Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to Shoushimin Series, as our two leads attempt to truly, finally kick their antisocial habits. Having accepted that they will likely always enable each other’s allegedly abnormal tendencies, Osanai chose to break off their relationship altogether, ending the ambiguity of their ill-defined bond with the finality of “we are no longer anything to each other.” And thus the two continue their wandering high school lives, each finding new opportunities in the wake of their separation.
Normally, this is where I might talk about how denying your passions only hobbles your potential, or how the anxieties they’re currently experiencing are largely reflective of the identity-forming panopticon that is high school, and what they truly need is to embrace their own truths and seek out the people who genuinely relate to them. All of that is generally true, but here’s the thing – Osanai just committed a litany of crimes in order to falsely frame an old enemy of kidnapping her for ransom, all while making Jogoro and Kengo unwitting accomplices in her conspiracy. That’s not really on the “harmless eccentricity” end of personal quirks; Osanai is quite frankly a danger to herself and everyone around her, and it seems unclear at this point if she could sculpt her lust for revenge into something compatible with civil society. Of course, I don’t engage with fiction to watch morally pristine characters engage in socially laudable behavior; I love the messy shit, and Osanai’s passion being so difficult to pacify or integrate only makes it all the more compelling. Let’s see how normal our leads are becoming today!
Episode 11
Oh shit, new OP! Right, this show has kinda short seasons, so we’re already onto the second one. Whew, that was a brutal place to end the first season – my condolences to all the fans who had to wait a year to continue, rather than just deciding “fuck that cliffhanger, we’re doing another one on Monday”
And this OP is also a delight, featuring all sorts of playful visual tricks ranging from digital recreations of cut-paper stop-motion animation to live action photography and plenty of messing around with angles and perspective
Alongside a much greater focus on our leads’ classmates, this OP also features some other consistent imagery – a seeming emphasis on astrology and planets, as well as repeated images of objects burning, carrying on from that burning van we saw at the end of the last season
We open with a gorgeous shot of this story’s central venue, that long bridge over the canal. Bridges are obviously transition points, literal points of crossing designed to help you navigate hostile territory. In Shoushimin Series, this bridge has been lent further resonance through its association with specific colors – the red of Osanai’s passion, the blue of Jogoro’s, or the grey of their parting. Here, it seems captured in idyllic yet realistic colors, perhaps representing a return to normalcy for our leads now that they’ve been spending time apart
Osanai is crossing the bridge with this new guy. He asks what class she’s in, and can’t believe she’s in the same class that he is
“I’ve been accused of lying, but it’s the truth.” Osanai actually smiles while saying this, which seems like an important shift for her; she might be learning to take things a little less personally, perhaps even see the humor in how she is often misunderstood
His name is Urino. Osanai even razzes him a bit, calling him Urino-kun now that it’s established she’s older. She seems remarkably comfortable in this conversation
“Is something wrong? You can talk to big sis here.” Osanai’s actually having a ton of fun riffing with Urino. The two seem very at ease with each other, in a different way from Osanai and Jogoro. Those two enjoyed each other’s company, but they were always competing – either with each other, or to solve some external conundrum. Osanai clearly has to try less hard to have fun with Urino
Their positioning in this cafe contrasts with the climax of last season; here the camera pulls back to tuck them together, creating a sense of intimacy and comfort, rather than an interrogation
Urino explains his newspaper ambitions, how he wants to write an article that proved he made an impact at this school. An exceedingly normal, healthy dream
“That feeling must be like being the first to leave footprints in new snow. Then, you shovel all the snow away so no one else can leave their own footprints.” “Why?” “Like I say, so no one else can leave footprints.” An exchange that demonstrates Osanai is still herself, even in this new partnership. First, the bare analogy of “first to leave footprints” demonstrates her underlying contempt for the newspaper, which she is framing as basically barren of meaningful human thought. Then the “shovel the snow away” addendum emphasizes her zero-sum approach to the world – she believes Urino’s victory would only be meaningful if he subsequently denied an equivalent victory to anyone else. Happiness isn’t spontaneously generated, it must be taken and defended
Osanai declares she intends to support him. Again, the blocking of the scene really enhances the comfortable intimacy here – the two of them tucked into a cozy corner, center stage beneath a warm light, with no obstructions or darkness offering any secondary implications
At the newspaper staff meeting, it’s actually the soft-spoken Itsukaichi who speaks up in favor of adding comments from the staff to their January issue
Kengo demonstrates his solid, straightforward leadership style, seriously considering Itsukaichi’s proposal and the group’s own opinions
Now that Urino has the chance to make his big splash, he’s not exactly sure what it should be. Love that they’re taking the opportunity of this season break to jump to Urino as our perspective character, fostering a natural sense of doubt and expectation regarding what Jogoro must be up to
And just as that curiosity peaks, we jump to the man himself, now making a new year’s shrine visit with his new girlfriend
Osanai spies them being exceedingly cute together from across the path
“See a cute girl? She must have really been your type.” This new girl seems charming, and crucially adds some upbeat energy to our heretofore gloomy dynamic. Jogoro is quite similar to Oreki, but with Chitanda replaced by Osanai, Shoushimin has by default been a gloomier production than Hyouka
Lovely pillow shots of the town and school guide us from the new year to the day before the newspaper editorial meeting
Urino’s friend Hiya eventually throws him a bone, clueing him in to the apparent serial arson case around town. It’s interesting how little of an active role Urino is playing so far – Osanai is providing his personal motivation, and Hiya conducting his investigation
“That’s the problem – your temper. I believe you’re competent, but you’re too quick to jump the gun. I’m worried you might need someone to occasionally hit the brakes, to stop you destroying the reputation of Funido High or this club.” Kengo lays down the law, and furthermore illustrates how a union between Urino and Osanai might be dangerous in its own way
Kengo nonetheless gives him the okay, accepting that he as manager is ultimately responsible for Urino’s actions. Though Kengo can’t help but get involved in other people’s affairs, he has a crucial sense of propriety and consequence that could potentially serve as a guardrail for the actions of people like Jogoro and Osanai
Their first interviewee mentions a hammer was stolen from the greenhouse on the night of the fire. Shades of Hyouka’s student festival mystery, where key items were stolen from a variety of locations
Hiya then mentions there was another arson reported in the paper. He really is doing all the work here, making him somewhat suspicious in his own right
“I envy your energy.” This pair actually more closely resembles the Oreki-Satoshi friendship from Hyouka
“What am I even going to write?” His investigations continue to reveal that this whole serial arson scenario is both unlikely and underwhelming. He is ironically unable to turn this smoke into fire
Also interesting that we’ve had no “mind palace” sequences this episode, no flourishes where they’re transported to different locations. Is it only Jogoro who thinks that way, and thus only from Jogoro’s shoulder that we see the world that way as well?
Urino at last makes his own contributions, articulating his thoughts on the links between the seemingly escalating arsons
“Another one would surely help us out. We’d have more data.” Hiya is an interesting, largely undefined variable here
After exchanging some texts with his girlfriend, Jogoro ends up stumbling across the burning van, and confirming it’s the van from the abduction. Life just won’t let him stay normal, apparently
This revelation is contrasted against Osanai smiling at Uniro’s excited text about the article. Oh god, please don’t tell me you set all those fires, Osanai
And Done
Alright, we are barrelling out the gate this season! Osanai and Jogoro are still broken up, their new partners are actually both kinda delightful, and the city is abuzz with the prospect of a serial arsonist. It’s invigorating to see the story expand its scope so confidently and quickly, jumping from basically always following Jogoro’s perspective to here barely featuring him at all, yet nonetheless finding plenty of satisfying character drama and ominous ambiguity in Uniro’s investigations. And frankly, moving a little further away from Osanai actually helps enhance the impact of her appearances; Jogoro was pretty good at minding her, but with Uniro not knowing what she’s actually like, it here feels like there’s a perpetual time bomb ticking down, and a running question of what savage nonsense the wolf in sheep’s clothing is getting up to. I’m eager to see it all go up in flames!
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