Horimiya Breaks Record for Biggest Romantic Comedy Debut

Horimiya's series premiere broke the record for the biggest romantic comedy debut! HERO and [...]

By Nick Valdez

Horimiya's series premiere broke the record for the biggest romantic comedy debut! HERO and Daisuke Hagiwara's manga series (which itself is an adaptation of a webcomic), Horimiya -- otherwise known by its full name, Hori-san to Miyamura-kun -- has built up quite the cult following in the years since HERO first debuted the webcomic in the late 2000s. It's built up such a following that fans of the series have been asking for an anime adaptation for it ever since. That's why it's no real mystery that the premiere of the adaptation was one of the most anticipated releases of the Winter 2021 season.

But it's a surprise to see just how anticipated Horimiya's premiere truly was as it recently broke a record for biggest romantic comedy debut with fans on MyAnimeList. According to the listing as broken down by Funimation, 62,912 of the site's users had registered themselves as watching the premiere within the first 48 hours of its initial debut. As of now, over 69,000 users are registered as watching.

Horimiya Anime
(Photo: Funimation)

Although the numbers won't be set in stone until a week after the episode has premiered, it has already beaten the previous biggest romantic comedy debut of Rent-A-Girlfriend's 55,228 users. But when you consider sequel anime, it's still falling behind Kaguya-sama: Love is War's 82,000 users watching. While this isn't covering the entire fanbase of those potentially watching the series, it also sets up Horimiya for a strong first season heading into the rest of the Winter.

If you wanted to check out Horimiya's first episode, the romantic comedy series is now streaming with Funimation in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. They describe the series as such, "Do opposites attract? At school, Hori is a social butterfly but her life at home is anything but perfect. Left to raise her brother, she's facing responsibilities that she's not ready for. Meanwhile, under a brooding façade, Miyamura hides a gentle heart, along with piercings and tattoos. In a chance meeting, they both reveal a side they've never shown. Could this blossom into something new?"

Did you check out Horimiya's first episode? What were your first impressions of the new romantic comedy? Will you keep watching through the rest of the season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or you can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

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