On the way to work the other day, the main road was blocked off by a police car, an ambulance, and a generic emergency response vehicle. They were parked in front of two residential houses and standing outside of each house was a middle aged shirtless man (with beer bellies, naturally). The police were not rerouting traffic, so we all had to turn around and backtrack to a side street to get to the business district of my hometown. Even though the building is only five minutes away from my house, I ended up ten minutes late to work.
When things like this happen, I can't help but want to know what the deal is. I was assuming there was some sort of domestic issue, and that the shirtless men were most likely involved (shirtless guys are always guilty; just ask COPS!), but why weren't the police rerouting traffic on a main road during rush hour? Was the situation dangerous? Was it actually a medical emergency? Why didn't I see anything about it in the paper the next day?
Of course, answering these questions doesn't particularly matter all that much, but curiosity is what it is! KyoAni's Hyouka knows the itch that comes along with a simple, unsolved mystery and uses their cast to unravel issues like these for the satisfaction of the ever curious heroine Chitanda. These aren't serious mysteries or crimes like you'd find in Detective Conan, but fall more in line with amateur detective titles like CLAMP School Detectives. For example, Chitanda's first request is for main character Oreki to figure out how she ended up locked in a room which she had entered without a key. Nothing serious, but it is something worth being curious about.
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| Chitanda and Oreki on the case! |
Chitanda's never ending spring of curiosity, however, is the last thing the apathetic Oreki wants in his life. His policy is to conserve as much energy as possible, and if he has to do something, he'll do it as quickly as he can. Be that as it may, a part of him can't resist getting caught up in Chitanda's flow. Those big old eyes catch him hook, line, and sinker, and her genuine kindness and compassion towards those in need makes her someone easy to connect to.
KyoAni is one of the best anime studios for sticking with what they're good at, and they're at their best with moe character designs, subtle relationships between charming young girls and rough-around-the-edges young guys, and endings that include interesting twists and the tender beginnings of a future relationship. Hyouka hits on all of these essential points without becoming a repeat of their former titles, and delivers up a solid premise that works for both male and female viewers. After all, both genders have natural heavy helpings of curiosity. When we're presented with a puzzle with a reachable answer, why not think it out?
I did enjoy the characterization of Chitanda, but it was the growth of Oreki that ended up winning me over. I figured from the beginning that he would end up going from completely bored to slightly motivated to make something of his life, but what I truly enjoyed was his process of coming to terms with his powers of deduction. Oreki's clearly the kind of guy who is so content not doing anything that he doesn't want to be gifted at something, so he continually brushes off his gifts of logic as luck. This does nothing for the confidence of his BFF Satoshi, who wants to figure things out as capably as Oreki, but sees himself as being talentless in everything else but being a databank of useless trivia. "Databanks can't draw conclusions," is what he says to quietly put himself down, and the fact that Oreki can do what he can't and still doesn't care injures him.
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| Jealousy between friends is a challenging thing, but Satoshi still respects Oreki in spite of his feelings |
Luckily, KyoAni loves secondary females giving the hero what for, and one of Oreki's acquaintances points out to him that for the people who try really hard and still struggle to succeed, nothing is worse than hearing someone naturally gifted saying that they just got lucky. There's nothing wrong with a little humility, but if you dismiss your accomplishments too much, it only hurts the people who wish they could do what you do.
As time goes by, it becomes clearer that Oreki himself becomes much more invested in his mini investigations, and not just for Chitanda's sake. When he comes to a false conclusion during an investigation into the ending of a Audio Visual Club script, he is visibly upset that he failed to take everything into account and got too confident too soon. Even later in the series, he begins to investigate things even before Chitanda does her whole "I'm curious" act, proving that it has become something he can gain self-satisfaction from doing.
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| But still, who could resist those eyes? |
While Oreki figures himself out, Chitanda also ends up doing a little soul searching. As the daughter of a wealthy farmer, she's expected to work in the business in some form or another, but realizes she's hopeless at requesting things of others (except from Oreki) and cannot do much in the way of management. It takes maturity to face the future, and Chitanda bravely recognizes her own limitations and decides to focus instead on the scientific and agricultural sides of running a farm. Her decision goes a long way in inspiring Oreki, who decides for himself that he wants to do what she can't and help out with the business side of things. But of course since this is KyoAni, she doesn't hear this confession of his, so he sets it aside for another time.
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| Behind the cute exterior, Chitanda has quite the intelligent heart. Emotional intelligence and book smarts in one kawaii package! |
Hyouka doesn't quite manage to be episodic since several of the mysteries take multiple episodes, but I'd still recommend it as a good in-between title since it has a simple overarching plot and doesn't require too much intellectual investment since Oreki does all the brainwork (although the viewer can try to solve things along with him). Romance is hinted throughout but not fully realized, but it wasn't the kind of set up that would make you want to throw your desk against the wall in fangirl/boy frustration (-screen cut to me watching Lovely Complex for the first time while screaming "JUST MAKE OUT ALREADY"-) The mysteries themselves aren't recycles from similar shows, so the originality was particularly refreshing.
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| They make for a cute couple, but the romantic elements are fairly tame |
If you like these super solver type shows, Hyouka is actually one of the best examples out there. As I said earlier, there's not much in the way of overarching plot, but if you enjoy Chitanda and Oreki as characters, it's worth sticking around to watch their growth. I did want more of a resolution for Satoshi, our goofy guy and secret angst muffin, so I was a bit vexed when the OVA for the series was the obligatory pool episode instead of something more character develop-y, but since it falls near episode 11 on the timeline, I suppose it would be too early to resolve Satoshi's issues. The lack of a full resolution does leave room for a second season, but I'm more much interested in them pursuing Chuunibyou instead.
Hyouka is a good show that is well-worth the watch, but in the end, I must say I'm disappointed that SHINee's "Sherlock" was not used as an opening theme. It may be Korean, but there is a Japanese version! Waaah, just thinking about how awesome that would be makes me want to listen to it. Qa2tp, signing off!
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