Horimiya is a romance and comedy Anime, it aired on January 10, 2021, and is produced by an animation studio called CloverWorks.
Horimiya is considered the best rom-com because of its portrayal of ordinary characters and natural relationship developments. If you prefer watching Anime that you can relate to, Horimiya is your jam. It’s exciting, great character writing, and most importantly realistic.
It includes a girl named Kyoko Hori, who is a bright and popular high school student, but also a homebody, who dresses down and looks after her younger brother, named Souta, which she tries to hide from her classmates as to not wreck her social status and cause others to worry.
Horimiya has certainly outdone itself, it had one of the best build-ups when it comes to rom-com. Moreover, it immaculately explains how every romantic story doesn’t necessarily always need a damsel in distress. Kyouko Hori is a short-tempered, confident girl who falls in love with a shy and timid boy, who hiding his true self from the world.
Moreover, Horimiya may be a rom-com, but it’s one of the best realistic and easygoing ones, for instance, there wasn’t any drama when Hori and Miyamura became a couple.
If there’s any show that you should definitely watch Horimiya, keep on reading to find out some interesting facts about the series.
Is Horimiya worth watching?
If you’re into romantic comedies, Horimiya is the best Anime in that genre, it’s realistic, drama-free, has great character development, and all the characters are interesting, not just the main ones.
Hori san and Miyamura kun are the two main protagonists, who find out about each other’s hidden lives outside of school. While Hori is a popular and confident girl at school, she returns home to a life, which is dominated by chores. Miyamura kun, on the other hand, is a shy and timid boy, however, who is completely cut off from his peers and has a rebellious and mysterious side outside of school.
The plot includes a heartwarming and refreshing unfolding of situations, where two entirely different personalities meet by chance. Two people with different lives and personalities became lovers from acquaintances.
The creators have certainly done a remarkable job of describing the complications of a social connection and how two people can find comfort even in their differences. In addition, Horimiya’s creators used one of the most innovative ways of storytelling, as it provides a visual picture of vulnerability in action which you won’t see in many rom-com.
Why Is Horimiya so popular?
Horimiya is a rom-com, which isn’t like any other rom-com. what most viewers seemed to like is the character writing, all the characters have their own personalities and aren’t just running behind the main characters.
Here’s the list of characters of Horimiya:
Kyouko Hori
Kyouko Hori is the main protagonist and a beautiful girl who is above average height with chestnut brown hair and big golden-brown eyes, moreover, her overall appearance resembles her mother, named Yuriko.
Hori is a rather energetic and popular girl, who brings joy and happiness to herself, she certainly is a hard worker in every aspect of her life. Hori tends to get violent when she is nervous or embarrassed, now which can be pegged as a toxic trait.
Izumi Miyamura
Izumi Miyamura is the deuteragonist, he is of average height and maintains a slim figure with pale skin. He is considered quite handsome and attractive, his face is slightly feminine-looking with long lashes. Moreover, he has deep blue eyes, messy black hair, and thin eyebrows.
Izumi also has a bunch of piercings, nine to be exact, and he has a few dark-colored tattoos which are on his left shoulder, upper left arm, and side.
Izumi certainly gave an impression of a quiet and anti-social guy, and his classmates found him to be difficult to talk or to even approach. Izumi was shy which led him to have a hard time interacting with other people even when he was a child, resulting in him getting ostracized and even bullied.
This ordeal resulted in him adopting a pessimistic nature, and he would often give himself piercings by using a safety pin whenever he thought that school was giving him a hard time.
Yuki Yoshikawa
Yuki is a supporting character and best friend of Hori. Yuki is a cute girl with chin length, olive-green hair, and big yellow eyes, and she is always only seen wearing her school uniform, which includes an oversized brown sweater and a blazer.
Yuki has a bubbly, ditzy, and fun personality, however, she is found to be a bit lazy which is clear by her tendency to often fall asleep during her class. Moreover, she is rather easy to get along with, which helps her make friends quickly.
Nevertheless, you may find this happy and full-of-life girl very reserved when it comes to her own feelings, she hardly tells anyone how she is actually feeling.
Tooru Ishikawa
Tooru Ishikawa is also a supporting character, who is considered a handsome teenage boy. He has a fair complexion, purple hair, and eyes, and a rather tall and athletic physique. Tooru is mostly seen wearing a school uniform, which includes a white button-up shirt with rolled-up sleeves and dark-colored slacks.
At first, you may find Tooru to be a jealous kind of person, which can be seen when he was glaring at Izumi when he was talking to Hori.
Well, he certainly has an explosive temper which is shown in Chapter 12 where he engages in a fight with Izumi, however, he feels bad for losing his temper like that after the fight.
Honoka Sawada
Honoka Sawad is a second-year side character, whose first appearance was in Chapter 29. Sawada has black hair that goes down to her waist with bangs and chin-length hair strands that hang on either side of her face.
In addition, she has big blue eyes and a mole right under her left eye, and she is also mostly seen in her school uniform with the shirt tucked in.
Sawada is shown as a clingy girl and somewhat introverted, which leads to her having a hard time connecting with most of her classmates. She seems to have slight androphobia, as she would freeze up, run away, or hide when men would approach her.
Syu Iura
Syu is a friend of Izumi, he has green colored hair and eyes, and he would often be seen wearing a sweatshirt and his purple headphones.
Syu is shown to be a loud and outgoing boy, who also enjoys playing pranks on people, and tends to be the one who starts most of the games or activities when with a group of friends. However, everyone in the group finds him slightly annoying.
Kakeru Sengoku
Kakeru Sengoku is the handsome president of the student council and also a childhood friend of Hori.
Sengoku is a rather slim and pale-skinned young boy, who has smooth red hair that is parted towards the right side which covers almost both his ears and red eyes. Moreover, he is always wearing a sweater over his school uniform, which he would take off occasionally.
Sengoku is a shy and not-so-expressive boy, who would also gets embarrassed easily. Little things like insects will make him cower in fear, however, Sengoku is shown to be quite smart and serious, and enjoys reading.
Sengoku can easily get angry or irritated, which can be seen in the Student Council President when anyone would break the rules.
Remi Ayasaki
Remi Ayasaki is a member of the Student Council at Katagiri Senior High School.
She is childish but straightforward. She can be quite emotional at times.
She is known as a cute and beautiful young girl, her pink hair goes to her waist that is styled in high twin tails with bangs that hang over her forehead, and she has dark-pink eyes.
Sakura Kouno
Sakura Kouno is a supporting character and the vice president of the student council. Sakura is rather tall, with shoulder-length, forest-green hair, that matches her green-colored eyes. She is only seen in her school uniform and a pair of round-framed glasses.
She is known to be a well-rounded, kind, hardworking, and responsible person. However, she can be reserved, as she refuses to confess her feelings for Tooru.
Moreover, Sakura is seen to be a bit insecure about herself, however, she overcomes that throughout the series and gains a lot more self-confidence.
Akane Yanagi
Akane Yanagi is a 3rd-year student, who is also a member of Hori and Miyamura’s regular group of friends.
Yanagi is well-known for being extremely handsome. He has a fair complexion, light pink hair, and a dark undercut, with bangs that can be seen sweeping on the right side, which goes great with his pink-colored eyes.
While in school, he’s mostly seen wearing contacts, outside of school, he can be seen wearing black-rimmed glasses.
Yanagi is gentle, polite, and well-mannered, however, may be reserved and anti-social at times. He can also be extremely rude and violent.
Kouichi Shindou
Kouichi Shindou is a supporting character, who has medium spiky hair that is parted on the right side with a portion that sticks up. Kouichi has a kind and upbeat personality.
Chika Ichijou
Chika Ichijou is a 3rd year at Yasaka High School and is also the girlfriend of Kouichi Shindou. She has black hair that are styled in two ponytails, with bangs that have white highlights.
Chika can be a quiet and subdued girl, who also is a big eater, and can easily eat food that is for usually about 2-3 people.
Motoko Iura
Motoko Iura is the younger sister of Shuu Iura. She has short green hair and can be considered a younger female version of Shuu.
Iura is untalkative and gloomy and can be forceful and violent, especially towards her brother. Moreover, she is quite smart, however, lacks confidence.
Makio Tanihara
Makio Tanihara is a 3rd-year high school student, who went to the same junior high school as Izumi and Kouichi. Makio in junior high had short blue hair that are parted on the left side.
Makio can be seen as a foul-mouthed and crude guy, who also used to bully people. Although, when he is uncomfortable, he becomes very quiet.
Taiki Mizouchi
Taiki Mizouchi is a classmate of Hori and Miyamura, who has light blue hair, wears a blazer, and keeps a displeased look on his face.
Moreover, Mizouchi likes Hori, which is why he thinks of Miyamura as an enemy.
Ichirou Watabe
Ichirou Watabe is a friend of Izumi, who keeps short brown hair and wears glasses. Watabe is Izumi’s stalker and goes to extreme lengths to take pictures of Izumi.
Souta Hori
Souta Hori is the son of Kyousuke and Yuriko Hori, which makes him the younger brother of Kyouko Hori. Souta is a young boy, who has a fair complexion, messy gray hair, and olive-colored eyes.
Souta is seen as an obedient child who maintains a close relationship with his sister. Moreover, he can be direct and won’t feel embarrassed to bring up certain topics.
Yuuna Okuyama
Yuuna Okuyama is in the same grade as Souta, Yuuna has an average height, with hair that extends to mid-back length.
Yuuna is considered quite mature for her age and can be found self-conscious of her forehead, as she thinks is too large.
Check out this video to know why people were waiting so impatiently for the Horimiya Anime series:
Which is better: Kaguya Sama or Horimiya?
While Horimiya is purely a romantic comedy, Kaguya is a psychological romantic comedy. Moreover, Horimiya is a comforting and joyful series, and Kaguya can be a bit dark, although both of the series are worth watching.
Here’s a list of some of the differences between Kaguya Sama And Horimiya:
| Differences | Kaguya Sama | Horimiya |
| Demographic | Seinen | Shōnen |
| Genre | Psychological Romantic comedy | Romantic Comedy |
| Manga Volumes | 28 | 16 |
| Anime Written by | Yasuhiro Nakanishi | Takao Yoshioka |
| IMDb Rating | 8.6 | 8.1 |
| Episodes | 13 | 13 |
There’s no denying the fact that almost every anime is a masterpiece, just like that Kaguya Sama and Horimiya are two of the most incredible series as well.
In addition, you may find Kaguya Sama a bit sad, in fact, there’re scenes that may also bring tears, Horimiya on the other hand is a fun and drama-free series.
Why do people love Horimiya?
What’s not to love in Horimiya? it’s a fun and easy-going series that doesn’t require too much thinking. it’s quite straightforward with no drama and fights.
Moreover, people also seemed to like the fact that Horimiya broke gender norms and stereotypes, for instance, it portrays softness in Miyamura kun character, who is the quiet and reticent male protagonist, with a loud and raucous female lead, named Hori san.
Anime has become a great way of conveying concepts to viewers that are considered taboo for instance even if you aren’t handsome or beautiful, there someone for you as well and you don’t have to try to be like someone else to make friends or make any kind of connection.
In addition, most Anime also encourages a healthy balance of femininity and masculinity, and characters continuously learn to appreciate all aspects of one another.
Conclusion
- Horimiya is a rom-com, it includes ordinary characters with natural and smooth relationship developments.
- If you are into anime that you can relate to or have fun with without shedding tears, Horimiya may just fit the bill.
- What most viewers liked about Horimiya is that it’s exciting and realistic but not too exciting, with great character writing.
- In addition, all the characters have their own unique personalities, none of the characters are just following the main characters.
- Kaguya and Horimiya, both are amazing series with great characters and storylines, which is why they shouldn’t even be compared.
- Kaguya is a psychological romantic comedy, which means it can be dark at times, while Horimiya is a pure and joyful Romantic Comedy, where there is no drama or unnecessary fights.
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