Hi hi, that week of break felt really great.

But sadly, I was mostly procrastinating for most of the week. At least I managed to finish Hyouka.

This show was actually kinda left to dust by me for about 2 years as well. I last watched it back in the army, during a period which any show would just entertain me, apparently this one didn’t. Even in 2020, I still don’t get the charm of this show.

Novel origin, anime lasted for 22 episodes with an OVA. Weird episode count, but I guess its better.

Story

This show is amazingly flawless in terms of the plot, but I cannot find myself enjoying this show at all. It’s not a bad show, but a show probably I just don’t like it.

I feel like Eru is probably the only driving force of this show, if I’m being blunt. I cannot envision myself to keep watching this show if Eru wasn’t around. The whole atmosphere is so gloomy and even Eru sometimes cannot even lift up the mood.

Hotaru is a slightly relatable character for me since I would probably wouldn’t really care about what things are happening around them, but would still help out anyway. But I feel like focusing too much on Hotaru made the whole atmosphere looked rather grim. It gives off a bit like a mystery Oregairu, but I don’t like the formula.

The whole mystery slice-of-life combo isn’t working here. The gloomy ambience is just covering everything else. There isn’t much slice-of-life as well. I wish the whole mood would be a lot more brighter just to liven up the show a little, and also gives me more energy to focus. The plot energy is just so low that it’s hard to sit down and watch for long periods.

Pacing is a little slow, but the arcs are evenly spaced out so none of the arcs are rushed or dragged.

There isn’t much of a climax, since there isn’t any buildup. The ending was rather open so it made my already bad viewing experience even worse.

OVA comes in as a fanservice episode so it looked rather okay.

Overall, not a big fan of the show. Its dreary, probably I picked the worst timing to watch this. But even on a good day, I don’t see myself enjoying this show anyway.

Animations

KyoAni, obviously.

I loved it, no doubt. Animation quality is above-average from shows in 2012, and it still looks great even in 2020.

I like the character designs, everything looks sharp. Bloom is used appropriately. Some scenes had chromatic aberration as well.

I like everything about this show, aesthetically.

Music

The songs were a mixed bag, but the OST itself sounds pretty solid.

The OST even surrounds itself with the gloomy atmosphere, which docks a few points away.

Did it provide the show with more mystery? I would say no.

I feel like the OST is a great soundtrack if you have trouble sleeping in.

Voice Cast

The list is pretty stacked, even in 2012.