Review of Hyouka

“Maybe I’m just tired of my little black cloud.” Wonderful anime with some amazing characters, phenomenal soundtrack, and extremely engaging story. Hotaro is such a likable protagonist. He’s oblivious, but in such a disarming way that you can’t help but enjoy his aloofness. His deductive skills could make him come across as obnoxious or unrealistic, but his total lack of self awareness and confidence counterbalances it to make him so much more human and relatable. He is so well fleshed out, and develops organically over the course of the series. At first he almost feels a blank slate or self insert character for the audience, but becomesmuch more through his increasing care of not only Chitonda, but the mystery process itself. I can truly relate to his energy conservation philosophy, and pretty much followed it all the way through high school. And, like Hotaro, I learned that’s probably not the best way to live a fulfilling and good life.

I loved the character interactions, with the entire cast being great in their own very human way. Chitanda’s curiosity is infectious, and her passionate energy endears her to you almost immediately. Her interactions with Oreki are so pure and fun, and she acts as a perfect foil to Oreki’s apathetic nature. She adds such spirit and life to the show, and my cold black heart enjoyed her enthusiasm immensely.

Mayaka is also great, bring a red hot passion and anger to the show that also offsets Hotaro’s apathy. Her interactions with Satoshi are really sweet, or can be really hilarious. You can tell she cares, and that may be her biggest problem. Her fiery personality makes her stand out, but leads others to view her as off putting and draining. I’m not as brazen as she is, but I can relate to sometimes being over zealous and pushing away others due to that attitude.

Satoshi is also extremely likable, and his sunny personality is really the sharpest contrast to Hotaro's dark disposition. He is just such a enjoyable character to spend time with, being optimistic and positive without coming across as preachy or annoying. He’s not spouting cliches or guilting Hotaro into action, but you can tell his presence makes Hotaro try harder and be more adventurous. His development throughout the series is handled perfectly, with the show really adding depth and character to what initially seemed like a class clown. He’s also genuinely hilarious, and his interactions with the rest of the cast are done so well. His carefree and hopeful attitude brings happiness to all around him, and will brighten your day as well.

The music is incredible, perfectly accentuating each scene it’s in. The more dramatic and serious music heightens the intensity of the mysteries, and makes what could like mundane moments come to life. It’s also extremely well done just during everyday interaction between the cast, adding this whimsical sense of fun, but also occasionally grandiose beauty, to an already enjoyable series.

Every mystery is exceptionally crafted, and captivating to watch. Each inductive step makes perfect sense, and they flow along beautifully. Hotaro’s reasoning never feels forced or contrived, creating a captivating trail of clues and intrigue. I love how each mystery plays out, and, even though I was wrong a lot of the time, enjoyed trying to solve them myself.

I absolutely adore the unbelievably gorgeous animation by KyoAni. It’s so good, with every scene looking phenomenal and immaculately done. The backgrounds are beautiful, the colors are so bright and vibrant, and each characters design is so perfect for what they’re trying to achieve. The ways the characters move and talk are so unique and personalized, with each character individualistic feelings seeping through into the animation. I worship at the feet of Kyoto animation, and this is just another great example why they’re most likely my favorite anime studio.

The directing is fantastic, with great camera angles that frame the characters and setting perfectly. Hyouka’s directing really elevates it above a typical slice of life high school anime, delivering some truly magnificent shots packed with texture and life that help tell the story in an interesting and dynamic way. Naoko Yamada’s episode was particularly great, managing to make a cooking completion intense and engaging, but also filling the entire episode with meaningful insights about the characters in the process.

Hyouka simply has a good message of empathy, and how much caring and effort can lead to light breaking through the darkness. Having struggled with a desire to retreat into myself and ignore everyone and everything, Hyouka’s thesis of hope and putting yourself out there really resonated with me on a more personal level. Interacting with others is hard, but living this purposeless nothingness is harder.

Hyouka just feels good to watch. I felt comfortable watching this show, and didn’t want this experience to end. This is extremely rare for me, and not a feeling I have experienced in quite a while. The characters everyday lives were captivating to watch, and my attachment for each character only grew over time. I felt like I was transported to another world while watching this series, and these characters were my friends in it.

Overall, a fantastic slice of life anime that is so engaging to watch due to its brilliant characters with true depth and detail, wonderful mysteries, gorgeous animation, and great message about how much life improves when you build your life on deeply vulnerable and energy draining emotions like empathy, compassion, and enthusiasm.