The opening episode of Hyouka strikes me as the beginning of a bold experiment in the art of audience pandering, the degree of which hasn’t been seen since Haruhi graced the small screen. It’s difficult for me to pin down what question it wants to answer, but I’m going to take a stab in the dark and go with this: If Hyouka takes characters from several of KyoAni’s previous works, strips them of all meaningful identity beyond their most recognizable personality traits and implants them in a generic mystery anime, how much will it sell? Judging from the ridiculously positive reaction, likely anywhere between “a shitload” and “a metric shitload”.
So yes, we get to see Kyon, Mio, and that dumb fuck Sunohara join forces in order to solve mysteries of little consequence to anybody that hasn’t traded in their brain for bits of old string and a dakimakura. But of course Kyoto Animation only works in the realm of adaptations, so they won’t admit that this is pretty much their Justice League or Tsubasa Chronicle, except without anything remotely resembling intrigue or excitement. It’s like watching the World Checkers Championship if the players can only move their pieces through spastic flails.
Nothing describes Hyouka better than being a pure distilment of everything that Kyoto Animation has done over the past 7 years or so. The apathetic male lead with a sharp wit? Present. The annoying sidekick with a lying compulsion? Present. Mio from K-On, except actually able to summon a thought slightly deeper than “I like cakes”? Unfortunately present. I really have no idea why this had to be made, since it’s all been done much better before… by the same goddamn studio. I mean I understand that having an extra ocean of bills to add to the Money Palace is an enticing prospect, but artistically it just has no reason for existing. Well, aside from a certain shot in the first half that’s well worth seeing the damn thing just to experience.
The worst part is that the first episode, the thing that was supposed to draw the viewer in, has very little to recommend it. The Not-Sunohara is surprisingly tolerable and the animation is gorgeous as always, but the plot and everything else is so goddamn boring that I actually took a break in the episode to do the dishes. There weren’t even that many piled up, I just lost all interest at the point where the second “mystery” was introduced and decided that cleaning a few mugs was a better way to spend my time than watching this holding pattern unfold on my screen. When I finally returned, I fell asleep before the credits rolled. Definitely not off to a great start.
But whatever, I’m being overly vitriolic. I admit Hyouka isn’t at all bad, but it’s damn forgettable. If detective shows without a shred of subtlety tickle your fancy or you want to see your old KyoAni favorites back and in a drunken spiral toward destruction, but in different bodies for some reason, look no further than this. Or if you’re just in it to stare at something pretty for 23 minutes until something more interesting crops up, I guess it’s good enough to hold your attention. Otherwise, Hyouka isn’t even worth the time to think about.
Sounds like someone doesn’t like Hyouka at all…which I understand. It started feeling pointless to me when these characters wouldn’t shut up for a second.
I don’t at all mind it, it’s just insubstantial and reeks of self congratulation, if that makes sense. And yeah, the second half blew large chunks because of all the ceaseless talking.
It’s no surprise Houtarou fell under Eru’s spell. Not even a stone-hearted person like him could have resisted the charmes of her. She seems a bit too naive for her well-being but she is a polite and apperently smart girl so that’s not a too severe flaw.
The animation at the ghost story scene with the usage of water-colourish techniques was beautiful. However althought I felt this was a bit slow its only episode one, im very much looking forward to the rest!
Without a doubt, it was a gorgeous opening episode. I can’t say much else positive, unfortunately.
Not willing to dimiss it yet with the first episode, even though I found the second half of it boring. Proabably won’t turn around in a couple of more episodes, but worth seeing if it does.
I’m sticking with it for as long as I can, it just didn’t get off to a roaring start. Nothing’s keeping me watching aside from obligation.
I don’t really see why you dislike it already. Just because there have been similar characters before doesn’t necessarily make it bad, I mean, come on, how many characters DON’T have a trait or two from others?
As for the slow start, I don’t mind it, because it’s by no means worse than any other slow series, such as Eureka Seven or any slice of life. I actually believe its refreshing, as many series tend to go out with a bang.
There’s taking an element or two from other characters, and then there’s copy/pasting personalities to the point that you won’t even remember them six months down the line. Hyouka does the latter.
It’s not the slow start that really bothers me, though it’s a small part of the problem. What bugs me is the fact that it’s not really doing anything with its time. I don’t want another KamiMemo here, where the story is all over the place and just not all that exciting. I really don’t see myself caring about this, though I’ll stick with it until I can’t stand it anymore.