ANIME REVIEW: Hyouka

Hyouka is a 22 episode anime based on the book series of the same name. 

This is a spoiler free review.

Plot

Hōtarō Oreki doesn't like to do things that he considers a waste of energy. However, things start to change when he enters high school because even though he does not want to join any non-compulsory school activities, his older sister requested that he join the deserted Classics Club so that it won't be disbanded. Unknown to him, another student Eru Chitanda already planned to join; but instead of being free from club obligations, Hōtarō eventually joined as he is strangely unable to refuse nor to escape from Eru's passionate gaze of curiosity. Together with his friends Satoshi and Mayaka, they began to discuss a variety of mysteries in school that only Hōtarō seems to be able to solve; including the mystery that lingered on from Eru's childhood memory.

Why I Chose It

I had heard a lot of things about Hyouka and read some reviews, eventually decided to take the plunge after wanting to learn more about the mystery solving nature of the show. I should also mention that the screenshots I saw showed artwork that was some of the best I had seen and that definitely helped tip me towards giving the show a chance.

What I thought

I really didn’t know what to expect with this series but I had heard so many good things about it and really wanted to take the plunge with a series after finishing up Accel World.

This couldn’t be more different from Accel World with the only common thread being that they are both set in and around high school. The theme of mystery solving and amateur detective work instantly got me hooked in making me watch multiple episodes at a time.

One major point going for this show is the protagonist, maybe it is just because I came to this from watching Accel World but it is so nice to have a lead with a strong sense of self even if he can get talked into all manner of things by a curious girl.

Going off topic for a second I find a problem with a lot of anime shows is protagonists that are almost blank slates with seemingly no thoughts of their own, you could never mistake Hotaro as someone without his own thoughts on life and while throughout the series his mind slowly changes you can see why he makes the choices he does.

I can’t talk about Hyouka without mentioning the mysteries that they gang solve, I found them interesting and engaging as well as very well laid out. You don’t get the TV murder mystery effect where we the detective announces some previously unknown fact that reveals the murderer in an instant, mysteries in Hyouka are solved by deduction which is impressive but believable.

High school politics Japanese style always keep me interested, the after school clubs that seem to mirror the traditional social groups of Goths, jocks et al in an American setting. I probably just wish that my high school was more like that (especially that whole co-ed thing but I digress) but I get that it is an idealised version of what most Japanese High Schools are nice but it serves as an interesting glimpse into a different culture.

In closing I can definitely recommend Hyouka but be prepared to spend a few hours watching those episodes in bulk. This anime showcases well that not every title is about energy attacks and intense action scenes sometimes it is just about friends coming together and helping each other out.

Finding Bliss in Books Blogoversary

So Finding Bliss in Blooks is having quite the giveaway for her Blogoversary.

8 Separate Giveaways which is pretty impressive, it is nice to see a Blogger giving back to their readers.

I am particularly interested by the Josin Mcquein day featuring a post all about Arclight which I would really like to get my hands on.

So get over there quickly and check it out.

No one crosses the wall of light . . . except for one girl who doesn’t remember who she is, where she came from, or how she survived. A harrowing, powerful debut thriller about finding yourself and protecting your future—no matter how short and uncertain it may be.

The Arclight is the last defense. The Fade can’t get in. Outside the Arclight’s border of high-powered beams is the Dark. And between the Light and the Dark is the Grey, a narrow, barren no-man’s-land. That’s where the rescue team finds Marina, a lone teenage girl with no memory of the horrors she faced or the family she lost. Marina is the only person who has ever survived an encounter with the Fade. She’s the first hope humanity has had in generations, but she could also be the catalyst for their final destruction. Because the Fade will stop at nothing to get her back. Marina knows it. Tobin, who’s determined to take his revenge on the Fade, knows it. Anne-Marie, who just wishes it were all over, knows it.

When one of the Fade infiltrates the Arclight and Marina recognizes it, she will begin to unlock secrets she didn’t even know she had. Who will Marina become? Who can she never be again?

KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY APRIL 2013

Kindle Fire HD 7" Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7" Kindle Fire HD (US Only)

  Or $199 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)

  Or $199 in Paypal Cash (International)

Sponsoring Bloggers and Authors

1. I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
2. Author Jennifer Laurens
3. Author Lena Sledge
4. Kelly's Lucky You
5. Author Lori Verni-Fogarsi
6. Phantasmic Reads
7. Author Rebecca Talley
8. Author Ednah Walter
9. Author Heather Bixler
10. Girls With Books
11. My Life With Books
12. Author Rae Z. Ryans
13. All Fantasy Worlds
14. Author Michael Young
15. Book Angel Booktopia
16. Lori's Reading Corner
17. Books R Us
18. Books 4 Tomorrow
19. Author T. Lynne Tolles
20. Good Choice Reading
21. Curling Up With A Good Book
22. Auggie-Talk
23. A Bookish Escape
24. Paranormal Book Club
25. Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf
26. Amethyst Daydreams
27. Pink Fluffy Hearts
28. Love. Without You
29. Books, Books, the Magical Fruit
30. Author Lisa Voison
31. Tasty Book Tours
32. Fae Books
33. Author Cindy C. Bennett
34. Author Emma Michaels
35. Author Lia Fairchild
36. Fade Into Fantasy
37. Pieces of Whimsy
38. Author Rachael Renee Anderson
39. Feed Your Reader
40. Lovely Reads

Giveaway Details
1 winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire 7" HD (US Only), $199 Amazon Gift Card or $199 in Paypal Cash (International). Ends 4/30/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the participating authors & bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Prize value $199 US.

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Just An Update

Things are moving slowly but I can’t say I have much to show for it. Still clearing quite a few job applications though now I have been warned that they cannot be all administration jobs “because you’re not getting them”. Yeah apparently getting a number of interviews in this economy is just not good enough and instead my time would be better spent applying for jobs for which I have no previous experience. It is not like I have a choice so I am just going with the flow.

The other side of this argument so to speak is my ongoing complaint with SEETEC, the complaint I made add which has been ongoing since January. Somehow they managed to lose my first complaint and they have not responded to the e-mailed complaint after 30 days (the second time I sent it). So now I am in an awkward position according to Independent Case Examiner I seemingly HAVE to receive a response I am unhappy with to my complaint it doesn’t say anything about an agency failing to respond. When you think about it that seems like a rather large flaw in their procedures doesn’t it? Well I should be making a call to ICE tomorrow to check up on things to make sure.

Other than that things are puttering along slowly and there is not a lot to report other than one new Word Press project that I have been working on. It is just something to help me get familiar with WP as an interface which I think might be useful in the future (you never know). You canhave a look here and I will add a link when it is properly ready.

THREE ON THREE

This is just a quick probably one off article where I talk about 3 shows I’m watching that have let me down and 3 shows that continue to hit the heights of entertainment. If you want to learn more about popular shows you can check out Hypable you might even find a few of my articles there.

THREE SHOWS LETTING THEMSELVES DOWN

The Vampire Diaries

I love the Vampire Diaries but lately things have been getting a little lax. The Cure storyline combined with this Sire Bond nonsense is really making me re-evaluate watching this show. It used to be fun even though I wasn't huge on the Stefan, Damon and Elena shipfest the other plotlines kept me intrigued and characters like Katherine, Anna and Alaric gave me more than enough reason to watch. That thought brings me to April – WHAT THE FRACK? Come on I hate to go on about her seeming uselessness especially as perhaps the wonderful actress who plays her my think it reflects somehow on her, which it does not. It feels like the writers introduced a character to basically do a Dawn from Buffy but neglected to write in anything that might make us remotely interested in her before the big reveal. Anyway I could write an essay on this so it is time to move on.

Zero Hour

This show had absolutely no marketing campaign behind it seemingly, don’t get me wrong one thing sure to annoy the crap out of me is six months of endless promos and marketing which basically ruin the first four or five episodes in a new show or season but we all like to at least know a new show is coming  in order to foolishly draw conclusions.

The premise of the show is best understood after dropping acid but for all you drug free types out there let us go with it being a massive religious conspiracy theory with possible fantasy aspects. It is interesting to see Anthony Edwards in a lead role and as soon as he is onscreen you realise why he was so awesome on ER. Unfortunately one great actor cannot save a show or 666 Park Avenue might have managed a season with two great actors.

It managed to get itself cancelled after just two episodes partly I think because they didn’t publicise it and partly because the show is a VERY hard sell given how unique it is (what do you mean there are no hot vampires).

Revenge

2^nd Seasons can be a real bitch. That is the only thing I can chalk up as the reason Revenge went from a solid 9 to a questionable 5 almost overnight. The show used to leave me on the edge of my seat but now it seems to have run out of steam, the closest comparison I can make is to Prison Break an awesome show that just went on way too long and got progressively more ridiculous.

I really don’t know what to do with this particular show but it definitely needs to step things up or it is going to lose all the goodwill it got from the first season.

THREE SHOWS CONTINUING TO BE AWESOME

Pretty Little Liars

This show just goes from strength to strength perhaps my favourite guilty pleasure; at first glance it is easy to miss how in depth this show is how many threads run through the show over the seasons that just drop in and out almost without you noticing until the big payoff. The finale is coming up soon and I can’t wait though I have no idea how I am going to deal with the PLL withdrawal.

House Of Cards

I heard so much about this Netflix show I thought maybe it was all hype but then I watched the first episode and was totally blown away. Whoever said politics is boring needs to check this out, the show is slick and pulls you in immediately. Francis Underwood is larger than life and you can’t help but like him even though you know he is going to end up being less than scrupulous.

Cult

It is a crazy show that shouldn't work but somehow it does. At first I looked at it and thought that the show was asking too much of its viewers but I kept watching and I have a fair idea that others are doing much the same. I mean a show about a show about a cult, how does that even work. Matthew Davis is great as the lead and definitely stands out as a man searching for his brother.

World of Warcraft Patch 5.2

The patch was painless to install though I have seen some lag spikes that according to that handy little Blizzard app is coming from the servers. This is just a patch thing as after a patch everyone tends to log in to get reacquainted with the game and to decry all the things Evil Blizzard has done to their class.

The farm ownership thing is pretty good  for me it is obviously about the work orders which allowed me to finally do the last push on the Dominance Offensive (more on DO later) to me it provides enough of a boost to make going back to MOP factions a little less painful. With the help of the farm and dungeon rep boost I am exalted with DO and Klaxxi on my new main, still got a lot of Shado Pan and Golden Lotus to be getting on with though.

Thunder Isle or whatever it is called like all major quest hubs is a bit of a problem when you’re on the wrong side of a faction imbalance add to that the fact that the mob respawn rate is insane and I am very glad I am doing this on a Hunter which makes things interesting but not impossible.

The quest experience on Thunder Isle is pretty fun lore wise especially when taken back to back with the end of the Dominance Offensive fallout. It is DEFINITELY going to get repetitive by next week but that is the way that Blizzard likes it, with the bonus to the rep gains hopefully it won’t take too long.

I don’t know much about the class changes as I have only really been using my hunter but they look interesting and I have been doing a lot of reading on MMO Champion. 

Update on the Excitement that is Moi!

Interview Shminterview

So I had an interview today which apparently went well enough that I got a call this evening saying that the panel could not make a decision about who they should choose. The interview process itself  was one of the strangest I have ever participated in. the whole thing. For some reason they chose to have everyone do the task at the same time which then meant hanging around for 3 hours while we each went through the interview process I feel sorry for the last person to go as her interview was an hour late meaning she had 6 hours at the interview.

Oh well we shall have to see what happens tomorrow as I wait for the call and do some cleaning.

Patch Day Paradise

So Patch 5.2 dropped for World of Warcraft called The Thunder King and seemingly NOTHING went wrong EU side. This morning before the interview I patched my game in less than 15 minutes and it was fine then came back and played this evening. The new area is interesting but no flying so a lovely gank fest as there are a lot more Alliance than Horde on this realm but unfortunately that is just how it is.

Also now you have more routes to getting some rep for whatever faction you wish to champion so dailies are a little less painful which is gratefully appreciated. So how are you doing with the new patch.