But to the point.
Being a shounen romcom, Horimiya is as full of cliche situations as you’d expect. That is also often used as an argument against it. But there is one “but”: it’s not cliches that are bad - it’s when using them makes the work bad. Seems like the same thing, but it isn’t. While Horimyia uses cliche situations, like summer cold, misunderstandings or love triangles, it absolutely is not “standard” or “predictable” in that field. Things that normally would be main focus of whole arc here are solved in less than half of episode. Situations that’d end up in long drama turn quickly into comedy. When you see the cliche getting used and get ready for the usual route, they suddenly resolve in reasonable fashion, without unnecessary complications or drama. Mind you, Horimyia isn’t some big-brain deconstruction of genre or anything like that. Author just used cliches cleverly and in a way that doesn’t make watcher annoyed with overused format, despite it still being the same situation.
Romance itself progresses in a satisfying pace, with no sluggish feeling that can appear sometimes if story adds too many filler moments. Still, keep in mind that it’s “just” a romcom. Don’t expect some deep psychology or layered story behind Hori’s and Myiamura’s feelings. It’s cute and fun, that’s it.
Overall, the story is relaxed (slice of life, duh) and heartwarming, with comedy on rather good level. Serious moments don’t take longer than needed for progression, and more importantly, don’t feel forced, nor artificial.
Characters are, in a way, in a similar situation: they are generally rather basic and don’t develop too much. But at the same time all of them are super likeable, with no annoying villains or antagonists. Watching this anime you wish everyone to be happy. One downside here is lack of screen time for side characters/pairs that I got really interested in. It might be due to cutting some content in the process of adaptation, but nonetheless it’s a downside of this anime for me.
It’s worth mentioning that despite their rather basic personalities, many characters manage to behave in less predictable ways - quiet ones sometimes show assertive side, seemingly direct ones can be shy and reserved. To top it all, spot-on voice acting and absolutely great facial reactions (comedic at least) make Horimyia’s cast a very memorable one.
Speaking about reactions, I couldn’t not mention art side of this anime. Unsurprisingly, it’s another strong point. While character design might be more taste dependent, there is no doubt that it’s well done. And so is animation, which is also consistent, with no noticeable drops in quality.
Considering that I already stated my disagreement with most of the criticism I heard about Horimyia, and that you can see my score on this review, I don’t think there is a need for some grand summary. Yes, I do think it’s a great anime and I do feel stupid that I let myself get influenced with such negative opinions, when I normally ignore those.
It wouldn’t be an overstatement if I said that the main reason for this review is a feeling of “saltiness” that, for the most part, I watched this anime expecting flaws that I read about earlier, looking out for them and trying to “find a hole in the whole”. I wasted some part of enjoyment this way and I hope my review can save at least one person from that.
