Review of Haruchika: Haruta & Chika

Ah high school club, music, and mystery? Here’s the thing about the show. We got a young girl named Chika who tries to renew her life by quitting the volleyball team and joining the wind instrument club. Because in life, that’s what we do right? We strive to improve ourselves and try out new ideas. The problem is, the club only has a few members and its being threatened to be shut down. To make matters worse, bizarre events emerges during their school year. Reunited with her childhood friend Haruta, this show seeks to turn ordinary every day stories into a bizarre package of formulaicmisadventures.

To start things off, the series adapts a novel series written by Sei Hatsuno. P.A. Works is in charge of the production but impressions aren’t high at first. The studio has been known for being a powerhouse at crafting technical visual qualities but Haruchika isn’t exactly impressive to the eye. More on that later, but right now, it’s more important to examine the storytelling and characters of this show.

In essence, the series combines elements of slice of life, mystery, school, and some bits of music. What could go wrong? The first few episodes introduces us the main characters, Haruta and Chika. From first glance, their relationship is off to a rocky start but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A mystery emerges and the club members decides to solve it. It shouldn’t take long to realize that Haruta is the brain of the group as he makes key analogies, references, and using clues for analysis. While having an intellectual mind, Haruta is a character that I’d describe as obnoxious with a dry sense of humor. Despite having some good intentions, his personality is portrayed often as rude either intentionally or unintentionally (I personally find it difficult to tell at times). Regardless, when you have a main male protagonist with a role like that, it’s really hard to feel attached to them. And furthermore, his relationships with others isn’t particular memorable either. This brings in Chika, the main girl of the show. Yes, she makes a bold attempt to change herself by trying to be “girly”. What does she become more instead? More annoying than she should be. At many stages of the show, it feels like she’s trying to become someone she’s not. It goes against being expressing her personality with honesty or being natural. Instead, Chika often behaves like a kid with lack of direction or purpose. She is quite friendly though, a trait that seems to be the opposite of Haruta. But when you mix these two together, it’s really hard to embrace their relationship as something special.

Special isn’t an easy word to use for this show’s storytelling either. To me, the show’s mystery comes off as a secondary factor. It’s kind of like Hyouka but presented more as a daily mystery story. What I mean is that cases are often resolved in no more than a span of a single episode. And more often or not, the show attempts to try variety with its mystery. Unfortunately, it’s rather dull and quickly loses flavor because a lot of the mystery themselves are fairly predictable. While it establishes some good mechanics with case on paper, it’s still not memorable enough to be recalled. However, the show does try some refreshing concepts by adding in music as a mix. These also tie in with some mystery cases including an episode focused on an inspiring musician. It invites some attention as the show can be more realistic. Plus, Haruta’s role in the show is very human. His behavior feels real and I think being aware of that might help enjoy this series; depending on the perspective of the audience. Later on in the series, the club does get more attention and other characters like Serizawa joins. While Haruchika is still more about the storytelling with Haruta and Chika as the main players, there are a few recurring characters that can carry the series.

That being said, the show isn’t necessarily bad but just uninteresting. If you focus on the story, each episode seems to be a standalone that focuses on some message, theme, or moral. While it still connects to the main premise, there’s less emphasis on the main purpose of the show (if it has or needs one). In other words, the show gives us less and less reason of why we should continue to watch it. Is it for the characters? The mystery cases? Or even the music? The comedy of the show isn’t well done as some jokes comes out as dry humor. In terms of relationships, don’t expect romance at all. Haruta has more interest in himself talking than dating Chika. In retrospect, the show doesn’t do well for attracting attention or make us feel like there’s something to write home about.

Speaking of attractiveness, P.A. Works’ technical work took a step backwards. The character designs are lacking especially from this studio. While I was not expecting something glamorous, the outline of the designs just feels awkward. Plus, those exotic eyebrows are distracting and facial expressions looks cartoony. On the other hand, it’s interesting to see the show attempt at an avant-gante style to express cases. From moving lyrical notes to clever usage of coloring, the show makes the cases stand out as peculiarly attractive.

Music and soundtrack go hand and hand for this show. In other words, it has to coordinate well with each episode’s mood and delivery. This has been done well in most cases especially during eerie moments at the apex of a mystery. Other times, it’s lighthearted to portray the easy life style of a school setting. In retrospect, it’s done pretty well in that respect. The character voice mannerism for Haruta and Chika is somewhat difficult to get accustomed to. I guess it really depends on how you perceive their characters and personalities. But on the surface, Haruta and Chika sounds exactly what they are like – high school students who aren’t sure what to do with their time.

For a show like Haruchika, it’s probably a show that you’ll really have to enjoy watching to appreciate it. Otherwise, it’s pretty dry in storytelling, characters, and overall delivery. And despite being P.A. Works helming the series, the technical visual quality isn’t very impressive. Mystery context is rather predictable and most times isn’t attractive either. By the time I finished the show, there’s a sigh of relief. Why? Because Haruchika is snoozefest.