Horimiya Vol. #2 Manga Review

What part of "I'm not giving him to you," do you not understand?

Creative Staff:

Art: Daisuke Hagiwara

Story: Hero

Translation: Taylor Engel

Lettering: Alexis Eckerman

What They Say:

At first glance, the ultra-popular Hori-san seems like a frivolous high school girl, but in reality, she's plain, pragmatic, and family-oriented. On the other hand, the bespectacled Miyamura-kun comes across as an average, gloomy high school fanboy, but he's actually an attractive young man who has a bad-boy streak and is covered in piercings and tattoos. When these two unexpectedly similar classmates have a random run-in outside of the classroom, a bubbly, sweet tale of school life begins!

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

You know that fuzzy feeling you get when you're reading or watching manga/anime and you just want to push the two main characters' heads together until they make out? You do? Cool. Now, combine that with a few good laughs and some nice, old-fashioned character progression and AN ACTUAL STORY and you will have the next volume of Horimiya. If you read my first review of the series, it should be no surprise that I was thoroughly looking forward to this next installment. And, I have to say, I was not disappointed.

Horimiya's second volume takes place very shortly after the events of the first volume and begins with Hori being way too nice (Again) and taking on work from the student council. Miyamura, as well as the others, notice that she is taking on a bit too much and start to worry about her well-being. Hori, however, dismisses them as always and forces herself to finish everything up on her own. However, when she finally turns it all in, the student council member who collected the work from her loses a vital piece of it and goes on to blame Hori for not completing everything. This, of course, prompts Miyamura to calmly tell Tooru to hold his things while he HEADBUTT'S THE STUPID STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT IN THE FACE. WOAH. But the awesomeness is short-lived as the president does not retaliate and easily accepts the fact that Hori did get her work done and that Remi (The girl who blamed Hori) actually told Miyamura to throw it away after the two collided in the hall.

Apart from all the drama, though, there is some light. Hori's birthday is approaching! But, of course, that raises the whole question of what everyone should buy for her. Tooru, still being madly in love, elects to buy her a ring. Unfortunately, the first rings gets stuck on Miyamura's finger in an effort to test the size...Or was this fortunate after all? Obviously, Tooru goes out and buys the correct sized ring for Hori. After tossing aside his present absentmindedly due to lack of care, Hori eventually puts on the ring at Miyamura's behest. Just then, she notices that he is wearing the same exact ring. The best part of this is her brother, Souta's, reaction when he thinks his sister and Miyamura are wearing wedding rings. 

As Hori slips deeper into subtle teen-love, in an empty classroom one morning, Remi shows up and asks her a very important question, "Are you and Miyamura dating?" Hori, of course, tells Remi they aren't. But this ignites something in her. Following her answer, Remi tells Hori that she is thinking about making a move on Miyamura. Then BOOM. Hori snaps and starts a screaming match with Remi about how she will never give him to her and about how Miyamura belongs to her and no one else. And even though it's totally possessive, it's absolutely adorable and you can't help but think, "Woo! You tell her!" From this point on, Hori's mind is consumed by nothing other than thoughts of Miyamura. In a completely needed turn of events, it starts raining right as Hori is about to leave school. And thank god she didn't have her umbrella because here comes Miyamura. Then, in a scene reminiscent of an indie teen drama film, the two playfully run back to Hori's house in the midst of the downpour.

From that point on, things in the romantic perspective begin to take off a bit. Hori is slowly coming to terms with how she feels about Miyamura and catches herself thinking of him a lot more frequently. In fact, she's even having dreams about him now! It's adorable. Miyamura, on the other hand, isn't budging in terms of thinking that Hori is totally out of his league. His self-deprecating tendencies are actually getting worse as we get a glimpse into why he's always been so distant socially. In fact, it gets so bad that Tooru comes to his house one day and, after trying to talk about the issue peacefully, gets worked up and prompts a fight between the two. In this second glimpse into the violent side of Miyamura, he sort of just snaps and beats Tooru to a pulp. Of course, he feels terrible about it shortly after and breaks down the whole situation to Yuuki the next day. Hori, catching wind of the fight, blames Tooru and takes all of her anger out on him as he tries to explain what happened.

While things are unwinding after the fight, there is still something on Miyamura's mind -- Hori's future. After going into her room the day before, he found a discarded career-aspiration paper their class was supposed to hand in. The thing about Hori's paper was that everything was crossed off and that she had no designated plans for her life. Still upset about this days later, he finally brings it up to Hori and tries to comfort her. And it works. In fact, it works so well that the next time the two hang out, they wind up holding hands. WAIT WHAT? OH MY GOD, THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS. OH MY GOD.

In Summary:

Horimiya's second volume follows in the footsteps of the first -- awesome. The chemistry between Hori and Miyamura is some of the best I've read in a while and you literally can't help but cheer for the two as their relationship slowly progresses. Character development is as prevalent as ever and even Hori begins to come to terms with her feelings. Miyamura, though struggling, is starting to realize things as well. And while he may not be realizing the same things Hori is, his inner struggle is growing as well. Tooru raises the excellent question about what Miyamura would do if Hori confessed to him, to which Miyamura was basically unable to respond. This one question shapes the better half of the second volume as it ends on a final cliffhanger internal reply. Once again, I am extremely excited to see how things turn out for these two. 

Content Grade: A

Art Grade: A-

Packaging Grade: A-

Text/Translation Grade: A+

Age Rating: 13+

Released By: Yen Press

Release Date: January 26, 2016

MSRP: $12.99

Ten Years Later: Higurashi (When They Cry)

You know how they call marijuana a gateway drug or whatever? Well, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (Which also goes by the title "When They Cry") is considered by many to be a sort of gateway anime. Now, when I was 14 years old, I was one twisted individual. Hell, I still am to some degree. But what basically happened is back when I was first getting into anime, I started looking up different "Effed up" shows. Obviously, I was intrigued by the idea of a whole bunch of teenage schoolgirls being brutally slaughtered by a seemingly unavoidable curse that plagued their city. Oh, and for those of you who haven't watched Higurashi yet, you read that correctly. This show can be absolutely horrifying in terms of sheer brutality. But that's what made/makes it so great.

Based on the dojin-soft game/visual novel of the same title created by 7th Expansion, Higurashi reached critical acclaim early on in its life. Starting with its birth in 2002, the series built a quick name for itself and began pumping out chapter after chapter. These chapters, which were released in an episodic style, built upon mysteries from previous ones while adding their own unique mysteries to the mixture, culminating in a story that grew incredibly convoluted and deep. But in a good way. Personally, I still haven't gotten around to playing the games. In fact, I had a vendetta against them for a very long time due to the..."unique" art style. I'll leave it at that. BUT, apparently an art patch was made for the game, so now I am literally obligated to play it because I have no reason not to anymore.

Higurashi follows a strange formula, being set up into several small arcs with extremely different stories that wind up playing off each other to a certain degree. The first arc opens up on a scene of the show's protagonist, Keiichi Maebara, hideously beating two girls to a bloody pulp before abruptly cutting back to just days beforehand. From that point on, this arc becomes nothing more than the unfolding of events designated to build up to and uncover that very first scene. The two girls, Mion Sonozaki and Rena Ryuugu, actually wind up being friends of Keiichi's simply just trying to get him to feel at home in his new town -- Hinamizawa. However, Keiichi's growing skepticism winds up playing a huge part in how the next events unfold.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and break down each and every arc for you guys. This isn't a review, so I'm not going to treat it as one. But what I will do is state that this series holds up. I mean, the art isn't anything to fawn over. In fact, the artwork wasn't ever that great to begin with. But the story and the characters will always be more than enough to bring you crawling back. I remember when the first arc ended and the next one began, I thought it was a dream of some sort. I went into this series blind -- I had no idea that I'd be seeing all these different arcs with disconnected story lines. SPOILER ALERT: But then they connected. In one of the last episodes of the first season, when Keiichi breaks down and somehow remembers these different timelines in which horrific events occurred, my jaw literally fell off. It hasn't been the same since. This one moment where everything that was unwound recollected itself and everything came together, it was something I had never experienced in terms of storytelling before. The series went straight from murder mystery to intense psychological journey with impactful themes of regret, friendship, and loss. In fact, I'd go as far as saying this scene was one of the most pivotal ones in anime history as far as I'm concerned.

There are a plethora of genres that can be easily tied to this show, with the most common ones being horror, psychological, and drama. But one of the important things to note going into this show would have to be the intense tonal shifts that literally turn it upside down in just moments. Higurashi is impressive in the fact that it can be a lighthearted slice of life series that can spiral into a horrific tale of murder in less than one episode. These quick burns and rapid transitions from dark to light highlight human nature to a certain extent. Things always start out bright, but ideas like doubt and overall uncertainty can turn normal events into traumatic ones almost instantaneously. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely a paranormal force in this series, but a lot of the problems in the arcs are also brought on by human nature itself. It's actually rather interesting trying to determine why things played out the way they did.

One thing that Higurashi receives a lot of heat for is the English dub of the series. Which kind of makes sense considering voices of characters like Rena and Rika were very often...annoying. But, I mean, we're talking about ten years ago when English dubbed anime wasn't even close to the level it's at today. Basically, production quality in the ADR department was pretty darn lackluster when compared to its Japanese source material. That doesn't mean, however, that there isn't a special place in my heart for the English dub. Back when I first watched this series, I watched it in English. (Dude I was like 14, give me a break. I didn't even want to read in school). I've watched it in Japanese countless times since then, but what I'm saying is that I'm not against watching the dub again. Hell, I'd watch this series on mute. It's just THAT good.

Since Higurashi's first airing in 2005, the name has exploded. In fact, there was a remastered release of the series from Sentai Filmworks just last month. Apart from that, the show added on a second season (Higurashi Kai), and another semi-season where Rika had a weird ghost friend that lived in her brain (Higurashi Rei). Hell, there was even a spinoff where, according to Myanimelist, *clears throat* "Rika and Satoko become magical girls to battle evil magic crime syndicates with the help of their trusty squad of cheerleaders, among other things". Dude, what? How did this happen?

Needless to say, Higurashi has gone on to obtain one of the largest cult followings in the anime community. It is a name that will always be accompanied by scattered cheers whenever it is brought up in a crowded room or a panel at a convention. Even after all these years (Ew, saying that makes me feel old), it holds up extremely well. The brutality is still terrifying, the characters are still lovable, and Shion's weird faces are still incredibly unnerving. This series is one of the most rewatchable ones out there, and, if you haven't seen it yet, I highly implore you to do so. Like, really. Right now.

To this day, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni is an essential watch for all anime fans.

Mayoiga: The Lost Village Episode #1 Review

It's not so easy to turn over a new leaf and start over, okay?

What They Say:

A shady bus tour of young men and women are headed to an elusive village called Nanakimura. A destination where people can partake in a utopian existence, free of the world's obstacles... or so goes the rumor. Heading deep into the mountains, the bus is carrying 30 different individuals, each harboring their own expectations and troubled hearts. What they had arrived to was an uninhabited village with lingering, faint scents of life. It was falling apart. Just what is the secret of Nanakimura?

The Review:
Content:(Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

Okay, so what would happen if you filled up an entire bus with people trying to escape from their current ways of life? Each one, hiding problems of their own (Or so we think at this moment in time), decides to leave behind their family and friends and come to a new beginning. Right from the start, Mayoiga (Or "The Lost Village" as it is called in English) introduces us to a very cult-like group of people of various ages coming from diverse personal backgrounds. The thing is, we don't really know much about any of them. Do any of these people have ulterior motives? Or is everyone truly on this trip to start over?

Mayoiga has perhaps the most jam-packed character roster I've seen since Mahou Sensei Negima. I think it was like 30 people or something that came together for the ride -- each with their own unique code-name tied to the messageboard/forum where they met. Well, apart from Yuuna. There we three Yuunas. (That is going to get annoying). Apart from that, the director of the trip seems to be a light-hearted and excited individual and easily coaxes each person on the bus to introduce themselves. And, after a brief snippet from each person, we are left with a list of names that we will never, by any means, remember. Like ever. But that's okay. The thing with this series (Or at least, what I think the thing is) is that everyone is going to have one or two characters they can really relate to, and those characters are going to be what shapes this journey for us viewers. I mean, we've got 30 people on this bus. At least, a couple of them have to lead lives that parallel ours, right?

Anyway, right from the get-go, we realize that this isn't going to be your average family vacation. In just the first minutes of the bus ride, some of the characters start going back and forth about their opinions, creating a rather hostile environment almost immediately. However, that hostility is soon defused by a song about a hippopotamus with terminal cancer or something. I don't know man. It's Japan.

Turns out, the bus is headed for the hidden village of Nanakimura, which has never actually been discovered or put onto a map or anything like that. In fact, the bus is only on its way there due to a tip from an anonymous individual who apparently knows its exact location. Huh. Sketchy. But oh well, it's not like anyone on the trip really cares about their life anyway. With tensions rising amongst the individuals in the bus, the driver finds himself caught in a screaming match with the passengers about how people just need to deal with the shortcomings and terrible happenings of life and just move on. However, considering the sheer mental instability of the other 30 people on the bus, this doesn't really go well and he ultimately ends up with a lap full of vomit. Yup, you read that correctly. One of the girls legitimately threw up on him while trying to diffuse the fighting. The bus eventually comes to a halt near some abandoned rest area that is still well-lit and functional so that people can use the bathroom and do all that kind of stuff. Then, out of the darkness, comes a young girl singing about ripping the limbs off of bodies.

It's all good, though -- she's just someone acquainted with the trip director who apparently specializes in the lore of Nanakimura. And, apparently, she's tagging along as well. As the bus drives back into the darkness, tensions climb again as the group finally appears to be reaching their destination. But what awaits them, unfortunately, will not be seen by us until the next episode.

In Summary:

Mayoiga is my most anticipated series for this season and I'm very glad to be reviewing it. In just the first episode, we've witnessed a solid amount of philosophy on the purpose of life and perseverance. The vast majority of characters stand out as completely unique, and for the amount there are, I'm incredibly impressed. I'm not quite sure how the rest of this show is going to play out considering the mass amount of tonal shifts throughout the pilot, but I can predict that wherever it goes from here will be full of surprises. Honestly, this can play out in any way. Some people are predicting that everyone is going to die, some others are saying that this won't be anything other than self-interested individuals trying to get over their problems. But what I'm expecting is a journey of self-discovery with a large amount of mystery tossed into the mixture. The art is well-done and character design, itself, is pretty fantastic. Even the soundtrack so far has proven to be impressive. Needless to say, I'm expecting big things from Mayoiga. But, at the same time, I can easily see how this series might derail.

Best/Favorite Part:

The hippopotamus song. How could it be anything else?

Grade: A-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll