Technically, Horimiya reached its finale without a sad ending in sight, but the anime left things a bit ambiguous. Which isn’t something you get from most Shojou manga and webcomics. Like, a Shojou series that doesn’t end with a ‘happily-ever-after’ is near sacreligious. And as a fan of the genre, it’s those guaranteed feel good vibes that make me return every time. So, when I watched the anime for Horimiya that aired last year, I was left a little confused.
However, Horimiya the webcomic does not have a sad ending at all. Instead, it continues on way past graduation with Kyouko Hori and Izumi Miyamura getting married and even having a son together they named Kyohei. So, yes, it’s pretty on brand for a Shojou of its time. However, the process to getting there is a little different compared to other webcomics and manga that were similar, because Horimiya was a bit more mature and darker in its storytelling. But that’s just the webcomic.
However, because of how the anime ended, many Horimiya fans felt that things were a bit rushed. While the ending wasn’t sad, it was more retrospective, looking at how Miyamura has grown since the start of the series. And while it was interesting, people wanted to see more of their relationship, alongside how their friends ended up interacting. So, when it was announced that we were getting an entire new season of Horimiya content in Summer 2023, people were ecstatic.
Titled Horimiya: The Missing Pieces, this 2nd season promises more than just the missing glimpses of the lives we have come to know and love. But does it give us more of a definitive ending? To be fair, it doesn’t have to. After all, the webcomic has already ended. But it would be nice to see how Hori and Miyamura develop going forward, and if their relationship lasts the test of time. So today, let’s look at the (not so) sad ending of Horimiya and how the new season will play out in another segment of Lore Analysis.
Horimiya: The Missing Pieces And Character Development
The reason why Horimiya is enjoyable is not just the romance. Like, yes, it is that because this is a Shojou that takes place amongst high school students. But there’s also a world bigger than Hori and Miyamura, and how they interact with it is important. Initially, it is the simple prospect of watching these two characters grow and come into their own, but then you see the romance between the unlikely duo bloom. And that keeps us going.
However, the webcomic is often considered superior for its storytelling because things aren’t as cute and casual as they are in the anime. The actual tale of Horimiya is much darker, though not in the sense you’d think. There isn’t any hidden terror sequence, or psychological plays in this story, that’s not it. But the way it tackled teenagehood and growing pains is very different from how Shojou tends to do it, especially when it comes to Miyamura. After all, one of the first intros we get of this character is how his isolation and alienation amongst his peers made him almost suicidal. Like, they even made a point to show that in the anime.
Which is why when he and Hori are portrayed as the salvation for each other, it feels almost cliche. But then we learn that isn’t the case at all. It’s not that their classmates start liking Miyamura because of Hori, but rather that Miyamura gives himself a chance and starts socializing, to some extent. And that’s what Horimiya: The Missing Pieces is setting out to do. It’ll show us more of Miyamura becoming less isolated, more forthcoming and inviting with people like Tooru Ishikawa.
Essentially, we get to see their true personalities around other people, and how those people have their own lives to deal with. The take is much more nuanced and mature.
Hori And Miyamura: How Puppy Love Matures In the Ending
So, now that we understand how the progression will happen, is Horimiya going to have a sad ending? Not at all. However, all three iterations of Horimiya simply end at different places in time. The anime ends at a marriage proposal, with Miyamura asking Hori to marry her before they even graduated highschool. The manga ended with the two being engaged, after telling Hori’s parents about their recent development.
But it was the webcomic that has the ending most widely considered canonical, with both Hori and Miyamura already married and with a son, to boot. So, it’s not like they didn’t get their happy ending. But I do understand fans wanting more than just their relationship at face value. Because what they had was something so different from what we came to expect from the teen romance genre.
Hori and Miyamura started out as being the only people who knew about each other’s hidden sides. And they related to that sense of concealing their true selves from the rest of the world, ultimately becoming the only people that they could let their guard down around. And how their relationship matures from there feels more real, with them getting together in the middle of the series. It didn’t take very long for them to start dating, and their dating wasn’t shown as merely innocent puppy love.
And it felt so refreshing to see how these two completely understood each other, that this was it for them. Fated couplings have always been a thing in the romance genre, but with Hori and Miyamura, it’s actually believable. They have urges that are completely healthy to their age, and a dynamic that is both playful and considerate. Not to mention how they sometimes co-parent Hori’s little brother, Souta Hori, aka the reason the two even interacted.
Which is why their happy ending is so welcome! Now, to see if we get a glimpse of their marriage in the second season. Hey, a girl can hope!
