Horimiya First Impressions

“I don’t want anyone else to see this side of you, either.”

Comedy and romance often go hand in hand, but can be very divisive. I, for instance, don’t like watching series that rely on awkward humor, so many of the more recent entries that might either fall into the romcom genre or at least touch upon aspects of it, like O’ Maidens in You Savage Season and Tonikaku Kawaii, ended up not really resonating with me. Truth be told, I almost skipped over Horimiya purely because I considered the possibility of it utilizing awkward comedy and I dislike the discomfort it evokes in me. Fortunately, Horimiya not only charmed the hell out of me, it became my favorite show of this season so far. In a statement that may be a bit daring given that The Promised Neverland returned this season, I will declare that, if you can only watch one CloverWorks show this winter, this should be that one. With delightful characters, strong chemistry, and several laugh-out-loud moments, Horimiya is the most I’ve looked forwards to a romance anime in ages.

This show appears to be built around the ways in which people display variance when they shift between social spheres. We have two leads. The first, Hori Kyoko, is a stylish student who, unbeknownst to her classmates, spends most of her time outside of school dressed down, doing housework, and tending to her little brother. The other is Miyamura Izumi, a gloomy looking introvert who hides behind long hair and glasses, but outside of school takes on a more punk aesthetic that highlights his looks. When Izumi happens to come across Kyoko’s little brother after he fell and hurt himself it leads to their hidden personas crossing paths in a manner that neither of them anticipated. I love these two characters already. They work well as individuals, but as a pairing they brilliantly reflect one another. Kyoko is flashy and stylish at school, but that masks her pragmatism and industriousness. In contrast, Izumi is a quiet wallflower at school, but that, quite literally, serves to hide his piercings and tattoos. During the course of this first episode, the comedy takes a backseat to the drama and introducing the premise, but when it does show up, it’s hilarious. Both the themes and comedy remind me of ToraDora!, but I fear that may not be the mainstream reference it once was. This show is positively delightful, and I am absolutely eager to see where it goes.

This is the second of three CloverWorks series airing this winter. Romances and comedies don’t generally require high production values to work, from what I remember of His and Her Circumstances I think it might have been animated using PowerPoint. Still, crisp visuals are never unwelcome, and Horimiya has them in spades. The opening is an appropriately subdued affair, avoiding bombast that would match other romcoms but would feel out of place in this one. However, it’s time for a confession. I often skip EDs. Even when I’m preparing a review of a show, I don’t really think to stop and watch the ending credits. I’m just in a rush to digest what I watched and get my thoughts down, so I’ll skip past the credits to see if there is an after-credits scene, and then I’m done. Over the years, there have been very few series where I would often stick around through the credits. So imagine my surprise when I found myself watching the entirety of Horimiya’s ED. It’s positively delightful, and I may well find myself watching it at the end of each new episode.

Before I wrap up, a few Notes and Nitpicks:

• If there is one anime cliche Horimiya employs that I could do without, it is the teacher who makes suggestive statements to his or her students. The show is competent enough that, should they choose to do more with that character, I suspect they’ll do a good job, but hearing him talk about how he’d like to go swimming with his female students was not a good start.
• There is a classmate who, in a lesser story, could have been a mean-spirited rival, but proved to be my favorite character outside of our leads. Admittedly, the show hasn’t spent too much time with the surrounding cast, so it isn’t the steepest competition, but it proved my knee jerk assumption on how I’d feel about the character completely wrong.
• I’ve been struggling in a futile attempt to determine whether I like this premiere or the premiere of My Next Life as a Villainess more. I’m going to throw up my hands and say they’re equivalent with Villainess leaning more on the “com” side of romcom and Horimiya favoring the “rom.” However, Katarina Claes is still the best girl of 2021… I know she hasn’t made an appearance in this year yet, but the second season has been announced, so let’s face facts, she’s already won.