Shounen Manga Book Club discussion

“Everyone has a side… they don’t show to anyone else.”

The popular Kyouko Hori doesn’t let anyone see her true plain-Jane, homebody nature. But that changes when she meets a striking boy with several tattoos and piercings that turns out to be her gloomy, assumed otaku and shut-in classmate Izumi Miyamura. How will they react to each other’s secret sides?

Horimiya is one of our Sept-Oct group reads. Discuss here!

I didn't realize this was a Shounen manga! I really enjoyed volume 1 and have been eagerly awaiting my library to get volume 2.

I hadn't either originally. It took me a while to track that down. A lot of people have it shelved as shoujo here, but all the manga sites I could find (plus wikipedia) have it as shounen, so I decided I'd go with it. :)

I loved volume 1 and am looking forward to reading more and discussing this with the group. Thanks again for recommending it!!!

Ah, I finished the first 3 volumes just a few weeks ago, though I only read through them once and sent them back to the library. Not super easy to take them out again, so maybe I'll just post some general thoughts later.

These are pretty dense books with a lot happening, especially in volumes 1+2 (for comparison, think of maybe a My Little Monster which had a pretty good amount of progress and character build up within short amounts of time). I would consider them Shoujo just for my own personal identification (it's slice of life two character focused relationship development with secondary cast worked in more later; not very over dramatic at all, but also not a laughs fest).

Just finished volume 3.

I love the two main characters and their dynamic. I also like that they're so much alike when it comes to figuring out the other's feelings. XD

I finished volumes 4 and 5. I have a bit of a question, and it's spoilerific for those volumes.

(view spoiler)[
So, like, since when do Hori and Miyamura casually refer to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend? I guess this is just part of the quirkiness of Horimiya in that relationships develop without traditional confessions and "I love you / be my boyfriend / gal" scenes, avoiding the tropes of dramatic romcoms. Sure there was a tense scene about Hori admitting she listened to Miyamura in her sleep (what exactly transpired then?), but that's it? No confirmation about their relationship status? No kiss scene? xD (hide spoiler)]

Read through volume 5. This is such a great manga with emotional themes that feel quite natural and also has a lot of strong character development.

"I broke my mechanical pencil" is easily one of my favorite moments.


Terrence wrote: "I finished volumes 4 and 5. I have a bit of a question, and it's spoilerific for those volumes."

(view spoiler)[ I found that transition a little jarring too, but I think the idea is once she admitted to hearing him confess his feelings (and reciprocating) that they naturally became a couple. The sleep scene was in vol 4 (I think), during which Hori appears to be sleeping and along with a few other comments Miyamura tells her "I like you." So when she admits she was awake and heard everything he said, she's accepting his feelings. I agree the official beginning of their relationship could have been shown more directly, but I thought it fit with the characters. (hide spoiler)]

The scene where Hori's pretending to sleep was volume 3. :)

(view spoiler)[I think their relationship starting got a bit of a jump start by the appearance of her dad, lol. (hide spoiler)] After that much awkward crazy-ness, it's definitely a make-or-break moment.