I don’t know what exactly Kyousuke’s situation is, Horimiya itself is vague on the details, but you know the guy is often absent if his own family doesn’t leave anything for him at home. Poor dude doesn’t have his own set of utensils, a futon, or a room. Meanwhile, the Hori residence has some of things set for Miyamura, who I suppose is an unofficial family member but the kid still doesn’t live there. I really am curious about the Hori family dynamic. It seems like they deal with all the different daily lives just fine but to say, this family isn’t the least bit dysfunctional would be inaccurate.
So at the beginning of this episode, Miyamura is about to head home as per usual though the Hori family tells him he’s free to sleep in at their place since it’s late at night. Naturally, Souta wants Miyamura sleeping in his room but hilariously, Kyousuke calls dibs and has Miyamura sleeping with him in the living room. Since Miyamura spent the night at the Hori residence, he and Hori head for school together, which ultimately catches the attention of the other students.
As Miyamura had always feared, people start gossiping behind his and Hori’s backs. Unless Miyamura is the worst boyfriend ever, it’s obviously Hori’s own business who she dates but that doesn’t stop people from questioning her romantic life. Something such as this really makes me appreciate how Ishikawa dealt with the possibility of Miyamura and Hori dating. It wasn’t easy but at least he wasn’t a massive jerk and he continued to be a genuine friend to Miyamura. Knowing Hori, she definitely can deal with the gossip. Miyamura knows this though understandably, he still doesn’t want to drag Hori’s reputation into the gutter.
To get people to back off, Miyamura gives himself a new look, cutting his hair and ditching his glasses. He even leaves his piercings exposed, probably seeing that as a small price to pay. It’s hilarious and amazingly accurate how shallow the other students are. First, they call Miyamura a weirdo and as soon as he makes himself look a little less nerdy, he’s suddenly perceived as one of the hot ones. Honestly, I get Hori’s hostility to the other girls. Aside from the fact that they’re flirting with Miyamura, Hori did like the boy before it was cool. Regardless, the plan works and all the unwanted attention begins to die down.
Hori and Miyamura still meet some backlash as one first year-student, Honoka Sawada, declares herself as Miyamura’s rival for Hori’s affection. Truth be told, this is my least favorite part of the episode. I just don’t get what Honoka has to offer for the narrative. One of the smartest decisions made in the story was not doing a whole lot of rivalry in the romance. The show tries to make her a little sympathetic by revealing that she has a dead brother but that frankly feels cheap. I also just find Honoka annoying with how she keeps bothering Miyamura. That said, she does fare a little bit better in her last couple of scenes. The revelation that she and Miyamura are next-door neighbors is pretty funny. I also like the part where she leans on Miyamura when she gets surrounded by a bunch of guys trying to flirt with her, showing that she does see Miyamura as a kind and reliable person in spite of her beef with him.
The final scene raised my eyebrows a bit as it has Hori pointing out to Miyamura that he never makes any “moves” on her. I find this funny considering that there’s an earlier scene in this episode where Miyamura sneakily kisses Hori while the two are hanging out with Shindo. Either Hori forgot or it’s not bold enough in her opinion. To Miyamura’s credit, he takes things a baby step further by trying to kiss Hori again, this time with no trick or anything. I say “trying” because Kyousuke ends up using his oh so perfect comedic timing again.
I enjoyed this episode but I must admit that it does suffer from the show’s fast pace. Everything sort of ties together in a thematic sense but I also think that every major segment could have been its own episode. It’s especially surprising that Miyamura’s haircut occurs a third into the episode. That could’ve easily been the cliffhanger ending for a full length episode and a solid one at that.
Watch Horimiya on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu
Xenodude Scribbles 