Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to return to Shoushimin Series, as our two mysterious youngsters attempt to crack the mystery of Osanai’s stolen bike. Having tracked Sakagami to a driving school on the outskirts of town, Jogoro feels certain the case can be solved with only a few crucial leaps in logic. Of course, accomplishing such a feat would require returning to his old self, and abandoning the pursuit of normalcy that has defined his bond with Osanai.
That in turn brings us to my own subject of fascination: the sharp-edged true selves underlying our leads’ humble, mild-mannered facades. Jogoro’s explosion at Kengo offered our expected and extremely welcome articulation of his anxieties, as he reflected bitterly on how his curiosity and intelligence had only isolated him from his peers, who disliked being examined and “solved” like experimental subjects. And Osanai seems similarly uncomfortable with the ambiguous, ephemeral “human element,” seeing in the impositions of her peers an unresolvable equation, a debt that can only be cleared through retribution.
Both of them are too pure and intense for the thoughtless niceties of high school; both of them have clearly seen in the eyes of their peers a recognition of the remorseless scientific instruments they see in themselves, and have retreated from this negative mutual understanding towards the fuzzy, frictionless malaise of self-conscious normalcy. But the masks slip with their every step forward, and with even Kengo now demanding Jogoro embrace his asshole self, their maintenance of this charade seems at its end. While Hyouka championed sincerity and proud self-expression, Shoushimin Series asks “what if our sincere, earnest self is a creature the world would hate?” Let’s see how they fare!
Episode 4
“Heart of Fox and Wolf.” We can now contextualize this imagery and title; Jogoro is presumably the fox, often framed as a clever puzzle-solver, while Osanai is the wolf, determined to defend what is hers at any cost
The letterbox formatting also makes more sense, given the self-conscious ways our leads are directing their own high school experience. Though the conceit wasn’t dropped during either Osanai or Jogoro’s outbursts, so it may be a permanent flourish
Also now clear the two of them are making hand signals of their respective animals before we jump to those animals racing free
We return to Jogoro breaking down the facts of the case with Kengo. Kengo rightfully points out that just because he was riding that bus doesn’t necessarily mean he was attending that driving school; that’s simply a convenient, likely assumption
Jogoro presents one more piece of evidence: the white folder Sakagami was carrying in Osanai’s bike basket
God, this show’s layouts can be such a delight. Love this cut to a symmetrically framed external shot, where Kengo admiring Jogoro’s deductive process is visually realized through him watching Jogoro walk up a spiraling external staircase, an easy echo of his wandering thought process and steady progress towards a solution. Kanbe’s embellishments feel much like Monogatari’s approach to scene-setting, letting the environment mutate to echo the preoccupied minds of the characters
“Or we can also ask, what does he plan to use his license for?” As in the last episode, Jogoro sees divining motive as one of the most convenient starting points for investigation, from which he can work backwards to ascertain the method. This is one of the aspects of his deductive reasoning that presumably ticked off his classmates; I doubt most people like hearing that their secret motivation, something they might not even be willing to admit to themselves, is the most obvious thing about them. At least in the first episode, the letter-writer was able to take solace in being understood, even if he misinterpreted Jogoro’s actions as empathy rather than simply the most obvious motivation available
Kengo peers up through the bars as Jogoro makes a presumed rhetorical question regarding Sakagami’s motives. Jogoro then walks over and repeats the question to him directly, “making himself clear” by rising beyond the bars and inviting him to join the process
“It would be the first one, obviously.” “More often than not, when someone says something is clear, it isn’t.” Another reflection of his “asshole nature” – his obvious pride in executing the thing he is best at, which can easily be construed as arrogance or an outright dismissal of his peers’ intelligence. Most people would seek to avoid this demeaning friction, but Kengo accepts it
“Something tells me he isn’t just trying to get his driver’s license.” An ineffable quality of the investigator, that lingering itch telling you there’s something you missed
Jogoro has three lingering questions. First, the distance – why was he going all the way to that driving school?
“A trite comeback.” Yeah, Jogoro can’t really turn off the engine once it’s going. The comments of others receive the same level of rigorous, unsentimental assessment as his own thoughts
Second question, the age – isn’t Sakagami too young for a license? Given the one-in-six likelihood of Sakagami being old enough, Jogoro frames this as “unsuspicious by a ratio of 1:5.” A refreshingly frank assessment of the ambiguity inherent in this sort of deduction; you won’t always have definitive clues, so you have to play percentages and follow up on your most likely hunches
Third question, disposition – why was he so desperate to make that lesson, to the extent that he’d actually steal a bike and chase the bus? Jogoro thus suspects he’s being strong-armed into getting the license for a secondary purpose
By adding up Kengo’s idly offered percentages on the various aspects of Sakagami’s behavior, Jogoro “proves” that Sakagami is highly suspicious from Kengo’s own perspective. Another thing that likely separated Jogoro from his peers – using their own words against them, employing logical traps to lecture them on what they themselves are thinking. Normal human beings speak in contradictions or idly considered formulations constantly, but they don’t expect to be “graded” on those statements like their very identity is being put on trial. But Jogoro is more interested in facts than vibes, and will happily use another’s assumption of shared social trust against them
“You’ve always been like this. You really are a little shit.” “For now, I’ll take that as a compliment.” Kengo again proves he has the same mundane reactions to Jogoro’s behavior as others, but values Jogoro’s mind more than his own ego
The next question is obviously “to what use can this license be put?” They both agree the most obvious purpose is acquiring money somehow
Deducing backwards from “the license must be a useful artifact,” Jogoro proposes the license would be under the name of someone who’s at least 18, which would make it far more worthwhile as a fake ID
Considering the necessity of a distinct name that’s nonetheless attached to a local resident, Jogoro recalls the burglary at Iokibe’s residence. He’s proposing a pretty serious crime; an organized group engaging in regular burglaries to facilitate identity theft
“But there’s still no evidence.” Jogoro agrees, his black form bisecting the half-scribbled whiteboard as if he is the line separating the established numerator from the unknown denominator. Kanbe continues to make excellent use of these lopsided layouts, where their adjacency to symmetry only makes the disrupting variables all the more ostentatious
“Osanai would tear his windpipe out with her teeth given the chance.” Yeah, that’s the impression I’m increasingly receiving from her
He reveals Osanai’s intended transformation to Kengo, saying that while she now only shows happiness in front of sweets, she previously “showed the most joy while beating those who had done her harm to a pulp.”
It’s a very reasonable question, one that’s also touched on in the excellent Skip and Loafer – everyone tells you to “be yourself,” but what if your true self is an unlikable or antisocial person? What if your first, natural instincts are not kindly ones? The best we can do is extremely gradually “train ourselves” to find joy or satisfaction in more socially sanctioned directions, or to at least deny the sources of happiness that we can only indulge at the expense of others. For some, finding joy in socialization is entirely a matter of gaining confidence in self-expression – but for others, learning to suppress your feelings can be more important than learning to embrace them
“Nope. I’m not believing that. Not until I see it for myself.” Kengo’s blunt skepticism is a nice counterpoint to Jogoro’s fanciful statements
Kengo asks his sister about Sakagami’s birthday, only to learn that Osanai has already asked the same on her parallel hunt
“By my sister’s standards, if you talk to her, you’re already friends.” So will she be the fourth member of our team, the bright, social counterpoint to our three gloomy leads?
“She’d forgotten what date it was, but he was born in December.” Her power seems to be a near-photographic memory recall, given she could apparently remember Sakagami’s general birthday from presumably once scanning the class directory
Osanai sends then unsends a message, implying she has potentially been intercepted
Jogoro uses the same deceptive method they deduced Sakagami employed to wave down the driving school bus. He’s not interested in “right” or “wrong,” merely the truth
They bump into Osanai herself at the driving school. She’s already picked up the first piece of tangible evidence – a photo showing Sakagami enrolled and studying under Iokibe’s name
Kengo is so surprised by Osanai in her “happy hunter” affectation that he practically doesn’t recognize her
Thus the case resolves with five students arrested for fraud, and Sakagami with a criminal record in spite of basically being a pawn himself. Osanai ripped out their throats, but she doesn’t feel particularly proud or happy about it
“Wanna call it quits? I’m persistent. That’s who I am. You’re nosy, that’s you.”
“No need to give up.” Osanai again commits herself to normalcy, just before a woman at the next table throws water on her dang head. So maybe just a little bit more vengeance, then normalcy after
And of course, Jogoro’s already taking notice of her date partner’s wedding ring. They can’t avoid who they are
And Done
Thus our heroes renew their vows of normalcy and break them in practically the same breath, unable to deny the allure of a new mystery or the burning motivation of a fresh grievance. It’s a delight to see these two in action, and Kengo is proving himself an excellent sounding board for Jogoro’s rambling hypotheses. I also found myself taken in by the facts of this case in spite of myself; I was rarely fully invested in Hyouka’s mysteries, but by splitting the process of deduction between Jogoro and Kengo, this episode was able to describe a fully coherent, almost “locked room”-style board state from the undeniable fundamentals of Sakagami’s actions. And as ever, the show’s most intriguing, mysterious variable remains Osanai – this episode was a fine showcase of Jogoro’s frictious true nature, but what has Osanai done that prompt such harsh descriptions from her partner? I’m eager to find out!
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