With the over-the-top cooking competition over, you might think Hyouka would tune its energy level down to something approaching the regular level. Well, Hyouka is going to have none of that – this fifteenth episode is just as self-consciously dramatic as anything else the show has done, exploding with dynamic poses and wild angles and unexpected fantasies. With the show focus expanding far beyond Oreki, the storytelling moves outside of his monotone affectation as well, expressing the worlds of Chitanda, Mayaka, and Satoshi in their own brilliant purples and oranges and greys. It’s an affectation fitting for this arc’s new focus – with the thief Juumoji now having declared his intentions and laid out his modus operandi, Hyouka is turning towards its first self-conscious, overtly fiendish, catch-me-if-you-can mystery caper. Magic acts and phantom thieves and heated negotiations form the narrative bulwarks of an episode packed with more drama than the show’s ever seen.
Tag Archives: Hyouka
Hyouka – Episode 14
Hyouka’s fourteenth episode opens with a set of slow, silent establishing shots, evoking all the hushed solemnity of a funeral. The first line tells us the reason for this framing, as Mayaka’s “I couldn’t find it” is contrasted against the disappointed faces of her underclassmen. Blinding morning light from outside casts the manga society in unnaturally gloomy shadows, and Mayaka’s face is deliberately hidden for two shots before she becomes visible only when she prostrates herself before her classmate. Close, shakey-cam, bokeh-heavy shots of the victorious party are followed by a transition to Kouchi’s feet, sticking us directly in Mayaka’s position. But surprisingly, Kouchi doesn’t rub her victory in Mayaka’s face. Instead, she simply drops the issue, telling Mayaka to get started on the posters with an “is that all?” tone. And then Mayaka realizes her supposed enemy remembered the manga title.
Hyouka – Episode 13
The festival is in full swing now, and each member of the Classics Club have their own giants to slay. With Chitanda on site procurement, Satoshi on promotion, Oreki on sales, and Mayaka dealing with her own manga club troubles, episode thirteen bounces back and forth across characters, portraying the individual dramas of each member across the course of the festival’s entire first day. But that doesn’t mean I have to bounce around. The episode’s structure is intelligent; by shifting continuously between characters, it keeps tension high, builds meta-narratives across multiple individual conflicts, and even results in cute scene transitions like Satoshi’s thoughts about Oreki leading to Oreki being up to no good. But I’m going to disregard all of that effort and take this character by character, starting right where the episode does, at Satoshi’s much-anticipated quiz competition.
Hyouka – Episode 12
Well, it’s finally arrived. Hyouka’s first arc was in truth about Chitanda’s uncle, but its impetus was the creation of a club magazine for the cultural festival. The second movie arc took place over summer vacation, and concerned getting a different club’s project ready for the festival. And now, at the beginning of Hyouka’s second half, the stage is finally set for the show’s third and most ambitious arc, the festival itself.
Winter 2016 – Week 2 in Review
And with preview week firmly in the past, it’s time to return to our scheduled week in review. So far, this season is actually turning out better than I’d hoped – I didn’t really expect most of the shows in my own preview post to actually end up doing well, and having two legitimately excellent shows in a season is basically all I can hope for from any season. Between Erased and Genroku Rakugo, we’re already there – both of those shows impressed with strong premieres and followed through with consistent second episodes. And even beyond the highlights, there’s a reasonable crop of middle-tier shows as well, depending on your own genre tastes. The season is strong enough that I’m currently deciding to be truly ruthless, and cut off both Utawarerumono and Iron-Blooded Orphans until I feel compelled either personally or through general fan noise to pick them back up again. There are too many good shows in the world to waste time watching things I’m not enjoying.
Hyouka – Episode 11.5
The dog days of summer have arrived, and Hyouka wants you to know it. Establishing shots of the dry heat outdoors, the valiant struggle of a standing fan, and Oreki’s sun-crushed condition set the tone as those inescapable cicadas and Oreki’s classic “letter to his sister” song vividly create the sense of a vacation nearing its end. Days like this aren’t meant for solving mysteries – they’re meant for going to the pool or the beach, relaxing and spending time with friends. Classic OVA activities! Unfortunately, Oreki is in the mood for none of that – his usual laziness has been compounded by his recent identity crisis (this OVA actually was streamed between the airing of episodes 11 and 12, making it somewhat uniquely chronology-friendly), and now he just wants to sit around and be a lump.
Hyouka – Episode 11
Irisu changed something for Oreki last episode. The whole show had been moving towards his acceptance of his own talents, through Satoshi’s jokes, Mayaka’s frustration, Chitanda’s gentle prodding. When Oreki claimed he was just lucky, they’d each accept this in their own ways without truly believing it. And it’s very likely Oreki didn’t believe it himself, and was simply saying the thing that was convenient, the path of fewest consequences. But Irisu insistently told him he was special, and for once, Oreki seemed willing to accept that weight. Being special means you’re responsible – being special means you can find the truth. Oreki was ready to be special, and by the end of the last episode, it seemed like he was even beginning to like the taste of it.
Well, it turns out Oreki isn’t that special after all.
Hyouka – Episode 10
Hyouka’s tenth episode opens with one more of those classic sequences where the framing tells two-thirds of the story, in a way you can viscerally feel even if you’re not looking out for it. The intent is to put you in a character’s headspace – Oreki’s, as usual. But this sequence isn’t designed to visually evoke his intimacy with Chitanda, or discomfort embracing the rose-colored life he consistently approaches. This sequence is about establishing How Freaking Scary Irisu Fuyumi Is.
We open with long shots down a well-to-do neighborhood and across a lengthy teahouse, shots that serve a duel purpose here. First, they establish this place as intimidating purely through its class and wealth; second, they create an initial assumption of open space, one that is swiftly countered as we switch to Oreki and Irisu. Our first shots of their meeting focus on Oreki’s intimate, uncomfortable body language, and then we see the small room they actually inhabit. Oreki is visually and emotionally cornered here by a much stronger predator, one who, unlike Chitanda, seems perfectly comfortable using her wealth as an extension of her own power. Extremely brief shots of Irisu from straight-on seem to imply that Oreki has difficulty making eye contact, and closeups emphasize how imposing her presence is. It is only when Oreki is able to establish his issues with each of the three detective theories that some semblance of equality is established.
Hyouka – Episode 9
Hyouka’s eighth episode pulled all sorts of meta visual tricks, using the context of an in-show movie in order to play with character acting and shot framing in a variety of interesting ways. Through its awkward direction and oddly remarkable animation, it pulled off techniques anime normally doesn’t use for very good reasons, in order to make intentionally bad staging decisions. The episode’s middle act was essentially a self-aware interrogation of the nature of visual storytelling; and so it seems only appropriate that the following episode is entirely focused on narrative storytelling, and how our relationship with a theoretical author dictates everything stories could possibly mean.
Hyouka – Episode 8
Hyouka returned to the school this week, to begin the second major arc of the series. The first third of this episode is a long, slow buildup to a new character reveal, one that begins before the opening, in one of the show’s most weirdly dramatic sequences yet. Text messages and chat window conversations speak of crisis and desperation as the camera very deliberately avoids giving us a clear view of the typist. Quick shots and zooms that crop all but the text create a sense of urgency, anxiety, and entrapment. The overall effect puts the audience off-kilter and in a position where they naturally distrust the typist… and then another participant joins the chat, and it’s clear even through text that this is Chitanda. The gang’s getting roped into another mystery, and it seems likely their patron is actively withholding information.