Oh joy, an Iura (Daiki Yamashita) centric episode. I wanted this so much. I mean, I don’t hate the guy but I don’t find him that interesting so this episode doesn’t excite me all that much. To be fair, I figured the original series cut much of his content so I guess an episode starring him was inevitable. Actually, it’s really funny that Iura is the “theme” of this episode as the original series pulled that card as well. Is this guy’s scenes really that self-contained from the main plot?
In this episode, Motoko (Hisako Kanemoto) invites her crush, Aoi Kitahara (Kouhei Amasaki) over to her place for a study group. Being the protective brother that he is, Iura is less than thrilled to having his sister invite a boy she likes. Just when you’d think it’d be standard family comedy going forward, Horiimya does a funny twist where Iura’s disdain for Kitahara backfires. Rather than be frightened by Iura, Kithara grows to admire him and he becomes more enamored with him than with Motoko. Motoko get friendzoned, Iura gets a fan he doesn’t want, and both are upset with the outcome.
Later in the episode, the gang’s school is holding an open house for middle schoolers. Much to Iura’s displeasure, Kitahara happens to be one of the students touring the building. Iura first tries to hide and when he’s finally forced to encounter Kitahara, he makes it not secret that he wants the kid to scram. I find it really funny that Remi is one of the people to rat Iura out. It’s unintentional and yet the girl continues to be a troll. Given the awkward note this scene ends on, I’m guessing there’s more scenes involving Iura and Kitahara. While I do enjoy the twist from earlier, I don’t know if I’m that enthusiastic for a continuation.
One running joke I don’t get is everyone, including Iura himself, singling him out as being single. There’s nothing wrong with the joke in principle but why is it a big deal that Iura specifically is forever alone? If you look strictly at the high school side of the cast, most of the characters aren’t dating anyone. Hori and Miyamura and Sengoku and Remi are the only two official couples. Even if you want to count Ishikawa and Yoshikawa, you’re still left with some other characters who are single besides Iura such as Kono and Yanagi. All things considered, I don’t get why it’s particularly funny that Iura doesn’t have a girlfriend. It’d only make sense if there were more couples in the story. I think what also makes this off putting is that this episode is the first time Iura’s bachelorhood is brought up in jest. Maybe if this was brought up before, possibly whenever a new couple becomes official, this gag would feel less out of the blue.
Watch Horimiya: The Missing Pieces on Crunchyroll and Funimation
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