Horimiya

Episode 4

Even though things are still moving pretty fast, this episode of Horimiya really hits a very good balance of pacing and storytelling. It doesn't linger on any one scene for too long, while also not flying through them at a breakneck pace – in fact, if you aren't familiar with the manga, this episode probably wouldn't even register as “fast.” That's the kind of adaptation I like to see: one that respects its source material but also isn't wedded to it to the point where the new version doesn't get the chance to breathe.

This is an especially good episode for Miyamura (and his voice actor Kōki Uchiyama), who gets to build on what we saw last week while also showing us how much more comfortable he is now both in his own skin and operating in the world, something that he really wasn't up for back in middle school. A flashback this week shows us that he was able to start to open up in part because of his pal Shindo, who possibly has the most emotional intelligence out of anyone in this series. Shindo saw through Miyamoto's “weirdo” label to understand that he'd taken as much as he could from other students and was now just barely holding it together – when he comes back into the classroom after one of his buddies has bumped into Miyamura and caused him to drop his notebook, Miyamura's standing frozen like a prey animal desperately hoping that if they just don't move the predators will pass them by. Whether Shindo recognizes this behavior or just understands that Miyamura's stuck in middle school social limbo, he reaches out, and that one gesture changes everything. And lest we think he doesn't know what he's doing, he later calls his friends out when they try to warn him away from Miyamura by telling them that they're the ones who frightened and alienated Miyamura into being the way he is and that now they're just jealous that Shindo's hanging out with him. It's an important moment because it proves that not everyone is terrible and opens a window for Miyamura that he had assumed to be closed and locked.

It makes sense that Shindo going to a different high school would put Miyamura back in his old, safe position as “frozen prey animal,” because there's no indication that anyone else ever managed, or even tried, to be his friend, which honestly feels like a much more realistic depiction of middle school than anime's usual rosy “we're all best friends” take on classroom life. But what no one is anticipating is how different Miyamura acts when Shindo pops back up in his life – because he's totally comfortable with Shindo, his behavior is much more “normal” – he snaps at him, gets more physical, and is louder than he is with anyone else. There's clearly a bit of a disconnect for Hori and Toru, but that's part of what Horimiya is about: the idea that no one is exactly how they seem to be, even after you get to know them.

Miyamura gets a reminder of that in this episode, too, when Hori gets sick. Sota, who is just a champion of a little brother, is beside himself when he sees how high his sister's fever is, and since he knows that calling their mom won't help, he calls Miyamura. When he gets there, Miyamura is shocked to see Hori break down in tears as she asks him, “Where are you going?” as he's about to leave the room so she can put on her pjs. It's a rare show of vulnerability from someone who usually acts as if she's got everything under control, even things that a high schooler shouldn't have to have under control, and he realizes that this may be one of the few, if not the first, times that someone has actually been there for her when she's sick. (We still don't know where her dad is, but her mom's always had to work.) Maybe that's why he's able to really confess to her in a way he couldn't quite last week – because this time, he knows that there's a good chance that it could mean the world to her.

All of that almost makes up for the fact that “what Remi can do” for the student council appears to be “open the window.” She's definitely the fly in the ointment of my enjoyment of this show.

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Horimiya is currently streaming on FUNimation Entertainment.