Let's get one thing out of the way early and it will make the rest of this post go much smoother, I...Love...mystery...anime...now thats off my chest lets proceed shall we. Hyouka came as a bit of a surprise to me starting late last fall and carrying over into this season. It flew under the radar and I picked it up completely blind, and I have been so glad that I did.
Genre: Slice of Life/Mystery
Hyouka is a little difficult to peg on exactly what it is. It is slice of life without being completely slice of life, and its mystery but of a different sort. Most of your mystery anime revolve around big cases for example Detective Conan or Go Sick; however, Hyouka is different from your normal mystery anime and it is proud of it.
Characters:
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| Houtarou Seiyuu: Nakamura Yuuichi |
Meet Houtarou, he's your lead in Hyouka. Houtarou is your common everyday high school male, and by that I mean normal high school not anime high school. Houtarou's goal in life is to use as little energy as possible in all aspects of his daily life. As we discover Houtarou has a knack for solving obscure mysteries with as few clues as possible (even if he has to make them up). Only two people in the series really have the ability to pull Houtarou out of his shell, his sister, and Chitanda.
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| Chitanda Seiyuu: Satou Satomi |
Your female lead in Hyouka is one Chitanda Eru. Chitanda serves as the ultimate foil to Houtarou's character. Where as Houtarou is akin to a sloth Chitanda is more of a hyped up chiwawa that is plugged into a permanent IV of Red Bull laced with Monster. Whenever something grabs Chitanda's interest she can't focus on anything but finding out more about that subject, more often than not at Houtarou's expense.
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| Satoshi Seiyuu: Sakaguchi Daisuke |
Meet Houtaou's wingman Satoshi. Satoshi isn't your typical supporting male that is a common stereotype in anime today. He isn't a half-wit sidekick that is there just to make the main character look better by comparison. Satoshi on the outside seems to be a typical happy go lucky high schooler; however, a depth of character lies underneath that shell. He describes himself as a database and prides himself on knowing many facts from the mundane to the academic. There seems to be a bit of a competitive side to Satoshi when it comes to Houtarou that Houtarou is unaware of.
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| Mayaka Seiyuu: Kayano Ai |
Continuing with unorthodox supports we have Mayaka. Mayaka rounds out a cast of characters that all have just that, character. Mayaka is a bit of a mother hen figure seemingly there to keep Houtarou and Satoshi in check. Mayaka tends to not say much about herself, and though she is outspoken, it is implied that she has some self-image issues; however, she works hard to support her friends, and is terrified of letting them down.
Plot:
Houtarou is a normal high school guy with a normal high school friend in Satoshi. Houtarou is what some might consider a bit lazy, he seeks to conserve energy in everything he does daily. Houtarou's sister on the other hand is the exact opposite seeming to seek adventure nonstop and it is her that gives Houtarou his first push. His sister, Tomoe, sends Houtarou a letter from India informing him that her former high school club, the Classics club, is in danger of disbandment. She makes Houtarou an offer he can't refuse so he submits his application to join. Satoshi convinces Houtarou that it won't be so bad having a club room all to himself since he would be the only member of the Classics club. After unlocking the door to the club room and entering Houtarou is met with an unwelcome suprise. Inside the room is the other member of the Classics club, Chitanda Eru, a girl with an unerring memory and super acute hearing.
After exchanging greetings it is revealed that the room was locked when Houtarou arrived, and Chitanda was locked in the room, Chitanda's curiosity kicks in and she forcefully drags Houtarou into his first mystery. This sets the tone for the rest of the series that follows a similar routine once the fourth member of the classics club is introduced.
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| Chitanda's control over Houtarou is absolute. |
If you enjoy mystery and don't mind a more lighthearted side then Hyouka is the anime for you. The mysteries in Hyouka aren't as intense as those in other anime, (the only murder is a staged one in a movie). This doesn't necessarily mean that the mysteries are boring, they have their own interesting side while being slightly more believable rather than over the top. The characters are very likable and the interactions are fun to watch, especially getting to hear the duo of Nakamura and Sakaguchi again after Clannad. A fun lighthearted mystery focused anime is what you will find in Hyouka I would highly recommend it to mystery fans as well as slice-of-life fans.
