Hyouka

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I have no idea what this show is about so like many of KyoAni's shows they set in high school and the characters are students of that school. And like other KyoAni shows the is a focus on a club. The main character is name Houtarou Oreki who may seem lazy but just doesn't want to do things that unnecessarily waste a lot of energy. Being a youngster I don't know why he's acting like an adult, haha. His friend, Satoshi Fukube, is outgoing and understands Oreki quite well. The first episode starts off with the two's first day in high school. Satoshi wants to have a fufilling high school life while Oreki just wants to keep a low profile and take it easy. Oreki has an older sister who is currently not in Japan and traveling for some unknown reason but we just assume its work related. She periodically sends letters to Oreki, and in the first episode asks him to join the Classic Literature Club that she was a part of. The club has zero members and she wants him to keep it alive by just putting his name as a club member. He grants her wish and goes to the club room only to meet another student there. Her name is Eru Chitanda. And this is where we learn that Oreki has a gift of solving mysteries. The door to the club room was locked and it puzzled Chitanda since the door wasn't locked when she came in, and she is very curious about and urging Oreki to figure it out. This first episode is really imaginative with the artistic visual of Chitanda's hair flowing about the room as she looks unexpectedly at Oreki. Oreki is unable to turn her down.

So most of this show is Oreki solving some curious cases around their school. Chitanda, Satoshi, and another girl who is friends with Oreki and Satoshi name Mayaka Ibara joins the Classic Literature Club. Despite being in this club they only talk about solving the current mystery and not about classic literature. It does mention Sherlock and Agatha Christie both are classic mystery stories. Even though the show is on mysteries, the real important theme is the struggle of average vs talent. Its not just with Oreki and his friends, but also the people involved in the mysteries. This struggle is something everyone could relate and this show handles it really well. Its what I like most about this show.

There is a light love interest between Oreki and Chitanda as well as Satoshi and Mayaka. Its not a romance anime so these feelings don't go anywhere. The school festival in this anime is the longest I ever seen in a anime. Its 5 episodes long! But I really like it and its my favorite arc in the show. Oreki's sister seems to work from the shadows in this show and she does come back home, but we never see her face.

I was hoping Oreki's sister will do something big, but nothing happened. And then end of the show nothing really happened or have a real closure feeling. It has that end of the year feel. But this is a school life anime and not really a drama or adventure so I guess its appropriate. I do recommend it though.