Review of Hyouka

I watched this because KyoAni (Euphonium and Free! hadn't aired at the time). I expected great visuals, a good soundtrack/credits songs, and a good character-driven show, which I did get. What I didn't expect was the mystery theme (researching anime beforehand wasn't a thing for me, and websites tend to be cryptic anyway), and not Conan-style mysteries where a murder is solved, but mysteries about things that might seem insanely mundane, but are a matter of life or death to Eru at the time. There are 3 major arcs and a handful of side stories in this production. Arc 1 was fantastic, arc 2 was... ehh,and arc 3 was a little long in the tooth but otherwise good. Not terribly thrilled with how arc 2 ended, but the aftermath scenes took the bad aftertaste clean off. Bless you, Hotaro's sister. Other light novel authors can take lessons. In fact I was all right with not having a "recovery" episode (that ended up being the bonus OVA), but that was a nice touch from the author.

The voice acting was well written, directed, and performed, but the decision to cast 3 familiar voices from past KyoAni shows (Yuichi Nakamura and Daisuke Sakaguchi from the Clannad series, and Satomi Sato from K-On!) made me feel at times like this was an odd reunion of Tomoya, Sunohara, and Ritsu with a heavy dose of amnesia. But ultimately the decision to cast them was the right one-- Nakamura got to play someone who isn't a whiny emo, and Sakaguchi and Sato weren't relegated to pure comic relief roles for once. This is probably the first time I've heard Ai Kayano in a starring role, and she delivered a convincing performance. Aside from a bit player or two who are about as deep as a puddle, many of the guest characters are well-written and nuanced, so that's a big credit to the light novel author.

If there's a literary weakness I could point to, it's probably the character of Hotaro. I'm generally not a huge fan of an anime putting unusual quirks into a main character and then going "Deal. With. It." You know, you could at least try to hint towards why, especially in slice-of-life anime. Similarly with his conflict with Mayaka. To be fair, these are in fact addressed in later light novel chapters, which beggars the question, "Uh, sequel pls?"

In fact, if I may be so bold, might I suggest a movie or OVA based on volume 5 plus the additional prequel chapters? I feel like I could write the scenario, even.

Unfortunately that decision is up to the producers and publisher, and if memory serves, disc sales weren't that strong, and this was an expensive production (star-studded cast, heavy use of CG/effects and hand-drawn animation, and a studio orchestra soundtrack). I wouldn't be surprised if they're reluctant to follow a bad investment with more money.