Review of Horimiya
I've recently seen Horimiya trending again on TikTok and whatnot, and I realized that I’d completely forgotten about it... except for the fact that I kind of liked it? Thus, I gave it a re-watch, and my impression remains the same: I "kind of" like it. I know this series and its manga have a cult following, but for an outsider, it is just a good romance anime, nothing special. First of all, the plot revolves around two high school students who are complete opposites, become a couple, and yadda yadda. We've seen this plot before. However, what Horimiya does differently is that it actually portraysthe characters being in a relationship instead of having them confess in the final episode. The show started off really well, developing Hori's and Miyamura's relationship in a natural and well-paced way. It did a great job introducing the side cast, who all added to the narrative. However, as the anime progressed into the second half, things started to feel rushed. New characters who had maybe five seconds of screen time in the first half were suddenly important, and we were supposed to just accept the new status quo without any buildup or reasoning. At times, it felt like I had accidentally skipped episodes. Furthermore, a lot of time was spent developing side characters, only for them not to play a part in the story at all. In the end, the story just felt really rushed; it seems they cut a lot of content from the manga just to fit a 13-episode frame.
The characters themselves aren't bad at all. Both Hori and Miyamura are likable as main characters and have reasonable thoughts and actions. Their relationship seems realistic within the bounds of anime, and both of them feel like "people." The main side cast—consisting of Toru, Yuki, and Hori's family are all introduced naturally and add perspective to the main duo's relationship. Toru and Yuki are also both well-developed and seem like realistic characters too. Where the anime fails, once again, is the rushing. As previously mentioned, many characters are introduced, given half an episode of backstory, and then are either suddenly part of the main cast (the Student Council, Iura, etc.) or are completely forgotten and make minimal appearances throughout the rest of the show (Sawada, Tanihara, etc.). It feels like the show just forces new characters on the viewer.
The art in Horimiya is good. The character design is what gives the anime its unique look, and it does its job well. As for the backgrounds, they're fine. Where the art really excels is the animation. It is fluid and detailed throughout the show, which is impressive for a romance anime. It’s essentially what you’d expect from CloverWorks, but I'm not complaining.
Sound, on the other hand, is a bit more lacking. Except for the voice acting, which was quite good, there isn't really anything to dig into. The soundtrack was okay when it was present, but the anime was quiet most of the time. The other sound effects were passable, and the OP and ED were both okay too.
Even though the anime felt really rushed, I did enjoy watching it. The first half was especially good as far as rom-coms go, and when the story started lacking in the later parts, it had enough funny and light-hearted moments to keep me entertained. I don't think this show ever got boring, and it was a very easy binge. Time just flew by.
In conclusion, Horimiya had all the potential to be a really good anime worthy of the praise it gets, but it tried too hard to fit the entire source material into a small 13-episode frame. Since I enjoyed it so much, I am considering starting the manga. I will definitely watch the sidequel, Horimiya: Piece, which, as I understand it, covers the same timeline but focuses on the side stories that were skipped. This is likely what should have been done from the start with a longer season. In the end, I would recommend Horimiya to most anime fans. It's a fun watch, but don't expect a masterpiece.