Review of Horimiya

tl;dr a feel-good romcom/SOL, but just a tad too perfect Horimiya is well made. Very well made, but I cannot give it top marks. Why then, does it feel...off? Horimiya is a butterfly effect SOL. One coincidence leads to another, which creates the plot and subplots that make up the show. A common but not ubiquitous premise, Horimiya pulls it off admirably well. The story is compelling at at times quite emotional in and of itself, as are those about the side characters. Yet whereas my most frequent complaint about romcoms and SOL's is "nothing ever happens," for Horimiya it is the opposite. The pacing is ridiculouslyfast.

Spoilers ahead.

The show starts quite nicely. While the idea of a hidden side of a character is nothing new, the first episode successfully hooked me into the show, and for the first five episodes the pacing was normal, honestly an enjoyable romcom. Then, as you get into the side characters and their stories, it's as if Hori and Miyamura are kicked to the sideline, like you're watching them through twenty feet of water.

It really feels like there should've been at least another 6 episodes about Hori and Miya themselves, then probably another season for the side character stories. As it stands, the rapid pacing detracts from the emotional side of the story and makes it feel shallow and almost hedonistic. There's no fanservice, which is a huge plus, and at the end of the day it's still a show that will almost always make you smile.

So I suppose that's why I rated the show how I did. It made me smile as I watched it, but with how rushed some parts felt I also feel like much of its potential was left wasted.