Hyouka

[Elcura]

There isn't much talk about Hyouka, but I think it's honestly one of the most interesting shows this season. The summary doesn't do it much justice, but there isn't a lot in the way of continuing plot.

The episodes are random "everyday" mysteries that most people don't think twice about, but Chitanda is probably the most curious human being alive so she forces Oreki who's basically a genius to solve her everyday curiousity.

...It's a lot more interesting than it sounds I guess.



Plot Summary:

Spoiler: show

At the request of his older sister, student Hōtarō Oreki joins Kamiyama High School's Classic Literature Club to stop it from being abolished, joined by fellow members Eru Chitanda, Satoshi Fukube and Mayaka Ibara. The story is set in Kamiyama City, a fictional city in Gifu Prefecture that the author based on his real hometown of Takayama, also in Gifu. The fictional Kamiyama High School is based upon the real life Hida High School.[4]

[Vaspinne]

[Vaspinne]

The last episode aired today, it was absolutely fantastic. The mystery involved was meh, but that wasn't really the focal point of the episode, it was all about Chitanda and Oreki. The ending bothered me though, purely because I do that all too fucking often, thinking about doing or saying something, and then snapping back into reality and not going ahead with it. But regardless, loved it. Would love for another season but who knows how good the chances of that are. An OVA would be alright but it wouldn't really progress the story or relationships at all

[Steveon]

It really was a good series. I think there is quite a bit they could still explore like a possible Oreki - Fukube rivalry and of course Chitanda and Oreki's relationship. Just like Vaspinne, I would love a second season.

Elcura, do you have any other recommendations of series similar to this one? I've watched Clannad, Clannad Afterstory, Kanon '03 & '06, and others. I love this high school life/slice of life genre and you seem to watched a lot too.

[warc]

Hyouka was definitely my favorite from last season. One of the few shows I kept up with and not-so-patiently waited for on Sundays. Kyoanis gonna kyoani. Mayaka is awesome. The sherlock/christie ED is great as well. The ending wasn't really satisfying however it really was the only way to end it without doing some lame anime original ending. I had an incredibly mad kneejerk reaction to that last imagination scene, but thinking back it was alright. Seeing as there is little source material left (light novel) and the author is on pace to write an astonishing 1 book every 2 years, I don't think we'll see more any time soon.

[Elcura]

I loved it, there's of course a lot more they could do with it, but for what I got I was happy. Oreki continues to be entertaining and Chitanda is still cute as ever. Gonna miss the show, the pacing was frustrating at times but it always paid off.

As for other shows like this, Honey and Clover springs to mind, Sakamichi no Apollon is recent and amazing, Chihayafuru, 5cm Per Second is a great movie, AnoHi (the name is long as fuck, can't remember it all but googling anohi gives you the right name) is definitely worth watching. Haibane Renmei is old but good, Hanasaku Iroha, Kokoro Connect (as much as I hate what the company did, it's damn good), Usagi Drop.

There's more, but they tend to go into shoujo territory or have strong comedic/mystery elements to them, I can recommend more if you don't mind those. Also, not much with a mystery setting that doesn't have some horror/action to it.

[Steveon]

Chihayafuru, Kokoro Connect (as much as I hate what the company did, it's damn good), Usagi Drop.

There's more, but they tend to go into shoujo territory or have strong comedic/mystery elements to them, I can recommend more if you don't mind those. Also, not much with a mystery setting that doesn't have some horror/action to it.

I've watched/am watching the three quoted above and of course, they're great as well. I'll definitely look into the ones you have recommended.

And the more the better. Despite the light mystery in Hyouka, it drew me in and I was trying to figure out some of them before Oreki revealed them. So if you have ones with strong mystery elements, I'd love to see them too! And comedy is always a plus!

Thanks!

[Elcura]

I'll dig up more tomorrow, but a recent anime with a good mystery element was UN-GO. Starts a little slow, but it picks up and has great characters. Has more occult elements, but it's a good watch. Stuff like Darker than Black, Haruhi, Lupin III (Mine Fujiko), Dannou Coil, Steins;Gate and Red Garden come to mind. Most of these don't follow the school life/slice of life theme, Durarara is probably another good one to watch.

There's a lot more, but I figure if you haven't seen half of these yet you'll be good for a while.

[Steveon]

Sounds good!

Haruhi I was great, the movie was great but I'm sure we don't have to talk about Season II and Endless Eight! Darker than Black...even with two seasons and a three part OVA in between, I still wanted more!

Thanks for all the recommendations! I'll be at it for a while.

[Vaspinne]

Once you get past Endless Eight, the second season was pretty good I thought, lol. But I agree with Elcura entirely, Usagi Drop, AnoHana (That SUPER long title), Sakamichi no Apollon, Hanasaku Iroha, all great series. 5CM per Second and AnoHana will make you ball your eyes out Clannad Afterstory style. Also, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is another movie that should be a must watch based on the genre you're looking for.

Usagi Drop is just very cute and human, very heart warming to watch, and Sakamichi no Apollon has great characters with real emotions and not a lot (if any) of the forced stuff you find in animes a lot lately. Out of everything I've listed, Hanasaku Iroha is probably the weakest link, but it's still really good. And I think it's getting a movie or a second season or something, so worth checking out. Chihayafuru is getting a second season for a reason, it's amazing as I'm sure you're aware at this point in watching it.

And yeah, Steins:Gate, fucking amazing. Not the school life'esk setting, but still a great mystery/thriller/sci-fi series with a great romantic element to boot.