Oh joy, a Yanagi centric episode. I wanted this so much.
Yanagi is a weird one. I think he serves his initial purpose of getting friendzoned by Yoshikawa pretty well but after that, he’s kind of just there. It’s as if the original creator(s) really like this guy and wants to keep him around in the story but they can’t think of anything else to do with him. I get the impression that Yanagi is supposed to be that friend in school who everyone likes without any particular rhyme or reason. The problem is that the high school cast is large enough and they already have decent enough chemistry before Yanagi joined so he just comes across as superfluous.
I figured a lot of Yanagi’s scenes got cut in the original series though I wasn’t holding my breath that they’d be anything substantial. Sure enough, it feels like Missing Pieces is grasping at straws. This episode opens with Ishikawa helping Yanagi find his contact lenses. After the OP, we have Hori, Miyamura, and Remi hanging out with Yanagi while he waits for a delayed bus. After that, some of the boys help Yanagi wake up on time. The episode ends with Sengoku trying to act more informal with Yanagi. I wouldn’t call any of these godawful but they really scream “filler” to me and I can see why they weren’t included in the original series.
Frankly, Yanagi sometimes feels overshadowed in this episode. Like, the best part of the second segment is Hori and Remi pretending to be these gruff guys hitting on Yanagi, with Remi rocking a pair of sunglasses because why not. I especially like the part where Hori and Remi screw up their improv and they decide to just carry on with the bit anyway. Yanagi might be the subject of that segment but he’s not the star of it. Another example that comes to mind is the final segment. It does involve Yanagi but it has more to do with Sengoku’s character. There’s also a good chunk of time where Yanagi is just in the background and Sengoku is bantering with Ishikawa instead. For me, the strongest segment is the one where Yanagi tries to wake up on time. Here, Yanagi actually feels like the center of attention. It’s also nice to actually learn something new about Yanagi. Him being a cranky guy in the morning is a hilarious contrast to the softspoken personality we’re used to seeing.
Watch Horimiya: The Missing Pieces on Crunchyroll and Funimation
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