Manga First Impression: Blue Box

Blue Box is the newest manga series to hit Shonen Jump. From mangaka Kouji Miura, who previously created two different shonen romance series, this one seems to fall into the same category of romance, but with a sports-theme.

The first chapter introduces Taiki Inomata, a badminton player in the combined Eimei Junior and Senior High School. The school is a sports powerhouse, and so has a lot of fantastic teams. The manga also immediately introduces Taiki’s crush, Chinatsu Kano, a basketball player who is a year older than him and is constantly training. Taiki finds himself enamored by her training intensity and beauty, His friends, though, think she’s way out of his league and one of the coolest girls in the school.

The story sets them up as a potential couple early on, except that Taiki finds out that the girl of his dreams is about to move. She helps him feel better by saying that her family is moving, but she’ll be moving in with her mother’s old friend. Who’s her mother’s old friend? His Mom.

Blue Box is thus set up as a romance with two teenagers living under one roof and bonding over their shared enjoyment of their favorite sport.

The first chapter was a cute introduction to the characters. I liked the art style, as the mangaka did an excellent job of capturing the expressiveness of the character’s emotions. The setup feels a bit cliche, but it could end up being fun, especially with some of Taiki’s silly friends giving him the best of advice on how to get a girl.

Overall, I liked the first chapter enough to keep checking it next week. If you checked it out, let me know what you think in the comments!

Blue Box can be read at Shonen Jump. The most recent chapters are always free.

mdmrn
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