Note: I’m watching and reviewing Horimiya blind. Please do not posts spoilers in the comments.
This episode opens up with a flashback of Miyamura’s childhood, where several classmates refuse to team up with him during class and call him weird. With such behavior, it’s no wonder that Miyamura became so awkward and lonely. The flashback is soon contrasted with the present, where everyone begins a new year at high school. Miyamura’s class, which is essentially the same as it was the year before, is given a group assignment. Miyamura has no issue with finding a team as Hori, Ishikawa, and Yoshikawa move their desks over to his without a second thought. Stunned by this act, Miyamura wonders if he’s become part of their circle.
During a break, Miyamura awkwardly asks if Ishikawa sees him as a friend. Considering that there’s no hard feelings between them and the fact that they’ve been hanging out, I think the answer is obvious. Still, Ishikawa confirms to Miyamura that they’re friends. He does admit that he thinks Miyamura is a weirdo but he doesn’t consider that as a bad thing and it clearly hasn’t been an obstacle between the two of them. Oddly enough, Miyamura doesn’t ask the same with the rest of the group. I suppose with Hori, Miyamura thinks it’s a no-brainer that he’s friends with her. Knowing Hori, she’d probably smack him for having doubts so it’s probably best that Miyamura stick with his gut. As for Yoshikawa, I guess Miyamura thinks he’s not close enough with her to check. I was a little surprised to Yoshikawa moved her desk but I suppose she sees Miyamura as a friend of a friend.
The next morning, Remi asks Hori if she and Miyamura are dating. When Hori denies it, Remi then asks if she could ask Miyamura out and to her surprise, Hori gets extremely defensive over Miyamura. We later learn that it’s just a prank. It has to be considering that Remi is dating Sengoku. I don’t know what makes Remi think it’d be funny to ask such a loaded question though to be fair, she probably didn’t think it’d push Hori’s buttons so much.
As if that wasn’t enough, Hori finds herself alone with Miyamura when visits her house after school. This apparently the norm now as Souta has made some friends in first grade so he spends a couple hours hanging out with them before hanging out with Miyamura. The hangout starts off with Hori and Miyamura watching scary movies together. If it wasn’t for the context, you’d think these two really are on a date. In between movies, the two compare each other’s hands, having recalled an earlier conversation with Yoshikawa about Hori’s double-jointed index finger. The two then interlock their hands and the intimacy of this causes Hori to confess her feelings to Miyamura.
Is Horimiya official now? It’s hard to tell. Hori tries to save face by “elaborating” that she loves Miyamura’s hands. Miyamura returns the sentiment, acting as if he has been fooled, but he then follows that up by actually reciprocating Hori’s feelings. I guess Miyamura gets the memo. I’m not sure if Hori does as she’s nonchalant when Miyamura tells her that he loves her. Maybe she can’t process it just yet or maybe she didn’t hear him correctly. Either way, it seems that pair revert back to square one, albeit with more awareness to their feelings for one another.
Some time later, Miyamura and Ishikawa arrive to school with bruises on their faces. Apparently, the two had an argument regarding Miyamura’s feelings towards Hori. Hori assumes Ishikawa started the fight, which is indeed the case. Hilariously though, Ishikawa came out of the fight more injured than Miyamura. You’d think after seeing Miyamura headbutt Sengoku, Ishikawa would know not to pick a fight with him. While he really shouldn’t have resorted to violence, I do understand Ishikawa wanting to knock some sense into Miyamura. There’s clearly some level of affection between Miyamura and Hori and it would be better if either of them acknowledge those feelings more openly. I think it’s a bit low of Miyamura to call out Ishikawa’s own feelings though I don’t think he’s entirely wrong. Ishikawa is still trying to get over Hori and perhaps getting Miyamura to hook up with her will let him close that door for good.
Thankfully, Miyamura and Ishikawa start to patch things up. It’d be a shame if things stay awkward between them. Obviously, Hori is left in the dark over what exactly happened. It’s presumably too awkward to tell her the whole truth. About the only other person who does know is Yoshikawa, who gets the full details from Miyamura. That seems like a risk for Miyamura to do as Yoshikawa is Hori’s best friend. Fortunately, Yoshikawa keeps her lips sealed. I can’t help but grow curious whenever I see these two interact. Miyamura isn’t as close with Yoshikawa as he is with Hori and Ishikawa and yet, he feels comfortable enough to tell her about what happened. There’s also the matter from Episode 1 where Yoshikawa saw Miyamura in his “punk” look. That has yet to be brought up again.
Watch Horimiya on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu
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