Blue Box (Ao no Hako)

Think Ayame might be the girl Kyo had a crush on.

She does have a great design and some attitude.

Oh that’s a good theory. My initial thought was she was going to be a third love interest which might be because Blue Box has been leaning more into romcom cliches lately.

Also, no way Taiki and Hina actually kissed.

Yyyeah, still just feeling bad for Hina.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

Chapter 65: I’m sorry, Kyo, what the hell are you even talking about?

Actually, that would be an interesting direction too. Not the easiest to handle though.

That you can be attracted to more than one person at once, and Taiki may be pretending he isn't as a dumb way to validate his feelings for Chinatsu.

Edited by thatother1dude on Aug 22nd 2022 at 5:44:20 AM

Oof… Chinatsu finally spit it out… well, half of it… and to Karen… but this is progress I guess?

Chinatsu just needs to imagine Taiki is a basketball, and everything will be clear.

My mind immediately thought of a dirty joke. Dammit.

But yeah at least there’s some ‘’acknowledgement'' of romantic attraction here. Please Karen, keep on pushing.

Ayame is definitely a fun addition to the cast, I hope she gets to see Yusa sooner than later.

I don’t know, I feel like she could get annoying very quickly with that shtick.

Taiki who keeps thinking Chinatsu misunderstood even though she didn’t is pretty funny though. Not that she’s not visibly annoyed, mind…

Edited by Lyendith on Sep 12th 2022 at 3:47:41 PM

Chapter 69: Oh boy, Ayame is going to create more misunderstandings for Chinatsu. Freaking convenient how Karen’s white lie became a reality.

Man, no wonder Ayame changes boyfriends like shirts if her criteria start and end at "cute face" and "kinda cool".

Pretty sure Hina’s the one who’s gonna give her advice in the end.

I think we’re on track to having Ayame getting a crush on Taiki. It’s the matchmaker curse.

Calling her "Chinatsu" is more personal than "Chii"? Or was saying that would be OK also a joke?

I guess coz friends use Chii for her, but no one else used Chinatsu.

Guess she wants to take it one step at a time. Going straight from Last-Name Basis to cute nickname would be a bit sudden.

Chapter 70: Ayame is about to wreak havoc.

It's weird how Ayame got a lot of build-up in the last couple chapters, but the guy she's mistaken as Chinatsu's crush just kinda materialized as a half-joke.

Ayame is adding nothing to the story other than the tried and true romcom "if things are getting stale but you don't want actual progress because romcom just add another girl" cliche, but at least she's entertaining.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

This chapter did make me like her a lot more. At least I can follow her logic now… kinda? By the way, I just realized Ayame’s eyes are drawn differently from the other characters. They all have this big white bubble covering half of the iris and pupil but Ayame’s bubble is much smaller and her pupil much more blurry. Don’t know what it could signify.

…Okay, so the next cliché in the checklist is the "bonfire confession legend", huh.

It's nice to have at least one character that's romantically liberated when the main three character's interests are completely exclusive to .5-1.5 people.

One of the things I've gotten tired of with shonen romance is the cast being absurdly monogamous. It's especially obvious with females, but even with guys it seems like attraction has to be hyper-exclusive to be portrayed seriously.

Chapter 73: Taiki acknowledges Hina is attractive. And then in true Chinatsu fashion, Chinatsu immediately steals back his attention.

Hina and Chinatsu also look good in qipao.

...Man, can't help but feel that this series started off promising but took a turn for the terminally generic.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.