JDrama Review : Nibiiro no Hako no Naka de

Title : Nibiiro no hako no Naka de, In the Blunt Box, In the dark grey box, In the dark box

Episodes : 6 (about 25 minutes each)

Genre : Youth, Slice of Life, Mystery, Romance, School, Friendship, Psychological, Drama

Story : 7 out of 10

Characters : 7 out of 10

Cinematography : 7 out of 10

“Nibiiro no hako no Naka de” was more of an adult drama than a school romance and it dealt with more complex issues than just first love.

The main characters of the jdrama nibiiro no hako no naka de

Story

Miwa has been in love with the boy living next door of her apartment, Motoaki, who, for his part, had a crush on a violist who used to live at their apartment building and hang out with him when he was a kid. Miwa and Motoaki had been friends with Aoi, her boyfriend, Satoru, and Ritsu, since they have been living at the same apartment complex and they are of the same age. However, now that they are in their senior year, they discover that the building might be sold off and that their lives are going to change forever. That forces many secrets to resurface, secrets that might destroy their friendship and relationships.

“Nibiiro no hako no Naka de” story had many layers.  The drama starts with the five friends, one of which, Ritsu, seems to have grown tired of his old pals and has isolated himself from them. We are also introduced to the characters and the young romance that is being developed between Miwa and Motoaki.

However, their relationship isn’t progressing smoothly, as many start interfering with the young couple. First, there is Ritsu, who hates lying and he has been secretly in love with Miwa. And then, there is Aoi, who is jealous of her girlfriend and she has a crush on Ritsu, even though she is dating Satoru.

Things start getting out of hand when the violinist comes back to the apartment building and begins messing around with the five friends. The drama, for that part, didn’t handle the story very well and it felt messy and all over the place.

They did manage to smooth things over in the final episode though. The main couple, finally, didn’t have much chemistry, which didn’t aid their love story.

The relationship map of the jdrama nibiiro no hako no naka de

Characters

Miwa is a beautiful young student who, even though she is asked out by popular schoolmates, maintains feelings for her childhood friend, Motoaki, since they were kids. However, she is afraid to confess to him her own feelings. Kubota Sayu was a fresh face in the casting and she did a nice job with her character.

Motoaki lost his mother when he was still very young and his father is always absent due to his work. Thus, Motoaki has been lonely and alone. He found comfort in the company of a lady who played the violin, but she left, and ever since, he had been missing her and obsessing over her. Hagiwara Riku nailed the dramatic scenes, and his role fitted him perfectly.

Ritsu is a loner, watching his old friend from afar and scorning to their youthful naiveness. Back home, Ritsu is being ignored and mistreated by his unstable mother, who seems to focus rather on her young daughter, giving her son the cold shoulder. Thus, Ritsu tries to fill the void by manipulating his friends’ relationships. Kamio Fuju’s character was probably the sole star of the drama, with a tragic background that immerged slowly while the story was progressing. Kamio himself gave a fantastic performance.

Aoi is the second girl in the group. She is insecure about her looks and always felt inferior to Miwa, though she tries to hide it. She also has a crush on Ritsu, and she tries to get his attention in any way she can. Okamoto Natsumi was a pleasant surprise and she did an excellent job with her character’s development.

Satoru is Aoi’s boyfriend. He is trying to support her and raise her self esteem, while he, himself, is hiding a big secret from his friends. Mochizuki Ayumu, though subtle, was brilliant and he had a surprisingly complex character.

The love triangle of the jdrama nibiiro no hako no naka de

Cinematography

The drama had a nice pace, not too fast but not too relaxing either. They did mess up with the story a bit though, towards the ending.

Overall

My overall rating for Nibiiro no hako no Naka de is 7 out of 10. For such a short drama, they managed to cover many issues and storylines.

Take a peek at the trailer