This has to be the bitterest thing I have ever seen. Reminiscent in some ways of Bakemonogatari's "starry sky" scene. Although what's different is that here, Chitanda is reducing her life to something concrete as opposed to Senjougahara elevating it to something sublime.
And there's no hope for the future this way because they're choosing different paths.
if they never continue the series, I choose to believe the 'first' scene. it was the following scene that never really happened
I wonder if my first thought watching this show wasn't correct. That "energy conservation" is a euphemism for akrasia.
You're a retard. Oreki literally says he'd become the other half of her life.
i thought it was pretty obvious that they get together.
The first scene is what he wanted to say "taking care of the business side."
The second scene is real, and he talks about the weather ("it's getting cold"). Chitanda accepts this optimistically ("it's Spring"). This fits much better with the idea of coming to terms with the ephemeral nature of their relationship.
i'm , i'll try to explain what i mean.
Chitanda and Oreki have been growing closer through the game of mystery solving. the format almost every time is Chitanda's curiosity causes Oreki to act. she holds a soft but firm influence over him, as opposed to Irisu's hard but brittle sort of influence. Oreki doesn't really consciously recognize Chitanda's influence and how capable she really is until the last few episodes, and especially in the last episode when she solves the problem with the towns and presides as the queen of the parade.
so the whole time Oreki has been influenced by Chitanda, and it took the whole series for him to grow enough to recognize it. in that last scene, Chitanda, instead of starting the game again, presents her life very plainly to Oreki. the dynamic of the mystery game is gone, she's talking to him as an adult, but he still isn't mature enough to respond properly. the most important thing though, is he imagines himself taking the initiative and expressing his love.
that's important, since the other times he initiated were selfish or to help friends: 1. tricking her with the fake flyer, which he regretted, 2. the cultural festival plan, and 3. protecting everyone's feelings when Fukube broke Ibara's chocolate.
so when they're standing in the fallow fields that represent both Oreki's past and Chitanda's future, and the cherry blossom wind ruffles her hair even more beautifully than in his imagination, and the rose-colored light is painting everything around them, and they talk about growing crops in the fallow fields, Oreki's hesitation isn't a bitter ending. it's Oreki finally mature enough to recognize his feelings, but still with a lot of room to grow.
and there's a shot of the bridge at the very end. the one thats currently blocked, but under construction, and soon it will connect both sides.
Just to add on to this point, the name of the series is called "Hyouka", which is about someone who is unable to vocalize when under attack. Here, Oreki is unable to vocalize his desires, and this makes the title of the series make more sense.
s2 any day now
(I am the person you are responding to)
>the format almost every time is Chitanda's curiosity causes Oreki to act.
I think this is consistent with reading Oreki's "energy conservation" as a defect to be rectified through Chitanda's external force. And the point about Irisu's influence is good; I hadn't recognized that contrast.
But I think that there's actually a better interpretation to be had. With each mystery, Oreki suddenly becomes interested once he recognizes a human drama at play. This explains why he was immediately interested in Ogi's story, for example, but also why he had to force himself to "solve" the movie. I think this even coheres with the fake flyer better -- he wanted to distract Chitanda, and even though his distraction is "tricky" it is not selfish. The claimed selfishness is only an excuse.
>the dynamic of the mystery game is gone, she's talking to him as an adult, but he still isn't mature enough to respond properly. the most important thing though, is he imagines himself taking the initiative and expressing his love
>and there's a shot of the bridge at the very end. the one thats currently blocked, but under construction, and soon it will connect both sides.
I really like this analysis. It's obvious in retrospect. Maybe you are right user, regarding the bitterness.
Captcha asked me to identify bridges
>With each mystery, Oreki suddenly becomes interested once he recognizes a human drama at play. This explains why he was immediately interested in Ogi's story, for example, but also why he had to force himself to "solve" the movie.
that's makes so much sense. i tried to explain to a friend that Oreki doesn't engage with the mysteries solely because of Chitanda but i couldn't quite express his other motives properly. you just nailed it though.
>I really like this analysis. It's obvious in retrospect. Maybe you are right user, regarding the bitterness.
thanks. i've been kicking the ideas around in my head because i see a lot of anons question the ending. you're one of the only ones who's shown careful consideration.
Oreki is really the least mature character for like the entire show but his immaturity is hidden by his genius most of the time. on the other hand Chitanda is portrayed as immature in the beginning. the reality of her maturity and influence among the community becomes apparent as Oreki grows socially, and at the end of the show it's obvious that Chitanda has been every bit the responsible daughter of a notable family and that the mystery game is partly a way to ease her loneliness and insecurities about her future.
>Captcha asked me to identify bridges
lol
>the mystery game is partly a way to ease her loneliness and insecurities about her future
i forgot to add
>and not just Chitanda acting like a child
So they be together or not?
Yeah
?
One little bridge can change everything. I think the scene sets up as if they will be parting ways. Chitanda chooses to study science, Oreki to study humanities, they certainly won't be off to the same university. Chitanda gives an indirect confession which is in some sense frank and direct. Instead of responding in kind as he clearly wants to, Oreki offers some sort of excuse. There's a breeze just like Oreki imagines, and it is somehow more subdued, less flamboyant than the breeze he imagined, and perhaps more bittersweet. All this I think is consistent with them accepting to part ways.
But I do think the shot of the bridge is more consistent with the more optimistic interpretation.
The point is he wants to be with her, he's just not ready to say it yet. Jesus christ you are dumb as fuck.
How does it feel to be 2 steps behind the conversation and not even know it?
i think Chitanda studying sciences and Oreki humanities is an indication of their complementary relationship. and the lines "It's getting cold" and "It's spring" along with everything i mentioned in the second to last paragraph here are about a new beginning together, rather than resignation or acceptance of the end of their relationship.
also after his imagined confession, Oreki remembers Fukube's dilemma about Ibara, which to me seems like another sign of Oreki's growth. and i prefer the optimistic interpretation because it completes the story of their mutual growth so well.
i do see how most of these things could support the other interpretation. and that's where my bridge comes in. thanks bridge.
I'm glad I still have this image.
I might need to read the LN that's in stash right now. Be right back in 2 weeks. Thanks user!
that's honestly great, i've never seen this but i ended up repeating a lot of what they said. really wish i'd been around for these early threads, i didn't get around to watching Hyouka until like 2015.
I don't understand why do you always have to look for romances, even if there doesn't need to be one.
The whole thing that they will not. They do belong to different social classes and whole last ark is screaming about that. They absolutely can not be together as a couple.
>Oreki is really the least mature character for like the entire show
Something in the very first episode that adds to this is Oreki and Chitanda's reasoning for joining the Classics Club in the first place. Oreki joins as a favor to his sister and only so he has place where he does not have to interact with anyone, where as Chitanda joined the club with a purpose. She wants to solve a mystery fifty years in the making, for a deeply personal reason. Chitanda is motivated and determined from before the story even began.
Has there been any new novels published since?
>Takemoto will never do anything as good as Hyouka ever again
Only a volume full of side stories iirc.
zzzzZZZZzzzzzz
>zzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZ
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the last two chapter isn't a side stories
Also no development.
...
have you read The Long Holiday?
in that chapter we finally know the reason behind Oreki life's motto and meeting Chitanda finally end Oreki long holiday