Hiroki Adachi, also known as Hero, wrote a Japanese shonen web manga series named Hori-san to Miyamura-San, commonly known as Horimiya Manga Series. It was self-published on Hero’s website, on Dokkai Ahen, and the manga chapters were updated from February 2007 to December 2011 in a four-panel format. In 2012, Hori-san to Miyamura-kun was adapted into an original video animation series. (1)
Daisuke Hagiwara adapted and continued Horimiya Manga under Hero’s supervision in 2011 under the title Horimiya (ホリミヤ), which gets published in Monthly G Fantasy, and is also published in English translation by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation of Horimiya by CloverWorks premiered in January 2021 and has broken a record on its first day. A live-action and TV drama adaptation is also scheduled to air on February 5 and February 16, the same year.
Official News
Horimiya breaks Record For Most-Watched Debut Romantic Comedy Premiere on MyAnimeList
As soon as Horimiya‘s first episode was aired on Saturday, a total of 69,088 users on the anime site- MyAnimeList have logged themselves as “watching” the anime on their accounts, which has broken all the previous records for the most-watched premiere for a debut romantic comedy among users of the site. Rent-A-Girlfriend previously held the record with 55,228 logged viewers within a week of its debut.
One cour series of Horimiya was announced on September 17, 2020. Clover’s works have done the series animation and Masashi Ishishama, along with Takao Yoshioka, directed the series. Haruko is the character designer, and Yokoyama composed the music for the series.
You can also check out the trailer here.
This was somehow expected because HERO and Daisuke Hagiwara‘s Horimiya Manga ranked 13th in popularity on MyAnimeList, with 121,623 users logged as reading the manga as of this writing.
The total number will be counted for Horimiya’s after few more days, so the series does have time to compete for the biggest debut for all romantic comedy anime (including sequels). Kaguya-same currently holds that record: Love is War Season 2, which had 82,808 “Watching” users even after seven days. Did you know Violet Evergarden has sold more than a million tickets? Want to know more? Then click here.
The Horimiya anime is adapted from HERO and Daisuke Hagiwara’s Horimiya Manga. The show premiered on Tokyo MX, Tochigi TV, Gunma TV, and BS11 on January 9. Funimation is currently streaming the anime with English subtitles.
Sources: Funimation News (Liam Dempsey), MyAnimeList Horimiya anime and manga stat page
Horimiya Manga Review
Horimiya Manga is like a ray of hope among many cliche high school romances that Japan loves to print out. But the question here is what makes this manga so special?
As it has the same cliché scenario: a popular female lead, a shut-in otaku male lead, high school setting; the list goes on and on. Horimiya Manga’s concept may not be unique, but Horimiya excels greatly in this aspect than most romantic genre manga books. Let’s discuss the elements in categories.
You can also check out a review video on Horimiya as well which has crossed more than 30k views!
The Unique Elements of the Manga are:-
1) Intimacy
The amount of intimacy that Horimiya Manga can express through the pages must be marked. The affection felt between our two lovers, Hori-san and Miyamura-Kun, never ceases to amaze me. Unlike most romances, their love for each other feels natural and not forcefully plotted. The author executed a fantastic and note-worthy job of developing the relationship between Hori and Miyamura so that their romance doesn’t seem strained but rather genuinely real.
2) Honest Love
The honest love in Horimiya Manga has been expressed beautifully. It can be felt between Hori and Miyamura can be interpreted from HERO’s portrayal of the two as actual teenagers with doubts and insecurities rather than as dimwits who can’t even express their love. Hori and Miyamura are not slow or dense characters. Their relationship, instead of progressing with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ the story uses “Does the other person actually like me or is she acting flustered around me and devoting her time just because we’re friends?”.
The story of Hori and Miyamura’s relationship progresses by overcoming the insecurities which each person has about their feelings for each other. Hori can be called “Miss Popular,” so she has to face the doubtful and negative reactions from her classmates after discovering that she’s dating a “closet otaku.” Miyamura had been ostracized all of his life, and he works hard to gain the self-confidence to see himself as someone who can make Hori happy. Horimiya Manga brings in a light breeze in summer by progressing the story through Hori and Miyamura overcoming their individual flaws and the problems that arise from an odd couple.
3) No cliche love triangles
Yes, there might be 2 or three scenes where you might feel there’ll be a love triangle in Horimiya Manga, but it’ll be kept in abeyance with humor instead of making it a climax.
So a reader who prefers to read manga without serious love triangles can also read Horimiya Manga.
Despite the contrasting differences between Hori and Miyamura in their relationship, Horimiya is a very lighthearted and sweet read. The interactions between not only Hori and Miyamura but also the rest of the characters feel very natural and often caused me to chuckle to death
4) Humour
The frequent jabs at Miyamura’s extreme aversion to thriller movies or Hori’s aggressiveness never fail to bore me; instead, I end up laughing till my stomach hurts. HERO does a superb job of balancing a carefree atmosphere and affectionate moments.
Someday I might end up having diabetes from so much sweetness.
5) Refreshing Pace
Horimiya’s story’s fast pace is refreshing like ice cream in summer, unlike other shonen manga where it seems to take forever for the main couple to realize their feelings for each other. When Hori and Miyamura meet when they start dating, they move along without any conflicts and show us the positive sides of a healthy relationship. The series’s drama is dealt with immediately, and the misunderstandings aren’t painfully drawn out like Kimi ni Todoke.
Where to Read?
Conclusion
Before I conclude about Horimiya, let me tell you one notable fact about it, which is Horimiya that is often unheard of amongst high school romances is that HERO continues to develop Hori and Miyamura’s relationship even after the confession scene and shows the hurdles they must cross to maintain their relationship and bond.
HERO also develops the romances between the side characters while maintaining consistency in the current stage of Hori and Miyamura’s relationship. Horimiya is a fresh read among the many romances that quit reading after the main characters start dating.
Horimiya excels in its character design. The characters can be differentiated easily from the others, and the designs are simply eye-candy. Even though Horimiya’s characters look great, background detail needs some work if they want to improve.
The school windows, desks, and so on are average in terms of high school settings. In many sections, it’s just the characters on a white and gray background. This was just one of the flaws I mentioned above. I think the characters’ designs, especially Miyamura’stransformation from a high school student to an eye-catching cool dude with piercings, can compensate for the lack of detail well.
Horimiya is the manga that kicks high school romance clichés aside and stands firmly atop the pile of high school romances that get published so often. It brings new hope for a slowly degrading genre; the only complaint from my side is that I hate to stay patient for an entire month for new chapters.
I’ll rate it with 4/5 stars.
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