Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
kiner_shah
Good mystery anime. I would say it's slightly dark too.
The story is about high school students getting involved in different suspenseful situations. The story was good though, involved good mystery and kept me hinged till the end.
The art work is good and modern. For each episode, it felt as if I watch watching a movie. Bright colors, modern art style and the suspense kept me engaged. The songs were good too.
About characters, well, what should I say. Both main characters are weird. Jogorou is calm but can be sassy at times. Osanai is cute little girl but extremely scary through her actions.
I didn't like the ending though, it was unnecessary drama and philosophy.
Read at the sourcePrashantttt
Show is decent , half of the part is full of yapping and unnecessary dramatic situations.
And half of the part is with beautiful animation and puzzles.
If you think it's a mystery kind of show then you are wrong. It's actually a show where mostly our Main MC solves puzzles of random situations.
For example - there were 4 pastries, now there are only 3 , what happened to that one pastry..
These kinds of situations are more like solving a puzzle than a mystery..
What's worse is the show randomly picks an unnecessary thing which you have to solve , and they stretch it to the end , yapping unnecessarily and adding more and more situations to extend the drama.. in the end of the episode you think seriously, they made a 24 minutes episode for this stupid shit...
What is good - some mystery/puz…
Read at the sourceSirDroffilc
Shoushimin Series is about two incredibly intelligent people who wants to live ordinary lives because being highly intelligent comes with its negative consequences when it comes to human relationships. The story and setting is simple, yes, but because of how well-written this work is, along with the incredible execution in terms of cinematograpy, dialogue, and overall direction, this show is just beautiful.
The stories in each episode or arc are all simple conflicts turned into complex tales just because of how well-written it is. Upon learning that this work is written by the author of Hyouka, everything made sense because the stories definitely feel like those small-scale but complex mysteries in Hyouka. This show is definitely one of the few anime series that possess that particular u…
Read at the sourceelumizu
For something that sounds so simple, being ordinary can be surprisingly difficult. Most people rarely think about it because being “normal” is usually treated as the default state of life. You wake up, go to school, talk to people, and move through your days without attracting much attention. Nothing particularly extraordinary happens, and that is precisely what makes it ordinary. Yet the moment someone consciously tries to live that way, the idea of normalcy begins to feel strangely fragile. The more you think about being ordinary, the more complicated it becomes. Small curiosities start to stand out. Tiny irregularities become difficult to ignore. Suddenly, what once felt like an uneventful day begins to look like a collection of puzzles waiting to be solved. This contradiction sits at t…
Read at the sourceMrDuckDolphin
Damn what a truly boring show. Start to finish, every episode never failed to work wonders to put me to sleep.
Both main characters have to be the most dull and uninteresting characters I've seen in a while. Also the show does the worst thing possible; it's just plain boring. The first half is just "who ate the pastry?", "how can I eat the cake?", "how did hot chocolate get made?". The second half isn't any better, with a lame story with the bullies.
A supposed 'mystery' series with no mystery. Everything is plainly told to the viewer in the most monotone way possible, with little to no foreshadowing or build up for each problem.
Only positive is that the way the solutions are shown with mc there when they happened was alright otherwise this was a struggle to finish.
Feels like a poor…
Read at the sourcejosephsl
What a fantastic show, though its slow pace and subtle character work mean it won't be for everyone.
Of most interest are the two leads who are both rather unique. Alongside some social weaknesses, they each have some traits typically considered as strengths, most particularly Kobato's problem solving skills and Osanai's drive for justice. However they're both rattled by how much they've taken these traits to the extreme and now view them as negative parts of themselves. Determined to become "ordinary" instead, the two put up layers of masks, though of course trying to change something so fundamental about yourself can only be so effective.
This setup gives us two main characters who are actually quite hard to pin down. Distinguishing the true person from the mask isn't that simple, and…
Read at the sourceGoo252
Spiritual successor to Hyouka. TLDR; if u liked Hyouka, you'd like this. Penned by the same author, similar vibes all around.
For those who have not seen Hyouka, this show is in a perpetual state of slow burn. Even the climaxes feel subdued(in a good way?) because it is simply not in the nature of the work to have high running emotions. If this is not your cup of tea, totally valid. but for those who like mystery, this has the potential to be a sleeper hit. No corners are cut in terms of quality. Animation is beautiful and holds up in every frame.
Read at the sourceSupersonic_Pain
Some shows just give off the most ominous auras
I started this show and thought "Good God, is this show fucking pretentious"
And it never proved me wrong.
The first half to three-fourths of it is about relatively small mysteries, presumably to build up the main 3 (main 2? Is Kengo considered a main character?) which brings me to my main problem
I don't like either of these chucklefucks Jogoro is portrayed as someone who's trying to be ~ordinary~ since him being such a smartiepants detective got on everyone's nerves and... yeah, it got on mine
He's just lowkey condescending and kind of a dick at times?
One episode is dedicated to him liking the dessert of the week so much that the mystery of the week is him trying to make it out so there was one less dessert than he ordered so he coul…
Read at the sourcedonutl_lord
watch it 2 or 3 episode you will like ,its a good great anime if you didn't liked it watch after a year or so because i think to truly experience it you should be ready to use your brain and maybe still you wont understand then you have wait till the time you yourself think are mature enough to understand deep stories .it touches many mundane questions of life maybe with a gist of some life lessons and the best part of this anime is its VISUAL METAPHORS like literally as the word says ,like suddenly between talks a visual metaphor is shown with beautiful animation.
Read at the sourceCamperRage
The animation production and staff for Shoushimin deserve praise. The show consistently has well-detailed, gorgeous backgrounds, and the characters are always animated to convey their emotions perfectly. The show is paced well, and season 1 ends in the best way it could, overcoming a dramatic situation, showing light on our main characters' hidden agendas, and teasing what's to come for season 2. Yet despite all of this praise, I still give Shoushimin a 6/10 rating. 80% of Shoshimin is a boring, drawn-out overcomplication of problems that I could never seem to care about. It's easy to find interest in an intelligent main character, with a somewhat hidden past, flexing his mind through challenges, but beyond my initial interest in Kobato-kun, the rest of this story falls flat. Osanai-san, t…
Read at the sourcecobblestones
As someone who loved Hyouka with all my heart and has been trying to chase the feeling i got while watching it (eventually started reading the hyouka novels too), Shoushimin gave me just that and more. I'm utterly grateful for the author Honobu Yonezawa, he does best what he does.
How i love our two main characters, the way they talk, interact with each other and other characters, their separate personalities and how they work together. i love the visuals of the anime, the colors, the times of the day they choose to show, the landscapes, and having read hyouka novels, I'm sure the novel has all this described in there too. The whole desserts cruising thing is such a fun thing in between everything. I love the little jokes here and there, so witty and slick. I absolutely love the fact that…
Read at the sourceDunslax
I just don't see what's to like here.
The visuals are pretty good, to the show's credit... but everything else? For an episodic "mystery" anime, the mysteries are terrible. They are uninteresting and mundane, which wouldn't be a problem (since the show is about MC trying to be "ordinary") if they weren't always solved by wild guessing and just happening to get it right. Or have the obvious solution shown to you but then overthinking on it for 3 episodes. The show will obviously pretend this is some high IQ sherlock move.
Then, maybe, you'd be led to think that the main appeal of the show is actually in the characters.
Well... just... no. They are about as interesting as the mysteries themselves. Genuinely, you will struggle to even care about any of them. Just read any of the Positive re…
Read at the sourceBaconReviews
Look, this is going to be a strange review, but still. I cannot stress this enough. If you had even a little bit of fun with the first season of Shoushimin please watch the second one.
I get it, in a lot of ways I thought this was just a less interesting Hyouka, same author same type of mundane mysteries, same schtick. And I absolutely adore Hyouka so I never saw this as a terrible thing, sure I wanted it to be more independent, but if a legacy sequel was what we got so be it. Season one is 10 episodes of set up. It sets up the two leads so we can see their perks and flaws in the mundane so when it comes to the insanity of the next season we can see them act under pressure. This should have been one season, I really wish it was because they lead into each other so nicely, but a lot of peo…
Read at the sourceitikitty
Give your brain some Snack and have fun.
As a mystery lover, sometimes I forgot a story don't need any blood because it seems like a classic plot by now,they kind of slapped me in the face with a new perspective.
"真実はいつも一つ" sounds cool right? you will have many friends, and a happy life.So work hard and maybe you will be someone who is called "Gifted children" and become the main character in your life.
high stakes, high rewards... if you don't have the lucky, courage or ability to do that, just enjoy life pretend to be like a "normal person" who sometimes solves the case of "who stole my lunch" basically, this is the story. So if you're interested, watch it.
OST/OP/ED : 10/10 .
Food : 10/10. Food lovers, do you want to be hungry for no reason? Food are always a special category in…
Read at the sourceNillyPC
Shoushimin is such a nice anime. Starring Jougorou Kobato and Yuki Osanai as they try to become more ordinary and not stand out too much. The anime has a lot of mysteries and oozes the vibe of Hyouka (which isn't shocking since the creator of Hyouka also made this). The soundtrack is calming. I especially love the ending as it's live action with Osanai and Kobato just existing in the real world, which I think is very creative. The story is pretty chill, but gets a bit serious towards the end. The character designs are also really amazing. Love that characters have these cool eye designs that make them unique and are pretty to look at.
If you're a fan of Hyouka or just down for a good mystery and some chilling, I would recommend this a lot. Give it a try, and I hope you enjoy it a lot.
Read at the sourcesilverszeta
It is hard to become ordinary when you are different with everyone.
Story : 8/10
For me Shoshimin Series offer interesting simple mystery story. Vibes of Hyouka and storytelling of Monogatari style, i love that kind of anime. The story centered around Kobato and Osanai, they are both unordinary that want to become ordinary. I really like the interaction between them to solve problem and mysteries. Maybe some people find it boring but this kind of anime is special and unique feeling. So far so good.
Character : 9/10
The main two, Yuki Osanai and Jougoro Kobato are interesting characters. Kobato is handsome guy who loves to solving mystery with his deduction and meddling with others problem, he want to change this behavior in order to become more ordinary. Osanai is a cute small girl and l…
Read at the sourceKhaledkucci
To be honest, this anime is a unique experience that I'll never see again. I watched it in mid-2024, along with the anime Lost Heroine, and it was my favorite anime during that period.
I watched it a few times, about 9 months ago.
I finished it today, and honestly, it's another interesting experience that's worth watching.
Now, in May 2025, the second season is out. There are 4 episodes so far, and I'll most likely watch it again, because I see a shift in styles and new characters as well.
I liked the work.
The characters are strangely deep.
The work is 7.9/10. It's somewhat similar to a surreal anime, and much closer to it.
What's important is that I recommend it: Acceptable.
Read at the sourceLokasino
Shoushimin series has became my most "criminally underrated" anime I have ever watched and would likely rate it higher than most of the "hype" anime of the season.
Why?
Because it had done everything that was supposed to do almost perfectly.
The assignment was chill mistery. They made chill mystery.
Main characters don't solve crimes of some drug overlord and murders of billionaires. They solve low stakes daily mysteries, while living ordinary days.
As there isn't as much happening, the show is conversationally heavy, but that is also the strong point of this show. Creators perfectly use silence and eye contact to convey more than just words. The nonverbal and paraverbal communication is on point and it makes each and every conversation feel real.
What I also appreciate that there is NO de…
Read at the sourceAnita1995
Shoshimin: How to Become Ordinary is a 2024 mystery anime series based on the works of Honobu Yonezawa, renowned for Hyouka. The series follows high school students Kobato Jogoro and Yuki Osanai, who, despite their desire for ordinary lives, find themselves entangled in everyday mysteries.
Story & Pacing
The narrative delves into seemingly trivial daily events, such as the theft of a pochette or the mishap of a strawberry tart, and presents them with the gravity of classic whodunits. While this approach offers a fresh perspective on mundane occurrences, some viewers may find the pacing sluggish, as the series often focuses on minor incidents.
Characters
Kobato Jogoro: A high school student aiming for an ordinary existence. Despite his intelligence and problem-solving skills, his chara…
Read at the sourceTerriblePuns
Most of the negative responses I see here are from a few reasonable misunderstandings caused by:
1) Not knowing how extraordinary people behave in reality.
The author doesn't help mitigate this problem very much. The difficulties faced by the characters that motivated them to decide to "become ordinary", or put in better words "feign normalcy", are not shown for a while and what is shown just isn't enough for anyone who either wasn't extraordinary as a kid or didn't interact with someone extraordinary as a kid to understand why the characters would behave that way.
2) Not knowing that real world Japan is very much "Nails that stick out get hammered flat.".
This is a problem external to this show, but it is a weakness of the show that this must be known to make sense of the characters' ac…
Read at the source
