I think there's some misunderstanding about Hyouka's plot. It's not your average flashy anime for sure, I assure you. To say there's no plot would be unfair to the creator because there's one in fact. To avoid spoilers, I won't mention the plot; the hint is the characters themselves. Then again, this is my opinion.
Story - 9/10
It's not flashy as I said before but there's a subtle advancement of characters. Relationships were strengthen, bonds were connected and the characters developed. A hint, after you finish watching all the episodes... compare Oreki Ep22 and Oreki Ep1. There's a huge difference.
Enough with the characters... now to the story. I pretty much enjoyed all the 'mysteries' the author had written. It got my head spinning at times. You'll start to predict the answers along with the characters themselves at some point of the anime. Admittedly, I only managed to guess a few of the episodes right...
In short, people who SOLELY like action animes like Naruto and Bleach probably won't enjoy this as much.
Art - 10/10
Kyoto Animation really nailed this! The graphic is superb IMO. No complaints whatsoever.
Sound - 10/10
I freaking love the soundtrack! I think it's one of the aspect that sets the mood of the anime. I'm trying to find it though...
Another reason that drawn me to this anime was the VA. I love Satou Satomi voice acting in K-on! so in Hyouka. She managed to flesh the character perfectly. Not to mention the 1st ED song was so good!!
Characters - 10/10
The characters is the key to any story no matter what. In Hyouka, the characters is really life-like and believable. The best thing is their correlations! Each character complement the other's.
Enjoyment - 9/10
I can't give a full score because I found myself yawning a lot in one episode...
Overall, Hyouka is a generally nice anime in my opinion. There's a storyline divided with a few arcs throughout the anime along with interesting knowledge. You might learn something from watching this anime...
p.s. This is my first review. I don't really know how to write one so I blatantly followed the guidelines.
