Warning! This review on Horimiya Chapter nine contains spoilers. If you haven't seen the episode yet, I recommend watching it and then going back to read the review.

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Page 9. It's difficult, but not impossible

Horimiya Chapter nine begins with Hori combing Miyamura's hair but annoyed at the attention he's getting. On the way home, they meet Miyamura's former teammates, who are beaten up by Hori for speaking badly about him. Tanihara meets with Shindou and we discover that there is a deeper connection between him and Miyamura. For his part, Hori still insists on seeing his friend's violent side. Finally, and against his will, Miyamura does what she wants and creates some misunderstandings in the process. We can also see Miyamura deal with Mizouchi, an admirer of Hori, and make a new friend. Thanks to a dream, Tanihara considers the need to apologize to Miyamura and goes to meet him, although she cannot apologize, smoothing out some rough edges. Miyamura feels better able to come to terms with her past.

Who changes our perspective

This week we revisit the importance a person can have in our lives. It has always been difficult for Miyamura to relate to others, a little because of his own way of being and the same because of other people's prejudices. However, after meeting Hori, many things in his life changed radically. Now he is part of a group, has made friends and can interact more actively with others. All of this is largely thanks to his relationship with Kyoko as it is the boost he needed to transform himself. Basically, he needed a paradigm shift, and finding someone to love him despite his own lack of love is just the stepping stone to the self-love he needed to begin his journey.

Unlike anything they have tried to "teach" us, self-love doesn't start with ourselves, we need someone to teach us what to do to love. The perception that Miyamura had of himself was quite dark as it was perfectly normal that he could not love himself because he saw nothing to do. When he met Hori and fell in love with her, he followed the glare of having someone who can see the best of you even when you have nothing. When this person can love you, protect you, and experience a thousand emotions for you, it is difficult not to find your own worth.

Self-love begins with someone else's "I like you" because it recognizes your existence and validates your virtues. Love grows even more when it realizes your shortcomings and still stays with you. Loving yourself is another example of loving that other person because you realize that their feelings are not a waste. Hori's existence saved Miyamura in so many ways, so it is normal that despite the differences, he would still want to do everything possible for her. You don't need to understand, if you want to see your partner happy, just do what is necessary even if he occasionally hits or yells at him.

It's easier to connect than we think

This is an episode that is very focused on Miyamura, but more than her present and past conflicts. In contrast to before, Miyamura is more able to deal with conflicts in the present. He doesn't do it roughly or banally, but tries to understand his opponent. Mizouchi is a partner and because of his feelings for Hori, he has a grudge against him. Once he understands this, it is easier for Miyamura to take a position of understanding and to mark his limits. He definitely cannot give in to Hori and he cannot allow any lasting feelings either, so he turns to the demonstration. There are things that only he can do for you. For Mizouchi this is a graduation, maybe he had a misconception about Miyamura from the start, now he is open to meeting him from a different position.

Then we have the case of the past, its terrible association with Tanihara. At the time, Miyamura did not have the weapons to confront her attacker. So much so that the feeling of paralysis in the face of the memory persists even in the present. We can't know how much intimidation Tanihara inflicted on Miyamura, at least not in the anime, but we can assume it was a difficult time. The thing is, Tanihara was too immature and ended up pouring her own guilt on Miyamura. It took him a while to understand the gravity of his mistakes and the real guilt fell on him like a bucket of cold water. Then his need to apologize becomes latent and at the same time he discovers that it is not easy to redeem yourself. It takes courage to face your actions and your own heart.

Harming others, be it emotionally or physically, is not something that can be cured by insincere suffering. But just as apologizing takes courage, forgiveness also takes courage. Having found his own worth, Miyamura is more willing to look back at his past and make up with it. From the beginning, he was confident that the relationship with Tanihara could somehow work as the past should not be all that is left. Furthermore, in a way, both of them have become quotients of certain similarities that they maintain with each other, and in the long run, it is these things that help connect, superficially or deeply, with others.

Final comment

Horimiya Chapter nine was an episode full of thoughts and a few laughs. This is a bit tricky to put, but despite the break in between scenes that all seemed like it, I think it was one of the episodes with the best narrative rhythm. I mean, every scene felt fluid and there was a certain rhythm of tension and silence, together it felt like it all came together. But there was some lingering feeling that there seemed to be a jump between scenes, as if they didn't fit at first but in fact everyone did. Like I said, it's hard to get right, but in conclusion, it's one of my favorite narrative episodes.

Before I close on this review, I want to say that I like this direction in the script. It happened in the previous episode, and in this one too, they take a chapter of the manga and, as an addition, make a jump from many more. Personally, I think it is the right decision, otherwise we would not have had the opportunity to see Miyamura's "reconciliation" with Tanihara. I just hope they give us our #NoHomo moment between these two, it's not that important and inevitable but I would love to see it animated.

So far, I'll leave you with the usual questions: What did you think of this chapter? What do you think of Hori's fetishes? Do you believe that any bug can be fixed if there is an intent? What do you think of Tanihara?

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Sweety Otaku

One of the best parts of watching anime is how many times a show can surprise you. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. But if the Otaku know one thing, it's that anything is possible.

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