Love this manga, waiting for the new chapters just puts me in so much pain.

While it's actually shonen, it seems a lot like shoujo. The plot may not be going anywhere but I find it more interesting than most mangas I've read lately. The romance is cute and isn't the biggest focus (friendship seems to be the bigger thing). The romance. It's hilarious as hell. The art is a bit simple yet I find it really cute. The characters are well written and developed. Our protagonists: Hori is not like many female heroines, she has genuine strength and is independent. Izumi isn't like the typical "strong, smart, and perfect in every way" sort of guy like in many shoujos and primarily-romantic-shounens yet he somehow manages to seem really cool and absolutely adorable. The romance isn't full of sexual tension or any other problem, it's sweet and fairly innocent (though there are implications of something..."mature... in a certain chapter). The romance also isn't something full of sexual tension, cliches, love triangles, and basically so many annoying things romantic mangas have and just don't even need. This manga is so lighthearted, cute, relaxing, and fun to read.

It's not uncommon to play a "will they-won't they" game for a while, and this manga cuts that short. It's also not uncommon to make a disjointed slice of life comedy, where chapters are generally self-contained. If there's a complaint, it's that ever since the main characters got together, there's no plot.

The manga makes up for it, though, in several ways. To put it in a nutshell, the characters are endearing, the art is phenomenal, the dialogue feels realistic, and the scenarios are unbelievably hilarious while furthering character development. If you dislike fun and happiness, then don't read this.

As stated. I love it. The artwork isn't really....the greatest thing ever but that's alright! There's comedy and each of the character actually feels like they've a life. A personality other than attachment A,B,C. Sometimes, the chapter would focus more on the interaction between mc and the side and its sweet.
If you like romantic comedy that balances well between the two...give this a go.

I'm only 10 chapters in, but I think I'll stop here. The "no homo"-esque moments irk me, and they gay = creepy thing is seriously pissing me off. The manga overall is okay, but boring. I'm out. Bye.

For those of you who keep complaining about shoujo, go read Akuma to Love Song or Warau Kanoko-sama/Koi Dano Ai Dano or Kare Kano. (Or if you prefer josei manhwa, Cheese in the Trap).

... Last updated on August 22nd, 2014, 4:47am

Absolutely love the characters in here - especially Hori and Miyamura. Anyway, this manga is about a popular, pretty girl and a gloomy-looking boy who find love within each other and their story together. It's a cute story with quirky characters that AREN'T annoying. Now, que the ships and fan girls!

I really like the pace of the manga, because it allows you to slowly develop the characters. But thanks to chapter 37 I have decided to rate this manga 9.5, which is really really high and I hope that I won't have to drop the rating. I recommend this!!

It starts off so great!! Like everyone else has said, they've got this great premise and really great down to earth relationship and then the focus starts to shift. Suddenly we've got too many side characters and stories and entering into typical high school manga cliches (what's a high school manga without a sports festival apparently). Its feels like it's plateaued. Even the relationship between the the two leads has sort of settled.

All that being said it's a really refreshing manga, romance wise it doesn't really fall into any tropes (none that I can really think of at the moment anyway) and its definitely worth the read in that regard. I'm enjoying it despite the drag it's currently experiencing and I'm hoping it'll find it's feet again.

ETA: So three years later, I'm still following this manga but I sort of feel like nothing is really happening now, it feels kind of aimless. Hori and Miyamura's relationship has become sort of one dimensional/comic relief? It's lost some of its appeal for it. Not enough to drop it just yet but it certainly doesn't have the same draw that it did at the start.

... Last updated on July 10th, 2017, 9:08pm

Yes everyone knows Horimiya is a shounen manga.
That doesn't change the fact that it feels like a shoujo manga even if it's not. It is written by a woman (although drawn by a man) and it follows a female protagonist, has a male love interest that is perfect in every way, has next to no violence and lots of emphasis on shoujo-style plotting. This manga, with a different artist, could have easily run in a shoujo magazine.

I for one, find it pretty cool that some editor out there thought it'd be fun to run a manga that'd normally cater to girls in a boys magazine. It might be a subtle way of trying to get more boys into romance and other girly topics.

But let's not kid ourselves. This isn't your typical shounen romance manga. And that's what makes it stand out.

... Last updated on June 26th, 2014, 9:58am

I used to think that shounen mangas do not have titles that are as light-hearted as this. When I found out that there are love stories like Horimiya that is aimed at shounen readers, I took interest right away. This manga turned the tables of the usual high school love stories among shoujo titles where the heroine is weak and the love interest is exceptionally good at everything. In Horimiya, Hori Kyoko is the popular and smart one while Miyamura Izumi is the soft-hearted airhead. With such a role switch, I figured that this pair was worth checking out.

I loved how their relationship blossomed so casually. Their development from close buddies to lovers was depicted so naturally that it felt like the romance was a subplot to their everyday lives. It was much like the shoujo manga Kateshi Kanojo no Jijou, except that there has yet to be some sort of melodrama to occur. Personally, I'd like for the story to just proceed as it is - no frills, no breakdowns. I'd prefer it to stay as light-hearted as it is. The art is also great so it deserves the full points that other commenters here have given it.

I recommend this manga to those who are tired of tearjerkers and to those who want to reminisce young love. It's sweet, funny, and most of all touching. All characters are easy to love (including the parents!)

... Last updated on June 8th, 2014, 6:24am

So the three reviews immediately before this one *all* tell some variation on how they all found this 'shoujo' manga refreshing since it doesn't follow the usual shoujo tropes.

Of course it doesn't follow the usual shoujo tropes, it's a friggin shounen manga. Published in a shounen magazine. Seriously, are there really this many people who can't read genre tags? I apologize for ranting in a review space but it's driving me nuts...