Review of Horimiya

First I need to say that I didn't read the manga, so my opinion is based solely on the anime. 2021 winter season was really rough for me (and I hope some other viewers share my feelings). Some promising series ended up being not that good or complete failures. Yeah Promised Neverland, Urasekai Picnic, Wonder Egg Priority and some others, I'm looking at you. After all that Horimiya was like a breath of fresh air. It has some flaws too, but it wasn't trying to be a masterpiece. It's just trying to fit it's niche and doing that well. Characters is probably the strongest point of thisshow. Izumi and Kyouko make a nice couple that is interesting to watch. And creators of this anime aren't afraid to show their relationships in some mature ways. But Horimiya isn't just about them. In terms of characters it reminded me of Minami-ke sometimes. It introduces classmates, families, friends and friends of the friends. Authors really tried to make them unique. Good character design, relationships, backstories - everything works to make them shine. Some of their romantic side stories are just as good as the main one.

Surprisingly, characters are also the main problem of this story. There are just too many of them and not enough time in 13 eps. Maybe makers of the anime took too much content from the manga and tried to fit it in such format. Some characters only got few minutes of screen time and when they all appeared in final eps I was trying hard to remember who was who. Some of their stories also feel rushed. Sometimes focus moves to side characters too much and you start to forget why this show is even called Horimiya. Also like I said, authors tried to make them all unique, but it didn't work every time. Some character are just one-sided without any depth.

So yeah, this show has it's flaws. And it's really awesome that it's didn't get squashed under their burden. There wasn't a moment, even during the worst parts, when I wanted to drop it. I didn't want to part with these characters and always hoped that next episode will be better. And to my surprise almost always it really was. Great last 2 episodes (even with some rushed parts) proved it was worth my time after all. And maybe yours, dear anyone who reads this. If you like good romcoms. If you want them to have some serious moments but not too much drama. Finally, if you want to listen to some of the best OP\EDs this year so far, give it a try.