The Public and Private Me: Chitanda or Eru?

In this two-part series discussing Chitanda Eru, Dan and I will each be sharing our thoughts on her character and why she is the way she is in Hyouka. I’ll be focusing on the significance of Chitanda’s public and private persona in contributing to her overall character, and Dan will be delving deeper into other aspects of her character in his article.

Chitanda has always, for me, been associated very closely to Image. Houtarou’s earliest opinions of her revolve around imaginations/images (dog, angel, entangling hair, her in the hot springs) instead of a clear, direct and genuine look at who she really is. He relates whatever he knows about her to a perceived notion or a blatant exaggeration in most cases in the beginning.

And that’s the point, isn’t it? That Chitanda’s private/true character is hidden away most of the time.

In its place, Chitanda adopts a public persona. We never get to see the ‘real’ Chitanda because part of her character is tied to the fact that she must always perform an expected role. She has been raised as the daughter of a really prestigious family, and as a result, in the public eye she acts like the daughter of the Chitanda family, not Eru. She behaves accordingly to expectations imposed both by herself and her family.

Due to this, I will call her public identity ‘Chitanda’ and her rarely seen private, personal identity, ‘Eru’.

This is why the Classics Club offers her an avenue to express herself more openly by pursuing her curiosity, allowing her to be a normal teenager and be herself, a little more Eru and a little less Chitanda. Outside of that, Chitanda has a lot of roles to fulfill. She has to deliver gifts under the title of ‘the daughter of the Chitanda family’, and even in school, she has to be the ‘President of the Classics Club’ and becomes a public figure with little to no acknowledgement of her private self/emotions. Multiple elements in Hyouka support this notion:

Notice how Chitanda’s first name is rarely mentioned in the entire show’s run. Houtarou and Satoshi call each other by their first name, and Satoshi calls Mayaka by hers. The addressing of the first name is very symbolic when framed in the narrative of Hyouka. It evidences how distant Chitanda is compared to the other members of the Classic’s Club. By being on first name basis, Houtarou, Satoshi and Mayaka indicate that they are close to each other, enough to warrant using first names. It’s not a matter of politeness/friendliness (Chitanda is most definitely their friend after all) as it is about identity. Mayaka calls her Chi-chan instead of Eru-chan. Chitanda’s public identity is firmly rooted in being Chitanda, not Eru.

Secondly, whose rooms do we get to see in the course of Hyouka? We see Houtarou’s, Mayaka’s and Satoshi’s. We get a glimpse into Chitanda’s room in the Kami Fest Arc, but it’s of her lying on the floor with her doll. They pointedly do not show the audience her room in as much detail as the other characters. The bedroom is a private, intimate space. It would make sense that we wouldn’t get to see Chitanda’s room because Chitanda doesn’t show her private self easily.

In the beginning of this arc, the scenes move from Houtarou to Satoshi to Mayaka’s homes. Chitanda, on the other hand, is shown wishing at the local shrine, in a public place once again. (The only private spatial setting we do get to see, however, is Chitanda’s bathroom in the first few episodes, and looking back now it might have been a tongue-in-cheek moment on the show’s part.)

In the final episode, I think what really brings home the idea that Chitanda is a public figure is when she asks for Houtarou’s audience before the start of the procession. The barrier in the room, preventing Houtarou from seeing her, is a physical manifestation of the barrier between Chitanda’s private and public self. Chitanda’s refined way of speaking in that scene – to Houtarou, a person she is arguably supposed to be close to – also adds weight to the idea that she is someone who is very public-oriented. The episode itself centers on her playing a role once again, this time as the ‘Doll’. She’s always upholding an image expected of her, and this is the burden she must bear.

We then question the significance of Chitanda’s curiosity: I think that that curiosity is one of the few aspects of Chitanda’s character that is more Eru than Chitanda. It’s one of her personal qualities, which is why the show places so much emphasis on it (the eyes, the body movements). It’s because when she’s curious, Eru can no longer uphold her public image and must reveal her inner desires and personality. The Classics Club’s clubroom becomes one of Eru’s few private spaces because she expresses herself more openly in the company of her friends. Her behaviour in the Geog Prep room contrasts against her cultured presentation of the gift to the Juumonji in episode 20 and her role as the ‘Doll’ in episode 22. Eru has much more freedom to express herself in this environment.

Ultimately though, it is ironic that Chitanda’s private space in school is still made public. In the Kami Fest arc, many students file into the clubroom to catch the Juumonji thief. The scene is symbolic of how even Chitanda’s private space will not be completely private. Even her bedroom is not completely private to her because we, the watchers, get to peek into it during her monologue.

All this being said – I find the last scene in episode 22 incredibly heartwarming and significant. Eru’s words speak volumes about how she feels in just a few sentences, finally showing a little bit more of what her private self thinks and feels.

“Take a look, Oreki. This is my place. All that’s here is water and soil. The people here are growing old. I don’t think that this place is the most beautiful. I also don’t think this place is full of potential. But… I wanted you to see it, Oreki.”

Ultimately, it seems that Eru’s character revealed itself and developed in just those 2 sentences. And, that is amazing narrative right there. Why do I feel this way? Dan will answer that as he discusses Chitanda Eru’s character and the significance behind her final lines in his article here.

• On an additional note (because I couldn’t find a way to work this point seamlessly into the rest): The fact that Chitanda is always performing her public identity may be one of the reasons why she is a character that is arguably static for the most of Hyouka.
• Houtarou and Mayaka develop greatly (former more than the latter) whereas Satoshi receives a lot of character depth. Chitanda, in contrast to them, doesn’t seem to change, and that may be on purpose because all the change is internal, or because she must stick to her role as ‘the daughter of the Chitanda’ no matter what. Chitanda’s greatest moments are when she reveals the hidden sides of her character (when she talks about herself, when she breaks down because of Mayaka’s stolen chocolate, etc), emphasizing the importance and yet absence of her private self in the rest of Hyouka.