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Blue Box Anime Casts Yūki Kaji

This year's 13th issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine revealed a new cast member for the anime of Kōji Miura's Blue Box (Ao no Hako) manga on Tuesday. Yūki Kaji will join the anime's cast as Kazuma Matsuoka, a student who returned to Japan from studying abroad in America.

The anime debuted on television in Japan on October 3 at 11:56 p.m., and is airing on TBS and 28 affiliated networks. The anime began streaming on Netflix on October 4 (Japan time), where it streams weekly. The series is also streaming on more than 25 other streaming services in Japan after each episode's television airing.

The anime's second cours (quarter of a year) premiered on Japanese television on January 2. Macaroni Enpitsu performs the new opening theme song "Shikaraba" (In That Case), and TOMOO performs the new ending theme song "Contrast."

The series is airing for two consecutive cours (quarters of a year).

The anime stars:

• Shōya Chiba as Taiki Inomata
• Reina Ueda as Chinatsu Kano
• Akari Kitō as Hina Chono
• Chiaki Kobayashi as Kyo Kasahara
• Yūma Uchida as Kengo Haryū
• Shōgo Sakata as Ryōsuke Nishida
• Anna Nagase as Nagisa Funami
• Asaki Yuikawa as Niina Shimazaki
• Yūki Ono as Shōta Hyōdō
• Kenshō Ono as Shūji Yusa
• Kana Ichinose as Ayame Moriya

Yūichirō Yano (Moyashimon, Lupin the Third: Part 5) is directing the anime, and Yūko Kakihara (Buddy Daddies, Cells at Work!, Chihayafuru seasons 2-3) is overseeing the series scripts. Miho Tanino (Tower of God, Blue Thermal) is designing the characters. Telecom Animation Film is producing the animation, and UNLIMITED PRODUCE by TMS is in charge of planning and production.

Official HiGE DANdism performed the first cours opening theme song "Same Blue," and Eve performed the ending theme song "Teenage Blue."

Shueisha's MANGA Plus service publishes the manga in English digitally, and describes the story:

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 ... And thus begins this brand-new series of love, sports and youth!

Miura first published the story as a one-shot manga in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2020. The magazine started the manga's serialization in April 2021. Shueisha will publish the manga's 19th compiled book volume on March 4. Viz Media will publish the manga's 14th volume also on March 4. The manga has more than 6.2 million copies in circulation.

Source: Weekly Shonen Jump issue 13