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This manga is/was disturbing, but still somewhat intriguing. It being a quick read makes it difficult to put down because you're immediately drawn in and want to know how more fucked up it could get or if it would at least redeem the main protagonist but (spoiler alert) it never happens. There are only 11 chapters

The main reason why I read it and what initially drew me in was the art. The art is beautiful and unique. Its sort of a minimalist gothic style, to be honest that's the main reason why most people probably picked it up.

This manga is basically a case study of ... a psychopath, from birth to adulthood, that's all you need to know before reading

You can never enjoy a manga like this, but the story is unquestionably unique so I can give it props for originality but if you can't stomach physical and mental abuse or psychological torture then don't even give this manga the chance because you're going to hate it. But if you're open minded and willing to separate your personal emotions from lots of abuse that takes place in this manga, then it will be a great read about abusive relationships.

This story follows the relationship between 2 high schoolers Hina and Airi aka Ai-chan, former childhood best friends who seem to not be as close now ... that they're in high school. The story starts off innocent, the 2 girls are in different friend groups but are aware of each other, either catching glimpses of one another or innocently touching when no-one is looking. Later you find out the 2 girls were still close actually a lot more closer than the reader and everyone around them thought they were. They were secretly in a sadistic relationship where Airi seem to derive pleasure and sexual gratification from humiliating and inflicting pain on Hina and Hina not wanting to be apart from Airi allows her to do as she pleases but what Airi later fails to see was she was grooming Hina into enjoying it so begins this abusive relationship.

At first you're lead to believe Hina was a masochist but things arent what they seem like at first in this manga. Even though Hina secretly seems to want it or enjoys the suffering/humiliation being inflicted on her it's actually simply comes down to the fact that she's in love and is afraid if she rejects Airi's advances Airi will reject/ignore her. There's a lot of kinks and sexual scenes in this manga so if that's not your thing don't read it(I make it sound like I'm into it lol..) if you take out the sexual aspects of airi and hina's relationship it all comes down to a depiction of an abusive relationship which is very real and in relationships like these the one being abused or bullied grows to like or enjoy it and sees it as love or the abuser's way of showing love. hina sees airi's abuse as love/care because airi mixes in the suffering/humiliation with care like making her food, babying her, giving her one on one time, showing her attention and a side she doesn't show even her closest friends. Airi also continued to abuse her because hina allowed her to, that's always the case with abusive relationships the abuser doesn't think they did anything wrong because the victim or their partner lets them do it (**most of the time**) so when they're called out or caught they don't think they were in the wrong because the one they were abusing didn't reject it. What Airi fails to see later was she was teaching and psychologically changing Hina into an sadist abuser like her. Later on the script changes where Hina gains the power and dominance in their relationship and she basically does what she's been groomed to do by Airi back to Airi, she thinks its love so Airi later is stuck in a fucked up world of her own creation.

The art is amazing, I only wish this was a josei or included mature/older characters but seeing this from high schoolers perspective is a refreshing change.

WARNING!! this contains some references to the manga but no spoilers pass episode 4, i only reference chapters that were skipped in the 4 episodes.

Where to begin... so many of us have been waiting on the day we would finally get a proper Horimiya adaptation and now i can confidently and sadly say that day will never come so we'll have to settle for this.
I began reading horimiya back in 2013 during my second year in college and it slowly became one of my favorite school romcom/slice of life manga at a time when i became very picky when it came to reading ... titles in this genres. It became a favorite i enjoyed reading because it did something very simple that many others in the same genre do not, it depicted a realistic account of 2 opposite characters becoming friends, learning more about/from each other, becoming integrated into each other's lives like sharing friends, hanging out at each other's home and becoming close to each other's families like normal friends do, then slowly falling in love because of all things that made them become close in the first place, which then leads to them being in a relationship without any exaggerated misunderstandings or rivals because that's how most friendship to relationships work. Any misunderstandings that arises didn't feel out of place or out of character, it felt natural and did not slow the progression of the story, everything that happened for the most part felt genuine HOWEVER all of the elements I just mentioned that drew most of us into the story were nowhere to be found in the anime, just fragments of it being there, most of the pieces that made the manga strong were either cut out or were methodically dissected so they can throw some stuff away and keep some in so they could be able to adapt majority of the manga and not lose the general ideas and critical parts of the story.

Basically the studio decided or thought it was smart to cut parts of the story they deemed unimportant like chapters were the main characters grow closer as friends and then become aware of one another romantically so they can show what they (the studio) deems important, like comedy and school related scenes with all the characters and of course the main characters confessing, by doing so they leave out what made the 2 main characters hori and miyamura's relationship genuine and authentic in the first place while expecting the viewer to fill in the blanks. So far they've rushed through the story and then put the main characters together because it's already expected, since its in the name of the show so no questions asked. if i was an anime only viewer i'll feel like the main couple's relationship and reasons for being together seemed nonexistent or shallow because they've only hanged out a few times and haven't had any outstanding connection or event that pushed them closer in order to step from friendship to relationship other than the fact that the show is named after them.

you're supposed to assume they got closer off screen but aren't shown how or why but they are all of sudden confessing to each other. You don't get to see them flirt and grow close like they did in the manga before confessing. You might think them getting together faster is plus but it really isn't, since they do get in a relationship pretty early on in the manga as well but there were more steps leading to it and it felt natural, only 1 was step was animated, the "i like you....your fingers!!" Some examples that were necessary but were left out are the field trip arc, where hori began to show she liked miyamura and miyamura became more comfortable teasing/flirting with her and the white stew chapter were it becomes more evident to the other characters and the viewer that miyamura and hori are in love and center their lives around each other, there's more but these were more noticeable.

i normally never complain about how a studio chooses to handle a series but for the first time i'm disappointed by how this is being handled, it's almost like they're trying hard to fit all the manga into 12 episodes which will be impossible since there are lots of chapters so they just decided it was best to skip around and assumed or expected the viewer had already read the manga and knows what's going on or wouldn't notice if they weren't manga readers. i won't mind them animating all the chapters in order if it meant we don't get to see some stuff animated like their relationship post them getting together. i care more about it being a good story/show that follows the manga than getting random important scenes animated because it loses what made it unique and it now just looks like your seasonal mediocre and overhyped series that only got popular because of hype made by manga readers. horimiya the anime basically follows the typical romcom tropes. the only thing that sets it apart is the devotion it still has from manga readers.

tl;dr: read the manga instead, the story is fleshed out there, the anime doesn't do it justice

i'm only writing this because of some harsh criticism i've seen here and elsewhere about this anime. first of all if you haven't seen any of Satoshi Kon's past work and have this as an introduction or your first viewing of his work then i completely understand the confusion/criticism, this review is for you. Those who know of his past work and are somehow caught off guard by the strange turn in plot and expected something different solely because the first 2 episodes seemed promising, i have nothing to say to you...

okay so there are some "true artist" in most fields of artmaking that stick ... to or repeat a particular style of artmaking that they become known for or associated with whether its well received or not (but most of the time it receives praise) and because of the style associated with them they develop a following and generate more interest in their work. the following and praise allows them to push the boundaries of their art and when it comes to animation and film we need people like that, those who create original and outstanding or unique work that will forever push the boundaries of anime/film, people like David lynch did it with film, Quentin Tarantino forever revolutionized the action film genre, Takashi Miike changed people's perception on modern japanese drama/action film and Dario Argento helped evolve the horror genre. Anime has its list of masters willing to take on a challenge of adapting original work while challenging and expending the medium, people like Hayao Miyazaki, Shinichirō Watanabe and Hideaki Anno come to mind right away, we know their names because of exactly what i've stated, they decided to take on a challenge and do something different and doing something different isn't always good or means it will be great or a commercial success but they took the risk anyway and their risk helped jump start new genres, adaptations, influences and interest in anime. Satoshi Kon fits in this picture as well, his other works like Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika and Perfect Blue all show his need and passion to adapt or animate/create work that are outside the norm of any genre because animation should never be limited, it's different from live action movies for that reason, there were until recently limits by what actors could do on film but with animation you can do anything without any real world limitations once you have the resource and the resources will continue to come if one continues to create original work like these and Paranoia Agent is another one in tune with a style that is somewhat expected from Satoshi Kon. the only way to appreciate this anime is to keep your mind open to the twist, turns and actions that won't make sense right away, i think as an artist you assume your viewer is smart enough to use their minds and connect with the work rather than have their thing spelled out in order for you. we shouldn't get used to the obvious anime pandering to us because the more we watch and appreciate those works the younger/stupider the industry will think of us as viewers

tl;dr: be open minded and be invested in the originality of the story because that's the only way you can truly enjoy and appreciate this at the end. trust me everything is done intentionally from the sometimes strange then specific artwork to the bizarreness of everything

As a lover of yuri/shoujo ai series I'm sometimes hesitant about starting an ongoing yuri/shoujo ai manga especially one that had less than 4 chapters available when I first came across it, but I was immediately drawn to this manga and God did I fall in love with it. The first thing that caught my eye was the art, the artwork in this manga is incredible and beautiful, then the characters were what kept me reading.

It certainly isn't a masterpiece or a unique series, it doesn't try to be more than it is, it's also not melodramatic like citrus or filled with absurd amount ... of fan service like some yuri series. If you liked or enjoyed series like Aoi hana or Sasameki Koto than you would love Yagate Kimi ni Naru. It's a simple high school drama centred around two (well technically 3) high school girls experiencing and trying to understand love and love between girls, that's pretty much the plot (without revealing too much detail) However the real draw of the story is how the characters go about developing, experiencing and understanding love.

The 2 main characters are Koito Yuu and Nanami Touko. Yuu has always been facinated by love and falling in love. Why do people fall in love or confess? and how does one feel during a confession or choose/decide to confess? These are some of the questions Yuu explores and tries to understand. At the beginning of the series, it's let known that she pretty much knows about the subject of love through books/manga but when it came to experiencing it she realized she did not attain the sensation she had hoped for. Instead of giving up or changing herself and/or going along with natural expectations of being in love, she decides to continue being herself while continuing her journey towards real love. Of course she does so on our 2nd main character Touko's encouragement. Yuu's expectations of what love should be limits her and she's aware of that, one thing I love about her character is how honest and supportive/friendly she is. Just like Yuu, Touko is introduced as another who hasn't experienced real love or feeling of love even though she has received numerous confessions. She's your typical popular, smart and beautiful girl in high school, but hasn't found someone that's made her heart flutter until she meets Yuu. Touko is a lot older and is loved by all in her school and thought be perfect and the idea student. However of course she isn't, she had always put up a facade and projected an ideal persona of what others expect of her (which is explained later) and the only one who knew of this secret was her best friend Saeki Sayaka, but once she meets and falls for Yuu she breaks down this facade and begins to show pieces of her real self only to Yuu. We slowly get to see her grow and develop through Yuu's perspective. Yuu also learns of love through Touko's love for her. Touko becomes completely infatuated with Yuu and it's very adorable, she accepts Yuu for who she is and has made it her goal to have her fall for her even though she admits she won't mind if Yuu still didn't come to love her as long as Yuu doesn't fall for anyone else. Her honesty to say and do whatever she wants is another feature I like about her. This relationship is what makes this manga so good and entertaining. We also get to know a few of the supporting characters like Touko's best friend Saeki Sayaka, who also has her secrets. She becomes very important to the story later on after we get to know Yuu and Touko and it's just been 17 chapters.

The story is perfectly paced and doesn't drag on. I'm enjoying the progression and growth of characters and plot/story. I pray to the anime/manga gods to keep is one a live and going because I see a bright future for it. I also agree with the comment below hopefully it gets an anime adaptation!