Blue Box Episode 8: One Door Closes

Key Takeaways

• Taiki loses in both doubles and singles division, missing the inter-high.
• New rivals emerge in intense badminton matches, adding excitement.
• Taiki’s dedication to badminton is fueled by love for the sport, not just impressing Chinatsu.

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Blue Box, Episode 8, “Score”, now streaming on Netflix.

Episode 8, “Score!” is the most action-packed episode of Blue Box so far. It makes sense since badminton was always the sport that got the most screen time in the show, and episode 8 is all about the badminton prefectural qualifiers. The last two episodes gave Chinatsu and Hina some well-needed time to develop their characters, but now the spotlight is back on Taiki. As established in previous episodes, he will be participating in both the doubles and singles divisions of the prefectural qualifiers, which happen one day apart, with Haryu as his doubles partner.

Ripping the bandage off as soon as possible, yes, Taiki loses in both divisions and will not be able to participate in this year’s inter-high competition. But, even though Taiki suffered loss after loss, the episode was enjoyable to watch because of all the intense matches and these new badminton rivals that suddenly started appearing. Blue Box isn’t mainly a sports anime, but this episode definitely had moments that felt like they were ripped straight out of Haikyu!! if Haikyu!! was about badminton. Any fans of sports anime watching Blue Box would love this episode.

Although their matches weren’t shown, Chinatsu’s team gets to enter the inter-high, which means they managed to defeat their rival team, Kagohara High, who were shown in episode 7, “Can I Have One?”. It would’ve been nice to see the looks on the faces of the Kagohara High team members when they lost to the team they severely underestimated in the last episode, but unfortunately, all that was shown was Chinatsu talking about winning the finals.

The End of Taiki’s Journey To Inter-High

Taiki Loses In Both The Doubles and Singles Division

For the doubles qualifiers, Taiki and Haryu made it to the finals, where they were pitted against Sajikawa High School’s Hyodo and Tateyama. Hyodo has been mentioned a couple of times in previous episodes as the one player Haryu could never beat. Now viewers are finally getting a face to match the name, and he looks far more intense than any of the other players. He’s got the skills to back his looks though, as Sajikawa High beat Eimei High’s doubles team with the first set at 21-16 and the second at an unknown score, as that wasn’t shown.

A New Rival For Taiki

The singles qualifiers, unfortunately, went even worse as Taiki was up against another Sajikawa High player named Yusa for his first match. This new character is certainly an interesting addition to the world of Blue Box, looking like a lazy, chill person who doesn’t care about much but is actually a prodigy, kind of like Nagi from Blue Lock. In the end, Taiki lost to Yusa with the first set at 21-11 and the second at 21-13. The singles qualifiers were a bit more disappointing than the doubles, and not just because Taiki lost earlier here. They also barely show anything from the match between Taiki and Yusa. All viewers really get to see is a shot of Taiki failing to reach a falling shuttlecock as it lands on the ground, losing Taiki the game.

Haryu, on the other hand, made it to the singles finals where he faced Hyodo once again. In the end, Haryu lost but still got to advance to the inter-high since the prefectural qualifier’s first place and runner-up both got to progress forward.

Chinatsu’s Support and Hina’s Comfort Help Taiki To Keep Pressing Forward

The Luckiest Unluckiest Guy

Although romance takes a step back in this episode, fans still get some scenes of both sides of the love triangle moving along. Chinatsu is the person who supports Taiki before and during the prefectural qualifiers, while Hina gives him a shoulder to lean on after his losses.

Chinatsu boosted his spirits before the doubles qualifiers by joining him in morning calisthenics and cheering him on by telling him to “Score!”. She also gave him another boost between the doubles and singles qualifiers when she wrote in his notebook that she’d be doing her best right alongside him. Right after Taiki lost his singles match, Hina met up with him to give him some snacks and to chat. Their conversation helped him realize that, despite his losses, he’s still come a long way and has improved a lot, and that as long as he keeps moving forward, he’ll continue to improve.

Taiki Puts up a Brave Face but Lets His Frustrations Out in the End

Taiki’s Dedication to Badminton Is More than Just an Attempt to Impress a Crush

Episode 8 really shows how dedicated Taiki is to badminton and how much he wants to win. He doesn’t just play to impress a girl he likes (though that is part of it); he legitimately loves the sport, and his competitive nature would have driven him to this point, with or without Chinatsu.

Throughout the episode, Haryu, Hina, and Chinatsu all had inner thoughts about Taiki, thinking he was the type to not stress about his losses and would just keep looking forward to improving and what he could do in the next match. They thought that none of the losses he faced were going to depress him, and it wasn’t just them either. Taiki has convinced himself that he can’t allow himself to feel depressed whenever he loses a match. Thinking that the time spent on feeling sad is better spent on training and improving yourself. While that is true to a certain extent, bottling up your emotions isn’t exactly great either. A lesson that Taiki learned toward the end of the episode when he ran away from home to cry.

“Chinatsu-senpai’s going to the inter-high… That’s good… Amazing. She does what she says she’ll do… Too cool! And yet… and yet… and yet… meanwhile… I lost.” – Taiki to himself when he heard that Chinatsu’s team won the qualifiers.

Blue Box is now available to stream on Netflix. The release date for Blue Box, episode 9, is set to be November 28, 2024 at 8:30 AM PT.