Mystery shows are the type of genre for a specific niche of people who enjoy turning the cogs in their brains and witnessing characters discover and solve the mysteries of the show. Shows like these mainly provide a mystery that needs to be solved, along with thrilling moments in between and deepening layers of depth with the mystery itself to keep the story running. One notable example of this is Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, which provided a well-driven concoction of its rabbit hole of a mystery. However, not every mystery show has to have that thrilling element to keep audiences hooked on the story. Some mystery shows would drop the elements of a thriller series and lean more on the lenient aspect. All it needs is a properly set-out mystery and to let the audience follow along through the mystery with the main character until both parties solve the mystery in the end. This kind of mystery works well in written literature, but it's more on the quiet side in the anime scene.

There are huge examples like these series, such as Hyouka, which provided a mystery-focused plotline accompanied by its intentional mundanity, turning it into something interesting. More than 12 years after it finished airing, Hyouka is still a one-of-a-kind mystery series that a group of its fans would still come back to to re-experience the high moments they had watching it, and that is mostly due to the series not having a worthy spiritual successor. Until now.

Shoshimin Series is a 2024 mystery anime that has swept under the rug for the majority of the season, but it has undoubtedly provided a re-enlightenment for mystery fans, rediscovering and chasing back those highs of the type of genre they love in its masterfully crafted mysteries across its short 10-episode run. The source material for the series is written by Honobu Yonezawa, who is the author of Hyouka. This is already a huge assurance that the Shoshimin series has that core element that Hyouka already possessed, starting from its mundanely entertaining mystery that magnetizes you on screen while you're amazed at how much these two shows managed to keep you on hook while providing little by little to the viewer, which is a testament to Yonezawa’s writing and the talent behind both anime series adapting his work.

There is an obvious difference between the two shows that could make or break your experience. One is that the characters in the Shoshimin series are not as well-layered or equally memorable as the characters in the Hyouka series. This isn't usually a huge issue per se, especially with some audiences who would still get hooked and follow them eventually without any problems. But there is another one that can be a huge setback for most audiences, and that is that the animation of the Shoshimin Series pales in comparison to Hyouka’s Magical Gloomy-Vibrancy of an animation. Granted that the series does have a bit of style that is unique to them, and if you are a person who doesn't care regardless of the animation and just values a good mystery series, these criticisms can get a pass.

If you love a good mystery-focused series in a normal high school setting, just like Hyouka, and with characters where you get to follow and enjoy their journey throughout, This is a highly recommended show, and one will be for a very long while until we get to see an anime that is similar to the vibes and storybeats of this one. ***