AKA: アオのハコ ; Ao no Hako

Genre: High School Romance/Sports

Length: Web release, 25 episodes, 24 minutes each

Distributor: Currently available streaming on Netflix.

Content Rating: TV-PG (Mature themes.)

Related Series: Second season (TV)

Also Recommended: Ippon Again!; Farewell, My Dear Cramer; Baby Steps

Notes: Based on manga by Kouji Miura, published by Shueisha in Weekly Shonen Jump

Rating:

Blue Box

Synopsis

Taiki Inomata is smitten with the girl he sees practicing basketball at his school gym, Chinatsu Kano, when he goes there to practice HIS sport, badminton. Conveniently for the plot (AND Taiki), Chinatsu ends up living in Taiki's house. This is, however, a major INCONVENIENCE for Hina Chono, Taiki's childhood friend, who's been interested in him for a long time.

Review

"I like the color blue. And I like cola. Those things I know I like" - Taiki

If you're wondering about Taiki's philosophical musing in that quote, it seems to be his reassuring himself that he's certain about SOME of the things he likes- because his preference for which girl he liked, Chinatsu or Hina, was wavering at that moment.

It is a fact that I hate wavering male characters in anime- the main reason I have never liked harem shows- but that would be a little unfair to Taiki; he was resolute about which girl he liked- and SAID so- before and after; he just seems of uncertain mind at the time of the quote. Still, while his uncertainty might have been brief, I thought it more cruel to give false hope to the one who was unlikely to be picked, based on what we'd already seen, AND on basis of how these plots usually work.

Before I go into that, I need to go back and explain the show's setup. All its characters are all involved in sports of some kind- they're going to a private high school that specializes in athletics. (Hina's activity is rhythmic gymnastics.) This is, nevertheless, MUCH more a romance anime than a sports one, even though you will see Taiki and his team, AND Chinatsu and HERS, in both practices and competitions. Chinatsu has a natural talent for basketball, it seems, but Taiki requires long practices (and a LOT of sweat) to improve his badminton game. The "Blue Box" of the title seems to refer to the boundary area between in-bounds and out-of-bounds landings of the shuttlecock. If there's some greater symbolism in the title, 'tis beyond me.

As for WHY Chinatsu is living with Taiki: Chinatsu's mom and Taiki's mom were friends (and both basketball players themselves in school), but Chinatsu's parents have to go abroad for work, while Chinatsu wants to continue playing basketball at her school, so Chinatsu has been temporarily left in Taiki's parents' care. One might wonder about the wisdom of leaving a teenage girl in a home containing a teenage boy, but apparently this is A-OK with anime parents. (See the Happy-Go-Lucky Days review for a particularly egregious example of how wrong this can go.)

The whole storyline here made me think of comments I cited in the Romantic Killer review about "childhood friends" being the "easy win" in video games; the real prize is always another character who requires much more effort to land. Chinatsu and Hina easily fall into these slots. Hina, our childhood friend, pursues Taiki aggressively, doing things like misleading reporting of a conversation; actual attempted seduction; and being forthright about her interest in a way that Chinatsu NEVER is. Chinatsu, in fact, verbally pushes Taiki away at one point, declaring it's inappropriate for a boy and girl living under the same roof to be in a romantic relationship. She's amiable toward Taiki, mind, but at least at THAT point seemingly wanted to keep their relationship strictly Platonic. On the other hand, the show also captures the easygoing familiarity Taiki and Chinatsu CAN have with each other. There's an early conversation between Taiki and Chinatsu, while they were trying to hide their cohabitation from others, in which Taiki encounters Chinatsu on the way to his house, and hypes their pretense that they're supposed to be virtual strangers for great comic effect. (I concede the show does have some good jokes.) The inevitable scene where they're stuck overnight with each other while away from home also allowed Taiki and Chinatsu to demonstrate their casual friendship and mutual respect.

But, again, there seems no real passion from Chinatsu toward Taiki; while as for Taiki's feelings toward Chinatsu, while he usually has her as an ultimate objective he wants to achieve, most of HIS real passion seems devoted to improving his badminton game. In our Romantic Video Game model of this, Chinatsu's the challenging character to win over (who's supposed to be well worth the extra effort to capture), while Hina's that "easy win" childhood friend that, according to the Romantic Killer comments, no one goes for.

Well, except for maybe ME. I always seem to back the underdog characters. My preference in My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU was very strongly for the girl who DIDN'T win. Blue Box does go out of its way to suggest that Hina has a fighting chance- for example, she's prominently featured in the episode closers- but I feared that might just be pretense.

(A little note here on the character design: Chinatsu and Hina, except for their eye and hair color, look an awful lot alike. This seems to be another show where the character art is apparently intended to "look like" manga art as much as possible.)

I was VERY disappointed in the way another character was treated. His name is Kyo Kasahara, though his name is rarely uttered in the show. He's Taiki's friend, a loyal wingman (he arranges Taiki's first "date" with Chinatsu), and an astute observer of the Hina-Taiki-Chinatsu Triangle, and its dynamics; but he's too soft-spoken to attract much notice by the characters, or even the show itself, despite obviously being the most perceptive person here. At one point we see a VERY brief mental flashback of his, and I thought we might get some more background on him, but... well, maybe NEXT season. (Actually, this BETTER happen next season...)

On the other hand, we get TOO much of another character. Taiki's badminton senpai is named Kengo Haryu; Kengo has a girlfriend named Karen Moriya; and Karen has a little sister named Ayame, who somehow becomes the "manager" of Taiki's badminton team. We know that female "managers" of boys' sports teams in anime are usually not much more than the team's maid, but to her credit Ayame DOES sometimes attempt to act more like a real coach. To her profound DISCREDIT, however, she's one of those adolescents filled with frivolous, fanciful notions about romance and relationships, the sort who's "in love with being in love." (She says she's had "many" boyfriends; somehow none of them last very long.) She's also a born meddler, who tries to intervene in the show's Triangle. I could have used a lot less of her, even if she DOES finally look at herself (and her behavior) a little more objectively.

The Recs include some romance-free sports anime, and one with SOME romance, but it's kept-uh- "in bounds."

For all the hype this show's received, I still found its romance too routine, and its sports too sparse. The promo art for Season Two still features Taiki, Chinatsu, AND Hina, so is the triangle STILL on? I'll be watching it, but I swear if they don't give Kyo a larger role I'll never forgive it. He's by far the most interesting character here. — Allen Moody

Recommended Audience: Netflix rates TV-PG. I guess for the emotional drama (Mature Themes), though there's no violence or fanservice.