Hyouka

Anime are known to usually be over-the-top no matter what genre they are. When I think of what makes anime great, I think of epic action, intense mind battles, heart-wrenching emotions, exciting drama, unrealistically awesome characters, and crazy plot twists. Hyouka is none of that. It’s nowhere near “over-the-top” in any way. Hyouka is the definition of subtlety. It’s serene, relaxing, beautiful, funny, and smartly written. But the best thing about Hyouka is that it makes you think—and not just about the mysteries. The mysteries are small-scale cases that manage to be incredibly intriguing, causing you to become “curious”. No, the writers don’t try to instill inthe viewer a burning desire to figure out the solution—they elicit from us a compelling curiosity that will drive us to want to figure the mysteries out. To me, sometimes mystery stories are so grand and dramatic that I feel like I can’t solve them on my own. But in Hyouka, the understated enigmas are so accessible yet simultaneously complex. The peaceful atmosphere draws you in until you find yourself becoming the detective, trying to ascertain the truth. I thoroughly enjoyed this format for the mysteries—it was a breath of fresh air from the mind-boggling conundrums of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. Though the mysteries are well executed, it’s really the characters that shine in Hyouka. As the story progresses, each of the four main characters gradually undergo great changes in character. These changes are masterfully portrayed—while most anime will just slap you in the face with character change, the evolution of these characters is so subtle and understated that you hardly notice it until the end—which is when you’ll look back on the series and marvel at the beautiful transformation the characters went through. The animation in Hyouka is simply beautiful. In fact, it is the most beautiful animation I have ever seen. Technically, Fate/Stay Night—Unlimited Blade Works has the best animation in terms of raw graphics, but Hyouka is more beautiful because of the idyllic, serene setting and picturesque locations. And the animations that visualize what Houtarou is thinking are bafflingly complex, creative, and artistic. Fate/Stay Night might have the better graphics, but Hyouka has superior artistic direction for sure. The themes in Hyouka are elegantly expressed. There are so many of them, but each is hidden well within the mysteries and character development. I love the way they are presented—not like Naruto’s “Never give up!” speeches that straight up pound the themes into you. The themes in Hyouka are quietly implied and are there for the viewer to pick up on if they think hard enough about it. Hyouka encourages you to think through things that may seem trivial, and to find meaning in the mundane. It’s when you get to the end of Hyouka that you realize that the whole anime was a hidden message that the author was encouraging the viewers to pick up on by analyzing the show, just like the main character analyzes other seemingly simple things. When you look back on the anime and realize the themes presented therein, you realize that while Hyouka may seem to be a simple anime on the surface, it is in reality a masterpiece of subtlety, beauty, and surprising depth.

It’s retro-review time again, and today I’m going to be talking about an anime I was afraid to go back to because I was sure it wasn’t going to hold up over time. And really, can you blame me? After sitting through so many coming-of-age/character-based anime that most people consider to be good, but I consider to be shit, Hyouka looked like a prime candidate for “don’t believe the fans. It’s nowhere near that good unless you’re under that fanboy delusion that character interactions/development is good enough to entertain on its own”. And you know what? I am not. In fact, I’ve come to really despisecharacter stories for the sake of character stories over time because I have enough boredom trying to examine my own miserable life and I don’t need the f*cking Oscars to complicate said examination with their own shallow input, let alone anime. So whenever I hear praise regarding how Durarara is awesome because watching Vorona chat emptily on about how intelligent and violent she is, only for that exact same person to criticize the upcoming Yuki Nagato-chan anime because it contains the same empty conversations except replaced with nostalgia and moe, I feel the urge to ring my bullshit bell after swatting their head with the barf bag I just filled up. Who cares what the subject is about if both conversations are empty go-nowhere crap at the end of the day? I certainly don’t. Just because “moe conversations” set the bar so goddamn low doesn’t mean I want to watch an entire show consisting solely of a travelling furry and his foxy love interest exchange romantic quips that is ultimately cock-teasing for a resolution we’ll never get. Sorry, what was I supposed to be talking about again? Oh right, Hyouka. Anyways, when this anime first arrived on the scene, it got a bit of a mixed response for its dull conversations and over-directed nature, but it was the latter that got me through the show because I was a lot more shallow when it first came out and the animation tricks along with the hilarity of the two males being the Clannad protagonists with better personalities was funny to me. I ended up loving the thing, considering it to be one of the few anime from KyoAni and 2012 that were actually good, but now that three years have passed and most of my revisited favorites had to get the axe, I was worried that Hyouka would join their ranks. And you know what? It almost did. Whilst the banter was still indeed charmingly smart – although Chitanda might grate on some people – and the direction continued to be top-notch, the first seven episodes of the show fell under Steins;Gate syndrome of starting on a really dull note because said good aesthetics weren’t being applied to anything the least bit interesting unless you’re a fan of Houtarou flexing his thinking muscles and Chitanda wanting to revive the club because “vague reason”. Whilst a bunch of people have complained about the mysteries being weak, it’s less the fact that the mysteries themselves are too simplistic and more the fact that the reasoning behind them was too simplistic. Because if murders and kidnappings were all that was needed to make a good mystery, we’d be watching Kindaichi Case Files. No, the problem with Hyouka’s first few episodes is that the underlying story is one we’ve seen before: the lonely introvert will get cured of his loneliness through the girl (and the other two members of the Scooby gang) with a mission and they’ll fall in love. And just like mysteries, action, and character porn in general, romance for the sake of romance is really boring to me. There were few jokes and whilst there is some Japanese commentary mixed into the whole mess, it wasn’t the kind of commentary that I cared for – and even when I found it kind of intriguing (Chitanda’s family situation, the fact that you can’t smoke in schools, etc.), it was surface-level stuff at the end of the day. But most damning of all, the mystery elements were just “there”. You could have exchanged them for f*cking DDR elements and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Whilst I’m not going to deny the character porn was good, that means nothing to me without a use for it. Eventually, I realized the rewatch wasn’t going too well and was worried that my only attachment to KyoAni from this point on would be an anime they made over a decade ago. So in desperation, I skipped ahead to the second arc, which I remembered being the point when the anime really clicked with me. And you know what? I liked it alot. Yes, the “plothole” regarding why the students couldn’t just ask the writer was noticeable – although it does eventually get addressed in a way that was semi-convincing – but otherwise, the second arc had a strong enough plot to support the great aesthetics because it actually bothered to instill some goddamn complexity into the thing. The movie arc actually examined the mystery tropes along with how people see them today, as well as brought our main character down a peg when he realized his brains can’t outmatch beauty, which is the kind of substance that actually makes me give a shit regarding whether or not a film will be ready in time for the cultural festival, as well as the kind that will allow me to revisit your product again in the future. Also, it had a hilarious student-made film. It’s like Shirobako if Shirobako had something resembling conflict. Relieved that the show wasn’t completely lost on me, I ended up watching the school festival arc and enjoyed it just as much as last time because it had everything I could want in a coming-of-age/slice-of-life story: good pacing, interesting narrative tricks, engaging dialogue, and really relevant/interesting themes about talent, dreams, and the roles people play in the mystery genre underneath everything to give them a sense of weight. Enough praise has been written about that arc, so I won’t go into detail regarding it other than it would be in my top 5 films of 2012 if it had actually been a standalone feature-length title. The final five episodes, on the other hand, were a bit of a mixed bag because they were supposed to function as random side stories to tie up loose ends and we all know how I feel about that sort of stuff in general. It’s nice to see couples form and everything, but whilst that’s what a lot of people like about Hyouka, that’s not what I personally like about it. I like the show at its best because when it can, it mixes in all those fun character aesthetics into a plot that tickles my mystery-loving bone in a way that I want it to be tickled. It’s all about context at the end of the day, and that’s what separates the good (not just in the slice-of-life genre) from that godawful Steins;Gate movie. It’s fine to like the show simply for those “fun” elements I described earlier, but let me reiterate that I don’t do “fun” shows – unless they’re Mobile Fighter G Gundam of course – because liking a show because it’s “fun” is everything I consider wrong/weird about fanboys. What can I say? I’m a huge believer in Sturgeon’s Law, and when you define something as “fun”, you’re using a reason that can be applied to 99.9% of all entertainment (with a 3.1% margin of error). Yes, even total dreck like Superman 64. Brrrrrrr. So in the end, I still do like Hyouka - or to be more precise, the middle two arcs of Hyouka. Thankfully, they’re separate enough from the arcs I find kinda dull that I don’t have any guilt in pretending the show is a series of four films where the middle two sit among my favorite anime. Most people consider Jojo to be a favorite despite the fact that it only has one good arc that hasn’t aged well at all (as of this writing). Babe: Pig in the City is a great movie and I couldn’t care less about the first film. There are people who have no interest in seeing Urusei Yatsura that love the second film. And whilst I love Lupin, if you think I’m going to watch all of it…okay you get my point by now. It’s not really “it gets better” with the later arcs so much as “it gets different”. I won’t blame people if they don’t care about the difference, but I personally do and that’s all that matters, along with the undisputed fact that anyone who stills think Kuragehime is a good show is a raging nostalgia-blinded hypocrite.

Alright, just like many others, i've decided to give a review of Hyouka after I've finished watching the whole series. I'll stick to keeping the review spoiler free for the sake of interested users who haven't watched the series yet and just want an idea of what the anime is all about. Hyouka is an anime that definitely starts off slow. We are introduced to our male lead called Oreki who seems to be devoid of passion of any sort as he just follows the same old boring routine everyday without having any interest in life. We are exposed to his way of life, as wellas his principles of energy conservation. His quote about himself sums it up nicely: "I don't have to do anything i don't have to." Joining him in the classics club are Satoshi, his witty and knowledgeable sidekick, Mayaka who is a outgoing and friendly girl. Last but not least, the female lead Chitanda, who can be described in one quote, "I'm curious!" (watch the series and you'll understand why). At first glance, Oreki seems like the outliner among the group, considering that he is the only guy who is so unenthusiastic among all of them. The story starts when they try to solve the true mystery of the classics club from long ago... The mysteries in Hyouka are not your typical mysteries which are action packed, but they do give you a run for your money as the simplest of all matters can actually involve a lot of thinking behind it. The mysteries in Hyouka turn out to be pretty trivial matters at times (in fact, one of the mysteries solved was just through a conversation between the two leads). However, what is impressive is how the characters show great thinking by analysing every nitty gritty before coming to the main conclusion (in which Oreki always wraps things up nicely). Events which seem insignificant at the start could just add up together and end up being the key to the entire mystery. When it all connects, you just have a "wow" feeling and find that the mystery aspect is really well-done. The most important thing in the slice-of-life genre is the character development in my opinion. Hyouka has just the thing. The characters show changes after episodes and episodes of hanging out together. We start to see love in the air. We understand why Satoshi plays second fiddle to Oreki and is contented with not being the best, we understand why Mayaka is so determined in her feelings towards Satoshi as well as why she feels so strongly towards manga, we understand why Chitanda is so curious in finding out all these little mysteries that happen in their daily lives. Even Oreki gets influenced by the personalities of the 3 that he even takes the initiative to do certain things at later parts of the show, something which we would have never seen in the early episodes. The anime itself also touches on many aspects and themes. Expectations is one of them. Expectations are something heavy, whether it is placed on yourself or on others. Does having expectations on yourself motivate you to do things even better, or does the notion of having expectations of someone make you feel dejected and admit that you are no match for that person? Expectations is a theme that will be talked about in the show, albeit not the only one. The other aspect i would like to mention is one's true feelings. When faced with an important choice you have to make, would you follow your heart and accept it with all you've got, or will you take the easy way out, afraid that if you accept something, you might make the mistakes you made in the past and screw things up. "I am obsessed with being obsessed over nothing." After all, sometimes avoiding things is the easiest way out. However, is this truly the right decision to make? Sometimes, trying new things out might not be so bad after all. Following your true feelings instead of letting your head make the decisions might be better at times. The art is fantastic in my opinion. The animation that left me in awe was the cherry blossoms under the purple sky, along with the flower petals flying around during the last episode (no spoilers =D). Plus, its KyoAni doing it, so details are generally well-done and will not disappoint viewers who use the art of an anime over its plot to determine its watchability (if there is even such a term, but i digress). Both OPs and EDs are upbeat songs which suit the theme of the anime, which was honestly never meant to be dark despite it being of a mystery genre... They are really nice to listen to and somehow leave you addicted. (happened to me for the second ED.) I understand that some might be skeptical over how slow-paced Hyouka is compared to other series, but as the story progresses we start to have attachment to the characters since we start to relate to them already, thus enhancing the plot in the progress. So even if slice-of-life/mystery has never been your cup of tea, i still recommend giving Hyouka a go! Hyouka is an anime that shines in how simple it is, yet so entertaining. The characters are only thrown in typical real life situations that have happened to us as well in one way or another, yet the mystery aspect does not feel any less dull despite that. The series being short and sweet appealed to me. As they say, "Simplicity is beauty." Wow, it has definitely been quite the long review. To sum things up, Hyouka was a series that kept be hooked from start to finish (me being a sucker for its genre). For fans of slice-of-life and mystery, there's nothing to hesitate about for i'm sure you'll be able to enjoy Hyouka! I hope this review was a good read as well as being informative to you, the reader. To end things off on a random note, my favourite characters are ironically the supporting characters Mayaka and Satoshi xD. Once again, hope you enjoyed this review!

Hyouka is perhaps one of the most beautifully-captivating anime I've ever seen that has much to do about nothing. Of course, that's a very odd way of stating what this anime is, but generally speaking, this is probably the best anime I've ever seen that doesn't have a major conflict. To me, that's interesting considering this is considered to be a mystery. Overall, this anime does not have many flaws and has many strengths. I would even go so far to say that it is probably the best anime I have seen in 2012. So what makes this anime so good? The perfect combination ofinteresting, unique, and likable characters in mild-mannered, soft-toned story that has some of the best production value I have seen thus far in 2012. Here's how I rated each category... Story: 8/10 The story of this anime I'd consider to be the weak point...but that's not saying much. The story revolving around the characters of the Classics Club was still interesting. I thought some of the mysteries that they solved/tried to solve were pretty interesting, while others felt a little forced and a little off the beaten path (like the mystery of the school supply store and the mountain-climbing teacher mystery). I do feel those mysteries still did their job in the character-building department, but as for the overall narrative, seemed pretty lacking. However, it's only a minor complaint to what I consider to be a very strong narrative about a group of close-knit students. There really isn't much conflict in this story, however, despite that, I consider the story to be quite strong despite a lack of conflict. Art: 10/10 This is by far the most artistic and beautifully animated anime I have seen this year. The artwork and character design was second-to-none and the use of color during the events scenes/thought scenes were great. I think the best part about this anime though was the artistic expression of Oreki's thought process. It was extremely imaginative and added a flavor to the scenes that might otherwise rub off as boring. Even the character/setting designs were very well done and the use of facial expressions were very well drawn. There was nothing "cartoonishly" animated about this anime. All of the expressions seemed realistic and that in itself is refreshing to see in anime. Sound: 10/10 The music was gorgeous. It fit the mood perfectly in every way. I found the implementation of classical music with this anime's own unique tracks created a beautifully crafted soundtrack. Honestly, if they came out with a soundtrack for this anime, I think I'd buy it just for it's smooth, relaxing flow. Even the OP and ED songs were great and fit the anime perfectly. I'm sort of linking this with the artwork, but the artistic expression along with the beautiful music for both OPs and EDs for this anime were just gorgeous. Even watching these 1 1/2 minute segments can be just as entertaining as watching a full episode (and that is not an insult of the episodes). The voice acting was spot-on perfect. The main cast of Yuuichi Nakamura (Oreki), Satomi Satou (Eru), Daisuke Sakaguchi (Satoshi), and Ai Kayano (Mayaka) were perfectly casted in their roles. I honestly can't think of who would've made a better cast for these roles. Character: 10/10 While I did mention that the cast was perfect for the roles, the roles themselves were very good. Oreki made for an interesting protagonist. He was sort of a unique role for an anime protagonist where he wasn't exactly charming and charismatic. He was sort of a slouch who cared more for energy-conservation and a bland use of emotion. That might sound in itself boring, but its integration with the rest of the characters made it interesting and watching Oreki's character evolve and progress made for an interesting watch. However, I'm sure the fan favorite (and rightfully so) is Eru. Her character in this anime was the very definition of moe. Her appearance, her actions, her personality, her expressions, everything about her was extremely adorable and it was refreshing to see a lead female character with this sort of personality. Even Satoshi and Mayaka made for some interesting "friend" characters, with Satoshi being the energetic and outgoing best friend of Oreki, and Mayaka being the tsundere and boisterous female friend/love interest of Satoshi. The side characters were also very well done. Overall, this was an extremely enjoyable anime and I was very close to giving it a 10 (just by a hair). I was a little mixed toward the ending but it seemed very beautiful in its own right. It did enough where it could make a sequel (which there is more content in the light novel to do so) or they could leave it be. All-in-all, Hyouka went a little different direction than your typical modern day anime. It implemented the mystery genre with the monotony of real life. One comment I made to a friend of mine while watching it was it is nice to see an anime take a realistic approach for once. The story, the characters, the plot, everything about this feels real. This might be a tough watch for someone who likes conflict in their animes but for those who love a dynamic group of characters in a real-life atmosphere, this is a must watch.

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