I could post a shitloads of tl;dr to refute that, but I think I'll just stick with one line

Depends on how you see it. Hyouka was misleading in a way that it made people thought that the show was about mystery. It's not. It's actually a slice of life that uses mystery to flesh out it's characters. Honestly all the mystery was quite lame, except for the origin of Hyouka. But it's why the mystery happen that makes it good. Anguish, jealousy, anger, manipulation, timidness, everything is based upon a logical human flaw. And KyoAni's way of using subtleness to show these works. Most scenes are brilliantly thought of, and you might miss some clues that alludes to a bigger picture the first time you watch it.

The last arc meanwhile was to expand the characters of both Oreki and Eru, and to hint on their everyday relationship that is not mentioned in the previous chapters (or episodes). It was also to show how both have grown, Eru, from an eccentric, curious, sheltered single child grew up to be a mature girl that understood her future, and Oreki who wants to maintain a grey coloured life, finally embraced a rose coloured one. Every interactions they made, people they met, actions they have taken leads to this end

Talking about the end, it was nicely done, staying true to the novel. They could have used an anime exclusive end that would have been a better choice in terms of the viewers, but that would actually disrespectful the the characters and their development, so they stuck with what Honobu has written. Throughout the show, it was shown that Oreki would digest all information that is given to him which will lead him to a solution befitting the problem (or mystery) that he has. In that last scene, the solution Oreki had from the information that Eru was giving him was to stay by her side, but it conflicted with his old lifestyle, hence why he never said it out loud. But he knew that it was the best solution for the both of their future. Eru ending the episode with "It's already spring" was quite subtle, and yet implied heavily of their future development. Their relationship is just starting. That rose coloured scene, the wind that suddenly blew and showed Oreki the beauty of the place, and that knowing smile at the end for me speaks volumes and is worth much more than an uttered line.


Should have used this


This post has been edited by linkinstreet: Sep 22 2012, 03:22 PM

I never said the detective work was lame. I only say the mystery was. In fact I liked how Honobu based Oreki upon Christie's Miss Marple who uses her wit instead of her brawn (a-la American 'detectives') to solve cases. And it was never insignificant. As I said, every interactions lead to something. 'Why Didn't They Ask Eba?' as it's name implied was quite easy to solve. Why DIDN'T anybody asked Eba or her best friend? But if they did, would we have seen that manipulation of Irisu, or the realisation of Oreki that he was used? Hence why I said, the mystery was quite lame, but WHY it happens is good.
Well Houtaro IS a normal guy, why won't he blush in front of an attractive girl? And Eru's confession was not vague IMO. Eru is not simply saying "I like you". She shows her life to Oreki, how she lives, the expectations on her, the duty she has to fulfil, and the future that she has to strive for. She is basically stripped naked to him and says to him "this is who I am, and what I would be tied to". She trust him well enough to understand that. And let's not forget, they have spent most of the year together everyday in the clubroom, mostly sans Satoshi or Mayaka who have their own club, to get to know each other better (as alluded by some episodes). And it was never the romance that pulls Oreki to change the way his life, it was all the experiences throughout the year, but mostly it was Eru who dragged him into it, and hence she's one of the main reason of his change. Love is just the byproduct of it.
Indeed, to each his own

nope. Nobody said that. KyoAni kept true to the novel for people like you