Hori-san to Miyamura-kun is a Japanese shōnen web manga. It has been published since October 22, 2008 by Square Enix in their Gangan Online magazine, and the series ended with a total of ten tankōbon volumes. In this article, we are going to bring you a list of 15 manga you absolutely have to read if you liked Horimiya.
1. Komi Can’t Communicate
Original Run: May 18, 2016 – present
Number of Volumes: 24
Komi Shouko is a girl who attends Itan High private school, where she is extremely popular with her peers due to her beauty and her seemingly haughty and superior attitude. On the first day of class, she meets Tadano Hitohito, her neighbor.
He discovers, after trying to talk to her, that Komi actually suffers from a communication disorder that prevents her from speaking in front of other people and, consequently, from being able to make friends with anyone. Tadano thus promises to help her achieve her goal of finding a hundred friends.
2. Smile Down the Runway
Original Run: May 31, 2017 – July 14, 2021
Number of Volumes: 22
Since her early childhood, Chiyuki Fujito, daughter of the director of a modeling agency, has had the ambition to appear as a top model during Paris Fashion Week; unfortunately for her, she has stopped growing and her short stature now fails her to pass the agency’s auditions. Although those around her repeatedly tell her to give up, she does not give up and does her best to achieve it from the height of her meter fifty-eight.
During her senior year of high school, she learns that her classmate, Ikuto Tsumura, wants to become a fashion designer. The latter, whose existence she had forgotten, plans to give up his dream to provide for his family entirely, indeed his mother must provide for the needs of Ikuto’s three little sisters, moreover, the latter falls ill following a burnout. As her resolve began to falter, Chiyuki reminisces about what she was told and assimilates into Ikuto.
For a moment, she thought her dream would have been impossible, but only to come back more confident in herself and makes an unlikely request to Ikuto which marks the beginning of their long journey to make each of their dreams come true. Ikuto admires Chiyuki’s confidence and willpower. The latter is dazzled by the talent and imagination of the future stylist.
3. Toradora!
Original Run: July 27, 2007 – present
Number of Volumes: 9
Ryuuji Takasu is a Japanese student who has just returned to the 12th grade and who lives alone with his mother. He would love to be an ordinary high school student, but he has one flaw: his intimidating eyes.
Because of his sinister demeanor, stupid rumors keep circulating about him, including the fact that he would hit anyone who dared to jostle him and that he would be ready to kill, while he is a very sensitive young man.
Because of this, he has great difficulty in making friends; the heaviest to bear is the absence of a romantic relationship. Luckily, he is in the same class as his best friend Yūsaku Kitamura and his crush, the pretty Minori Kushieda.
4. Fruits Basket
Original Run: July 18, 1998 – November 20, 2006
Number of Volumes: 23
Tohru Honda is a 16-year-old high school student who lives alone in a tent after the death of her mother. Without knowing it, she moved to the property of the Sôma family. When she explores the surroundings, she sees a house and enters it. There she meets Yuki and Shigure Soma. Having learned that she was living in a tent, they offered to stay with them in exchange for household chores.
Tohru accepts and then begins to live with Yuki, Kyô, and Shigure. Very quickly, she learns the secret of the family: 13 of its members are victims of a curse. These people transform into one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, and the cat, when a person of the opposite sex throws themselves at their neck or when they feel embarrassed or even weakened.
They become human again a few minutes later (the duration of the transformation can vary), but reappear completely naked (which can be very annoying, especially for Tohru who is often there during the transformation).
5. Shirobako
Original Run: September 27, 2014 – November 27, 2015
Number of Volumes: 2
Five best friends named Aoi Miyamori, Ema Yasuhara, Shizuka Sakaki, Misa Tōdō and Midori Imai all go to work in the anime industry after gaining experience in their animation club in high school.
Their respective jobs will not be easy at all, so much so that the story describes daily difficulties, as well as their efforts to overcome them. In particular, the series centers on the production of two anime television series, by Aoi and her staff at the animation studio Musashino Animation.
6. Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru
Original Run: November 2006 – August 2008
Number of Volumes: 2
Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru tells the story of the main character Mizuho Miyanokouji, an androgynous high school student. After the death of his grandfather, the reading of his will indicates that he wants his grandson transferred to the Seio Girls’ Academy, the school founded by his ancestors and where his own mother studied.
Respecting this will, Mizuho disguises himself in order to infiltrate it. Initially, only the headmistress, headteacher Hisako Kajiura and Mariya Mikado know his secret; Shion Jujo and Ichiko Takashima also eventually find out. Mizuho is very popular with other high school girls, who often discuss her beauty, cuteness, and athleticism. This unbridled popularity increases to the point that he is nominated, against his will, to become the student council president.
Because of this, the current student council president, Takako Itsukushima, opposes Mizuho. The election of the president is an old tradition in the school: in June, one of the high school girls is elected by her peers to be the eldest, seen as the school’s number one “big sister”. Until graduation, she was referred to by her peers as Onee-sama.
To become a senior, the candidate must obtain at least 75% of the votes. If none of the candidates obtains at least 75% in the first ballot, one of the candidates gives her votes to another candidate, then the one who finally obtains at least 75% of the votes becomes the oldest. If no one reaches this threshold, the president of the student council for the current year becomes the eldest.
In Otoboku, Mizuho gets 82% of the vote in the first round, becoming the 72nd oldest in school history. In the following months, Mizuho is confronted with the responsibility entailed by this status and tries to help the other characters as best as possible while keeping his true identity a secret.
7. Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku
Original Run: April 17, 2014 – July 16, 2021
Number of Volumes: 11
The series follows the awkward romantic comedy between “otaku” office workers, one of whom, Narumi Momose, is a stern fujoshi who somehow tries to hide her passions from others while her partner, Hirotaka Nifuji, is a beautiful, competent man addicted to video games who only lets go of his console to work. If they seem perfect for each other, love is still complicated for the otaku.
8. Azumanga Daioh
Original Run: February 1999 – May 2002
Number of Volumes: 4
The action takes place mainly in a high school near Tokyo. The protagonists are young girls, students of this high school, and two of their teachers. Thus, the reader can discover, during their three years of study, their daily life punctuated by sometimes funny situations, both in class and after school or during their trips with friends.
The comic spring of this work is mainly based on the personalities and the antagonisms between characters, all very different and sources of recurring gags.
9. K-On!
Original Run: April 9, 2007 – June 28, 2012
Number of Volumes: 6
The story of K-ON! revolves around the Sakuragaoka High School Music Club. Upon arriving in second grade, Ritsu Tainaka forces his childhood best friend, Mio Akiyama, to join the light band. However, the club risks closure if it does not have a minimum of four members.
Ritsu, the self-proclaimed “leader” of the group, manages to recruit Tsumugi Kotobuki. At the same time, we follow the entry into the second of Yui Hirasawa, a dynamic young girl, head in the air and very greedy. A few weeks later, Nodoka Manabe, her childhood friend, pushes the latter to join a club on pain of never “integrating into society”.
Yui ultimately chooses to join the light band, not even knowing what she would do there. Subsequently, Yui decides to learn the guitar under the watchful eye of her new friends. Later, Azusa would join the group as a second guitarist.
10. Kimi ni Todoke
Original Run: May 25, 2006 – November 13, 2017
Number of Volumes: 30
The high school student Sawako Kuronuma is loathed by her classmates, as various rumors manifested in the school that she could see ghosts and curse people. The reason for this is the similarity of her name to Sadako, a character from the Ring.
Many students fear her presence and avoid her as much as possible. Only the new and very popular student Shōta Kazehaya treats her like any other girl. One day they get the opportunity to talk to each other, which turns their entire life upside down.
With his help, she tries to make new friends and to talk to strangers like any other schoolgirl. She is almost exaggeratedly grateful for his support and a close relationship slowly develops between the two, which has to overcome many hurdles.
11. Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun
Original Run: August 25, 2011 – present
Number of Volumes: 13
The high school student Chiyo Sakura has fallen in love with her classmate Umetaro Nozaki, but it is difficult for her to admit this to him. After one unsuccessful attempt, he takes it home with him. But contrary to Sakura’s hopes, he thinks she is a fan – Nozaki is a mangaka and draws a comic series for girls (“Shōjo”), which appears in the magazine Gekkan Shōjo Romance.
She has long since noticed her talent in the art club, so he recruits her as an Inker. Sakura likes to do this, after all, she is so close to him and maybe she can still confess her love to him. Through the frequent work together, they make new friends and Sakura learns about the work of a mangaka. So Nozaki first goes in search of interesting people who he can use as a template for his stories.
Sakura introduces him to her classmate Yuzuki Seo – a sporty, helpful, but also rough and insensitive girl. Through Nozaki, Sakura met Mikoto Mikoshiba, who drew Nozaki the decorations and patterns. Mikoto is a would-be womanizer who often knocks out slogans but is shortly afterward ashamed of himself.
12. Silver Spoon
Original Run: April 6, 2011 – November 27, 2019
Number of Volumes: 15
Yūgo Hachiken comes from Sapporo and wants to get as far away from home as possible after high school. Therefore, he chooses the Ōezo agricultural high school in Yezo, which is remote in the country and has a boarding school. The normal school subjects are easy for him, but he has unexpectedly many practical hours so that he hardly has any free time.
The other classmates mostly come from farming families in the region and are ahead of him with their specialist knowledge. Most of them, unlike him, already have plans for what to do after school. On the other hand, he can help them with subjects like math.
He quickly befriends Ichirō Komaba, Shinnosuke Aikawa, Tamako Inada, and Keiji Tokiwa. Since Hachiken also has to join a club, he opts for the riding club. His classmate Aki Mikage, with whom Hachiken falls in love, is also active in this.
13. Real Girl
Original Run: July 23, 2011 – May 24, 2016
Number of Volumes: 12
Hikaru Tsutsui is a high school student, often shunned and mocked by his peers for his otaku nature. One day, after arriving late for school, he is forced to clean the pool together with Iroha Higurashi, a beautiful girl with a very bad reputation. Later Iroha asks him to go out together and Hikaru accepts, but the two can only be together for six months, at the end of which the girl will have to change schools due to the work of her father.
14. Fly Me to the Moon
Original Run: February 14, 2018 – present
Number of Volumes: 19
On a snowy winter night, Nasa Yuzaki, a boy with a peculiar name, meets a beautiful girl he falls in love at first sight, Tsukasa Tsukuyomi, just before his high school entrance exam. As Nasa crosses the road to challenge him, he is run over by a truck. After the girl saves him, Nasa, who compares her to Princess Kaguya, decides to pursue her even though he is badly injured to meet her at a bus stop.
He ends up confessing his love to her and asks her out on a date. The young girl imposes a drastic condition on him, that of “first getting married before starting a relationship”, which Nasa accepts without hesitation before fainting. When Nasa, who had previously decided not to go to high school to look for Tsukasa, turns 18, he still thinks about the promise he made that night.
Then, Tsukasa suddenly shows up at the door of her house with a marriage form, starting their relationship and marriage. Despite the many mysteries that remain, Nasa and Tsukasa are now a married couple, spending their daily lives together to deepen their relationship.
15. Maid Sama!
Original Run: December 24, 2005 – September 24, 2013
Number of Volumes: 18
The Seika High School was once a school for boys only, but over time it opened up to girls too. The isolation created a harsh climate in the classes, so the girls find it very difficult to gain a foothold and repeatedly suffer from the humiliation of the boys.
The girl Misaki Ayuzawa still manages to assert herself against her classmates and become the first student representative. Because of her behavior, she is soon seen as a man-hater but is respected or feared. But behind this facade, she also fights against various other problems.
Among other things, her family, which consists of her mother and little sister, was abandoned by her father and is now sitting on a large pile of debts. To stop the collapse of her own apartment and to help her overworked mother, Misaki looks for a job in a maid café. Since she mainly has to serve male customers there, she tries to keep her job a secret from her classmates.
In the meantime, at school, she is often confronted with the heartthrob Takumi Usui, who repeatedly refuses all declarations of love and makes the girls cry. As a result, a special form of hatred against him builds up in her. One day, however, Takumi meets Misaki in front of the Maid Café and discovers her secret.
Her fears that she would now lose her reputation are not fulfilled, however, as Takumi keeps her secret and protects her because, unlike the other girls, he develops feelings for her. Misaki also slowly develops feelings for Takumi and an ambivalent love relationship builds up, which has to suffer severe setbacks again and again.
In the end, however, Usui Takumi can confess his love to Misaki Ayuzawa at a school festival.
