What's this? VOCALOID in my Hyouka?
As much of a filler as it was, I have to admit that this was quite the amusing episode. Once again I am amazed at the cultural festivals that Japanese schools manage to hold. I doubt you'll be able to find a school that puts in a similar amount of effort into something like this in any Western place. The sheer amount of booths and events that are present undoubtedly take a lot of time to prepare. But then again, the satisfaction of being able to participate and just have fun with your fellow peers for a few days is worth all the sweat and tears... that is, unless you're someone like Hōtarō who would rather sit by himself in an empty room than to enjoy this annual event of pure fun.
What I liked most about the episode was just seeing Eru enjoying herself while periodically remembering that she has a task to fulfill. Everything from the calligraphy to the karuta, and especially the photo shoot, made up for the lack of cheerful Eru in the last episode where she was mostly depressed about the film case. Seeing Satoshi being his usual comedic self and the surprising appearance of the (somewhat horrible) VOCALOID cosplayers put a smile on my face as well. Even Hōtarō, who one would not expect to be involved in anything noteworthy because of his post, actually had quite the amusing encounter with the Fashion Club guy.
One thing that confused me was the appearance of Hōtarō's sister (though her face wasn't fully shown). Wasn't she all the way on the other side of the world or something? When did she come back to Japan? I find it weird that nothing about her return was mentioned even after she showed up. This makes me kind of wonder if Tomoe's appearance is a plot hole or something that was overlooked by the producers. Regardless, I hope we'll learn more about her in the future episodes.
Lastly, the new ED makes its debut.
ED2: Not as good as the first ED, that's for sure. Although the visuals were quite interesting, it doesn't make up for the fact that the song was sub-par. It didn't really have a nice melody like its predecessor.
Tomoe's return is answered in Episode 11.5, AKA Hyouka Special. That episode is horrible, but it does fill up a plot hole.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for the information. Going to go check that out soon then.
DeleteI have to disagree that the second ED was not as good as the first. I personally prefer the second ED - I just liked it. The first ED was a bit too mushy mushy for my taste, both the song and the video, but that is not to say that the first ED was bad. It was good, but the second ED was slightly better, if not outright better.
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