Review of Hyouka

気になります(kininarimasu)! If you intend to watch hyouka, be prepared to watch a series littered with its favorite catchphrase: kininarimasu! Every single episode has it at least once, such that it has begun to irk me as much as it irks the mc, Oreki. Are you curious about what the phrase means? Hints to the answer can be found written twice in this review. Once in the sentence before the previous and the other in the third paragraph… Let’s see if you can deduce the answer! Story: Hyouka is about a classics club consisting of 4 friends who don’t partake in club activities (what does a classic clubdo anyway?) but solve mysteries. And by mysteries, I don’t really mean crime-related issues but the mysteries you can find as a typical high school student. That is not to say the plot isn’t interesting, but I can relate to those who drop the series out of boredom. Hyouka doesn’t engage the viewer much (at least not for me), the viewer is going to have to engage himself/herself. Confused? By engaging yourself, I mean trying to solve the mystery presented before the answer is shown at the end. Each mystery will present you all the necessary jigsaw pieces and in a test of your logical reasoning, challenge yourself to see if you can complete the puzzle before the solution is given. It’s quite fun. There is a certain feeling of satisfaction when you deduce the correct answer, especially when you are ahead of Oreki. Give it a try!

Characters:
The main characters of hyouka are pretty decently explored, save for Ibara. Her character isn’t really expressed as well as the others. After 22 episodes, all I remember of her is that she likes satoshi, kinda dislikes Oreki and reads manga. She just doesn’t really stand out among the others. Oreki is the lazy, unmotivated mc with the sharpest mind among the four. He is responsible for solving the mysteries. Basically, the brains of the group with an interesting motto: “If I don’t have to do it, I wont. If I have to, make it quick.” Satoshi is the walking database of trivia of the group. He knows a lot, but cant really put the knowledge to good use. There will be interesting drama between him and Oreki later on, with an inferiority complex involved. Chitanda is the well-mannered and bubbly girl whose motto is “I am curious!” She drags Oreki from his comfortable cave of reclusiveness to solve the mysteries that piques her interest. She is the driving force of character development of the show.

Animation and sound:
The visuals were pretty decent, especially the cherry blossom scene of the last episode. Simply stunning. As for sound, nothing really struck me as unique enough to latch itself in my memory, its decent but not anything special.

Enjoyment:
I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Solving mysteries is the very core of the series, so if you don’t enjoy wracking your brain for a solution to a question, then don’t bother with hyouka. You’d probably be bored with the slice-of-life premise. But if you are the kind that enjoys the occasional brain teaser, pick up hyouka. Its pretty decent. Flaws of the show would probably be its slow pace and some flaws in Oreki’s logic. Other than that, enjoy playing Sherlock Holmes!

Overall:
Hyouka is a pretty decent series for wannabe detectives. If you fancy yourself a sharp and rational thinker, test your claim against hyouka's mysteries. All the clues have already been found for you, all that’s left is to piece them together. If not, steer clear of this series. Without its mysteries, it’s utter boredom. Hyouka is not for the thrill-seekers and adventurers. Only enter is you believe yourself patient and rational. Adrenaline junkies you have been warned…

Note: Kininarimasu is the driving force of the plot. Without it, hyouka wouldn’t exist. The phrase literally means: I am curious! If you managed to deduce it, good job. Now try your hand at hyouka's mysteries. I promise you that they are much more interesting and challenging.