Eru Chitanda

I'm curious; I can't stop thinking about it!

Eru Chitanda's typical expression upon encountering something of interest

Eru Chitanda
Kanji	千反田 える
Gender	Female
Age	16
Height	160 cm (5'3")
Weight	54 kg (119 lbs)
Relatives	Tetsugo Chitanda (father) Jun Sekitani (uncle)
Occupation	Student
Clubs	Classic Club President
First appearance
Manga debut	Chapter 1
Anime debut	Episode 1
Portrayal
Voiced by (JP)	Satomi Satō

Eru Chitanda (千反田 える, Chitanda Eru) is one of the main characters of Hyouka. She is a student in her first year at Kamiyama High School in class 1-A. As the president of the Classics Club, Chitanda takes full responsibility for the club and will act as its representative when necessary. She is usually the one to get the club involved in the various mysteries the characters encounter.

Biography

Eru Chitanda is the only daughter of a lineage of wealthy farmers known as the Chitanda clan, of which appear to be quite well renowned, as they are one of the famed "Exponential Four" clans. In volume 4 she reveals she would take over the clan in the future. She was a graduate of Shirushi-chi Junior High School(印地中学) before enrolling to Kamiyama. She entered the Classics Club in attempt to recollect her last memory of her uncle, and incidentally, became the Club's president due to the club not retaining any members from the previous year.

General Information

Personality

Eru Chitanda is very ladylike, polite, and cheerful. She is described as being sensible, emotive, friendly, and innocent, coming across as "childlike" in many aspects. She has a very positive demeanor and rarely seems to harbor negative emotions. Contrary to her well-behaved mannerisms, she can become compulsively nosey when intrigued; becoming hyperactive and having a tendency to glare and ignore personal space.

Although easily distracted, Eru can become very focused on a particular subject, to a point of forgetting anything else not associated with it. She can be very persistent and stubborn, especially concerning mysteries, as she will not be able to stop thinking about it until she finally solves it. Eru loves daikon vegetable; this was proven in Arienai makuai geki no.4 when they were planning on increasing the club members. Eru kept forcing the others to sell daikon after school but Houtaro kept refusing. She even insisted on changing the club name to "Daikon Club" but again Houtaro refused it.

While being very skillful in cooking, she is vulnerable to alcohol and caffeine. Matcha milk is her favorite drink.

Appearance

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Eru Chitanda is a fairly shapely young girl that stands at 160 cm roughly (5'3") and weighs at 54 kg (119 lbs). She has mid-back length straight black hair that she sometimes wears in a rough high ponytail. Her bangs are cut straight across her forehead, just above her eyes. Chitanda's eyes are indigo-purple and are considered rather large; they tend to sparkle when intrigued. She is principally seen in the Kamiyama High School uniform, only occasionallly shown wearing any other article of clothing. When not in her school uniform, Eru Chitanda generally wears somewhat loose fitting, "dainty" clothing.

Plot

Reviving the Classics Club

At the first day of the new school term, Eru meets Houtarou Oreki as she visits the Geography Prep Room of Kamiyama High School, the headquarters of the Classics Club. After an awkward exchange between the two, Eru and Houtarou stumble upon a mystery case waiting to be solved, and Eru instantly becomes attached to Houtarou after seeing his talent during the Locked Room case. However, this attachment begins to test Houtarou's energy-saving lifestyle, and not even diverting her attention to other cases would quell her curiosity. The Classics Club, now composed of Houtarou, his friend Satoshi Fukube, and Eru herself, soon enters a state of ennui, causing Eru to resort to reviving the yearly anthology of the Classics Club, Hyouka, as their major activity. After much difficulty, they traced back a copy of Hyouka in the Biology Prep Room. In the process, the discovery triggered a memory that Eru later discusses with Houtarou the following weekend.

The Case of Jun Sekitani

The three members of the Classics Club, with Houtarou's childhood friend Mayaka Ibara tagging along, retrace the steps of history leading to a series of events that happened 45 years into the past involving Mayaka's uncle Jun Sekitani and the reason for the term "Kanya Festival" being considered as taboo at school. The efforts of the Classics Club soon paid off, and Eru tearfully recalls the reason why she cried as a young girl when she listened to the story featured in the Hyouka of 45 years ago from her uncle. In turn, they also understood the meaning behind the name "Hyouka" and used their findings in publishing the newest issue of the Hyouka anthology.

In order to reward the Classics Club for its acheivements in the Jun Sekitani case, Eru brings the club to the nearby Zaizen Village for a short vacation, and they stayed for free at a hot spring inn owned by Mayaka's relatives. In their short stay, they discover a mystery involving a ghost sighting in a closed room in the inn. Houtarou later debunks the ghost story to the Classics Club, but allowed the story to persist.

Kamiyama High School Festival

Preparations for the Kamiyama High School Festival, also called as Kanya-sai among the student body, go underway, and Eru receives an invitation from her senior Fuyumi Irisu to review an amateur film made by Class 2-F. Unlike the other members of the Classic Club who clearly see the problems of the film, Eru is shown to be hooked into the film, and even more so when a new mystery case involving the missing end for the film shows up. She then joins the club in consulting three of the film's crew members and was able to formulate her own ideas of the ending. However, during the long consultation session, Eru ends up getting drunk from eating too much brandy chocolate, and was unable to contribute her thoughts the next day, when Houtarou decides on an ending for the movie. Eru returns to school at the day of the showing of Class 2-F's film and later voices her surprise at the ending chosen for the film. Unsurprisingly, she confronted Houtarou about his decisions in her absence.

The Kamiyama Festival officially begins, and the club is suddenly pressed with the task of selling 200 copies of the latest Hyouka anthology. In order to help in selling the anthology in the festival, Eru spends the rest of the festival going around the different clubs, and has her pictures taken, has visited the Newspaper Club, has been interviewed by the Broadcasting Club, and even asked help from Irisu to sell a portion of the anthology for a profit. It did not take long before Eru and the Classics Club were tangled into a chain of disappearances involving random items, and the club boldly took up the challenge of a so-called "Jumonji", only to become a victim itself. Houtarou mostly handled the case, as well as its connections with the Student Council President, while Eru celebrates for having sold out the anthology.

Blossoming Relationships

On the weeks following the Kamiyama High School Festival, both Eru and Houtarou underwent changes to their personality. Eru has started to rely on Houtarou more when it comes to even the littlest curiosity, while Houtarou, no longer the energy-saving boy of before, slowly builds patience and initiative when a new mystery shows up. Their bond eventually culminates with Eru personally inviting Houtarou to various occasions such as her uncle's funeral, New Year's Day and the town's Doll Festival, where Houtarou assumes a vital role along with Eru herself. After the festival, Eru asks Houtarou if he could help in handling the Chitanda family business alongside her. Eru was unable to get a response as Houtarou was once more haunted by the risks of living a rose-colored life.

Relationships 

Hōtarō Oreki

Eru Chitanda admires Oreki's talents and skills a great deal. In addition, she trusts Oreki and believes he can solve any mystery. As a result, Oreki is often forced to sedate Eru's rabid curiosity by solving the various mysteries she drags him into. Chitanda has consistently managed to persuade Oreki into helping her at any give time without fail. Chitanda is quite attached to Oreki and, later in the anime series, it is hinted by their interactions that the feeling is mutual. Examples include how Oreki starts to pick on Chitanda much to her chagrin, and when Eru sheepishly backs away and blushes when getting too close to Oreki. 

Mayaka Ibara

Chitanda quickly becomes close friends with Mayaka and Mayaka frequently refers to her by her nickname, "Chi-chan." At one point, Eru helps Mayaka in making homemade chocolate for Satoshi and was as devastated as Mayaka when the chocolate vanished.

Satoshi Fukube

She maintains a friendly relationship with Satoshi, who constanly helps her convince Hōtarō to solve the mystery at hand. However, since she has only met Satoshi and his friends more recently, Eru is often left out when an issue between Satoshi and his childhood friends arises.

Fuyumi Irisu

Irisu is Chitanda's upperclassman. They are on good terms and seem to be good friends, although Irisu comments that Eru struggles in making others do her bidding.

Kaho Jūmonji

Kaho is a close acquaintance of Eru's. Primarily, their familiarity stemmed from the social obligations between the Chitanda and Juumonji families. During New Year's Eve, the Chitanda family makes sure to bring presents to the Juumonji family.

Quotes

• "I'm curious, I can't stop thinking about it!"
• "I wanted you to see it."
• "That's because you've never taken a close look at yourself."
• "His brain, I feel like i want to open it up and take a peek inside."
• "I find myself hard to understand sometimes"
• "I like to avoid getting tired"

Gallery

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Chitanda with Oreki

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Trivia

• Surprisingly, by her first year's Mid-term test, Chitanda is ranked sixth in her year. She is often called "top student".
• She apparently has a good sense of hearing and smell, as she is able to hear and smell things that other characters are unable to.
• She is very meticulous, seeing details other people might fail to see.
• She has excellent night vision, as she claims in episode 20.
• She has not read for years, as claimed by herself.
• She is good at cooking.
• She was born on October the 16th (fans rumor) but her actual birthday is on April the 24th.
• Her seiyuu, Satomi Sato, together with Satoshi Fukube's seiyuu, Daisuke Sakaguchi, sung "Update Goissho Ni" and "Itsuka Bokura no Epilogue" in Hyouka Net Radio "Kotenbu no Kuttaku" Theme song CD.
• Hōtarō specified her as The Fool of the tarot card.
• Like many other anime girls (and some guys), Eru entered Saimoe Contests.
  • ​To see her result, visit here: http://saimoe.wikia.com/wiki/Chitanda_Eru
  • To vote in for her when the match is on, visit here: http://www.internationalsaimoe.com/voting/