Kuzu no Honkai

To the outside world, Hanabi Yasuraoka and Mugi Awaya are the perfect couple. But in reality, they just share the same secret pain: they are both in love with other people they cannot be with.

Hanabi has loved her childhood friend and neighbor Narumi Kanai for as long as she can remember, so she is elated to discover that he is her new homeroom teacher. However, Narumi is soon noticed by the music teacher, Akane Minagawa, and a relationship begins to blossom between them, much to Hanabi's dismay.

Mugi was tutored by Akane in middle school, and has been in love with her since then. Through a chance meeting in the hallway, he encounters Hanabi. As these two lonely souls spend more time together, they decide to use each other as a substitute for the one they truly love, sharing physical intimacy with one another in order to stave off their loneliness.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yasuraoka, Hanabi Main

Anzai, Chika Japanese

Awaya, Mugi Main

Shimazaki, Nobunaga Japanese

Ebato, Sanae Supporting

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Minagawa, Akane Supporting

Toyosaki, Aki Japanese

Kamomebata, Noriko Supporting

Izawa, Shiori Japanese

Kanai, Narumi Supporting

Nojima, Kenji Japanese

Kirishima, Atsuya Supporting

Asanuma, Shintaro Japanese

Terauchi, Takuya Supporting

Kobayashi, Yuusuke Japanese

Hayakawa, Mei Supporting

Fujii, Yukiyo Japanese

Moriyama, Take Supporting

Kijima, Ryuuichi Japanese

Fujiyama, Naokado Producer

Higa, Yuuji Producer

Komatsu, Shouta Producer

Andou, Masaomi Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Dec 2, 2025

SneedHarder

Recommended

I'll keep this short and sweet; I love this anime/manga.

There is a TL;DR at the bottom.

And as for why I love it, it's due to the fact that I've experienced similar scenarios that are in this story. I relate quite a bit to Mugi, losing your adolescence in that sort of way, filling in the gap of someone you love with someone else etc etc. But I also have a bit of experience with some of what Hanabi went through, though not so much with her love interest issues, but more on the mental states she goes through.

I have watched it multiple times now, ... and it hits just about the same every subsequent time, in the ways that are painful yet enjoyable, if that makes sense.

I genuinely think the reason why these dark romance stories tend not to do well or at least, not do as well as other types of stories as a whole is because for a majority of people, these types of dramatic events aren't very commonplace. They might be at a basic level for a lot of people, but not to the degree that is shown in Kuzu no Honkai and others like it.

All in all;

Art: 10/10, love the character design, all the direction choices they do are awesome, with the black fog and the water color paint style shading here and there.

Story: 10/10 (though a tad niche)

Music 11/10 (I love 96neko and also, RIP Sayuri)

Overall: 10/10

TLDR; It's a niche type of romance that you'll love if you understand at least one of our protagonists and what they go through, but you might still enjoy it if you like to see people work through feelings you may not have experienced, or have experienced less "complicated/dramatic" versions of.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Sep 16, 2025

kagemata

Mixed Feelings

What is love? A question as old as humanity itself. Some will tell you it’s pure, selfless, eternal. But Kuzu no Honkai whispers something darker that love is rarely pure it’s hunger, ego, emptiness, and the desperate need to be seen.

Hanabi and Mugi aren’t searching for love; they’re clawing at the hollow space it leaves behind. They kiss not for passion, but for anesthesia. They hold each other not because they’ve found “the one,” but because being alone is worse. Every embrace is a lie they both agree to believe.

This isn’t your sugarcoated rom-com. It’s a mirror held up to the parts of us we’d ... rather deny the pettiness, the lust, the ego. It asks, “Do you love them? Or do you just love how they make you feel?”

By the end, there’s no happy closure, no grand redemption. Just two broken teenagers admitting that they weren’t enough for each other… and walking separate paths. Not tragic. Not hopeful. Just empty.

Kuzu no Honkai isn’t about falling in love. It’s about the scars left behind when love refuses to fall back.

If you want fairy tales, look elsewhere. If you’ve ever loved someone who looked right through you welcome home.

And hey, if you still believe love is pure after watching this? Congrats you’re either a saint… or you’ve never been ghosted.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 21, 2025

D4SBOT

Not Recommended

To put it simply, Kuzu no Honkai tries too hard to be deep, but ends up as a lackluster story that might appeal to some because of its unique premise, but also make some absolutely despise it. Unfortunately, I'm part of the latter.

One of the most common points that I see about this show is that it is mature and realistic. But, seriously? I know that they try to represent how lust can consume one's mind but it genuinely feels like half of the show's time was spent in a bedroom scenario. It felt like an H anime that just got censored. This makes the ... pacing feel off and also makes it incredibly boring to watch.
The characters are all unlikable and act stupid, genuinely no one acts like this. There's no way half of the characters could get away unnoticed after doing all that, not to mention it does not feel natural at all how so many fucked up things happen at the same time, that are coincidentally all connected.

The art and music are honestly pretty good. The opening is good and the ending is freaking amazing. The art feels soothing and the animation is pretty smooth.

Overall, it's just a very unconfortable and edgy show that can feel rewarding to some but really lame to others. It's very School Days-like. You either love it or hate it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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