Saisho and Eimei face off in the last qualifier game for nationals in Blue Box chapter 179, bringing Chinatsu into direct conflict with her former rival. Can she defeat a ghost of friendship past, or will her insecurities drag her down?
To be honest, the sports part of Blue Box has never been a particular highlight for me. While it would be inaccurate to say that the matches in the series haven’t been exciting up until this point, I’ve always preferred the romantic subplots and conflicts between the characters more than anything else. Part of that might be because the way that Kouji Miura depicts sports is incredibly straightforward, closer to classic series within the genre than recent trends, but every so often a sports-adjacent story comes along that makes me sit up and pay attention.
Blue Box chapter 179 is one such story. Faced with her last chance to go to nationals as a high school senior, Chinatsu can’t help but reflect on her relationship with Yumeka over the years, which brings out all of her insecurities in the process. Unlike most authors, however, Kouji Miura eschews internal monologue here in favor of physically placing a childlike Yumeka on the court to act as a mouthpiece for the narrative - a truly fascinating approach.
Alongside making for a striking image, having Chinatsu come up against this specific apparition of her childhood friend arguably works to drive home the point of this chapter far better than anything else ever could. In many ways, Chinatsu is trapped by the dynamic she and Yumeka had back when they were kids: Yumeka as the teacher, Chinatsu as the student, always one behind the other. Even so, this fails to account for all of the time that Yumeka spent away from the sport, as well as the fact that Chinatsu has done her own fair share of growing in the meantime.
Running parallel to this is Chinatsu’s realization that her perception of Yumeka as “superhuman” is actually incredibly toxic. Back when they were first years, the assumption that Yumeka could overcome anything prevented Chinatsu from realizing that her friend was losing her passion for the sport, fuelled in part by a fractured family life. The act of blowing away the childlike apparition with a goal in the climax of Blue Box chapter 179 therefore simultaneously represents doing away with their old relationship, as well as recognizing that they are both just humans in their own right.
It’s always satisfying when any story loops back to build on the narrative framework established in the past, but Blue Box chapter 179 is particularly impressive when you consider that the initial Yumeka arc was almost two years ago at this point: Kouji Miura obviously had a very clear idea of where she wanted this particular dynamic to end up, because there aren’t really any loose ends here. This episode on the court even ties neatly back into the overall story of Taiki and Chinatsu’s romance as the qualifiers match will most likely convince Chinatsu’s father to accept their relationship and cohabitation, despite the obvious risks. Apparitions may be haunting the court, but this manga’s quality is no illusion.
You can read Blue Box chapter 179 in English for free via VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump.
