Shoshimin: How To Become Ordinary Season 1 Review

Season 1

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Episode Guide

People will inevitably stumble upon a problem that will ruin their day. Be it a tragic accident or a trivial task, it’s difficult to predict how someone’s day, week, month, or year will go. This is what our male and female protagonists must cope with in Shoshimin: How To Become Ordinary (Shoshimin).

In Shoshimin, we follow Kobato and Yuki. They’re two high school students who want to live ordinary lives. Unfortunately, life finds a way to ruin their chances of achieving this goal. Yuki and Kobato must find a way to resolve every issue that comes their way if they hope to re-embark on their peace-seeking mission.

This anime offers audiences decent slice-of-life excursions and mysteries to solve alongside Yuki, Kobato, and their friends. The scenarios Yuki and Kobato find themselves in are realistic. From attending bakeries to walking across well-built bridges, many fans will value the author’s depiction of these everyday activities.

Some of Kobato and Yuki’s cases in Shoshimin will keep viewers invested. From foiling druggies’ dastardly schemes to uncovering the mystery of a student’s thieving affairs, fans will enjoy some of Shoshimin’s mysteries. Additionally, the anime showcases our characters’ steps to resolve a problem that stands in their way.

Most thriller and mystery anime of past and present fail to give audiences a glimpse of how their leads find the answers behind the problems they’re presented with. Shoshimin is different. Fans will receive lengthy segments of Kobato analyzing crime scenes, developing theories, and presenting his evidence to others.

This storytelling approach will win many audiences over. Moreover, the story tackles friendship, trust, and deception to a decent effect. From Kobato and Kengo’s effort to save Yuki from peril to Kobato feeling guilty about eating a companion’s dessert, many audiences will resonate with the small and large instances our characters endure.

Although the storytelling offers favorable content, this tale is far from magnificent. One of this anime’s major problems lies in its mysteries. Every mystery presented in Shoshimin will not entertain audiences. While it’s impressive that the author managed to theme the cases around desserts, most mysteries will leave fans saying, “Wow, that’s it.”

Some examples include Kengo’s hot cocoa mystery and the dilemma concerning Kengo’s club’s “mustard” Berlinger fiasco. Although Kobato’s methods for solving these dilemmas were fine, the topics themselves weren’t as appealing as the drug and theft ones. Even the Kobato pastry mystery, which pinned our lead as the culprit was more engaging than those two.

If another season gets announced it’d be great if Kobato and Yuki tackled more complex and thrilling cases than something Steve from Blues Clues could solve. Additionally, some fans may have gripes with the authenticity behind these cases. The Isawa case is a great example.

From leaving doors open to not having allies guard specific entrances, some fans won’t be satisfied with this anime’s convenient predicaments. Lastly, regarding its cases, most matters could’ve been resolved swifter than the anime makes one believe. For example, the Charlotte Cake incident could’ve been solved with a simple apology.

Yet, Kobato chooses to play mind games with Yuki instead of coming clean to her. While it’s nice to see Kobato in a slightly antagonistic role, many would’ve preferred if the episode leaned into a better case involving the boy Yuki wanted to avoid at the festival. She addresses her concerns about this boy in the same episode.

While this anime’s storyline gives fans a few interesting and serene moments to admire, its glaring flaws, conveniences, and missed opportunities prevent this one from achieving gold. The series’s characters carry similar baggage. Kobato is a smart high school student. Some viewers will admire the way he tackles cases.

Outside of his genius intellect and desire to live an ordinary existence, Kobato’s not well-rounded. The story hasn’t delved into Kobato enough to entice fans to care about him. While he has his moments, Kobato feels like an empty husk of a boy.

Yuki is a bit more interesting than Kobato. She’s wise and cunning, and her knack for sweets will convince many fans to admire her. The stunt she pulls with Kobato near the latter half of Season 1 will leave many amazed. The author gradually builds upon Yuki’s inner cunningness through the Sakagami subplot.

Although Yuki suffers from issues similar to Kobato’s, many will find the Yuki-driven scenarios far more entertaining than Kobato’s. The supporting characters and minor antagonists were fine. Some were one-dimensional plot devices to keep the story chugging while some like Kengo were given tiny depth.

Unfortunately, besides Yuki, and slightly Kobato, fans may have a hard time remembering this anime’s characters in a year or two, unless they rewatch the anime or read its source material numerous times. Therefore, it’s best to expect nothing but the bare minimum with these characters.

Visually, Lapin Track Studios knocked it out of the park with this anime. From the various landscapes to the beautiful character designs, fans will be amazed by what the studio achieved with this one. There’s a moment where the animators messed with background elements to portray Yuki’s pent-up aggression toward Sakagami.

It made this scene feel creative, thoughtful, and impactful. Even the peaceful instances like Kobato and Kengo chatting at one of the shops felt marvelously atmospheric. Lapin Track Studios brought their A-game with the visuals so the team deserves praise for their effort.

The soundtrack was okay. The background music was pleasing and never interrupted the series’s explanatory or action-centric affairs. The voice acting was nice. Many people can tell the actors and actresses had a fun time recording lines for these characters.

Shoshimin: How To Become Ordinary lived up to its ordinary moniker. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of giving audiences subpar cases to watch and characters with little depth to warrant their investment. This anime isn’t horrible. There’s hope that season two could fix its missteps.

However, it may be best to find an alternative mystery anime.

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