Hyouka (TV series)

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Hyouka
Promotional art depicting the main characters. Left to right: Eru Chitanda, Satoshi Fukube, Houtarou Oreki, and Mayaka Ibara.
氷菓
GenreMystery, slice of life[1]
Anime television series
Directed by
TV Saitama, TVQ, tvk, KBS, Sun TV, GBS, Tokyo MX, MTV, BS11
English network
Original run April 22, 2012 September 16, 2012
Episodes22 + 1 OVA (List of episodes)

Hyouka (氷菓) is a Japanese anime television series based on the Classic Literature Club series written by Honobu Yonezawa. It was named after the first volume of the series, Hyouka, and made into a 22-episode televised animation series. The story follows Houtarou Oreki, a first-year high school student who meets Eru Chitanda, Satoshi Fukube, and Mayaka Ibara after joining his school's Classic Literature Club.

Hyouka was produced by Kyoto Animation, with directing by Yasuhiro Takemoto, series composition by Shoji Gatoh, and character design by Futoshi Nishiya. The opening theme played in the first half of the series was sung by ChouCho, and the opening played in the second half was sung by Saori Kodama. The ending theme of both parts of the series was sung by Satomi Satō and Ai Kayano. The main cast includes Yuichi Nakamura, playing Oreki, and Satomi Satō playing Chitanda. The story is set in Kamiyama, a fictional city based on Honobu Yonezawa's actual home city, Takayama.

The original 22 episodes were broadcast from April to September 2012. A bonus

Ustream in July 2012. A two-part Blu-ray edition was also released. Crunchyroll (then known as Funimation) licensed the series in English speaking regions. Hyouka was commended for its visual effects, and for combining the genres of mystery and slice of life
.

Synopsis

Houtarou Oreki is a high school student of Kamiyama Senior High School. He tries to follow his motto of 'If I don't have to do something, I won't, but if I have to, I'll do it quickly,' and is a believer of the so-called 'energy conservatism'. However, his plan is interrupted when his sister forces him to join the school's Classic Literature Club, which is at the risk of being disbanded. Oreki joins the club along with Eru Chitanda, Satoshi Fukube, and Mayaka Ibara.

To Houtarou's dismay, Chitanda gets in the way of his 'energy conservatism' by asking Oreki to solve problems every time her curiosity arises. One day, Eru asks Houtarou to meet at a local cafe. Chitanda informs him the reason she joined the club: her uncle, a former member of the club, went missing in India and is awaiting a funeral as he can be declared as

legally dead. She says she does not remember what her uncle said putting her in tears as a child and asks Houtarou for his help. Houtarou reluctantly agrees. After further consideration, Eru asks the other members of the club to assist in the investigation. Houtarou, with evidence given by the rest of the members, reveals Eru's uncle was expelled from the school against his will due to a school protest. He informs the club's traditional anthology
"Hyouka", is a pun: translated in English means "I Scream" (Ice cream). This pun is a warning by Chitanda's uncle, where he wanted to tell future club members to voice their opinions.

With Eru's uncle's case resolved, the club members start preparing their annual anthology, "Hyouka". However, they are interrupted by Eru's senior, Fuyumi Irisu. She asks the Classic Lit. Club, specifically Houtarou, to research the true ending of her class' (Class 2-F) independent film, whose author, Hongou, fell ill before completing the script. The two parties end up coming to an agreement the Class 2-F will come up with possible theories and evidence, while Oreki and his friends will make their own interpretation based on the theories given by Class 2-F. Houtarou comes up with the "true" ending of the story, and the movie is played successfully with positive responses. However, other members of the Club pose flaws in his theories, and as Houtarou investigates more, he discovers Irisu's true plan: Irisu never intended to find the "true" ending of the movie, but instead made a cover-up to make Houtarou the new author, since she thought Hongou's script was too boring.

Soon after, the long-anticipated cultural festival, the "Kanya Festival", begins. The Classic Lit. Club prepares to sell the anthology "Hyouka". However, due to a misprint, they end up with 200 copies, instead of 30. Thus, the club members scramble to advertise their club by participating in school events. However, the club members soon realize strange robberies occurring throughout the school. A culprit by the name of "Juumonji" appears, robbing festival supplies from different clubs, in which after always leaving behind a note. Houtarou and the club begin to investigate, and realize the robberies are taking place in alphabetical order, a mock crime of The A.B.C. Murders. Houtarou finds the culprit to be Jiro Tanabe, a member of the school's executive committee. Jiro tried to send a code to the school's Executive Committee President, Muneyoshi Kugayama, who has quit art and the project they were working on despite being talented, which angered him. Houtarou strikes a deal with Jiro to make the final event of "Juumonji" to advertise "Hyouka" in return of Houtarou keeping this fact a secret. Unfortunately, Kugayama is unable to decrypt this code and the incident is passed off as a funny prank.

Months pass and many events happen to the Oreki and his friends. In the

New Year Festival, Houtarou and Eru end up getting trapped in a wooden hut but successfully escape after sending a message to Satoshi. On Valentine's Day, a chocolate Mayaka made for Satoshi is stolen. Houtarou realizes something about Satoshi and questions him about the incident, in which Satoshi reveals he stole the chocolate due to his fear of developing strong feelings to Mayaka. Satoshi ends up calling Mayaka. As spring arrives, Eru asks Houtarou to join the Hinamatsuri, which is disturbed by a construction happening early on a bridge used in the festival. With the permission of the neighboring shrine, the route is changed and the Hinamatsuri ends successfully. Eru and Houtarou guesses a young man changed the date of the construction to get better pictures of the festival. On the way home, Eru tells Houtarou she wishes to stay in the quiet town. Houtarou tells her he would like to help with her dream, but quickly stops and says the weather is cold. Eru replies spring has already arrived, and a breeze blows through the cherry blossoms
.

Characters

Lead actor Yuichi Nakamura
Character Japanese[2] English[3] Description
Hōtarō Oreki Yuichi Nakamura Adam Gibbs "Energy conservationist" first-year high school student.[4]
Eru Chitanda Satomi Satō Madeleine Morris A member of the noble Chitanda family. Joins the Classic Lit. Club to find out about something.[4]
Mayaka Ibara Ai Kayano Jill Harris A childhood friend who was in the same class with Hōtarō from Gr. 1 to middle school graduation. Has romantic feelings for Satoshi.[4]
Satoshi Fukube Daisuke Sakaguchi Dallas Reid A close friend of Hōtarō who joins the Classic Lit. Club with him.[4]
Tomoe Oreki Satsuki Yukino Caitlin Glass Older sister of Hōtarō.
Fuyumi Irisu Yukana Alexis Tipton The driving force behind Class 2-F's movie production.
Yoko Itoigawa Mami Koyama Linda Young The school's teacher-librarian, and former member of the Classic Lit. Club.

Production

Hida Senior High School

The television anime series Hyouka was animated by Kyoto Animation. Honobu Yonezawa provided the source material, being the original author of Hyouka and the adaptation consultant for the anime.[5] Yonezawa also participated in the process of producing the animation, but as he believed that it was more important for Hyouka to be a good anime than a novel, he entrusted Shoji Gatoh and the studio for most of the work.[6] The key staff included Yasuhiro Takemoto as director, Futoshi Nishiya as the character designer, Naomi Ishida as the color designer, Shuhei Okude as the art director, Ryuuta Nakagami as the cinematographer, Hiroshi Karada for setting, Kengo Shigemura as editor, Tsuruoka Yota as audio director, and Kohei Tanaka as the music composer.[2] According to an interview with SakuraBlog, Yasuhiro Takemoto has volunteered to be the director for the series. The series' writer, Shoji Gatoh, was invited by Yasuhiro Takemoto to participate.[7]

Hyouka is set in a fictional city called Kamiyama in Gifu Prefecture. This is based on Honobu Yonezawa's actual home city, Takayama.[8] In 2018, the Anime Tourism Association included Takayama in the list of "88 sacred anime pilgrimage sites in Japan."[9]

Hyouka features several real-life locations in Takayama. The Kamiyama Senior High School, which appears in the opening and each episode, is based on Hida Senior High School. The Kajibashi bridge, which goes across the Miyagawa river, is also featured in the opening and Episode 18. The Miyagawa Morning Market Street is also featured in the opening. The Arekusujinja Shirne, featured in Episode 20 and the opening, is based on the Hiejinja shrine. Other sites include the Yaoihashi Bridge shown in the opening and Episodes 11 and 18, the Hirayu Onsen Hot Springs shown in Episode 7, the Takayama City Library (as Kamiyama City Library) in Episode 18, and the Minashi Shrine and Garyu Cherry Trees shown in Episode 22.[9]

Music

The anime features two openings and endings, each with its own theme music. The first opening theme, used for the first 11 episodes, is "Yasashisa no Riyū" (Japanese: 優しさの理由, Reason of Kindness) by ChouCho.[10] The first ending theme, used for the first 11 episodes, is the song "Madoromi no Yakusoku" (Japanese: まどろみの約束, Promise of Slumber).[11] The second opening theme used from episode 12 and onwards is "Mikansei Stride" (未完成ストライド, Unfinished Stride) which was sung by Saori Kodama. The second ending theme is "Kimi ni Matsuwaru Mystery" (Japanese: 君にまつわるミステリー, Mystery Surrounding You).[12][13] Both ending themes were sung by Satomi Satō and Ai Kayano.

Kohei Tanaka took charge of composing the music for Hyouka. Hyouka features a significant amount of classical music in its soundtrack, including Sicilienne by Fauré,[14] and Air on the G String by Johann Sebastian Bach.[15] Tanaka said in an interview that the use of classical music was requested by Honobu Yonezawa.[15]

Hyouka's four themes were published as an album. The album for the first opening theme, "Yasashisa no Riyū", was released on May 2, 2012.[16] The album for the first ending theme, "Madoromi no Yakusoku", was released on May 23, 2012.[17] The album for the second opening theme, "Mikansei Stride", was released on August 8, 2012.[18] The album for the second ending theme, "Kimi ni Matsuwaru Mystery", was released on August 22, 2012.[19]

Yasashisa no Riyuu[20]
No.TitleLength
1."Yasashisa no Riyuu (優しさの理由)"04:15
2."Komorebiiro no Kioku (木漏れ日色の記憶)"04:27
3."Aozora no Kodou (青空の鼓動)"04:17
4."Yasashisa no Riyuu (Off Vocal)"04:14
5."Komorebiiro no Kioku (Off Vocal)"04:27
6."Aozora no Kodou (Off Vocal)"04:16
Total length:25:56
Madoromi no Yakusoku[21]
No.TitleLength
1."Madoromi no Yakusoku (まどろみの約束)"04:27
2."Romance Wa Mada Hayai (ロマンスはまだ早い)"03:48
3."Madoromi no Yakusoku (Inst.)"04:27
4."Romance Wa Mada Hayai (Inst.)"03:47
Total length:16:29
Mikansei Stride[22]
No.TitleLength
1."Mikansei Stride (未完成ストライド)"04:26
2."Daisy"04:46
3."Cinema Sky (シネマスカイ)"04:29
Total length:13:21
Kimi ni Matsuwaru Mystery[23]
No.TitleLength
1."Kimi ni Matsuwaru Mystery (君にまつわるミステリー)"04:16
2."Fade In/Out (フェードin/out)"04:15
3."Kimi ni Matsuwaru Mystery (Inst.)"04:16
4."Fade In/Out (Inst.)"04:13
Total length:17:00

Episodes