Review of Horimiya

Horimiya starts off very strong. It plays on the expectations of a typical romcom, exploring the awkwardness of second thoughts in relationships. The first five episodes are incredibly good at building a relationship between the two main protagonists and using an appropriate amount of melodrama to accent poignant moments, while remaining quiet when bridges in the relationship are reached. For example, once they decide to hook up, they no longer fret over the issue of "if" but merely "how far" they will go. Unfortunately, once you get episode 6, the extraordinarily uninteresting and overdramatic portrayals of the sideplots take over. Natural chemistry gets usurped by unremittent feelingsand fake dating with characters that feel way more "anime" than something like Maid-sama (a show I enjoy, but whose tone is not suited to what was setup in the first five episodes of Horimiya). It gets so bad that even the main couple gets affected and they becomes immensely less likeable in the process of fitting into a highly typical plot.

Many reviews are saying that covering these stories was rushed, but I don't think it was a good idea to begin with. The secondary couple had a lot of potential, but they overplay the "will they, won't they" plot - the avoidance of which made the primary couple so much more endearing.

Only in the last two episodes do things get back on track. Honestly, I would recommend watching this show as Episodes 1-5 and 12-13, because there's so little in those other episodes worth experiencing. Once it comes back though, it's the same fun with the characters you enjoy, advancing the relationship without filler. This made the anime worth experiencing, and why I would still recommend it.

The last show I finished being Fruits Basket and having been a longtime fan of romantic comedies, this show sits in between them in terms of style, but way below in terms of quality. The aspects of realism are so extremely welcome and refreshing that it's worth watching even just the first five episodes to experience it. Had they nailed it all the way through, I think it could have been a totally solid 8. As is though, I'm basically rating on how much of the runtime was worth it.

A Six, worth experiencing if you are laden in the tropes of typical romance stories, but I strongly recommend my watch order to preserve the qualities it could have easily excelled with.