Don’t expect any good episode 11.5 screenshots on this, I can’t find any high quality copies of the episode. Which is extremely sad since it’s got Chitanda fan services!
Okay, so obviously episode 11.5 is meant to cover up Orekis dilemma on who he is. But in my opinion, they didn’t need to make this episode for such a reason. I mean, the closure done in episode 11 was already well done even if it was short. What I do want to see from the last arc is a better closure of Irisu and who exactly is that sempai she was chatting with. But oh well, perhaps they will reveal it in another arc or something.
High quality PLEASE?!
On to episode 12 and you should have notice an insane amount of detail that was put into the cultural festival, not to mention the work they put into designing and drawing Idara and Fukubes rooms! I’m pretty sure we all have a general idea of how cultural festival works and how it looks but no where else have I seen an series gone this far into putting life into the festival. This was the first time I’ve truly felt liveliness and splendour of such a festival; it really did make me feel like I too was in the festival.
But not only that, the animation! Not only did they give great animations for the characters in focus but also the character behind the scenes (like the ones in the shot above). I mean this is quality you only get to see in high budget movies!
Fanservice!! We finally get to see more hawt sauce from the ever so sexy and adorable Chitanda in both 11.5 and 12 (I’m talking about the photoshoot she had). Granted 12 can’t exactly be called fanservice as 11.5 was, it was still great. I’ll leave Chitandas body in 11.5 to do the talking and go onto 12 where the fanservice was brought on more from her adorable nature ontop of the amount of detail they put into drawing her.
Early into the 12th episode we see Idara feeling awkward when Fukube openly talks about her hobbies. Then later on we see that she has some sort of disagreement with her fellow club mates, who unfortunately were cosplaying Vocaloid, which by the way is a fantastic add-on to the episode.
From this, we will probably see Ibaras story arc up next. It’ill be very interesting to see how the producers would handle her arc if it was decided to run along the cultural festival since it would hurt the producers pockets if they kept the high quality production along multiple episodes.
If you guys may have noticed from episode 1 all the way till 12, we see Oreki checking out Chitanda in one way or another. However I feel these shots suggest something more than just meets the eye. In episode 11.5 Chitanda tells Oreki that he is someone special to her right before calling Ibara and Fukube the same. But we all know how it really works right? Right?! Now jump to the ending song of episode 12, we have detective Chitanda and Ibara chasing Oreki and Fukube. Notice that when they have them handcuffed, both Chitanda and Ibara blush and flutter. Romance in Hyouka? Personally, I feel it would a fabulous idea to add light romance to an already fantastic series. And really, who wouldn’t want OrekiXChitanda or FukubeXibara?
Oreki 'Holding the fort'
In the end, though the episode didn’t officially bring in a new mystery and was more like a filler plus a prologue into the new arc. Also it was a kind of sweet candy or like an appetizer of sorts for us viewers to keep your eyes stuck on the screen. So overall (づ￣ ³￣)づ
OkamiSan~
