Review of Hyouka
Hyouka is such a wonderful show, it's absolutely full of charm and a really fun watch. I loved just about every aspect of it from the dialogue to the animation to every mystery they tackled. It never feels like it's forcing anything plot-wise and the characters are all so realistic and lovable it's great even just watching them be normal on screen. The art really stood out to me in Hyouka, for a 2012 anime the animation is fantastic - honestly better than a lot of shows nowadays. The art never fails either, just about every scene is so beautifully drawn you can really tell alot of love went into the production. There are a lot of really interesting visuals during a lot of the mystery scenes which was a very pleasant surprise, they really bring a lot of those scenes to life.
The characters to me also stood out a ton, first of all our main four are just about as perfect as it gets, each one being vastly different to the next but still being very believable best friends. There was never a moment from the start where I even slightly disliked any of them, and they never do anything that feels out of character. The group dynamic is akin to one you've probably seen in real life and that's what makes them all so lovable because I think everyone can relate to at least one of them. Also not to mention the various side characters, there aren't many major ones but I thoroughly enjoyed them all.
The story, or stories more accurately, are all really interesting. The way the characters (mainly Oreki of course) go about figuring out the various mysteries and situations is really captivating and never once feels like they're stretching it, there are a lot of moments where you go "ahh of course!" because the threads are all laid out beforehand. There is never a boring moment, even seemingly mundane events are exciting because of how well the cast are written and how every event ties into the story.
Overall Hyouka is an absolute must watch for anyone into mystery/slice of life, it's incredibly easy to binge and like I mentioned is never boring, now if you'll excuse me I will be busy imagining this show as a romance in my head goodbye.