Hyouka - Reviews

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Dubfan's avatar
Feb 14, 2021

This anime is below average. It is a slice-of-life show with a romantic undertone. The story is composed of several short skits none really in relation to the others. There isn't much of a plot nor clear direction. It's as if they are stumbling around in the dark trying to find something to accomplish. No goal in mind.

The story revolves around the main characters joining classical literature club to prevent the club from being disbanded. Although, the classical literature club does almost nothing with regards to classical literature and somehow turns into the sleuth club. Where mysterious events are solved or hypothesized using deductive reasoning.

As for the characters: one main characters philosophy is to conserve energy as much as possible, however I suppose mental energy is insignificant in this equation. I would be completely exhausted trying to solve some of the senecios. If your goal is to preserve energy the best thing would be to do nothing. Shrug your shoulders and give up. On the upside there is a fair amount of overall character growth.

Animation and sound quality are top notched. High budgeting.

You should be able to find something better to watch. If you have nothing better to watch, then I suggest watching the first short skit and maybe the culture fest short skit.

Extra: As they came from the same studio, I'm assuming when the light music club is mentioned in the dialogue, they are referencing the light music club from K-On.

2/10 story
10/10 animation
9/10 sound
4/10 characters
4/10 overall
ReviewBonfire's avatar
Apr 24, 2020

I once looked at this work 2-3 years ago and had to cancel it at the time. The reason for this was simply the lack of individuality and excitement.
Now I gave the anime another chance and saw something quite interesting in the overall result.

This work did not follow a "red thread" and had no really grandiose plot. The plot basically dealt with .. "With the riddle solution". In the foreground were only the puzzles, one after the other appeared. Basically, this was not a bad thing, the implementation and the presentation of the puzzles was quite interesting, they were also very successful with hints and details, which made it possible to think about something from time to time. It was not a typical detective game, but a game to set the perfect theory / conclusion.

Attention: If you chose this anime based on the romance genre, please read "Romance" under "Genre".

Genre:

[Comedy Mystery Romance School Slice_of_Life]

Comedy: This genre was represented here, although this is more a matter of taste. The humor in Hyouka was more or less based on a more mature basis. The characters played word games, word duels and puzzles. It can also be seen as some "who of us is the intellectual" conflict. This was quite interesting because of the characters' mature speech and their expanded vocabulary.

Mystery: Was represented here quite frankly, this was the genre that was in the foreground. As already mentioned, the plot dealt mainly with puzzles which were actually all quite mysterious.

Romance: The anime actually had the potential for a good and romantic anime, but this was not used. But this would be an understatement, since the romance had hardly any presence. There were very small hints spread over 5 episodes each and that's it, this genre was not at the back, it was hiding in the shadow.
Spoiler!
If you include the other two main characters, there would be just a hint.


School: I feel that the action took place mostly in school, that is, in the course of the characters' club activities.

Slice_of_Life: Was also represented, it was about the everyday school life of our 4 protagonists and this was also mixed with a light private life which gave you a little more insight into some. However, this genre was not really pronounced and it was taken very difficult.

Story:


If someone asked me about the story content of Hyouka, I couldn't give a specific answer.

As I said, the action had no "red thread" and there was no goal of the action. One puzzle at a time was solved until one end was in sight. Unfortunately, this is not a positive thing, so a lot of individuality was lost. Even if the puzzles were intrinsically appealing, it doesn't change the fact that there was no real story and the puzzles were not interdependent, meaning that they had hardly anything to do with each other and each concluded their own episodes.

Animation / pictures:


The animations were just great. Both in the intro, outro and anime you could see this excellent work "Kyoto Animation" had created again. The environment, the horizon, the colors all so beautiful in detail. The beautiful character animations, from movement to shadows, light and eyes, were mostly very well animated and there is nothing to complain about. Especially the point with "detail" is commendable.

Characters:


Houtarou Oreki: Was the protagonist and of course the best character in this series. Now what exactly distinguished him? His calm and relaxed manner and his grandiose motto "I only do what I really have to do and what I do, I do as quickly and easily as possible without unnecessary effort". This character also had enough brains and a good talent for drawing conclusions and working with theories, clues and facts.

Chitanda Eru: A really average character, which can only be characterized by his "curiosity". She was incredibly pushy, gullible, and not really the brightest when it mattered. However, I liked her calm and relaxed manner. She looked completely like a daughter from a rich house and knew perfectly how to behave, which made her not particularly negative. However, these characteristics did not make them a really interesting character.

Satoshi Fukube: Probably the second best character after the protagonist. He is quite calm, controls himself and likes to play with words and calls himself the database. In terms of personality, he looked like the average friend of the protagonist and was only characterized by his hyperactive nature.

Mayaka Ibara: I have to admit without exaggeration, at the beginning I thought it was a secondary character. The way she presented herself was not particularly original, but it had certain new features. The plot around her also dealt with somewhat newer points that are rarely or not seen. Which didn't make her interesting, but the atmosphere and action around her did.


Subtext: What really bothered me about the characters is that there weren't the slightest character-based changes or developments. You can start the anime from episode 18 and you can see no difference between episode 2 and 18. It was more the basis of a comedy anime, because the characters usually never change there.

Music:


In terms of music, I found the endings / outros to be quite calm, although the second outro was weaker than the first. The two intros, on the other hand, had been presented very nicely by representation, music and animation.

The other soundtracks in the anime also fit quite well for the caliber of this anime. There was nothing outstanding now, but also nothing to complain about.

My conclusion
to

Hyouka

Basically, the anime had a lot of potential from the setting, which was unfortunately not used. I don't know how the manga worked, but the anime was weak in many ways. As mentioned, there were no character changes, no ups and downs. No common thread, no real plot and no goal of the story, and plenty of missing tension. Not to forget the absolutely open ending which nothing just didn't appear to you and ended the anime. You could have worked out so much, unfortunately it was over from there.

I can recommend Hyouka to every mystery fan and person who likes anime, in which the main characters skilfully throw words around.

4/10 story
9/10 animation
7/10 sound
6/10 characters
6/10 overall
trashcan007's avatar
Dec 13, 2023

This is a slightly above average High School Mystery Drama.

***Warning: There will be minor spoilers in this review****

The story surrounds a High school guy named Houtarou who is very smart but uses his intelligence to do the least amount of work possible. 

He is persuaded to join a club which causes him to have to interact with super energetic classmates that pressure him into putting his analytical talents to good use.

The Good:

  • I did like how this mystery anime decided to focus on non-murderous acts. It didn’t rely on cheap gore or scares to keep viewers intrigued.
  • Some of the comedy was good, some of it was overly-childish.
  • I liked the realistic evolving of each character’s ideals and philosophies. It had a “personal discovery” undertone to it.
  • No $exually explicit bs with minors although there were clearly indications of physical attraction between characters of the opposite sex (who were around the same age). 


My gripes:

  • The plot was pretty vague. It was largely episodic- just surrounding a HS year in a unique club. 
  • The redundant interactions between the MC and Eru. Somehow the MC is always surprised by the reactions of Eru and the influence she has on him. She also gets all up in his face and begs overdramatically way too often. 
  • The lack of parental guidance.
  • Most of the mysteries/stories simply stemmed from Eru’s childish curiosity. A lot of the problems could have been solved by asking and/or involving adults/authority.
  • Some of the explanations were done well, but many required knowledge of Japanese to be able to solve them. Some of the explanations/reasonings became silly and could have led to other conclusions (especially the “announcement over the loudspeakers" one). Nonetheless, the explanations were still entertaining to watch.
  • I wish Satoshi wouldn’t have rejected Mayaka’s valentine’s day gift. I know he talked to her later on, but it would have been nice to see that relationship take off at the very end.
  • The ending felt a little abrupt.

Anyway, the gripes that I had with the anime didn’t spoil it for me. It’s a little above average (a 6/10 overall). I would recommend it; but only to mystery anime fans who won't mind the childish nature of it.

5/10 story
7/10 animation
7/10 sound
5/10 characters
6/10 overall
Vague's avatar
Sep 21, 2012

Oh Hyouka how I loved thee. But why? Seriously, I have no idea why I loved this series so much but I did and it’s done and now I’m sad. Were the characters super loveable and memorable? Not really. Was the story extremely intriguing and mind blowing? Nope, nuh uh. Was the animation so beautiful that it made me depressed to live in a world that’s so dull and limiting that I thought about taking my life to end all the suffering? Negative. Honestly, every time I watched a new episode of this series I asked myself the same questions, well maybe not the super dramatic one at the end there. I came to the conclusion that it is just an all-around good series with enough of everything to keep you interested.

Story- 7/10

Probably the most boring/normal part of the whole thing. You’ve got a group of friends in high school that are part of the Classics Club, also known as the We Do Nothing Club-like Club. I don’t really even remember what the club was supposed to be for originally but it ended up being the groups hang out time after school. The group consists of Oreki, the lazy genius that wants nothing more than to live a low energy lifestyle, Chitanda, the cute and fairly naïve girl whose family is super traditional, Fukube, who refers to himself as a “database of knowledge” and Ibara the manga fan. All in all not a bad group of people to hang out with. They go around solving mysteries, if you can call them that, and basically live normal lives. It’s very much episodic in that there isn’t a main story line but about half way through the series one of their “big mysteries” takes up four or five episodes. Now, when I say mysteries I’m not talking Scooby Doo style. These aren’t corny guys with costumes, but they also don’t float on par with serious things like murder or kidnappings. In all actuality they are pretty much small events that most people would look past as coincidence. Which is kind of why it’s intriguing instead of boring; some of these seemingly normal instances are actually quite complicated if you take the time to figure them out.

Animation- 7/10

I liked the style but again, nothing life changing or ending about.

Sound- 7/10

I like Yuichi Nakamura (Oreki); you may recognize him from Guilty Crown (Gai), FMA Brotherhood (Greed) or Fairytail (Gray) to name a few. Must have a thing for “G”…anyways! I liked the voice acting which is kind of a plus and the music wasn’t really annoying or overpowering, another plus.

Characters- 9/10

So, I said that the characters weren’t super interesting but you just can’t help but love them. On top of that, the way they interact with each other throughout the whole series just takes the cake. Oreki ends up getting suckered into everything Chitanda “can’t stop thinking about” and eventually realizes that if he doesn’t stop helping her, his low energy lifestyle will be a thing of the past and he’ll fall head over heels for her. Which is just fine. Ibara and Fukube have a thing or two as well that makes them interesting in their own ways but in my mind they were really only there to add to Oreki and Chitanda’s story. Oh! Oreki has a sister that is older and doesn’t live at home anymore but she makes a couple appearances which were also quite delightful.

Overall- 9/10

I know my ratings above don’t seem to add up to this one but you’ll just have to watch the series to get the “feel” that I can’t appropriately describe in words. It’s just one of those shows that makes you look forward to the next episode without leaving you on the edge of your seat or ripping your hair out because you can’t believe person A did that to person B. Anyways, good show…go watch it…now.

Another time, another review.

7/10 story
7/10 animation
7/10 sound
9/10 characters
9/10 overall
CrazyAce01's avatar
Sep 26, 2012

Story (7.5/10)

I don’t really like slice of life anime. They tend to bore me. I’ve already got my real life, after all. Hyouka disabused me of this notion. It is full to the brim with an enrapturing charm that sucked me in with each episode.

Kyoto Animation’s handprint is evident - the main character, Hōtarō Oreki, immediately reminded me of Haruhi Suzumiya’s protagonist, Kyon. He narrates and chronicles the adventures of the Classics Club with sharp and entertaining wit, propelling us forward in each story. There are numerous parallels between the two, but rather than a fantasy plot, Hyouka isn't driven by anything specific - rather like real life. Dialogue is emphasized to the extreme; conversations are allowed to meander around from topic to topic, and, while well-written, can work against the pacing.

Oreki's group stumbles upon simple, everyday mysteries, figuring out everything from how a room was locked seemingly without a key to the motivations and outcome of a student protest 45 years in the past. Oreki’s slow, ponderous brand of sherlockian analysis eventually puts the clues together to solve the mystery, which are provided by the other members of the club, who act the part of investigators. While the solutions to these problems aren’t necessarily all that important, I found that Chitanda’s curiosity, in particular, was as infectious as her buoyant personality.

While these mysteries shuttle the story along, the real plot lies in the transformation of the characters. A lazy Oreki is time and again dragged out by his friends, and slowly, he begins to grow out of his apathy.  Fukube and Ibara, the other two members of the Classics Club, also have excellent development. This changes are subtle, which is a good thing. Hyouka never overplays its hand.

I scored it low because the plot was too slow. It could have all been done in half the time, and there was a lack of any urgency or driving force behind any of the mysteries. That’s slice of life - not everyone’s cup of tea.

Animation (9/10)

The art style reminded me of Suzumiya as well. Detailed backgrounds rest quietly behind crisp, smoothly animated characters. The opening themes are particularly well-done and really carry the message of the show through the visuals. I’ll have trouble going back and watching older works after this.

Sound (8.5/10)

The first and second opening themes are both great, though the first was truly excellent. I enjoyed the frequent use of Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 Prelude; it fit perfectly as Oreki’s theme song.

While the rest of the tracks weren’t inspired by the divine, they were set perfectly with each scene. I’ve rarely watched anything, anime or otherwise, that has matched its visuals to its music so well. This plays a vital role in drawing the viewer into each mystery, bringing the plot off the screne and delving beyond the surface of the characters. Stunning work.

Characters (9/10)

I loved Oreki. He’s lazy, but endearing. His sarcasm is caustic without being mean. A hundred tiny habits combine to make him one of the most well-rounded characters I’ve seen in any anime. His relationship with his best friend, Fukube, is deep and honed to a fine edge. I could watch them banter for hours.

Oreki’s development is superbly crafted. What changes is not his skill, strength, nor any specific improvement in moral fiber. What he gains is introspection - insight into his own character. It is what he finds within himself that pushes him to do things differently, a bit there, a little here. It’s so slow that he doesn’t notice himself until the final episode, but when he does, it’s something else. You can feel the maturity that he's been able to grasp, and it’s extremely gratifying.

Chitanda, on the other hand, had a few problems. She’s just a bit too naïve, bordering on a stereotype. She’s often serves as more of a plot device than anything, wringing her hands over some strange contradiction to get Oreki out of his chair and into a mystery. I’m nitpicking this a bit, but it’s the little things that stop it at a 9.

Overall (8.5/10)

Fantastic art, wonderful music, and compelling characters make Hyouka a winner, but not without hitting a few speedbumps. Despite its great characters, there were at times a sense that their fictional playground was too small, almost as if they belonged at a college rather than a high school. The pacing stuttered with unneeded sections and conversations that stretched on a bit too long. Ultimately, I never got the sense that our detective, Oreki, was truly challenged. There are no unsolved mysteries in Hyouka, and that steals a bit of its mystery away. However, above these minor issues rests an excellent series that I plan on rewatching in the future.

7.5/10 story
9/10 animation
8.5/10 sound
9/10 characters
8.5/10 overall
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