Horimiya, which tells a story about two people living two different lives in school and out of school, is sweet and also good for a chuckle or two as you learn their motivations the more they interact with each other.
School brings its case of learning and insecurity to kids who need experience to grow up in the world, so the premise that Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara are bringing isn’t all that original. What makes it work is how they interact — Kyouko Hori is the smart, popular girl that everyone deals with, while Izumi Miyamura is the class nerd, with the glasses and the anti-social mentality. They don’t come together because of school, or a big accident…well, if Izumi finding Kyouko’s little brother is an accident, it’s an odd one! That’s when we find out Kyouko is a homebody who takes on the mantle of parent as her parents are busy with work, and Izumi is a tattoo loving, ears pierced, nice guy.
Their relationship maintains the feel of romance but more or less friendship from getting a bad idea about each other, while adding in doses of humor on the side. Well, at least the big joke is how Izumi’s not smart since he got himself piercings and tattoos at a school where it’s outlawed. So he’s not nearly so smart. The big struggle comes to how they interact with others outside of school, where classmates can’t even recognize how the two of them look when they’re not wearing their uniforms, and it’s interesting, that is for sure.
The issue I had with it is early on it did feel the execution of how Kyouko and Izumi was clunky. There were also some awkward jokes that didn’t work out (it’s not a big deal if Izumi and a guy get together Kyouko. Probably!), and the side characters aren’t all that impressive currently. But I like the direction of the manga, and look forward to seeing where it goes from here.
A review copy was provided by Yen Press.
