Hyouka 18 (Rewatch)
It's time for some sweet helicopter act... wait, no.
After the Festival arc, this episode can only feel like a step down. Nevertheless, it was still pretty enjoyable, especially on second watch while already knowing the cast.
In some ways, it reminds me of episode 6: it has an inconsequential mystery about someone totally irrelevant in the cast, that is supposed to serve as a vehicle to see how the main characters (Oreki, in this case) react and relate to it. But 18 was much, much better executed and much more interesting in concept.
For starters, the animation was better. Nobuaki Maruki handled the animation supervision again; he's pretty good, the expressions for the characters were spot-on on their feelings. The cut when everyone overreacts to Oreki being curious is probably the highlight of the episode, so
props to Haruka Fujita for animating it.
More importantly, there were changes of location and heavy BG porn, which is one of Hyouka's strongest points and serves to spice up the slow pace a bit.
But even more relevant, the mystery of this episode actually worked its purpose perfectly and shone a new light on Oreki's character. I suppose it ties into the deliberately gradual way this series goes about character progression, as such "radical" event like Oreki being curious and proactive only makes sense at this point in time, while by episode 6 we were just getting accustomed to the cast.
I do think that Eru's influence plays a big part on how our MC acts here. Not only that, but he has been solving riddles and using his deduction skills very frequently since he entered high school; it's only natural that he would, even subconsciously, start looking at this inconsequential issue in this same way, out of habit.
But there is also another major factor present in the episode: Oreki does get curious and upset about some things, and tries to solve them. Not only the riddles themselves, but how they fit into his outlook on life. We see in
this scene how his mind starts to fall apart when he finds a gap in his established memories. Even the framing in that shot hints at something he's not being able to grasp, as it's positioned from very far above his head (there are also a lot of aerial view layouts in the episode, I wonder if it's due to the helicopter motif lol).
The bulk of the episode after that is standard Hyouka fare; deliberate pacing, constant colour changes reflecting either the mood, the passing of time or both, relaxed OST and full of dialogue. I liked the laid-back sequence of our two leads being themselves at the library. The solution to the mystery was heavily telegraphed in advance, and I don't know if it was a fuck-up or if there is a purpose behind it.
But throughout the whole thing we see Eru particularly excited; it's obvious why at first glance, she's interested in Oreki's interests. But more than that, I think she found a really strong common point between the two of them. She, for the first time, saw Oreki move of his own accord to fix a misunderstanding, taking into account (and especially paying attention to) the feelings of the involved person. It was a very sensible move, more in the vein of how she approaches things than the cold logical way Oreki did for most of the show. The final sequence, which incidentally is the best part of the episode and generally a really good sequence in the show, makes this all very clear with a plethora of camera angles, metaphors and dialogue.
This layout is great. From next to the girl's feet, up into the sky, with the guy's back at the center as he looks up to the infinite. It expresses what Eru was thinking at the moment pretty powerfully and concisely, and relays a lot of information to the viewer. This was probably the moment when she definitely feel for him, or at least was made conscious of it. The image is also visually striking and draws attention to its organization, which I find a good move.
One last thing I noticed is the special attention Oreki gives to favours people do for him, and remembers each one of them. Back in episode one, Satoshi (who is presnted as someone who knows him very well) tells him that "he won't ask Oreki to pay him back" for helping him with the fake mystery. I don't remember if they reference it in later episodes, but this same concept comes up again in 18, both when he talks about not asking Mayaka to come since she doesn't owe him anything, and at the end when he tells himself that he owes Chitanda one for this time. Later, in 21 he "pays back" Satoshi for ep 1's events, and in 22 he doesn't hesitate at all to go and help Eru, even though this time the "owe her one" thing is not made explicit. It's an interesting trait.
