SHOSHIMIN is about a teenage pair who start high school with a New Year’s resolve to be ordinary, mundane people. They both are very mild in emotional expression and don’t engage in any energetic hobbies.
The show’s description states that the male lead, Kobato, had a “bitter experience” from being involved in “wisdom work” as a child. What is wisdom work? Why is Kobato so drawn to solving “mysteries”? Due to being in the early stages of release, not much is revealed about the characters’ backgrounds yet. However, the anime gets off to a very dull start.
First Impression: Episode 1
To start, I really love the opening song! The animation is also well done and detailed. It’s smooth and calm, as expected for a slice of life genre. The story matches the vibe with its slow pacing.
Summary
Kobato and his friend Osanai have about 40 minutes to get to a bakery shop to buy their limited-edition tarts, but a classmate calls for help that may take a long while. Instead of saying no, Kobato sacrifices their time to join a search party for a girl’s purse. Not satisfied that they couldn’t find it once time was up, he asks Osanai to join him in deducing what happened to it. Only 5 minutes are left till the sale is supposedly up. Now you can expect that for sure they won’t be getting any tarts!
Fortunately, they do have two tarts left at the bakery, and they stop by a convenience store to get milk. It is here that we finally get some drama! Kobato overhears a gang of boys argue over a lost bike, telling their friend to “figure it out” instead of helping him get transportation. The boy decides to steal Osanai’s bike, tossing their strawberry tarts carelessly onto the ground. The episode cuts off at Osanai’s shocked face.
Thoughts on This
I am very bored. The quiet mundaneness in the beginning of the episode does not hook me in. Then the episode ends right at the peak of drama, cutting off her full reaction. I wanted to see our girl throwing a fit and fuming!! She waited so long for those sweets!! They were lucky that two were still leftover! And now they’re on the floor! Although I suppose it makes for a decent cliff-hanger that pushes you to the next episode.
Episode 2
The random change in scenery during the long conversations between characters confused me at first, but I came to appreciate it. It’s something I’ve never seen in a show before, so it’s a unique touch!
Summary
The episode starts quietly again, as Kobato runs into Osanai at the street market. Apparently a few days had passed since the ruined tart incident! Still somewhat upset, Osanai whispers as she updates Kobato about her bike being spotted at the site of an apartment robbery. He agrees to cheer her up at a nearby bakery, but his classmate Kengo calls again to interrupt.
They go over to Kengo’s house with cake, and he makes them hot chocolate. Despite Kengo’s persisting, Kobato denies having any trauma happened to make him change his personality. Is he telling the truth, though? The remainder of the episode focuses on the main 2 and Kengo’s sister solving the “mystery” of how Kobato made the hot chocolate without any dishes left in the sink but a spoon.
Thoughts on This
I was annoyed when it seemed like it was going to be a running gag that Kengo interrupts their “dates” together and Kobato can’t refuse him, but the next pleasant scenes made up for it. The story does do well to highlight the beauty in mundane, everyday life, but sometimes it’s so calm that you’re begging for something to happen!
Yet I found this episode a little more interesting, as I was fully invested in the hot chocolate question. They revealed that Kengo microwaving the milk carton was how he did it, because the container felt warm. But there’s a plothole! How did they not notice during the times they were attempting to replicate his making hot cocoa? Or were those scenes pure imagination? Why didn’t they just ask him? 5 out of 10 filler episode.
Episode 3
Summary:
They hear about Osanai’s bike being sighted again and go to check it out. It’s damaged from being ran over by a car. She’s upset again, even more so because the thief dumped her bike when he no longer needed it! Watching a driving-school bus pass, they use their deducing skills to figure out that he was trying not to be late to a class.
Osanai gets a vengeful streak. The sky glows red behind her as she smiles at Kobato, declaring her passion to get back at the thief for destroying their tarts. Kobato immediately calls Kengo for help. He explains that 1. Osanai might be in danger for going against a gang of boys they don’t know, & 2. Osanai herself is also capable of being vicious.
It is here that we understand the animation metaphor in the anime opening, showing Kobato as a fox and Osanai as a wolf. Apparently she has a bitter childhood past, too. She is the common trope of the shyest/quiet ones being the most capable of violence.
Thoughts on This
Like the 1st episode, this was mostly boring! The most exciting part was seeing girl finally show some anger and decide to teach that badboy a lesson! YESSS!! I expect some action in the next episode! The character development is good. The use of a red background to represent her emotion underneath that stoic face was a great animation choice as well! Tension rises as you wonder what kind of danger Osanai is in, what will happen to her and the gang of delinquents?
Episode 4
Summary
Kobato and Kengo continue their conversation, connecting theories and evidence to deduce what the gang of boys are secretly up to. It seems that a 15 year old is being pressured to get his motorbike license early, and under a fake name, but why? Because Osanai isn’t answering her phone, the boys rush over to the driving school to check on her! But everything is ok.
She took a picture of the boy who stole her bike and was indeed studying at the driving school. They turned it in as an anonymous tip around the same time the boys were exposed for selling goods under fake IDs! Happy that justice was served, the main two talk it over at a sweet cafe.
Osanai considers giving up the whole “be an ordinary person” facade and just accept being themselves. But Kobato reminds her that they’re trying to better themselves and should keep going, even if they mess up sometimes.
Thoughts on This
The tension from the previous episode: Osanai could be in danger! But instead of being urgent, the guys spend half the episode talking. This makes the viewer question if they should be concerned or not. The detective conversation was okay to watch, with beautiful background scenery as usual, and more character development. Learning that the delinquents got into legal trouble was satisfying to hear, although anti-climatic. Now where will the plot go? Will they succeed in becoming the mundane people they want to be? Or, like Osanai said, they will succumb to their fiery sides?
The Author
It turns out that the author, Honobu Yonezawa, is also the author of the popular slice-of-life anime Hyouka. The Hyouka manga debuted in 2001, while the Shoshimin manga debuted in 2004. Hyouka is not my favorite, but it had more excitement and interest than this anime has so far. That doesn’t mean that Shoshimin doesn’t have potential!
To conclude, I give this show a 5 out of 10. It is not high on my watchlist. If you’re a huge fan of the slice-of-life genre, then I’d say give this show a view, it might be your cup of tea! The animation is beautiful, the music is great. It would seem that Yonezawa has a love for sweets and mundane-ness, based on his main characters from both stories.
