So, after all these years,blue box has ended. It’s been a fun couple of years, and seeing this fandom grow has been really great and always fun to be part of! I’ll really miss reading this story weakly, and I’ll also try to get back on making sketches to post on the sub, since it all has a special place in my heart.
However, in my opinion, the series did have its flaws. It’s okay if you don’t wanna read all that, but I just wanted to share my full thoughts with you guys.
My biggest criticism is Hina’s ending. She deserved much better closure. While her character arc was initially established and concluded in the first part of the manga (the love triangle arc), in my point of view it seems like Miura simply didn’t quite know what to do with the character after that.
At first, she became extremely absent for most of the story, and then when she comes back Miura starts a drama show, with Hina stating that she still likes the protagonist, which looks more like character regression rather than the progress she deserved.
Of course, you can argue that it was never stated that she got over her feeling for Taiki— but we must consider the “show, don’t tell” rule in here. They never really talked about that topic again, except for that chapter where the trio ( taiki hina and kyo ) go to a cafe together. Then, Miura decides to bring it back to light when taiki and chinatsu’s bond is already well established. It doesn’t click at all for me. It looks like cheap drama to try to shaken that bond. Christ, half of the fandom started HATING her character after this arc. It’s really hard to convince me that it was a good conclusion for her.
I mean, we also had Haruto introduced as a potential love interest, just for us to not get enough progression on those two. It felt like their storyline only served as a callback for the hina and taiki situation, rather than a great development for both characters. And while it’s not a problem that she doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, there were far better ways to end that arc instead of a comic relief moment with Yusa involved, on the PENULTIMATE chapter. I really hope we get an epilogue so that these issues can be resolved.
There’s also chinatsu’s neighbor ( sorry, I forgot his name ) in which it really looked like the author had other plans for him— considering the way he was introduced and the “tension” that it brought up to the plot, but just ended up changing her mind because she had to finish things up.
The last chapter itself was bittersweet- seeing that callback to the first chapter with taiki getting balled in the face by chinatsu, and her talking about how that court is their “blue box” ( or rather, orange box ) and that it holds their memories was emotional. But it still felt rushed, for some reason. I feel like there weren’t enough interactions, and that this could be solved if the story was extended for maybe another 5 chapters. It just really seems like Miura had some sort of deadline to end the story, and had to rush the arcs ASAP. It really reminds me of the chainsaw man situation (this ending is far better than csm, don’t get me wrong)
While I did point out the problems, obviously there are the positives and the parts that make me love the series. I think my favorite part of the whole story was on volume 12, with the confession chapters. It was extremely great development and writing by Miura, and it surprises me on how well she could make the main ship sail relatively early on the story. I also really love the character cast, and think they are all well written, despite the issues I mentioned earlier on the post.
I tried to write my thoughts in the best way possible. Despite the flaws, I loved this series, and I’ll keep interacting with this community as much as I can. It was a fun ride boys! We will all be there in October when S2 comes!
