The utterly wonderful Boys’ Love anime series Sasaki and Miyano ended its first season today with the airing of Episode 12.
And, if you were waiting to finally hear Miyano’s confession to Sasaki, well, let’s just say, you got it in spades as, boy, that was a long but incredibly sweet confession, wasn’t it?
So, let’s get started with my review of Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 12, “Just Beginning” because, if this wasn’t the nicest and most satisfying ending to a beloved anime series, I don’t know what was.
Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 12 review
I have already read the Sasaki and Miyano manga series quite a bit past Miyano’s confession, but I was still happy to see his confession to Sasaki play out exactly as it does in the manga.
Even down to the same things being said as Miyano finally tells Sasaki he loves him.
But, with it being animated and in color, and with all those romantic hazy lights and floating confetti bits, it was even more satisfying.
Of course, it being Miyano who is confessing, there was no way it would go completely smoothly as, like I have said before, that boy is always so far in his own head he creates his own problems with Sasaki.
And, yep, that’s what happens here at the beginning of Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 12 as last week’s ending scene replays as Sasaki walks away after Miyano hits him with his hand as he was about to kiss him.
A misunderstanding, of course, but the now-devastated Sasaki doesn’t yet know that.
Miyano tries to go after him, but loses him and is forced to ask Hirano for Sasaki’s contact information. Yes, this has been going on for over six months, and Miyano and Sasaki still don’t have each other’s phone numbers.
What the hell, eh?
Before Miyano leaves in pursuit of Sasaki, however, Hanzawa asks him if he’s dating Sasaki and Miyano replies that he’s not, but that he likes him.
Hanzawa then warns him same-sex relationships can be difficult as people say things they wouldn’t say if it was a relationship between a man and a woman. He tells Miyano he knows this because one of his family members is gay (it’s his brother, but he doesn’t tell Miyano that), and he has seen the difficulties first hand.
And, yes, something every gay man will tell you is absolutely true as, while some people are just horrible to others when they find out they love someone of the same sex, others who would never ask a straight couple about their sex life will weirdly have no problem asking two gay men.
Go figure, eh?
However, sweet Miyano simply responds, “As long as I have Sasaki by my side, I think we’ll be fine”, and then heads off to find Sasaki so he can tell him he loves him.
As he does, Hirano calls Sasaki and leaves a message for him saying “You’ve left something at school”.
That way, he tells Hanzawa, Sasaki will come back to school and hopefully bump into Miyano on the way.
And this is one of the many things that is so freaking sweet about this anime — the boys who are friends with Sasaki and Miyano not only taking their burgeoning relationship in their stride, but helping and supporting them as much as they can.
Even boys like Hirano, who really hates talking about relationships.
Meanwhile, Miyano gets off at the train station Sasaki normally gets on at and, as he is looking at a map to Sasaki’s family bakery Hirano has just sent him, Sasaki himself appears at the station on his way back to pick up what he’s ‘forgotten’ at school.
Shocked to see Miyano standing there, when he realizes Miyano wants to talk to him, he takes him to a small local park so he can apologize properly for almost kissing him.
And that is when, after more than six months since Sasaki’s confession, Miyano finally confesses to Sasaki.
And, no, I am not going to go into the confession step-by-step, except to say that was one of the longest, sweetest and most convoluted confessions I have ever heard as Miyano struggled to say what he meant.
No matter, though, his words and his emotions got across and the lovely Sasaki quickly went from dejected and horrified that he had almost kissed Miyano when they are not even dating, to absolutely ecstatic the object of his affection apparently loves him in the same way.
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For me, someone who has liked Sasaki from the very first episode, while I have sometimes found Miyano frustrating beyond belief, I was so happy to finally see this nice boy get the reward he deserves for his ungodly patience with the kouhai he loves.
And doesn’t that just tell you too, if Sasaki was this kind to Miyano when he wasn’t even dating him, can you imagine what an amazing boyfriend he will make now that he is?
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For the show’s fans, of course, Miyano’s confession was lovely too as, instead of the usual “I like you” that we get at the end of anime series, and then the immediate fade to black, this one was a long, involved confession with lots of explanations, several laughs from Sasaki, hearts beating out of chests, fingers brushing lips, shy glances, both boys asking each other out and, yep, two kisses.
A confession that really felt like it was between two real people, and not between characters in an animated scene.
Plus, you had to laugh when, after they had kissed, Miyano officially asked Sasaki to be his boyfriend.
After all, he’d read a manga where the boys confessed, but then weren’t dating in the next volume, and he didn’t want that confusion to happen between himself and Sasaki.
Bless him, eh?
Finally, while this is one of the nicest confessions I have seen in an anime, everything about the entirety of Sasaki and Miyano made me equally as happy.
From that gorgeous piano music that makes every scene even more romantic (and yes, I really want an official soundtrack release), to the floating confetti and hearts, the beautiful art style, the story, the voice actors, every damn character, the humor, and even the chibi characters that occasionally pop up, all of it was perfect for me.
That’s why, when today’s announcement arrived right after Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 12 aired that another anime is already in production featuring this two lovely boys, the huge grin I had had on my face from the minute this last episode began to stream just got even bigger.
So, bless you, Shō Harusono, the mangaka who wrote the Sasaki and Miyano manga series as, damn, I loved this anime and these characters so much.