Hyouka Ep 22: A Glorious Finale 第２２話： 最終回

Warning! This post contains many images!  Those on 56k are advised to be extremely patient!
注意!　写真が多いので５６ｋユーザの方は少々お待ちください。

All anime images are from Kyoto Animation, fair use for educational purposes.

The finale saw KyoAni altering the environs surrounding the Minashi shrine to suit the needs of the plot.  Just take a look at the map below.  Image from Google Maps, fair use for educational purposes.

京アニは水無神社の周りを色々変えています。下の地図を比べれば解ります。

Although just one stop away on the train, I decided to cycle it just like Oreki.  It takes approximately 45 minutes along a main rural road which isn't as ideallic as in Hyouka.  Note that the location IRL is south of Takayama, while in the anime, it is north of Kamiyama.

高山から電車で一駅なのですが折木みたいに自転車で舞台に行きました。　国道を沿って約４５分かかります。　氷菓みたいに静かな道ではありません。 実際高山から南方向なのですが氷菓では北方面になっています。

The entrance to the Minashi Shrine.  In the anime, it is called Mizunashi.  Both can be written using the same kanji!
水無神社の入口です。　本名は「みなし」ですがアニメでは「みずなし」になっています。

View of the outer courtyard.
神社外側の風景

The inner courtyard, which was off-limits to the public when I visited.
内側は立ち入り禁止でした。

 


Photo board for the "Living Dolls"
生きびな祭の看板。

Since I cycled, I did not think to gather material from the car park.  Image from Google StreetView, fair use for educational purposes. 
自転車で来たので駐車場に入りませんでした。

The scene by the streamside.
川の風景

There were only ordinary bridges in the vicinity of the shrine, and none of the wooden and stone ones that were depicted in the anime.
神社付近では普通の橋しかありませんでした。　氷菓みたいに木造や石造の橋は見かけません。

The "Garyuu Sakura" tree, which is older than 1100 years.  There are stilts to protect the tree as typhoons in the past have almost obliterated it many times.  It is located a fair distance away from the Shrine, beside the railway.  A park surrounds the tree and the road is a dead-end.  The tree can be seen in full bloom on the Japanese Wikipedia.

１１００歳を超える臥龍桜です。 昔何回も台風に完全にやられそうだったので現在木の柱（？）を利用して守られています。　実際神社からかなり離れていて鉄道の隣です。　周辺は行き止まりの公園です。　春の写真はＷｉｋｉｐｅｄｉａでご覧できます。

This marks the end of my Hyouka blog.  As can be seen from the wishing board at the Minashi Shrine, I am far from the only one who has explored Hyouka locations.

ここでこのブログは終了となります。　水無神社の様子を見ると「氷菓」の舞台探検した人はとても多いです。

Top Left: This is the first time I've been to this sacred place.  I would love to come again in Spring.  I really love Eru.
Top Middle: I wish to encounter and become close with a girl like Chitanda.
Top Right: I wish to encounter a guy like Houtarou.
Bottom Left: Although it was raining, I'm really glad to have visited this place.
Bottom Middle:  I wish for a second season of Hyouka.
Bottom Right: I came from Numazu.  Visiting Hyouka locations was plenty of fun.


A massive thank you for those who dropped by and read my blog!  I hope you enjoyed it.
ブログを読んだ人たちにありがとうございます！ 楽しめていもらえたら嬉しいです。

Hyouka Ep 21: A Tale of Two Bridges + Extras 第２１話：二つの橋の物語＋番外編

Hyouka Episode 20 sees the male and female cast go on two different bridges for the big reveal regarding the mystery of the week.
第２０話では、男子と女子キャストがそれぞれ橋の上でミステリーを答えを語ります。

The male cast converse on a bridge already featured in the second OP.
男子はＯＰ２で現れる橋で会話をします。

All anime images belong to Kyoto Animation, fair use for educational purposes.

The female members of the cast converse on a road bridge spanning over a railway.  If you scrutinise the buildings alongside the railways, you can see they are accurately drawn.

女子キャストは鉄道の上の橋で会話をします。よく見ると鉄道の隣の建物が実際と同じく書かれていると解ります。

 














































The arrangement of the guardrails are also accurate.
ガードレールも実物と同じく書かれています。

 
















































I was on the wrong side of the bridge, taking pictures the wrong way so here is an image from Google Streetview, fair use for educational purposes to save the day.  The bus parking lot and the building behind it are faithfully recreated.

バスの駐車場と後ろの建物が同じです。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extras / 番外編

The school uniform featured in Hyouka is almost exactly the same as the real uniform.
氷菓で現れる制服は、実際とほぼ同じです。

 







































There is a story behind this terrible picture below.  The students of Hida High School are truly dedicated to their extra-curricular activities.  On my return from the pool featured in ep11.5, I passed by the school again.  It had just gone past 7pm and one of the classroom lights was still on.  Wanting to take a photograph of the lit classroom, I took my camera out only for the light to go out.  Soon after, I saw students cycling from the premises.  Note that it was summer holidays.

このザツな写真は、高山市民プールの取材（第１１．５話）からの戻りに取られた物です。　斐太高校の部活動はまるで「氷菓」と同じく本格的です。　夏休みの夜の七時なのにまだ教室の電気がついていたのです。　写真を取ろうとカメラを出したとたんに電気が消えて、その後、学生が自転車を乗って下校しました。

 

Hyouka Ep 20: Hie Shrine 第２０話： 日枝神社

There is no post for Episode 19 as it took place entirely within the school grounds.
第１９話は、全て学校の校内だったのでブログポストはありません。

Much of episode 20 is set at the Hie Shrine （日枝神社） where the cast celebrate the New Year.　This Shrine has been seen in OP1 and OP2.
第２０話のロケは日枝神社です。ＯＰ１とＯＰ２でも現れています。

All anime images are from Kyoto Animation, fair use for educational purposes.
 
The entrance to the shrine.
神社の入口です。

The Torii gate made of stone.
石造の鳥居です。

Going through the stone Torii, there is a wide clear area lined by trees in one side and a steep slope on the other.  Note that all the buildings are well behind the trees in real life, unlike the little love shed of Houtarou and Chitanda which cannot be spotted.  (I took the photo from under the Torii, looking inside, while KyoAni's angle is the opposite).

鳥居を通ると道が広々になります。片側には高い木、 反対側は険しい坂です。リアルでは、全ての建物が木の後ろに立ててあって道の傍に倉庫が見当たりません。（写真は鳥居の下から中の方向に撮りました。）

The Shrine office is at the end of the wide path.  KyoAni does a great job finding an angle to focus only on the building, while hiding the red Torii.
広い道の終わりにある社務所です。京アニはよく建物だけ見える角度を使っています。 鳥居が入ると僕たちのの目がそっちに引かれるからだと思います。

Going through the red torii gate and up the steps will lead you up to the shrine itself.
鳥居をくぐり、階段を上りましたら神社に着きます。

A massive thank you to Redditors who managed to give this blog several thousand hits in just one day, much appreciated!
Ｒｅｄｄｉｔのユーザたちのおかげでたったの一日に数千ヒットもらいました！ とても感謝しています。

Hyouka Ep18: Of Mysterious Helicopters and Avant-garde Libraries 第１８話： ヘリコプターと教師の謎

Hyouka Episode 18 sees Oreki and Chitanda investigating why a teacher, out of the blue was so relieved to see a helicopter fly past the school.  This involved a visit to a very picturesque library to research old newspaper articles.

第１８話では、折木と千反田が一緒に図書館へいきます。何故中学の教師がヘリコプターを見てほっとした顔をした謎を探るために古い新聞の記事を探索します。

All anime images are from Kyoto Animation, fair use for educational purposes.
All StreetView images, where specified are from Google StreetView, fair use for educational purposes. 


Upon leaving the school, Oreki passes a bridge (Real-world image from Google StreetView).
学校を出たさい折木はこの橋を通ります。

 














































This shot of the Japanese alps are shown when Oreki recalls his sister telling him how the Japanese Alps with its peaks of over 3000 metres cut through the air creating different microclimates.  Kyoto Animation went over to the Alps Viewing "Sky Park" to get this angle.  Unfortunately, it was covered with clouds during my visit.


折木が姉の教えを思い出している時この北アルプスが出てきます。３０００メートルを超えていて気流を二つに切り、アルプスの表・裏の気候が完全に違うと言っています。　京アニは、アルプス展望公園「スカイパーク」でこの映像をとりました。　しかし僕が訪れた時は、山が曇っていました。



















































This is the entrance to the Takayama City Library.  It's a genuinely old building (not a replica) and used to be a school.

高山市図書館の入り口です。　レプリカじゃなくて本当に古い建物です。　元は学校でした。

 



















This is the building as a whole.  KyoAni made the right call in deleting all the cars! I did not take any photos inside as it felt wrong to do so at the time but it seems accurate from memory.

これが建物その物です。駐車場の車が全て消されています。 写真を取れそうな雰囲気ではなかったので中身の写真はありません。

 














































At dusk, Oreki and Chitanda cross this bridge over the Miya River.  (Real-world image taken from Google Streetview.)

探索後、夕方に折木と千反田はこの橋で宮川を渡ります。

 














































This particular bridge has statues on it.

この橋には像があります。

 

















































Oreki and Chitanda then part ways at the same intersection as seen in Episode 1.

折木と千反田はこの後、第１話と同じ交差点で道を分かれます。

Hyouka Eps 12-17: The School Festival Arc

School Festivals tend to take place within the school grounds (surprise, surprise), therefore these episodes didn't yield much material in the greater Takayama area.


Episode 12 begins with Chitanda walking to the Minashi Shrine at night.  KyoAni mirrored the real life image.  I wonder if there is a significance in wanting Chitanda to walk across the screen from the Left -> Right rather than the other way round?

All anime images are from Kyoto Animation, fair use for educational purposes.
Below image is from Google Streetview, fair use for educational purposes.

Chitanda says her prayers in the inner courtyard, which was off-limits to the public (i.e. me!).  I did observe people entering/exiting the fenced off courtyard accompanied by a priest.  There is another offertory box and bell at the entrance to the inner courtyard which the visiting public can use.

 














































Episode 12 also featured a new OP featuring some new scenery.  A wooden bridge spanning the Miya River

Another segment of OP2 features the Hie Shrine.  This is the part of the same shrine seen in OP1.

In Episode 16, KyoAni really excels at extra wide angle drawings which make places seem much larger than it really is.  While the ground is a decent size, I was genuinely surprised at the "size difference".  Also note that the old wooden building featured in Hyouka does not exist IRL.  Instead, there is a small white structure in its place.

(Open image in new tab/window to enlarge)

Personally speaking, the cooking tournament is my favourite part of the entire series and was a joy to re-watch!

Hyouka Ep 11.5: Of Pools and Men

Time and time again, I question my sanity and ask myself this question: "What on earth am I doing in the middle of nowhere?" 

Yep, it really is rather out of town.  That overhanging tree in KyoAni's version below actually exists a little further back from where I picked the StreetView photo.
All anime images are from Kyoto Animation, fair use for educational purposes.  Below photograph is from Google Streetview, fair use for educational purposes.

Hyouka Episode 11.5 came bundled along with one of the anime BD/DVDs and it features Chitanda's perfectly drawn assets and ASSet which I shall exclude from my blog as it would most definitely breach fair-use.

The location for 11.5 was set at the Takayama Public Swimming Pool.  It is open for just 1.5 months a year (July 15-August 31).

It's rather rundown with concrete surfaces peeling off and would most certainly not pass UK health and safety.  Of course, KyoAni spares no efforts in beautifying it!  To the far left of my photo is the exact seat where Oreki does his job.  Also, note the water slide in the background.

A close-up of the lifeguard chair, drawn with remarkable accuracy.  Yes, I did choose the *wrong* chair for this shot.

The 25 metre pool.  IRL, it's in a very ratty condition. (Gasp, how can Japan not be perfect?)

The canopy area where Oreki and co. have their lunch.

The bench area between the lap pool and the leisure pools.

To finish this post off, the I Scream store which does not exist IRL.

A note to potential Hyouka location chasers; This location is unavailable for photography during business hours (10am~5pm).  I got lucky, arriving at 6pm!

Hyouka Eps 9-11: Irisu's Charming Movie Arc

Irisu's movie arc has been a torture to watch, resulting in a long gap between blog posts.  With that said, I've finally watched it!  Episode 9 barely had a location outside school, aside from the same intersection near the river seen in earlier episodes.

All Anime Images used are from Kyoto Animation, fair use for educational purposes.

In Episode 10, Irisu works her charms on Oreki at a teahouse beyond my financial means.

Oreki, charmed by Academy Ahri Irisu meets up with Satoshi and voluntarily goes into school during the summer holidays.  KyoAni removed a whole load of street clutter for this shot.

He also passes by a bridge on the way to school. 

Additional image from Google StreetView, fair use for educational purposes.

 













































We now skip over to Episode 11, after it turns out that the only genuine friend in the Literacy Club is Chitanda, the other two being entitled teenagers who simply makes use of Oreki and rage back at him if the desired outcome is not reached.  (Seriously this was painful to watch).

A not-quite-a-date by the riverside.

 
















































I could not help but notice the green filter they used to express the gentleness and freshness of Chitanda's point of view.  It really gives a pleasant atmosphere, as opposed to Oreki's earlier encounters with Mayaka and Satoshi.

Oreki then meditates outside a public toilet.

The next day, Oreki confronts Irisu and learns he got totally manipulated.  Here is the scene right before he fists a shop shutter.

Next episode is the Pool episode.  Who in their right mind would head out to a public pool to cover a fanservice episode?  Right?