Welcome, fellow otaku’s, to How Anime Stuff Works and another recap of Horimiya, I know I am a tad late posting this recap but due to my mental health, I had to take quite a lengthy hiatus and do some much needed self care, remember to always put your mental health before anything and take breaks when you need too!
In this episode Hori and Miyamura try to sort out their feelings for one another and we finally get to meet a very important person, Hori’s absent father returns!
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Horimiya Episode 5, “I Can’t Say It Out Loud,” now streaming on Funimation.
At the end of episode 4 Miyamura confesses his feelings for Hori, that he was falling in love with her, while he was caring for her when she was sick, this leaves Hori embarrassed and confused since she didn’t know if Miyamura knew if she was awake and heard him when he confessed. Hori being the studious type even lies, saying she is still sick so she could have a few additional days home from school, as she is clearly confused about her feelings for Miyamura. Though Hori doesn’t stay confused for long due to Souta spotting Miyamura with another girl, which causes Hori to be a bit jealous.
Back at school seeing Miyamura sets Hori’s temper flying — along with some of the schools textbooks! Hori is the embodiment of an emotional rollercoaster this episode and is trying to figure out her feelings for Miyamura though knowing that he was with another girl didn’t help, though Hori apologizes and lets Miyamura explain what happened.
The girl that Miyamura was with is Chika, and is actually Shindo’s girlfriend, Chika ends up falling over and twisting her ankle and Miyamura being the polite person that he is helps her to walk back to her school campus. This smooths everything out slightly though the heated outburst from Hori ends up with her revealing her true feelings for Miyamura.
Deep down Hori knows what she feels but is too scared and flustered to put it into words, she is worried that by admitting her feelings to Miyamura it would change everything and the nature of their relationship. Miyamura reveals that he knew that Hori was awake when he said that he loves her, then apologizes for leaving her room abruptly afterwards.
As the two get past their misunderstanding of Chika and try to awkwardly talk out their feelings, the situation is further abrupted by the return of Hori’s absent father, Kyosuke. Free spirited and enigmatic with a rather ruffled appearance and a cigarette in his mouth, Kyosuke is the opposite of Hori’s strict house rules for cleanliness and order. His job and reasons for being absent for so long remain a mystery still, but his return to the family home could mean major changes for Hori’s daily life and Miyamura’s part in it.
In this part Horimiya proves again that initial judgments of a person can be misleading, Kyosuke quickly takes a liking to Miyamura, teasing him and admiring Miyamura’s piercings while Hori goes to the kitchen to get some food for him. Straight away Kyosuke gets straight to the question everyone wants answering: Are Hori and Miyamura officially dating?
Hori, having her emotions be all over the place, gets fed up of her fathers antics and blurts out that they are officially dating and that she and Miyamura are a couple. Ironically the situation helps her calm down and finally process her feelings for Miyamura, while Miyamura is overjoyed at hearing her words.
My Opinion
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, seeing Hori struggling to come to terms with her feelings for Miyamura and seeing how worried she is about her relationship with Miyamura changing is something new to me, as I always see Hori as a confident individual that seems to be able to calmly deal with things, so seeing this new side to her and seeing her worries come to the surface makes her more relatable and feel so real to me.
The whole exploration into the more natural side of the emotions that Miyamura and Hori are experiencing makes this one of the better episodes to Horimiya and makes the relationship feel real and relatable. Though the slapstick comedy with Hori throwing the textbooks at Miyamura after getting angry and flustered did rub me the wrong way a tiny bit, mainly because the thought of them hitting Miyamura crossed my mind and that would hurt the poor guy!
Hori’s relationship with her father seems to be the exact opposite of what you would expect from a parent and child relationship as she seems to scold her father quite a bit, while doing all the cooking. For Hori seeing both her parents home and announcing that she and Miyamura are officially dating must have been somewhat awkward for her, but with Miyamura now at her side, Hori has a pretty dependable, steady and affectionate presence that she enjoys being with and can lean on when stressed.
I am excited to see what happens next between Miyamura and Hori and what their next steps will be in their new found relationship.
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