The second season of Blue Box picks up exactly where the first one ended. After the emotional ending of the first season, Taiki has definitively made his choice, and he is moving forward, being rewarded for his decision with a kind of date! Once all the misunderstandings have been cleared, Chinatsu-senpai has agreed to go with him to buy some sports clothes they need (of course), and then have something at a cafeteria. And, if her feelings are mysterious as ever, she seems at least open to exploring their connection! Taiki is beside himself with joy, and his fast train of thought is as fun as ever. But in a very relatable turn of events, they run across Matsuoka, an acquaintance of Chinatsu who also has a crush on her—and who is as annoying a person as one can be. And so, the non-date becomes a silent competition. And when Matsuoka brings up common acquaintances to make clear to Taiki that he knows Chinatsu from way back, a name comes up that evokes a strange reaction: Yumeka, who used to play basketball with her…

I’m happy to report that Blue Box keeps up the good work. Taiki’s thoughts and reactions are as fun and relatable as ever, and Chinatsu remains endearing and mysterious. The art is on point too, and the luminous colors and the emotional soundtrack really elevate this story. With the romantic rivalry seemingly out of the picture, the show wastes no time and telegraphs to us the next obstacle the budding relationship of Taiki and Chinatsu will have to face. And interestingly, it is the thing that brought them together in the first place, the one that allowed each of them to trust the character of the other: sports. Matsuoka says explicitly what the story of Yumeka embodies implicitly. I have seen enough sports and romance anime to know that a healthy romance and the nationals are both all-consuming, time-absorbing, difficult goals that can be pretty hard to square. Then again, both of them are very close to the hearts of our characters, to their identities. Can Chinatsu, so devoted to basketball that she stayed behind for an entire year when her family went overseas, find that balance? Can Taiki, who, as Matsuoka odiously points out, just lost against Haryū, find his? Well, probably, but I want to see how, so I’ll be here next week!

Blue Box can be streamed on Netflix.