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REVIEW: HYOUKA BD+DVD Part One


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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5294
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 10:30 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Adam Gibbs' somewhat less lethargic Oreki often feels mismatched against the character's expressions,
Are you kidding me, Adam Gibbs, who it is nice to see in a Funimation dub, is the most lethargic English Dub voice actor I've ever heard.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 10:55 am Reply with quote
MarshalBanana wrote:
Quote:
Adam Gibbs' somewhat less lethargic Oreki often feels mismatched against the character's expressions,
Are you kidding me, Adam Gibbs, who it is nice to see in a Funimation dub, is the most lethargic English Dub voice actor I've ever heard.


Honestly, that is why I was pleased by that casting choice. His natural delivery fits lethargic or apathetic characters.


I enjoyed Hyouka quite a bit. The mysteries were definitely low-stakes, and that is one of the things that drew me into it. It's nice to see someone tell a mystery story without relying on murder for a change.
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Merxamers



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:29 am Reply with quote
The description and review of this show make it sound a bit like the SNAFU anime, which i enjoyed a lot. My interest is piqued, but i'll probably watch it on Crunchyroll before buying the bluray
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:30 am Reply with quote
I bought the BD based on the strength of the first episode alone and I don't feel like I got my money's worth. Not so much swindled as... I can't think of a different than swindled. "We offer to you, the viewer, a keen eye on the world, how magic can be found in the mundane and the fantastic lurks behind every corner... now let's deconstruct some mysteries!"

It looks nice... it's Kyoto Animation, that's a given these days... but the subject matter just doesn't matter all that much. I'm stuck on the series after finishing Part 2's "Student Cultural Festival/let's ironically butcher the ABC Murders" overlong multi-episode plot.

Would this work better if I was less familiar with the nature of mysteries?
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BodaciousSpacePirate
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Joined: 17 Apr 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:46 pm Reply with quote
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The show's ending song is the show's only significant black mark—not for the song itself, but because the accompanying animation emphasizes a kind of tasteless fanservice that the rest of the show avoids.


It's always reminded me of the Strawberry Panic lolita girl ending themes, although those were even more jarring because they were live action.

Animegomaniac wrote:
It looks nice... it's Kyoto Animation, that's a given these days...


It's worth noting that this show came out five years ago, before people really took Kyoto Animation's production values as a given. From what I remember, a lot of people still thought of KyoAni as the "sad moe girls lying the snow" studio, rather than the "high production value" studio.

Merxamers wrote:
The description and review of this show make it sound a bit like the SNAFU anime, which i enjoyed a lot. My interest is piqued, but i'll probably watch it on Crunchyroll before buying the bluray


I think Hyouka compares very favorably to the SNAFU anime, although it almost completely eschews SNAFU's harem elements in favor of pairing the male lead with the female lead and the male supporting character with the female supporting character.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:19 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The show's ending song is the show's only significant black mark—not for the song itself, but because the accompanying animation emphasizes a kind of tasteless fanservice that the rest of the show avoids.

I never quite understood this. They roll around on the bed a bit but it never seemed tasteless to me. I'd consider it tasteful even considering how much it plays on the lyrics of the ending theme itself with its constant astronomy related metaphors. It's certainly no worse than the scene of Chitanda bathing in the onsen which I'm pretty sure is from the first half of the series. That showed a lot more skin than the legs and belly from the ending theme.

Quote:
Would this work better if I was less familiar with the nature of mysteries?

If you watch Hyouka for the mysteries then you're likely not going to enjoy it. It's not a mystery anime. The mysteries only serve to bring the characters together. If it weren't for the mystery of the locked door, of Chitanda's grandfather's mysterious message, or even the math teacher's look of forlorn gloom then the characters would not have interacted. Hyouka is first and foremost about its characters and this is made all the more apparent in the second half.
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Morry



Joined: 26 Jun 2016
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:57 pm Reply with quote
Hyouka is mystery meets slice-of-life. Its pretty mundane but the animation and sound design (dat dub <3) really elevates the experience. I'm glad Funi picked it up.
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Raebo101



Joined: 17 Mar 2010
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:57 pm Reply with quote
Greed1914 wrote:
MarshalBanana wrote:
Quote:
Adam Gibbs' somewhat less lethargic Oreki often feels mismatched against the character's expressions,
Are you kidding me, Adam Gibbs, who it is nice to see in a Funimation dub, is the most lethargic English Dub voice actor I've ever heard.


Honestly, that is why I was pleased by that casting choice. His natural delivery fits lethargic or apathetic characters.


Yeah, I'm with others on this one. I really enjoyed the dub and Adam Gibbs' performance was a big reason why. I prefer Adam's take on the character over his seiyuu because Adam somehow managed to make Houtarou feel more relatable as a person to me despite the tiredness of his voice. Really, he was perfect. I will agree that Madeline Morris' performance felt a little stiff at points in trying to find the right tone for Eru Chitanda, but she does a better job in the second half.
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Punch Drunk Marc



Joined: 04 Oct 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 2:13 pm Reply with quote
BodaciousSpacePirate wrote:
I think Hyouka compares very favorably to the SNAFU anime, although it almost completely eschews SNAFU's harem elements in favor of pairing the male lead with the female lead and the male supporting character with the female supporting character.
\

Which is funny to me since I oddly enough pair Oreki with Mayaka instead. I just really liked their dynamic more than the ones they had with their respective "partners"
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Teraman



Joined: 22 Nov 2016
Posts: 60
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:01 pm Reply with quote
MarshalBanana wrote:
Quote:
Adam Gibbs' somewhat less lethargic Oreki often feels mismatched against the character's expressions,
Are you kidding me, Adam Gibbs, who it is nice to see in a Funimation dub, is the most lethargic English Dub voice actor I've ever heard.

Seriously this is probably the worst take about a dub I've read in an ANN review so far.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
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Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:09 pm Reply with quote
The ending is going to piss most people off, like it did me. Wink spoiler[One of the biggest copeout endings in anime. A right pisstake. Rolling Eyes ]
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:15 pm Reply with quote
It's really not, especially if you capture Oreki's mindset and the entire symbolism behind The Doll That Took a Detour, which is what built up to the series conclusion. But that's a discussion likely best held on the review for the second half. I do hope that eventually KyoAni will be able to animate The Distance Between the Two, the 5th Koten-bu novel.
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Punch Drunk Marc



Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1742
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:47 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The bigger issue is Chitanda—Madeleine Morris' take on the character feels consistently stilted, as the strained high pitch of her voice presents a more serious hurdle to investment.


I wouldn't say she was that bad, but yes in terms of the main characters she was the weakest (though she does get better in the second half). Especially since the others seemed to settle into their characters almost immediately. I know Adam Gibbs gets a majority of the love (and I understand why since Oreki is pretty much the center of the show), but Dallas Reid and Jill Harris aren't slouches either.
Alexis Tipton also had a very good performance as Irisu and Caitlin Glass was perfect as Tomoe (Even if she doesn't get that much screentime).

Just goes to show that Mike McFarland can bring the best out of almost anybody.
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ScruffyKiwi



Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 672
Location: New Zealand
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:39 pm Reply with quote
Mohawk52 wrote:
The ending is going to piss most people off, like it did me. Wink spoiler[One of the biggest copeout endings in anime. A right pisstake. Rolling Eyes ]


I did not feel that way at all. Yes in the end Oreki really wanted to say to Chitanda that spoiler[he wanted to be there beside her for years to come supporting her with his business sense, but they haven't even told each other that they love each other yet and are NOT a couple! That would have been pushing things way too far. In my mind in that scene Oreki finally acknowledges to himself that being with Chitanda is what he actually wants.]


Last edited by ScruffyKiwi on Wed Oct 04, 2017 10:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Naiera



Joined: 21 Nov 2004
Posts: 42
Location: Denmark
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:57 pm Reply with quote
It's funny how FUNi's best video quality release probably in years, maybe forever, gets a "meh" for release quality.
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