Horimiya: The Missing Pieces

Episode 13

This was a pleasant season finale and more solid and well-written than the end of season one. The episode dragged its feet by spending time focused on hairstyles, but it connects in the end with Kyouko and Izumi cutting their hair short, reinforcing that everyone is constantly changing. When the series started, Izumi had long hair that he used to cover up who he really was. He wore piercings and got a tattoo to keep people away outside and inside the school. He used his hair to cover himself up to withdraw away from everybody. It was self-destructive. He felt he deserved to be alone and constantly created situations to hide himself. But now that the series is over, Izumi is fully exposed, and it even looks like he's gone back to wearing his piercings.

He originally cut his hair short because he felt he didn't need to hide as much anymore now that he had Kyouko. It was supposed to be a positive turning point in his life. Now that everyone has graduated, getting their haircuts is supposed to symbolize another mark for change. It's a nice symbolism that reflects how far the characters have come. I love this episode's animation and sound direction, particularly during the odd flashback scene with Kyouko, where she recalls her life before she met Izumi and started integrating everybody else into regular aspects of her everyday life. The message is supposed to be that you don't always know what life will throw at you, and even if things had somehow played out differently, there's a chance that everyone still would've found each other because things feel incomplete otherwise. Ironically, this season focused a lot more on the series' side characters and fluffy moments, yet this finale punctuates that it's thanks to those moments that everyone's lives feel so fulfilled.

My only major gripe with this episode is who delivered the speech. Maybe this is just me, but it doesn't feel like Kyouko should've given that monologue at the end. That's not a lesson she had to learn throughout the show. Izumi should've given that speech because his arc was more about coming out and accepting that he is allowed to have friends and be happy compared to when he pushed everybody away. Now that he understands what it means to have a life full of friends and a girlfriend, it would feel wrong for his life to return to how it was at the beginning of the show. Thematically, it's supposed to be his speech.

Her arc was more about being vulnerable and opening up to other people. She had to carry on this air of maternal caretaking for her friends and brother, but she can be much more vulnerable and insecure with Izumi. She takes it too far about half the time, but that's not necessarily an alarming message for someone to have. She's so used to caring for other people that now she finally has someone in her life willing to be patient and take care of her. Maybe I'm overthinking it or letting my dislike for Kyouko get in the way of a legitimately touching moment. It was something nagging at the back of my head while I watched this beautiful scene.

I love the fuzzy filter done over everything, and the sound design was perfect. I like that a good chunk of the episode was done in silence to emphasize how empty life was, but as more people get introduced into the frame, the more dynamic the music gets.

The Missing Pieces wasn't bad, and I liked some of the glimpses into the other characters outside of the main emotional crux of the show. If anything, some moments were better than in season one. This was a very odd release. I'd like to know if they'll pull a complete edition of Horimiya similar to Haruhi, where they re-release all episodes chronologically. That would help me appreciate the series as a whole better. But for now, this was a nice detour.

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Horimiya: The Missing Pieces is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.