Review of Hyouka

Mystery, romance and drama in a mature anime? Hyouka is one of the most aggressively pleasant and enjoyable "grown up" animes I've had the pleasure of watching. It's not profound, it doesn't take itself too seriously; it's just smart enough and wholly enjoyable. The episodes are fun to watch and the series as a whole has a nice progression and character development to it, it's the sort of series that leaves you feeling completely full inside (but hoping for the same thing tomorrow). The basic premise is that four kids join their school's floundering Classics club but keep getting drawn into solving quite trivial, yetintricate, mysteries. Houtarou, the reluctant detective, is an "energy conservationist" or to put it bluntly, a slacker. The mystery genre works so well with an unlikely detective, and Houtarou's deep commitment to exerting as little effort as possible fits the bill quite well. He is usually conscripted into detective work by Chitanda, who really is the perfect counterpart. Not only do her pleas of curiosity move the plot along, the slow-building relationship between her and Houtarou is quite delightful.

The mysteries range from historical trivia to absurdly minor problems, but it's all in the presentation and I personally was on the edge of my seat. In a world where so many mystery series feel that one dead body just isn't entertaining enough, it's refreshing to watch one that feels less is more. It also adds to the realism, you can really get into the characters and their progression because they seem so human and relatable.

If you need explosions and dead bodies and all of that, this probably isn't the anime for you. I for one was riveted though, this is really anime drama at its best.