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]

Chouno, Hina Main

Kitou, Akari Japanese

Kano, Chinatsu Main

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Inomata, Taiki Main

Chiba, Shouya Japanese

Kasahara, Kyou Supporting

Kobayashi, Chiaki Japanese

Haryuu, Kengo Supporting

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Moriya, Ayame Supporting

Ichinose, Kana Japanese

Moriya, Karen Supporting

Shiraishi, Haruka Japanese

Hyoudou, Shouta Supporting

Ono, Yuuki Japanese

Inomata, Yukiko Supporting

Yuzuki, Ryouka Japanese

Taiki's Father Supporting

Maeda, Hiroki Japanese

Tanaka, Junichirou Producer

Inoue, Yuuji Producer

Kishida, Takuma Producer

Kikuchi, Hitoshi Producer

Reviews

Apr 27, 2025

Onidzuka453wvf

Recommended

Ao no Hako teaches to make decisions although it can seem impossible. Everyone will find something about themselves when watching this anime.

Ao no Hako does not try to be something different unless romance story about people, about their lives and feelings. It is the best thing.
Everything is according to the laws of the genre, but it was done in its own way and at the same time with Soul.
I believe Author wrote this story from his own heart
There is no fan-serviece and all cliches of the genre are logical and do not cause rejection, everything is in the right place. The Work evokes empathy for ... the characters and makes believe in what is happening on the screen, it is what makes any work of art real, feelings and emotions.
This is romance in the sense in which it should be, not in the distorted idea that society now has about romantic anime.

If You have read this review, I thank You and wish that You will find something for Yourself, maybe this will help You understand Yourself :)

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Apr 19, 2025

Lucia_vz

Mixed Feelings

Si estáis buscando un anime centrado en el deporte, este no es para vosotros. Aunque el deporte está presente, queda completamente en segundo plano. La trama principal gira en torno al romance, y, sinceramente, ni siquiera eso me terminó de convencer del todo.

Lo que más me gustó fue el personaje de Hina, sin duda el más interesante y con más profundidad de todos.

Ahora bien, si os gustan los triángulos amorosos, el amor no correspondido y el drama adolescente, entonces puede que os enganche. Pero si buscáis una historia deportiva intensa o un romance más sólido, probablemente no sea lo que esperáis.

Yo lo he disfrutado a ... ratos, pero hubo partes que se me hicieron pesadas de ver, y más de una vez me estresaban las decisiones del protagonista.

Pero esto es solo mi opinión y percepción personal. Si estabais interesados en verlo, os animo a empezarlo y juzgar por vosotros mismos, porque, aunque a mucha gente no le ha convencido, a otros les ha encantado.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 15, 2025

Nati_Miracle

Not Recommended

The drawing is fine, but in terms of plot, both sports and romance, all opportunities are missed.

Hina is the only living character here. Her story was the only one that made sense to me, that I could empathize with.

But the main couple is completely chemistry-less. I'm surprised that this can be said about drawn characters, but it is. Especially the basketball player. No character, no growth, nothing... You can only guess her awesomeness by the screams of the main guy in love with her. So there was no worry about this couple at all.

Disappointed.

I rate it a 5 just for the beautiful drawings ... and character Hina

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Ao no Hako Episode 17 Discussion ( 1 2 ) anime-prime - Jan 23	68 replies	by MiamoreCash »» Today, 7:14 AM
	Poll: Ao no Hako Episode 16 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Softhenic03 - Jan 16	99 replies	by MiamoreCash »» Today, 5:02 AM
	Poll: Ao no Hako Episode 14 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Softhenic03 - Jan 2	152 replies	by MiamoreCash »» Yesterday, 3:25 AM
	Poll: Ao no Hako Episode 25 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) IzanaSolos - Mar 20	175 replies	by Amxnrai »» Apr 25, 10:07 AM
	Poll: Ao no Hako Episode 22 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Softhenic03 - Feb 27	97 replies	by NewbieAmu »» Apr 21, 5:33 AM