History Literature / Hyouka

* MundaneMadeAwesome: In the beginning of the novel and anime, before the actual storyline kicks in, the mysteries Houtarou solves are pretty trivial, yet most of an episode focuses on them. He solved [[LockedRoomMystery how a room becomes locked seemingly on its own]], why the same book was checked out and in from the school library for weeks, and where the unauthorized flyer for a "ghost club" was hanging [[spoiler:(this last one was actually a fake mystery he planted to amuse Eru)]].

''Hyouka'' (氷菓[[note]]"Ice Cream"[[/note]]) is a mystery novel written by Honobu Yonezawa, serving as the first volume in a total of five in the ''Classics Literature Club'' series. It was turned into an {{Anime}} in the spring of 2012, produced by Kadokawa Shoten, animated by Creator/KyotoAnimation and directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto, with [[LightNovel/FullMetalPanic Shoji Gatoh]] serving as head writer and Futoshi Nishiya serving as character designer. A manga counterpart was started in January 2012 in ''Monthly Shonen Ace''.

''Hyouka'' (氷菓[[note]]"Ice Cream"[[/note]]) is a mystery novel written by Honobu Yonezawa, serving as the first volume in a total of five in the ''Classics Literature Club'' series. It was turned into an {{Anime}} in the spring of 2012, produced by Kadokawa Shoten, animated by Creator/KyotoAnimation and directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto, with [[LightNovel/FullMetalPanic Shoji Gatoh]] serving as head writer and Futoshi Nishiya handling the character designs. A manga counterpart was started in January 2012 in ''Monthly Shonen Ace''.

* ZettaiRyouiki: Mayaka sports this in the second ED.

'''''Hyouka''''' (氷菓[[note]]"Ice Cream"[[/note]]) is a mystery novel written by Honobu Yonezawa, serving as the first volume in a total of five in the ''Classics Literature Club'' series. It was turned into an {{Anime}} in the spring of 2012, produced by Kadokawa Shoten, animated by Creator/KyotoAnimation and directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto, with [[LightNovel/FullMetalPanic Shoji Gatoh]] serving as head writer and Futoshi Nishiya handling the character designs. A manga counterpart was started in January 2012 in ''Monthly Shonen Ace''.

[[caption-width-right:350: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi Fukube]], [[BrilliantButLazy Houtarou Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru Chitanda]], and [[{{Tsundere}} Mayaka Ibara]][[/note]]]]

* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: In true [[Creator/KyotoAnimation KyoAni]] fashion, Kamiyama is closely modeled after a real city, in this case Takayama in the Japanese Gifu prefecture. Many local landmarks are clearly recognizable, including the high school and the cafe where Chitanda and Oreki meet.

* RealPlaceBackground: The story takes places in the fictional city of Kamiyama, which is heavily based on Takayama, a city in Japan's Gifu prefecture. As usual for KyotoAnimation, the town gets depicted in vivid detail in the anime, with many local landmarks clearly recognizable.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Hyouka'' is this compared to the other slice-of-life themed titles from KyoAni, containing more realistic and serious tone, dealing with mystery-solving, manipulation, logical thinking, and generally less wacky hijinks than other titles have.

* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: In true [[Main/KyotoAnimation KyoAni]] fashion, Kamiyama is closely modeled after a real city, in this case Takayama in the Japanese Gifu prefecture. Many local landmarks are clearly recognizable, including the high school and the cafe where Chitanda and Oreki meet.

* ShipTease: Oreki quickly develops a casual crush on Chitanda, but since his own negativity does a good job of repressing it, it develops rather slowly. Chitanda gradually begins to warm up to him as well, and that she feels the same becomes very obvious in episode 11.5.

* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Chitanda has to ask the student council president to give the Culture Club more spa-- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XsEiCKWjBY0 wow, look at all of the cool festival activities]]!
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Oreki. When he puts effort into it, he can make brilliantly logical deductions by simply examining and thinking about a few clues in a matter of minutes. In episode 19, Houtarou asserts to Eru that his deductions are simply luck, and tries to prove such to her, but still manages to reason out the correct reason for and context behind a mysterious announcement at the school.
* BatmanGambit: Kouchi baits Ibara by patronizing the club's booth as a way to get customers.

** Oreki. He is always complaining about how much energy he has left.

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Kouchi, a member of Ibara's Manga Society Club, professes her patronizing thoughts on the club's culture festival booth, making light of their efforts, getting to Ibara easily.

** This may also be the reason for Oreki's slight resentment toward his older sister, who appears to be ''very'' much on top of things.

->''"If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick."''
-->'''--Houtarou Oreki''''s life motto

'''''Hyouka''''' (氷菓[[note]] "Ice Cream" [[/note]]) is a mystery novel written by Honobu Yonezawa, serving as the first volume in a total of five in the ''Classics Literature Club'' series. It was turned into an {{Anime}} in the Spring of 2012, produced by Kadokawa Shoten, animated by KyotoAnimation and directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto, with [[LightNovel/FullMetalPanic Shoji Gatoh]] serving as head writer, and Futoshi Nishiya handling the character designs. A manga counterpart was started in January 2012 in Monthly Shonen Ace.

The story follows a [[BrilliantButLazy lackluster]] teenager by the name of Houtarou Oreki who, while cursing his first year of high school, lives by his motto "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick". Nonetheless things don't go as planned as Oreki becomes involved with his local high school "Classics Club" at the behest of his elder sister. There he meets Eru Chitanda, an apparently happy-go-lucky girl [[TheBeautifulElite belonging to a very wealthy family]] who, besides having an extraordinary memory, possesses a level of curiosity far exceeding that of anyone Oreki has ever seen. Alongside curious Chitanda, the chipper Satoshi and the strict Ibara, Oreki will find himself pushed into using his untapped talent in solving various mysteries ranging in nature and scope throughout his foreseeable high school days.

----
!!''Hyouka'' demonstrates examples of the following tropes:
* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: Downplayed when Satoshi uses his position on the Executive Committee to put the Kotenbu's name on the far left of the festival brochure to make it more noticeable. Oreki doesn't notice it (and calls it an abuse of power when its shown to him).

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Ibara has had a crush on Satoshi since middle school, but despite being aware of this, Satoshi still hasn't returned her feelings. [[spoiler:Or rather, he's afraid to.]]

** Discussed regarding the word 犠牲 ("sacrifice")[[note]]which can be read as either ''gisei'' - "scapegoat" or ''ikenie'' - "offering"[[/note]] in the foreword to the second volume of ''Hyouka''. [[spoiler:This may be because Sekitani was forced to be this scapegoat, but came to take the position willingly.]] This trope is also the origin of the term "Kanya Fest". It appears to be a simply shortening of "Kamiyama", but [[spoiler:the "Kanya" is actually written 関谷 (Sekitani) to honor him]].
** Also appears during the festival itself, regarding the mysterious thief Juumonji[[spoiler:--his name can be read as 'ten letters,' the rule behind his series of thefts]].

* AmbiguousDisorder: When Chitanda really wants to say something she won't establish any kind of context before cutting right to the chase, leaving the receiver of her comments without any clue as to what she actually meant. If she gets curious she ''will'' convince Houtarou to get her the answers, usually by simply expressing her overwhelming curiosity so strongly that Houtarou has no way out of its glare but to submit.

** [[spoiler: Taken to an almost bastardly level in episode 21 where, in order to avoid giving her an answer, Satoshi destroys the Valentine's day chocolate that Mayaka planned on giving him.]]

* ArcWords: Each episode, whether it is part of an arc or is a standalone story, ends with a short phrase that upon inspection is related to the plot.
** The Jun Sekitani arc episodes end with "The niece of time", a reference to the plot's similarity to ''Literature/TheDaughterOfTime'', with the "daughter" changed to "niece", since Chitanda is Sekitani's niece.
** The student film arc has "Why didn't she ask EBA?", which cuts to the meat of the mystery--[[spoiler:if Irisu actually wanted to know Hongou's intended ending for the film, why didn't she just ask Eba, Hongou's best friend]]? It's also a reference to the AgathaChristie mystery novel ''Why Didn't They Ask Evans?''
** The random stories arc has "Little birds can remember", which is a reference to yet another Agatha Christie mystery novel ''Elephants Can Remember''; with "little bird" possibly being Chitanda.

* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Chitanda has to ask the student council president to give the Culture Club more spa-- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XsEiCKWjBY0 wow, look at all of the cool festival activities!]]

-->'''Oreki:''' Your house is pretty grand, too.
-->'''Chitanda:''' My house isn't all that grand. I think it's just a little bigger than normal.
-->''[cue aerial shot of Chitanda's property]''
-->'''Oreki:''' ''[to self]'' I don't understand what your idea of "normal" is.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: There is a very subtle one at the start of episode 11, after Oreki's [[spoiler:clever movie ending is completely trashed by Ibara]], as soon as she has left the room, Oreki turns and looks directly at the camera.

** Oreki, he is always complaining about how much energy he has left.

* CampStraight: Satoshi seems to have this going for him a little. For example: while Houtarou describes the ideal high school life as being "rose-colored", Satoshi claims that his is "Shocking Pink".
* CantHoldHerLiquor: Chitanda in episode 9. Granted the whiskey chocolates were stated to be rather strong and she did wind up going through almost the entire box by herself but she still wound up getting so drunk she passed out and woke up with a hang-over, so it probably still qualifies.
* CatchPhrase: Chitanda's ''"Watashi, ki ni narimasu!"'', variously translated as "I can't stop thinking about it!", "I'm curious!", etc. It's a sign to Oreki that things won't be quiet for a while.
** PuppyDogEyes: For added effect
** SignatureSoundEffect: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN1PQVTvcK0&t=00m35s Ding!]]

* ChainOfDeals: At the beginning of episode 12, Oreki's sister gives him a broken fountain pen for no particular reason as he leaves for the school festival. Later on, a fashion club member asks to use it as an accessory, giving Oreki a voucher for a free make-over in exchange. In the next episode, another student arrives to buy an anthology from the Classics Club booth and Oreki gives him a heads-up that his fly is down; Oreki gives him the safety pin from the back of the voucher so he can fix it. The student then gives Oreki his toy water pistol in return. The next episode, Oreki trades the gun along with an anthology to two members of the confectionery research club for two packs of cookies, as well as a pack of wheat flour. Oreki then gives the flour to Satoshi to help Mayaka in the cooking contest (by tossing it down from a window instead of actually going down there himself, [[BrilliantButLazy naturally]]). In the episode following, Mayaka (at his request) repays him by giving him a mirror from her ''Manga/HimitsuNoAkkoChan'' "Akko"-chan cosplay. When his sister drops by the next day, she decides to keep it going by trading him a copy of ''A Corpse by Evening'', which turns out to be [[spoiler: essential to solving the Juumonji incident]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: Hyouka is this compared to the other slice-of-life themed titles from KyoAni, containing more realistic and serious tone, dealing with mystery solving, manipulation, logical thinking, and generally less wacky hijinks other titles have.
* DaydreamSurprise: [[spoiler: Done in the last moments of the finale. With Chitanda mildly lamenting her fate within their small city (in short, keeping it alive), Oreki proposes that she does not have to do it alone to her elated surprise. One brutal GilliganCut tells us that Oreki only imagined saying that to her, being too afraid of relinquishing his current lifestyle with such a proposal.]]

* DramaticWind: This is actually used quite often in Hyouka, though subtly at times.

* TheFaceless: Oreki's elder sister, Oreki Tomoe. The most we get is everything under her nose. [[spoiler: Pause episode 16 at just the right time, though, and you can catch just the bottom half of her [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_m8hbffoMLC1r67ekro2_1280_9654.jpg eyes.]]]]

* FairPlayWhodunnit: The student film in episode 8. Although the script is unfinished, the fact that the mystery follows all the rules means the director is confident that Oreki and company will be able to tell her the solution even though she can only show them the first half of the movie. [[spoiler:Subverted because Hongou did not intend for the victim to actually die, and Irisu is actually lying about why she wants Oreki's help.]]

** '''Melancholic:''' Satoshi. Although he's something of an extrovert, his HiddenDepths reveal that [[spoiler:he's this way ''because'' otherwise he'd fit the negative attributes of the Melancholic type (obsessive, perfectionist to the point of depression) a lot more]].
** '''Phlegmatic:''' Houtarou. ''"Is calm, stoic, reliable, compassionate, observant; but also lazy, reactionary, docile."'' Need we say more?

* InUniverseCamera: [[spoiler:The trick to the mystery in the student film. Although it turns out it wasn't the trick the original director had intended.]]

* {{Keet}}: Satoshi. The colours are on the inside.
* KissingDiscretionShot: Or a less drastic [[KissingDiscretionShot Hugging Discretion Shot]]. Still, the way the animation portrays the end of Satoshi and Mayaka's exchange in episode 17 implies this; heavily because of Satoshi's arms reaching out. [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8o0wsXajo1qcsnnso1_500.gif See for yourself]].
* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Kouchi, a member of Ibara's manga society club, professes her patronizing thoughts on the club's culture festival booth, making light of their efforts, getting to Ibara easily.

** The student film in episode 8 features an example with a murder mystery. [[spoiler:Though that was not what the writer originally planned. It only appeared to be one to the Classics Club because the people doing the filming changed an important detail in the script.]]

* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Oreki]], surprisingly enough. He blackmails multiple upperclassmen, [[spoiler: Tanabe and Tougaito]], in order to advance the goals of the Classics Club. He also goes out of his way to keep Chitanda uninvolved, even lying to her about the Jumonji case to keep her in the dark.
* ManipulativeBitch: [[spoiler:Fuyumi Irisu.]] Oreki figures her out, but not soon enough.

* MeaningfulName: ''Hyouka'' is the name of the main characters' high school student anthology publication. Also see StealthPun and AlternateCharacterReading.

* NoSocialSkills: Oreki comes off this way, seeming to be too lazy to bother learning social etiquette. However, as long as it's not too draining, he can in fact socialise with others.
** He doesn't really emote (although he is shown blushing when praised), is shown interacting with only Satoshi, Chitanda and Mayaka on a regular basis, and is rather blunt when speaking with others. Still, the fact that he can't seem to say 'no' to Chitanda to save his life and that he went out of his way to help Chitanda at least twice suggests that Oreki is actually a nice guy underneath his constant frown.
** Oreki has also stated that he is "not good with kids", when he and Chitanda needed to ask the inn owner's child some questions. Chitanda doesn't question it and handles the situation for him.

** Her senses in general seem unusually sharp, with both hearing and sight also being remarked upon.
* NotSoStoic: In episode 11, when [[spoiler:Houtarou]] discovers [[spoiler:Irisu's true intentions in requesting his help, and her tendencies to being a ManipulativeBitch]], he gets... ''[[WhatTheHellHero pissed.]]''
** In episode 21 he gets seriously angry over [[spoiler:Satoshi's actions, which directly hurt Mayaka, and indirectly hurt Chitanda. He goes as far as to tell Satoshi that if the latter doesn't have a really good explanation, he's taking a punch to the face.]]

** TheUnsmile: While taking care of a customer at the Classics Club's culture festival stand, his inner thoughts while half-smiling were "Damn, I can't smile."

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Bach's "Air on the G-String" and Gabriel Fauré's ''Sicilienne'' are used fairly prominently.

* RedBaron: Irisu from episode 8 is nicknamed 'the Empress' for her domineering presence, encouraging a [[DiscussedTrope discussion]] on TarotMotifs.

* SchoolFestival: This school festival, called the Kanya Fest, became an important factor in the mystery concerning [[spoiler:Chitanda's uncle, Sekitani Jun]]. The anthology Hyouka also revolves around this.

** In episode 13, Houtarou finds the photos of Chitanda cosplaying... yeah. It gets especially shippy near the end where Chitanda hesitantly questions about it and they both start blushing.

** Episode 22: Chitanda sadly explains to Oreki that although her land is neither the most beautiful nor full of potential, she still wanted him to see it; she makes herself completely vulnerable before him, so that he can understand her better. After this impassioned monologue, Oreki nearly confesses to her in a [[DaydreamSurprise Daydream Surprise]], only to hold back at the last moment, to the dismay of shippers everywhere. All this happens amidst falling [[CherryBlossoms Cherry Blossoms]], an ethereal, pink-infused scene.

** The Manga Society cosplays a few Vocaloids for the SchoolFestival in episode 12, while Mayaka cosplays as [[Manga/TheyWereEleven Frolbericheri Frol]] and her sempai, Kouchi dresses as [[VideoGame/SamuraiShodown Nakoruru]].
*** The following episode, Ibara and Kouchi cosplay as [[Manga/HimitsuNoAkkoChan Akko-chan]] and [[VideoGame/ArtOfFighting King]] respectively.

** The first ED features Chitanda and Ibara in a planetarium, on a circular bed, their feet at opposite ends but facing each other. Holding hands. [[Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena Sound familiar?]]

* StandardSnippet: An a capella group at Kanya Fest sings "Sukiyaki".
* StealthPun: [[spoiler: Hyouka means frozen treat, or commonly "ice cream", in Japanese. The message that Jun Sekitani left for Chitanda by making the name of the anthology Hyouka was 'I scream', a pun derived from sounding like 'ice cream'.]]
** IncrediblyLamePun: How Houtarou views the abovementioned.
** Shows up again in the OVA, which is set after episode 11. Houtarou is still in his funk after dealing with Irisu's deception, and he's presented with a case that helps snap him out of it. The solution? [[spoiler: "Hyouka", ice cream, once again.]]

* StylisticSuck: The student film in episode 8 has boring music, poor writing, worse [[JitterCam cinematography]], and ''even worse'' [[BadBadActing acting]]. [[spoiler: Houtarou believes this to be deliberate -- that the awful lighting (an obvious flashlight being turned on and off as needed), JitterCam, inconvenient camera angles, and actors looking straight into the camera and being rather stilted and awkward are actually clues that [[InUniverseCamera the culprit was the cameraman]], whose motive is that all of the other characters deliberately ignore him. Turns out he's both brilliant and entirely wrong (that is, on the question he ''thought'' he was answering).]]

* WhatTheHellHero: In episode 21, Oreki calls Satoshi out for [[spoiler: stealing Mayaka's chocolate, which obviously hurt Mayaka's feelings but had the side-effect of Chitanda blaming herself for failing to guard her friend's chocolate.]]

-->'''Oreki:''' ''[grabs Satoshi by the scarf]'' I'd have to hit you. For both Chitanda and Mayaka. ''Hard.''
* ZettaiRyouiki: Mayaka sports this in the second ED.

* EagleEyeDetection

[[caption-width-right:350: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi Fukube]], [[BrilliantButLazy Houtarou Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru Chitanda]], and [[{{Tsundere}} Mayaka Ibara]][[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi Fukube]], [[BrilliantButLazy Houtarou Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru Chitanda]], and [[{{Tsundere}} Mayaka Ibara]] [[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi Fukube]], [[BrilliantButLazy Houtarou Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru Chitanda]], and [[{{Tsundere}} Mayaka Ibara]][[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi]] [[TheLancer Fukube]], [[TheStoic Houtarou]] [[BrilliantButLazy Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru]] [[GenkiGirl Chitanda]], and [[{{Otaku}} Mayaka Ibara]][[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi]] [[TheLancer Fukube]], [[TheStoic Houtarou]] [[BrilliantButLazy Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru]] [[GenkiGirl Chitanda]], and [[ Mayaka Ibara]][[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:500: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi]] [[TheLancer Fukube]], [[TheStoic Houtarou]] [[BrilliantButLazy Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru]] [[GenkiGirl Chitanda]], and [[{{Tsundere}} Mayaka Ibara]][[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:400: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi]] [[TheLancer Fukube]], [[TheStoic Houtarou]] [[BrilliantButLazy Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru]] [[GenkiGirl Chitanda]], and [[{{Tsundere}} Mayaka Ibara]][[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi]] [[TheLancer Fukube]], [[TheStoic Houtarou]] [[BrilliantButLazy Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru]] [[GenkiGirl Chitanda]], and [[{{Tsundere}} Mayaka Ibara]][[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi]] [[TheLancer Fukube]], [[TheStoic Houtarou]] [[BrilliantButLazy Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru]] [[GenkiGirl Chitanda]], and [[DoggedNiceGuy Mayaka Ibara]][[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Your average classic literature club. [[TheyFightCrime They solve mysteries.]] [[note]]From left to right: [[PhotographicMemory Satoshi]] [[TheLancer Fukube]], [[TheStoic Houtarou]] [[BrilliantButLazy Oreki]], [[SuperSenses Eru]] [[GenkiGirl Chitanda]], and [[<<Tsundere>> Mayaka Ibara]][[/note]]