Horimiya: The Missing Pieces

This new season of Horimiya is quite interesting. While the first season technically covered up to the ending of the manga, it left out a lot of content which left a lot of manga readers unhappy (for context, there are 16 volumes of the manga in total). Therefore, the purpose of this season is to adapt some of the chapters that were skipped over in order to flesh out the characters more. That being said, I have very mixed feelings on this season overall due to this approach. Originally, I really thought this season would be a hit as it was giving more time with thecharacters that we all loved. However, because most of the chapters adapted here were slice of life, nothing of importance really happens. Outside of a few moments in the season which I found to be particularly compelling (namely episode 11), most of the rest was just fluff. While the fluff was well received at first, it became very repetitive as the season progressed and by the end of the season, I was somewhat happy it was over. One episode in particular left me with a bad taste in my mouth which honestly should not have been included in the season to begin with. It followed a character nobody cares about and took up precious time that could have been used to adapt other chapters that are still not adapted even after this season. I don't want to be too harsh on this anime though. Just like the main show, the animation and music were solid with an amazing OP that I really enjoyed watching. The characters are loveable as always and their dynamics with each other are shown more. I especially like what the season did with Iura and Sawada with the latter becoming one of my favorite characters in the series. Overall, this whole season was somewhat of a mixed bag. While I enjoyed my time while watching it, it became clear that this was not compelling enough for me to look forward to each episode. Horimiya is still an amazing series to me but I wish that Cloverworks was allowed to make a 2-cour season in order to adapt all of this in order. That would have made the whole experience much more enjoyable and a lot of my complaints would have been null and void. It doesn't deserve to be rated too low but I don't feel comfortable rating this anything over a 7.

A lot of us were confused when we saw Horimiya getting a new season. Hadn't it already concluded? Horimiya rose to immense popularity and it left fans looking for more, especially manga readers who were infuriated by the fact the adaptation only received 12 episodes when it could have easily gotten 24 plus. As a standalone season, the original Horimiya was honestly a great watch if we exclude the fact that they cut out a bunch of chapters. It honestly felt very seamless, probably because they focused specifically on Hori and Miyamura outside of the extensive side cast. That's where Missing Pieces comes in. Itshines light on the side cast, which I always thought was the strength of Horimiya, but glaring weaknesses are present. I feel that some of the more casual Horimiya fans will be disappointed by this series. The diehards will love to see their series animated no matter what, but those who enjoyed Horimiya as a romance will be disappointed. I think that you would be very hard-pressed to call Missing Pieces a romance. It's almost exclusively slice-of-life, with comparatively little Hori and Miyamura in comparison. On the romance topic, I want to express one of my criticisms of the series. Nothing happens. Yoshikawa, Ishikawa, Sakura, and Iura, these guys are stuck in an eternal love polygon. There are so many advances, especially with Sakura in the main series but nothing ever happens outside of Remi and Sengoku and Hori/Miyamura. One of my absolute favorite moments in the original series was the exchanges between Sengoku and Remi exchanging books that they thought the other would like. The author chose to keep everything static and while all the characters are constantly frolicking about, laughing and smiling. By no means does it feel satisfying. Missing Pieces is adapting chapters that were skipped, and some of those chapters are from earlier in the series, and it just kinda hurts to see Sakura laughing around Ishikawa when we know that she has feelings for him. When the chapter was originally drawn, we weren't supposed to know about her feelings so it doesn't feel natural. It was moments like this that made me feel like missing pieces was just a cash grab, too little too late. Knowing that this is a chill slice-of-life primarily, it changes how I would go about recommending it. As mentioned previously, I like Horimiya's side cast, I think the characters are generally really likable. It keeps a good balance of alternating in and out of the school setting. I think the comedy is flat and euphoric though. When characters try to be funny, the voice actors are doing too much and the jokes are often overused, boring, flat, and stale (except the one teacher who likes high schoolers who was funny [I don't condone this], I wish he would have gotten together with the female teacher). I have a problem with the disposition of the characters, they all seem overly happy all the time. To put this in context, you know how guilty people who are bad at lying act overly agreeable and crack jokes a lot? That's how I felt about the cast sometimes. I personally like most of the characters (Remi, Sengoku, Ishikawa, Yoshikawa, Sakura, Iura) even if I don't like Hori and Miyamura that much, which made this for a generally enjoyable watch despite being boring and cringe at times. Final Score: 7/10

You'll like it if: • You enjoyed the comedic aspect of S1. • You liked the character dynamics in S1 and want to see more of the side characters. • You finished S1 and you just want more. • Slice of Life is your thing. You won't like it if: • You expect the Horimiya plot to progress. • You didn't like how the attention shifted from the main couple to the side characters in S1, cause you mostly liked the romance. • You're not a fan of filler episodes...since this is basically a filler season. • You couldn't care less about the side characters.Story: Piece is unique in the sense that it's not really a second season, but rather some side stories that took place parallel to the key events of S1. So while there's no actual plot from start to finish, it complements and adds to what we already saw, with the stories themselves are pretty enjoyable. Characters: While the characters' traits remain the same, we get to see more sides of them in Piece, which fleshes them out even more. I was delighted to see characters who didn't get to interact as much in the previous season share some moments and explore their new dynamics. Art & Sound: As with the first season, nothing particularly mindblowing. but they serve their purpose well. Personal enjoyment: Since my favorite thing about the first season was the everyday moments between the cast, Horimiya: Piece was up my alley. Even then, the lack of an overall direction made it occasionally hard to push through with the season. While I overall enjoyed it I would be hesitant to recommend it to everyone who liked S1.

Sigh, again, with another sequel to yet acclaimed shows loved by many. I’m sure nothing can go wrong, right? It was … wrong and for the wrong reasons too. This is one of those “It’s me, not you” cases. Horimiya’s concept is very much grounded and has clear expectations. A wholesome slice of life snip from the youthful high school days of two sweethearts, anyone can like that, and that’s why the first season has gathered such a curl following to an extent. However, with that promise, a sequel came in, only, not conforming to those sequel-esque qualities. Let me cut to the chase and just saythat this is not a sequel, and more so a retrospective (recap?) outlook on the major events that have folded in the first season. Think of it as some sort of deleted scene, an extended version of what you enjoyed before, only, it wasn’t that enjoyable. It felt like a filler season, you already know the outcome but here’s more topping, so to speak. It goes to say that if you aren’t reaaaaaaaly into Horimiya, then this one is putting you through a coma of boredom. And that’s despite the animation being high quality and the sound design as well, the directing was top-notch, but even all of that can’t make watching paint on a wall drying any more exciting. Overall: 6.32/10.