Horimiya: The Missing Pieces

Don't miss out on this season because it's a "side story". Watch it like just another season. Because these missing chapters are what complete Horimiya. Look, I still can't forgive the fact that we never got a 2-cour adaptation at first, with all chapters in chronological order. But I'll still always be thankful for the Cloverworks studio making these missing chapters. And Cloverworks is now adapting its source materials faithfully (even elevating them) and is clearly redeeming itself.

This season has everything that the first season was missing. It has all the adorable, wholesome and hilarious moments involving all the different side characters. That's what eventually builds up strong friendships and that's exactly why they're so important. This was one of my major flaws with the first season. We didn't get enough of the side characters, and I couldn't really get behind the friendship of the group either. This season has now negated that flaw.

Another thing in this season that really made me happy was the Finale. It just feels like the finale for Horimiya is now complete. We got to see Miyamura's side in season 1. We get to see Hori's side here.

Through its many comedy/slice-of-life moments, Horimiya at times introduces some very real and relatable stuff, that always touches me. Like Hori and Miyamura imagining what if the coincidences that happened to create this group of friends, didn't happen. And you know, it's definitely a scary thought, because that's more or less how friends are formed - coincidences. It sort of also reminded me of those alternate reality episodes of the sitcom "Friends", where they imagine what if some of them hadn't met.

Overall this was a really nice time and Horimiya deserved this season. Well, it actually deserved a proper full adaptation, but we can't change that now. I do hope that some streaming app, or Cloverworks itself gets out a cut where all chapters are in chronological order. So that from now on, the viewers who'll watch it for the first time, get to experience it perfectly.