REVIEW: ‘Blue Box’ Episode 3 – “Chii”

Seeing Chinatsu (Reina Ueda) walking home with Haryu at the end of the last episode left Taiki flustered. What is the relationship between the two of them? Is Haryu also seeking Chinatsu’s approval? And if so, what chance does Taiki (Shoya Chiba) have against one of the stars of the badminton team in Blue Box Episode 3, “Chii.”

In the opening moments of Blue Box Episode 3, Hina (Akari Kitô, Birdie Wing: Golf Girl’s Story) helps Taiki regain his composure after his unwelcome discovery. After all, both Chinatsu and Haryu are star athletes in the same class. Friends are allowed to walk home together. After all, Taiki and Hina are doing just that as well. These points help calm Taiki down, though the concern still lingers in his mind.

This opening continues to build Hina into a wonderfully supportive figure for Taiki. Her upbeat reassurance continues to make her an endearing presence in Taiki’s life. Hopefully, we’ll see Taiki acknowledge what a good friend he has in her.

Blue Box Episode 3 reignites Taiki’s concerns when he sees the pair chatting amicably during practice. To make matters worse, he even hears Haryu refer to Chinatsu as “Chii.” This casual nickname use sends Taiki into an even greater emotional spiral.

Now, there are times when romance anime blows relationship elements way out of proportion. When a character gets anxious or upset over something realistically inconsequential, this moment may strike many Western viewers as one such example. However, it makes more sense once one takes a moment to think about naming conventions in Japan and how even siblings are frequently portrayed referring to each other in public with honorifics. If Haryu has a personal nickname for Chinatsu, that would indicate a far deeper friendship than having such an interaction may imply to many of us.

From here, Blue Box Episode 3 jumps to later in the day. Taiki notices an errant basketball coming toward him during a brief breather on the sidelines. When Chinatsu calls for help, he moves to give it to her. During the exchange, Chinatsu asks Taiki when he’ll get home that night because she forgot her key and his parents will be out. After learning when she can expect him, her return to practice is interrupted by Haryu, who has a question for her. This is when the aforementioned nickname gets used.

After practice, we find Taiki running home full bore, trying to keep Chinatsu from waiting too long. When he arrives, he finds no one there yet. Collapsing in exhaustion in the entry, he mulls over his confused feelings, going back and forth over how to handle everything unfolding. His thoughts are interrupted by Chinatsu’s arrival, who asks him if he rushed home so she wouldn’t have to wait, telling him it was a good save if he did. Taiki, however, denies that this was his motivation. This is the first time that this show has caused me frustration.

That Taiki struggles with being proactive with his feelings makes sense. He knows Chinatsu has a lot going on and feels intimidated by her. However, when she preemptively applauds him for something he actually did, why on earth deny it? A sheepish mumbling about not wanting her to be stuck out in the cold, sure. Or even if he downplayed the significance of his doing so, to deny it feels wrong, like a choice made to muddy the waters more to leave Chinatsu with just a bit of doubt about where she stands with Taiki.

Making his reaction even harder to understand is the amazing way Chinatsu is presented visually here. Sitting on the floor against the wall with her knees drawn into herself, she is clearly vulnerable, reinforcing an admission she makes that she’ll feel embarrassed if her guess is wrong. The lighting further augments the fragility Chinatsu is projecting at this moment. That Taiki somehow misses all of this and denies her observation feels unaligned with what we’ve seen from the character thus far.

From here, we return to another practice session where Taiki matches up against Haryu. Despite Taiki’s efforts to keep up, he can’t grab a win against the older boy, though he shows marked improvement as the game progresses. Impressing everyone but Taiki himself.

When he leaves school, he runs into Chinatsu, who has him follow her to a nearby park. Once there, she produces a pair of badminton rackets and offers to play against him. The pair have a nice moment together as Chinatsu points out how he would be proud of how he did today.

When the kids return to school the next day, Taiki learns he will be in a doubles event. And his partner? Yup, Haryu. The older player puts Taiki through the wringer, drilling him incredibly hard so the first year can keep up when they play at the event.

After a week-long ordeal that sees Taiki run ragged, Blue Box Episode 3 sees him on the way home when he runs into several senior classmen, including Haryu and Chinatsu. Haryu calls Taiki over and gives him some mildly backhanded compliments as he talks to the other students about him. While the others laugh, Taiki meets Chinatsu’s gaze when the older girl mouths the words, “You are doing great” to him, along with a warm smile.

Despite the perhaps unintentionally insulting comments made by Haryu, this scene gives Blue Box Episode 3 a last sweet moment for the starring duo to end on. And to brighten Taiki’s day even more, he learns that Haryu has a girlfriend, making him no competition for Chinatsu’s attention.

With only one frustrating moment in the mix, Blue Box Episode 3 delivers another fantastic entry. A bit of humor, sweetness, and a continued phenomenal audio and visual presentation make this another strong entry.

Blue Box Episode 3 is now streaming on Netflix.