It says something about how inexplicable Neverland is that Horimiya is only the second-most baffling adaptation of the season. They’re galaxies apart in terms of quality, of course, but the choices Ishihama-sensei is making really have me flummoxed. And I think that’s ultimately why Horimiya is going to be a disappointment on the whole. Really good to be sure and great at its best, maybe sneaking into the Top 10 depending on how the year plays out. But for a source material that had AOTY potential that counts as a disappointment for me.
There are many facets to Horimiya to be sure. And that’s the heart of the problem, given that 15 volumes (and that’s just the print version) are being shoehorned into 12 (or possibly 13 – I don’t think it much matters) episodes. Some parts of this series work better than others. If we were getting a more or less full adaptation that wouldn’t be such a big deal in context. But given that what we’re getting is basically a highlight reel, every misstep is magnified 10X over. Imagine getting a highlights package for Game 6 of the 1998 NBA finals, devoting half of it to guys shooting free throws, and leaving out Michael Jordan’s final shot.
What struck me watching this episode is, oddly enough, how much better Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge is at this sort of material than Horimiya. Why that series specifically? Maybe because there’s some similarity in the character designs, but mostly because that’s the ideal of what Horimiya tries to be in this mode. I knew it wasn’t all that good at it just from the source material, but when so much of the anime’s abbreviated run is wasted on it, the sting is really felt. Horimiya just isn’t that good as a school life comedy, frankly, but it’s a small enough part of the manga that it’s not a big problem. Not so the anime, based on what Ishihama has chosen to focus on.
I don’t dislike Shu, any more than I dislike any of the supporting cast. But he’s pretty vanilla, and introducing his sister one week from the end of the series is truly baffling (sorry to repeat but it’s the only word that fits). If hard choices have to be made to fit 15 volumes into 12 episodes, what could be more expendable than stuff like Shu’s sibling relationship and the whole Sawada subplot? They have no importance to the core story and aren’t that interesting to begin with.
My assumption on hearing Horimiya was going to be one cour was that Ishihama would focus on the relationship stuff. But in truth, he’s basically ignored that apart from some bad comic sidebars ever since they became a couple (or at least since they hooked up). He’s also largely ignored Kyouko’s family and home life, which I feared would happen but still mourn, as it’s much better than the school comedy. And then there’s Izumi’s emotional struggle and dark past, which has gotten a drop or two of oxygen but not nearly enough.
In short, then, I’m disappointed and there’s no point trying to sugarcoat it. I can never say how this show would have played for me if I had no experience with the manga, because I can’t know that. I imagine it would have worked pretty well on the whole, especially the first half-dozen eps or so before the real drift set in. But it’s hard to imagine anything from this episode would have made much of an impression, because even in a vacuum this is pretty flimsy material, if not unpleasant. And Horimiya can be so much better than that, which is why all this is such a shame.
John
March 21, 2021 at 11:47 am“Imagine getting a highlights package for Game 6 of the 1998 NBA finals, devoting half of it to guys shooting free throws, and leaving out Michael Jordan’s final shot.” Oof (but also LOL).
I was definitely pulling my collar a bit when I realized that we were getting a Shu-focused episode this late in the season, although I didn’t give in to despair since I believed (and now desperately hope) that this was a 13 episode adaptation. If there really is only 1 episode left…yikes!
It seems like the adaptation’s strategy is to make sure every character gets their moment to shine. And while I’m happy to now be able to put more to Shu’s face than “likes music,” focusing this much on showing what makes the side characters likable unfortunately also serves as a reminder of how much I wish I could spend more time with these characters in anime form.
That said, free from the knowledge of what could have been, I still enjoyed this episode, especially the last scene of Hori tutoring Shu’s sister. It was a nice reminder of how likable Hori can be and how good she is with younger kids, and the brief look at Souta and Miyamura being brothers was adorable.
Guardian Enzo
March 21, 2021 at 1:01 pmIt only lasted long enough to remind me that 95% of that relationship landed on the cutting room floor.
There may be 13 episodes actually – there’s been conflicting info on that. Even if there are, I wouldn’t change my view in any meaningful way.
Riv
March 21, 2021 at 2:59 pmI did end up dropping Horimiya after the fourth episode, but I think if it had included more of what you mention got left out, I might have kept watching. I was expecting it to be more serious, I guess, or deal more with issues beyond the romantic tribulations of the two main characters and their friends. There was some of that, but not enough to keep me engaged.
Setsuken
March 21, 2021 at 9:32 pmNot sure how good the manga is, but after watching this show in bursts (2-3 episodes at a time) I’m actually quite liking it. I honestly grew most tired of the show when it focused on Miyamura’s “past”. Maybe its done better in the manga, but here it just kind of grates (him talking to himself, e.t.c). I much preferred when he started to getting a long better with his old middle school “friends”.
I also really enjoy the focus on the side characters. It makes the world of Horimiya really come alive, in a way that I think most Romantic Comedy shows don’t do. Too often, the side characters are just left as side characters, and that’s always a darn shame.
I think Tanaka-kun is a completely different show honestly, and I never got the same vibes from this one. While there’s definitely moments of levity here, I dunno… I found there to just be more emotion throughout every seemingly “high school comedy’ segment.
The focus on these side characters really prevents them from feeling like “Oh the guy that liked Yuki” (Akane) or “The green haired girl that liked Tooru” (Sakura). I really appreciate the choice from the director here, even if most fans were expecting a focus on Hori and Miyamura.
I guess that’s a long winded way of saying I really like Horimiya, and I guess I can relate to it a lot more, having come from an Asian Country where I had to deal with similar things in my middle school/high school life (not in terms of drama, but just how life generally is for students).
Honestly, I would also not be surprised if a planned second season is in the works. But even if it is not, I think I’m really satisfied with what we got here, and will adore this series for how unique, different it was. Focusing on the side characters and really developing them, is a huge part of this show’s appeal for me.
Kim
March 22, 2021 at 3:30 amYeah I didn’t mind that the series was only 1 cour because I assumed they were only going to cover up to when Hori and Miyamura got together as a couple. While that wouldn’t have been the whole manga it would have felt like a whole story for an anime
Instead they rushed through the early parts skipping a lot of good material to get to what I consider weaker material. Is some of the later stuff good? Yes! But overall it’s not as good I would much rather the anime had done a more complete version of the 1st half of the manga.
Kim
March 22, 2021 at 3:33 am@Setsuken there is no way there will be a second season. The manga is ending and there just isn’t enough material to adapt for a whole new season
Maybe a movie to adapt the rest of the manga not covered in the anime but I can’t see a new season
Haraga
March 22, 2021 at 4:36 amI’m an anime-only viewer. Previously I had no issues with the pace of the adaptation, but this episode was, as you put it, baffling.
First, I was completely lost and initially thought I’ve missed an episode or two, as new characters were introduced without any connection to the narrative threads from before.
Second, I’m not the biggest fan of the comedy part of this show, and I think its high school banter is at best just above average even by anime standards. So this episode left me thinking why wouldn’t the adaptation focus on the relationships between the main characters that is actually interesting. What’s the current status of their relationship? Honestly, I’m lost and have no idea.
Anyway, volume 1 has arrived a few weeks before from Japan, I guess I’ll give it a try soon, hopefully it focuses more on the relationships than the adaptatoon. Also, yes, making anime shows for advertising its source material actually works even when the adaptstion has issues.
nixx
March 22, 2021 at 4:44 amWell, imho it was the weakest episode of Horimiya overall. In the beginning, I thought it was some kind of a medley because of those snowflakes. I am not familiar with the manga but it also looks kinda strange to me to devote it to Shu when we have only 1 or 2 episodes to go.
Collectr
March 22, 2021 at 6:06 amHorimiya jumped the shark with the hook-up episode. Since then, the title couple has been almost an afterthought. It’s almost like the creators thought, “Well, that wraps up Hori and Miyamura, so we’ll focus elsewhere for the rest of the run.”
If there’s not enough episode to do a reasonable adaptation, it’s okay to choose a stopping point and leave the anime incomplete. That’s less disappointing (to me) than a botched adaptation.
Guardian Enzo
March 22, 2021 at 9:59 amExactly my view – they’ve become almost irrelevant. And it doesn’t work that way in the manga. As Kim says, the assumption when this was announced as a single cour was that it would deal primarily with the core relationship and minimize the breadth of the story. That would have been sad, but still great. Instead it’s crammed way too much material in to do any of it justice and what’s worse, much of that material is the series’ weakest stuff. As a school comedy Horimiya is pretty pedestrian, even in the manga.
aaaaaa
March 28, 2021 at 7:46 amSorry — this has been bugging me — but the director’s name is Ishihama.
As an anime-only, I have to say I’m also a little disappointed. It feels like a lot of the magic from the earlier episodes has dissipated.
I thought the pacing of the earlier episodes was brisk, but not rushed. I didn’t think episode 6 was particularly rushed, but I remember thinking I would have preferred a slower pace at that point.
Then came episode 7, where I really felt like things were being rushed and adapted out. And after that, as many here have mentioned, the anime chose to focus on the side characters instead. It’s almost like a completely different show now — and not the one that got me invested in Horimiya.
I almost wonder if a better adaptation choice (given the restriction of a single cour) is to intersperse the side character stories among the episodes about the core relationship. Instead, we pretty much have seven episodes of romantic drama, followed by six episodes of school comedy.