Review of Horimiya
The Cinnamon Roll With the Hidden Tattoos (and piercings). I. Fucking. LOVE Horimiya. Considering the tidal wave of anime that came out in winter 2021 it's astonishing to think that this show out-performed almost everything. After the third episode, I was so hooked that I bought as many of the manga volumes that were available for digital download and binged them in one night. Then I did a naughty and pirated the rest of the chapters that weren't realised in English yet because I just couldn't stop myself. (I bought them after they were officially realised to make up for it and to support the creator).There are no gimmicks to Horimiya's story. No harem, no magic, no weird tricks to try and make it stand out from other Rom-Com or to try to make it something it's not. It's a simple, mundane, expertly crafted high school Rom-Com about two teenagers who had nothing to do with each other and thought they had nothing in common. Finding out one day after a small incident that they had something in common they begin a friendship where they could be the selves that they're too self-conscious to show in front of their school colleagues eventually, leading into romance the more they get to know each other.
The show would probably not be nearly as impactful if it wasn't for CloverWork's stunningly polished animation and art direction, backed by a cosy ost to help convey an honest depiction of teenage angst and tedious mellow drama to shocking powerful effects. You rarely if ever hear a character's inner monologue, but you don't need to because the art directions way of showing teenage pangs tells you everything that character is thinking/feeling. It's a really difficult feeling to pull off and Horimiya does it well.
Of course, all this wouldn't work if the characters weren't worth exploring. Most of their surface personalities are that of normal, anime archetypes, but through clever and thoughtful writing they become engaging, well-rounded, believable people as the show progresses. Hori's and Miyamura's romantic chemistry is spellbinding. The show doesn't spell out a lot of their backstories or why they are the way they are. Instead, it likes to drop hints as to what they dealing with and what caused them to turn out a certain way.
The cast of surrounding characters also gets to indulge in somewhat more trope-ier relationships with each other but the show is always honest in its approach.
My only real criticism of the show is its length. if you've read the original manga you'd know that it's 123 chapters (possibly ongoing) long and that's a lot to fit into a 13-episode season. Of course, this means that a lot of chapters have been cut to make a straightforward structure of one year in high school with a hard focus on the character development parts of the manga.
I didn't mind this at first. Some of the side stories in the manga don't lead anywhere and the less of the pervert teacher the better, but after around 7 episodes or so you'll start to realise that some characters aren't getting as much attention as others and the pacing starts to suffer a bit. This is made all the more evident by the final episodes credits showing slides from the cut chapters which I feel is a little bit of a slap in the face. I wish it was a 24-episode season, but this is CloverWorks we're talking about so it's probably for the best it wasn't drawn out longer.
Still, I've just finished my 3rd viewing and I still love it. It's an amazing comfort anime to watch when you're just in the mood for something light (though, I do recommend reading the manga). I love Horimiya and I hope it's a romance show that people will still be talking about for years to come.
9/10 Amazing.