Hyouka 19 – 20

To think that Houtarou actually considered doing this…

Sorry for the long wait! I’m back from vacation, and wow, is it tiring! I managed to get spoiled from Tumblr, and though I was prepared to skip Hyouka 19, I just had to cover it along with 20. I will be skipping Joshiraku 7 because of this (or maybe drop the anime since it’s very random and rather difficult to write about – sorry!) and I’ll keep in mind to only cover one anime at a time for the next season. Without further ado, let’s see what the Classic’s Club is up to now!

Hyouka 19

Sadly, this episode wasn’t much in terms of content or dynamism. In fact, there was really nothing but dialogue and no scene changes – just Houtarou and Chitanda talking out a mystery. Granted, it was just a game that Houtarou wanted to play to prove to Chitanda that he wasn’t the genius detective she thought he was, but eventually both of them forgot that they were playing the game in the first place. There really is no sign of Satoshi or Mayaka anywhere in the club room and it’s almost like they’ve ceased existing for one episode. Imagine a Hyouka without them!

The mystery in the episode – trying to figure out a theory as to why a student was called to the office – didn’t seem much like a mystery to me at all, so it’s very likely that to most viewers, it ends up becoming Houtarou’s reasoning stretched to thirty minutes, with some added Chitanda-moe. Though I’m faithful to the series, a winded and wordy episode right after a great arc is sure to be disappointing and rather boring for some viewers.

Hey, at least we get some Houtarou x Chitanda action.

(Rating: 6.75/10)

Hyouka 20

The awaited New Years’ (aka. Chitanda and Mayaka in cute kimonos!) episode is here! Though I was rather happy to see Mayaka make an appearance as a shrine maid, and Satoshi end up saving Houtarou and Chitanda in the end, the episode still revolved around our main pair. It was quite refreshing to see the mystery to be something that the characters were actually involved in and not just something out of a Sherlockian story.

One thing that hasn’t been brought up until now is Chitanda’s economic status/wealth. Though the contrast between her and Houtarou was always different, this episode addresses the fact plainly. Chitanda doesn’t want to be caught in the shed with Houtarou because it would ruin her family’s reputation, the way she acts with the other shrine maid in her class, even though we’ve seen how big her house is and how her senses are different than those of the other protagonists, it doesn’t truly hit home until now.

(Rating: 8.5/10)

I’m so sorry for the long wait and the shortness of the post! I promise next week, I’ll come back with the usual review!