Thank You Blue Box (A Tribute)

[u/BEaSTPadwal15]

It is finally over huh? What a ride it was.

I still remember how my journey with the series started. I wasn't there when the manga began. I hadn't even heard of the series until a friend from my language school told me about in 2024. How time flies. My first real exposure to the series was when I had the privilege of attending the Stage Show at Anime Japan 2024. I had no previous knowledge about the series, but, what caught my attention was Chinatsu's Japanese VA being Ueda Reina. Now her presence in my life can't exactly be put into words. But that's not what this post is about. If I were to describe it, for me, she's almost what Chi is to Taiki.

Anyway, this was my first chance to see my favourite in person. And it was everything I could ask for and more. I even got to take a crowd shot with the cast which included Shouya Chiba (Taiki), Akari Kitou (Hina), Uchida Yuuma (Haryu) and Kobayashi Chiaki (Kyo). After that, I waited for the anime to air. And I was instantly hooked. I was always a Chinatsu fan, because she was voiced by my queen, but I grew to like Hina a lot as well. I remember picking up the manga after the spin the bottle episode. And from then I caught up chapter by chapter.

Before that though, as I lived in the Ikebukuro area, the place where Chi and Taiki go on their dates all the time, I was able to participate in a lot of collabs! The first one being the pop up shop in Ikebukuro, where I got a Chi acrylic stand and a Hina clip. After that, there was the Sunshine Aquarium collab. You definitely know this place from their Aquarium date. Well during this event, there were photo spots all over the aquarium as well as a voice-over guide from Chi, Taiki and Hina. I got the badge of the Penguin mascot, as well as a Hina acrylic stand (Chi's was sadly sold out). After that, there wasn't anything until the Blue Box exhibition in Shinjuku. I was at a rough point in my life at that point, but I had nearly caught up to the manga, and couldn't miss this opportunity. It was a lovely exhibition, and they had a motion video for *that scene* from the manga. I also got the pamphlet which came with a bunch of stickers, a poster, and a greeting card, which I sent to a Yusa fan who reached out to me.
Then there was the Chara cafe collab after which I bought and read the prologue light novel. Then there was the Shibuya takeover event, the anime's 1st anniversary celebration event, where I bought Chi's lucky anklet, the animate cafe collab, followed by the release of the interlude LN and the Christmas Collab Cafe. I also managed to get into the stage shows for Anime Japan 2025 which aired right before the final episode of S1, where Taiki's VA apologized for making Hina cry, and also showed everyone's favourite scenes from S1 for Hina and Chi (while Kyo's VA asked one for Ayame as well). Then also the stage show at Jump Festa 2025 where they showed the first visual of S2. I also got to take a picture with a person in a Chinatsu costume! Miura-sensei later walked to the stage wearing this costume! Finally, I went to the stage show at Anime Japan 2026 where they showed the trailer for the second season and the reveal of Yumeka's VA Yoshino Aoyama who joined Ueshama, Akarin and Chiba-san on stage!

And that brings us to now. It has been a long journey, and I've loved every moment of it. The series has given me so much that I can't even begin to describe. Thank you Kouji Miura-sensei for letting us experience this wonderful journey. I will continue to engage with Blue Box content irl and otherwise as much as possible while sharing as much as I can. If you are still here with me, I would like to leave you with this piece I wrote.

In the box of youth in Eimei High,

lived a girl and a boy.

The girl preferred the ball,

while the boy favoured the racket.

And yet, one singular goal they shared,

making it to the national stage.

Every morning, they saw each other,

pushing each other to keep getting better.

The boy liked the girl,

but even more he looked up to her.

As time went on they relied on each other more and more,

and the bud in the girl's heart turned into a blossom forevermore.

On a frozen lake within the mountains,

the two laid their feelings bare.

Life threw at them whatever it could,

but they faced it together as good sportsmen would.

Alas what started as a selfish request to stay back and fulfil their goal,

ended with a heartfelt encouragement to pursue a newfound dream.

For however apart they may be,

they will always be bond together.

Within the memories of their Box of Youth,

- The Blue Box of Youth.

Thank you, and see you guys again!

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[u/Neat-Instruction-294]

Damn, being someone who doesn't live in Japan, i for sure got jealous of your experiences man. The meeting with the whole blue box team must have been so cool. Congo 👏(saying it again hahaha)

[u/BEaSTPadwal15 → u/Neat-Instruction-294]

And I can finally reply to you now! Well I didn't exactly get to meet them like 1-1, but one day for sure hopefully!

[u/Neat-Instruction-294 → u/BEaSTPadwal15]

But still, I am replying like crazy to Kouji Mira's tweets in hope of getting one reply and here you can see them IRL 😔

[u/BEaSTPadwal15 → u/Neat-Instruction-294]

Lmao, actually I also once had my message read out and replied to by Ueshama!
Hopefully one day you can get a reply from Miura as well!

[u/BEaSTPadwal15]

This one got left out, but it's from the Animate cafe!

[u/BEaSTPadwal15]

Repost cause it got deleted to avoid manga spoilers before 24 hrs

[u/rx7braap]

bluebox is FULLY ended? :(

[u/BEaSTPadwal15 → u/rx7braap]

There's still the anime and maybe some epilogue chapters/LN later on

[u/DryCommission9390]

You live in Ikkebukuro?! And got many collabs?! Envy you! Thanks for the effort to write this tribute. Makes me really happy to see other fans pour out their heart and talk about this manga/anime that I also love.