Review of Horimiya

The plot of Horimiya is pretty basic, but it's the execution that sets it apart from other anime. Horimiya's characters are surprisingly realistic for a rom com anime. No matter what, there is a character that someone can relate to at LEAST once. Every main and supporting character has their own complex personality, insecurities, and quirks, but they aren't over exaggerated like anime typically does. There is also a surprising amount of emotional depth in Horimiya. Just like in real life, conflicts are started over small, insignificant things that, in hindsight, should not have been worthy of conflict. Instead of the conflicts spiraling out ofcontrol though, Horimiya takes the realistic approach of talking it out.

Even the actual romance takes a more realistic approach on adolescent relationships, with a ton of emphasis on the small moments that pull it all together. It flawlessly captures that feeling of wishing something could last forever. Every bit of physical contact between Hori and Miyamura has a well thoughtout buildup.

Not every great anime can exist without its weaknesses though. Horimiya has some minor issues that don't ruin the viewing experience at all, but without these issues, it would be a 10/10. First off, the pacing is kinda weird. The beginning of Horimiya is pretty fast paced, but it quickly slows down for the rest of the anime. It's also highly predictable. From the get go, it was obvious what general direction the plot would be going, and all of the conflicts have some pretty predictable outcomes. On the topic of conflicts, a few of them felt like they were resolved WAY too easily. My final issue, is how it was adapted form the source material. A lot of smaller moments were cut from the anime to make it fit into 12 episodes (a lot if this will be adapted later on in The Missing Pieces.) I feel like they could have made the overall length 4-6 episodes longer and that would fix most of the issues, especially the problems with pacing and cut content.

All in all, Horimiya is a beautiful emulation of real life adolescent romance, that takes a much calmer and more realistic approach than anime of similar style. Horimiya earns a rock solid 9/10 from me.
Horimiya, was a pretty damn good anime.

(This is my first review, and I feel like Horimiya deserved it. So expect some shortcomings or inaccuracies within the review.)