Anime of the Week (4)

Anime: Hyōka

Novel: Hyōka

Author: Honobu Yonezawa

Genre: Mystery – School – Slice of Life

Episode: 22

MyAnimelist Rating: 8.23/10

         I've been into the mystery genre lately, whether it's anime, manga or a book. I've been searching, and I stumbled upon Hyouka. I'm not much of a fan of high school anime, however, the rating was good so I decided to watch it and I got more that I bargained for.

         Hyouka is a Japanese mystery novel. Its events take place in the fictional city Kamiyama and in Kamiyama high school. Both are based on the author's real hometown Takayama, and Hida high school.

         Oreki Hōtarō, the main character in Hyouka, is a new high school student. He's obsessed with conserving his energy. He doesn't like to exert himself in anything. He goes with the motto "I don't do anything I don't have to. What I have to do, I do quickly." However, this life of sloth is threatened when he joins the school's classics club. Naturally, Oreki is not the kind of person to join any clubs, but in that case he joined at his older sister's request. She was a member at the club when she was still a student, and it had no members joining for number of years. So, she asks him to join the club to save it from being cancelled. The thought of being an only club member appealed to Oreki, but that was not the case. There, he meets Chitanda Eru, the biggest threat to Oreki's life style. Eru is a member of the Chitanda family, one of the big for families in Kamimiya, specialized in agriculture. The classics club is later on joined by Fukube and Ibara, Oreki's friends from middle school.

          Oreki might be lazy, but his deduction abilities are distinct and Eru is a very curious person, and that was the beginning of the trouble for Oreki. When Eru realized Oreki's ability, she would stop at every little mystery and give Oreki tha very expectant glare that he can't resist. Throughout the anime the classic club faces many incidents and mysteries that they solve with the Oreki's deduction abilities, Fukube's information, he calls himself the database, Ibara's aid, and Eru's persistent curiosity. However, the mysteries in Hyouka are not your typical mysteries, crimes and such. I have to say that Hyouka reminded be instantly of PCP the manga written by Ashirogi Muto in Bakuman. The characters in PCP established a Perfect-crime club. However the crimes were not actually crimes they were things as simple as replacing an empty dish with another, without anyone noticing. The idea seems pretty simple minded, and might be boring, but surprisingly while reading you find yourself dragged in the tension and feeling some sort of suspense. That's the case in Hyouka. The mysteries are as simple as how come the door was unlocked when I didn't do it, but somehow you found yourself interested and curious to hear Oreki's deduction.

So, why I liked Hyouka?

-The mysteries were simple but interesting. Some mysteries would take more than one episode, like a mini-arc, these were really good, especially the mystery of "Hyouka", after which the novel/anime is named.

-The drama and the comic relief was good.

-The characters grow on you. If I knew Oreki in real life I'd think he's a very boring person, but knowing what's going on his head makes him someone interesting and sometimes funny. Together with Eru's, though irritating sometimes, curiosity, innocence and sensibility, Fukube's cheerfulness and eccentricity, and Ibara's sense of responsibility and short temper make the four character complementary and interesting to watch.

-The voice acting was good. The voices suited the characters.

-The soundtrack was fine, it went well with the atmosphere. Some classic symphonies were used, like Bach's Air on G string. I didn't notice the endings or the second opening theme, but the first opening them was alright.

-The art was very good. I really liked it. Generally speaking, I liked the atmosphere, I liked the color of it.

-I don’t why, but Hyouka felt real to me, may be because it's adapted from a novel, not manga, so the nature of the plot is different. However, I liked it. That was the very first novel adaptation I, actually, like. The general atmosphere felt refreshing. I wanted to live there in Kamiyama (which is a fictional city by the way, so no chance, but Takayama is close enough). I wanted to go back to high school, or go to Kamiyama high school, more precisely! :D

Fool, Justice, Strength and Magician :D

That scene cracked me up! XD

Experiencing the life of a hermit crab! 

What's inside Oreki's mind! XD

Solving my favorite Hyouka mystery!

Fukube being eccentric! XD

The enchanting Kanya cultural festival

Hyouka's magical atmosphere!

        Hyouka is a very enjoyable slice of life anime. I know it's mainly a mystery novel, but the anime felt more like mainly a slice of life. Mystery makes it more interesting and enjoyable. I, usually found the slice of life genre boring, but in Hyouka the problem was solved. I liked the characters, and I related to them. Pretty much everything about it was good

My rating: 8.5/10

Bonus! While doing some research, I stumbled upon this:
http://sukikatte.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/japan-trip-notes-part-5-10-5/
The writer was apparently on a trip to Japan and made a visit to Takayama, on which Hyouka's Kamimiya is based. The photos shows the resemblance between the real Takayama and Kamimiya. Takayama ,surely, is a charming place! I am adding it to the list of places I need to visit in Japan! :D