[WT!] Hyouka - A Slice of Life Mystery

MAL | PVTitle: Hyouka: You Can't EscapeStudio: Kyoto AnimationGenre: Mystery, School, Slice of LifeSource Material: Light NovelVideo ReviewI'll go out and say that I'm making this WT! thread half because I enjoyed Hyouka and half because I created a video review as a project.The video review is much more concise and to the point (being 4 minutes), as well as being spoiler free.For those of you interested: Video reviewAnd off to the written review we go!IntroOreki Houtarou, a minimalistic high school freshman is forced to revive the Classic Literature Club at his sister's request.Oreki, a boy who states proudly that "I don't do anything I don't have to. What I have to do, I do quickly." is immediately pulled into an excited world shaded "pink" rather than the "grey world" he prefers, by his club mates.StrengthsKyoto Animation, the producer of Hyouka, is known today for their superb animation. Hyouka is an early example of this. Aired in the spring of 2012, Hyouka is still in my opinion one of the best animated shows I have seen. The animators who produced Hyouka paid extreme attention to the show's background environment when animating this show, resulting in a realistic feel from the constant flow of detail in the backgrounds. In addition, the animation quality maintained its high quality throughout the whole 22 episodes. This by itself is commendable.The soundtrack of Hyouka fit the bill perfectly. The calming melodies (especially the classical music) played throughout the series set the mood perfectly for a relaxing and curiosity piquing show.The characters worked perfectly in both the context of mystery and slice of life. In matter of mystery, the main characters each had their own role to trigger a mystery arc: Chitanda instigates the mystery, Satoshi provides information, and Oreki solves. In context of slice of life, every character is lovable in their own way and how they react with each other is entertaining, whether it be solving why a door was locked or competing in a cook-off, they were fun to watch.WeaknessesLike all slice of life that is not marked as a "comedy" Hyouka may come across to some as boring. Rightly so, as most of the enjoyment of Hyouka comes from character interactions.Some of the reactions dialogue are over-dramatized, (examples are like when everyone treats Oreki like a genius when he solves something slightly obscure), which may turn off some viewers.Mayaka doesn't really serve a purpose other than to tell off Oreki a lot and prevent a love triangle between Chitanda, Oreki, and Satoshi from happening. Furthermore, she only gets sufficient screentime towards the end of the show, which may be a bit frustrating for some viewers who view Mayaka as a brick wall.Final WordsHyouka was unique to me. It was a slice of life mystery, which I had never even heard of before. At first I was hesitant because it didn't seem like the right combo, but boy was I wrong.If you're a fan of SoLs and are not bothered by a lack of excitement in a show, I have to say to you:Watch this! http://ift.tt/23QETkK