Blue Box, vol. 1 | Review

Blue Box, vol. 1 by Kouji Miura
Viz Media, to be released 11/1/22
Age Rating: Teen 

Boy meets Girl.

Boy falls for Girl (sometimes literally).

Both Boy and Girl want to reach their dream goals.

However, in order for Girl to reach her goal, she has to temporarily stay with a friend of her parents… who happens to be the parents of Boy who is crushing on her. 

And romantic chaos ensues. 

Blue Box is a sports, meet-cute, comedy centered on our boy, Taiki Inomata, who is a member of the boy’s badminton team. His crush, Chinatsu Kano, is a star player for the girl’s basketball team. Both are striving to compete for the national championship for their respective teams. While Taiki struggles with his feelings for Chinatsu, he learns that her parents have to go overseas for work and Chinatsu would have to leave with them. Which means her dreams of playing Nationals are up in smoke. When Taiki tries to convince Chinatsu to stay, he learns that not only is she actually staying in the country, but she’s staying with close friends of her parents… who happen to be Taiki’s parents.

To see Taiki’s expression after his failed speech of encouragement is really awkward… and a bit funny. 

Blue Box is a refreshing sports shoujo manga that doesn’t abuse the shoujo romantic tropes. We have a male protagonist who wants to impress his crush, while hiding his feelings for her, as well as the fact that she’s currently staying with him. There are scenes of jealousy that Taiki experiences that are relatable when an upperclassman appears to show interest in Chinatsu, as well as when Taiki’s well-meaning friends give him (un)helpful advice. The sports action is never boring, and in a way, matches the competitiveness our leads have in their respective lives (Chinatsu wants to compete in Nationals, while Taiki wants to compete in Nationals and for Chinatsu’s heart). 

Volume one ends with a very interesting cliffhanger between Taiki and Chinatsu which will make the reader think, “what move is going to be made?” Overall, it was a cute sports romance that doesn’t overtly rely on tropes but has a story of its own.

Filed under: All Ages, Graphic Novels, Manga, Young Adult