Review of Hyouka

Hyouka was an anime that I had heard opinions from opposite ends of the spectrum. Some people loved it and praised it as a masterpiece while others said they dropped it a few episodes in due to a lack of overall story. Unlike my friends who were polarized about the anime, I found it to be entertaining and well worth watching - albeit not a masterpiece. {STORY} - Ultimately the lack of an overarching story was my biggest frustration with Hyouka. There was no real linear progression of story between much of the anime other than references back to things that had previously happened. In a22 episode anime, there was like 5 different mini-arcs that really could have happened in almost any order. With that said, the anime was a true slice-of-life anime in the sense that you really felt like the anime gave a window into a true daily life scenario of a group of friends who were entertained with ordinary mysteries.

{Art} - Art was quite excellent through the anime but really came to the forefront in the final episode. Beautiful colors and excellent animation of the characters' eyes in particular really makes the art stick out as a feature of Hyouka.

{Sound} - The music choices in Hyouka were superb. The mixture of famous classical pieces along with their mysterious interlude pieces really helped the flow of episodes and will stick with the viewer for a long time.

{Characters} - Character development was very good throughout the anime. Over a 22 episode anime there are very noticeable changes in the characters as well as the relationships between characters. Unlike some anime that rush relationships and force character development, Hyouka was very natural and never felt like it was being rushed.

{Enjoyment} - Overall the enjoyment was very good. Every episode brought an entertaining mystery and character development that kept you glued to the anime.

{Overall} - Overall I gave this anime an 8/10. The lack of a true overarching story or theme dropped it from a 9/10 for me. While it did fit the slice-of-life theme excellently and it could be argued that it was the natural development of a group of friends that was the over-arching story, it just felt like it could have been better served with a mystery that lasted from episode 1 and was solved in episode 22 and was slowly unpacked over the entire anime.