First Impressions / Hyouka

「事情ある古典部の末裔」 (Jijyouaru Kotenbu no Batsuei)
“Troubled Descendents of the Classic Literature Club”

For all of the readers out there who dropped this show because they’re not following the golden rule of giving a series at least three episodes before dropping it like a brick, I believe that you’ll be pleasantly surprised should you watch this third episode of Hyouka. Besides an overarching plot finally beginning to appear, I’m sure that everyone enjoyed watching Houtaro school an upperclassman with that insane deductive reasoning of his. Because if watching him solve a mystery was fun, watching him condescendingly toy with another person while solving one was even better!

But what I want to touch upon first are the letters that Houtaro has been receiving from his older sister. While this is all speculation based on what we’ve seen from the past three episodes, I can’t help but feel that she’s going to play a much larger role than what we’ve been led to believe. Not only was she the sole reason why Houtaro ever so slightly stepped out of the shell and begun to interact with people but it almost feels like she’s guiding him toward something much, much larger. Especially when you throw in that second letter she sent him which just so happened to push him in the right direction to find the old anthropologies…

And unsurprisingly, if you look pass his strange exterior, there lies an amazingly snarky Houtaro that could provide more than enough humor to push the whole show forward. As we’ve already seen just how condescending he can be when something piques his mind, I was dying as I watched him toy with Tougaito. It’s hard to describe, but this combination of excitement and fear that was flowing through me as he slowly broke Tougaito down was simply amazing. Not to mention that he kept a straight face during the whole entire thing!

Getting back on track, it really does feel like a larger mystery is slowly starting to emerge. While the introduction that Chitanda provided wasn’t the best in terms of grabbing anyone’s attention, I’ll admit that things started to get interesting right as the episode ended (seems to happen every week doesn’t it?). But with the lure of a gigantic mystery revolving around Chitanda’s uncle who did something so mind blowing during his time that people were afraid to talk about it, I can’t wait to see how the rest of this arc will play out. While it remains to be seen how strong this adaption may be, I’m willing to bet with Kyoto Animation won’t disappoint us.

 

Preview

52 Comments

    3. …and in “Another”, protagonist’s father travelled to India too…
      other than that, the title of the show is somewhat explained (as the title of the anthology), and we are looking into a first glimpse of a real mystery to be solved…

      ewok40k
      Reply

    6. Without spoiling anything from what I’ve read so far, let’s just say things aren’t really that complicated as you put it out to be.

      Either that or author Yonezawa simply hasn’t revealed any connections yet in future volumes.

      Kinny Riddle
      Reply

  4. That stare is evil, its impossible to refuse!

    Joking aside the mystery of the week was pretty easy to figure out. But what made it worth watching is seeing Oreki blackmail and manipulate a senior solely because he was too lazy to carry the books himself. That’s the kind of dickishness that’s fun to watch.

    fragb85
    Reply

  7. This week’s mystery did not seem to be as well thought out. Even though Houtarou blackmailing Tougaito was entertaining, it seemed a little melodramatic and unnecessary. When Houtarou asked Tougaito for the safe, he could have just said, “Alright, I know where it is but I can’t get it right now. Give me 5 minutes and I’ll give you the books you need.” or something like that.

    Anyway, a lot of people seem to be turned off by the pacing of the show, but honestly I’m enjoying the atmosphere that they are setting up. In a world where people are constantly looking for bigger, better, faster, it’s a breath of fresh air to have something at a more deliberate pace. (Wow. That really sounded like an Old Man Jenkins thing didn’t it…)

    ChurnedRainbow
    Reply

    1. I don’t know about that. Since he had contraband hidden in there, the last thing he would want is to point any attention towards that specific place with the two other less clued in girls and get them also visibly suspicious. By working that dialog more detached from the container with Houtaro, it turned into a you scratch my back I scratch yours kind of deal rather than being blatant about hiding things to increase suspicion above the levels that were already displayed.

      Basically, both Houtaro and Tougaito played that game well to achieve their objectives – acquire the items, and keep the contraband (and location where they may be stored) hidden.

      djrubbie
      Reply

      1. Even if Tougaito had come out and said that he had cigarettes in there, would that really have been such a bad thing? Maybe it might vary in Japanese culture, but there’s usually an unspoken rule among teenagers about not ratting others out.

        Of course, don’t misinterpret that as me supporting someone shortening their lifespan with tobacco smoke. It just seemed a little odd that Tougaito made such a big deal about him having cigarettes.

        ChurnedRainbow
        Reply

  9. Overall this episode was pretty nice. But there’s this one thing that seems awkward to me… They make a big deal out of something but turns out it’s not that dramatic. For example, it sounded like a real mystery when that senior won’t let them get the anthropologies. I thought it would have been something serious like marijuana. But nope, it was just cigarettes. Or the time when they found out the first anthropology was missing and made a real big deal out of it. I mean, that was kinda expected, so what’s with the over reactions? It would be more realistic if the characters are less dramatic about the events happening around them… or perhaps it’s the whole point? D:

    Kaka
    Reply

    1. Well, kinda. So I hoped that the final mystery is worth it. Like the uncle murder someone, an alien about to attack us, the end of the world. I don’t know, I hope its worth it.

      Zuhri
      Reply

    2. “For example, it sounded like a real mystery when that senior won’t let them get the anthropologies. I thought it would have been something serious like marijuana. But nope, it was just cigarettes.”

      I don’t want to repeat this again since this was debated like hell in some other places but I’d just go on and do it just for the sake of expressing it.

      Relating to this situation really depends on a person and how the school environment was. I’ve been in an environment where having such offenses will really leave a mark on your records. In the case of Tougaito he had a reputation to protect. He’s from a well known family and has lots of relatives in the educational department.

      Believe it or not some schools will really punish you when you’re caught doing these things. And other people do highly value their good morale records.

      megalith
      Reply

    3. Smoking is a serious student disciplinary issue in school (especially when you are below the legal smoking age of 20 in Japan). Sometimes the parents will get called over to have a parent-teacher discussion.

      Izzard
      Reply

  13. Quite a short blog entry, but you get to point. Houtaru’s sister sure knows how to make Houtaru move. We finally get to the main story now, and I hope Kyoani doesn’t disappoint.

    elmaton04
    Reply

  15. hmmm, if i was to be a teenager again, the only reason i would smoke is peer pressure (too look cool.. w/e)… so smoking alone while hiding would defeat the whole point… just how addicted do you have to be to hide and smoke..

    n0216332
    Reply

  17. LOLWUT Satoshi
    https://randomc.net/image/Hyouka/Hyouka%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2029.jpg

    Perhaps Sakaguchi Daisuke is bringing back a bit of his Sunohara silliness into his Satoshi role, as an outlet for Nakamura Yuuichi to make snarky remarks. All this despite Satoshi being much smarter and savvier than Sunohara.

    Or maybe it was script coordinator Gatou’s idea seeing as Sakaguchi and Nakamura are reunited anyway, might as well make good use of their on-stage chemistry.

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  18. I though tht guy was fapping…. or doing drugs…..

    And I like those SHAFT-y aspects of the show, the banter of Houtarou and his friends are fun to watch, the BIG mystery of Eru uncle got me curious, and the trolling club members dat hide the book….

    I still feel tht it may drop into Kami-memochou type of depressing….

    D-LaN
    Reply

  19. Kyoani’s trying too hard to be diverse. It doesn’t suit them. This show should have been made by Shaft or A-1 pictures or any other studio. KyoAni fags tend to be blinded by some lame series. This trend of making 3rd episodes “exciting” is getting old. Shaft was the only one to make it worth with madoka.

    shirou
    Reply

    2. Nice try troll.

      For the record, my avatar says it all and proves that one can equally appreciate Shaft and Kyo-Ani for their different animation styles without having to disparage any of them: Shaft with surreal imagery to bolster a dialogue-intensive plot, Kyo-Ani with lush scenery and consistent animation.

      Kinny Riddle
      Reply

      1. Actually Shaft want bring more naturalistic character art, than anyone in mainstream anime lately (in Nisemonogatari surely). The really surreal guy/girl is Vofan in the Shaft art in the Bakemonogatari and other stuff from them. It’s not a praise for them. Vofan is the awesome factor. Actually Nisemonogatari isn’t good example for proper plot anyway. It’s more like an FS fest borderline siscon hentai. Madomagi is sometimes like a quickly edited college-art animation. You can call it surreal as the story needed it.
        In other hand “lush scenery” not really a good word for Kyoani. The adapt the novel into a fine animation, nothing more or less. There are many counter-example for lush scenery from them. You can call the adaptation as a reason, since they don’t use their own imagination.

        FFF
        Reply

    3. Kyoani is bound by unspoken rules to highschool antics so I don’t think they try to be that diverse. I doubt any other studio would have done a better job with Hyouka, rather I have the feeling the original material wasn’t the best choice for an anime adaptation. Though I believe Kyoani has a tendency to “sugarcoat the pointless things” resulting in a “that moves a lot yet doesn’t progress” effect.

      Ananas
      Reply

  20. Really loved the mystery in this one, and I also found it a bit weird that windows were open in a room full of newspapers.

    Also, it’s anthologies, not anthropologies. Anthologies are the books full of stories and anthropologies isn’t even a word but anthropology is the study of humankind.

    Jel
    Reply

  21. Eru VS Real World

    “I don’t care if you have magical eyes, get the fuck out and let me smoke my shit alone!”

    Real World Wins

    HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!!!

    Oreki VS Real World

    “I see what you did there…”

    Oreki Wins

    Ananas
    Reply

  22. Couldn’t agree with you more, Takii. That feeling you described for when Houtaro was steathily ripping into Tougaito was almost exactly how I felt! Houtaro is proving to a very interesting, endearing fellow in my eyes (along the same vein as Ayumu Narumi of Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning).

    Chitanda still hasn’t won me over, but at least I can say this episode did a lot to improve her as a character and explain her singlemindedness when it comes to mysteries.

    What’s more, the other members of the Classics Club still manage to be entertaining – particularly Satoshi.

    Hoping for the best with this anime. It’s really something low-key, but undeniably fun.

    Ashen
    Reply

  24. “Because if watching him solve a mystery was fun, watching him condescendingly toy with another person while solving one was even better!”

    You could say that again! (^o^)

    okami
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *