Review of Haruchika: Haruta & Chika

Sometimes a show manages to grab you without being especially entertaining, and that about sums up HaruChika for me. Its a strange episodic mystery show with many quirks that isn't anything exceptional, but holds up a bit better on reflection. HaruChika likes to delve into topics you rarely encounter in anime. Ranging from the Vietnam war and Tibetan dogs to radio shows, the mysteries will sometimes surprise you with their conclusions. These conclusions aren't anything mind blowing, but they are always logical and follow the clues each episode sets up. Quirky characters tag along to provide a source of entertainment and the way each character interacts withone another is charming and pretty funny at times. When it works, the show absolutely flies by, I was surprised several times by how fast the episode ended. That's not something you can always rely on though in HaruChika, with the caveat of the plot never being especially interesting with the lack of tension involved. A few episodes are enough to decide whether this show is for you; its pretty much the same thing throughout.

I respect Haruchika for trying to incorporate such a large array of topics while maintaining a logical mystery. Its very easy for a mystery to incorporate twists and turns until it doesn't make sense, which destroys the purpose of it being a mystery in the first place. HaruChika doesn't fall into that pitfall, and in the process taught me several facts I knew nothing about beforehand. Despite being bored several times while watching, I'm glad I followed HaruChika to the end, its a quirky show that isn't afraid to break genre convention, making it a fascinating piece of art.