Hyouka – 06

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What in the world did I just watch?

It’s been a frantic day and I’m tired and all, but boy – that was about as content-free an episode of any anime as I’ve seen for a while.  I feel even better about comparing this series to “Seinfeld” a few weeks back, because the first part of this week’s Hyouka was pretty much lifted from a “Seinfeld” ep – the one where George, Kramer and Elaine figure out that they’ve never really seen Jerry get mad.  So first they try and get him mad, and then he tries to get himself mad, but when Jerry tries to act mad he just ends up being funny.

OK, bottom line – I really didn’t hate this at all, in spite of the nothingness.  Why?  Well – I suppose the main reason is that it reminded me of a few of my days in high school.  I was in the Philosophy Club, which was really a fancy way of describing a bunch of eccentric kids getting together in a classroom and talking about anything that was on our minds, while our advisor – the coolest teacher in school, Dave Hawkins – occasionally stopped by to join the conversations.  The bit with Chitanda talking about her Seven Deadly Sins theory was my favorite bit in the episode, because that’s exactly the sort of thing we’d waste time on as the clock ticked towards five o’clock.  I would have found it especially interesting if she’d gotten around to Lust, and explained why it was good in moderation (and it certainly is).

Another reason I sort of liked the ep is because the author (or the series writer, I suppose) had the good sense to wink at the audience at the end by having Houtarou say “And thus, another day of my high school life was wasted.”  You said it, Kid – that about sums it up.  It would be hard to think of a much thinner “mystery” to premise an ep on – why did the math teacher screw up, and why did Chitanda get mad?  The character stuff was mildly amusing, mostly confirming that Mayaka is hopelessly nuts for Satoshi and Houtarou is starting to get a little “too” interested in Chitanda – his slacker indifference act is starting to seem a little forced where she’s concerned. 

All of that certainly didn’t add up to much, and the visuals were only stellar rather than jaw-droppingly great.  I don’t expect to see the quality drops you normally see from other studio’s shows that start out great with a KyoAni series, and indeed we haven’t yet.  I didn’t see anything that wowed me like the first five eps, though.  I did love watching Houtarou try and thread a new lead into his shaapupenshiru, a classic bit of KyoAni braggadocio, though Chitanda’s flashback lacked the brilliance and perceptiveness of the better examples Hyouka has offered up so far. 

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[Commie] Hyouka - 06 [F6C90034].mkv_snapshot_20.44_[2012.05.27_23.31.50] [Commie] Hyouka - 06 [F6C90034].mkv_snapshot_21.09_[2012.05.27_23.32.15] [Commie] Hyouka - 06 [F6C90034].mkv_snapshot_22.38_[2012.05.27_23.33.50]
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7 comments

  1. B

    I think my favorite part of this episode is when Chitanda said that she doesn't get mad because it wastes too much energy that she'd rather focus on something else and then Houtarou started looking at her as if his mind just got completely blown. That bit was hilarious to me. But overall I reckon this was an episode that people who really like the show and characters will enjoy and those who don't will call it a complete nothing waste of time. Luckily I fall into the former category so I enjoyed it.

  2. I

    Did anyone notice that Mayaka looked like a bird about to take off while arguing and Chitanda looked like a little kid who is trying to tell her arguing parents that she needs to go to the toilet. Bit annoying.

    Thankfully I found my sweet spot in Hyouka and with almost all other Kyoani shows for me it's the main guys (No wonder I never liked K-on o). Just like with Haruhi I like seeing the guys take the ridiculous idiosyncrasies of the female cast and just live with it. It's fun to watch them react to their fairer counterparts moeblob (that ending is enough proof of what Kyoani want) actions.

    Houtarou's search for anger during that scene was funny too.

    I am now prepared for another three or so filler before the second major light mystery.

  3. K

    LOL at Chitanda getting infected by Houtarou's energy-saving disease. Houtarou looking disappointed that Chitanda was actually joking was also funny as well.

    And this is so adorable.
    http://lh4.ggpht.com/-fVFf8cl09Dk/T8MjJrmuQDI/AAAAAAABQEg/wbnkNRRkoKk/s1600-h/%25255BCommie%25255D%252520Hyouka%252520-%25252006%252520%25255BF6C90034%25255D.mkv_snapshot_10.16_%25255B2012.05.27_23.21.23%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg

  4. d

    Chitanda overrun. Its like a zombie infection. YOU CANT ESCAPE ONCE SHE GETS CLOSE!!

    I really love the seiyuus. Especially Chitanda's and Ibara's. So different from their usual voices.

  5. K

    One thing of note: This episode is NOT filler. Neither is the next episode.

    Or at least, they're canon novel fillers to beef up the character development, all taken from a series of short stories on Volume 4.

  6. d

    Short stories are always nice.
    Always nice to fill in the gaps of a story

  7. I never really thought it was filler, myself. Something can be fluff and still not be filler, be definition.

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