Fall Friday’s unrelenting avalanche of anime continues. Ao no Hako is a show I would love to spend more time over – especially given that I think it takes a fair amount of unfair criticism. But reality just doesn’t allow it. Perhaps in winter – which looks fairly meh this far out and at the very least will have a smaller volume of series to cover – I’ll be able to zero in on it episodically a little more. Just as it transitions into the part of the story where I had serious problems with it…
The one constant of Blue Box is Chinatsu and Taiki. Their relationship is never less than totally engaging, and it’s all down to the details. Taiki is in his first semester of high school and Chinatsu a year older, and that makes so much difference. “Only a year” one might say, but at that age it’s an eternity. Especially given that Taiki is a boy – if it was reversed the maturity level might be more even. And the fact that she has a full-year head-start on the high school experience. She’s a veteran who knows the tricks of the trade, he’s a rookie. Some people complain that there are no shortcuts in their relationship but to me, that’s the best thing about it.
Again, we have a romcom trope – the gym uniform mixup. Ao no Hako makes heavy use of them, there’s no sugarcoating it. And that means it has to do so really skillfully. Which fortunately it usually does. The trick here is making the exchange discreetly in a public high school. Plan A is the AV room, which is a Hina-shaped trap for Taiki. He’s forced to concoct a self-deprecating (but believable) lie to cover his tracks. Eventually the liaison happens on the roof (thanks to Ganta) and Chinatsu starts changing right in front of him. One might think this is a lucky roll, but Taiki is downcast because it means she doesn’t see him as a man.
Taiki’s 15 year-old brain can’t process the disconnect when Chinatsu gets embarrassed watching him change his (inside-out) shirt later on at home. It’s because he has a six-pack, she says, but he still can’t quite bring himself to be flattered. He’s in the process of psyching himself up for the regional qualifying tournament, his first as a high-schooler. Doubles with Haryuu figures to be no problem (one must only reach the 16’s to qualify for the prefectural qualifier) but singles is another matter.
Haryuu as a mentor figure is a lot to take. There’s no denying his talent, however. He and Taiki cruise through the double prelims, at which point the pair runs into Kishi Shouichirou (Kawanashi Kengo). He was Haryuu’s doubles partner in juniors, a fellow first-year, and a fellow crusher on Chinatsu. He says Haryuu promised to give him her number if he beat him in singles (he did but not in an official match) and insists on another shot. Haryuu has a bye through the regional prelims, so he offers another solution – if Kishi beats Taiki in singles, he’ll get the number.
Is this a dick move? Yes, no doubt – but then, Haryuu is a dick. He’s also plainly doing it to motivate Taiki (it does) so one could argue his intentions are good. And he says he’d only do it if Chinatsu was OK with it. In any event Taiki at least has a true bro in wingman Kyou. He spills the beans to Chinatsu and makes sure she knows none of this is Taiki’s fault. He also asks her to reward him if he wins to protect her honor – with an aquarium date. What a bro indeed. With that sort of motivation (though he doesn’t know about the date) – and the fact that Kishi isn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer – how can Taiki lose?
