Review of Hyouka

Hyouka has no plot, because life has no plot, and Hyouka is a story about growing up. I adore this anime, though I recognize this isn't the anime for everyone. If you're looking for a mystery or romance anime, this isn't it, though it's placed in those genres. And if you're looking for a big story of plot, look elsewhere. I see a lot of reviews for this complaining about the plot, and I don't want to say I think they're missing the point, but I don't feel plot was the purpose of this story as a whole. At it's core, Hyouka is a Slice of Lifeanime focused around Oreki Houtarou's journey to recognizing that maybe he wants more for himself than he chooses to believe. And honestly, that's it. The mysteries aren't intended to be anything out of a Holmes story, they're just conduits to Houtarou's journey. He learns something at the end of each mystery, about himself, about his friends, about life in general.