Blue Box

Episode 18

One of the only downsides to how strong Blue Box has been with its romance material in this second cour is that it's become easy to forget about the sports angle of the show. At the very least, I've become far more invested in Taiki and Chinatsu's developing relationship than I am in their respective athletic pursuits, which feels just slightly at odds with the way that the characters' primary conflicts have come from finding the ways to pursue all of their passions with equal amounts of drive and commitment. It's a good thing that “I Know” dedicates so much of its time to effectively dramatizing Taiki's latest badminton trials and triumphs, then, and in such a thrillingly cinematic way, to boot.

Despite how consistently gorgeous Blue Box's presentation has been, it has never actually been the absolute best at depicting the sports that occupy so much of its characters' lives. The individual moments of framing and character animation have been great, for the most part, but the show has made it obvious that crafting a wholly thrilling sports-drama experience just isn't its number one priority. This isn't Haikyu!!, that's for sure. The sports have always been a metaphorical means to an end, in that they offer easy to understand visualizations of Taiki and Chinatsu's capacity for obsessive dedication (and it gives their stories a baked-in source for regular conflict that is separate from all that mushy gushy smoochy stuff). Still, there's never been a sports anime that has been hurt from having great on-the-court action, and “I Know” is maybe the best showcase that Blue Box has put together since it premiered.

Dramatically speaking, Taiki's rematch against Haruto can only engage the audience so much, since it's just a casual game, and the only stakes involve Taiki's personal desire to simply be better than the last time they played. The sequence is so well-directed and animated, though, that we feel Taiki's burning desire to prove that he's got a shot to succeed the next time they play for real, and that goes a long way toward making this episode a compelling one. It's also critical for the show to communicate Taiki's inner resolve since that's one of the primary qualities that draws both Hina and Chinatsu to him. The more of their attraction to Taiki we empathize with, the better the romance in Blue Box becomes. The better the romance is, the more invested we get in the sports stuff. It's a simple yet vital feedback loop.

I especially liked the small but powerful moment where Chinatsu acknowledges that she did notice Taiki before moving in with him, at least a little bit, and I'll take every scrap of Chinatsu characterization that I can get. Conversely, I was actually a little mystified by Hina's presence in this episode, and specifically with her ambivalent reception to Taiki getting especially serious in this practice game. I'm pretty sure I get the point that the show is going for by showing us an aspect of Taiki's personality that Hina simply doesn't get, while Chinatsu understands it completely. The execution just felt a bit overdramatic, for my tastes. That's kids for you, I guess.

Still, these are minor quibbles over an otherwise excellent episode of Blue Box. The winning streak continues, yet again, and the show isn't giving any signs that it intends to slow down.

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Blue Box is currently streaming on Netflix.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.