Cutesy manga returns!

Horimiya is an adorable manga about a seemingly perfect girl (who is secretly a homebody/overworked older sister) and a loner, emo sort of boy (who is secretly a tattooed and pierced semi bad boy) who accidentally stumble upon one another’s real selves. Hori, our main female character, is the perfect student until she gets home (where her parents never are) and spends all her time taking care of her brother and trying to keep up with her studies. Miyamura is a quiet loner at school, but after meeting Hori’s brother one day and bringing him home, Miyamura and Hori realize they know one another and have now exposed their secrets.

Generally I love this series but volume 6 was a little meh for me. There was a lot going on with the side characters, which I am normally super into, but it just seemed like a lot to be thrown at the reader at once and I have to write out a little flow chart of who had a crush on who. Also Hori is weirdly characterized in this volume with her lashing out at Miyamura with some intense jealousy and control issues that haven’t really come up before. It seemed like a huge character shift and I am not sure for what point. Though I must admit I did love her fierce protection of Miyamura when he was being bullied and her willingness to throw down in defense of her partner.

Volume 7 continues with more of the same, with Hori demanding that Miyamura be mean to her as she finds it attractive? It touches on a BDSM chord for me but honestly I cannot tell if that was the intent of the author or if something has been shifted due to the translation. It sort of feels like it might be an introduction to some sort of consensual kink but the execution of it seems weird in a story that’s been mostly cutesy so far, but I’ll keep reading to see it out. The continuing developments in their group of friends, especially concerning the love triangle is fun, as is the new character who seems like he will be here to stay. This continues to be a really fun manga and aside from some weird plot points I highly enjoy it.

Title: Horimiya (Vol 6 & 7)
Author: Hero, Daisuke Hagiwara (art)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 178 // 178
ISBN: 9780316270137 // 9780316469326

Three Descriptors: Romantic, adorable, hopeful