Review of Horimiya

I usually don't like writing reviews, but after watching this series and rewatching it after reading some of the top reviews I got bothered. The common argument against Horimiya as a "good anime" seems to be the main characters being tropes, the lead female(Hori) being proficient in schoolwork, housework, and a caretaker, and the male lead (Miyamura) being a gloomy person with a "hurtful" past. There are also comments about the director having a bad track record and that the visuals or directing are lackluster at times. There is nothing wrong with being a generic anime with tropes if it is done well and Horimiya playswell with the tropes of the genre while giving each character depth.

First of all, while the characters are tropey or genric they play with this in a way that affects the characters' behavior and emotional expression. In the first episode, the male lead is afraid to hurt the lead female's reputation because they are hanging out and etc. Later in the series, around episode... 5 or 6 I believe, there is a flashback where Miyamura had effects on someone's reputation in middle school. While I think it's overexaggerated how much this "affects him" it is understandable that he doesn't want to give Mori hardship.

The same can be said for Mori. An example of this is when she gets sick in episode... 4, I think, and is frightened that Miyamura will leave her when she is ill. The flashback of her mother going to work instead of taking care of her when she was a child. Miyamura being someone she has tied a strong emotional bond to she seems to be afraid that Miyamura will become more of a side character in her life, as it seems her mother became. In other words, leaving her alone to juggle everything herself once again. Side note, this scene also seems to give hints that the violent and independent front she puts up is more out of desperation and fright of seeming vondreable than actual malice. All bark but no bite.

Second, these characters are meant to be teenagers pushing into adulthood. I really liked the focus on the individual's interpretation of situations and the words being used as the source for anxiety and fears in regards to how the relationship is developing and also the effect these might have on the other individual. Focusing on this made the show less of a "will they won't they"

The side characters on the other hand seem more like a "will they won't they" imo, however, I'd argue that the side characters are well fleshed out and feel more like individuals than general side characters in most shows. Personally liked Sakura coming to terms with liking someone, being afraid to hurt them, and then coming to terms with her feelings not being reciprocated.

Third, the violence the parties demonstrate towards each other and so forth seem to be played out as humor. However, I don't find this humorous myself, but I will give it the benefit of the doubt that it was meant in good faith.

Fourth, while I agree that the directing is weird at times and sometimes the voice acting sounds... off to me, the first line of Hori's brother being the first to come to mind, I'd argue that these flaws aren't as great as some of the reviews seem to indicate. Some of the scenes got more interesting in my opinion because of some of the directing choices, such as focusing on hands and body language more than faces. I also find that the characters' bodily expressions, too me, feel more genuine and well thought out than most seasonal anime. Humans "speak" more with body language than we think and it was refreshing to see characters react with actions and body language instead of with oral expressions, which I'd argue there is too much of in anime in general but I digress.

Fifth, I enjoyed how the relationship got established without too much of a "DAISKIIIIIIIII" scene. This is related to point four and two, but there was not a big reliance on "that one scene" to get the characters to be together. This romance seemed to fall more naturally than most romance anime I've seen. Also the focus on them being in a relationship, trying to please one another and matching the other's wants without being able to properly fulfill this want was also neatly packaged.

Of course, people like different anime and see different things in series. This is based on a lot of things such as mood, personal experience, and humor to mention a few. However, I find it weird to demerit a series with above good animation, a good twist on an established trope, and good characters to only focus on certain aspects which were decent too bad.

It might seem that I enjoy this series way too much, maybe I do, but there are flaws in this anime that take it away from being a 9 imo. Miyamura's "dark past" was kinda.... boring in the long run as it's this story which, except for the relationship, is focused on. Personally, I didn't buy it, even if the rabbit thing piqued my interest.

There is no such thing as an objective score however, I'd argue that giving this anime anything less than a 6 is suspicious as best or projecting dislikes of other series onto Horimiya at worst.