REVIEW: ‘Blue Box’ Episode 20 — “As One of Her Closest Friends”

In Blue Box Episode 20, “As One of Her Closest Friends,” Taiki (Shoya Chiba) and Hina (Akari Kitô, Birdie Wing: Golf Girl’s Story) take the stage as part of the cultural festival. But with the tension lingering between them and Taiki woefully unprepared, the situation doesn’t look great. As the play draws to a close, a mechanical failure leaves everyone talking about the pair and what they are to each other.

After a brief refresher of how much fun Taiki had been having at the cultural festival with Chinatsu (Reina Ueda), this episode dives into the present as the rest of Taiki’s class pressures him to take the stage as The Prince. They forcibly push the poor boy into the role, owing to all the hard work everyone has already put into the project. He eventually acquiesces to their demand, but it’s a concession made under intense duress.

Despite understanding what the rest of the class is feeling, Taiki feels harshly treated here. Demanding someone take the lead role without prior prep is a tall ask. The hilarious visuals and comedic element help smooth over the inappropriateness of his classmates’ attitudes. Of course, Taiki’s concerns over taking the role stem not only from the fear of making a fool of himself but also from the fact that he and Hina will once more be faced with the kiss scene.

The rehearsal moment when Hina offers to kiss Taiki creates an extra level of distress in Taiki that the episode delivers excellently. Why the awkward moment refuses to leave his mind as he tries valiantly to learn his lines at the last minute further builds sympathy for Taiki.

Between momentary fits of despair, Taiki does manage to fend off a potential future problem. Remembering that Chinatsu will be attending, he thinks to message her to let her know of the change in his role so as not to look like he was lying to her about it. When Chinatsu receives the message, she informs her companions about the shift, eliciting joy from Haryu (Yuma Uchida) as he looks forward to seeing Taiki make a fool of himself.

Taiki makes the best out of a stressful situation. 

As the play nears, Hina approaches Taiki to try to shore up his spirits. The moment delivers a warmly playful back-and-forth between the two. The scene reinfuses the narrative with what makes the pair such wonderful friends. This is easily forgotten given how hard Hina has been leaning into her pursuit of Taiki romantically. With so many awkward moments overwhelming the pair’s recent interactions, it feels good to see them laughing and being playful together.

This interaction introduces an element that continues to grow throughout Blue Box Episode 20: people think Taiki and Hina may be dating. While Kyo (Chiaki Kobayashi, Metallic Rouge) does his best to nip the rumor in the bud here, the assumptions will continue to grow as the play’s events unfold, bringing even more for Taiki to worry about.

As the play begins, the performance is briefly serene as Hina takes the stage. Flowing through easy dance steps, her experience as a rhythmic gymnast serves her well. Moving across the stage, followed doggedly by the spotlight, Hina’s graces and poise manifest perfectly. However, the calm breaks as Taiki’s far more awkwardly wooden performance begins. While he is familiar with being in the spotlight, badminton moves so fast and requires so much focus that he is rarely aware of those around him. Here, however, he is painfully aware. Moving more like a tin soldier from a Nutcracker performance than the prince in Snow White, it is a struggle not to laugh at Taiki despite how unfair the reaction feels.

Blue Box Episode 20 focuses on how others see Taiki and Hina’s friendship.

As the play progresses, Blue Box Episode 20 cuts away to an audio/visual room where some students comment on the performances and, once again, the likelihood of Taiki and Hina being an item. As two students harp on the joy of a long, fulfilling romance that ends with marriage, another student offers a sharply different opinion. Rejecting the concept of long-term romance, she suggests that casual love is a far more fulfilling endeavor. This perspective is new to the series and will bring some philosophical clashes with it if the series brings the point of view more profound into the narrative.

As the play draws to a close, Taiki and Hina manage to get through the iconic kiss moment without any awkwardness. However, as Hina sits up to deliver her final lines, a giant ball filled with confetti for a later event falls from the ceiling, prompting Taiki to dive into the way to protect her. As the ball strikes his back, he is knocked down towards Hina. With confetti bursting forth and filling the air, no one can quite see what happens, but it looks like Taikia and Hina kiss.

That this moment becomes the talk of the school is inevitable. Even if there weren’t already a fair amount of gossip about the pair before, it would certainly start now. However, some elements of the moment, like the shock displayed on Chinatsu’s face as the confetti slowly dissipates, feel a bit overdone. If there was anyone who wouldn’t be surprised at Taiki’s selfless act, it would be her. As far as whether or not the pair “kissed,” Chinatsu is a smart enough girl to know two mouths unintentionally touching does not a kiss make.

Backstage afterward, Taiki begins to hear all about it from some of his classmates, which he tries to shut down quickly. Taiki’s anger at the pestering and unwillingness of his peers to accept that they didn’t kiss would be grounds enough for his displeasure. “As One of Her Closest Friends” does one better, giving Taiki a more substantial reason to be frustrated. Taiki’s deeper frustration comes from other people discussing him and Hina as if it’s their business. Whether they kiss or not has nothing to do with them.

Hina and Taiki’s relationship continues to develop. 

While this clarification may feel like meaningless semantics, it does establish something Taiki may not even be fully aware of. He isn’t upset at the thought of others thinking they kissed, just that they are butting their noses in where they don’t belong. This insinuates that he isn’t uncomfortable with the thought of kissing Hina, which could show growing emotions for his childhood friend.

Blue Box Episode 20’s final primary beat comes as Kyo takes Taiki aside for a private snack to celebrate a job well done. As the friends chat, Kyo suggests to Taiki that he may have feelings for Hina. He quickly clarifies that he understands that his friend is one hundred percent into Chinatsu, but maybe another thirty percent got added somewhere for Hina. This leads Taiki to a reasonable thought exercise about how coffee is all coffee until creamer is added. Making him consider whether or not such a setup could exist for him.

Media frequently presents love as an all-or-nothing concept. If you love someone, you will have eyes for them and no other. Nothing about human emotions is ever so cut and dry. A person can hold feelings in their heart for two different individuals without doing something wrong. It doesn’t make Taiki a bad person if he loves both Chinatsu and Hina. What he chooses to do in pursuing that love is where he could go astray.

Blue Box Episode 20 delivers a strong conclusion to the cultural festival arc while continuing to build up the drama of the larger plot. With only a few more episodes, it will be interesting to see where this season leaves its cast when the final credits roll.

Blue Box Episode 20 is streaming now on Netflix.

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