Shoushimin Series

I was never planning to write a review for this series, and at the very least not until it had finished. I don't understand the critism being thrown at Shoushimin Series; it's unique, has fantastic characters and can convey exactly what it needs to in the span of an episode.

I write this at episode 3, with the fourth being delayed by a week. As of now, I can confidently say that the 2 main characters are good. I think they are a pleasure to watch with their quirky character dynamic and almost an underlying feeling of "something about this is strange". Kobato and Osanai strive ... to be "ordinary" which in itself leaves a mystery right there... why are they not already? They're not robots with no ability to make interesting conversation, or even a lack of personality. To the people I speak about this show with, we all find them genuinely interesting with obviously plenty to unravel about their character in the future.

The second main "problem" I see complaints about is the simple mysteries themselves. It's entirely subjective whether what is presented each episode interests you or not. However it's important to understand that this show currently does not strive to plot out a mystery to see who's going to blow up earth, but instead simple dilemmas that allow us to have a extremely fun way of seeing character dynamics and personalities with no speaking at all. Just because a whole episode was a mystery on how Kengo made his hot chocolate, does not make it worthless. We saw the thought process of each one allowing them to interact, and it showed the viewer that even such a stupid outcome as Kengo just being an idiot: you don't need a complicated murder story or straight out telling me what a character is like to have me understand what I need to understand, I can just be shown through fantastic story telling.

Are these stupid problems a good setup for a central theme and conflict? Well... yes. Who the fuck cares if you wanted the next Sherlock Holmes, that isn't the story we're telling. Shoushimin Series has just put out a 3rd episode and you're telling me this is objectively bad because well uhh... I said so. If you hate dialouge, move on. The likes of Monogatari have shown us that lengthty dialouge sequences like this can be fantastic story telling. There is life in this show and it's being thrown straight at you - you just can't read!

Most of all, if you already dislike the show you could atleast try to stop bashing what it's gone above and beyond on. A unique choice to go with a 21:9 ratio that pairs fantastically with the mood and atmosphere the show creates. Not just a great OP but an incredible ED, everything that just screams potentital is right here. So do me a favour, let it air. Give your opinion later.

The score below is not the one I would like to give just yet, but I have to until the show finishes airing and I can delete this review.

More SoL-tinged nothing burger "mysteries" with a latent sort of quirky but not really committed sulky romance that may not exist at all from the creator of Hyouka. This feels about as formal as a 1940s drama but more naturalistic and with a girl always dragging the guys around to eat sweets, like a corrupted CGDCT anime with muted colors and pacing issues that would make even those who like to watch grass grow get antsy.

Visually, it's decent enough but resembles a hipster neo-noir with a 21:9 cinematic aspect ratio, and you'll have to get used to the blandly muted colors. The ED's composited ... anime characters onto photographs and video cements the cinematic nature and manages to be fairly unique, and there are many dramatic shifts using sunset and the like. I wouldn't say the cinematography is overly memorable, but it does help craft a drab "I'm trying to be as ordinary as possible" and "but, mom, I don't want to go to school!" atmosphere, along with the sound design and an effective ambient score. Even the detached, anti-depressant-tinged dialogue comes across as ASMR. The characters simply melt into the aesthetic.

The mysteries are just as fillerish as Hyouka, there's more or less the same jaded, rose-tinted slacker philosophy of the main from that series, and the same detective component to add the didactic clownishness of Blue's Clues. Kengo, thankfully replacing the dull sidekicks from Hyouka, functions as a brash and fiery foil to the odd couple. The latter mostly spend whole episodes talking about nothing or boring school junk, solving a "mystery," or eating strawberry shortcakes and drinking matcha tea together. They occasionally have cryptic chats about being ordinary, like they're in a bizarro secret society.

It's decently written but comes across as shallow and awkward because it feels aimless, empty, and featuring robotic chemistry between the two leads, until we get to a "mystery," yet these are unrewarding and lack depth. The method seems to be to use the "mystery" to explore the characters, but there's not much to them other than flipping around between being unremarkable high schoolers and a detective duo who have never found a "mystery" too vapid to solve. If you want to make a mystery series, craft interesting mysteries. If you want a character study, you're not going to come to any compelling outcome by wasting our time with a slew of mysteries equivalent to Duchamp's readymade toilet prank from the art world.

The summary gets to the heart of the series and its issues: "However, for some reason, mysterious incidents and misfortunes keep coming one after another into their school lives. Will Kobato and Osanai be able to achieve peaceful days as ordinary citizens?" Are you kidding? The main conflict is for these two goofy goobers to remain "ordinary citizens," but Kobato can't stop from inserting himself into every literal "who cares?" event that prevents him from being "ordinary." Apparently, being "ordinary" means not sticking your nose into the business of other people and solving electrifying whodunnits like who took the last cookie from the cookie jar. I actually don't want to know the answer to this "mystery," if I'm being honest.

Let's walk through an actual episode. Don't worry. I won't spoil the answer to this exciting "mystery." In episode 2, Kengo airs his grievances about how the MC has changed: "Hah. You really think you're man enough to figure out how I made this premium cup of hot cocoa? Quit being a nice guy and start being an asshole! You'll never figure out how I made hot cocoa unless you're willing to be the biggest asshole on the block." After the pep talk is over, three minds come together to solve the "mystery" of how Kengo made hot cocoa. The MC is like, "Yep, that's right, I stopped playing the detective, but I had to step out of retirement to solve the mystery of how my friend made such good hot cocoa." Get the fuck out of here, you pretentious twat. It's like a decoming of age where the main regresses to a child to play detective games with his friends.

The nature of these mysteries indicates that the summary line I quoted is exaggerated and melodramatic to the extreme, yet the characters take these "mysteries" so seriously. During their smarty-pants investigation, the sister even "rules out" certain scenarios because there's a dirty spoon in the sink and the surface isn't wet. What if he simply washed everything down in the sink, wiped it dry, then put the spoon in last? It's so pointlessly speculative. It seems like they would have noticed the solution when they were making hot cocoa, but the eureka moment doesn't come until later. Maybe I missed something because I turned my brain off or was multitasking, but I don't even want to think about something so stupid.

I suppose you could argue Kobato was a man born in the wrong time, and he could have been the next Dupin, Holmes, Poirot, or Conan, but Japan is too serene to offer any mysteries worth solving, except for these cute little vanity projects to puff up the ego of the MC and allow everyone to blow smoke up his ass. Maybe next episode he can solve the "mystery" of who clogged the toilet at school.

Have you seen Hyouka? If you have and loved it, you're probably left like me underwhelmed and slightly irritated. This is essentially a Hyouka wannabe. The premise and the art are obviously inspired by it, and this is an attempted mirror, minus the skilled writing. The story is very lacking. The “hook” in the first episode is dull and bent. There's nothing there that makes me want to keep watching. That to me is an immediate drop for a series as a whole to the craplist. I don't owe you my time. You have to earn it. Maybe it does get better later on, but ... it doesn't matter. It's like submitting a test without putting your name on it. Why would I waste my time grading it? You already failed.

Shoushimin Series, another work of Honobu Yonezawa, who is famous for Hyouka. And it's another high-school detective or mystery anime just like Hyouka. But in the comparison between them, Shoushimin series are not that good or aren't that bad, either. It's just average and sometimes below average, not good or bad or not that great. Now the question is from which aspects—from my point of view, I think the story, plot arrangement, character, character design, and characteristic. And I am not saying that story, plot, character, and everything I mentioned before are just maintaining the quality of being average.

I don't recommend it to others ... because there is a better version of this anime. Basically, it's kind of a waste of time. And to be honest, you should watch Hyouka first rather than this average and lookalike anime.

Based on the evidence, as of episode three , I am deducing that this will be my favourite anime of the season.
That the story revolves around solving mundane puzzles while a deep and compelling mystery builds around them is a good indicator of craftsmanship. Mix in characters whose motivations are themselves mysterious, who are clearly extremely talented detectives and yet so deliberately resisting their own genius and fighting the blatant call to adventure and I predict a solid story with rich pacing and delicious details throughout.
I love classic detective stories and loved Hyouka so ... I'm probably an ideal viewer but I highly recommend this to all lovers of subtle storytelling.

Shoshimin is a nothingburger anime. It's hollow and leaves you with nothing other than the feeling of wasting your time.

Now don't get me wrong. The art is GORGEOUS. The cinematic style is beautiful. The character designs draw your attention whenever you get a close up. This anime oozes style in the simple and meticulous animation. But what more is there than to be a pretty wallflower, dangling such good quality without substance?

This anime boasts about being "normal" and solving mysteries. Mysteries, by the way, that are the biggest time wasters and all a part of the protag's imaginations as far as how something may have ... played out. Which is especially bad considering how few episodes this anime will have with a total of 10... and half way in, nothing appears to be changing or raising the stakes in regards to their mystery solving.

The mystery solving is all in their heads. Visually re-imagining a scenario before multiplying such scenarios to obscene amounts. How did this person make hot cocoa? A whole 20 irl minutes spent thinking about it when they simply could have asked. Why's this kid taking the bus to driving school? Another entire episode spent jotting down potentials on a school board. It's a -lot- of talking and what ifs before they finally decide to Do Something about it by episode's end.

No relationships are being forged. Nothing is being gained. Your entertainment is watching 2 highschoolers give you quiet asmr thinking noises and low whispering. Even when you think someone might show a hint of Doing Something of interest, the next episode it was all just for nothing. It's the most mundane nothingness you could be spending your time more wisely on than this anime right here.

The Shoushimin Series is an anime that centers around a pair of "odd" teens who aspire to lead ordinary lives. However, their journey is anything but mundane as they continuously find themselves solving various puzzles that life throws at them. These puzzles aren't the thrilling, high-stakes mysteries typical of detective series but everyday dilemmas like making the perfect cup of hot chocolate or tracking down a stolen purse at school.

The anime excels in its detailed dialogue and character development, bringing depth and personality to its cast. However, this attention to detail sometimes borders on overly dramatic, which can feel excessive and detract from the overall ... experience.

I really think this anime could be good. There are moments when I get a little excited. Episode 3 is a slight improvement over the previous two, but I can also see this one tanking.

With only ten episodes, I expected a brisk pace to quickly draw me into the characters' lives and aspirations. Unfortunately, the series struggles with pacing issues. It fails to generate excitement or a strong emotional connection to the characters and their goals. Instead, it feels more like a mediocre slice-of-life anime with serious tones that occasionally create an awkward atmosphere.

The Shoushimin Series is an average addition to this season's anime lineup. It has moments of charm and depth but ultimately falls short of being memorable or engaging.

Update:

I am dropping my score to a 4. This is not my cup of tea... The mysteries they solve and spend a WHOLE DAMN EPISODE on is just silly, but not funny like ha ha, more like face palm, did i just waste another 25 mins of my life on this?!?!

I will give it one more episode before I drop it.

Shoushimin is pretty much in the same vein as Hyouka, so if you liked that series, you'll probably like this. Shoushimin is subtle in how it handles its characters and scenarios. Rather than having a major overarching driving plot that's obvious from the beginning, it takes an approach where each seemingly-disconnected mystery pushes things forward a little bit, telling us more about the characters, their circumstances, backstory, and where they're going from here. Hyouka does this too. What Shoushimin offers on the surface even if you're not really invested yet, is great sound, breathtaking cinematic visuals, and a relaxing pace that invites the viewer to ... be present in the moment and take it all in. Already, though, it's clear that there's more beneath the surface than what first appears, especially with regards to the main characters.

The biggest downside for me is that the main cast is much smaller, focusing almost entirely on the two main characters with very little development for the others so far, though that may change with time. The writing can also come off as a bit convoluted and heavy-handed sometimes, but in general I think it's alright.

So honestly, it makes no sense to me that this is getting so much hate. It's slow, yes, and I'd expect that the average anime viewer probably wouldn't be into this, it's just inherently a style that's not for everyone. But Hyouka was slow too, and took a good few episodes to feel like it was going anywhere meaningful, and Hyouka fans seem to be acting like this is somehow different. I'll join the other Shoushimin believers in saying give it time, currently we're only 5 episodes in and IMO it took around that long for Hyouka to click too. And I wouldn't be concerned about the fact that it's only 10 episodes, it adapts two novels so the pace is basically the same as Hyouka, and if it catches on, I imagine there's a chance the rest will be adapted in the future.

What's wrong with being an ordinary citizen, free of any problems that life offers and the unnecessary highlights it provides? Without standing out too much and living peaceful days is a utopia, considering that at all times we are people who care even about the smallest life problems. As a child, we worry about friends, animals, games, food, family... A child can get stressed even about a toy they didn't receive as a birthday present, for example; When we grow up, become teenagers and later, adults, worries become more complicated and most people just want to resolve their lives in the right way and move ... on, some want to stand out and others prefer monotonous days of peace with someone they love (romantically or not, we always love someone), a family member, friend or girlfriend/boyfriend, or even alone. Series Shoushimin follows this type of idea by exploring the daily lives of two teenagers, who want to become just ordinary people, but chance (problems) stop them with everyday dilemmas throughout the narrative.



If I had to say, in one word, what this anime represents, it would be: boredom.
Imagine everything I said before, but in a way where instead of two human beings communicating in the anime, it was just two robots,and I don't want you to imagine two robots in a fantasy way, imagine them realistically, and then this review will make sense. Okay, I'll be brief.




The two robots have names.

(Robot number 1: Osanai Yuki)
(Robot number 2: Kobato Jougorou)





Without dedicating many facial expressions and with a programmed conversation, they talk about something that disappeared or a mystery behind a recipe, or the mystery behind the people around them. They wanted to live ordinary lives, without stress, and apparently, these mysteries are something "as if from another world" to the point of hindering them. Again without facial expressions, they go on with their lives after solving each mystery in turn. Then the robots will feed, again without facial expressions, they talk to each other, while it is completely silent around them.


Robot 1: This robot likes sweets, the anime tries to make him look like """"cute"""", again without facial expressions, eats his treats, and talks, talks, talks. The episode ends.

Robot 2: He does his best to be a robot, he tries to hide who he really is, again without facial expressions, he talks, talks, talks. The episode is over again.



Ready. The anime is just that. Now I will talk a little about the technical composition of the adaptation.

The animation is good, although the scenery bothers me a little, because the studio behind the anime uses "a type of blur" frequently in landscapes(not always, but it happens a lot), trying to make anyone watching just look at the ONLY two characters in the series who talk in a way that puts you to sleep, the anime still does well with the visual aspect.Even though the animation wasn't the difference, it was done in a solid way.

Even though the anime is boring in terms of the writing itself, there is something remarkable about it. I'm talking about the sound composition. From the opening song, as well as the ending, music is used that makes sense with the anime's proposal. Mainly the closing, which is excellent, shows scenes from real life and the calm of the piano gives a lively and relaxing setting to what could to have been this anime,showing the liveliness of urban centers and vibrant colors, full of life and serenity, the closing It shows exactly what is missing throughout the anime.


Finally, what this anime lacks is: life, the characters even interacting seem very superficial. It lacks really engaging mysteries to "disturb" or make the plot interesting, of course, calm moments can occur, however,there should be a mix of both, and that doesn't happen, making the whole thing tedious to watch.There are no robots in this anime, I used this metaphor of robots to emphasize my experience and interpretation watching them both. They are simply two rigid characters in terms of expressing themselves, understand, in real life, that would be a place where they could exist, they would be robots and not humans. Humans are expressive whether you are introverted or extroverted , it doesn't matter. The anime as a whole gave me a boring experience, it was the only anime that I actually fell asleep watching in my entire life.

Would I recommend you watch this? Well, it's not bad, it's just boring, and no, I'm not someone who only watches action fighting anime, I watch all types of anime.Congratulations to the author and the studio involved, my Insomnia will never return lol