The Yuki Scene In Horimiya That Went Too Far
Beginning originally as a spinoff of "Hori-san to Miyamura-kun", Daisuke Hagiwara's 2011 manga "Hori-Miya" has been adapted into an original anime series, with the name shortened to "Horimiya" (via Anime News Network). The 13-episode show follows high schoolers Kyouko Hori (Haruka Tomatsu) and Izumi Miyamura (Kouki Uchiyama) (via My Anime List). Both are seeming opposites, as Hori is popular and beautiful, whereas Izumi is shy and anti-social. But Hori and Izumi learn secrets about one another that cause the two of them to become closer than anyone ever expected.
The themes in the teen series of deception and a secret inner life proved to be successful for studio CloverWorks. "Horimiya" was even popular enough to receive an English dub from Funimation in February 2021, translating the romance anime to an even wider international audience (via Funimation). Given the storylines, however, one scene in "Horimiya" involving Yuki, Hori's best friend, may have taken the deception intrinsic to the show's premise a bit too far.
Yuki lies to a friend so she can keep pretend-dating Toru
Yuki (Yurie Kozakai) tends to hide her feelings and is reserved about what she really wants. This extends to her relationships as well: Yuki often creates tricky situations because of her romantic deceptions.
This is especially the case when she admits to Remi (Mao Ichimichi) that she lied to Sakura Kouno (Reina Kondou) about seeing Tooru (Seiichirou Yamashita). Yuki and Tooru originally pretended to date so Akane (Jun Fukuyama) would be spared. But when given the opportunity to clear the air, Yuki continues the deception because she likes him, too. In the comments of a r/Horimiya post, u/reallynotafaze wrote that "just because you can't make a choice and are so [sic] unsure about your feelings does not mean you...destroy someone else's feelings".
Yuki and Tooru may have real sparks, but as fans pointed out, it's still one of the crueler moments of deceit on "Horimiya." u/ezinexx commented that Sakura "would've been rejected anyway but Yuki didn't need to jump in just so she can act like their [sic] dating without having to face her fears and say she likes [Tooru]."
Still, u/Jazzicots countered, "Sometimes it's so much easier to keep lying to keep good things on your side instead of to [sic] do the hard thing and face the truth. She's a teenager, I understand." At least Yuki is able to acknowledge what she did and tries to atone for it.