BLUE BOX - RPG [chapter 25]

The story takes place at Eimei Senior High School (also called Eimei Academy, as it's an integrated junior and senior high school). It's located in Saitama Prefecture, and its real-life counterpart is Kawagoe Higashi High School, located in Kawagoe City, also in Saitama Prefecture.

It is a school known for its powerful sports program, with outstanding teams in men's badminton, women's/men's basketball, boxing and rhythmic gymnastics, all sharing the same gym for their training.

KENGO HARYU

Appearance: Kengo Haryu has reddish-brown hair. He is a young man of athletic build and serious demeanor, with a physical presence that conveys the authority he wields within the team. His training attire is that of the Eimei badminton team, and at school he wears the standard high school uniform. He uses the Yonex Duora Z-Strike racket, an attacking model, and Yonex 88 Dial shoes in black and blue. His usual expression is serious and focused, which underscores his profile as a dedicated and demanding athlete.

-Personality: Kengo is known for his strict attitude, especially during badminton training. He is considerate and caring towards his friends and teammates. Although he acts tough, he actually has high hopes for Taiki Inomata. He notices when something is going on between his friends, such as Taiki's special feelings for Chinatsu Kano. He is a confident and determined young man who believes in himself and is willing to fight for his dreams. He aspires to be a lawyer like his mother.

-Relationships: Kengo and Karen Moriya have been close friends since fifth grade and are a couple in high school. With Taiki, his bond evolves from rivalry to genuine, albeit demanding, mentorship. Haryu gives his all in practice matches and relentlessly pushes his teammate, later becoming a wise and stern mentor to him. His friendship with Ryosuke Nishida is also prominent in the anime, with both being part of the core of the Eimei badminton team.

KAREN MORIYA

Appearance: Karen is a young woman with an elegant and striking appearance, befitting her career as a model. In the anime, she is seen with straight, purple hair, always worn loose, which visually distinguishes her from her younger sister, Ayame. She always wears her hair loose, in contrast to Ayame, who wears it in pigtails. Her bearing is refined and confident, consistent with her professional world in the entertainment industry. She dresses in a more mature style than the other characters around her, reflecting her adult personality.

-Personality: Karen appears cheerful and positive at first glance, but she reveals herself to be a morally mature person and a wise partner. These traits are especially evident in her relationship with Kengo, where she maintains an excellent balance between her personal and professional life, sincerely supporting her boyfriend, truly understanding him, and caring for him. She is the responsible one in contrast to her "wild" sister, Ayame. She also acts as a key catalyst in the relationship between Taiki and Chinatsu, being the one who gets Chinatsu to admit her interest in Taiki. She is considered the most mature of the core group of characters.

-Relationships: Karen is Kengo Haryu's girlfriend and works in the entertainment industry as a model. Her friendship with Chinatsu Kano dates back to childhood; they've known each other since kindergarten. She's the older sister of Ayame Moriya, with whom she shares a responsible sister-versus-impulsive sister dynamic. Her relationship with Kengo is one of the strongest and most balanced in the anime, based on a years-long friendship that blossomed into a mature and stable romance.

KYO KASAHARA

Appearance: Kyo is a tall, slender young man with fair skin, short, straight, light brown hair styled in an undercut curtain cut, and narrow, dark brown eyes. He wears gray glasses. During training, he wears a light lime green T-shirt with a white collar and buttons, paired with navy blue shorts and white sneakers. When not training, he wears an unbuttoned white jacket with purple and black details and black pants. His school uniform consists of a gray sweater vest over a white dress shirt, paired with cyan pants.

-Personality: Kyo is quiet and observant, and often understands more than he lets on. Although he can be sarcastic, especially with Taiki, he is a genuinely thoughtful and wise person. He uses his left hand in badminton competitions and demonstrates very high playing skills for his age. Outwardly calm and reasonable, Kasahara often listens to Inomata's romantic woes and offers helpful advice, sometimes managing to bring the boy back to his senses rather abruptly. He is the captain of the boys' badminton team and exercises his leadership with discretion and maturity.

-Relationships: Taiki Inomata is his best friend. He is also friends with Hina Chono, Kudo, and Kengo Haryu. He is one of the few characters who is aware of Taiki's feelings for Chinatsu from the beginning, becoming his main romantic confidant. His most significant romantic relationship in the anime is the one that begins to develop with Ayame Moriya, with whom he shares an interesting dynamic given their contrasting personalities. He also maintains a childhood friendship with Saki Kanaishi, his neighbor, who was once a romantic interest of his.

AYAME MORIYA

Appearance: Ayame has purple hair styled in a bottle-neck curl with two pigtails on either side of her head. When she's not wearing her team's tracksuit, she likes to wear long, baggy socks. She wears her hair tied back in two long pigtails, which highlights her youth and immaturity in contrast to her older sister Karen, who always wears her hair down. Her school uniform follows the standard Eimei style, with the school's characteristic cyan blazer.

-Personality: Ayame speaks her mind frankly about her feelings, especially when it comes to romance. She enjoys playing matchmaker and believes love should be lighthearted. Despite her carefree attitude, she dislikes leaving room for ambiguity, as she is meticulous about details, especially when they affect other people. She has an intense fear of spiders. Although she presents herself as a carefree girl who speaks her mind, she is actually quite insecure. Her story arc involves unlearning her superficial habits in love in order to seek a genuine and vulnerable connection with Kyo.

-Relationships: Ayame is Karen's younger sister and is familiar with Kengo for that reason. She sees Chinatsu as another sister and is very close to her. Initially, she was brusque with Taiki, but after seeing his true level in badminton, she develops respect for him. Her friendship with Hina Chono grows especially after she tries, with disastrous results, to play matchmaker between Hina and Taiki. After realizing that she caused Hina's suffering, she becomes very protective of her and constantly tries to cheer her up.

HINA CHONO

-Appearance: Hina is a young woman of average height with fair skin and pink eyes. She has straight, shoulder-length pink hair styled in two buns, with bangs that fall just above her eyes. During training, she wears an iridescent leotard, sometimes paired with a white T-shirt. When not practicing, she usually wears a white jacket with black details over the leotard. Her school uniform consists of a cyan blazer over a white blouse with a crimson ribbon tied in a bow, paired with a matching cyan skirt.

-Personality: Hina is quite theatrical and loves to tease Taiki. Although she initially saw him only as a close friend, she gradually realizes she has fallen in love with him. She is a cheerful and friendly girl with pink hair, though she hides her pain behind a mask of optimism when her feelings are not reciprocated. In the sports arena, she carries the weight of high expectations from the school and her family as a standout rhythmic gymnast, and is very self-critical of her own performance. As a promising athlete, she carries the weight of high expectations from both the school and her family, and is very critical of her own gymnastic abilities.

-Relationships: Hina and Taiki have been best friends since their first year of junior high, and they share a memorable memory together at the fireworks festival. Their friendship is severely complicated when she acknowledges her own romantic feelings for him and discovers that Chinatsu occupies that place. She forms a meaningful friendship with Ayame Moriya after being brutally rejected, becoming a source of mutual support. She also maintains a close friendship with her teammate Nina Shimazaki.

CHINATSU KANO

Appearance: Chinatsu is a young woman of average height with fair skin and brown eyes. She has straight, neck-length brown hair with bangs framing her forehead. During training, she usually wears an oversized cream-colored sweatshirt, which she sometimes changes into a loose white T-shirt, paired with cyan gym shorts and white sneakers. Her school uniform consists of an unbuttoned cyan blazer, usually worn over her cream training sweatshirt or a matching sweater vest, along with a white blouse and a cyan skirt.

-Personality: Chinatsu is very passionate about basketball, which makes her quite tenacious in her efforts to win at the national level. Her passion and extreme motivation extend to her training: she goes to school very early in the mornings just to practice. She is quite mature and always remains humble despite her popularity. She is very kind and approachable, and supports her teammates selflessly. Although she is a queen on the basketball court, she is quite awkward in social situations and has a lot of difficulty expressing her thoughts or feelings.

-Relationships: Chinatsu occupies the emotional center of the series. She shares a unique living arrangement with Taiki Inomata after moving into his house, a relationship that slowly evolves from camaraderie to romance. Her mother is a close friend of Taiki's mother, which explains the naturalness of their cohabitation. Karen Moriya has been her friend since childhood, a classmate since kindergarten. Her relationship with her teammates on the basketball team reflects her quiet leadership and her sense of collective responsibility.

TAIKI INOMATA

Appearance: Taiki is a young man of average build, with fair skin, short, somewhat messy black hair with his bangs parted to the left, and brown eyes. During training, he usually wears a white T-shirt, black shorts, and white, black, and dark blue sneakers. Occasionally, he changes the white T-shirt for a black one and adds a light gray sweater with the sleeves rolled up. Before training, he wears an unbuttoned white jacket with red and black details, black pants, and dark shoes. His school uniform consists of an unbuttoned aquamarine blazer over a white dress shirt with a crimson tie, paired with matching trousers.

-Personality: Taiki is a very determined person when it comes to his passion for badminton. His determination extends to aspiring to reach the national level, just like Chinatsu. He is also incredibly stubborn, as demonstrated by his habit of persevering with a task even when it seems daunting. He is a kind-hearted boy who, nevertheless, isn't afraid to express his opinions or feelings frankly when the situation calls for it. Off the court, especially around his crush Chinatsu, he becomes a bundle of nerves, though on the court he displays an iron will.

-Relationships: Taiki's strongest bond in the anime is his deep crush on Chinatsu Kano, which serves as the driving force behind his growth both athletically and personally. Hina is his childhood friend, with whom he shares a close friendship that complicates the group dynamic when she develops romantic feelings for him. He maintains the strongest friendship with Kyo Kasahara: he is his confidant and teammate. With Kengo Haryu, the relationship evolves from initial rivalry into a demanding yet genuine mentorship.