One anime took the world of romance anime by storm when it premiered in January 2021. That anime is Horimiya. Horimiya is a cute and fun story about many lies and secrets but also about love.
Well, today we’ll uncover some of the secrets behind Season 2, and we’ll review the first season to see exactly where all the love is coming from. We’ll examine some news and rumors concerning the show, so continue reading.
What happened so far in Horimiya
We meet Kyoko Hori. She’s a beautiful, stylish, and crazy popular high-school student. She’s this really bright and playful person with a lovable personality. In contrast to Kyoko Hori, we then meet Izumi Miyamura. A rather gloomy persona with a nerdy appearance. He wears glasses, likes anime and manga, and almost never talks to anyone if it’s not needed. The two are complete opposites who would usually never have anything in common. However, both of them lead secret lives that are opposite to how they appear in school.
The moment Hori gets home she takes away all the makeup. She ties her hair and starts doing chores around the house while looking after her little brother. It’s a completely different look than what she has at school where she’s always perfect and socially acceptable. She did this because she felt she was too ordinary and didn’t stand out enough. Miyamura on the other hand is a rather good-looking guy when you take away the nerdy look he puts on. His look is punk-inspired and he’s got tattoos as well as 9 piercings on his body. He felt too different and thought that people wouldn’t accept him so he decided to play the nerdy kid live a lonely school life.
One day, Horis’ brother came back home having a nosebleed. He was accompanied by a guy with numerous piercings and tattoos. Hori and Miyamura immediately recognized each other and agreed to keep their identities a secret from the rest of the school. The more time passes, however, the more they would meet and the more time they would spend together. At one point they started to realize that they had more in common than they first thought. They agree to help eachother and work together to keep their identities a secret but eventually they fall for eachother and become a couple. In the end, they end up helping eachother accept their identities instead of keeping them a secret. Izumi feels relief that Kyoko accepts him for who he is and she feels the same. He starts socializing more and becoming a bit more popular while she lets go more in front of people (to a healthy amount). She feels safer because he admires her not for her school look but for her out-of-school personality and personality. He likes her more as a real person instead of the character she’s playing and she feels the same.
In the end, the school year ends and they get over some of the hurdles that come with being yourself in front of others. Some people mess with them but they stand by eachother and don’t let it bother the other one too much. They leave together as Izumi thinks about how much Hori helped him to get out of his shell and become more open. He thinks of all the ways he can show his thanks and help her. She helped him be himself while he helped her accept that being normal is more than enough.
What’s Going on With Cloverworks?
Horimiya was adapted to an Anime Series from CloverWorks Studio. The anime was released on January 10, 2021. It seems like the creators knew the anime would do well seeing as they released 4 promotional videos starting in September of 2020. They released a promotional video each month up to December of 2020.
One of the reasons Horimiya is so well made is its staff. They really had the best of the best work on the show and it shows.
Firstly, Haruko Iizuka did the character design which is one of the most important aspects, in a show like Horimiya. Even though the characters had already been drawn for the manga she added a few touches to make both their hidden identities stand out more and their school persona as well. Being that these are the main characters she did a really good job at adapting them.
Secondly, the creators did an impeccable job with the choice of music. You have the emotional songs, and you have the goofy comedy music that we all love. Masaru Yokoyama takes the credit for these choices, and he deserves it. One of arguably the best aspects of Horimiya, however, is the character interactions. This seems to be one of the most enjoyable things for fans and a good reason. You can’t help but feel like you’re eating sweets when looking at the interaction between the main characters. Even Hori’s little brother melts your heart when he tries to wingman Izumi.
The credits for this go to first the scriptwriter Takao Yoshioka, for adapting the dialogue in a way that’s more suited for an Anime and not just for reading a novel. As well as the voice acting included. Honestly, the voice acting in Horimiya is one of the best aspects of the show. It really adds to the vibe of the characters and you can feel that the actors really were in the role when they did it. Other things like the music and visuals help with this too but hearing the brightness and happy-go-lucky nature of Asami Setos’ voice compliments Kyokos’ school persona perfectly. While the opposite is true for Yoshitsugo Matsuoka who perfectly adapts the “weak and held back” voice of Izumi when he’s in school. He rarely speaks and this is shown in his voice. Moreover, both of them perfectly adapted to the character growth and the confidence they gained within themselves. You can hear Hori becoming less tryhard and Miyamura sounding a bit stronger. Overall a great job really.
It’s not really that big of a surprise that CloverWorks did a good job with the show. The studio has worked in several crazy successful series such as Persona 5, Fairy Tail, and both seasons of The Promised Neverland. After the end of Horimiya, the studio has released 2 more anime series and has announced that it’s currently working on another one. Funimation also took notice of the series and licensed it in many countries inside Europe and outside through AnimeLab. Medialink had it licensed everywhere else.
What do we know about Horimiya Season 2 so far?
In August 2021, there was a lot of talk about how the shows’ second season will be announced in September of the same year. This never happened however and now people are asking what went wrong. These were just rumors and it was never official but it still managed to get a lot of peoples’ hopes up. Nothing official has been announced about the anime. Neither a renewal nor a cancellation. That being said, there’s not much to go on for a second season. Horimiya ran for 13 episodes and pretty much every conflict was resolved within the plot. The show was never canceled and if it were to come back it’s not gonna be any sooner than 2022 or 2023. Still, the chances of that happening are not very likely.
The anime may not have a high chance of coming back but Horimiya has released a lot of versions of the story. If rewatching anime isn’t really your thing there’s also a live-action adaptation of Horimiya and it’s still in an episodic sequence so it’s not a full movie.
What Fans Are Saying About Horimiya Season 2?
When Horimiya first came out fans went crazy about it. It took the world of romance anime by storm and didn’t let go. Fans immediately wanted a Season 2 and have been really grumpy and vocal about the fact that nothing has been announced yet. There’s a lot of talk about the season but it’s still in frustration about the lack of possibility for a sequel. People are bombarding different forums and are really curious about it.
Most fans can’t accept that it’s over and not in a bad way. They loved it way too much. There’s plenty of reviews on different forums and social media as well as a crazy amount of fan-art going around. Different character analyses by Anitubers (anime youtubers) but also some by relationship experts and coaches. There were even videos on Youtube saying “Goodbye to the best Romance Anime”. There’s almost 100% love for this anime and for good reason. Fans were absolutely encapsulated by it, and it isn’t easy to find someone who isn’t.
So, Will there be a Horimiya Season 2?
Despite it being sad news, a renewal for the show is highly unlikely.
The first season finished everything it had to in regard to the plot and unwrapped all the different questions and hints it gave us throughout the beginning of the show. There were no cliffhangers or questions left unanswered to be revealed in a second season. The ending was perfectly encompassing of all that needed to be resolved and that might as well mean there’s no need for a Season 2 as there’s no more plot to depict. Another thing is that the anime caught up to the manga by the end of the season so there isn’t any more source material for another one. The Manga series itself is also finished with the release of its 16th and final volume. The anime finishes up more or less exactly like the manga does with the graduation and the two love birds accepting who they are and appreciating the other one for loving who they are before they did. So because of these things, it’s highly unlikely that Horimiya will ever return.
Even so, everything else about the show seems to be working in its favor so it’s not a complete impossibility. The show was a major success and the manga itself sold more than 5.7 million copies even before the anime was released. When the anime aired people went crazy and it got even more exposure. It ranked number 13 on the popularity poll of “Myanimelist”. It was one of the most popular shows in general not just on MAL with insane statistics showing in Google as well. The anime crushed statistics as well as it sold more than 3000 Blu-Ray/DVD copies within the first week of being released.
Being how successful the anime was it left enough of a mark on the world. Even if the show isn’t going to return there’s plenty of merchandise on their official website. There you can find anything from coffee mugs to posters and pillows. There are even posters with relationship goals on them. There are figures, phone cases, cosplay items, and T-shirts. So anything you need you can get.
The series also didn’t have any controversies. It was an overall beloved series by both fans and critics and everyone seemed to enjoy it for what it was. However, the issue still remains that there’s no way to think of source material on the spot. The writers could consider it but even if they do the story is told for these characters and is resolved. So even if there is a new season it will probably just be a washed-up version of this story. And no one wants a new season with different characters. Most fans have already accepted that it’s over and have decided to love it for what it is.
While we’re waiting for an official announcement, you can always rewatch Horimiya on Hulu.com!
