Shoushimin Series 2nd Season – 05
I don’t know why it didn’t strike me earlier, but I suppose the “Fireman” arc is likely not going to take up this whole season. At least the vibe I’m getting is that we’re getting close to the climax of it. I don’t think it’s been announced how many episodes this season will be, but even if it’s ten like S1 it’s hard to see this arc stretching through all of it. Its natural momentum seems to be driving it towards an imminent conclusion.
This has definitely been an upgrade over S1, largely because as I noted Osanai and Kobato work better as part of a platter than as the main course. Urino is such a contrast to them in every way that it’s a very effective setup. This is a grand boy’s adventure to him, and the hubris creeping into his articles is thick enough to cut with a knife. I don’t dislike Takahiko, not remotely – I feel sorry for him if anything, because he’s the most straightforward kid in the room and he’s surrounded by far more duplicitous (and dangerous) operators.
I definitely throw Hiya into that group. His best friend thing may or may not be an act (I think mostly not), and he may or may not be Fireman (I think he merely knows more than he’s letting on and is enjoying the game). But he’s playing with Takahiko, just as Yuki and Jougarou and Kengo are. Jougarou also has a truly hilarious breakup scene with Nakamura-san, where she flat-out addresses how creepy he is with his eternal grin. It’s been so obvious he didn’t remotely care about her – is she really only know admitting it? She’s not remotely on the high ground here, as she’s triple-timing him. But what in the world has ever been in this for him?
So we have Urino-kun convinced he knows who Fireman is, and – after a month hiatus due to a typhoon and another whiff after a fire – he’s determined that this is the night. Of course whoever he thinks is the culprit is probably whoever (Jougarou himself?) Kobato and Doujima have led him to as part of their trap. And still Osanai sits at the center of her web, playing out the threads and watching the little flies get snagged. I’m still pretty sure she’s not Fireman herself, but she’s probably the root cause of these fires one way or the other.
Anne Shirley – 05
I feel like I’m kind of at an impasse with Anne Shirley. It’s pleasant enough but it doesn’t instill any particular feelings in me. It’s tempting to write it off as not being the target audience, but I’m pretty big on classical literature as a rule so no, I don’t think that’s it. I just don’t find it to be particularly compelling, in this form at least.
It that a matter of the subject material or the adaptation? I suppose one way to tell for sure would be to (finally) watch Takahata’s Akage no An (wow, not only losing her E but one of her Ns too). But my gut says it’s more the latter. This show comes off very perceptibly as if it’s going from Point A to Point B every week, without worrying too much about how it gets there. With stories like this the substance is in the details and the subtleties of the character relationships. Maybe if I already knew those things I wouldn’t miss having them here – I could fill in the blanks myself. But I don’t, so I see them as blanks. And I’m very aware they exist.
For now I’ll keep watching and keep the door open as far as anything beyond that. I did like the bit about Matthew buying the dress (even if it looked kind of ridiculous on her, ROFL), especially his bashfulness at the shop, and there are usually one or two moments every week which make me chuckle. But that’s pretty thin gruel in the big picture.
Simone
May 5, 2025 at 6:01 pmI am a lot more positive at the show but I definitely do notice the briskness of the pacing, and even not having read the book or watched the Takahata show I can spot the missing bits (why did the show give it for granted that we knew who Minnie May was when she fell ill? What happened with the pastor and his wife coming for tea? Etc.). Pity, but I still enjoy what’s there a whole lot, though I may check out some other version later (possibly just the novel – it’s public domain at this point, after all).
Nadavu
May 5, 2025 at 7:07 pmWhen this season of Shoushimin started and was surprisingly two levels up from the first, I had a foreboding feeling it wouldn’t last beyond this arc, after which I suspected the dynamics would revert back to season 1. However, I did not think the arc would take up half the season, so even if things do take a nose dive, we already got a damn good half a season, at least. Not bad for a show that seemed hell bent on jumping the shark since episode 4 of season 1.
As for Jougarou’s romance with Nakamura, while it does seem as much a mystery as the fires, I do feel it’s in line with his creepy character. Remember that the whole premise of the show is to become ordinary. While not a psychopath of Osanai magnitude, Jougarou is nonetheless a sociopath who’s trying to pretend to be normal (because of what happens to the nail that sticks out). He tries his best to present as a pleasant, mild mannered boy, but he doesn’t quite get that he needs a wider range of facial expressions to deal with different social situations, and the result is the eternal smirk. Why would Nakamura date him for an entire year is a different question, but maybe she too needs an ordinary-looking relationship to present to the world.
lHyDrAl
May 5, 2025 at 10:29 pmI will be eternally grateful for this version of Anne existing for the simple fact that in led me to watch Takahata’s version which I most probably would have went my entire life without even knowing it had existed. It has firmly placed itself in my top two anime of all time right next to Evangelion and I now consider it Takahata’s magnum opus over Grave of the Fireflies. I went ahead and ordered the next two books in the Anne series and I might check in on this adaptation whenever it gets to book 2 which at this pacing will probably be in just a few more episodes.
Guardian Enzo
May 5, 2025 at 10:36 pmWow, that’s high praise.
catterbu
May 6, 2025 at 12:36 amYeah. Anne Shirley is still enjoyable enough for me to stick around, but it really hit tell don’t show territory this week. And while I do not know that it is my favorite Takahata, it is right on the edge of my top 20 anime of all time (out of well over 1000). More importantly, all the issues with this adaptation are not present in the 1979 version (Minnie May is present and around throughout, so that hits harder for one).
To anyone considering it, please do watch the original, but know Anne Shirley’s first episode is six in the original. It allows for a lot of gorgeous work from the anime team, but there is a condensed, 46 minute version that was made later and watched instead if desired.