Review of Hyouka

Hyouka is a part slice of life, part mystery show about everyday occurrences. Starring a highly introverted and lazy male protagonist as well as his clubmates, the story revolves around the group of them together resolving small and seemingly insignificant "mysteries" taking place inside or close to the school. It can be anything from finding out who stole a book from the club room to who the culprit in a homemade amateur murder mystery film is. Nothing in this show really "matters" but rather it's all done merely for idle curiosity. Instead of writing a wall of text this time however, I've decided to break thisdown into a quick list of pros and cons for this show, as well as why you should or should not watch it:

--The Good--
•For once, a show that actually isn't a generic romcom despite the high school setting
•The mysteries are simplistic and therefore easy for everyone to understand
•Utilizes many famous detective novels as basis for approaching the various riddles and puzzles
•Interesting and original main characters
•Very relatable protagonist that a lot of anime fans should be able to connect with
•Eccentric and funny female lead who keeps the series on its toes
•Great character development, you can clearly see all of the main characters change and grow over the course of time
•Enjoyable character interaction, both in a comedic and in a serious sense
•Outstanding animation quality (as you might expect from KyoAni)
•Good choice of music which fits the atmosphere of the series very well, both when it's being light hearted and when it's being eerie and mysterious
•Next to no fanservice

--The Bad--
•The mysteries themselves are completely trivial and unimportant, and are solely resolved for the sake of curiosity but without any actual significance whatsoever, which may turn off a lot of people since none of it really matters in the end
•Oftentimes overdramatized, as the characters' reactions to the completely silly plot events can come across as cheesy, cliché and just plain exaggerated
•Somewhat repetitive story design, the plot itself never really improves as the show goes on
•Slow pacing which drags down the actual entertainment value every so often
•Episodic – this is not necessarily a bad thing per se but for a mystery show I think the lack of any sort of overarching story is a bit disappointing
•Highly unsatisfying ending which leaves a ton of questions unanswered

Overall, Hyouka is not really a typical mystery show but not really a typical slice of life or romcom either. It's something that tries to be all of them at the same time.

I would recommend this show for people who care a lot about relatable characters and to see them grow, as well as those who pay a lot of attention to an anime's production value as the actual presentation of this show is stunning. On the other hand if you're looking for a thrilling mystery show with a captivating plotline and a really good punchline, then I'd advise you to look someplace else. You are most certainly not going to find it here.