Blue Box‘s balancing act of sports series, slice of life drama, and romantic comedy is leaning towards the slice of life drama throughout this arc. As Hina starts progressively becoming more open and forward with her feelings towards Taiki, that puts this adorable teenager in a very interesting position. Love triangles are always really difficult to write, and there’s a reason why many people, myself included, don’t particularly like them. They come off as a very cheap narrative device for the sake of elongating a series or generating unnecessary drama when the appeal should be in how it communicates the fluctuating emotions that come with developing feelings for other individuals. Someone can waver or reassess their feelings for multiple individuals at the same time. The problem is that a lot of series do a very bad job of fully assessing that balancing act, often making it very obvious that the person who is supposed to feel conflicted about these feelings really only has one choice to go with.

That is what’s tricky about these volumes, as they primarily go into the throes of the love triangle between Taiki, Hina, and Chinatsu. While they are still prepping for nationals with other conversations being had about Taiki developing skills as a badminton player, most of the conversations center strongly on who Taiki is going to choose as a partner. The writing is very careful and smart about communicating Taiki’s state of mind during this complicated time by highlighting that he is still a teenager who genuinely wants to build strong relationships while being unsure about how to feel about affection targeted towards him. Unlike Chinatsu, who has been very passive about everything except basketball, it’s implied that this is the first time Taiki has ever had someone directly pining for him, which causes his feelings to swirl around a bit. I particularly like the visual metaphor that is often used with his feelings being represented by a coffee cup that is having different things mixed inside of it.

There is a precedent for him to have an affection for Hina. The two were childhood friends; they arguably have way better chemistry than Taiki does with Chinatsu, whose relationship is still developing. In a different story, I could see Taiki and Hina getting together, and Taiki seems to acknowledge the fact that if it wasn’t for his strong attachment to Chinatsu, even he could see a reality where that would happen. He admits that she is very attractive, he enjoyed spending time with her, and the two do look out for each other. I do love the conversations and chemistry between all the characters, which is undoubtedly one of the strongest elements of this entire series because they all feel like teenagers who think they know what’s best for everyone. They are immature in a very believable way, which is why the drama never really feels forced and is accompanied by this sense of levity. However, while there are so many nice moments here, none of that changes the fact that it feels like any real sense of momentum has come to a halt.

These volumes stop just shy of the cast going on an extended training trip where it’s implied that major development and confrontations will happen there. Therefore, these volumes feel very much like they are all about setup and transition rather than getting to anything genuinely juicy or enriching. The love triangle angle is the main focus of these volumes. While Taiki slowly wrestles with these new affections, the fact that he keeps ending any thought process about Hina with either a conversation with Chinatsu or him reaffirming his feelings for Chinatsu makes the story feel a little bit like it’s wasting my time. Taiki makes it clear that his feelings will not waver multiple times, and the problem is that I believe him.

I could be proven wrong in later volumes, but unless there is a major change that could recontextualize everything that is being done in these volumes, I’m not really given a lot of reason to believe that Taiki and Hina will not develop a relationship that surpasses the one that Taiki is trying to pursue with Chinatsu. There can be an appeal in that, like slowly waiting for a train wreck to happen, but I also really like these characters and don’t want to see any of them hurt each other. I also don’t know how this relationship dynamic between the three of them really alters the status quo outside of maybe furthering Chinatsu’s feelings? Chinatsu is definitely the least developed character in the main cast, which is frustrating considering she is the target of Taiki’s affection and the dual protagonist. While I appreciate the fact that the story is finally getting into her, contextualizing how she actually feels about Taiki and how some of that might be tied to her unconventional way of going about things compared to the rest of the extended cast, it still feels like the story takes too long to get to the point.

None of this is helped by the fact that the side characters, who do all have really strong, genuine moments of comedy and insight, have just as many moments of dragging out this love triangle with their meddling. Whether it’s Ayame trying to help Hina snag Taiki, or upperclassmen trying to work their way in on dating Chinatsu only to be met with her complete lack of interest, I do feel like a lot of what was covered in these four volumes could’ve been cut in half. While that does mean that I could potentially miss out on some gorgeous scenery shots like at the fireworks festival or some really strong dynamic paneling that creates intimate parallel moments between characters, I think that would be worth the loss if it meant that the story could get to the point faster.

I appreciate a slow burn and understand that certain developments need time to feel fully fleshed out or satisfying. That’s why I’m a big fan of the rather slow opening that this series has in its first few volumes. However, this love triangle doesn’t mesh well with everything else. The love triangle is taking too long; it doesn’t feel like it is adding anything significant to the development of the characters outside of just having them reaffirm feelings that I could’ve already inferred, and ultimately, I worry that none of it is going to amount to anything in the end. There is still time for the series to surprise me, but unfortunately, this feels like a low point in the series that I hope gets rectified soon.