On stepping outside the box: Horimiya explores more on friendship and various expressions of love whilst overcoming the gap.
DISCLAIMER: Contains some manga insiders.
Quick Recap: It’s Hard, but Not Impossible
A piece of the past "you". Miyamura bumped into an old acquaintance way back middle school and triggered a sad memory.
A MORE sadist Miyamura! In order to placate Hori’s "tough boyfriend" preference, Miyamura stepped up his masochist set-up but agonizes on swearing and hitting her.
Manga Spiel! The episode covered chapters 46, 54 and 55 of the manga. Manga fans might feel robbed of the sports festival arc (quite a jump in the chapters), but let’s leave that to anticipate in the future episodes. Have faith! Looking forward to see that. One of the best arcs! Well, so far as the manga panels are concerned, an accurate depiction was served. You get what’s written and illustrated in the manga.
Author’s Corner: No man is an island.
Less cringe for Horimiya stans this week! Quite weak on "lovey-dovey" moments, yet full of playful acts for more heightened emotions. This episode is a celebration of friendship. The favorite couple seemed to have a downplay on their romance while venturing their likes and dislikes. Miyamura stepped outside the box in his sadistic boyfriend get-up to satisfy Hori, much to his suffering on being a total opposite of his character and the need to display acts of violence - another “love wins” scenario! Though the episode featured less affectionate acts, it opened another chance for Miyamura redemption and development as he was seen in a predicament following an encounter with a former classmate whom he shares a not-so-good relationship with. High school really brought about a number of changes in him (thanks to Hori!), and he is out in the world to explore the wonders of youth, friendship and love. Just as he thought he’d hit another wall, that crossed path turned out an awakening, that he and Tanihara never had a chance at reconciliation over a misunderstanding, causing them to drift apart. They warmed up to each other, realizing that both of them have been lonely and are seeking a friend, “inside” or “outside”. That they have been alone for too long, and now somebody offers a hand to get them out of that “box”. It might seemed hard, but it is not impossible. Anyone can be a friend to anyone.
Random thoughts: Nothing is impossible.
Braided Miyamura is just too cute to handle! Isn’t it illegal to nail such a weird hairstyle for a man? Miyamura bending all gender norms on hairstyles!
Too hard; didn’t mind. It is DEFINITELY killing Miyamura to act violently towards Hori, but for him, he should at least overcome it to deserve her. He even talked and asked for advice to Kyosuke. Such a weird and wild fantasy you got there, Hori! Her eyes beamed with excitement - she’s enjoying this!
"Move it, Kyoko!" That moment! Scary and hot at the same time. *winks*
If you can’t handle her at her worst, you cannot be with her. Miyamura on treating Hori and attending to her demands, be them out of his context. The gap, as Kyosuke referred to, is closing in with Miyamura leveling up his game as a "violent" boyfriend.
With friendship and love on the line, nothing can hold someone back. Breaking out cliches of uber romance, Horimiya continues to explore on the various expressions of affection. Funny and romantic as ever, the audience get to enjoy a good laugh while having butterflies in the stomach as this mainstream couple keeps a constant velocity in conquering their love and friendship.
Steady yet sweet!
What do you think of this episode? Slide in the comments section to share your feels!
Horimiya new episode releases on Sundays at 12:30am JST.
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