Horimiya was the popular rom-com of the previous season, drawing attention
for adapting a well-received manga and its beautiful character style. Behind
this pleasant, easy going anime lies a bit of a kerfuffle over whether is it a
good or a bad anime. Who would have thought this would be the contentious one
of the season?
In
the vein of His and Her Circumstances,
this romantic comedy centres on a couple of teens with home lives they keep
secret from school friends. Hori is
beautiful, smart, and popular. She has the easy life. Miyamura is a feeble guy who keeps to
himself. At home, however, Hori is the mother of the household, taking care of
her brother and doing the chores, as her parents are always busy with work.
Meanwhile, Miyamura is nothing like his school persona. Outside, he has several
prominent piercings, tattoos, and is much more energetic than you’d guess. You
wouldn’t recognise him if you passed on the street.
Horimiya, at its core, is a feel good rom-com to a fault. So set is
it on making you feel good that at the first sign of drama, everything will
speed up to get you back to the happy times. I’m not kidding. For instance,
there is an early confrontation between Hori and the student council (a frankly
forced scene to begin with). They accuse her of having forgotten some file.
People crowd around, tensions rise, and then…it dissipates and we move on as if
nothing happened. Another example is a point of jealousy later, setting up that
“I’m not talking to you until I realise my mistake and look like an idiot
before I come back to apologise” scenario. But no, it lasts, what, 30 seconds?
I’m
not sure if this is a consequence of truncating the manga or if it’s meant to
be this way. The rush to get to the ending in the final episode does make me
think it’s the former. I would have to read the manga to be sure.
The side characters exacerbate the truncation. Some episodes,
notably in the latter half, cut away to dedicate a significant amount of screen
time to pairing up several of the schoolmates. Because there are so many for a
13-episode series, the time given feels both too long – we should spend more
time with less characters
– and too short to really feel invested in them. You might care about some, but all, unlikely. I’m sure this isn’t a manga problem.
Now, as a feel good anime, Horimiya works quite well. As far as
ratings were concerned, the series did not seem to disappoint. In fact, it was
one of the best rated in the past season, another accolade for its studio
CloverWorks. Statistically speaking, it closely followed Rascal
Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (2018).
As for me, I’m up and down in
places. I like the main couple and their chemistry. Her younger brother as
well, good character. One of few kid brothers that isn’t annoying in this type
of story. The schoolmates are my main issue alongside the rushed conflicts.
With the students, I stop paying attention when they are the focus. It’s too
uninteresting. Which leads into the conflict.
I’m on the positive side of the scale overall with Horimiya. However, I didn’t come from the manga. Fans are divided.
This is one of the few times where I went online to read opinions on a series shortly after finishing it. The manga is 16 volumes long. There are more volumes than episodes, yet both have the same end, with the final chapter released less than three weeks before the last episode. There is a significant time skip in the anime to make this happen. Of course, a lot was cut and manga readers aren’t happy. This wasn’t much of an issue for me, but I can relate, having experienced what they’re feeling in other anime. On the other side, anime only viewers are quite positive.
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