hilton34 - 2013-12-03 00:55:30

Hyouka is beyond beautiful. And the last episode is the most visually atractive thing I've ever seen.

The story is nice, but it's a shame Oreki is a fagget. Chitanda's body was ready for some moe moe kyun and he didn't want. Well, he wanted, but he must be in love with Fukube or something. I hope he dies alone and without Chitanda. Especially without Chitanda.

Anyway, the anime is lovely, and so is Chitanda. If you're not called Oreki Houtarou I mean.

Oh, and that Sherlock Holmes ending is the shit. Moerlock Holmes.

sandrine.aufderhar - 2013-11-18 07:37:19

There is something to be said about the proliferation of the High School genre in anime. That being that there are a lot. Too many, some might say. And that's exactly what Hyouka is: Another High School Anime. Don't let that fool you into thinking that it's not worth your time, though.

The story revolves around Oreki Houtarou, Japanese High Schooler Who Sits At That One Seat Near the Windows that Anime Characters Always Find Themselves Sitting In. Oreki's life is centered around saving as much energy as possible and doing as little as he can to get by. Truly a man after my own heart. He enters the Classics Club on the whim of his older sister, who is out and about, travelling the world, and unwilling to let the small club die. There, by the light of the afternoon sun, he meets Chitanda Eru, a girl who can really only be described as incredibly curious. Along with him in this club are his best friend Fukube Satoshi and Ibara Mayaka. The plot revolves around these characters encountering and solving mysteries around the school.

The stories contained in the anime contain three larger arcs, accompanied by a couple of one-off episodes. The first arc pertains to Chitanda's uncle, Sekitani Jun, and the mystery surrounding his time at the High School they all attend, as well as the past of the Classics Club. The second surrounds the mystery of an unfinished film script for a movie set to be shown at the cultural festival. And the third surrounds the cultural festival itself, and a strange series of thefts.

The mysteries are nothing earth-shattering like murder or fraud, but are more tame, yet they still retain a lot of intrigue. If there is anything to be said about it, though, it's that the writing is absolutely fantastic. The characters are well written, the dialogue is believable, the mysteries can keep you scratching your head till the end, and, overall, it was just FUN to watch.

Speaking of that, the animation is top notch. KyoAni's distinctly cutesy style really shines through. The character design is very plain and there isn't really anybody with strangely colored hair, but it's still easy to tell the characters apart. The animation is smooth and polished, never feeling out of place or cheap. There's also this odd thing that they do more towards the beginning of the series that I can only describe as the visual representation of a metaphor. And they pull it off fantastically well. Visually, this series is beautiful and a real treat for the eye.

I'm not much of a sound guy, but I can tell you what I thought about it. It wasn't bad. In fact, the music was fairly well done, but it wasn't anything that really blew me away. Still, it was fitting and pleasant to the ears and never sounded too out of place.

Ah yes. Characters. I thought the characters were actually pretty good. I really mean that. It might seem like Oreki's just another apathetic protagonist who's just sort of done with everything. That's not wrong. Neither is the idea that it's one of those friends dragging you into a more interesting, rosy, High School life sort of deal. But I think the transition is natural enough to justify it. By the end, he's still somewhat "Mehh I don't wanna deal with it," but has more and more moments where he becomes genuinely interested in things. The other characters do a fine job of not cleanly fitting into any obvious trope. Be it Chitanda's ability to be endearing and adorable without being annoying, Fukube's character as a database that cannot draw conclusions, or Ibara's very clear declarations of affection for Fukube and her brutal honesty. The characters are all interesting and none of them are relegated to 'just' something. Ibara is so much more than 'just' Fukube's love interest. And the development of these characters over time is well done as well, especially Fukube's.

I had this weird thing with this anime where it feels very plain while, at the same time, being very interesting. It's not something I'd hate watching, but sometimes I'd rather watch something else. That being said, I still burned through 19 episodes one weekend. The mysteries are engaging and the anime itself is just incredibly charming. I did, however, put off finishing it for, like, a month.

The open ended anime might have been off-putting to some, but I actually really enjoyed it. There wasn't any sort of romantic closure between Oreki and Chitanda, despite a couple of moments throughout with a definite sexual tension in the air. I think that the open-ended ending was actually quite refreshing in that a kiss and get together to end a series like this would be a tad strange. It definitely keeps to its mystery roots while keeping the romance from overshadowing and overtaking the plot.

Hyouka is an enjoyable, charming experience that will captivate your imagination and leave you smiling. The pace is, much like Oreki, fairly laid back. While there isn't really ever that sense of urgency, the series never really needs it. It's a nice blend of mystery, school life, and interesting characters.

nicolas.ross - 2013-11-10 22:11:33

If you gave Hyouka a rating less than 10 then you're truly not mature enough to enjoy this charming story. Kyoani at it's best for sure.

mkuphal - 2013-08-22 09:43:45

ohara.tremaine - 2013-07-19 20:50:42

Well, it tried, I'll give it that.Hyouka, also known as "Hyou-ka: You Can't Escape" is the latest series by acclaimed studio Kyoto Animation, who, despite their huge fanbase, generally produce work of more style than substance. Hyouka unfortunately follows this trend, though superficially it doesn't fit in with the rest of KyoAni's back catalogue very much, as Hyouka is generally very dry in tone.Hyouka is a mystery series, revolving around four high school students in the Classic Literature Club (an aimless club that happens to end up solving mysteries a lot). The students in question are main character Oreki Houtaro, whom I am about 99% certain has some form of autism. He has zero interest in socialising, fun, or... well, anything. He deliberately tries to live life as uninterestingly as possible. This is hampered a bit by him being insanely gifted at solving mysteries. This gift goes untapped until he meets Chitanda Eru, a plucky, cheerful girl with an insatiable curiosity who refuses to let the even the smallest of mysteries go unsolved. They are joined by Satoshi Fukube, a cheerful happy-go-lucky human database simply full of useless facts who is seemingly Oreki's only friend prior to the series, and Mayaka Ibara, a library assistant who's known Oreki since childhood, who is probably the most level-headed member of the cast.Now, remember how I said Eru refused to let even the smallest of mysteries go unsolved? Well... that's the big problem Hyouka has. The mysteries really are the smallest of mysteries. Each and every one revolves around a very trivial subject, and just about all of them could have gone unsolved without any real problems. Something so down to earth could in theory have been a good idea, but unfortunately Hyouka doesn't really deliver. As a result, Hyouka is, in a word... dull. With the exceptions of one or two mysteries, Hyouka totally fails to be entertaining.But that isn't to say they didn't go the extra mile to make Hyouka more interesting. KyoAni's huge animation budget is flexed quite a bit. Random quirks in the presentation show up every now and then when Oreki is explaining his theories, sometimes in rather trippy fashion. The unusual techniques in the directing aren't limited to these, though. Hyouka plays around with angles and closeups a lot, to try and make every scene more dramatic.It doesn't work.While they occasionally spice up a scene a little bit, they really don't do much to save Hyouka from being very, very bland. And often, the harder they try, the worse it gets. It's most "dramatic" moments end up being, if anything, idiotic for how hard they're trying to sell something so insignificant.Directing techniques aren't the only thing in Hyouka intended to spice things up, though. Character-driven subplots are also involved. All of Hyouka's cast members are likeable, if nothing special... though Oreki's disinterest with everything can be irksome, and Chitanda can be more saccharine than cute sometimes. Romantic subplots flare up between the characters, as well as some mild feelings of envy from Fukube towards Oreki, and these would all help a lot more if it wasn't for the fact that all of this goes absolutely nowhere and amounts to nothing. Just like the directing techniques, it's an attempt to spice it up that at best is a mild amusement, usually falls flat, and at worst, is simply idiotic.With all that having been said, Hyouka is not bad. But it certainly is not good either. At the end of the day it is simply very average. But there are really much better wastes of your time out there than Hyouka.Final Words: For the biggest of mystery enthusiasts and diehard KyoAni fans only.Story/Plot: 5/10Characters: 5/10Animation/Art: 8/10Music: 5/10Acting: 7/10Overall: 5/10For Fans Of: UN-GO, Gosick

hunter.sawayn - 2013-07-07 01:44:00

In an industry where instant gratification and shallow, spoon-fed plots are expected - and even praised, Hyouka is not for the impatient. Its story matures over time, and, like a bouquet, more of its buds blossom as each chapter closes and another opens.

I've noticed that many Hyouka viewers are miffed by the fact that the mysteries in the show are, for the most part, trivial. What's frustrating to me is that Hyouka is not really about the mysteries - it's about the characters. The mysteries are merely a device to help relationships and characters grow.

Hyouka follows the life of Oreki Hotarou, a lazy high school student who lives by the self-proclaimed principles of energy conservation - If he doesn't have to do something, he won't do it. At least that's what he tells himself, until he meets Chitanda Eru, an eccentric girl whose overly curious nature gets the best of Oreki.

Chitanda and Oreki find themselves the sole members of the Classics Club, soon to be joined by Oreki's "rose-colored" lighthearted friend Fukube Satoshi, soon followed by Ibara Mayaka, easily irritable but head over heels for Satoshi - who is reluctant to return the sentiment. Their time in the Classics Club is usually spent solving mysteries - but not the ones you'd expect. Little mysteries - one that surround the characters themselves or happenings in the school.

While some mysteries are certainly more engaging than others, I found each to unravel something fascinating and deeper about each character that made me feel closer to them and care about them more as a real person. You see, on the surface, each of these four main characters in Hyouka have a very visible cover page. Chitanda is probably the most glaringly obvious - seemingly perfect, and indeed she even has a visible glow around her from time to time. But we get to learn more about Chitanda and why she is the way she is. Chitanda doesn't change much from cover to cover, but her life becomes an open book, and we get glimpses in to her past and her role in her family, her upbringing and her role that let us empathize with someone who, in reality, is almost too ideal for this world.

Oreki opens up in another way. At first, he seems fairly set in his ways as who he believes he is, but the people around him cause him to violate his own principles and become very unsure of himself. He seems uncomfortable with the all too familiar struggle of the high school student - do I really know who I am? As brilliant as Oreki is, his internal battle with his stubborn nature humanizes the more cold side of him.

Satoshi, as the foil to Oreki's straight-man act, becomes vulnerable and sad when we see his happy face is sometimes a cover of his fear of commitment and being "ordinary". Mayaka in tears over feeling like she will never be good enough, because there is always someone better, and the pain of unrequited love feels so real and bitter it stings.

I don't want to say much more than this for fear of spoiling anything in Hyouka. But I hope that this review has cleared misconceptions about Hyouka, and that if you have already seen it and were disappointed, that perhaps you can approach it from another angle. When you take it in without any preconceived notions about what you think it's supposed to be, it's a brilliant, charming and touching character study in a world very close but also very far from the familiar.

Hyouka has a slow but smooth pace. It is dialogue heavy, but the conversations are important and meaningful. It is relaxing, but intriguing. It is beautifully animated and carries with it a soft and dream-like ambiance. The music is a mixture of classical and original pieces accompanied by pianos, flutes and light instruments, and it fits very well.

Up until the very end I wanted more Hyouka, and I miss it now that it is over. The ending of Hyouka is a bit cruel to the audience and a little bittersweet. But depending on how much of Chitanda or Oreki you have in you, you may view that a little differently. Taking it for what it is, I try to assume the best.

Because unlike most animes, Hyouka lets you think for yourself when it is appropriate. And I really appreciate that in a show. Hyouka is as deep, thoughtful and beautiful as you allow it to be. So open up your mind, sit back and relax, and get to know the Classics Club a little better.

hubert69 - 2013-07-03 13:25:59

Great story, great art, sounds is OKAY, Characters are GREAT... except ONE

Other than this series being somewhat episodic and leaving you wanting more by the end of this show with great character development showed by the mc little by little every episode throughout the show.. I have problems with ONE character and that is..

Chitanda is annoying, aka one of the characters in the series.. honestly I'm giving such a crap review because this annoying piece of crap character is the reason I'm dropping this anime.. absolutely annoying. By all means give this anime a watch true potential but this anime would be a 10/10 in my book if the Chitanda never said a word.

darian.casper - 2013-06-28 08:18:31

This Review is out of 100. 35/100 for Story, 35/100 for Characters, 15/100 for Sound, 15/100 for AnimationStory: (31/35) Slow paced, not the most exciting, but definitely interesting and pays attention to detail. Characters: (28/35) Not much development, but they are likable and stay away from the norm. Sound: (11/15) Nothing to write home about, but nothing bad. What you come to expect from slice of life.Animation: (14/15) Really well done, very detailed, while not being overly cute. Some episodes are just gorgeous. Overall: (84/100) One thing this series has over traditional slice of life shows is that stuff actually happens. This show is basically a slice of life, where the characters solve mysteries that happen in their daily lives. The mysteries themselves are not very epic, but are more everyday mysteries. On the surface, they sound boring, and some of them kind of are, but many of them get more complex and interesting as it goes on. The show is slow paced, mainly because it needs to show more detail given the fact it is a mystery. (31/35) While I won't call the plot boring, I would call the main characters boring at first look. They all seem like your normal, generic characters: airhead (Chitanda), the best friend (satoshi), and the strict loudmouth (Ibara). But each of them has something that makes them stand out from the rest, and most of their characterization comes from that.The actual main character is a bit different. He is incredibly lazy, boring, but is also amazing at solving mysteries. Each character is important to the show and helps with solving the mystery by giving theories and whatnot. (28/35) The score isn't bad, but it isn't anything special or memorable. (11/15) The score might not be something to write home about but the animation is. This show looks good. But that is expected since it is from Kyoto Ani (Haruhi Suzumiya, Clannad). I would say it is one of their best looking shows, and that is saying a lot. (14/15)Overall the show can be boring and may feel like a chore to watch at first, but it gets much more interesting during that later arcs. Combine that with some fairly well rounded characters, great animation, and some good music and you have a great show on your hands.

madisyn94 - 2013-06-07 20:18:11

Now here is where i begin my fruitless attempt to put into words what i actually thought of Hyouka. Which is actually harder than you may expect, because this is just one of those shows where i can’t really think clearly on what it was exactly that i like. Well to begin I should mention what may be the most obvious; this is by far the best animated show I’ve seen all year. Characrers are detailed and had fluid motion, all the desighns were likable and it all added to that slight sense of realism that persists thoughout the experience. Background were all equally beautiful with bright colors or muted colors to to great effect when need. Even something that I had never seen before: a handheld shaky-cam effect, which impressed me to no end on just a technical level. This proved to be one of the main examples that i use when i argue thst anime has spoiled me in turms of 2D animation quality, it just looks that good, yet still manages not to be overbearing, and instead allows you to get immersed in the experience.The more difficult thing to really pinpont and talk about (though i’ll probably end up talking alot anyway) is the story and characters. In my opinion characters are the most important part in any anime because they can make or break it independent of the plot. The plot can be a great or interesting idea, but if the characters aren’t at all interesting or likable I’m not going to enjoy the show as much. However this is definitely an are in which Hyouka excels. One of the things that one may consider essential in a plot-filled story is the idea of character development, that a characters have to grow along that story. Since this is more of a slice-of-life ( actually more than any other show ever, but I’ll get to that later) that same idea doesn’t apply and the growth has to be applied a bit more subtly, much more how it may seem in real life. If you look at yourself yesterday or a few days ago you may not see any substantial difference, but if you do the same a few years ago it should be more noticeable. And that is the case here; as you look on an episode-by-episode basis your not likely to notice all the changes, but look at the characters on the first and last episodes they are different. I won’t go into detail with everyone but take a look and you’ll see it. Above all else the characters are also very likable, or at the very least I liked them enough to come back each week. The girls were very adorable and the interactions between everyone felt very natural.All of this also added to an over-arcing sense of realism. Besides the look an the characters the passage of time and structure of the “plot” made it feel like real life. From the introduction and as wells as various elements in the show itself you may have been lead to believe that this is a mystery show, perhaps in the vein of Scooby-Doo or Sherlock (awesome British show by the way) but I don’t really believe that this is the case since a major percentage of time is spent not solving mysteries but rather doing other things such as enjoying the school festival or going to an Onsen. Sure there are mysteries bu I never felt that it was the main focus outside of a few episodes or in other cases certain segments of certain episodes. It almost gave me that sense that Hyouka was confused and perhaps didn’t really know if it wanted to be mystery or straight slice-of-life. In the end I came to the conclusion that this may be one of the best adaptations of real life I seen in an anime, with an underlying theme of mysteries in order to tie the episodes together. Thing more or less seem to just happen in Hyouka usually without in sort of foreseeable meaning or reason to them, and events play out very naturally much like in real life. You don’t remember things that happen day to day, you remember big events or ones that mattered the most to you, festvals, vacations, or smaller events such as Oreki investigating his teacher or trying to prove to Chitanda that he can’t be trusted to solve mysteries. Real life also doesn’t have a clear plot or constant themes other than those you make for yourself. All of which is the case here; not much is consistent in terms of plot as you watch, and its not until you look back that you realize that had this been your life this may have been how you would remember it with all the subtle shifts and changes intact.All of these changes and shifts made Hyouka a hard show to really give a rating for since I never had a clear idea throughout of what I was meant to look for or enjoy. In the end all that really matters is that I greatly enjoyed watching every episode and continued to maintain Kyoto Animation’s consistent quality standard.

ikuhic - 2013-06-01 08:10:16

Yeah, it's kinda like that.

Hyouka is a 2012 animated adaption of a mystery novel by the same name. Handled by the masters of moe themselves, Kyoto Animation, and directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto. At first glance, Hyouka seems to be just another slice-of-life - a charming and somewhat melancholic show to use as a brief escape from the humdrum and dillydallies of ordinary life, but don't let looks deceive you. Hyouka goes further than just a slice-of-life, and is actually KyoAni's take on the mystery genre, and what a masterful take it is.

The story begins with human Energy Star Oreki Houtarou, a boy who's motto is "If I don't have to do something, I won't, but if I have to, I'll do it quickly"(A fantastic motto if I do say so myself). The Classic Literature Club at his local high school is in danger of being demolished, and so at the behest of his sister, Oreki joins the Classic Literature Club to prevent this tragic event. It is in the hazy afternoon when school is finished that he enters the clubroom, and therein meets the clumsy, curious, cutie Eru Chitanda. There is something odd, however. Eru was in the clubroom, but the room was unable to be opened without the key Oreki received to open it. Eru is curious as to how this is possible, and it is here we witness Oreki's brilliant deduction skills, and a taste of the mysteries to follow.

She's curious!

The rest of the story follows the high school lives of Eru and Oreki, and finds the two along with human database Satoshi Fukube and fourth club member Mayaka Ibara, getting wrapped up in various mysteries that need solving, and overall problems and events that may well ruin Oreki's energy-saving ways.

One of the unique aspects of Hyouka is it's ability to mix that slice-of-life aspect present in many of KyoAni's anime, along with interesting mysteries that will keep you guessing. Oreki is a modern-day teenage Sherlock, but rather than solving more serious who-dunnits and living a thrilling life of intrigue, he solves mundane cases involving expulsions and petty high school thieves. Note, mundane does not necessarily mean boring(unless you're going by the first definition, but let's go with the second one). The mysteries that fall into their laps have quite a few twists, and actually make keep the viewer guessing.

Hyouka manages to balance the mystery with normal. A romantic plot begins to grow from the beginning, and develops in a way so natural you may not even notice it at first. Even without mystery, the interactions between the characters are enough to keep one interested. The show is also spruced with philosophical discussions on what it means to have "talent" and the negative fallout from such ability, for those seeking a more intellectual experience. All in all, the story and characters alone are enough to make the show great, but knowing KyoAni, it goes even further. However, even masterworks have flaws. Though, in this case, it's only one. An open-ended ending which works may or may not work great, works against the anime and may not leave one as satisfied as hoped.

KyoAni has always been known for their animation. Love their style or not, they never once get lazy with their art, and Hyouka is KyoAni at their finest. The backgrounds are gorgeous, leaves blowing in the wind and the town in which they live are drawn with stunning results. By the end, you will want to visit the real-life version of the town. The quality doesn't stop there. Character's movements are fluid. Small details are captured accurately, the way Oreki twirls his hair when he thinks, the natural sparkle within Eru's eyes, all these details are paid loving attention, and serve to fill the characters with life.

Sound is important too, and KyoAni delivers. Sound effects are spot-on, music is only played when it's natural. The music matches the scenes perfectly, and KyoAni knows when some scenes simply need no sound. The opening and endings are perfect, and the second ending especially is an ear-worm. The visual treat combines with the wonderful sound to create an audio-visual feast.

Yes, there's Vocaloid cosplay too. If that's not enough to convince you to watch this anime, then to hell with ya!

Hyouka is simply put, a masterpiece. The only thing preventing me from giving a perfect score being the open-ended finish. Still, Hyouka is KyoAni at their best(since Clannad After Story anyway). The animation, story, music, it's for all these reasons I highly recommend it.