アオのハコ 14 [Ao no Hako 14]

アオのハコ [Ao no Hako] #14

by Kouji Miura, 三浦糀

迫る、それぞれのバレンタインデー。匡の為だけに特別仕様のチョコを作った菖蒲は、勇気を出して渡そうとするも…!?　そして季節は進み、桜舞う新学期。バド部に加入した新入生が、予想外の人物と関係がある様で…!?

Genres: Manga, Romance, Sports, Japanese Literature, Graphic Novels, Comics, Young Adult

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 2024

Reviews

[Hoshi]

"but you have your hair in pigtails which is just what I needed" he's like saying "yeah there's other cute girls around but you are just what i need" let's go Kyo what a rizz

pls Taiki and Natsu just kiss already i know that you want to

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blue Box is a delight and has been for a while now. I think my current favourite high school romance might still be Skip & Loafer, but it’s an incredibly close race. Luckily I don’t have to choose.

With Taiki becoming a second year, that means new first years, which form the biggest changes for this volume. The two that feature prominently are Akari, who is new to the girls’ badminton team, and Yusa, who is the little brother of THE Yusa that Taiki is keen to beat.

Before we go there, however, poor Ayame has to wrestle with being driven to pursue a boy for the first time in her life and also not wanting to admit that the feelings she’s been developing for Kyo are feelings at all.

The outcome of this Valentine’s Day spectacular is a real crushing blow. Not only does Ayame bottle it, but her kind gesture to noted dope Matsuoka is misinterpreted by everybody but him and gets seen by Kyo. Oh, the path of overflowing teenage hormones ne’er did run smooth.

Akari has a brilliant troll of an introduction where it looks like she’s about to fall right into Taiki’s arms while Chinatsu is practicing basketball and stops herself short. Now, she does end up crushing on Taiki, but I still got a great laugh from this.

Akari might be following in Hina’s footsteps, but she is her own character. If only because there is no stopping the bold nature of Hina, who gets all the funniest lines this volume. There’s no doubt she really is just this close to starting her own fan club.

Yusa is a bit more of a pain, being young and arrogant, yet with a real awkward streak. He definitely pays a hilariously unfortunate compliment to Hina, but we see earlier that he’s the only one saying what pretty much all the first years are actually doing.

Of the two, neither is better or worse than the other and I enjoyed their additions to the narrative. That’s pretty impressive, since Yusa is an utter jerk who shoots his mouth off about as hard as he fires off his shots. He at least apologizes here and there, but he can be a lot.

But he’s meant to be a lot. It gives Taiki both a new problem to wrangle with, as Yusa is his junior on the team, plus Yusa has no aptitude for fun and only for winning. Which makes his match against Taiki have some actual stakes. At least in high school terms, but at that age those are the only ones that count.

If there’s a problem here, it’s probably that poor Chinatsu once again is the more reserved of the newly minted pair of her and Taiki. But that’s just who she is; ironically, she’s the one who has to worry about Taiki’s burgeoning popularity instead of the reverse.

The highest praise I can give Blue Box is that it doesn’t do a darn thing new, but I still think it’s a fantastic manga. Even yet another sports day is fun and filled with various bits of character growth and side plot.

I’m also digging the quiet nature of the Taiki and Chinatsu romance, which is still getting out of its awkward phase. The near miss they have during sports day is good, but I especially enjoyed the random shoe business, which felt like an incredibly genuine moment.

Heck, even the dubious premise, which really made me fear for the series during that first volume, is neatly used as a fairly legitimate reason why these two can’t just say they’re dating. And that restriction really gets put through the wringer this time too.

5 stars - high school drama and romance and some good laughs, served up just the way I like them. A consistent favourite.

[Reece Simmonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is really making me happy right now. I can’t help but smile at pretty much every chapter. However, I can’t help but feel it will take a turn at some point. I don’t want to be pessimistic, but everything just seems too good. 😅

[Liza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really hope we aren't going to have more love rivals that could have an effect on Taiki and Chinatsu's relationship.

[Hisgirl85 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. It's a building volume. New characters, discussions on new directions, new feelings, but nothing too productive in inidivual characters moving forward. People being pushed forward with time ratger than more active progress. Like new characters creating new dynamics instead of solid new changes or obvious progress.

[Valeria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hoy caché que ya estaban cuáles eran los capítulos correspondientes a este volumen (118-126). El festival deportivo y que casi los pillan mientras almorzaban juntos, terminó con un abrazo y casi beso, solo por eso son las 5 estrellas xd

[Latifah S Ningrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally got a chance to read this volume too, a bit surprised by the author's writing page about making a story about falling in love deeper after dating her. The emergence of new juniors, Kengo's and Yusa's younger siblings make the story even more exciting.
Moreover, Taiki becomes the favorite senior because of his friendly five-star attitude. Honestly, I'm still a supporter of Ayame × Kyo. The feud between the Red Team and the Blue Team at the sports festival is still exciting. Besides, I can't wait to see Taiki announce his relationship.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5
Blue Box continues to be a delight. This volume introduces some new characters that are adding new conflict and personalities to the group. This is a great way to add more tension to this story. This is balanced with some tender, cute moments as well.

[Joselin Orrillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odio el trope de "la falta de comunicación" pero esa subtrama fue la que me pego más en este tomo, ojala y se arreglen en algun punto esos dos porque creo que el potencial de pareja que tienen es bastante interesante, ademas de que siento cariño real por ese chico :(

[Kristin DeGarmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still so cute! I see that Ayame likes Kyo and I’m here for it. I thought it was funny that Taiki cheered on Chinatsu in the sports festival scene even though she was on a different team. On to the next volume!

[Andrea Legarrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ch. 118-126

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ch 118-126, read on SJ app

[bea 🪴]

you don’t get it i love side couples so much kyo and moriya oh my gosh i love them
taiki cheering chi on 😭💞

[catherine ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

New characters and new personalities are added, and I'm still LOVING every single one of them.

[Justin Perucca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as memorable as the previous volume, but there were a couple of cute moments. The hug near the end was nice.

[MIL · Rating 3 out of 5]

愛看戀愛題材的我卻在這部作品卡關了...

[Robert Banaś · Rating 4 out of 5]

Przyjemny tomik, który nie nudzi mimo tego teoretycznie główny bohater osiągnął już swój cel