Ao no Hako

Every morning, incoming first-year Taiki Inomata hurries to his high school gym in order to further refine his badminton skills. However, his true motivation stems from sharing the otherwise empty gym with second-year Chinatsu Kano, Taiki's crush and the star player of the girls' basketball team. Although Chinatsu seems unapproachable, Taiki gradually finds opportunities to get to know her little by little.

Unbeknownst to Taiki, his tireless work ethic and admiration motivate Chinatsu to work harder and strive to achieve her greatest ambitions. When her family must suddenly move overseas for work, Chinatsu decides to remain in Japan and shoot for victory at the national level. With nowhere to stay, she is taken in by Taiki's mother, who is longtime friends with Chinatsu's own. Overwhelmed with the new reality of living alongside the girl he loves, Taiki resolves to join Chinatsu at the national level in his own sport—and grow closer to her in the process.

Still, despite being good enough to catch his coach's eye, Taiki must fight an uphill battle to qualify for a spot on the starting team. Cheered on by both Chinatsu and gymnast Hina Chouno, his childhood friend, Taiki aims to make a name for himself among his powerful upperclassmen.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kano, Chinatsu Main

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Chouno, Hina Main

Kitou, Akari Japanese

Inomata, Taiki Main

Chiba, Shouya Japanese

Kasahara, Kyou Supporting

Kobayashi, Chiaki Japanese

Haryuu, Kengo Supporting

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Hyoudou, Shouta Supporting

Ono, Yuuki Japanese

Yusa, Shuuji Supporting

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Inomata, Yukiko Supporting

Yuzuki, Ryouka Japanese

Taiki's Father Supporting

Maeda, Hiroki Japanese

Kishi, Shouichirou Supporting

Kawanishi, Kengo Japanese

Tanaka, Junichirou Producer

Kikuchi, Hitoshi Producer

Kishida, Takuma Producer

Ishiyama, Takahiro Producer

Reviews

Oct 17, 2024

Shadow654

Recommended

Preliminary (3/25 eps)

Story: "Ao no Hako" aka "Blue Box" is one of the more popular romance manga currently releasing, and definitely one of the best ones imo. It focuses on our main duo, Taiki Inomata, a first year badminton player and Chinatsu Kano, a second year basketball player. "After an unexpected turn of events brings the two closer together, sports might not be the first thing on their minds anymore!" This series balances the sports aspect and romance aspect really well, as we get to see the characters focus on becoming the best versions of themselves through hard work and dedication, but we also see hints of ... possible romantic developments (which will be explored later on). The basic premise of Blue Box is pretty simple all things considered, and even though some may argue that it's "generic", it's an extremely well executed vanillia romance story with some good sports action thrown in here and there.

Story: 8/10

Animation: They really outdid themselves with this one, the animation is nothing short of stellar. I already had high hopes since reading the manga, as the artwork is quite detailed there. Then they dropped a few trailers which looked phenomenal, and after watching the first 3 episodes, I can safely say that this adaptation is in safe hands, and a big reason for that is due to the high quality and fluid animation. There was a few cg shots, mainly in the first ep, but they were not jarring and did not detract from my viewing experience at all

Animation: 9/10

Music: The music in this show is really good. The op "Same Blue" by Official HIGE DANdism really fits the vibe of the show well and the ed 'Teenage Blue" by Eve is just as good, if not better. The OST is solid as well.

Music: 8/10

Voice Acting: The entire cast sounds great. Reina Ueda as Chinatsu and Akari Kito as Hina were excellent picks as they bring a lot of personality to the characters and their voices match perfectly. At first I wasn't sure how to feel about Shouya Chiba as Taiki but his energy fits him well and really makes his character that much more likeable

Voice Acting: 9/10

Overall, Blue Box is a high quality romance series that you should absolutely watch, and while I do think the later seasons will be better as the plot progresses and more interesting developments occur, the anime is off to a great start and this adaptation is 100% worth checking out, whether you're an anime only or a manga reader like myself.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Oct 17, 2024

cynfest456

Recommended

Preliminary (3/25 eps)

HOLY SH*T from Makeine going hard on animation to now BLUE BOX getting a royal treatment in animation that only a battle shonen would only see if they are a huge hit.

We're witnessing a shift in the industry and Im for it. Fr. If you're not a fan of a romcom, then Im sorry for you. You're missing out. Blue Box is a unique entry in the same old love story and I love it.

Without saying much this story is a 9/10 for the first 3 episodes and its a shame Crunchyroll is so badly managed that they missed out on easy ... views since its not available to see there.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 1, 2024

muttaa

Not Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (3/25 eps)

Blue Box is like if someone threw a love story into a sports anime blender and forgot to hit “mix.” Our hero, Taiki, crushes on Chinatsu, the basketball queen with all the personality of a wet sock. Their romance is the slowest slow-burn ever, fueled by half-smiles and awkward silences that drag on longer than a high school lecture.

Sports? Sort of. Romance? Barely. The real MVP here is the gym bag, which gets more screen time than actual basketball. This anime is perfect for anyone who thinks love confessions and emotional breakthroughs are best delivered through endless shots of… badminton rackets.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Poll: Ao no Hako Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) IzanaSolos - Sep 7	104 replies	by BetaMaleUltra »» 4 hours ago
	Poll: Ao no Hako Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Softhenic03 - Dec 5	51 replies	by ANgelSHarma11 »» 9 hours ago
	70% simping, 29% sport, 1% actual romance... will we see any major changes later? Rob7 - Dec 9	33 replies	by Imoogi26 »» 12 hours ago
	Poll: Ao no Hako Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) IzanaSolos - Sep 7	198 replies	by nathh »» Today, 4:57 AM
	where the heck are you guys loveschifuyu - Dec 1	12 replies	by mobb6572 »» Yesterday, 6:20 AM