Warning! This review on Horimiya Chapter four contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, I recommend watching it and then going back to read the review.
Page 4. Everyone loves someone
Horimiya Chapter four begins with a little interaction between Ishikawa and Sakura. The summer heat strengthens some friendships, and so Hori’s entire group of friends stays in the student council room. The afternoons continue their course while Hori and Miyamura study together at home. Then a new revelation emerges: Miyamura has a girlfriend from high school who she is pretty closely connected with. When Miyamura meets Shindou and Hori in the middle, she thinks about how they’ve both changed their lives for the better. A cold doesn’t let Hori go to school, Miyamura takes care of her and after comforting her loneliness she explains to the girl who knows how to react.
Everyday moments
It is true that this week’s episode has moments of great impact that could cause us to miss its beginning, but it is worth thinking a little bit about. Finally, at this beginning we can see the daily life of the protagonists’ interactions with their group of friends. Plus, we can turn the page and forget about the disastrous portrayal of the Student Council. We remember again that this is the story of a group of ordinary youth in which there is no room for trivial resentments. The group interacts casually, naturally, to justify the youth within them. They may not be best friends, but they are all companions and there is camaraderie among all.
The time between the guys is refreshing, they are easy and they express themselves freely with each other. On the other hand, the time between Ishikawa and Sakura is less casual, but still natural. The interaction between a boy and a girl has some drawbacks, especially if they are unknown. Ishikawa didn’t even know Sakura’s name, but that didn’t stop him from acknowledging her efforts. For her part, she knows him and is aware of his and his interactions with others. Another point in favor of everyday life for this series, because sometimes, because we see someone, we lose sight of someone else watching us.
Again we return to Ishikawa and his distraction. He is so focused on Hori that he cannot see or notice Sakura’s attentions. A bit pathetic, but very realistic, you can’t just give up on someone you’ve liked for so long. And in the end, the spice of the ordinary leaves a very good taste in the mouth. These are days of confusion, antics, and silly conversations with friends.
The ones who change us
Throughout life, it is very likely that we will meet special people who are destined to change our vision of the world. It can be a single person or several people spread over different phases of our life. Anyway, the fact is that we all have someone who has become our beacon in the dark. For Miyamura, it was two people who fulfilled that role, Shindou in middle school and Hori who is now in high school. The previous review mentioned that Miyamura is having a hard time integrating into his new environment with his group of friends, all because it’s his first time. Many would say this is wrong because he already had Shindou in high school, but it’s not the same. Joining a group is very different from living with just one friend.
In high school, Miyamura was left out, he didn’t really interact with his classmates, and they had very bad ideas about him. It is surprising that he was so passively aggressive during his first interaction with Shindou, although it is natural that Miyamura is not antisocial, he simply has no confidence in integration. So it was easy to deal with just one, there was no pressure to fit in anymore. He wasn’t ready for this, and Shindou was a great anchor for it as he never put pressure to let him live with anyone even though he wished his image wasn’t that bad. Despite all this and more, Shindou was the beacon that lit these dark days for Miyamura, so that he feels comfortable with him. It’s a closeness that he couldn’t replicate with anyone.
His next light was Hori, the person who discovered his true self and accepted it. Hori has boosted Miyamura’s confidence, helped him build new relationships, and stands by him knowing that she knows and accepts him best. In this new phase of his life, this is what he needed. The plus side of all of this is that he feels comfortable and needy to be with her as they both share the secret of their identity. The bond between the two is strong, but since this is a boy and a girl, there are feelings that cause insecurity between them. But it’s nothing they can’t get over, after all, both of you are the type to face your emotions directly.
Comfort and confession
If you continue with the above, it would seem that Hori is not entirely honest with her feelings because she is constantly running away from or not facing them. However, remember that she is used to dealing with her own affairs, depending on others, this is not her strength. Even so, he trusts Miyamura and is able to delegate responsibilities to him. He can show him his vulnerability and recognize his level of dependency in their relationship. Izumi is fully aware of this and corresponds to this trust. He has come to long for her so much that he has no intention of leaving unless she asks him to. She understands her loneliness and does her best to stay by her side and keep her safe.
Despite all this, he could no longer hold back his feelings and finally confessed his love. The only sad thing is that even though he loves her so much that he can no longer hold her back, he still doesn’t have the confidence to get an answer. That’s why his confession was so casual, so natural, and almost banal, because it was something he said in the midst of things that didn’t require an answer. What we only notice is that he confessed because he could not suppress it but did not wait for an answer. This is somewhat counterproductive as it can be assumed that he knew Hori was listening. So why confess to someone listening when you don’t want an answer? Most likely everything is down to Miyamura’s insecurity, he still doesn’t have a good picture of himself.
Final comment
Horimiya Chapter four was an entertaining, funny, and charming episode in equal measure. The narrative continues to be strange, but after reminding me of the newspaper it loses meaning and becomes entertaining to move on. Before I mentioned it, but in reality, the only thing wrong with the narrative is the change of scenery, it’s the only thing that doesn’t fit. But other than that, if you look at each scene for itself, it’s all very well told and I love how true it is to the manga.
Before I finish, I have to say that I was very excited about Shindou’s debut, I love this character. Miyamura’s relationship with Shindou is great, they really make you feel like best friends. So far we’ve only seen the surface, but the depth of their relationship is something to be appreciated. Hopefully we can see Hori’s jealousy over the close relationship between Miyamura and Shindou in the future.
So far, I leave you the usual questions: What did you think of this chapter? Did the student council enjoy this new vision? What is your opinion on Shindou and his friendship with Miyamura? Did you like Izumi’s statement?
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