During the season of Fall 2020, an anime started airing that promised a more mellow and mature romance that didn't deliver on its premise at all, really. That anime was Tonikawa, and after that anime felt so poorly conceived, I was worried we'd always have the same tropes in anime with the nervous kids that never got anything done and took 12 episodes just for a little bit of romance.

Although literally just one season later, I feel like Horimiya completely changed that formula.

It's always been a common theme in rom-coms to feature some fluff of the characters just enjoying life or doing activities together. These moments build relationships and make them feel fleshed out, all while essentially just being easy filler. Horimiya's original manga and web-comic were full of this, and while Horimiya was a great manga concept that did amazing things for the genre, I believe the anime is just as special for removing these in favor of the plot.

Horimiya moves at such a fast pace, essentially ignoring the fluff for most characters, and pushing the "coming of age" concepts that the manga presents a little later in its runtime. While Horimiya removes some of the content that the fans of the manga enjoy, it doesn't take away from the fact that Horimiya has some of the best, most fun, and most realistic cast of characters that are such a pleasure to watch on screen.

Horimiya's relationship building moments are normally told through a lesson, or a small character arc that does the job of both being interesting and fleshing out characters that would normally be background characters.

With this, instead of having just a romance with some background fun characters, Horimiya gives us both a great romance, and a great friend group to follow, all of which have great high-school stories that feel realistic and fun to watch. Each character gets a bit of a mini-arc, and by the the end of the anime, these characters feel as though they've truly been there for the ride.

Positives

Horimiya provides a mature romance. I love this aspect of the series so much. The anime practically never resorts to the age-old gag of characters getting embarrassed, fireworks-kun getting in the way, or characters butting in when they shouldn't. They communicate, and they solve problems in a way that feels real and satisfying. A 'problem' doesn't take up the entire episode run-time because it simply doesn't have to.

A great example of this, is when Hori's brother catches Miyamura carrying Chica, which is solved rather quickly and builds a level of trust, and especially a newfound affection that would've taken much longer in any other anime prior.

The anime isn't just the talking phase. Most rom-coms suffer from confessions being so drawn out and taking multiple episodes, sometimes multiple cours. (Toradora). While the talking phase is a great time, the other phases are too. They never really have a deep confession moment, they just begin dating, which I feel like is a detail that is rather cute and normally not done often.

I love how, in the later half, when they've grown accustomed to one another deeply, both start exploring their kinks, which both feels realistic and brings some of the best gags in the series. Miyamura slapping Hori was fantastic, lol.

The story that follows Miyamura, being the quiet kid who comes out of his shell is such a touching overarching story line with a great ending. I feel like alot of people will be able to relate to him, anime fan or not. It teaches us that to get out of our shells, normal human conversation needs to happen. Hori gives this to Miyamura. That isn't to say Miyamura is carried by Hori in the relationship, as Miyamura changes his problematic anti-social habits and brings the group together in such a profound way that creates a perfect group dynamic, all the while being Hori's #1 supporter, which is rather touching and sweet.

The side characters getting their own arcs really ties this together for me. Not once am I really bored, I think it's great that Horimiya explores this, allowing for many members of its cast to feel fleshed out and deeply compelling. Tooru, who appears as a stereotypical douche from episode 1 becomes one of my favorites in the entire cast, and his friendship with Miyamura is both touching in that they support each other, and fun in that they have great gags.

I could go on, and on about this, but the other relationships are a long list and highlighting them all would be rather tough.

Negatives

I won't say the fast pacing that allows for a full relationship isn't without flaws. There are times where I wish a moment was more drawn out, like Miyamura's phoneless vacation as an example. Cloverworks did a great job at showcasing the absolute best of the manga, but 2-3 more episodes of material could've pushed this to be even better.

I'm sure alot of people will be sad some of the fluff isn't included, but you can literally find these types of moments in any other rom-com. As far as I'm concerned, Horimya is ambitious and the anime is, for the most part, a complete hit with what it tried to do. Winter 2021 was rough for Cloverworks, but this anime, that almost feels like an accidentally great show, turned out to be a highlight of such a packed season.

Horimiya deserves more respect for being the mature, realistic romance sought by many.

9/10