Hearing that he was special from her meant more than hearing it from Chitanda or Fukube. Something that could give him the confidence he could rely when trying to break away from his gray life – because, after all, he saw Irusu as an objective bystander instead of a friend who’d say anything to motivate and encourage him. Everything he had started to believe in, the possibility that he might excel at something. The biggest problem plaguing Houtarou was certainly the ending in ‘Mystery Movie’ arc, in which he realizes that he has been used by Irusu, and that all her sweet words were merely a way to get him to do what she wants. On top of that, episode 6 showed us that Oreki Houtarou has a sense of pride. He doesn’t want to admit failure where he believes he could have succeeded, so he downplays it. Yet he’s unhappy with the that his high school life isn’t rose-colored, and he shows that through doubt rather than admitting to wanting to change. He is smart enough to do better than average, but never does so. Namely that Houtarou isn’t unhappy, but he isn’t happy either.
I do have my own theory that can support Houtarou’s behaviour and decision making throughout the series however. The information to be gathered is all of the present, which makes finding a reason for how he become the person he is today difficult and based on guesses and probabilities. I will admit that it is rather difficult, and a bit of guesswork, to puzzle together Houtarou as we never got to see anything from his past or household. He has been stuck in the loop of being ordinary, of leading a gray life, that he has problems imagining himself as someone who can excel at something, who can lead a rose-colored high school life. However, I believe that he doesn’t actually believe it to be luck. Instead, Houtarou does not allow himself to believe he is skilled at something. For the longest time, he denies being more skillful at deduction, finding links and the ability to bite into a mystery than his peers when solving a mystery. Self-deprecation is the keystone of the foundation on which Houtarou’s motto to live by is built. Self-deprecation is the act of undervaluing oneself, accomplishments and qualities, sometimes to the point where one could deny having said qualities and devaluing the worth of accomplishments that person certainly could be proud of. The journey was tough, and even still unfinished as far as the viewer could see. At first sight it can seem like an ordinary fix in character, but this isn’t something that happened on a whim, or over the span of a week or three – this is something that happened over a period of 10 months.
Throughout the entire show Houtarou’s outlook on life has stood central. He changed from being a shut out person, not willing to interact with his surroundings into an ordinary person, who initiates a conversation and doesn’t mind offering his help to others. Thematics in Hyouka: A character study of Oreki Houtarou