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Hyouka

(古典部 [Kotenbu] #1)

Honobu Yonezawa,

Andry Setiawan (Goodreads Author) (Translator)

4.10 · Rating details · 944 ratings · 164 reviews

Kalau kita menyelidikinya, mungkin akan terjadi hal-hal yang tidak baik.
Oreki Hotaro adalah pemuda hemat energi. Mottonya adalah, “Kalau tidak perlu dikerjakan, lebih baik tidak usah dikerjakan. Tapi kalau harus dikerjakan, lakukan dengan praktis.” Hanya saja, semua itu berubah saat dia terpaksa bergabung dengan Klub Sastra Klasik. Chitanda Eru—gadis dengan rasa penasaran ...more

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Paperback, 244 pages

Published December 2017 by Haru Media (first published October 31st 2001)

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Average rating 4.10 ·

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· 944 ratings · 164 reviews

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Mar 21, 2013 Mik rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, light-novel, mystery, 2013

This is literally my favorite anime series and I loved the first book. Maybe not the best book, and with a 'fan' translation, yet I get some incredible feels when reading this. Stronger than when the mystery is solved in any of the Agatha Christie novels I've read. It could be the realistic approach instead of murder after murder. Simple and profound life events that slip by- who ever really tries to solve them? When is someone ever curious enough and when is there ever someone capable of such r ...more

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Apr 15, 2020 Razi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, novels, japanese-literature, 日本語

One of the most original mystery novels I've read.

Hyouka takes sleuthing to high school and manages to pull off a compelling story without murder or theft; or really any crime to speak of (unless you count underage smoking). Instead, what you get is a refreshing detective story featuring a protagonist who hasn't quite become a detective yet. He's not part of a sketchy after-school detective club, not a recognized prodigy, and not enrolled in a far-fetched detective school.

Hyouka is decidedly g ...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Shatha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, light-novels

"If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick"
- Houtarou <3 ...more

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Feb 12, 2021 Noninuna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: asian-literature-fiction

Oreki Houtaro is a first-year high school student who is known to his best friend as a person who likes to save energy i. e he won't go out of his way to do unnecessary things. One day, a letter arrived from his sister asking him to join the Classic Club at the school so that the club won't get abolished and he immediately fill the form to join the club, makes his best friend, Satoshi Fukabe, shocked. We're following the story thru Houtaro's POV with a few simple unexplained occurrences that bui ...more

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Mar 31, 2019 Nina rated it it was ok

Shelves: japanese-literature

I read the second book first, thanks to Ula who kindly gave it to me. Unlike the second book, the first one feels so boring. It's no wonder one of my friends DNF it.
.
I don't usually mind with slow pace as long as I enjoy the story. But Hyouka no 1 was almost unbearable 😂
.
However, Hyouka no 3 and the next are still in my wishlist. Just because no 1 felt like a torture doesn't mean I don't want to/won't read the rest of the series. ...more

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Dec 18, 2018 Filliteapot rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It was a good one! In my school years I used to love detective stories with some daily life mysteries solved by amateurs, so the plot was just for me. It even reminded me of a Russian author I enjoyed a lot then and made me nostalgic. Also I'm pleasantly surprised to find out the adaptation was respectful of the book and quite detailed. It's not like the book has something more than what was covered by the adaptation plot wise, but I loved the way it was written: it's from the main character's p ...more

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May 31, 2018 Oni rated it liked it

I scream

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Jan 24, 2020 Inji Alizada rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Found out about this book by watching the anime of it, enjoyed both of them. Sure they have some differences but all in all it was pretty entertaining to watch the anime and read the book. I liked how the author added in some historical facts and mixed it with fiction. Characters were great, reading about Chitanda's curiosities and how Oreki along with his other friends helped her solve them one by one was pretty fun. Recommend it :) ...more

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Jul 07, 2017 Bimugdha Sarker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

One of my favourites cause , it really captured some characters , no, it should be written as 'few characters' who are always in the shadows of others . Japanese culture really revolves around High school , doesnt it ?? :D ..

Anyone who is reading this , I suggest you give a try to this Heart warming , Clear novel , I can assure you that you wont be dissapointed! ...more

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Mar 03, 2017 Nabila Sari Permata rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: light-novel, japanese-literature

KININARIMASU!

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Jul 26, 2019 Leah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 日本語

The first part of the book felt confusing but I think it was just because I was reading it at the wrong times (when I was tired or otherwise distracted). The second half was definitely more engaging and enjoyable than the first, though this is a rather short book anyways.

The main plot is your basic "school club solves mysteries" type of deal, with the main mystery occurring at the halfway point. I agree with the other reviews that it was refreshing that mysteries weren't around a murder or anyth ...more

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Feb 22, 2020 Allison Saffel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I picked this up because the anime (also called Hyouka) is one of my absolute favorites. It combines the slice-of-life genre with the mystery genre beautifully. The prose throughout is surprisingly poetic. It's rare that I find content where I relate to so many of the side-characters or try to read further into their simple statements, but the author clearly put a lot of thought into each of their motivations and subsequent actions. (Since I over-analyze everything, this was a lot of fun.)

The on ...more

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Jun 02, 2018 Strider rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: light-novel

Well, this is not a light novel but I would categorize it as one since its easier to think of it that way. I watched the series some years ago, and wanted to read the source material since I really liked it. I will probably catch up with this quickly and I am going to wait for years until a conclusion but oh well, its not the first time to happen. About the story: in the first half of the book I thought I will give it only 3 stars but the mystery about Eru's uncle and the real meaning of Hyouka ...more

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Jun 09, 2017 Nguyen Manh tung rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book is brilliant, by hiding some minor details, the author had weaved a very good detective novel without using the murder cliche that you can see in almost every mystery, dectective genre. Furthermore, how the main character, Oreki Hotarou, express his lifestyle, his thought through this novel is just so fascinating, from a half-hearted man he constantly changed into a much more devoted person, especially when he solved the 'Hyouka' case. To sum it up, I recommended this book to people, w ...more

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Oct 28, 2017 - ̗̀ patri ̖́- rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017, english

3.5 🌟 Although the big topic of this series is the mystery, I don't think that's the main point of it at all. It's about the characters, how they interact with each other and their, relatively simple, high school lives. That's what Hyouka is about for me, and I love it. It has a very light feeling to it, like it's not one of those intense reads, but you're still waiting for bedtime to arrive and read some more. It's an engaging read. It can also get philosophical at times - something I'll always ...more

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Apr 12, 2018 Okuta Otherside rated it really liked it

I enjoy this book! Actually I never watch the Hyouka anime before so I don't know anything about what kind story that I'll read in this book.
At first, I was interested with this book because of the cover, it's pretty! And when I saw the sinopsis, I got more interested since it's about mystery.
I thought it'll be mystery about murder or something, but turn out the mysteries inside this first novel of Hyouka is about mysteries that we can find around 4 main characters, in their school.
I love Ore ...more

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Sep 09, 2017 D rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series, light-novel

Quite realistic, with just the right amount of quirk for the characters to stand out a bit. Can't say the first novel is quite there yet; the members of the Classics club are still little more than archetypes starting to get fleshed out, but they're certainly entertaining enough.

I kept meaning to watch the KyoAni anime but I guess I read the light novel instead? And it's perfect for KyoAni I think, in the same way that K-On was. It's cute and chill and good for some light reading.

Actually a mys ...more

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Jan 06, 2020 Linh Hoàng rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I actually would give this book a 4.5 if I can. I watched the anime first, so I thought that I had known what to expect from its original novel but I was wrong. The feeling of watching the anime and reading the book weren't close to each other at all. Each gave me a different vibe. In the anime, what I focused on was the characters's emotion development while reading the book, I really hooked on the story telling more which to me is enjoyable and like Chitanda, I was curious. I've already bought ...more

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Jan 04, 2018 Fitria Y rated it liked it

Weird novel, but good coming-of-age book. It is supposed to be a mystery novel? But the mystery cases are so simple, still they are supposed to make the protagonist look 'mind-blowing' smart. Ha, ha. Go figure. Anyway, they are perfect, believable cases for high schoolers. He ain't Conan. :P
"Kalau tidak perlu dikerjakan, lebih baik tidak usah dikerjakan. Tapi, kalau harus dikerjakan, lakukan dengan praktis."
Yass, lets be friend Oreki-chan. Lets create an art club, a club that practices the art o ...more

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Aug 29, 2018 Elaine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really seem to have a liking for mystery stories lately. All of a sudden, I decided to rewatch the anime based on this light novel series and loved it so much, I went on to search for an English translation of this book. I'm really glad to say that the anime followed the original story closely!

But since what I managed to find online (I downloaded an epub version) doesn't seem to be official, there is an uncertainty of the accuracy of what was translated. Still, I enjoyed it immensely. Oreki i ...more

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Jan 08, 2020 Akif Alkin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook

While I watched the anime adaptation before reading this book I still had a great time. The characters are enjoyable and the way they interact with each other. Some people say the mystery part of Hyouka is not that amusing, I would say they are as good for me, because my love for mystery fiction is big. A bit of warning though, the pacing is rather slow, but I enjoyed it even more this way.
P.S. Sorry for the butchered review. It's my first time reviewing a book and came up on the spot as I was t ...more

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Nov 09, 2020 Adiza Pramesti Indirasari rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I love it!! I watched the anime before and it's really my cup of tea. The last case was a bit slow and boring but I'm blown away with Oreki's deduction and the way he pointed out the details, such a great job- especially for someone who wants to keep his energy reserved. In the anime he seemed like a care-free person but he actually isn't. He deserves that rose-colored days with three of his peers! ...more

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Jun 04, 2017 Widya Rahardja rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, light-novel-jp

This is one of the best series I've ever read. I came to love Oreki Houtarou and Chitanda Eru, as well as Fukube Satoshi and Ibara Mayaka thanks to this series

I love the name behind "Hyouka". It's a scream from someone who was unheard back then, a scream that he couldn't let out because of many things

Loving the first series so much. Hope will love the second series as well ...more

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Apr 26, 2020 May Fisher-Guest rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Definitely one of the most difficult books I've read in Japanese so far. The first chapter was so easy to read and the last few chapters were fairly easy as well, but everything in the middle was fairly tough to read.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I'd certainly like to reread and revisit this in a year or so. ...more

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Apr 05, 2018 adinda widya rated it really liked it

Nice!
I haven’t even watched the anime or read the comics but this is a good start. I will definitely going to watch the anime ASAP.

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Jul 11, 2018 Cho_chella rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: japan-novel

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 22, 2019 Desty rated it really liked it

Light and good read. Beyond my expectation. Glad to know I have it after more than half a month break. Ice cream.

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Jul 24, 2019 Natalia Nazeem Ahmed rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A sweet story about a high school trio that solved a school mystery
Compelling but light hearted, so it was a breezy read
8.5/10 would recommend

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Aug 01, 2019 Kuro Keima rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

one of the book that change my perspective of life.......

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Feb 26, 2020 Nguyen Le rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Fresh and relaxed. Reminding of high school time and club activities.

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About Honobu Yonezawa

Honobu Yonezawa

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Honobu Yonezawa (米澤穂信, Yonezawa Honobu, born 1978) loved making up stories even as a child and began writing fiction at the age of 14. By the time he got to university he was posting stories on his own website. After graduation he continued writing while working in a bookstore, and first got into print in 2001 when Hyoka (Ice Cream), a YA mystery novel he submitted for the Kadokawa School Novel P ...more