However, I think Hyoka is truly an anime that you grow to appreciate, the further you get into the episodes. While the story is not spectacular (the high school detective plot entirely been done before), and the studio does not focus on particularly spectacular events, the mysteries in themselves are ridiculously well done.
For those that are familiar with Bakuman, Hyoka is very similar to the PCP manga within Bakuman. Although none of the crimes or mysteries are particularly drastic or dramatic, it also makes Hyoka essentially so much more believable. Everything that occurs is completely within the realm a typical high-schooler could do, and it's executed beautifully.
My main attraction to the anime, however, is the character development that occurs through the series. Although it initially seems that all the characters are hard-set into stereotypical molds (such as Oreki, who I initially strongly disliked), we eventually begin to learn so much more about all the characters. Surprising, although Oreki is portrayed as the genius detective who can solve anything, there are many secret heroes within this anime... who play much bigger roles than you might expect them to. Hyouka does an amazing job treating the emotional aspects of the characters, and I think it's done spectacularly well.
Satoshi and Tomoe (Oreki's sister's whose entire face is never shown... amazing!) are my favorite characters. :D
Finally, there's this element of very very very very slow romance, which begins to show up later on.... but I'm a sucker for those kinds of things, so yes, it's very good. :D
My main dislikes: Oreki tends to hallucinate, so that's really weird. Also, some of the episodes were kind of random and did not necessarily carry a lot of weight. I liked the big arcs better. The ending also, was rather mediocre in my opinion, unless you're into the dabbling of heart-to-heart feelings.
Story: 7/10
Art: 9/10
Sound: 6/10
Character: 10/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
