I Think A Detail That Has Always Made This Scene Way Cuter And Affectionate For Me Is The Term Komaeda

I think a detail that has always made this scene way cuter and affectionate for me is the term Komaeda uses for "ultimate serenity" in the original version. komaeda refers to Hinata as the "super high school level iyashikei" iyashikei (癒し系) meaning soothing/healing type. While this doesn't make much of a difference from the translation, apart from making what Komaeda means by that more clear, it's what iyashikei entails that makes me love so much this little detail.

Iyashikei is defined as "people and things that make you feel calm and soothed when you are with them" and in more global anime circles it's also used to refer to a genre of anime characterized for it's calming qualities. For what I have investigated, it seems like the term had it's origins on the 2000s specifically on the idol subculture. While iyashikei isn't something inherently romantic, it's a term that is very commonly used in discussions about dating and romance, specially to refer to women. I find that this detail of the term being so common in discussions about romance and ideal partners accentuates a lot more the romantic tone and makes even more obvious the fact that Komaeda was flirting with Hinata.

Other thing about this that's very curious is the implications this has about how Komaeda perceives Hinata in the beginning. People who are described as "iyashikei" are usually described with characteristics like very calm, always smiling, soft, positive, cute and Hinata is usually not much like that, specially not at the beginning where he was so anxious and suspicious of everyone. It's extremely funny how Komaeda saw a man that was completely nothing alike of what people usually would find soothing or calming and he went like "Oh, definitely a calming type ♡" he really does see in him what nobody else does.

In the more complex side, it's very interesting how while is Komaeda the one who calls Hinata a healing type it seems like Hinata also sees Komaeda in that way, considering the dialogues about how looking at his smile soothes him and in general the way he talks about his presence. This only further confirms the belief that Hinata and Komaeda feel exactly the same about the other, even if they don't feel it at the same time. It's also interesting how Hinata is the one who gets described like that when Komaeda in the beginning acts more like the stereotypical iyashikei.