Hyouka episode 8: Finally a mystery!

Hello there my lovely readers! Are you having a good day? I hope so. X___X Because way too many people in my life are having tough times. Way too many people living in the Twilight Zone. Hopefully a trip to the mall and the movies will help destress some of us. Or we all can gripe about our problems together. Either way.

MOG dead body!

For now it is anime time! Hyouka episode 8 to be exact!! Spoilers for...Tenchi LOVING this episode.

They are just too busy being amazing.

Episode Summary: A series of text messages flash across the screen, with someone apologizing about a situation. Then someone is online in what appears to be in a chat room. Someone is asking another person for help and to involve their club members too. The next morning Satoshi and Houtarou are walking to school. Satoshi seems to think he has been born with no talents while it is undetermined if Houtarou really has one or not. Houtarou feels sorry for geniuses because their lives are hard or something. Mayaka almost bites off their heads when they show up late but is concerned where Eru is. Eru finally shows up and explains her friend in another class that needs help with a project. They make their way to the correct room as Eru explains this class made a mystery movie. Irisu introduces herself to the group and thanks them for helping. Satoshi seems to know Irisu but she is like um who? She explains that for now she wants them to simply watch the movie. Houtarou questions why she would want their opinions on a movie if there is no time to go back and change things. Irisu smiles and just says to watch.

Be on time or you will be KILLED!

The Classic Club watches the shaky cam mystery movie. It is about a group of 6 classmates going…somewhere. To do something. But they need to stop somewhere to sleep for the night. They decide that an abandoned hotel would be the best choice. They also decide once they find the hotel keys to split up and look for a safe room to spend the night. Satoshi comments that was a weird thing to do, to split the group up. During the movie 5 of the kids reconvene to talk about the conditions of the hotel and notice one does not return. Upon searching the hotel they find the boy missing an arm and looking pretty dead. One classmate sees something in the corner…and the video ends. Irisu then asks the group who is the culprit? Houtarou is like wtf based on that? Irisu asks what they thought of the film. Mayaka says it is not Hollywood standards but Houtarou thinks that is okay. Irisu then explains the girl who wrote the script fell ill up to this part and now it is up to her, a person who had nothing to do with the film, to save the project despite not knowing the direction it was going.

Clearly you need to watch more American mystery/horror movies.

Houtarou then realizes that Irisu only wanted him to watch the movie due to his ability. Houtarou says he doesn’t know who the murderer is and Irisu thanks them for their time. Houtarou seems shocked by that easy response and the rest of the Classic Club agrees the movie shouldn’t go unfinished. Eru turns on the crazy eyes and Houtarou decides he will LISTEN to Irisu’s classmates who are experts on mysteries. The Classic Club then walks home and talks about how they should give each other Tarot card nicknames. The next day Eru brings chocolates for the group to eat and think with. A different classmate named Eba picks up the Classic Club to bring them to the mystery experts. Satoshi asks what kind of person the writer is for this movie and Eba proceeds to be creepy with her answer. She drops them off in the classroom where the three mystery experts are eager to meet them. THE END!!!

WHAT?! That's it?!

MOG! For the first time I ever I was sad when the episode ended. Of course it did end on a cliffhanger and that is what cliffhangers are supposed to do. Can’t fault the other episodes for not leaving me with that MOG more feeling if they were stand alone type episodes for the most part. Where is volume one of the Hyouka magazine verses a Who Do It episode? Yeah the Who Do It is going to win. But even so this was the first episode where I was truly engaged it what was going on and sad to see end.

I agree my little crazypants. I agree.

But that could be because I am a mystery/horror type girl. XD Slight biased here folks. So last week had a decent mystery with a simple conclusion while this week was exciting. Mainly because there was no analyzing yet. Houtarou does have the ability to bring the boring/reality to the situation. Now on with the blogging.

I was like what?

I was truly confused on what was going on in the first minute of the show. Texting, some weird form of emailing. Why so cryptic? Why not just keep texting the person? XD To add to the mystery I suppose. Just the whole it might not turn out the way you think it will bit was X___X. Like what is going on and who is talking? Maybe it was just hard to keep up with all the tiny print flying across the screen.

But then I was like OH.

Okay upon rewatching that part of the episode a few more times MAYBE it was the author of the screen play talking to someone else. Maybe I was wrong to assume the text messages and the computer chat were made by the same two people each time. XD Goober me. That makes more sense.

A conversation on the way to school....in the summer.

I always find it amusing how much time high school students spend at school during their summer break. Like….summer break means NO SCHOOL!!!! All they get is homework and working on club stuff and stealing wearing their uniforms. I would rebel! Or join no club at all. I want to sleep!!! Of course…it does seem nice to everyone all close and bonding. Even if it is all exaggerated for anime purposes. Sorta like how all American High School students are hot and wearing tank tops to campus.

Eru late? CALL THE POLICE!

Okay. So onto the show. Houtarou and the gang are dragged to school to what they think is a meeting about their own club. Silliness right? Eru just knows EVERYONE because in this small town she is the rich girl who must play nice with all the other rich kids in the area. I guess it makes their lives sound more interesting or maybe that is just how things work in Japan. XD Okay so your dad owns a farm or a hospital. I care because…?

You're headband? Mystery solved!

But Irisu approaches the Classic Club because they need help with their film. I kinda felt bad for Irisu. She inherited this problem and doesn’t seem very happy with the mystery/horror film. Must be hard to fix a problem that you don’t even like or support. If you liked something you would try your hardest to fix things. But if you are meh about the cause then you might be meh about the solution. So while I do think it is a bit weird that Irisu would seek the help from outsiders it does make sense if she sought out someone who has a better eye and capability on the subject than to do it herself when she isn’t that passionate about the issue herself.

Are you a mystery too?

That all being said Irisu didn’t act like any wallflower. She was being pretty cryptic herself. Like not telling the group what the point of them watching this video is all about, carefully choosing all her words to the group as if she is the smartest person ever (but everyone is like that in this series so…), and not fully explaining what is up with the unfinished video. I don’t know, between Irisu and Eba I feel as if half the mystery is figuring out WHY the movie is unfinished. XD Twice as much fun right?

His acting was....very loud. XD

The movie itself was pretty good for being made by kids. As a Sci-Fi original movie expert I can say that it was on par or BETTER than most of the movies they show on Saturday night. Shaky cam was slightly annoying but that should be expected. Some of the acting was loud or hammy but HEY they were much better actors than half of the nearly naked young people we get in sci-fi movies. I just thought it was done pretty good for high school kids. So SUCK IT MAYAKA!

I don't know if suggesting to split up is suspicious or just stupid.

I might have to watch the video portion of the episode again to come up with solid theories. But for now I would have to go with the Master Key issue. The two girls who ran back to get it have to be prime suspects. One of them could have had it in their pockets so either one of them could have pretended to retrieve it as if someone else went to get the keys it would be revealed it was no longer there. I wonder if Houtarou will ask to review the tape. Things are usually more obvious after a second screening. I don’t know if I can think of anything else. I am sure their names will end up meaning something….

This face was AMAZING! XD

After the video was done and the Classic Club understood why they were there it was HILARIOUS to see everyone look at Houtarou and for him to go AW SHIT in his head. Really Irisu only wanted Houtarou there and everyone else had to be invited as to not rouse suspicion. Like um Houtarou solve this now why else do you think we are here? Amusing all away around.

What I can't solve everything instantly!

Houtarou not being able to “solve” this mystery right away was a good change of pace. Of course this might tie into the fact that part of the mystery deals with why the writer of the film just stopped. Lets stop and think about this. Planning out a film takes time. Irisu says the girl got sick. I took that to mean something curable. Not cancer or a long term disease. So wouldn’t this writing and filming have to take place over a couple weeks, maybe a few months? Home girl writer is still sick? So sick she can’t just TELL someone how the film was supposed to end without writing it all down? Sounds fishy. Very fishy indeed.

And then you are creepy. THE END!

Eba. Very fishy too. Probably why I am thinking so hard about what the “real” mystery is. Wouldn’t Eba go over and visit her friend? Tell the others how the plot was supposed to end? Irisu and Eba both state that they weren’t on board for the project but seem to be taking charge of the almost failure. Eba went on and on about how amazing her best friend is in a very creepy way. VERY CREEPY! It seems like a very cut and dry way to fix this. Call the writer and ask her. Not hunt down Houtarou and put together a panel of mystery movie experts.

Most suspicious part of the whole episode.

I just want to say me and my best friend would have either been on that panel or in the movie. Of course are only experts on American horror movies….we would have showed up in tank tops and padded bras and they would have been like um no…..But seeing those kids in the room looking all professional yet very nerdy at the same time amused me. XD Amused me greatly.

Remember everyone's a suspect!!!!

Did I cover every point? Eru and her I AM CURIOUS eyes are amusing. It would have been nice for the Classic Club to give a few guesses before just leaving the room, declaring it way too hard. Also it would have been nice to see Houtarou having some running thoughts about what could be going on. But since he was all griping about how his life is unfair I will forgive. Overall this episode was really great in my opinion but I am probably biased due to my horror movie passion. XD Please keep on being interesting Hyouka! XD I shall enjoy the next episode. Please do not disappoint.

Check to make sure the arm is real!