Blue Box Episode 2 Review – We All Love Hina, Right?
Blue Box episode 2 was released on Netflix on October 10th, 2024. The episode continues right where the premiere episode left off, with the main protagonist, Taiki, adjusting to suddenly living with his crush, Chinatsu. The high school romance anime is based on the Shonen Jump manga series of the same name by Kouji Miura. So far, the anime adaptation is nearly panel-for-panel accurate and respectful to the manga. In Blue Box episode 2, we see how Taiki attempts to deal with his new living situation, and how Hina, his best friend who happens to be a girl, fits into the ever-changing scenario.
Misunderstandings
Taiki Inomata has just learned that his crush, Chinatsu Kano, will be living with him and his family due to her parents working abroad. Taiki deals with this as a typical high school teenager would – in constant fluster and panic. Even seeing Chinatsu in casual clothes instead of her school or gym uniforms sends Taiki into hysteria, which makes sense given that in Japan you rarely see your schoolmates on weekends without their school clothes. Sharing similar spaces, such as the shower room, isn’t easy for Taiki to deal with calmly. His panic follows him to school, which causes a major misunderstanding that sets the tone for episode 2.
At first, Taiki doesn’t communicate with Chinatsu about his wish to keep their living situation a secret at school. This turns into a misunderstanding between them when Taiki cuts off Chinatsu at school to keep her from spilling the beans – a misunderstanding that involves Hina, Taiki’s best friend. Hina even uses the word “shinyuu”, literally meaning “best friend” in Japanese, when referring to Taiki. It’s a tad rare in anime to see characters of the opposite gender refer to one another as “shinyuu”, and I like this dynamic as opposed to every connection between characters of the opposite sex having romantic tones.
In Blue Box episode 2, Chinatsu assumes that Taiki having a crush on Hina is the reason why he cut Chinatsu off about their living situation. Taiki explains that the reason is instead due to Chinatsu’s reputation at school. Chinatsu is popular and the best athlete at the school. She always has eyes on her and is already the talk of the school – at least from Taiki’s point of view. Taiki feels that if the student body knew they lived together, it would get people talking and spreading rumors, potentially distracting them both from their respective sports.
Of course, Taiki has romantic feelings for Chinatsu – feelings that he can’t yet be open about, so he probably wants to avoid any rumors that involve him and Chinatsu. The only person who knows about Taiki’s feelings is Hina, who (in my opinion) is Blue Box‘s most interesting character.
We were briefly introduced to Hina Chono in episode 1, but we found out a lot more about her during episode 2. She is not only an excellent athlete in the gymnast club at school, but many people have high expectations of her given that her father was one of the top gymnasts in Japan. As Taiki’s best friend, she is rooting for him in his pursuit of Chinatsu’s heart, and she’s very open with him.
At the end of Blue Box episode 2, she opens up about how she needs to count the calories and sugar in everything that she eats to stay fit for gymnastics. She seems carefree and quirky, but maybe there are negative feelings that she’s good at hiding. Hina has a lot of layers even this early on in the series, and I think she’ll be a pivotal character moving forward.
The episode dramatically ends with Taiki spotting Chinatsu talking to another boy from school (oh, the horror). To be fair, everything is dramatic in high school when hormones are high, and I’m sure we’ll see more drama as the series goes on. Until the next episode, vote for your favorite anime each week in our seasonal rankings.
Blue Box is streaming on Netflix.
© Kouji Miura /SHUEISHA/ Blue Box Film Partners
