It can be interesting to analyze the themes used in the creation of characters for anime and manga: the fiery tsundere girls, the bokuko tomboy girls who talk like boys, the omnipresent rich ojosama girls who belong to wealthy zaibatsu families. One common theme seen in a lot of anime series is the use of a Japanese male main character who is bored and generally lacks ambition, with no idea what he wants to do with his life. Maybe the character is ecchi, maybe he has some interesting secret like a latent power or gaps in his memory that must be explored, but in general these bland “Joe Everyman” characters are similar to each other, presumably designed so that the majority of (Japanese) viewers can identify with them. In Hyouka, the main character is Houtarou Oreki, an unmotivated young man who shows his lack of enthusiasm at every turn, with his mussed hair and clothes and half-open eyelids, despite his penchant for solving mysteries whenever Chitanda becomes “curious” (ki ni narimasu!). Other generic main characters include Sasahara from Genshiken, who goes on a journey of discovery about what it is to become an otaku, the snarky Kyon from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Junichi from Amagami, as well as nearly every other main character in “harem” stories.
Oreki is a typical unmotivated main character.
