Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I imagine we’ll be embarking on a fresh mystery, as we join Osanai and Jogoro for another installment of the sharp, endearing, and immaculately constructed Shoushimin Series. Though our leads retain their commitment to becoming normal, they continue to prove themselves anything but, with even the simple act of sharing some cakes turning into a tense battle of wills. But hey, how else do you apply your restless intellect to a hot summer day, especially when you’ve got such a willing opponent beside you?
By winnowing this show down to its fundamentals, our last episode reveled in the profound chemistry of its leads, echoing the similarly charming duo adventures of author Honobu Yonezawa’s Hyouka. Of course, that comparison also points to the clear differences within these series – while Oreki and Chitanda find a soothing balance in their differences, Osanai and Jogoro are united by their similarly slanted perspective, their desire to bring order to a disorderly world. In their hands, a cake-centered riff on Rope becomes something like a courtship ritual, their one-upmanship demonstrating both their shared mentality and mutual respect. Shoushimin Series has many strengths, but its most fundamental is the essential truth of great romance from Toradora to Spice and Wolf to Hyouka and beyond: spending time with two well-illustrated characters who genuinely care about each other is a delight, no matter where they go or whatever they do there. Now let’s get to the case!
Episode 7
The OP effectively emphasizes Osanai’s striking eyes. A focus on eyes is almost a given for any sort of psychological or emotional drama, given they tend to be our clearest windows into the feelings of another, but they are especially relevant to Osanai, who is basically an iceberg concealing the vast majority of her feelings beneath the surface. Her eyes are our conduit to the intensity of her emotions, here conveyed through a variety of subtle tricks: their duel coloration (almost like a blood moon rising over a field), the carefully articulated heavy lids (always on the verge of a scowl, conveying a half-shuttered intensity), and the thickness of the iris’ outline, which makes them seem like headlights piercing through you
We open with Jogoro reading Murder on the Orient Express, one of Agatha Christie’s most famous Hercule Poirot novels. If that’s a clue towards the nature of the upcoming mystery, I assume we can expect a conspiracy of much greater scale than originally anticipated
Osanai calls him with the latest cake shop appointment info
I appreciate this show’s willingness to just cut to a black background with white text for things such as text messages or character thoughts. There’s no real need to maintain a constancy of information delivery such that characters are forced to actively announce their feelings – these disruptions actually feel more graceful and natural, similar to how Monogatari uses its partition screens. I see more of these title card interruptions in Japanese and European cinema than American cinema, which I think again comes down to our unfortunate prioritization of a certain interpretation of “realism” that demands constancy of visual framing
“It’s like we’re in a relationship,” reflects Jogoro happily. Yeah, you guys pretty much are
The city appears to be gearing up for the “San’yadori Festival”
He bumps into Kengo, who seems anxious about some investigation of his own. Looks like Osanai is also in the diner, although as usual, she doesn’t announce herself before she is noticed
“Yeah, but it’s none of your business,” Kengo says, before proceeding to lay out the details of the mystery. Kengo’s bluntness seems to reflect an underlying desire for authenticity in all things, which presumably informs how he keeps getting caught up in other people’s problems, and also why he prefers the authentic Jogoro
Apparently a classmate of theirs has fallen in with a drug-dealing crowd
“I’m going to find their hideout and beat them with a wooden sword.” So Kengo can make jokes
The classmate’s name is Kawamata Sanae. Her little sister is Kasumi
Kengo tells him to “contact this person,” but it seems he just drew the symbol “Han,” with no further explanation. Or perhaps that’s the trick – you’re not actually supposed to draw a letter meaning from these intersecting lines, it’s actually depicting an aerial view of an intersection or something. That would fit in with the Murder on the Orient Express motif, as cracking that case involved finding an alternate interpretation of what appeared to be a normal letter
Nice little horror beat here, as the camera zooms in on Jogoro’s face while Osanai texts that she’s right behind him. The show makes effective use of Osanai’s intimidating aura
And then the ridiculous punchline of her being dressed like a flower child
This scene is given a consistent sort of tempo through Jogoro continuously trying and failing to get a bite out of his burger, his trials emphasizing how he is too essential in everyone’s schemes to have a moment for himself
Apparently Osanai and Jogoro witnessed a similar group in middle school, led by Isawa Hasemi
Jogoro begins the process of breaking down what “han” could mean, considering it could also imply “half,” or thereby “50-50.” This discussion provides a perfect opportunity for more of this production’s flourishes of staging, as their wandering lines of thought are represented by them literally wandering throughout the town. An excellent way of conveying the richness of their interior worlds
“Maybe he wants you to contact him at 3:30?” “Do you really think that?” The two are happy to stress-test each other’s ideas, both throwing out conjectures and challenging them without any hesitance or ego regarding their reception. This is them reveling in “abnormality,” at least relative to the adolescent standard – like Kengo, they are far more interested in answers than feelings, and would likely bruise the egos of their more socially-directed peers
Jogoro tries a new plan of intellectual attack – “how could so much information be contained in this ‘han’ symbol that giving it to me would have been easier than conveying that information more directly?” If you start with that as a prerequisite for the answer, you significantly narrow down the possible solutions
A key part of solving any mystery is basically carving out possibility space, ruling out as many potential answers as possible, to thus direct your active thinking in the most productive likely directions
“The stroke order seems odd.” “I get it. It’s a map.” Hah! Well, no one’s impressed, but I beat you to that one, Jogoro
Jogoro suddenly realizes he’s going back to his old self again, to which Osanai offers the convenient excuse “you said an ordinary person wouldn’t cause trouble by refusing an acquaintance’s request.” They’re only fooling themselves, and I don’t think they’re even really accomplishing that
Osanai notes the key reason Jogoro had trouble with this one: he wasn’t respecting Kengo’s ability to conceive of such a puzzle
Once again, we use a low-angle slow-zooming shot of Jogoro’s head to convey his trepidation regarding Osanai, this time in response to her highly suspicious offer to pay for the day’s sweets. It’s basically a feigned dolly zoom, wherein the camera’s field of view is adjusted as the camera moves towards its target, creating a sense of dislocation within their environment, like the walls are literally closing in around you. An effect famously used in Vertigo and Jaws, though I think my personal favorite is this claustrophobic sequence from Goodfellas
A running theme of this episode is that Jogoro has to be drawn out of his reflective, sedentary stasis, first by Osanai and now by Kengo
“I’m glad you’re so close” says Kengo regarding Jogoro’s outings with Osanai. A knowing jab that definitely jostles Jogoro’s impression of their relationship; they’re basically dating without acknowledging it, something that’s obvious to everyone else
“I told you all that?” It seems Kengo wasn’t even intentionally spilling all that gossip – he really thought it was none of Jogoro’s business, but he can’t help but vent in his presence
Jogoro fires back with the reveal of Kengo’s adorable nickname “Kenken”
Apparently it is indeed Isawa running this group, and furthermore she is keeping Kawamata involved with physical threats
Not only did Kawamata refuse Kengo’s help, she basically implied he couldn’t possibly be useful to her. Her problem is too significant for his little hero routine to solve it, something that clearly irritates him
“I don’t care about helping Kawamata Sanae so much that I’ll take shit for trying. That’s just egotism.” And that’s just hypocrisy, Kengo. It’s clear you value your bruised feelings as a self-declared hero more than actually resolving this situation
Once again, Jogoro’s attempts to find a moment to himself add a clear rhythm to this episode, as he is again interrupted while reading his book
“I wasn’t sure I’d asked you properly,” says Osanai, regarding the two of them attending the festival together. Another clear theme of this episode – the two of them testing the waters regarding their relationship, going on dates without clearly defining them as such, each clearly wondering how the other is interpreting their actions
“We’ll meet up at my place first, then we’ll go there together.” More tentative steps, making it just slightly more official through their shared arrival
Jogoro meets Osanai’s mom at her place. Interesting that this is apparently their first time meeting
Our stinger is that Osanai has been ABDUCTED FOR RANSOM!? Jeez, that escalated fast!
And Done
Shit, what am I supposed to do with that? Well, reflections on that twist will have to wait for more context, I suppose. Sudden abductions aside, we’re clearly swerving into our second major story arc, which has again demonstrated far greater stakes than either the one-offs or basically any of Hyouka’s mysteries. There’s an undercurrent of violence in this town, which seems appropriate for a show starring a wolf like Osanai, and this episode illustrated that violence breaching the surface even as it progressed Jogoro’s dynamics with both Kengo and Osanai, demonstrating how each of them usher him forward in their own ways. It seems clear that Osanai is ready for a more deliberate acknowledgment of their relationship, and I suppose rescuing her from kidnappers is as good a way as any to demonstrate how much you care. Go save her before she kills them all herself, Jogoro!
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