Hyouka redefined what I knew about anime, in the most anticlimactic way possible: In my decades of watching hundreds of anime, I never realized it was possible to feel so utterly ambivalent about a show. The first arc raised an interesting question that I'd have happily watched a show about... and did nothing with it. The rest of it was poised right on the edge of a million possible anime cliches - the setting, the characters, the events, all staring into cliche hell... but it remained original, which is an incredibly impressive feat. Nonetheless, it was powerfully uninteresting and entirely believable, almost as if I were just watching a webcam somewhere. Academically they pulled off something amazing by avoiding the cliches, but while it's original, I can't say it was fresh. It was just... there. Not mind numbingly boring, but sort of hitting a perfect balance between "if someone wants me to watch it, I'll watch it" and "if at any time the episode cut off and I couldn't get any more, I'd be ok."
The characters were similar: while Kyoani characters are usually very likeable, these ones were just there. I didn't hate any of them. I didn't like any of them. They were just people, with a slight bias toward irritating.
The art was ok. That is, fantastic for a bit older anime, and unremarkable compared to some newer works from other studios. Detailed and lifelike. The sound made no impression on me, but suited the show fine and voice acting was always solid.
But all in all, I have never felt so strongly neutral about something. Usually if a show is "meh" that means it's bad, and Hyouka is not bad. Usually if a show is "passable" it leans toward good, and I also wouldn't say it was good. So it made a strong impression on me with how much any part of it failed to make a strong impression on me. It's like the anime equivalent of drinking tap water.
