Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re embarking on a new journey, as we check out the first episode of the ongoing Shoushimin Series, bearing the curious subtitle of “How To Become Normal.” Of course, if you’re familiar with original author Honobu Yonezawa’s other works, that title actually seems perfectly appropriate – for it is Yonezawa who wrote Hyouka, centered on Oreki Houtarou and his own quest to live an ordinary, low-energy life.
Yasuhiro Takemoto’s adaptation of Hyouka is a masterpiece; to be honest, it stands among the handful of shows I’d consider uncontroversial choices for best television anime of all time. And while much of that brilliance comes from Kyoto Animation’s singular elevation of the material, they would have nothing to elevate if not for the fundamental richness of Yonezawa’s characterization, his keen interest in human psychology and mastery of using incidental mysteries as tools for illustrating human nature. I’m frankly not a fan of mystery fiction in general, but Hyouka embodies what I consider art’s highest callings – its ability to illuminate the countless peculiarities of human identity, and to bind such inquiries into anthemic statements regarding our fears and ambitions, our relationship with ourselves, each other, and the world at large.
That’s a tall order for any show, but Shoushimin Series does seem to have a solid team behind it. Director Mamoru Kanbe has a variety of excellent productions to his name, having served as director of Sound of the Sky, The Perfect Insider, and The Promised Neverland, among a variety of other productions. That trio in particular demonstrate a clear knack for matching his direction style to the material at hand; Sound of the Sky is expansive and atmospheric, The Perfect Insider is sterile and precise, and The Promised Neverland features some of the best horror cinematography in anime. Meanwhile, series composer Toshiya Ono both composed and wrote half the scripts for Gatchaman Crowds, alongside working with Kanbe on both Perfect Insider and Promised Neverland, giving me every reason to expect a thoughtful, expertly realized adaptation. Let’s get to it!
Episode 1
Ooh, strong start to this OP. We begin with a soft focus shot of a face, zooming out to reveal it’s a young man and girl riding a bicycle in letterboxed visual format. The shift from soft focus to clarity already recalls Hyouka’s themes and imagery, implying our protagonists are hoping to become more fully engaged in their own lives. Meanwhile, the letterbox framing counters that instinct with an assumption of framed, filmic intent – like the characters are self-consciously performing, rather than acting earnestly. Thus within moments, the show implies a “performance of sincerity” through imagery alone
We cut to a coin being flipped, another visual icon of indecision; if you can’t make a choice, you let fate make one for you. The coin shimmers brilliantly in the air, for it is that moment of choice that is most vivid, the ephemeral crossroads of youth
The color choices are also quite interesting; a general blue base, but with an almost iridescent sheen that calls to mind Makoto Shinkai’s visual effects
This girl’s occasionally pink eyes are apparently associated with a wolf, presumably implying her hidden self
Love how they’re portraying these shadows too, all these brilliant shimmering colors. Really just a gorgeous OP in all regards
Interestingly, in the final cut the letterbox format returns, but the two wolves representing our leads actually dance easily outside it, perhaps implying a more authentic engagement with the world and each other, and a lack of concern for how your actions are perceived by others
“Sheep’s Costume.” An episode title that we’ve already got context for, given the wolves of the OP. So presumably our two leads will each recognize the other as a fellow wolf
Apparently Kobato Jogoro is our male lead
He smiles as he sees he passed what I presume are his high school entrance exams. Still holding that letterboxed format
Our leads already know each other. The lack of music or background noise is stark; combined with the saturated lighting (recalling a bit of The Perfect Insider’s look), it creates a strong sense of vulnerability, like we’re totally exposed under the spotlight
Her name is Osanai
The two spy a third girl who seems to have failed to get in. After frankly assessing her fortunes, Kobato says “I’m failing to be an ordinary person, aren’t I,” perhaps judging himself for his presumed lack of empathy. This shit is the worst in adolescence – frantically comparing your feelings to the assumed feelings of your peers, judging yourself as lacking or broken in some way because you don’t cry or laugh when they do
Then Kengo shows up, a former associate who seems suspicious of our pair
They applied to Funato High School
Dojima Kengo went to elementary school with Jogoro, but Osanai doesn’t know him
“You must be pretty tough to be friends with Jogoro.” Osanai smiles at this. It seems her sheep’s clothing is this performance of timidity, always clinging to Jogoro’s side in a way that makes people unlikely to challenge her
Yeah, I am really liking this stark tone; the lack of music, the formal geometry of the layouts. Again, as in The Perfect Insider, it effectively cuts the distance between drama and audience, while simultaneously injecting a sort of ominous sterility into the production
Osanai floats the idea of visiting a tart shop to Jogoro, her eyes widening in embarrassment as he politely declines
Jogoro’s parents sell sweets, leaving him without much enthusiasm for them
Jogoro confidently recites Osanai’s sweets preferences, as if reaffirming their ability to know each other
Osanai worries that Dojima is “going to impose on” Jogoro. It actually seems that Osanai is the more Oreki-like character, defending her small kingdom while revealing as little of her own position as possible
“An ordinary person must never stand out. They must spend every day in peace and do everything possible to avoid anything that interferes with that.” Yeah, a pretty close variation on Oreki’s “if I don’t have to do it, I won’t, if I have to do it, I’ll do it efficiently” credo
Silent pillow shots reveal more of their town after a rain shower; the scenery is grey overall, but the sky as seen through the rain puddles is vivid and blue, a brighter world just out of reach
Osanai’s worries are swiftly fulfilled, when her attempt to have Jogoro join her for tarts is challenged by Dojima asking for help. “Do not turn down a request from an acquaintance, lest you cause a disturbance.” There are a lot of rules to being normal!
Love this unbalanced composition of Osanai sadly waiting at the edge of a school bench. The vast empty space to her left emphasizes her isolation, making her look like an imposition in the scene
Dojima wants Jogoro to find a pochette belonging to a classmate named Yoshiguchi
There are also two other boys attending, both with suspicious looks. There’s clearly more to this than a lost purse
Rather than immediately beginning his search under Dojima’s orders, Jogoro first questions Yoshiguchi, sorting out precisely how she ended up with an entire team of investigators. It was Dojima who gathered the others, and Yoshiguchi is indeed embarrassed that it seems like she’s already gathered a flock of male admirers
This was Hyouka’s trick as well, and one big reason I love that show in spite of its ostensibly mystery-based premise; the solution to every mystery was not some incidental detail in the environment, it was something intrinsic to the nature of the characters involved, a psychological insight that unlocked everything else. The people were the puzzles
Thus the party meets back up, with one boy having already ditched, and Dojima now floating the idea of calling the police. The question is not where the pochette has ended up, it is why Dojima cares so much about its retrieval
Gorgeous composition beneath a river-crossing bridge as Jogoro explains the situation to Osanai. The lighting is as purposeful as ever; Jogoro stands at the brink of the bridge’s shadow, transmitting his riddle from the world of the living to Osanai’s shaded world of darkness. This jump in scenery seems to imply a fluid reality – did they really march here just for this exchange?
“My suspicion is that this case can be solved with one witness testimony.” Yeah, it’s clear someone is simply hiding the truth, and that Dojima’s suspicion of such informed his escalation to involving the police
“Why did Takada-kun go all the way outside just to wave at us?”
Yep, Takada was just trying to cover his actions earlier. Frankly, I think reaching this point of certainty in what happened from what Jogoro has currently deduced is basically magical thinking, given how many other variables might be involved, but that’s basically my reaction to most mystery storytelling. Narrative mysteries are generally less “logical” than aspiring to be a precise kind of internally consistent, so long as you don’t think too much about how any other sequence of events might be arrayed in just such a way as to provoke the same end result. Sherlock Holmes is a wizard of reality-shaping, not a genius of deduction, so my reaction to any given mystery story generally depends on how little that story relies on the mystery itself being interesting (which, in Yonezawa’s case, is fortunately not at all)
They thus find Yoshiguchi’s bag, as well as the love letter inside that Takada was hoping to retrieve
“You two get it though, if you’re dating. You must have known how I felt when I put the letter in there.” Charmed on two levels by this – first, by the implication that our leads are dating and that’s simply not a big deal, which feels incredibly refreshing compared to the anime standard, and second by Osanai’s ostentatious dragging of Jogoro clearly demonstrating how she’s already over this situation and eager to get the strawberry tarts
We finally get a backing track as the tension of the day eases, a gentle, unobtrusive combination of light strings and indistinct vocals. This show has a really dignified, relaxing aesthetic on all fronts
Whew, wild sequence at our conclusion here, as our pair “renew their vows” to help each other become normal. We flip across expressions, contexts, and locations, match cuts drawing a continuity of reality between their incidental shared moments and misinterpreted expressions. Like two shutters attempting to align in speed and perspective, finding a shared reality between them
At a convenience store later, Jogoro notices a fellow student seemingly being manipulated by his peers
The student steals Jogoro’s bike, dumping their precious strawberry tarts in the process. A menace!
And Done
Yeah, that’s definitely the good shit. Yonezawa’s writing seems as layered and thoughtful as ever, introducing us to this world with a gentle touch implying a supreme confidence of structuring, and populating it with characters who have already revealed multiple selves, yet still hide volumes within them. And Kanbe’s direction is already proving exceptional, echoing the ambiguity of Yonezawa’s storytelling through his conjuration of a world brimming with mirrors and reflections, where expressions shift and deceive, and the world itself seems to hush or exhale in time with the characters’ feelings. Clearly embracing the synergy of drama and aesthetic that Takemoto employed, but augmenting that style with his own touches, adding a hint of ominous sterility and an implication of darker depths that seems appropriate for the director of both Perfect Insider and Promised Neverland. This could be something really special, folks.
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