Hello and welcome to Replay Value. Hyouka is a series that seemingly never stops being a fountain of intrigue. No matter how many times I rewatch it, I always find something new. A small musical connection between scenes or a line that takes new meaning later on. The series is a masterpiece from top to bottom but it all starts here, with the groundwork laid in Hyouka's first mystery.
The opening shot is that of a cherry blossom or sakura tree whose petals fall throughout the walking scene. This bright pink color blends nicely with the pastels we'll see throughout most of this opening sequence, over which this sweeping song plays accompanied by our main character's monologue. These energetic woodwinds match the exciting aspect of clubs trying to recruit new members, friends jumping on each other, and the quick pace of the cuts.
Araki Houtarou, our main character, is a visual aberration in this sequence. Literally a darker shade of black than his classmates as he speaks about how he thinks there must be students who don't desire the rose-colored life that high school is so often associated with. He doesn't seem to belong.
There's a sharp contrast between himself and the line of club members as he walks by, and a repetition to his movement so that the viewer is drawn to the background. Since he ends on the left, you'll be left on that side, and the background characters are also looking to the left. Rotating at the same speed as this character, but you'll inevitably be brought back to looking at Houtarou since he's so much darker and imposing on the frame as the background characters look away.
He leaves behind the bustle and color of the outside walk-in, seemingly denoting himself as one of the people he spoke of, who don't desire to study, play sports, or find romance. He showed no interest in the clubs that represented those things just moments ago. Surely, he must desire a grey life, something Satoshi points out as Houtarou describes that as a sad way to live. Houtarou disagrees with being called grey, he says he's not opposed to any of those things, but Satoshi makes a strong case that his desire to conserve energy suggests otherwise. As he prompts Houtarou to his motto, Ever since Houtarou started to speak with Satoshi, there's been a strong affinity of continuum of movement.
Everything's been framed in the center so it's easy to follow. That last shot is our first departure from that, and it's matched by the end of the song to indicate that we're shifting gears. The following bits of dialogue are less important to the overall thematic discussion of the show, in fact it restates Satoshi's point a bit. So this low information section, mostly to tell us that these two are old friends, is a breather. to maximize Satoshi's reaction to Houtarou joining a club.
We get some foreshadowing of Satoshi's self-declared role when Houtarou reacts with some surprise to Satoshi's knowledge of the Classics Club, but really I love the storyboarding in this pair of shots. There are three bits of text here, two of which correlate with the general locations of the remaining people in the classroom. Their eyelines direct us back to the top right for our main duo. The top bit of text has the benefit of a clear lighting gradient.
Our basic physiology seeks out light, so it directs you to them no problem. And if all that wasn't enough, Satoshi is the only moving part in the sequence for quite a while, and our eyes seek out motion as well. This is generally what I'm talking about when I say that Hyouka's attention to detail is second to none. Even something as simple as flashing a club entry form that was paced quickly is slowed down by the nature of introducing a contrast to the continuum of movement.
We wrap up this opening sequence with Houtarou getting a bit excited at the prospect of having his own space at school since the Classics Club has no other members, a glimpse of Tomoe's character via her interests, and in the background a familiar tune begins to play. The Walk to the Club Room uses the piano version of the opening track as the accompaniment to Houtarou's internal thoughts. We're hearing the same melody as before, but it's less energetic, a single piano at a slower pace compared to the full orchestration that joined the walk to school. This makes sense given that the day is now over and there's no crowd of people excitedly welcoming the students arriving, but I think the connection is more interesting given the text and subtext of this scene.
Houtarou is speaking to the difference between his own life and the one he views as the norm. This is best represented by the contrasting directions of the girls running and his own walk. They represent energy usage versus his own conservation. Houtarou stresses that he does not believe his lifestyle to be superior. Which is such an important distinction that he goes so far as to say that people generally have the wrong idea about him.
Almost grabbing the viewer by the neck and saying, don't misunderstand this for arrogance or a sense of self-esteem. superiority, before restating his motto. Houtarou's so-called grey life is not necessarily correct even by his own metric, but rather it is what he does because it is what he has chosen for himself. We see an example of his motto in action, going to grab the key while people were in the staff room might have resulted in a conversation or acknowledgement that was unnecessary, thus he waited outside instead.
And with that understanding of this sequence, the use of the piano version of the opening track connects a grey life and a rose-colored life more intrinsically. One is not better than the other, they're just different interpretations of the same melody. You can also make the case, as we're about to see in a moment, that these are Houtarou's unknowing steps towards a rose-colored life, and the first notes of what awaits him are beginning to play as he makes his way towards the clubroom.
The genre text of this sequence, the clues to the mystery that are at the center of this story's plot, is also well hidden in Houtarou's walk, such that by the time the mystery is presented to the audience, it's solvable, but because the mystery hasn't even been brought up yet, it's rather well concealed. And with that, Houtarou enters the clubroom, and what follows is arguably perfection. The movement from shadow to light, look at how Houtarou lights up as he approaches Chitanda, the dead silence except for the echoes that slow down as he makes further progress, the distance between them as they stare at one another, it is by all metrics a dramatic first encounter seemingly borrowed from the Love at First Sight textbook, especially as they begin to see each other in their eyes, deep purple and green. The stunned silence empowered by the wind gives monumental importance to their first meeting.
And rightfully so, as this relationship is the core to Hyouka's story. The amount of time spent here is no accident. The trance is broken when Chitanda closes her eyes, preempted by the wider shot, and the OP plays, which creates more distance between the solution and the mystery itself. The proper introduction between Houtarou and Chitanda is the perfect mix of subtlety through framing and explicit revelation through dialogue. There is something incredibly satisfying in how Chitanda remembers Houtarou's name despite only having had one elective together, and how Hotaro is able to put together that she knows him because of their shared music class, just from the knowledge of what homeroom she's in.
It is the perfect way to introduce Chitanda's intelligence and Hotaro's deductive skill prior to their necessity later in this mystery and further on in the story. There is a ton of distance between the two in this shot that allows Chitanda's white outfit to be bathed in the halo of light. While Hotaro's dark jacket is consumed by shadow, which can also be applied to the room at large thanks to Hotaro's entrance into the classroom. Notably Hotaro is the first one to close the gap as we learn that Chitanda has joined the classics club for personal reasons, though even in this shot there's a touch of foreshadowing given how Hotaro's head blocks a building that winds up being a part of that answer. The major defining visual aspect of this interaction is how the appearance of the mystery is the very thing that prevents Houtarou from leaving.
He's about to leave with no further questions before getting stopped thanks to Chitanda not having the key. This builds to the full mystery of how Chitanda got locked inside. Houtarou can't help but retreat from the pressure of her curiosity. Satoshi appears at this moment to draw out some of the tension, using his role as the database to confirm that you can't lock classrooms from the inside without a key, and establishing Chitanda as one of the best students in the region, and from an old distinguished family. His distraction is temporary though, as he reminds Chitanda of her curiosity, setting a standard pattern of engagement with Satoshi teasing Houtarou via Chitanda.
Houtarou's attempt to leave is physically prevented, and we enter a rose-colored visualization, a hypnotic sequence as Houtarou loses himself in Chitanda's eyes, wrapped up in her curiosity, also in the physical world pushing him further into the classroom away from the door. Houtarou's later glance to his hand reinforces how the gap between the two is between them had closed in those moments. With the mystery officially launched and Satoshi informing Chitanda that Houtarou is good at drawing conclusions, he correctly deduces that it was the janitor and we see the process in a quick montage. The answer to why didn't Chitanda hear the door lock is preluded by this bright light through the window, where we get a solid view of the building that'll become important in the upcoming arc. The ending of this storyline takes us to the entrance hall, with Satoshi agreeing to join the club.
And before Houtarou can protest his own inclusion, Chitanda holds out her hand and the same abstract image to show the captivation plays. His left hand, the same one that she grabbed earlier, gives her the form almost subconsciously, as he's enraptured by her eyes. As the trio departs the school grounds, Satoshi and Chitanda discussing who should be club president, with Satoshi informing her of Houtarou's way of life, Houtarou thinks to himself that by joining this club, those days are likely behind him. At least until he declares that he'll do everything he can to maintain his way of life. And with that ending shot of the pink petals that defined the opening, and Houtarou now with friends instead of by himself, Hyouka has informed the audience of where Houtarou is going, and how he's going to get there, towards a rose-colored life.
Hyouka's first Mesturi is in many ways the ideal introduction to three of our primary characters, their personalities and roles within the construction of the deductions, the thematic journey our protagonist will go on, and so much more. It is more impressive. that it is only half of the episode, with great direction that enables the audience to intuit far more than the literal text of these conversations would alone. The mystery is not the most complex, but it's a solid opener to the types of mysteries that Hyouka is operating with, and begins to set up the idea that Houtarou can make these grand deductions to the point where by the ending, well, we'll get there when we get there. Because I have a lot more to talk about in regard to Hyouka, and this is only the beginning.