Hyouka – 07
Convenient censoring is convenient.
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There’s nothing to report today really (thanks for your support in the Aniblog Tourney!!!). Anyways, this week Hyouka continues doing what it does with little to no regard to what other series have done before. Oh Hyouka, you mild mannered rebel, you. |
Setup
So this week on Hyouka, the club goes off to the mountains or somewhere/ onsen as Eru’s way of thanking them for solving the case of her uncle. There, they stay with some of Mayaka’s conveniently located family (even more conveniently, they also happen to own an inn. SUPER conveniently, the inn is going under renovations so there are no other customers) and meet some of her family members. Namely, her younger cousins. Later, the group tells ghost stories and just like pretty much every inn ever in anime, this one has a story about someone dying in it. Apparently some guy hung himself a room and so people got superstitious in the room (plus there’s a rumour that someone else died in the room because of that). Obviously that’s not a very good way to attack business, so the family built another wing. The ‘haunted’ part of the building is closed off due to the renovations. Did I mention how convenient this whole setup is?
This plot setup also involves mild amounts of bromance and nudity
The Mystery
Dead body? Check. NOW it’s a mystery anime.
Mayaka claims to have seen the ghost hanging at night. Normally this wouldn’t really mean anything, but Eru saw it too, so now she’s curious. Oreki takes the case, but unlike most Hyouka episodes, this one has clues spread out evenly throughout the episode. I was pretty impressed about that since it made the episode more engaging and gave you pieces to a puzzle before you even realized that there was a puzzle to be solved. (…Who am I kidding, it’s Hyouka. There’s always something that needs to be solved.) Anyways, as far as the actual solution behind the mystery, it wasn’t as exciting as the mystery made it seem, but’s that’s the beauty of Hyouka. It can turn something extremely out there and make it simple and realistic. The clues were all there, Houtarou just needed to fit them together. I feel bad for the younger sister never having to do that because her older sister is possessive, but I like how they ended the episode on that happy note with the two of them getting along. This episode was just an extremely abridged example of the ups and downs of siblings…. With a ghost (not really) mystery thrown in there.
Oh god, they’re both curious. HOUTAROU, RUN FOR YOUR SANITY. RUN!!!
End Thoughts:
It was nice to see different scenery rather then the classroom this episode. As expected, KyoAni’s attention to detail is great when it came to the atmosphere of the place. I’m impressed that they managed to give it the same laid back feel as the school. Normally you’d think that a story about high school students on a trip would be filled with excitement (…or at least as much excitement as Houtarou is capable of) and activity. Instead, it felt more like watching people take a trip to visit their relatives in the countryside where the population of the town is 1000. (…Though to be fair, visiting relatives was partially what Mayaka was doing). The atmosphere of this episode was relaxed, quaint and comfortable. It was actually pretty enjoyable and calming to watch. Though they broke right out of that when they needed to. That ghost story scene was wonderfully animated.
… Those conveniently censored parts were very distracting though. I didn’t think KyoAni had that kind of thing in them. Naked girls? Sure, I would expect that. Showing mostly the guy’s side of the hot springs for once was a weird shift. It was almost classier in a way considering that the ED to this is pretty fanservice filled. Hell, there weren’t any peeking attempts OR girls trying to molest each other/ commenting on each others bust sizes. This episode actually had a plot. I think I’m so used to anime cliches that it feels weird to watch something like this. It is nice to see them breaking out of the cliches (and bonus points to them for not being obnoxious about the fact that they’re breaking cliches).
So as for the story portion, I think this was one of the better episodes for me (and no, not because of the surprise nudity). It was levels above what happened last episode in terms of excitement and the mystery actually had clues this time. There was a lot this episode the foretold the answer to the mystery at the end. Not that I could have guessed at the solution by myself, but it was easier to follow then some of the things Hyouka has thrown at us before. The clues to the mystery of Eru’s uncle were all given directly to us by the club and really, the other mysteries have been too short to need multiple subtle clues for them to be solved.
As far as the characters show, it appears that Houtarou is getting more and more interested in Eru. Hell, he barely even put up a protest when she wanted to know about the mystery of the hanging man she saw. He’s slowly and subtly getting used to her constant demands. It was really clear too from that scene where the two were walking to the baths that he’s more comfortable around her now. It’s been great so far how they’ve eased him into accepting Eru over a period of time since the first episode, all he wanted to do was get away from her. The same goes for Mayaka being less… thorny. I don’t know if it was just because she was around her family or what, but she seems to be getting along more with Houtarou now. Her amusing sarcasm is still there, but she’s not attacking him outright like she used to. So the characters keep developing here (as they tend to do in pretty much every anime), but here it seems more… natural somehow. Maybe it’s the slower pacing of the show or something else, but it’s rare (minus the first few episodes and a few times where the animators CLEARLY want you to notice something) that anything you learn about the characters seems forced.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Tch ¬¬ I didn’t think Houtarou was such a perv. You perv! He almost died just thinking about Eru’s chest! JUST THINKING!!! If Hyouka was a cliche anime, then he would be dead already.
I liked the mystery on this episode overall, but the only thing I didn’t like was how they highlighted all the clues that while I was watching this episode I was thinking “It might be a clue about something.” After all, why show every pair of objects with names written on it if it isn’t a clue?
OMG, Double Kininarimasu ><' I might die if Eru and Mayaka do it again.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
No kidding. I didn’t even think it was possible for Houtarou’s mind to go in that direction. You’d think that thinking perv thought would be too much effort for him or something. …Then again, it really could have just been heat stroke. Unless Houtarou was thinking about that for a reeeeeally long time, I have doubt that Satoshi could have moved that far away.
The clues did seem rather… obvious. Though then again, how else are we supposed to know that Houtarou has observed things? Personally, I was trying too hard to figure out wtf it all meant to be concerned with how obvious the clues were. Ahaha
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think they’ve really hit the right balance with the mysteries on this show. It’s really great that they’re not supernatural or fantastic, just out of the ordinary.
The feel and pacing of the shows so far has been tremendous. I was *just* starting to get a little antsy from impending boredom during this episode when they were focusing on Houtarou lying around by himself, but they got away from that pretty quickly after I thought that. In general, the show has me riveted. And I try not to play Blue’s Clues with it and just wait for the reveal, although in this one I was wondering if they were going to go supernatural like “Koya isn’t really there!” showing all the toys and stuff with only one name.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I think my new favourite thing about this show will be to see how they can explain the unexplainable by making it realistic.
I was wondering if they’d make this supernatural as well, but I think I enjoyed it more because Houtarou had a logical explanation for it. These types of stories just catch my attention more. I agree that this one had me riveted too, though I don’t think I would have died from boredom or anything if they hadn’t started the mystery part. I may complain before or after about the pacing of this series, but while watching, Hyouka just completely draws me in.
…I am totally guilty of trying to figure out the solution before the reveal. I can’t help it ><;
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I am exactly the same way about being drawn in. I was thinking during episode 5 with the teacher that I was almost on the edge of my seat looking at the screen, that I can’t look away, the show is so engaging.
With the “Blue’s Clues” line I was meaning more like thinking “A clue! A clue!”, not about trying to figure it out beforehand. I totally try to figure out the mystery (and fail).
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yeah, I normally stop an episode 5 times when I’m watching to check on other things. With Hyouka, I just… can’t. 24 minutes go by before I even realize it.
Ohh okay. Ahaha I can’t help myself with that line of thinking either. If I’m going to preemptively solve the mystery, I need all of the pieces xD …I fail too.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’m glad they’ve taken things further by adding a little change of scenery and more intriguing mysteries. After all, distant, rural countrysides (Shiki) or decrepit, near abandoned buildings (Tasogare Otome x Amnesia) make the best atmosphere for mysteries.
Houtarou is the Sherlock Holmes of anime the way he pieces everything together in a short amount of time while mostly not being in the same place as everyone else.
His perverted side is beginning to show. Passing out in the hot springs after fantasizing about Chitanda is more than enough proof. I assume he just thought about Chitanda naked and passed out because due to his previous energy saving lifestyle, his lazy brain isn’t used to sexual stimulation. They’ll eventually become a couple. There’s no doubt in my mind.
This episode sure had a lot of convenient censoring which was surprising in a show like this. If it was just for the fanservice, I bet it would attract a lot of fanservice whores by a single hint of it.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’ve been trying to come up with a comparison for the ‘level’ of mystery that they are encountering. It seems “Sherlock Holmes” is a little too grandiose for the show, but the only other things I can think of are “Scooby Doo” and “Encyclopedia Brown”, and those two seem too far the other way.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Hmm… yeah, I don’t think this is quite on the same level as Sherlock since these people aren’t doing anything important and Scooby Doo seems a bit too juvenile to compare this to. … I’d say it rests somewhere in the middle. It would be closer to Sherlock if they were solving huge cases, but then I think it would lose a lot of it’s charm.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I still think the “mystery” thing is way oversold. And it was a mistake to market it as such. Saying that, I cannot think of an alternate way to sell the show, so to speak.
Insightful teen proves that incomplete thinking solves nothing?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
The change of scenery was great xD I have a secret love for backgrounds.
Hmmm yeah, his deductive reasoning is impressive. Though I think he’s currently too lazy to do much with it other then at Eru’s request ahahaha
Ahaha I took that as a sign of him being more interested in her. Yeah, the couple vibe from them is unmistakable. Hell, she totally treats him differently from the rest of the club. It might have started just because he’s the guy who can answer pretty much anything, but it’s becoming more comfortable then that. I don’t think I have to fear the storyline making Houtarou push her away.
No kidding. Especially since it was convenient consoling with male characters. Normally any censoring at all comes from female characters.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 243 comments
That was definitely a huge improvement over last week’s snorefest. I compliment KyoAni on their surprisingly (particularly considering this show’s uber-awkward skip-bait ED) classy and equal-opportunities fanservice.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
This mystery was levels above having them figure out a math teacher’s motives. …I was surprised at it too. Hopefully they keep doing stuff like that in the future. It wasn’t even aware that male bathing scenes COULD exist without an equal or greater amount of female fan service beforehand.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I liked me some manservice~
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Heheh, ’twas great.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Speaking as a fella, I am proud of the manservice. Equal opportunity, right? I’m surprised, that for a lazy fellow, Oreki has some def…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Not that that’s particularly what I’m looking for (not that there’s anything wrong with it if you ARE looking for that), I think it’d be great to get rid of double standards about nudity vis-a-vis girls and guys.
And yeah, where did
lazyenergy-conserving Oreki get that defined front and back?POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Why do I feel let down over the censoring of Oreki’s gear?! Is it my general hatred of all censoring in general?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…I think it’s safer just to assume that you hate censorship in general.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
After all the oppai we’ve had over the years, I think the Bishop and the Two Choir Boys would be a welcome change.