Hyouka – Episode 7 – Hot Springs and Sibling Rivalry

It seems that every anime needs a hot spring episode, but this one had a twist.

Compared to other shows, I’m quite surprised that there is hardly any fanservice. Yeah, you have some gearing towards the male type, but we only get a glimpse of Eru’s body. I suppose the producers want to put more emphasis on the mysteries. They did that quite well as there is some kind of ghost stories to scare the little kids. Although it’s not the intense type as shown in the Hidan no Aria OVA, it still interests me.

Apparently, the ghost story in this episode involved a guest staying in room seven. He eventually hanged himself, which is why the room remained vacant forever along with the old wing in the second floor. This is where the mystery goes into play as the two sisters have a rivalry with each other. Apparently, Kayo is jealous of Rie because she can never borrow anything of hers. For that, she secretly borrows her Yukata for the summer festival and manages to get it wet from the rain. For that, the only safe place to dry it is room seven. While the mystery is somewhat easy to solve once you gathered all the details, it had a tingle of the super natural. It seemed like it existed, but in reality, it’s something different.

Aside from that, this episode was rather enjoyable. Although Eru only said the famous catchphrase only once, the shipping with her and Oreki is obvious. You can tell from her wanting to bath with her and of course, him dreaming about her in the hot springs. To make it funnier, Satoshi’s face was really close to Oreki’s when he woke up in the morning. That was just one of the most hilarious moments in this episode. Not only that, Mayaka’s relatives and they looked adorable.  From that, it makes me wonder what mystery they will come up with the screening. ¶