Sasaki and Miyano

Episode 5

Oh readers, we're really in it now. After a month of setup and character building, it's time for SasaMiya to wade right up to its chin in teenage emotions and just soak it in for a good long while. It's something that comes to pass in every teen romance story eventually, where both parties are at least sort of aware of their feelings and are forced to squirm around in their heads while they blush and second-guess everything either party says. It's the inevitable, logical conclusion when you have a pair of young people with no clue how to be emotionally honest or vulnerable.

And I. Fucking. Love it.

No exaggeration: when Miyano started trying to convince himself that he just misheard Sasaki on the train, and then spent their whole conversation internally analyzing every word that came out of his mouth just on the off chance he might say something suggestive, I was prepping to roll around like a pig in mud. I was ready to spend weeks, if not months, watching these two dummies tiptoe around the topic of love for the rest of this show, and I would have eaten it all up with the most obnoxious grin on my face.

Sasaki, however, doesn't have time for all of that. In fact time is weighing on his mind pretty heavily, and it makes sense from his perspective. As an adult, I know that high school connections can and do last beyond graduation, but when you're in the thick of it as a student, that day when you walk out of school seems like the end of life as you know it. To him, every day spent timidly brushing fingertips in the hopes of maybe getting the message across is one less day they have together, so he up and confesses in as awkward a way as possible by just dropping it in Miyano's lap mid-conversation.

And it gives life to a remarkably delicate scene as both stutter and flinch and avoid eye contact while trying to figure out how in the hell to even talk after that hand grenade of an icebreaker. I haven't talked much about the overall modest production of the show, but here it demonstrates its ability to do a lot with relatively little. Body language, eyelines, and carefully considered framing do so much storytelling in the segment, perfectly capturing the frantic energy both boys are trying to contain as they speak. This is 100% a show about living in these characters' emotions, and having visuals capable of so effortlessly conveying them is a godsend.

Unfortunately for Sasaki, he's far less adept at expressing complex emotions than the people animating him, so he immediately fumbles his post-confession so hard that both I and the other characters want to smack him across the face. But his gaffe gives us a deeper look into Miyano's baggage over his feminine appearance and the adorable moment where he wishes he was taller so kissing Sasaki would be easier, so all is forgiven. There's nothing here that's all that revelatory, but just following Miyano as he articulates how he feels about his body and the way others think of him is a good use of our time – anything that makes these kids feel more rounded and relatable is a good thing.

Despite the momentous shakeup though, not a whole lot of development happens here – even by SasaMiya standards. We're more or less exactly where we were at the start of it, just now there's no option for Miyano to deny the situation. But I didn't get into this show for a whirlwind romance filled with drama and shocking twists. I got into it to watch two cute boys doggy paddle through an ocean of feelings, and by god this delivered in spades.

Rating:

Sasaki and Miyano is currently streaming on Funimation.