Hyouka Doujinshi and Comics
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 original video animation was streamed via Ustream in July 2012. A two-part Blu-ray edition was also released. Funimation licensed the series in North America, and following the acquisition of Crunchyroll by Sony, the series was moved to Crunchyroll. When released, Hyouka was commended for its high-quality visual effects. It received positive commentary for being able to combine the genres of mystery and slice of life.
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 somewhat disturbed 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 then reveals 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 will soon be considered legally dead. She then says that she does not remember what her uncle said that put her in tears as a child, and asks Houtarou for his help. Houtarou reluctantly agrees. Other members catch wind of this story, and help out in the investigation. Houtarou, with evidence given by the rest of the members, reveals that Eru's uncle was expelled from the school against his will due to a school protest. He also reveals that the club's traditional anthology "Hyouka", is a pun: when it is translated into English it actually reads "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 starts preparing their annual anthology, "Hyouka". However, they are interrupted by Eru's senior, Fuyumi Irisu. She asks the Classic Lit. Club, specifically Houtarou, to find 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 that 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 that 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 that 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 that 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 that a young man changed the date of the construction to get better pictures of the festival. On the way home, Eru tells Houtarou that she wishes to stay in the quiet town. Houtarou tells her that he would like to help with her dream, but quickly stops and says the weather is cold. Eru replies that spring has already arrived, and a breeze blows through the cherry blossoms.