Summary
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Blue Box, Episode 5, “Aquarium”, now streaming onNetflix.
Air Date
June 30, 2025
Blue Boxepisode 5, “Aquarium” starts rightwhere the last episode left off: Taiki and Shoichiro’s singles match. As a brief reminder of the match’s stakes, Shoichiro was fighting to win Chinatsu’s phone number while Taiki would win a date with Chinatsu to the aquarium. The only catch is, Taiki didn’t know such a reward was even awaiting him.
Fans wanting to see more sports scenes inBlue Boxwill be a little disappointed since the sports aspect, unfortunately, takes a step back once more in episode 5. However, the romance and drama aspects are probably the best they’ve ever been here. They build you up by making it seem like Taiki and Chinatsu’s relationship is finally going somewhere, then abruptly knock you back down with the last scene.
The Long Awaited First Date
Though Neither of Them Would Probably Call It That
The episode title is “Aquarium”, andBlue Boxis a romance anime, so no more beating around the bush. Yes, Taiki wins the match by a hair and gets to go out with Chinatsu. Shoichiro tells Taiki to play with him again in the future before begrudgingly walking away, and he’s gone for the rest of the episode.
As promised, Chinatsu promptly texts Taiki after the match, asking him out to the aquarium. Kyo and Hina both see the text, so Hina proceeds to tease him about it. Though she seemed happy for the two, Hina’s friend noticed her looking upset shortly after.Foreshadowing, at its finest.
Taiki and Chinatsu enjoy their time in the aquarium, looking at all the animals on display, hugging mascots, and taking pictures. It was nice seeing the two of them bond more outside of school and home, and it was honestly a good and wholesome representation of a first date. All the while though, Taiki keeps wondering why Chinatsu invited him there in the first place. Did she just want to go to the aquarium on a whim, or could it be her giving him a sign?
Next time, I want to come here as a couple. But I can’t tell her how I feel yet. Nationals are still a long way away.
Chinatsu’s “Confession”
Near the end of the date, fans got a double fake-out from Chinatsu, who said she wanted to talk about something. At first, it seemed likea confession of lovewas on the way, but her next line was “I’m sorry”, which made it sound like shewasn’tinterested in him.
In reality, it was neither of those situations. Instead, Chinatsu apologized for what she said inBlue Boxepisode 4, “If He Wins”. Chinatsu still felt bad for telling Taiki that he could just take it easy with badminton since he still had two more years of high school.
The whole thing was resolved quickly enough, with Taichi reassuring her that what she said didn’t offend him and that he even appreciated hearingfrom a different perspective. They even have a sweet moment where Taiki asks Chinatsu to send him a cute emoji of the aquarium’s penguin mascot to signal him if she wants to talk. It feels like they’re now way more comfortable and open when talking to each other, a great step forward.
Hina’s True Feelings Come Out
It’s a Good Reveal Even If You Saw It Coming
Good news and bad news for fans of Hina Shono. The good news is that episode 5 has some much-needed screen time with Eimei High’s rhythmic gymnastics star. The bad news is she discovers two things:Chinatsu and Taiki are living together, and that she might just be in love with Taiki.
Some viewers might have caught on or suspected her true feelings early on since it’s a common trope in romance, and the show did drop some signs here and there. But regardless of whether you suspected it or not though, the reveal was executed beautifully, so it still hit like a truck.
The sequence of events leading to the revelation starts with Hina bumping into Chinatsu in a local clinic after a physical examination. Hina then talks about Taiki and some of the things he’s done for her, acting as a wingman to get Chinatsu to like him, butthe way she spoke about himmade it sound like she was in love with him. Even Chinatsu noticed, but managed to stop herself from mentioning it. The show was really starting to lean hard on Hina’s feelings for Taiki at this point, subtlety be damned.
Shortly after, it starts to rain, so Chinatsu lends Hina an umbrella as they go their separate ways home. At least, that would have been the case if Chinatsu hadn’t left her phone in the clinic. So, Hina goes after Chinatsu to return the phone, but in doing so, sees Chinatsu enter the Inomata household. She quickly hides from view as Taiki and Chinatsu have a little chat by the doorway. Episode 5 ends with Hina crouched in the rain outside Taiki’s home, confused and alone.
The ending of episode 5 is easily the best closing scene the series has gotten so far. Chinatsu promising to take Taiki out to the aquarium was kind of a cliffhanger, but nothing compared to this. Shoichiro as a potential third wheel also just doesn’t compare to Hina,who’s been Taiki’s childhood friendand a constant figure by his side throughout the show.
The start of episode 5 had you rooting for Chinatsu and Taiki. It’s their first date after all; this is whatBlue Boxhad all been leading up to. But the ending made all that come crashing down, leaving some fans unsure whether those two should even be the main couple.
Blue Box is now available to stream onNetflix. The release date for the next episode of Blue Box, episode 6, is set to be on June 09, 2025 at 8:30 AM PT.
Blue Box
Based on Kouji Miura’s manga, Blue Box is a sports romance anime about Taiki Inomata, an average badminton player, who is inspired to strive for nationals by Chinatsu Kano, the basketball team’s star player. When Chinatsu ends up living with Taiki’s family, this gives both of them a chance to develop their relationship.
