• Anime Title: Horimiya
• Episodes: 13
• Where to Watch: Crunchyroll and Hulu
• Publisher: Aniplex of America

Who does not want a good cute slice-of-life romance anime? Well, to be honest, my boyfriend would not watch this anime on his own. He most likely would not even give this one a second glance. And that was fine, I was just glad that he has been open to watching some anime that he would normally ignore himself.

Anyway, what made me watch this? Because of this clip. One day, I just saw it on my YT feed and I was like, what the heck is this? And I was glad, I took the time to look it up. This anime was golden.

What is this about really? Sure, it’s easy to just say that this is a rom-com about young love. But ultimately, this is about people having part of themselves that they hide from other people. When it all comes down to it, you only let people see what you want them to see. And this is about finding that one person who will accept that part of yourself that you hide from the world.

I really appreciated how this anime did not make mundane things over the top as other anime had done. The storyline was solid. Nothing to complain about that. It was seamless. The natural progression of Hori and Miyamura’s relationship was great. There was nothing more amazing than finding someone who can accept and also love that hidden part of you.

The way this anime dealt with conflict was pretty good too. There were definitely some misunderstandings among the characters and you know what? They talked about it. It was so easy to just let these characters wallow in doubt and let them jump to conclusions, but no, the anime let the characters talk about these things. We as viewers were not waiting for the resolutions until the last episode. I say that was pretty healthy way to resolve some conflicts.

The anime did not shy away from heavy topics either – from separation anxiety, bullying, isolation, suicide even. They were presented perfectly and dealt with healthily.

What made this anime for me though was Miyamura. I just love his inner monologues. Also, I felt like he had the most visible character development. I mean, his experiences in season one shaped him to be this person by the end and I loved it. He started as this shy high school loner kid and by the end, he was this confident person with friends.

I also liked the fact that after Hori and Miyamura got together, the anime shifted to the characters around them. It would have been so easy to just keep these characters as background and just focus on the main love storyline. I really loved Tooru Ishikawa. Sure, he was not the main character but he was so fleshed out. It was impossible not to love him. He was friendly, supportive, and just an awesome guy.

Overall, this anime was really good. I loved the story. I loved the pacing. I loved how real the anime was. I loved the characters. This anime was pretty up there for me. I gave this a 9/10. My boyfriend gave this an 8/10. This would be one of the anime that I rewatch from time to time.