Oh, my Sunday night is always complete when a new Sasaki and Miyano episode hits.
This week, it’s Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 9, “I Want to Take Care of You, Senpai“.
One of the loveliest episodes yet, as it explores what happens when one person is in love and has been for a long time, while the other is still unsure of his own feelings.
An episode that shows the agony Sasaki is forced to endure as Miyano continues to dither.
Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 9 recap and review — “I Want to Take Care of You, Senpai“
Episode 9 begins with Sasaki and Miyano in the position we left them in last week. Sasaki hugging Miyano, and Miyano confused.
Then it’s more of those lovely, misty scenes we always get — empty, sun-drenched school corridors, the cat stretching, the hazy outdoors — until back in the classroom and, just as Sasaki is about to kiss Miyano, something stacked against the wall falls and breaks the spell.
And this episode then moves into all about soft touches, heart-stopping glances and Sasaki trying to hold on and give Miyano time, while it seems like an eternity that will never end for him.
With a Miyano so confused about his feelings, he thinks he loves Sasaki but he’s not sure.
So he’s afraid to kiss him, just in case he hurts Sasaki if it turns out he doesn’t love him at all, and, of course, not realizing that all of this worrying in his head is because he does love Sasaki.
And isn’t it funny how a Boys’ Love expert cannot see what is right in front of his face?
Meanwhile, Sasaki takes back his request to have Miyano pull out of the cross-dressing competition, as he knows he is not being fair, then Miyano tells him later on he isn’t pulling out anyway.
After all, he isn’t being teased about his face looking like a girl anymore, so he is fine dressing up as one.
Related: How many volumes of the Sasaki and Miyano manga series are currently published in English?
The rest of the episode has Miyano being unable to concentrate on anything except the feel of Sasaki’s hand on his face, and going over and over in his head what his feelings for Sasaki might be.
At one point, though, Miyano realizes he is being ‘wishy washy’ and taking far too long to respond to Sasaki’s confession, which is incredibly unfair of him.
Even Hirano tells Sasaki, if it’s taken this long for Miyano to respond to his confession, he “should just say No” and get it over with.
But, of course, Sasaki is so much in love, even though it’s killing him to wait, he responds to Hirano’s statement with “I can wait. If he will eventually be interested in me, I can wait”.
And this is what makes Sasaki and Miyano so damned lovely.
Because the anime (and the manga it’s based on) is a Boys’ Love story that, instead of being about sex and trying to get the other guy into bed, is all about feelings and confusion, and how the other boy makes their heart jump.
Something many teens feel as they deal with raging hormones and intense emotions they have never felt before.
That’s why this is romance at its most touching, and such a joy to watch. Especially as both boys really are the sweetest of people, and trying to do the best by the boy they care about.
READ: When does Miyano confess to Sasaki in the manga series?
The rest of Episode 9 centers around Sasaki catching a cold and then a fever, and Miyano taking care of him in the nurse’s room.
With Sasaki a little disappointed as, when he asks Miyano why he’s willing to help him get safely home because he’s sick, Miyano replies “I want to take care of you, Senpai”.
Not the “Because I love you” response Sasaki had hoped for, so leaving him with the feeling “Does Miyano only care about me as his Senpai, and so doesn’t really love me at all?”.
Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 9 ends with the school culture festival, and Miyano and Kuresawa at the cafe Sasaki’s class is running, with Sasaki embarrassed because he is dressed up as ‘a bad boy’. Something he never is and never will be when Miyano is concerned.
It concludes another episode of longing, anticipation, hearts’ beating out of their chests, and two boys — one so much in love he can’t stand it, and the other so worried about being gay he can’t seem to get himself to take that final step.
READ: Why Sasaki Shuumei is the perfect boyfriend — Miyano is so lucky!!
Of course, with three more episodes to go before Sasaki and Miyano ends, there are probably at least two more episodes of this before Miyano tells Sasaki he loves him.
As, let’s face it, we all know it’s only a matter of time until he does.
My only dread is we will get another episode of Miyano going backwards and forwards about his feelings for Sasaki first and, if that happens, I swear to God it has been six months since Sasaki’s confession, so I’ll just want to slap him.
Watch Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 9, “I Want to Take Care of You, Senpai” on Crunchyroll and, of course, grab the Sasaki and Miyano manga series via Yen Press.