Review of Hyouka

“If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick.” - Oreki Houtarou Hyouka is a show I would consider to be underrated in the Kyoto Animation library. It has received critical acclaim by their fans but personally I feel that it doesn't have much appeal or reach and this may be due to its way of storytelling. It would be hard to recommend this show because I would feel my words wouldn't do it justice as even giving a basic summary could be considered wrong. I believe the show is good but I have had arough journey watching it, I will talk about this detail later.

Anyway onto the review.

Story 8/10
We follow Oreki Houtarou a high schooler beginning his first year. Unlike other male protagonists, Oreki is quite uneventful and is an advocate of personal energy conservation. If he doesn't have to do it, he won't. He takes this attitude or lifestyle into high school and sees the world in a black and white way until he meets Eru Chitanda. Oreki meets Chitanda through the Classics Club when his sister an old scholar asks him to join so the club doesn't die out. Eru Chitanda is a polite yet cheerful high school girl who is curious. Turns out Oreki has a talent for mystery solving and so ensues episodes filled with mystery and wonder.

Now that is the best summary I can conceive but the fork in the road I stumbled upon is "What the show is". It indeed is a mystery but even though the mystery elements end up becoming the plots of a majority of the episodes there are elements of slice of life and romance depending on the context and perspective. In my opinion its culmination of all these things with romance only becoming a sub-plot in the latter half. In the end, this show is a character-driven story as each character in different ways. Each character in the Classics club learns from these events may it impact them greatly or just subtly. Now each character doesn't have great noticeable changes in personality or character but its shown in a progressive way. These changes in character I will discuss in the 'Character' section of this review.

The mystery element is what drives the show but these mysteries aren't dramatic situations like murder or crime but instead small situations that are riddled throughout high school life which such as "Why is this room locked?". With these low stake situations, we are able to see more subtly character motivations and developments but because of their low stakes, it may seem that it can be hard to be engaged but they get you through its presentation.

Animation 10/10
The animation is on par of an animated film with each episode offering a new and unique experience. Where most of the praise for this show comes from is with its delivery and presentation of exposition. Instead of watching characters communicate exposition, we are instead taken on an experimental visual journey as each explanation for a theory/hypothesis is paired with a new animation style. Words cannot do justice its direction by Yasuhiro Takemoto who has directed other popular Kyoto Animation shows such as Amagi Brilliant Park and The disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya among others. 'Memorable' is the only word that can describe what the animation is like.

Character 9/10
We follow four characters in the Classic's club, all being first years. With a cast primarily focused on 4 teenagers, there is bound to be one you can relate to may it be Chitanda's curiosity, Oreki's laziness, Satoshi's cheerful attitude or Mayaka's stubbornness. With the show being character-driven we see Oreki's attitude of “If I don't have to do it, I won't." slowly fade away as he progressively becomes more interested and driven to pursue his curiosity.

Another character we see develop is with Satoshi Fukube. What seems to be the energetic best friend of the main character we slowly see how insecure he is. Unlike Oreki is contempt with his personality Satoshi is still unsure of who he is which can be seen with episode 21.

Enjoyment 8/10
I have had a difficult journey with this show as during the time I began this show I was experiencing anime fatigue so I was having a hard time watching it early on. Only recently as of April 2020 I was able to continue watching the show and just for reference, I began this show halfway through last year. Because of this, my analysis isn't very justifiable as the first half of the show was hard to get into due to personal matters. The other half of the show was just amazing to watch but also hard to follow one when you have a basic idea of what happened in the first 10 episodes so my experience was very tainted.

FINAL VERDICT 8/10
On a personal note, I need to rewatch it to have a better understanding of its characters but it was an amazing journey.