HELLO, bored people how are you doing? I hope you all are doing great even though the situation is not good. Always put your double masks on if you go outside and wash your hand more often. Let’s hope that this pandemic is over soon, and we can do anything we wanted to. Anyway, when my phone is broken, I was so bored because I have nothing to do. So, I decided to re-watch Hyouka- my all-time favorite anime again. I understand and know that some people say this anime is boring, the plot is so slow, it makes them fall asleep, etc. But, for me, this anime has a special spot on me. I just feel warm to watch this anime. I feel like I am pulled back to the time where I spent my youth, high school. In a sense, I feel like this anime represents my youth nicely.
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| Satoshi, Oreki, Chitanda, Ibara |
Hyouka (氷菓, literal: ice cream) is a 22 episodes anime produced by Kyoto Animation. Hyouka is originally a 2001 Japanese mystery novel written by Honobu Yonezawa that is animated in 2014. Spoken in simple words, there are four main characters in the anime. The first one is Oreki Hotarou, an ordinary student in the 1-B class but has a talent- which he calls ‘luck’- to solve problems. He has a simple man motto, ‘if you don’t have to do it, don’t do it. If you have to do it, then make it quick.’ The motto portraits him perfectly as a guy who does not want to be bothered until he is forced by his sister to join a classic literature club that is in danger of disbanding because it has no member. In this club, he meets an always-curious girl named Chitanda Eru. Chitanda is a smart girl from a rich farmer family. She wants to join the classic literature club for a personal reason. She is always curious about the things that happened around her and always asks Oreki to solve them. There is also Satoshi Fukube, Oreki’s male friend since middle school that has 180 degrees different personality with Oreki. He is cheerful, it seems like he is always happy with what has he done. Satoshi calls himself a database that is not able to result in a conclusion; he gathers so much information in him. The last one is Ibara Mayaka. Mayaka is a smart-but-temperament girl. She is also Oreki’s middle school friend with Satoshi. Mayaka likes Satoshi since middle school, but Satoshi has never answered her feeling toward him.
Hyouka’s story actually is quite simple, there are problems, and they are going to solve them. But what makes it interesting (for me) is the simplicity itself. There are unsolved mysteries that make you curious, but it is not confused you like other mystery stories. They put small details nicely so that when a mystery is solved, you’ll realize how the small details help them to build a resolution. In general, Hyouka is divided into 4 main parts: ‘The niece of time’, ‘Why didn’t she ask EBA?’, ‘The Kudryavka sequence’, and ‘Little birds can remember’. Each part has its own problem that is interesting to watch, has new characters so that you will not get bored. In ‘The niece of time’, the classic literature club solve a mystery about the history of the Kanya Festival and its relationship with Chitanda’s uncle. In ‘Why didn’t she ask EBA?’, they solve a problem to find an ending and a title of an unfinished mystery movie. Then, in ‘The Kudryavka sequence’, they solve a mystery of a thief that steals things from some clubs in their high school when the Kanya Festival is going on. Lastly, ‘Little birds can remember' is a collection of their stories to solve daily mysteries. Anyway, since I am an amateur, I will not talk about the story too much LOL. Let’s jump to my favorite part of this anime, the visual. I like how the animators set the visual for Hyouka. It feels like I am a part of the situation. How the draw spring, summer, falls, and winter is just sooo good.
I also like the first
opening of this anime; Yasashisa No Riyuu by Choucho. I never skip a beat when
I watch to the opening song. For a personal reason, there is a part on the
lyrics that I like the most because a person that I like the most likes that
part the most (LOL?). It is the ending part that can be translated as ‘I will
find you before you became my history.’ I think that part has a deep meaning to
find someone meaningful from us before they are gone as a history. Anyway, I
also like the comedy in this anime. Although the comedy scenes can be counted
with fingers, they are so hilarious and make me laugh really hard. Moreover,
when Oreki starts curious, Satoshi and Mayaka treat him like he is possessed by
someone else LOL. When it comes to the romance scenes, they also can be counted easily. If you
do not like romance that much, you will like Hyouka, I guarantee.
For many people, Hyouka is
only a 22-episodes-shows-that-makes-you-sleep anime. But, for people like me,
Hyouka is a masterpiece that I feel thankful for its existence. I feel the warmth
of friendship, can feel the youthful energy of the high school. When Oreki said “Will am I disappointed to spend my high school like this (the boring life he believes
the best life)?”, it makes me remember about my high school moment; did I spend
it enough with happiness with my friends? Then I realize that I spent it
happily with my (OSIS) friends. Hyouka is indeed a warm anime I never get bored
of. I have watched it like three times, and I will never be enough. If you want to
watch it, it is available in Muse Asia for English subtitles or Muse Indonesia
for Indonesia subtitles legally for free! Go watch it and I can’t wait for your
thoughts about this movie.
I think that’s all for my
amateur review of my all-time favorite anime, Hyouka. Thank you for reading
this blog and see you again on the next post. Don’t forget to wash your hands
and wear double masks if you go outside. Stay healthy and hydrated, bye~!