The reason why the camera moves so little in anime, aside from panning and zooming, is that it’s really hard to animate backgrounds, on top of animating character-models from different angles. And here Hyouka comes and gives a wonderful rendition of the view of a cameraman walking around. This is only possible with very careful use of CG, and I really have to admit that they blended this in really well with the entire look of an amateur camera. But it’s especially the way they kept all of the character-models consistent in all these frames that is impressive.
The movie was very different from the movie that was made in Haruhi, which was played for comedic effect, but there is one thing about that that they copied over and improved: the bad acting. What I mean by that is that it really feels like it was made by a bunch of high school kids: everyone was acting very stiff, and some were yelling their lines out too loud. Furthermore there were few cuts compared to a professionally made movie, simply because it’s such a hassle to do that.
We’ve also gotten our first long arc again with this. It’s a bit of a strange set-up, and especially the three amateur detectives have me a bit puzzled. Going through so much trouble of trying to find the culprit when you could just ask the sick scriptwriter for a small explanation, plus you still need someone to write the rest of the script.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
I think that the underlying mystery will be why they can’t ask the sick scriptwriter. There must be some underlying reason for it, considering that the guide girl was the scriptwriter’s best friend. It’s all very odd, or … as Chitanda would say .. it’s very curious 🙂
All I say is that there is a similarity in term of themes between this arc and the Hyouka arc, even though this story is unfolded in a completely different way
It’s also possible that the scriptwriter didn’t think the whole story through before collapsing, so maybe finishing it won’t be as easy as giving a short explanation from her.
In any case, this is a very interesting premise and I am very curious how they are going to resolve it. So far, Hyouka hasn’t disappointed and I hope they do not start now.
Didn’t the senpai say “Hongou wasn’t able to see the script through to the ending…”.
So, even thought the scriptwriter has given hints here and there, it seems that she hasn’t thought of who would be the culprit.
Sorry for my bad english.
Something like writer’s block? And they called in Houtarou to the rescue? Hm. Makes sense. Fits with the theme of the show too, since one of the specialities of the Classics Club would be writing.
Right now, I’m more interested in the scheme Irisu and (I think) Houtarou’s sister cooked up to get Houtarou’s cooperation and how it will work out. It looks like Irisu found out a lot about how to manipulate Houtarou, including learning his favorite phrases. So far, it looks like they managed to hook Houtarou already. Now it’s just a matter of reeling him in.
And they brought in Yukana to play Irisu. Wow, critical hit. XD I hope we’ll see more of her.
I wonder what Houtarou’s sister does for a living. She sounds like an investigative journalist or something.
when you could just ask the sick scriptwriter for a small explanation
I think the scriptwriter did have an idea in mind and it came out in this first part of the movie but maybe she wasn’t satisfied with the result. As Irisu said, just from this first murder scene, it seems enough information had been revealed to identify the culprit, although there are some loose ends. The next episode preview also kindly takes out three more suspects, although I already had an idea who it was before I saw it. (Well, assuming there’s only one culprit.) Who did you guys guess it was?
I was a little put off with this episode at first; solving the ending for a movie? Really? But when Eba was introduced as well as the three amateur detectives my interest as renewed again in the episode and I am quite looking forward to how the classics club and the detectives will work together. Another interesting point is how Irisu mentioned the solving of the Hyouka case, so I’m wondering if the classics club is going to gain popularity at the school for solving mysteries, thus leading them to be contracted in solving them. Just an interesting point.
If there is one thing I definitely noticed this episode is how all of the characters in this series have really distinctive character designs; even the one off characters in the movie! Now that is impressive.
so I’m wondering if the classics club is going to gain popularity at the school for solving mysteries, thus leading them to be contracted in solving them.
I doubt it. It looks like a unique coincidence that Irisu happened to know Tomoe AND Chitanda as well. The club hadn’t published their Hyouka findings either and I doubt the librarian teacher would have talked to Irisu about it. It’s not even clear if Irisu knows the whole story behind Hyouka or just that Houtarou had asked Tomoe about it. It looks like Tomoe and Irisu took quite a bit of time to come up with an intricate approach to hook Houtarou and mentioning Hyouka to pique their interest was just a part of it. I’m pretty sure Chitanda isn’t in on it either. She’s a lot more effective as a cattle prod if she’s just honestly tricked into obsessing over the movie too. Can’t wait to see what else Irisu and Tomoe cooked up. Poor Houtarou. XD
The Classics Club published their Hyouka findings in the periodical that they were putting together.
ahh … at least in the novel chronology the anthology describing the Hyouka incident hasn’t been published yet, so it must be Chitanda’s connections that’s lead to this.
It’s Tomoe. It’s gotta be Tomoe. You read that chat in the first scene right? The typist is probably Irisu, first accepting that the original scriptwriter is dropping out and then asking her senpai for help. The senpai mentions that time and distance make it impossible so Irisu asks for any leads locally. The senpai makes a dramatic pause before suggesting an unreliable but useful lead, if handled right. A tall glass of soda later, she’s chatting with someone else who seems earnest and clumsy with computers. Irisu calls her out for something and, seemingly as an afterthought, suggests that she invite her three other Classic Club members. (No specific mention of Houtarou.) Cue next scene where Chitanda pulls everyone to the movie preview.
They over did the bad acting there to the point where it gets annoying
Yea. I gotta agree that they overdid the ham here. I know they were trying to make the movie seem amateur but I think high school kids can perform better than that. Well, okay, one thing is, this is a run-of-the-mill class production. Not something by a drama club where the members are actually studying to be actors. Maybe it could get that bad. Irisu did mention that she would have scuttled the idea from the start if she had been present during the original inception of the project.
I once participated in a high school movie project. The acting was… bad.
Lol. I can’t imagine. XD
I guess it’s safe to say that the bad acting this episode is realistically appropriate.
Having been in many a production I’d have to agree that the over acting was over acted. 🙂
Yet…..I was always in the drama club in school, where the kids at least wanted to try and be good, for a bunch of kids who just get roped into doing it, it might not be so far from the truth.
You have to admit it was effective overacting. Well except for the shouter….gods he got on my nerves.
Jzar
This was also done in Ano Natsu de Matteru and Kannagi right?
iirc, in Ano Natsu the acting wasn’t this bad. The characters made a conscious effort and (while being obviously amateur) wasn’t on the god-awful level of some of these
I have 2 theories:
1)the cameraman did it. The still shot was where he/she ran to kill the student (I don;t like this one).
2) The window was so sharp and heavy it cut of the student’s arm. (I like this one).
I don’t think the camera represents a character. It’s just the point of view of the audience.
IMHO…*spoilers?*
The murder scene was a sealed room. (Reminds me of that island episode in Haruhi.) The key to the room was still inside. The window was stuck and it looked like the grass outside was undisturbed while the corridor to the other room on the other side of the building was blocked by junk. (Check the nice dust-free floor plan.) Assuming one of the students is the killer, he/she probably used the master key to lock the door again after the murder, leaving the victim’s key inside to confuse everyone. (Big question mark how that arm got cut off though. I don’t think it would be easy to do and would have made quite a bloody mess. Plothole?)
We had the strongest hints that the mystery obeys, amongst others, Van Dine’s ‘Twenty Rules’, the tenth of which reads:
“The culprit must turn out to be a person who has played a more or less prominent part in the story — that is, a person with whom the reader is familiar and in whom he takes an interest. For a writer to fasten the crime, in the final chapter, on a stranger or person who has played a wholly unimportant part in the tale, is to confess to his inability to match wits with the reader.”
In other words, not the cameraman.
Second theory is invalid. If the window cut his arm off, it wouldn’t be in the room with him. It would be outside.
Also, I’d like to point out the the other theory below (or above? ) that the masterkey doesn’t necessarily have to be used in the murder. The victim unlocked the door to check if the room was clean. There is no reason for him to lock himself in the room. So it’s possible that the murderer killed him, took his key and locked the door while leaving his own key in the room. Locked room case solved… well kind of…
Interesting thought. I didn’t think of that.
There is no obvious motive that would lead them to kill the dude. If there was, then solving this mystery would be so much easier. I believe the short girl with the black hair did it. She had gone to the second floor on the dead dude’s side. Notice how the windows in one of the rooms were open on the first floor. She could’ve come down somehow through the second floor’s windows with the master key and entered the first floor on the dead dude’s side. There she chopped the dude’s hand of and said fuck you and locked the door as she left. Then she made her way back to the second floor somehow. When they went looking for him, she decided to go back for the master key because she already had it. And the girl who went with her was conspiring with her. When they found him, she had no expression on her face. This concludes my theory.
My theory is that the guy who took over the group leadership did it. His motive could be something like: If kaito dies, I’ll be the leader.
He was checking out the rooms, but didn’t seem eager to check out the room at the end of the hall and only did so after someone suggested him to. He did this because he didn’t want the body to be found.
He did as the girl said to avoid being suspicious. But the door is locked and the girls go off to get the masterkey. Notice how he only says that the door is locked and doesn’t tell anyone to get the master key. Once again, he doesn’t want the body to be found.
The door is unlocked from the outside and probably can only be locked/unlocked from the outside. So the culprit would have to have to key in his possession.The culprit and glasses guy run in, the culprit to the right. His right hand is outside the screen and we don’t know what it’s doing. Later, the key is discovered on the right side of the room. While the others in the hall would have the view of the camera and not see what his right arm was doing and while the glasses guy was distracted with the dead body, the culprit tossed the key that would incriminate him to the right side of the room. He does this deliberately so that the key would be near the arm. Because the arm would attract a lot of attention, someone else would probably find it and suspicion would be drawn away from him yet again.
Meanwhile, he opens the window in an attempt to imply that the killer could have come from the outside, but things don’t go as planned because the window was stuck and ended up discouraging the fact that an outsider could have been the murderer.
I can’t really tell how he did it from the crime scene (nothing there is really shark enough to cut thru bone from what I see…), I think is actions make him very suspicious as well as the fact that he has the clearest motive.
Oh, and I just noticed, but the dead guy and the guy i’m suspecting have the same last names. Possibly brothers? An inferiority complex could explain the motive even further.
“rendition of the view of a cameraman walking around. This is only possible with very careful use of CG”
No, this just wrong
it can be done without CG just harder, time consuming and a talent
all the big name animator still animated the background manually
check this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsOpNpNDWZs
few scene kinda questionable but…
that kinda old clip though, still… show like ponyo, redline, some episode of naruto and birdy (my fav). still use those manual background
Wow, psgels, you were spot on here. Talk about actually noticing the elephant in the room right off the bat. Color me impressed.
(To all wondering, naw, I ain’t gonna elaborate. Spoilers and all, you see.)