Let's Solve the Hyouka Mystery

      Hyouka is the new mystery series by KyoAni studios, and is based on a series of novels I never read. KyoAni also worked on Haruhi, Lucky Star, and K-on!, which happen to be three series I never completed. Haruhi I kind of liked and should pick up again, but the other two were not the kind of tone I enjoy, and embodied most of what I hate about Japanese animation. I'm not a fan of "cute girls doing cute things," unless there's some genuine comedy there. Comedy is purely subjective, but both series were boring, and seemed to rely on the fact the the leads were cute girls. Hyouka is a mystery show on the other hand, and is right up my alley in theory. Hyouka has a major problem with the execution of the series.

      Hyouka is about a boy name Houtarou, whom doesn't do what he doesn't have to do. He's kind of angsty, but it's not typical "crawling in my skin," angst that puts me off of a series. He just does what he has to, and it then on his way. It's actually semi-realistic, because there are loads of people who do what they have to and then call it a day. He also doesn't like joining clubs, and is smart. He joins the classic literature club at the request of his sister. At the club he meets Chitanda, a young girl, whom is very curious about mysteries. Houtarou is taken by Chintanda, and starts to solve mysteries, because he likes her. His friend Satoshi joins as well, who is in a lot of clubs, and may be a homosexual. Together they solve some mysteries. That's pretty much it for the first episode of the series, which has its fair share of problems.

     One of the problems is that Hyouka is poorly written, and has terrible mysteries in the first episode. The mysteries may get better, but the first episode has very little to offer in terms of characters and plot. The mysteries in this episode could be solved by Nancy Drew's mentally challenged cousin, and the characters have very little personality. I don't want to spoil the twist, but I solved them almost as soon as they were mentioned. Encyclopedia Brown puts this episode to shame. The characters also have very little to offer outside of moving the plot. None of them have much of a personality, besides there one trait. This is the first episode, so they probably will develop over time. The writing is made up for in one aspect, which is the how pretty this show is.

The series does have strange imagery.

     The series is beautiful. The animation is so pretty and nice that it makes up for the whole show. The animation is the saving grace of the series. The series looks fluid, and the characters often move in little ways that really draw one in. I have said it before, but most Japanese cartoons have bad animation, but Hyouka bitch slaps that assumption in the face. The series looks really, really good. There are also some really strange and creative visuals. I would like to see if the series looks continuously well done, or if there's a drop in quality in the middle. If it goes the way of this episode, we may have on the finest animated television series to come out of Japan in a while.

     Overall, I have mixed feelings on Hyouka. The first episode has terrible mysteries, and a cast of one note characters, but the series has potential. The creative visuals, great animation, and potential for good mysteries is going to keep me coming back to this one. It's hard to recommend Hyouka, for anything but the visuals, but it is a series to keep a passing eye on.