Warning: the following contains spoilers for Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 9, “I Want to Take Care of You, Senpai”, now streaming on Funimation.
The last episode's ending gave strong hints that Miyano was already quite sure about his feelings and was about to reciprocate Sasaki’s confession, yet fans spend one more week without any major romantic developments (at least there is almost a kiss). Despite this, Sasaki and Miyano are already behaving like a couple. They have all the usual misunderstandings, but they resolve them so quickly that these little interludes never become an issue. This kind of storytelling is quite instructive as a relationship guide, but not very constructive in terms of the plot since drama is what most romances rely on to push forward their narrative.
In Episode 8, Sasaki asked Miyano to quit the cross-dressing beauty contest out of jealousy, and this feeling came from two places. The first was because he doesn’t want anyone to see Miyano dressed up in female clothing. The second was more complex, as he knew that Miyano was self-conscious about his feminine appearance, so he thought that Miyano was making a big sacrifice just for someone else’s request. Sasaki's request was both out of concerns for Miyano, as well as due to his own possessiveness. He wanted to see if Miyano was willing to give up the contest for him. But Sasaki quickly realized that he was out of line, and pulled back just in time.
But Miyano is now conflicted over whether or not to drop out, because he already realized that he likes Sasaki romantically. After talking it over with Kuresawa, Miyano decided to be honest with Sasaki about his decision. Miyano told Sasaki that he was actually the catalyst for him entering the contest and that Sasaki's confession helped Miyano get over his inferiority complex. This is exactly what Sasaki needed to hear to get over his jealousy, and he gave Miyano his blessing.
This misunderstanding, which stemmed from actual character development, is resolved in less than 15 minutes of screen time. The rest of the school festival just carries on without much drama or conflict. It is really no wonder why some fans are complaining about the pacing of Sasaki and Miyano since there is actually very little dramatic tension over the entirety of this series. Partly because characters are always able to communicate openly, and resolve any problems before they become long-lasting.
In this sense, Sasaki and Miyano really can be watched as a guidebook on how healthy relationships are carried out: through positive communications. When Miyano talks to Sasaki, he straightforwardly tells him the reasoning behind his decisions and explains all of his motivations as clearly as he could. He could have just ignored Sasaki and stayed in the contest, and everything would probably be just fine. But the fact that he goes out of his way to talk to Sasaki, just shows how much he really cares about Sasaki. This kind of open dialogue is truly a rarity in anime, especially when tsundere characters are all the rage.
Even secondary characters like Kuresawa constantly demonstrate how to behave like a considerate boyfriend, even though his love for his girlfriend can seem to border on pathological at times, he is actually not unreasonable. He knows when to indulge his girlfriend’s capriciousness, but also to say no when he knows she might regret a decision later. He shows that he is able to emphasize and not just control her behaviors. He is also extremely supportive of all her interests and even encourages it whenever she can.
As anime audiences, the relatively slow pace can seem glacial when there is not much plot development, and characters are being very cautious about their words. But for those that really want to take a breather from this incredibly dramatic anime season, and watch some actual relaxing slice of life, Sasaki and Miyano is one of the best and most positive watches in anime today.