The Kyoko Scene In Horimiya That Went Too Far
Premiering late in 2021, the 13-episode rom-com anime series "Horimiya" grew out of a four-panel web manga series created by Hiroki Adachi. Writing and illustrating the series under the pseudonym Hero, the story of the budding romance shared by Kyoko Hori and Izumi Miyamura was self-published on Hero's site Dokkai Ahen in 2007 and ran for four years. As for who the series is designed to appeal to, MyAnimeList.net states that "Horimiya" falls into the Shōnen demographic category, which generally includes action-oriented manga and anime targeted primarily to boys ages 12 to 18. However, CBR.com maintains that the romantic, "slice of life" nature of "Horimiya" is calculated to appeal equally to both female and male audiences.
With a storyline that would seem likely to draw in audiences of either gender, the anime series (produced by CloverWorks, and later with an English dub by Funimation) features the intense and emotionally complex relationship of a high school couple who at first glance seem to have little in common. Kyoko Hori is socially adept and confident, with a circle of friends she's utterly comfortable around. Izumi Miyamura, on the other hand, is a withdrawn, moody guy at school who seems awkward and shy around his schoolmates. The fact is, both teens do have something vital in common: neither is exactly who they seem to be. Away from school, Kyoko is a hard-working, stay-at-home "mom" to her younger brother, and Izumi is a tattooed, easy-going bro-type. While the series overall is upbeat, wholesome, and non-controversial, there's one scene in "Horimiya" that absolutely went too far for some fans of the show.
The Kyoko-Izumi off-camera sex scene had fans freaking out
As with any manga or anime that combines the names of the two central characters, it's no surprise that "Horimiya" would eventually find the two high schoolers engaging in "intimate behavior" of one kind or another. However, some fans thought that the implication of a sexual relationship, even though it happened off-screen, developed too quickly and unexpectedly.
Posting about the scene in question on Reddit, user u/Sofi-kun said, "As someone who started watching Horimiya without knowing anything about the source material, this episode shocked me a lot..." Redditor u/FlickJagger agreed this moment in the episode was simply too much, writing, "I saw it yesterday, and man it's still messing with my head." And another Reddit user also seemed to be caught off guard by the startling development, saying "On Funimation they showed them laying in the bed... He goes in for a kiss and the scene cuts out. Then after the ending credits they show them both naked (you only see collarbone and face) and a bite mark on the back of Izumi's neck. My jaw dropped and my mind was blown."
So while the series should likely not be faulted for addressing relevant issues like teen sex and intimacy, this particular scene was apparently the Kyoko moment in "Horimiya" that definitely went too far for a number of fans.