Koten-bu.

This word means classical literature in Japanese and is also the name of the club that the storyline revolves. And living up with the title itself, the novel tells a slow-pace story about the activities of the same titled club. And everything started with an anthology named Hyouka.

Sounds mystery, huh? Yeah, that’s right. This kind of club doesn’t have a true activity for most of the time, so of course it must involve with some unrelated ones. But unlike some vague-purposed club’s activities? or plotting for a harem, its members solve some of the mysteries they met during daily life. Like before-mentioned, the pace is slow, so if patience is out of the question, then the consideration reading it should be the same, too.

And now come the mysteries. There are something terrific, some exciting, but mostly trivials. They are hardly noticeable, but when their existence is known, it is hard to overlook. Leading the curiousity of readers, the author has built up a well-written story with meticulously calculated series of mysterious events. Though those may hold not that much of meaning, they appear very casual and that’s what makes reading the series so relaxing.

And on that set-up stage, the characters fulfill their roles.

Houtarou Oreki is a ordinary main character. His appearance is normal, his personality is also popular and a person of his caliber is not inspriring at all. Then throughout six volumes so far, he shows sharp eyes on the surroundings. This definitely is a popular character. But let reconsider the time the series began. There weren’t many characters like Hikigaya there, and someone close might be das boiz Conan. So this character had his caliber formed by himself. Then his popularity isn’t an ordinary anymore.

Eru Chitanda is also a popular main charactress. She has mature air around her, but her curiousity is the proof of her yet matured personality. She is childish, innocent?, and mostly the cause of troubles for Oreki. But without her, Koten-bu might have nothing at all and that would be the least of interest, so she plays her role well. Since she has flaws, it’s expected of readers to observe her maturity and that, of course, makes room for further developments of the story. So Chitanda is definitely, maybe a good developing protagonist.

For the remaining two Fukube and Ibara, they surely bring the balance to the formation. There is nothing much to say, because that will spoil the details, but the flexibility in the points of view gradually leaves some spaces for their credits.

With that core of staffs, the story deliberately progresses. They discover the truth after mysteries, but those don’t come like mushrooms after rain. Therefore, they casually indulge themselves in daily life and this creates even more opportunities to expand the contents, whilst not falling too far from the original ideas. The variation in characters’ perspectives blows fresh air in the chain of events and does have some contributions to the series. In comparison, Conan had begun with well set-up cases of crime, but then gradually lost its initial nature and became akwardly romantic among endlessly repeated criminal plots for ridiculous reasons. This point I believe is the goodness of Koten-bu.

I really like the discontinuum of time flowing in Koten-bu, which was significantly shown in the collection of short stories, because just read it and you know what I meant. Something is invisible there.

The illustration is almost non-existent, and the protagonists didn’t appear until the cover of the fifth volume, but that’s great. The cover with real pictures does serve its purpose, like the rooftop under the sky along with the title ‘E*** t***** I** t*** I n** h*** w****’. Totally classic. Without those illustrated characters, we can concentrate on how come the works genuinely attract attentions. How many light novels have the guts to do that? And since people didn’t seemingly fall for some cute characters, the series has served its goal, providing something genuine that readers can honestly enjoy. If the illustration is concerned, then Hyouka’ll be a better choice. Of course, it will be more dramatic, since it is an animation work, but the anime does stick to its original and the end with the p***** of h****-d**** is whole-heartedly spectacular.

Honestly, I did watch the animation before coming to the series. People said the anime was bad, but I felt it different. It did convey what the original works possess, while rearranged the storyline due to the continuum of time. And at the success in adapting, what can be said about its source? In that way, I believe this series is actually a lost gem, because the author can write what he initially purposes. And for the reason it’s lost, who knows when it’ll finally have an ending. Nevertheless, the way it can end at any time does have its own greatness. Just accept it, me. =))