The following contains spoilers for Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 12, “Just Beginning”, now streaming on Funimation.
After 12 episodes, and a lot of internal struggles and character growth, the moment has finally come, where Sasaki and Miyano are now officially a real couple. Of course, it should be the logical conclusion to this romance and the series, but for audiences that crave something more, the series has also made an announcement for a new anime, showing that there is always more space for some sweet and wholesome BL content.
The last episode had already shown Miyano struggling to properly confess to Sasaki, though not for a lack of trying. While at the same time, Sasaki was probably on the brink of not being able to contain his emotions and his actions, so he was trying to stay away from Miyano to avoid overstepping his boundaries. Sasaki’s thoughts reinforced why he is actually one of the best romantic interests in BL, as he actively thinks about consent and feels guilty about not asking first. Fans may notice that he also asked Miyano for consent when he later hugged and kissed Miyano, and asked again afterward to make sure that Miyano was actually okay with it. It is very rare to see someone so serious about consent in anime, and contrary to some claims, this does not ruin the mood or the romance one bit.
Eventually, with the help of almost everyone, including Hirano’s creative deception, Hanzawa’s encouragement, and Kuresawa’s good memory, Miyano was able to catch up to Sasaki and make a proper confession. Unlike his previous hesitations, Miyano’s confession was as straightforward as it gets. Miyano plainly said that he liked Sasaki, and this time, it was Sasaki that was in shock and tearful after hearing the answer he craved all this time. After Sasaki had been supporting Miyano for so long and helping him gain self-confidence, it was now Miyano’s turn to give Sasaki the confidence he needed to finally become a couple.
The callbacks during the confession scene were some great showcases of the series’ attention to detail. For example, the cold hands touching was a call back to Episode 8, where Miyano noticed that Sasaki’s hand gets cold when he is nervous. The fact that both Miyano and Sasaki’s hands are cold, showed how nervous they both were at this moment, which was very sweet and innocent. Sasaki’s official request to become a couple was also a call back to Episode 1 where he half-jokingly asked Miyano to date, showing that the emotional journey they have taken through the course of the series has come full circle.
True to form, Miyano formally asked Sasaki to be his boyfriend, just so that he can avoid the BL cliché of confessing but not becoming a couple. This was actually a great detail, emphasizing how much Miyano’s thought process has been influenced by BL, and it had likely made him more hesitant to confess in the first place. It was also quite shocking that Miyano and Sasaki didn't have each other’s numbers, but this is likely a reflection of their high comfort level with each other because their face-to-face interactions were so engaging that they forget to ask for each other’s numbers.
But the best part of the episode is that fans get two kisses to make up for the two times they almost kissed in previous episodes. Even though both kisses are quite unsatisfying in terms of the way they are framed and in length. This is why it is great news that Sasaki and Miyano announced at the very end that a new anime has been greenlit.
Given that the current series finished at Chapter 31 of the manga, and there are already 42 chapters, there should be enough content for a couple of OVAs. Additionally, the very popular spin-off Hirano and Kagiura is also a great candidate for an anime adaptation, even though it might still be a bit early in the story for a whole season. No matter what it will be, it will be great to spend more time with this group of wonderful and fun characters in this cozy universe.
