Hyouka - The Complete Series (Part One) Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Review

IntroductionBased on a 2001 Japanese mystery novel, Hyouka is a 22-episode anime series that ran from April 22 to September 16, 2012. It was produced by Kyoto Animation and directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto. The story primarily revolves around our main character, Hotaro Oreki, a laid-back person who doesn't like exerting much energy to do things he isn't required to do. He lives by his personal motto of, "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick." He joins the Kamiyama High School's Classic Literature Club at the request of his older sister who is worried about the club being disbanded due to a lack of members. It is here we are introduced to our main female lead, Eru Chitanda, an excitable and highly curious person who plays a direct opposite to Hotaro's life style.Together with two other members (Satoshi Fukube and Mayaka Ibara, Hotaro's middle school friends) who end up joining the Classic Literature Club they work together to solve various mysteries about the school, their club, and to appease Eru's curiosity. This Blu-Ray/DVD combo produced by Funimation covers episodes 1-11 and a later released OVA, includes your standard anime box set features: English/Japanese audio, text less opening/ending. and trailers for other Funimation titles. ReviewAs with many slice of life anime before it, the premise of Hyouka is that we follow the story of Hotaro, Eru, and the Classic Literature Club as they solve mysteries, and to that point the series does it well. It reminds me very much of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya without the sci-fi insanity. The six mysteries involved in the first 11 episodes of the series are all rooted in reality, such as the mysterious school club, the library book that ends up being returned every week, the ghost story at the inn, as a result of this, we get a very episodic series with only a couple longer story arcs, character development is the main attraction here and it does it very well. Our main character, Hotaro, enjoys the life he lives and is satisfied with sticking to his mundane, "gray" school life. He doesn't want the acclaim, adventure, or excitement that other students want and Eru's character does a great job in presenting conflict for how Hotaro wants to live.As your typical moe-type character and love interest (which is established pretty obviously within the first couple episodes of the series) she has a form of control over him where she is able to, literally, take a hold of him and reluctantly help her find answers to her curiosities.The other supporting characters help aide this main conflict along, often encouraging Hotaro to work with them to solve what they're presented with instead of sitting behind. Each of the four characters plays a crucial role in the story and the story doesn't feel like it would be better without them. I found myself wanting to see how the entire group worked through things together, and how Hotaro would eventually put the pieces together.My one main story criticism is that most of the mysteries follow the same sort of basic template. We get the initial introduction of what's going on, an investigative portion where everyone puts their heads together to solve it, and then Hotaro manifests all the clues together and solves it. No one else really gets a chance to come to a final conclusion, Hotaro is the one that really completes everything.It doesn't make the series any less enjoyable, but I would definitely like to see how the other characters might be correction in their assumptions given that they all have some sort of unique trait. Satoshi is a jack of all trades, master of none; Mayaka is impulsive, stubborn, and enjoys foreign mysteries (which would aide in figuring out some of the situations the group is presented); and Eru is highly inquisitive, curious, overly positive and hyper active, so I would absolutely love to see each of them individually find resolutions without needing Hotaro as the group's Sherlock Holmes. That being said, the first 11 episodes presented are highly enjoyable, a joy to watch, and had me guessing along with the crew.There isn't too much to be said about the included OVA, it's a side story and is your typical beach/pool episode trope that fills the fan service niche. It revolves around Hotaro taking up a summer job as a life guard at the local pool and the other characters join him to support his work, and get in some swimming action. This does lead me to one other slight criticism I have of the first half of the series, the ending theme has some of the most unnecessary fan service I have ever seen. The rest of the series really has nothing indicating any type of fan service, but the ending theme just blasts you with this psuedo-lesbian scene between Eru and Mayaka wearing frilly pajamas. It's the one real downer I have.As usual with Kyoto Animation, the series is gorgeously animated and the characters are drawn very well and don't look like your typical cut and paste characters. I especially love the scenes where Hotaro is putting everything together or Eru is pleading with Hotaro, which makes sense, these are the scenes that stand out above the rest in terms of animation quality. The backdrops are a wonder to look at and everything about the series just screams high quality. I primarily watched the series in English and the voice acting was pretty enjoyable, there were times when Eru's voice was a bit grating, but I suppose that would be within character, she is supposed to be the most excited of the group. I felt the music was perfect and the opening theme (Yasashisa no Riyuu by ChouCho) and animation are delightful. Overall Hyouka has thus far been an enjoyable slice of life mystery anime that you absolutely need to add to your list of series to watch.As I mentioned before, the blu-ray/DVD combo by Funimation contains the first 11 episodes and OVA and comes with your typical features. There's nothing super special about this, but it is the officials US release of the series so if you are thinking of indulging in the series, or you want to add it to your collection, absolutely pick it up.Final ThoughtsHyouka is definitely one of the better slice of life anime that has come out, the first half presents a really enjoyable story with great characters that had me definitely wanting to come back for more. Beautifully animated with a great sound track, if you enjoy this type of series you need to see it. If you don't, it's still worth giving a shot. Kyoto Animation did a fantastic job in bringing this series to life and I enjoy the job Funimation did bringing it to the US. The voice acting is pretty on point and overall the series isn't something that should be missed. You can pick up the first half of the series on Funimation's website here. [yasr_multiset setid=3]