Review | Horimiya - Chapter 2

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Warning! This review of Horimiya chapter two contains spoilers. If you haven't seen the episode yet, I recommend you go check it out and then come back and read the review.

©HERO・萩原ダイスケHERO・萩原ダイスケ 「ホリミヤ「ホリミヤ」製作委員会


Page 2. You have more than one face


Horimiya chapter two starts with Hori and Miyamura shopping while they talk about how she only knows anisongs. At the Hori's house, his mother gets excited about the talks about Miyamura and when she realizes that she doesn't know his first name, Hori gets impatient. In the end Miyamura himself tells her his first name, which is Izumi. Things continue to move forward and Hori is very busy helping the student council, but a small problem arises. By mistake a document is lost and Hori is blamed for it, but Miyamura intercedes for her and clears up the confusion. Everything is going well but an uncertainty is near, and that is how long the current relationship between Hori and Miyamura will last. Unaware of that concern, the boy prepares a birthday present for Hori, and it's something she really wanted, actual music.


The Hori that some know


Let's start this by talking about the main attraction not only of this episode but of the series in general, the gap that exists in each person. The difference between the image and the real character is something we had already raised in the last review, but it is worth taking up again constantly, especially in this story. Since this will be a constant theme, we can take the liberty of dedicating our time and space to each character, this time we will dedicate it to Hori. The reason is simple, the gap in his person is the least hidden.


That Hori possesses the least diffuse gap is perhaps a product of her real self. Certainly she is someone with a certain image, yet she is not especially concerned with perpetuating that reputation. In fact, it is invaluable to her that her real self be recognized and accepted. It does not seem very obvious but so far Hori has tried to be faithful to her own desires. She possesses a somewhat aggressive character and despite her passive image, she has never bothered to hide that wild side of herself. This is not to say that she does not care; the fact that she agreed to change her dealings with Sengoku is proof that she does regret her past actions.


But in the same vein, we can say that she has not changed that much, for she can still be unintentionally cruel. However, we are still in the same boat, these are things that are in his character and he is not trying to hide it. Hori's case is one of interpretation, not that she wants to be popular, it just happened that everyone formed that image of her. It is certainly a matter of reputation, it is merely the perception of others. And that's why Miyamura has become someone special to her, because she is someone who did not stay in an impression, but started to know her by being herself.


I will continue to repeat myself, Hori is not a hypocritical person, she just lets things flow, she doesn't feel the need to correct anyone because as far as it is needed she never stops being herself. We saw this when she worried about knowing Miyamura's name, going to the extreme of spying on boys' clothing. She can be very silly and let you see, and of course it depends on the rest how you take it. More than hiding her personality, what Hori hides is her family situation. It's not really a problem but there's no need to announce it to everyone. And this is also part of Kyoko's personality, she is not particularly open to her own problems. At this point the only one who might know this is Miyamura.


The debut of the student council

Let's move on to the next point of interest, the arrival of new characters. As in almost every school series, the student council is a group that will appear to give problems or solve them, here it was to cause them. The first impression we got from them may not be the best, they almost looked like a group of bullies intimidating Hori. The first flaw in their introduction is that we saw them delegating the work on Hori, even though she is not part of the council. That no doubt left them with quite a few points of sympathy, it is not nice in the context either, it is not Hori's fault that her third member is so incompetent. The antipathy only increased when Sengoku confronted Hori in front of several students about the lost document. Even if it were really Hori's fault, challenging someone in front of so many people is quite repellent.


The whole situation was completely hopeless, it was not Hori's fault, and he still had to apologize. Honestly, the situation was only humiliating, and before talking about Miyamura's magnificent performance, it must be said that the image of Hori and Sengoku's past is simply not enough to forgive him completely. I can understand that Hori has a certain commitment to the abuse he subjected the president to, but Sengoku took it a little far. But I really can't, and don't want to, speak ill of the student council because I actually like them too much. I just wanted to clarify that their presentation was really very bad, they were given a role of bad guys but all three of them are baked goods (it's my annoying way of saying that they are better than bread).


Now it's time for the hero of the day who was undoubtedly Miyamura. For nobody it went unnoticed that Hori put a lot of effort in the work that was assigned to him. In fact, part of the girl's character is to be hard with what she is assigned, she is also hermetic, so a silly mistake like losing a document doesn't fit with her. But in the face of an opponent like the student council president there wasn't much anyone else could do. Only someone as unthinking as Miyamura series would be able to vent his anger and clear up the situation in passing. I admit, the header was unnecessary but very justified, someone had to take back the courage he caused us all. He was totally the hero of the day.


Time with you


The end of the chapter leaves us with a medium high note by planting a seed of uncertainty. It is true that now everything is fine and both Hori and Miyamura can spend whole afternoons together, but... for how long will that be? There are things that, no matter how much we love them, they won't last forever. We saw it in the previous episode, Miyamura is of the idea that as soon as Hori gets a boyfriend he will have to stop frequenting his house. The same thing could apply to him. If he gets a partner, Hori will have to leave or, well, he will have to do it himself. It's nice to say that they are friends but there is no guarantee of anything in that type of relationship.


Well, let's not be negative, because in spite of the uncertainty we can say that the bond between both continues to be strengthened. Miyamura is thoughtless, not very smart and a bit dense, but he is very observant towards Hori. That is why he was able to give her what she wanted as a birthday present, because he was perceptive to her needs. Hori's initial scene of regretting being out of touch with today's music was not gratuitous, it was a sign of the attention Miyamura pays to her. Both of them are aware of the changes that await them, but each one sees them differently. While she found uncertainty, he looks a little vague about the future. That's all right, as long as their desire to be together prevails, they'll deal with whatever comes.


Final comment

Horimiya chapter two has been an episode full of diverse emotions. We were able to experience fun, embarrassment to others, discomfort, amazement, and even something similar to nostalgia. I like the direction of this anime, however I must give the reason that the rhythm of the narrative feels very accelerated. It is not unusual for an anime chapter to cover a lot of history, but if the pace is not careful to detail it can feel rushed. The case of this second chapter is just that, so many things are happening and everything is happening so fast that we are not allowed to finish processing one thing when something else is starting. I don't think it's the fault of the length of the scenes, it's perhaps the way we move from one to the other, it's where something doesn't completely click.


Anyway, before closing with this I'm going to vent my fan heart, HERE I GO TO PUT A SPOILER ON THE SLEEVE! You can skip this paragraph if you don't want to ruin this part of the story. Be warned.


I didn't expect them to cheer up Kyoko's birthday in this chapter. When Tooru asks Miyamura for gift advice, they end up going for a ring and Miyamura ends up wearing it because it got stuck. This is an important detail to calm Souta's worries about Miyamura's stay at home. This is the first time that a long-term relationship has been suggested for them, i.e. marriage. Although Miyamura makes it clear that he is not going home with Kyoko, not now, he will continue to go to her house to spend time with her. In addition, the friendship rings are born, and once again Tooru unwittingly promotes the relationship between the two. I really wanted to see this encouraged, I don't know if I'll be able to indulge later.


So far I leave you with the usual questions: What do you think of this chapter? Like Hori, do you know anisongs even if you don't know what music is in fashion? What is your opinion about Hori and her oddities? What impression did the student council debut leave on you? Should we declare Miyamura as the bestowing buzzard of the season?


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