested into the sports aspect of the show but I do need the characters to develop a bit more... character? I get that romance is a large part of whole thing but I need the mc to have more to offer than just being hopelessly in love.
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Edjwald
Posts: 1586 |
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If that's intentional, it's pretty cool. Well, I guess it's pretty cool even if it's unintentional. |
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Edjwald
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Welp, as of episode 2, this is definitely going to be a love triangle kind of a show. My only question is what level of self-awareness is Hina at? Is she (1) pretending to be "helping" Taiki because she figures that Chinatsu is way out of his league, and this way she has an excuse to stick close to him and then later pick up the pieces? Or (2) is she unaware of her own feelings (Cos I'm pretty sure she has them).
Taiki's spazzhole routine still got a bit annoying in places, but nowhere near as bad as the antics of say, the MC from Dress Up Darling, and Taiki is indeed making rapid progress from caricature to human being as his actual familiarity with Chinatsu grows. I'm also liking the gradually increased emphasis on his sports regime. The art may be the prettiest in an anime this season, and that's with Negative Positive Angler killing it on the backgrounds and The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't be Magicians pulling out the stops with the color coating. So, yeah, episode 2 doing all the things an episode 2 is supposed to do, and doing them well. I'm in. Edited because I typed year instead of season the first time. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2667 |
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Yeah, as annoying as Taiki can be he is showing signs of development and considering we are only two episodes in that is more than I expected. I also like that there is a good balance between sports and romance. Sports wise the episode made clear what all their goals are and it seems like some are closer to said goals than others. Romance wise it looks like at least 3 people are going to be involved though it could be more given the ending.
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Edjwald
Posts: 1586 |
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I like Haryu as a new addition to the supporting cast. He's not a nice guy, and he's not an @$$hole, but he makes a good mentor/sports rival.
Taiki is still having some annoying to borderline annoying spazz moments, but he's also making some progress - for example, being able to separate his feelings from Chinatsu from how well (or not well) he does at badminton, or maintaining some boundaries. He did run all the way home so she wouldn't have to wait for him to let her in, for example, but he also didn't simp all over her or make a big deal out of it. He's not making excuses to hang all over her or flatter her or trying to take advantage of the living situation. Which would be more annoying than him not taking the opportunity to walk her home because he doesn't want people to talk about them. But y'know, I think Taiki's crush is more idealized than real right now. I can't help but notice that Chinatsu is paying more attention than he is. I liked the first episode, and I liked the second episode a bit better than the first, and I liked the third a bit better than the second. So, y'know, I like the direction this is headed. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1586 |
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So yeah, watching Blue Box + Negative Positive Angler on Thursdays has turned out to be my favorite anime combo of the season. They go together like hamburger and French fries.
I think The characters on Blue Box are beginning to come into focus and seem like real people as much as talking character traits or romanticized icons. Taiki is gradually settling down into his role as a dense, lovestruck lunk with a mission. Chinatsu is coming across as more of a person and less of a romanticized icon, though I hope they'll focus some more on her basketball struggles as well. I like Haryu and his drill sergeant like sadistic streak. You have to appreciate the integrity of someone who's training the teammate he recognized as a rival. This was the first episode where I really liked Kyo (even if I had to look "Glasses" name up.) though I never disliked him. He wasn't just standing on the side cautioning Taiki and making mordantly amusing remarks, he stepped up and tried to play wingman for his friend. Hina is still kind of one note, but because of the pictures of her in the opening, I'm just waiting for her to go off like a romantic time bomb. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2667 |
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The show has indeed developed the characters a fair bit in a short period of time and while the first episode left me a bit doubtful I am now fully invested. I actually want them all to succeed and for there to be some romance too, hopefully without too much drama but we shall see about that.
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Edjwald
Posts: 1586 |
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The Aquarium Date (?) episode: Well, for me anyhow, Taiki backslid a little in the progress he was making on not being an annoying spazz in the romantic department. Maybe that's understandable since him going from neutral to possibly dating was like throwing a minnow in a shark tank. Well, maybe not that extreme. Maybe more like throwing a pedigree fish into the tank full of department store street fish that habitually eat other. The cool moments and the borderline annoying moments pretty much balanced each other out.
Somebody said that Chinatsu doesn't have much of a personality earlier, and I don't really think that's true. I think it's more that her personality is all quiet determination, kindness, and very keen observation, which comes off as pretty drama free compared to a lot of the tsunderes, yanderes, and sexpots that drive the romantic tension some romance anime. Taiki is also pretty shy, introverted, and mostly quiet in his strengths, which means that most of the drama to their sweet relationship has to come from outside sources. Speaking of which, looks like the romantic timebomb that is Hina is set to go off.... |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1586 |
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Episode 7 was my favorite episode to date. Sometimes Chinatsu has come off as a wallflower, but here that quiet, fierce competitiveness began to shine through. That's a quality that she's had all along though as far as I can tell.
Taiki, on the other hand, is starting to grow into his own gradually. Not just on the badminton court, but I'm pretty sure his progress as a badminton player and his progress as a person will be an intertwined metaphor throughout the season. Taiki showed some honesty and boldness without any spazz attacks, and his reasoning for not actively pursuing Chinatsu at this time were solid and mature and non-annoying (as opposed to the usual male anime protagonist, who runs from females who are throwing themselves at his feet with remarkably little discretion or discernment). I've been liking this anime all along, but this felt like the anime I've been waiting for. |
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