Horimiya

This series lacks some negative reviews, since most reviews for Horimiya were written a few years ago most of them aren't up-to-date with the current state of the manga.
I think the best way to describe the manga as it is right now is, a major disappointment, man I loved reading this, the characters were so well done and relatable, the romance was great the art was beautiful but after chapter 60~ it all went to shit, they completely dropped the main duo's romance in order to focus on side characters which in all honesty, I couldn't give less of a shit about. It's a real shame that the manga's like this at the moment, which gives me no other choice to drop it completely.

In order to rate this manga and giving it credit where it's due, I'll only rate the first 60 chapters (which is about at the climax of Hori and Miyamura's relationship).

Story - 8
If there's one thing this manga does well it's create a realistic romance, the pacing of the story is great and even the extra chapters are entertaining.

Art - 10
Absolutely beautiful, the characters all look excellent and the art fits the manga perfectly.

Character - 10
I love the characters in Horimiya, they're all wonderfully written and there's good development throughout the story especially with the main duo, Hori and Miyamura. Their relationship is complicated but sweet, I absolutely loved reading Horimiya focused chapters, the side-characters are also great they're all fun unique characters with well fleshed out personalities and backstories.

Enjoyment - 10
This is probably the only romcom I'd ever rate this high.




Too bad it turned into a shitty slice of life, it legitimately made me sad to see it happen.

Honestly I'm not sure why this was categorized as shounen because for me I am considering this as shoujo manga.

One of the reasons why I was hesitating to read it at first because I thought it was a harem manga or something since I was focusing too much on the "shounen" part and I don't really read summary or synopsis so I really have no idea what's this manga all about.

Don't get me wrong, I love shounen manga myself but I love it more if the protagonist is male (I read anything btw. Be it shounen, shoujo, yaoi/BL, josei, seinen. As long as the story and art piques my interest.) But nevertheless I tried reading this one day and WOAH.

Story: 9/10

Tbh I don't really see anything unique about the plot... just your typical high school romance story but for some reason I really love it. It's simple and nothing complicated and really cute and adorable! And what makes this manga super interesting is the humor! It was unbelievably funny.

Art: 10/10

The art is really good. Another reason what made me read this manga. It's beautiful, gorgeous, pretty, amazing.. I can't even describe the love I have for the art. And did I ever mention the male protagonist, Miyamura, is such a cutie?!

Characters: 10/10

The characters will make you love the manga entirely. Like I said, the story is just your typical high school romance stories but because of the characters, it exceeded my expectations of this manga. The female protagonist, Hori, that I thought will annoy me even before I read the manga is now one of my fave female characters! And of course, Miyamura, is one of my ideal shounen boyfriends. Just ugh. I love him.

Enjoyment/Overall: 10/10 / 9/10

I was actually torn between 9 & 10. I gave it 10 for enjoyment because I really did (super) enjoy it. It is something that I'm looking forward every update of the chapter.

And I gave it 9 for overall because I'm sure this can get even more better in later chapters (and I hope the quality of the story will not drop) so I'm really looking forward to it. That said, I think this manga has everything to offer if you're looking for something Boy x Girl romances... humor, interesting plot, beautiful art, lovable and unpredictable characters!

EDIT AS OF MAY 9 , 2018

I'm not gonna delete my previous review but I just had to add this after getting caught up with the lates chapters. Wow, happened to Hori? In my previous review, I said what I love about this are the characters but Hori's character development became so horrible. Just what happened?! She was one of my faves but she became so terrible. She became too violent it's not even funny anymore. She's being unreasonable and her jealousy is too extreme. She always hit Miyamura and even if it's for comedic purposes, I DON'T FIND THAT FUNNY AT ALL. I miss the old Horimiya :(

If someone were to strictly define Horimiya by the conventions it follows, there's very little to mention that hasn't been tackled in other romance series; the series is a romantic comedy with increasing emphasis on comedy over the romance as the series goes on. There are various typical themes revolving around the characters and their ability (or lack thereof) to connect, resulting in miscommunications as they struggle to empathize with one another, usually resulting in various shades of drama that take up portions of the manga. What sets Horimiya apart from its competition - and is the main reason for its massive success and popularity - is the casualness through which the series manages to tackle these themes, consistently develop a gigantic cast of characters - including a noteworthy and memorable side cast - and somehow consistently improve from start to finish, without ever missing a beat or sliding into stagnation.

Horimiya's story beats generally follow Hori, an upbeat, somewhat crude jerk with a heart of gold whose core character flaws revolve around her possessiveness and desire to mean something substantial in someone's life beyond being materially beneficial to her family and selflessly being the caretaker of their house. This changes when Miyamura - someone she assumed to be nothing other than a generic geek - drops by her door, laden in piercings and tattoos, starting a pattern of both characters meeting at Hori's house, where their acquaintanceship turns to friendship before blossoming into a romance. The series follows this general structure for much of its first half, with the focus being largely focused on Hori and Miyamura, loosely but not entirely following its webcomic equivalent before deviating from it entirely in the second half.

The heart of Horimiya as a story is showing the uniformity of everyone having some level of distance between one another, and that much of what people ascribe involving friendships and romance as destiny are often just, well, coincidences and nothing more than that. This helps emphasize the humanity of these characters instead of portraying their meetings in a rose colored manner, with love at first sight being something that's interestingly not ever the subject of essentially any of the various romantic pairings.

There is one noteworthy exception to this rule in Miyamura, a former social outcast who has gone out of his way to change his image to break away from his former self as hard as possible - Hori's unconditional acceptance of his character flaws, ranging from everything from his lack of understanding of social norms, awkwardness and often misreading people's intentions as overly negative. The narrative's main focus on Hori is to emphasize that as possessive she is, she is a person who does all she could to bring the best out of people, her missteps and failings aside, and that despite it all there is an earnest, well-meaning and kindhearted person who goes out of her way to help others. There are countless times when Hori does things that are questionable, ranging from her questioning if Miyamura's male friends are a danger to her relationship with him to often letting her pride get in the way when fighting with others - Miyamura and Yuki being standout examples - yet there's no possible way to misinterpret her intent as either malicious or harmful due to her behavior being incredibly convincing in swaying the audience to liking her even when she's being comically stupid.

Back to Miyamura, his role as a former social outcast has deeply scarred him, yet his character arc is about overcoming said scars, inch by inch, while accepting that the person he once was still had positive traits worth loving, as Hori emphasizes to him numerous times over the course of the story. Much of the narrative involving various characters is introspective, and this is especially true with Miyamura, who spends the entire story wondering if he even deserves such happiness at all. The answer to this is obvious; people should be loved for who they are, and past scars may or may not fade, but that is irrelevant to how much a given person even deserves happiness, as if something like that is even in the hands of the person in question. Miyamura's character arc is beyond a shadow of doubt the most important one in the series, and the emphasis placed on how much Hori broke him out of his shell is beyond heartwarming.

Horimiya's standout accomplishment is that much of its side characters are every bit as well-developed as the two central leads; Yuki and Ishikawa are noteworthy examples of this, being my favorite pair in the whole series. Yuki's apathy to the world around her coincides with her being similar to Hori insofar as she sacrifices her day to day life to please others and allow them to take anything she wants; where she differs is that in her case, this leads to a cycle of inward hatred both towards herself and others. Her character arc is about becoming a more cheerful person and letting herself become more selfish about what she wants while turning her otherwise well-intentioned feelings towards others into empathy as opposed to an excuse for self-hatred. Ishikawa is key to this character arc himself, being someone who gets rejected by Hori early into the story before moving on and becoming the heart of his social group; his empathy acts as a positive influence on various characters, Yuki and Miyamura included, and despite the immaturity and straightforwardness of his feelings towards others - a character flaw he slowly grows out of as the series progresses - his acceptance of Yuki's flaws help morph her increasingly into a better person. And while their relationship is intentionally left inconclusive, it is not a question of if but when, due to Ishikawa's own understanding of Yuki's hesitation in how to approach him. Yuki's closeness to Ishikawa as opposed to Hori is emphasized in two scenes - one early into the manga, and one during the Christmas date later on in the series - when she asks who Hori was, with the second time coming off as less ignorance and more an intentional self-reflection on how far she has come in understanding her friends compared to the beginning of the series.

There's other noteworthy character arcs and dynamics at play, and what I've said about Hori and Miyamura as well as Yuki and Ishikawa can be said for every pairing and character in the series. Remi and Sengoku are both tryhards who desperately struggle in fitting into a given social role - Remi's over her supposed flirtatiousness and Sengoku as being the rigid student council president. Yet both are masks betraying something more substantial to one another - Remi legitimately is unfairly labeled due to her often speaking casually to men in a society where conservative values reign dominant, and Sengoku has a fear of insects and based on his interactions with Hori and other characters is a legitimate goofball who struggles with his own self-confidence. Yet both characters play these personae up, while at the same time their attractions to one another are initially based on the weaknesses within those personae. This increasingly materializes into a genuinely sweet relationship between the two, where both relax considerably around both their classmates and each other.

Sakura and Yanagi have characters arcs about both of them getting rejected, yet their arcs are a positive look into how such a negative matter can be seen as a tool for self-betterment and empathy. Sawada's arc is about her breaking out of her loneliness while ironically benefiting from her unrequited love's boyfriend Miyamura, whose kindness and compassion towards her as two people who struggle greatly in interacting with the world around them due to a history of isolation that has brought both of them trauma. Shuu, Shindou and Motoko all have well-developed arcs involving their connections to people who are dear to them, with Shuu and Shindou being clowns who otherwise take their interpersonal relationships seriously, and Motoko's arc being more about her being defined by her scores instead of her effort in an overly grade obsessed society.

All of these characters are worthy of - and can be - analyzed for hours and hours on end, and it's a testament to how amazing Horimiya is as a story that this is done seamlessly and with no real pacing issues.

By no means does this mean that Horimiya is devoid of flaws; certain jokes - like Shin, who definitely shouldn't be a teacher in normal society - can come off as culturally dissonant if not straight up tasteless. People into the series strictly for Hori and Miyamura's dynamic and who don't care for the side cast often dislike the manga's second half for feeling - although they are wrong - like it is padding up time, instead of approaching it as being characterization-rich in a more interwoven way, where characters and dynamics often spring up everywhere, many being unexpected. A legitimate web can be made of all these characters and their relationships with one another, emphasizing this connection; one point the series makes is by making sure that every chapter in some way surrounds high school students, and while this can be easy to dismiss due to the proliferation of high school animanga everywhere, here it's an intentional thematic point emphasizing that regardless of who you are, it's not too late to form connections with others. And, come the ending, this point wraps up in a manner I can only describe as poetic, with one phase of life ending and another beginning.

There's even more to praise about Horimiya; the artwork courtesy of Daisuke Hagiwara is gorgeous, with evenly spaced pages that make reading dialogue heavy scenes easy, complimented by simplistic yet increasingly beautifully drawn distinct and memorable character designs. The fact that the artwork only continues improving over the course of Horimiya's run is insanely impressive, and worthy of serious praise; it goes without saying that I wish both HERO and Hagiwara the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Horimiya is a proud, new classic of the romance genre in manga, and one whose marks will be felt for years to come. The story and characters crafted here is a memorable one, one that audiences can easily remember long after they're done with this journey. The series is a must read for any and all romance fans, with plenty of appeal regardless of taste.

I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Thank you for reading my review, any and all feedback is welcome.

Even though I really enjoyed reading this manga, I can't say many good things about it. Basically, the dynamics of the main couple, Kyoko and Izumi, is carrying all the weight. I hardly ever find any of the secondary characters interesting and the overall story is quite cliche.

Then why do I still like it? I find it refreshing. While most stereotypical high school romances focus on the "becoming a couple" through all sorts of events, this series is very down to earth. There are no love triangles, harems, a shy MC that can't confess, etc. The main couple gets together fairly early in the series, and from there on, the story is told on the "being a couple", which I can appreciate. Still, the couple doesn't really suffer much; there's no cut-throat drama, if a I were to define it.

In conclusion, I think this manga depicts a very realistic story of a high school couple by not resorting to exaggerated drama.

I had Horimiya on my to-read list for a while and after watching the first episode of its anime adaptation this season, I decided I didn't like the second male lead's purple hair and wanted to dip my feet in the manga so that my perception of this guy wouldn't be permanently altered by the anime (if you know, you know). Unfortunately, I had a pretty hard time understanding why Horimiya is rated so highly.

Categorized as a shounen yet fulfilling pretty much every convention of a shoujo manga, Horimiya exists on the borderline between the two genres and delivers on neither positive qualities. Like a crappy shounen, the fact that the mangaka is a dude who doesn't seem to understand how women think, shines through. Like a crappy shoujo, the moments that are supposed to have emotional impact fall totally flat because there is no weight, logic, or meaning behind the protagonist's decisions. Fellow shoujo readers might understand what I mean- you read a moment that's supposed to be touching, that's supposed to make your heart clench, and instead you just feel awkward because it's so off base and you feel nothing, while for the character, it was apparently a huge Moment™. Another typical shoujo thing it fails to deliver on is pretty, detailed art and fashionable clothes. Every characters' wardrobe pretty much sucks... don't be fooled by Miya's first appearance with the piercings and hair, it's the only hint of fashionable coolness we'll get for the next, oh I dunno, 30 chapters. An example of men doing shoujo-like manga right is Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai. Kaguya-sama has flaws but at least the characters generally feel real, have realistic conflicts, and have satisfying relationships with one another.

What's even harder to believe is that the story apparently takes a nosedive around the ~100 chapter mark because, from what I've understood of a few reviews I've skimmed here, it gets even more boring, and Hori is an abusive asshole to Miyamura and that's a running joke. No thank you for me.

I probably won't watch the adaptation because I'm not excited for where this story is going. Sorry Uchiyama Kouki. :(

I think it's good don't get your panties in a bunch. it doesn't build up to much but it's still really cute.

The best part of this manga are the probably the characters and their interactions

-Story-
Horimiya is a simple romantic comedy. What's special about Horimiya is that it is a shoujo romcom without too much of the drama. It's really lighthearted without any dark or tragic themes(except for a little S & M LOL).
It get's right to the point and they hook up early so there is no fuss you have all your ships read to set sail and there is plenty of sailing in this. It's has more similarities to a slice of life anime. There's not much much plot to spoil since it's "episodic" so i suggest you read it.

-Art-
It has great art for the both the male and female characters for a shoujo. No over the top manservice which is good. ALL the characters look equally attractive which is rare for most manga and anime and is a sight for sore eyes. In fact i couldn't think of a single bad drawn character.

-Characters-
The characters interactions in this manga is above average. In the same light as the art,almost every characters have their standout moments which make them interesting and adorable to look at. The freindship in this manga is also pretty great which makes me a little envious about the girl talk and bromance that is going on.

-Enjoyment-
A lot of you will probably enjoy this? Especially if you like a nice, refreshing, slice of life plus romance manga without all the annoying traits of a typical romance comedy. It's a highly enjoyable read and you would probably end up reading it several times to refill the urge for cute romance anime/manga( don't worry i'm one of those addicts).

-Overall-
Overall even though i am rating it 7 it 's a 10 for me. But hey i have a strange set of standards that is highly erratic. A feel good manga for days you feel down and probably the best romance manga i read to date.

OH MY GOD SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE THIS A GOOD ANIME ADAPTATION! THAT'S ALL I NEED I NEED IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! ok bye...

This manga is just wholesome. The best way to describe it is to say it makes you happy while you read it. The main characters and their relationship is just wholesome and one of the few mangas that see a couple like them get together so quickly.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I have reread this manga so many times only because each time I read it, it makes me feel happy. The characters and their growing relationship is endearing, with each character getting the time they need so we can see them grow from what they were at the start to what they became at the current chapters.

Art: 10/10
The art is just pretty. It allows for a wide range of emotion and the characters are allowed to act serious or silly without it feeling off or wrong.

Story: 9/10
Since this is a slice of life, there are chapters where the story doesn't seem present but it's there. This is a story of highschoolers that revolves around a certain couple, but since it's a slice of life, the characters live their normal lives and it's just as fun to read.

Characters: 10/10
I think these characters are fabulous. Each has its own dynamic to this hotpot of weird, but it ends up being a fun time for everyone. They also act more human than most characters I've read so far.

TL;DR: A good read for those who want wholesome fun. A really enjoyable read if you like slice of life and really aren't too invested in just the progression of a plot. If you wanna just kick back and enjoy some calming manga, this is the read.

I have many questions for this manga, Why is this so enjoyable? Why are the characters so funny? Why is Izumi so good looking for a manga character? There are so many more questions. If you haven't noticed, i really enjoy this manga.

Story 8/10
I rate this an 8 because I enjoy the story very much, but not to the point where my ovaries explode. I'm not a fan of a super complex story line, i typically enjoy simple, down to earth ones. I like it because it evolves around a girl, Hori, who is very popular and sociable at school but is like a motherly figure towards her younger brother when she gets home. She wears no make, puts up a pony tail, enjoys cleaning, and cooking when she is at home. However, Izumi is also like her. At school, he wears glasses and is commonly mistaken for an otaku when he actually wears many piercings and tattoos. He also doesnt wear glasses and is very handsome. The romance is good, its not over the top and the romance has the right amount of comedy as well.

Art 9/10
I am very picky over art. The art in this was very good actually. The characters all have detailed looks, but it isn't over the top detailed where it just makes you go "ew." The characters are good looking, especially Izumi. The art made this manga more enjoyable.

Character 9/10
I love all the characters. They all have their own individual personalities and their own funny sense of humor. The main lead, Hori, is a good heroine. I hate heroines who cry way too much and are over emotional. However, Hori is the perfect heroine I was searching for. She is tough and smart, she knows her emotions pretty well and she also handles them pretty well. Some manga characters are annoying with their constant emotions in love but Hori is not. Izumi is also a good character because he is not mean, he clearly shows his affection for Hori, and he is so sweet. His personality is like Hori and they both just look like a married couple. The other supporting characters are great too with their own sense of humor. Therefore, 9 out of 10 for characters.

Enjoyment 10/10
I gave this a 10 out of 10, I enjoyed this manga very much. I enjoyed it more than i expected too. The characters and story line give off a good amount of humor and romance making the manga very good rather than annoying. The characters are probably what are most enjoyable because they all tie into this manga perfectly.

Overall 9/10
I gave this a 9 out of 10 because I was not totally mesmerized, but I clearly enjoyed it very much. It's a great read, it kept me hooked and I anticipate the next chapter to come out. This is honestly a refreshing manga. Well done Horimiya, well done.

tl;dr: A unique blend that brings out the best shoujo and shounen elements in a romcom, however sacrifices the plot in place of fulfilling the life long dream of becoming a gag manga in the second half.






Story:

Horimiya mainly follows the perspective of the titular characters Hori and.....well Miyamura, and follows their relationship from acquaintances to friends to lovers. Amongst all the slapstick comedy which is very common within shounen romcoms (more on that later) there is a lot of exploration on the troubles of the main characters, and eventually some of the side ones as well.

It quickly becomes apparent that rather than being a simple boy meets girl, it focuses more on appearances vs. reality, which is arguably one of the main themes present in the series. One gets to see a lot of the hidden sides of some of the characters; the masks they put on in front of others and the handling of certain topics like bullying, jealousy and insecurities, all of which conveniently, are seen a lot within shoujo romcoms (which unfortunately, no more on that later). So as a result, rather than being just a simple story of shits and giggles one instead gets a story of the emotional bond and healing that arises from two people opening up to each other and helping each other develop...and also shits and giggles

Now don't get me wrong, it's not exactly as if Horimiya does things super unique per se. Like I'm sure you can find tons of examples of series' (and focusing on particular on shounen romances) with........multiple couples..or, or.....a couple that doesn't beat around the bush too much and actually.....develops........or maybe a couple that has....sex. ok maybe from a romance side of things, Horimiya does things very out of the norm relative to other series' in the demographic.

But that's not really what makes it shine the most. What really makes Horimiya stand out from a lot of other romcoms, is that combination of the good shounen and shoujo elements into 1. You see, one of the best things that shounen romcoms has to offer is often the humour. A looooot of romcoms within this demographic tend to have very slapstick and over exaggerated humour, which you may or may not like. Conversely, one of the best things shoujo romcoms have to offer is that emotional connection between characters, usually that of love (and to some extent family as well). What Horimiya manages to do for the most part is combine those 2 so you end up getting those feel good lovey-dovey moments combined with over-the-top humour. So technically all is good right?


but no


I mentioned shounen romcoms before and this is where it comes back to bite in the ass. If you know shounen romcoms you know that they follow a very basic formula for the most part. Repeat the same few repetitive gags for an indefinite amount of time; give little to no plot development OR give some plot development only to revert back to status quo moments later (looking at you Kanojo Okarishimasu); give romantic development that jebaits you harder than Maroon 5 playing Spongebob at the Super Bowl, and so on so forth. Unfortunately, Horimiya ends up falling for the same trap. See a bit past halfway through the chapters, one will find that the story starts to stagnant, the shits and giggles factor gets turned up to 11, whereas the muh deep emotions gets yeeted out into god knows where. Now these "filler" chapters aren't anything new, lots of big romcoms; Kaguya-sama, Tonikaku Kawaii etc. do this all the time but at the very least they throw in some bits of plot here and there in between, y'know to make it seem like they aren't dragging things along. Horimiya on the other hand didn't get the memo and instead almost the entire latter half of the series consists of comedic one shots. Would be lying if I said it didn't disappoint


Art:

Art is dope, nothing more needs to be said


Character:

Since it's pretty pointless to just throw in buzzwords that make me sound like a wannabe intellectual like "realism","relatable" and "omg this character didn't give me a 10 chapter backstory on how they suffered from depression and PTSD all while being abused by their parents smh what a 1D character" y'know the usual, I think it's best to summarize each of the reoccurring characters


Hori - The Hor in Horimiya (not to be confused with the w(hor)e in horimiya). The flat chested sadistic ice-queen yet somehow is super masochistic beyond recognition. She shows a very caring and hardworking attitude towards her friends but isn't hesitant to beat the shit out of them if the time arises. waifuism at its finest

Miyamura - The Miya in Miyamura. The average looking virgin (well not maybe hehehe) who gets saved by main love interest and turns into based chad. Is very innocent in a lot of aspects which sets itself up for some pretty funny gags.

Tooru - Love interest-kun that gets rejected so he gets relegated(promoted?) into Love Triangle-kun. In all seriousness he is best bro whhy wouldn't you fall in love with him

Yoshikawa - The one who looks like an airhead on the outside but secretly is a twisted yandere who would murder all your love interests. But she's cute so she gets a pass

Remi - The one who looks like an airhead on the outside but......well ok she actually is kinda an airhead but she can be pretty perceptive and a bit of a dick at times too

Sakura - Looks like that "secretly lesbain for main heroine" side character

Sengoku - absolute gigachad at confessions

Yannagi - Who needs eyesight when you're hot amirite

Souta - based

Yuriko - the mom of based

Kyousuke - the dad of based. Also looks like a hentai protagonist after retirement

Shuu - oh wait he's a character?

Watabe - Hori love rival


Enjoyment:

Personally I really enjoyed this series, like I mentioned above it's not everyday you get a series that combines 2 (potentially) great elements into one, and imo HOrimiya does this fantastically. My, and what I presume most people's biggest gripes are having to do with the dumbing down of the plot in the second half, but depending on how much you like the comedy of the series it can either really hamper your experience or not phase you too much (me being part of the latter)

I initially picked up Horimiya at it's first chapter, read until it had released chapter 4, though this is pretty good, but there's nothing left to read atm, so ended up forgetting about it for a few weeks. Well it's up to chapter 13 now and i feel it has atleast enough of a base to work a score outta it, and of course i'll eventually change my review once the manga furthers along a little.

Story:8/10
Ok well to start with, look at my 8 as a 9, i didn't drop it to an 8 out of a lack, i did it based only on the fact that this is currently still an episodic release. It's true to say that most titles tend to start like this and eventually work into an actual story line, and i'm very much hoping that this one continues that pattern.

Well the story is your standard, "Friendless Boy" meets "Popular Girl" however things aren't just that simple, each of them has a secret that they don't want anyone to find out about, and through a turn of events end up finding out about each other. The story then proceeds to follow along in typical romcom style, introduces a few new char's, some comedy, some awkward romance, so on so forth, you prolly know the drill by now. Atm it's still in this stage, early in and setting things up.

I'm really hoping to see this taken into an actual arc here soon and get to taste what the author really has to offer us.

Art:8/10
Honestly, it's nothing amazing, it's got a few scenes here and there, but nothing over the top, flashy, or amazing by any means. I do particularly like the way the main male is drawn, and the main female while at home is a very clean and detailed image. Other than that, each character is identifiable, you can easily tell them all apart, and the backgrounds and scenery are about what you'de expect from a story like this.

Character:10/10
As most would know the characters are what make or break a romcom, and Horimiya does it right(so far). Both leads are truly interesting. They're being developed and it's actually fun watching how they interact not only with each other but with the side characters(not nearly as developed yet, but hey only 13 chapters in).

Enjoyment:10/10
Clearly i've enjoyed it up til this point, and i'm hoping not to be disappointed in the near or far future.

Overall:9/10
At the current moment only the depth of this manga is holding it back to a 9 for me. Once it's got some time under it's belt, has a decent chunk of chapters under it's name, and has had a solid pass at an actual storyline will i be able to give it a true score.

Like i said the whole episodic aspect of the manga is what's hurting it atm in my opinion(just my view on it, i'de like to see a truly solid flushed out story worked through))

As a whole it's doing something right atm and i hope to see it continue on this path, i can see this being something I'd be capable of drowning my self in.

I heard some praises about the manga after the anime was announced, and picked up the manga after watching a couple of episode of the anime. I expected the manga to be better and it was, question is....how better?

The main element of the story is as the name suggests, Hori and Miyamura. It's a rather simple love story between our main characters, no overly dramatic fabricated tensions, no "will things ever happen" trope like your average romcom anime. For most parts, it's a straight as arrow love story, our main characters meet, like each other, falls in love even though they are quirky and that's it. And, as a couple they carry the story nicely, they are cute together, their chemistry is nice. But, that's the first part of the story or rather the main part of the story. Once the side storylines begin, the writers treatment of our main duo, specially Hori, becomes inconsistent and weak. Inconsistent because the author does not address the questions that arises from Hori's transformation. It's possible for the readers to understand the change, but the story on every other aspect has been a no-brainer, so this part remains inconsistent from the rest of the story. Spoiler: As other people might have mentioned, Hori is a Masochist for Miyamura but because Miyamura is a sweet guy by nature, he doesn't entertain her indulges. So Hori later on becomes overtly violent which betrays what was established earlier. It's not difficult to think about, but still this development was not necessary in my opinion.

The side characters are given ample attention, too much at this point, and their stories are also fleshed out. But as a reader, I am more focused about the story of Hori and Miyamura, and it feels like the author is basically holding us hostage. It's a good read, the characters are lovely, and the story is sweet. But, at this point the story is a slice of life and that's not what we signed up for. It would be better if the story is not unnecessarily drawn out and Hori-Miyamura is given the a proper ending that doesn't feel out of place.

Hori-san to Miyamura-kun, or as we all know, Horimiya, just wow.
I rarely write reviews, actually no let me rephrase that. I never write reviews. I've only ever written 1 and that's for my all-time favourite anime, Tsukigakirei. So, me writing this review, it's a big thing for me, certainly left a big impression on me too as a whole.
OH BTW SPOILERS ALERT - and also it's all just my personal opinion, so, yeah.

Story: 10/10
At first when you read Horimiya you think "oh shit here we go again with these 2 main characters who are polar opposites and then they get together somehow by coincidence and then as soon as they got together, the manga ends immediately." Well they got us in the first half not gonna lie, but the second half is where we all got it wrong. Horimiya, like the anime Tsukigakirei (of which I really really recommend if you want to watch a romance anime that doesn't stop as soon as they got together), puts a lot of effort in showcasing the relationship between the 2 main protagonists, Hori-san and Miyamura-kun. It showcases their relationships with family members, their relationship with friends and complicated love triangles with one-sided love and jealousy and sympathy. It showcases the ups and downs in a relationship like when both Hori-san and Miyamura-kun fights. Every chapter is like something new, something you probably wouldn't be expecting at all, and that's slice of life for you, but with a bit more spice and enjoyment added to the flavour.

Art: 10/10
The art style and the visualisations and everything seems to be top quality. Don't get me wrong, there are insane fight scenes and all those nonsense, it's just down to earth school life with relationships, and I find it pretty. I like it. A lot.

Character: 10/10
The characters, they all feel unique, in a sense. They all have different personalities, like Miyamura with a much darker look on life (at the start), Hori-san with a much sadistic masochistic behaviour that no one expected, Yoshikawa with her tendency to hide her feelings from everyone with a smile on her face, Ishikawa with his attention to detail (he noticed Yoshikawa not smiling at all, thus pointing it out to her that she smiled for the first time as soon as he made her smile), and the rest of course but that'll take too long to read, so we'll leave it here. Plus, there's no funky unrealistic haircuts too, maybe funky hair colours but the manga's mostly black and white so we can ignore that.

Enjoyment: 10/10
This is just my personal opinion, but I really really enjoyed reading Horimiya. Horimiya is something that I can just read at any given moment of time - I could be taking a shit, I could be having a bad day, I could be exhausted from studying, hell, I could even be bored, and yet this manga never fails to lighten me up and make me smile like a 5 year old child. Doesn't matter what mood it is, Horimiya is something that you can just take a step back and relax to, no matter what.

Overall: 10/10 :)
Would recommend reading it slowly whilst listening to slow beats/music like joji or lofi music so you can get the grasp of the manga and understand the characters much more in-depth.
I'm probably gonna cry because it ended so quick unexpectedly and then I'm gonna re-read the entire thing again, so, yeah.

Hoping reading this review helps you decide if you want to pick this one up into your list. Stumbling upon this manga and finding if its worthy of your time, you'll be the judge of that.


The first time I read the manga I was mesmerize how the art style is so good, clean panels every chapter, easy to look at when reading the character speech bubbles. When the character shows specific emotion that convey their feelings towards one another was spot on, can't resist the moe. the background scenery can be simple sometime but the plot pacing and character designs overshadow the simplest things.

If you are looking for a nice Romance manga that has no intense geometrical relationships then I have a good news for you. You'll find this manga wholesome and start wanting more character development every chapter. This manga has a good plot pacing, telling you the current situation on every character that revolves around the two main characters. Telling you the back story behind the reason why they falling in love, doing silly things for the sake of their love one. Shows you the aspect of being a teenager that has no interest in a relationship to suddenly love struck all of a sudden with the simplest reasons. Kindling the fire within you that has been put out for many, many years being alone. That maybe a bit overexaggerated but that's how I feel while reading this manga. The only I dislike about the manga is that while reading half through, the main story is slowly in the backpedal because of the supporting characters plot development. I get that there must be some character plot development for the supporting character but just don't leave the two main character hanging, other than that is all good.

Story: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Character Development: 10/10

This review contains spoiler in only one sentence and I stated in it beforehand.

This is the first time i write a review about some series. The manga just ended and had left lots of feelings behind... Well, every good thing ends at some point I guess. I enjoyed it with the each chapter, each month. The only thing I didn't like(spoilers) is Yuki and Toru's relationship that never got a conclusion. Sure there are much filler chapters but still enjoyable a lot. Other than that everything is perfect in my opinion. Goodbye Horimiya, and goodbye our once in a month beatiful manga.

When I first read Horimiya I thought it was too cute to be true. It has a unique story and a refreshing tone to it. A manga like Horimiya is extremely hard to find. It has no complex story and everything is understandable. Which is why I like it. Its a break from all the drama and love triangles. It has humor and I am guilty of chuckling at things that may or may not want to be funny. And it also has amazing progression it has its own pace thats easy to follow. The chapters can be short but thats why if you fall behind on chapters you can just catch up in no time. Which is why its not a priority to read it. But when I do finish a manga or get through a drama filled chapter or another manga, I read a chapter or Horimiya to make me feel better.

The art is amazing, its sweet and utterly adorable. I am guilty of judging manga by its art style and I've even put off reading some manga because its art style does not appeal to me. But Horimiyas art was enough to intrigue me.

Each character has a unique art style and personality. Although some have a cliche personality and look they are all lovable. Although I do wish some light would be shed on the other characters problems, it seems to me that some of the side characters have a more relatable situation than MIyamura, Hori and her family. either way I have grown attached to them and find them all amazing.

I enjoy Horimiya a lot and although I do not read it weekly it is still a great manga.

As the summary states, the story is basically about a boy and a girl that meet outside of school, discovering a different side of the other, and become close based on that common ground. That would lead you to believe that the first chapter, or at least first few chapters, would be about the major event that their meeting causes or the cause of their meeting to begin with, but that's not how it actually happens. The spectacular thing about 'Horimiya' is that in spite of being a slice-of-life series, the events that should be important are glanced over because the story isn't about what the characters do, but the characters themselves.

The relationship of the main characters is super cute and moves forward at a seemingly snail's pace, but seeing that progression is left solely up to the audience reading. How the characters feel, what they're thinking, and their relationship with other characters within the story take precedence over illustrating to the audience how the relationship is moving forward. It's almost a bit of side entertainment, as you're trying to pinpoint where their relationship takes a turn while wholeheartedly enjoying everything else that's going on.

The characters are entertaining. Both of the main characters have their quirks, but aren't dull as their appearance may make them seem. They stay entertaining and will get more entertaining as the story progresses. But what's more is that even the side characters, the friends of the friends, are interesting and make an impact. They may not be relevant to the intended plot, but they serve their purpose in being amusing.

Unfortunately, the story starts off extremely cute and does an incredible job of grasping my attention, but it very quickly falls of what it seemed like it was intending to do. The relationship of the main characters starts off as extremely important, but even the important parts of a relationship (the first kiss, or... ecchi things) are glanced over. It glances over their relationship more and more as the chapter numbers go up until the story becomes more about the friends of the main characters than the main characters themselves.

It stays entertaining since, as I said, all of the characters are extremely entertaining in their own right, but it's not the manga that I initially started reading. Not by a long shot.

You ever wanted to read a manga that was so cute you had to slap yourself because even youl skull flushed?, then this one is the one you need.

This manga is simply beautiful. The art is oustanding and don't get me started on the characters. Now I know this manga was supposed to be a shounen but it pretty much is a shoujo. The love between the two main characters blossoms slowly and before you know it ¡BAM!. Now I ain't a fan of shoujo but this manga just makes me feel like the writer stabbed me 50 times in the chest in every chapter I read. (I meant that in a good way). All characters in this manga are beautifully written. (Literally every character in this manga is unique, I'm not talking shit here, I mean every character is so different and outstanding you will have problems deciding which one is your favorite). This manga has a lot of friendship and love. The part I really love in this story is how both main characters (Kyoko Hori and Izumi Miyamura) bond.

With Winter 2021 being stacked with such promising premises, I was able to stumble across a series that I never expected to invest myself hours in consuming its narrative, including switching from the anime to the manga because of the accumulated impatience I received from this series. Horimiya. A series which is metaphorically like a fish in an ocean. Another romance, slice of life manga among its foundational genre. At first glance, it may seen like tour generic, unoriginal romance manga in a stereotypical setting for its genre; A Male and female lead in a high school background. But you may be wondering. What makes Horimiya special that manages to separate itself among the other romance anime/mangas

Horimiya is a wholesome and heartwarming story, introducing us to the main leaders of the series, Hori and Miyamura, who "meet" each other by accident outside of school time, and from there their interactions as characters physically, and emotionally develop to make each other better people, with the support of the rest of cast which is equally as great as the main face of this manga. One way HERO, Horimiya's author, ceases to amaze me with this story is how he controls the flow of the story. Horimiya as whole doesnt feel rushed or slow either. Rather it could be argued that it's a mix of both, with the early Horimiya stages providing numerous time lapses but as it continues, more events and occasional interactions happen in a short amount of time, and that really captivates me. It doesnt waste 200+ chapters to have the main couple confess and call it quits from there (I'm looking at you Nisekoi). Instead, HERO decides to shift to a bigger focus of the cast as the narrative progresses and provide individual short "story arcs" for a lot of them kn an attempt to intrigue the reader and controlling them to absorb more of this spectacular piece of fiction.

As for the characters, they are equally as captivating as the story. HERO successfully does this by making each character within the main cast is distinguishable visually and narratively, with each one of them possessing their own traits and flaws that makes them realistic unlike some generic characters in a harem show, and with those traits HERO is perfectly able to craft comedic moments between individuals, which marks for a high tier comedy as some of the interaction made me chuckle a lot.

Additionally, the start of Horimiya revolves around the main face of this romance. Hori and Miyamura. The main thing I like about these characters is how they treat each others as individuals and as a couple, as well as hie they tackle each others insecurities. At the start they are introduced as people who want to hide a side of them. At school Hori is presented a nice, pretty and popular girl who presumably had a couple of boys fall in love with her, but outside of school she shifts from a very popular girl to a mother-like figure, as she dresses blandly and managing most of the houses chores due to her parents being away ta work, as well as taking care of her little brother, Souta, and apparently she is quite conscious of this side of her and tries to hide it from everyone else. Moyamura on the other is a clean contrast to what Hori achieved in terms of characteristics. He is not popular, he is a loner, he doesnt have any friends before the main storyline apart from one individual from his middle school days and as a result, those negatj e characteristics make him an overall insecure character, with him questioning if for example Hori contains any positive opinions towards him.

By adding those special and unique characteristics in their character tropes they are.able to explore each others hidden personalities, and through this, they are able to achieve and craft their own form of intimacy, and this is explored beyond through the later parts of the series.

For the enjoyment aspect, as I implied earlier, comedy is one of Horimiyas main story foundations that holds and stables the narrative all together, and through the silly, realistic and charismatic tropes and shinanigans, HERO is able to construct a very enjoyable piece of art that distinguish itself with other boring comedy anime that fails to impress its reader. Moreover, character relationships and moments dont feel forced or milled out at all, and instead are preserved as natural moments that would the reader if those ttoes of interactions occur in real life or only in fiction

As for the art, although it is a bit stellar in its early stages, it drastically improves in my opinion and through the progression of the art style, it adds to the heartwarming nature of the series. Yet, despite this the background paintings/drawings arent as superb, as the backgrounds can seem copy and pasted from other shows, and a lot of panels just having characters in a blank picture, but I think the overall character drawings make up the artistic flaw to an extent, and they also add to the unique aspects of some characters, as some of the moan cast have different coloured hair, which is an interesting artistic choice

Concluding, Horimiya kicks aside stereotypical slice of life/romance cliches, and uses its generic setting to create something personal and intimate; This series gives off unique vibes that are not specifically seen a lot in the sea of romance, and as a result Horimiya stands at the top of the flood of romance alongside other competitors such as Kaguya sama and Oregairu. Furthermore, though the realistic traits of this series, Horimiya is able to single handedly make the slice of life genre from around decent to beyond the anime genre tier. If you're starting with this series as your first series in slice of life or romance, it might open doors to other narratives to explore and enjoy. What are you waiting for? Do me a favour and read Horimiya. I'm sure you wont regret it!

Please bear with me for this is my first review

*Take note I'm basing my scores by comparing it to other mangas of the same genre


Story [10/10]
-The first thing on your mind "Why a 10?!", as I said I'm basing my review on mangas on the same genre. I gave Horimiya a 10 because unlike other romance mangas the romance was perfectly executed there were no dull moments, and the romance doesn't go way too overboard and add unnecessary scenes like ecchi scenes. What more to this manga it doesn't go full on romance like other mangas it also shows a bit of slice of life so readers won't go tired of the manga because of the switching of genres comedy, romance and some drama.

Art [9/10]
-I gave Horimiya's art the score of 9. I chose 9 because the art was beautiful unlike the first manga adaptation where the art was a bit cartoon-ish. The shading is also very beautiful, and I also like the touch of chibi in comedic parts of the manga.

Character [9/10]
-The characters of Horimiya will always be in my heart. What makes the characters unique except for Toru (your typical always rejected bestfriend), is that they all have their "other side". One more thing why I rated 9 is because of character development look at Miyamura the anti social guy became the loving good looking guy who now has friends.

Enjoyment [10/10]
-Do I really have to point this out, come on who didn't enjoy the romantic development between these two and the evergrowing friendship tree of Miyamura.

Overall [10/10]
-People might say I'm overrating Horimiya but like I said I'm basing my scores from the same genre.

Are you a male over 20 years old? then this is probably not for you (or it is, if you enjoy teengirl-ish stuff).

Someone said this was a good romance manga and it has a very high score here so I kept reading (up to chap 40 atm). Well I have to say this is a good manga if you like slice of life stuff, but any guy with a little bit of testosterone left in him should probably read something else. I mean when you read a manga and:

- There are more chibi drawings than actual drawings.
- The guys are as skinny and as pretty as the girls. They also seem to have a lot of "intimate" moments with each other.
- Any "drama" that pops up gets solved quickly, usually in too convenient ways. (three guys tried to mess with a girl, her friend stared at them and they just ran away!. In real life there would have been a fight and that friend would've got his ass whooped because it was 3v1).
- Adults are way too cool and supportive. Also somewhat too childish for their age.
- The next chapter seems to just ignore whatever happened in the last one.
- The fanbase. Some of the comments I've read:
+ KYYY-FREAKIN-AHHH!!! DAMN IT THEY'RE SOOOOOOOOO FREAKIN CUTE!!! ♥ (lol sr :v) (recmt)
+ waahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.kyahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..im like a super fan girl to screammmm.kekekeke
+ So Cute*Cough Cough Too Cute...Ugh...Err.. *Dies
+ And I'm still single...
+ I'll probably never be in a relationship like this...

This manga had a plot at first, then after around chapter 26 the plot is replaced by random chapters about random things.

I suppose it's my fault for reading a manga not written for me, but please make a tag that says something about who's supposed to read this. "Shonen" is just ... inaccurate.