Kyon is bored with his current life, or more specifically, he lacks any belief in the supernatural, thinking things will only continue on at the same tedious pace. Someone with a similar feeling is Haruhi Suzumiya, a girl in Kyon’s class, but she on the other hand has taken it upon herself to make things interesting, to seek out the supernatural for herself. After commenting on how bored she is by the clubs at school, Kyon suggests to Haruhi that she should make her own club, and so the SOS Brigade is born, a club dedicated to investigating the supernatural. And of course Kyon is bullied into joining.

Although the stories go their very separate ways, the starting circumstances and themes behind both Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu and Hyouka are very similar. That is, Haruhi also has a good share of mysteries, or rather unusual events, that Kyon has to figure out, as well as having the everyday slice-of-life periods where silly goings on occur. Kyon and Oreki are dangerously similar as characters with both lacking any motivation to do so much as lift a finger, but at the end of the day both are forced to do all the hard work.

Both series also share the romantic undertones throughout, though Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu explores them more, but still doesn’t have too much focus on the romance aspect. Haruhi will give you a similar feelings to Hyouka at the start but take you on quite a different adventure with much more focus on the supernatural, making many of the mysteries a little less believable and a lot more bizarre.

Cynical, Narcissistic, Hachiman Hikigaya is like a bitter old man in a teenager’s body. His opinions and ideas although not often wrong, never seem to be what people want to hear, or the kindest resolution to a problem. As a punishment for writing a mocking essay, his teacher forces him to join the Volunteer Service Club, dedicated to helping other students with their problems. An ironic and fitting punishment. Along with the cold heart of winter Yukino Yukinoshita, the two of them set to solving the often silly and tiresome problems of high school students.

By far the biggest thing Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru and Hyouka have in common is their main character. Oreki and Hachiman may have different reasons, but they are both equally disinclined to get involved with other people, let alone offer their services. As you can imagine though, just like with Oreki, Hachiman is often quite agreeable from an audience perspective and watching him develop (and screw up) is very enjoyable.

In addition to that, the mysteries, or in Yahari’s case student problems, in both shows are a little odd, but always somewhat grounded in reality. Compared to more supernatural shows, this makes them easier to follow, and gives you more opportunity to work them out for yourself which is a nice challenge. Like Hyouka, Yahari also has romance which isn’t fully addressed, although it focuses a lot more on this aspect later on. If you liked Hyouka but wanted a bit more conflict, we would recommend Yahari.

Revolving around the five students of Yamaboshi High School’s Cultural Research Club, Kokoro Connect puts the member’s friendships to the test in a series of bizarre, supernatural events. It all starts when they begin switching bodies with each other at random, which is awkward to say the least. As the incidents continue and other strange things begin to happen, secrets and feelings are put out in the open, for better or for worse.

Although they have fairly different plotlines, Kokoro Connect and Hyouka both have a similar feel for a number of reasons. First is the art style, which is quite similar despite both being by different studios, and along with this both are excellent at very quickly creating an eerie and unsettling atmosphere. The character relationships also have a similar feel, with some silly slice-of-life moments, along with arguments, and the awkwardness that comes with hidden feelings.

Another somewhat obvious but important point is the school club settings, which again has a big effect on the character relationships, environment, and daily occurrences in the story. Although not really a mystery show, Kokoro Connect shares a lot of other similarities with Hyouka, so if you were after the similar series but with a bit more drama, Kokoro Connect is a good choice.

A story of ghosts, spirits and gods, many of whom are insistent on inhabiting the bodies of young girls, Bakemonogatari is supernatural to the core and won’t let a minute pass without reminding you of it. The one charged with saving said damsels in distress is Koyomi Araragi, a high school student who has just got back to his normal life after surviving an unfortunate encounter with a vampire. After catching fellow student Hitagi Senjougahara as she fell through the school’s stairwell and realizing that she’s almost weightless, he insists on delving back into the world of apparitions to help her out.

Although Bakemonogatari focuses heavily on the supernatural, both it and Hyouka feature a constant flow of mysterious cases that can only be solved by our quick thinking protagonist, often leaving everyone else in the dust. Their motivation is also similar, cute girls (and a lack of anything better to do). One of the things that separates these two from the bunch though is their use of language. The characters from both series are actually terrifyingly intelligent in the way that they speak and phrase things, as well as how they tell stories and explain events. It’s easy to find yourself hanging off their every word.

The two shows are also big on using unusual imagery during the telling of their stories that breaks away from more standard animation and art styles, though Bakemonogatari tends to be a bit more abstract in this regard. Overall both shows are very clever about the way in which they tell their stories, as well as having some great mysteries, and funny scenes.

A Japanese student very far from home, Kazuya Kujou has been cast out by his classmates at St. Marguerite Academy due to his appearance and the saying that “the traveler who comes in the spring brings death with him”. But an eventful meeting leaves him with at least one long lasting companion, Victorique de Blois, the pipe smoking, book loving Golden Fairy of the library. Of course, Victorique also happens to be a genius detective, and together the two of them begin solving mysteries, from police cases to more personal vendettas.

If you salivate at the idea of more mysteries, then this is the show for you. Gosick and Hyouka’s clearly defined link is their excellent mysteries and puzzles. Compared to Hyouka, Gosick tends to go for slightly more drawn out arcs, and chooses to focus less on slice-of-life events. Because of this Gosick has a more serious and dark feel to it, particularly later on in the series.

Gosick also features romance, with it becoming more important later on in the series. Although the romance is focused on more than in Hyouka, we still have the amusing and awkward undertones continuing throughout a majority of the show. So if you’re hungry for more mystery, Gosick is one of the best around, with a good helping of comedy and romance.

Yuuta Togashi is just an ordinary high schooler, at least now he is. When he was at middle school though, he was the Dark Flame Master, a badass with a demon hand. Or rather, he thought he was. But that embarrassing past is all behind him now, or at least it was until Rikka Takanashi decided to show up. Despite being a high schooler, Rikka is still lost deep in her Chuunibyou syndrome, and she’s determined to bring the Dark Flame Master back!

No mystery in this one, in fact, it’s pretty clear what’s going on. But despite the lack of mystery, with the same high school setting and amusing character dynamics, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai and Hyouka have a very similar feel throughout. This is also partly due to them sharing the same production studio, KyoAni, and thus having a very similar art and animation.

The two main characters are also very similar, with a male lead who is just trying to have a normal high school life, and a female lead who’s a tad (very) excitable and can’t leave him alone. As you can imagine with Chuunibyou having a stronger focus on romance, this makes them a funny combination. So for those of you that thought Hyouka could use a little more wackiness and a lot more romance, Chuunibyou is an excellent choice.