Review of Hyouka

Hyouka was a deeply interesting Mystery/SoL/Romance(?) anime, and one which typically would fall outside my wheelhouse. However, I took a chance on it, and I am glad I did. Beginning with the story, this is a very episodic show. Each episode has a wonderfully self-contained arc, a monster-of-the-week but with mysteries if you will. And they are all, with little exception, somewhat low-stakes, which makes for easy and relaxing viewing with just enough investment in these miniature plots. Though sometimes these plots are distantly related to a death, or some dramatic event, it is regardless very rooted in the everyday.I do have to say though, I have some particular gripes with the show, especially as it gets towards episode 20. Without getting into spoilers, the romantic motivations of certain characters are so byzantine and contrived that I couldn't possibly suspend my disbelief in those moments. Luckily, there are only a couple of those late in the show, and for the most part it is an anime which vividly explores the adventure of everyday mysteries. Despite the sometimes mundane nature of these mysteries, the folks over at KyoAni never fail to make every bead of sweat, every vanishingly minute detail, seem monumentally important.

This brings me to one of the strongest points of Hyouka, and that is its art. On this point it is sublime, a perfect 10. Beauty bleeds from the screen as you watch it, you are immersed in the warmth of the shrine at New Year's, you're caressed by the Cherry Blossom petals at the Doll Festival, and you can damn near taste the food on any given table. Bravo.

The sound is good, just about as much as is necessary to bring the scenes to life, and the music is a good accompaniment. The music is actually quite high quality, but there is not a lot of it. They spent a lot of time making a handful of great tracks that work in most situations, and while this is a functional formula it can get kind of same-y towards the end.

The characters were well-done, insofar as they were living embodiments of their given archetype. This snug fit into their characterization, however, comes with the cost that they sometimes come off as a little unbelievable, which usually isn't a problem for most anime in my honest opinion. Perhaps the world just looks so real that I expected the characters to feel more than just good enough. Regardless, I became attached to them, and in this way they firmly met the present standard. Overall, I'm usually not a slow-burn, cerebral mystery type guy, but I appreciated this for all it was worth, and there are some things here that are for sure going to stay with me for a long time. OVA's good too, and I'd say an essential watch to get the 'true ending'. 7/10.