English Dub Review: Horimiya “I Would Gift You the Sky”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Hori and Iura get to carry Miyamura, Ishikawa, and Yoshikawa’s luggage. Meanwhile, the student council trio discusses going on a road trip with Yanagi who hopes to get his license. At Hori’s house while Hori is asleep Miyamura wonders for a moment if he never helped Souta that day. His alternate reality would be everyone in their own friend groups and him remaining a loner. Hori wakes up wondering what’s going on in that head of his.

On graduation day Miyamura sneezes at the beginning of Sengoku’s speech which gets everyone restraining themselves from laughing. Sengoku chases Miyramura around the school before losing him after a run-in with Ishikawa. On the rooftop, Miyamura acknowledges his past self before a classmate comes to get him for class photos. The families of the group show up to congratulate them like Kyosuke and Motoko. Afterward, Hori and Miyamura walk together to meet up with the others to grab sushi to celebrate their graduation.

Our Take:

This final episode was a lovely finale for everyone’s high school experience in Horimiya. It dabbles on the future of their friendships and Miyamura reconciling with his past self. A few amusing moments helped with the realistic anxiety of change and Miyamura’s sad alternate reality. For example, Sakura and Sengoku’s method to get Remi to spill her thoughts by stretching out her cheeks. Miyamura sneezing at the beginning of Sengoku’s valedictorian speech was funny with the aftermath of Sengoku chasing him down. Now change is inevitable and graduation marks a turning point in a lot of people’s lives. Remi’s worries on whether or not they’ll stay friends after high school is a common problem. The show handles it well giving hope that they’ll stay friends when discussing the road trip.

Miyamura’s alternate reality where he never helped Souta was an interesting contrast to his present reality. The friend group returns to how they started in the beginning before they started interacting more with each other. However, there are glimpses of what could have been like Sakura noticing Ishikawa or Sengoku’s comment about Remi’s haircut. That reality is sad, but not the reality he’s in now and Miyamura knows that he’s better with Hori in his life. He recognizes her impact on his life at the end and he tries to find a way to repay her for that.

Miyamura’s reflection of himself on graduation day was great. The rooftop scene worked with their positions symbolizing their mental state. His past self in the shadows and his present self in the light with the blue sky. Miyamura’s inner monologue on Hori and his relationship with her is beautiful with the cherry blossom trees blooming around them. His comment on giving Hori a cake with whipped cream over the sky goes to show how well they know each other.

Then there’s Sakura, Ishikawa, and Yoshikawa which ends with a positive outcome. The show getting Sakura to see Ishikawa again took a bit longer than expected. Sakura and Ishikawa settle on being friends and I liked how Sakura is literally moving forward from Ishikawa. Meanwhile, Yoshikawa decides to move forward before she bumps into Yanagi who tells her about the road trip. That scene does have a serious vibe in the beginning after Sakura and Ishikawa decide to be just friends. The show leaves their interaction open-ended with the topic of the road trip.

The ending in time with the pictures of their high school events and other small moments was nice. It would have been great for the series to cover those events. However, this final episode worked as a great heartwarming end to Hori and Miyamura’s high school journey.