WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episodes 8 and 9 of Horimiya, which are available to stream on Funimation and Hulu.
In Horimiya Episodes 8 and 9, viewers are treated to a new aspect of Kyoko Hori and Izumi Miyamura's relationship in between other characters' stories: Kyoko's sudden penchant for masochism. This desire was spurred by Izumi jokingly putting his foot on her head while she painted his toenails. This one playful action results in a dramatic apology and a brief conversation about Izumi being himself around her.
During this, Kyoko tells him that she likes the thought of Izumi acting aggressive and domineering towards her, as he would with his friend, Koichi Shindo, or Honoka Sawada, who is infatuated with her. He reluctantly complies and finds that the experiences repeatedly leave her blushing and smiling, much to her tender-hearted boyfriend's chagrin and the bewilderment of their friends and classmates.
Compared to the largely wholesome treatment of intimacy in high school relationships in the series, Hori's sudden desire to be berated and even slapped by her otherwise mellow boyfriend is prominent enough to evoke one of anime's most dedicated masochists: Darkness of Konosuba fame. Darkness, whose real name is Dustiness Ford Lalatina, is one of Kazuma Satou's companions and a crusader with a penchant for masochism. While she is a genuinely courageous, kind, and caring person, her heroic acts throughout Konosuba are more often than not an excuse to satisfy her desires, and her love of receiving pain outshines many of her virtues to comedic effect.
That said, there are some notable differences between Kyoko and Darkness's overall outlooks on masochism. For one, Darkness's predilections go so far that her ideal husband is, in her words, "A failure at life, who tries to take the easiest route possible!" In Season 2, Episode 4 of Konosuba, she delights in telling Kazuma and Aqua that it would be better if he's in debt, drinks all day, and doesn't work, all while forcing her to sell her body. Her comrades are a unique combination of shocked, horrified, and unsurprised by her statements.
Kyoko, meanwhile, isn't interested in experiencing pain for its own sake. She only likes this kind of treatment from Izumi in the first place because she loves him. Her boyfriend, meanwhile, is baffled by the sudden change and tries to ask her father, Kyosuke, for advice. The first response he gets is one of confusion: "Is that her kink or something?" However, after that, Kyoko's father poses an interesting question to Izumi. "Maybe it's just 'cause it's the exact opposite of how you normally act?" A simple question, but it helps Izumi understand why Kyoko might want to see this side of him and gives him more confidence to act this way around her, even if it's not what he would prefer to do.
This change in dynamic also shows the audience how Kyoko and Izumi are made for each other. In Episode 9, after fellow classmate Mizouchi confronts Izumi about why Kyoko is with him, Izumi responds by asking if he could ever hit Kyoko. When Mizouchi strongly objects to the idea, Izumi replies, "Really? Then you could never be with her." Kyoko affirms this in a conversation with Koichi Shindo after he offers to help her on Izumi's behalf by flatly stating that this kind of treatment can only come from her boyfriend.
Kyoko's love of being bullied and pushed around every so often by her loving boyfriend pales in comparison to Darkness's comical dedication to pain from any source possible. It's also a hilarious look at how couples build confidence in each other through various forms of compromise and intimacy, even if the result is completely different from how they would typically choose to act around the people they love.
