__Storytelling Masterpiece - How to Create an Extraordinary Out of the Ordinary: Limited Edition __

Therefore, I prefer not to brush a line of distinctions between one and another when writing this review - it is SHOUSHIMIN that needs to be reviewed, not the other series including yet another show that has been known to be written by the same author, Honobu Yonezawa, despite this time produced by a different studio, Lapin. Hence then, it's time to give Lapin studio the boost they need by giving these audiences a fresh breath of air, thus re-telling the story by alerting them about spoilers while letting them to enjoy every single word thoroughly.

Alright, now let's begin with the inference for the introductory, or the series descriptions.
The story set at Funado High School, after the placement exam, when a tall, somewhat muscular, bulky, and well-built student stumbled into a skinny, tall, and somewhat good looking one along with a certain tiny and timid female figure hiding behind his body. And as they 'introduced' themselves to the audience, they were there to check the acceptance board as the story went on. Kojima Dengo once was this tall and skinny-built individual, who turns out to be Jogoro Kobato, while the tiny figure behind him is Osanai Yuki, his fellow classmate before upon entering the senior high school. Together, they made the scenes as the story begins.

So, can they strive to become one of these ordinary citizen or will they fumble into the oblivion?

Watch this show for the best experience of relishing enjoyment of such a premise which is mostly done throughout foods and beverage for the entirety of this show.

Alright, that's all for the series descriptions, now let's head into the recipe.

First of all, this was what I have had learned after watching a video about storytelling: You don't break the walls, you just make them disappear. And this, I believe, is the first recipe to create an extraordinary out of an ordinary premise, whereas the series on itself, despite not given any 'wow', extravagant, nor spectacular premise, as the story goes on, such an ordinary premise becomes any of those words. I honestly wouldn't expect this, given the way Yonezawa-sensei's storytelling appeared to hit differently this time: As if it were to be a drawing, instead of stroking it with a shocking intensity of brush after a smooth brushing for a while, it begins with a delicate soft movement, as the brush is seemingly hardly touching upon the canvas, it gives a slowly but sure brushing until it gets thicken over the time. And such a simplicity is what makes a story perfect: You don't always need any all of a sudden shock therapy to make a series interesting, you simply wait for the momentum to make a precise smooth transition. And, to me, this was a sight to behold, not only such a technique overcomes any sort of limitations, it simply adds more 'balance' to the flavour of your cake, with the mix of sour and sweet combined into a naturally bland taste, make it intriguingly an effortless but flawless cake.

Second, know how to create a story out of characters, not the opposite: Character development and growth aren't really about making so many behavioral traits out charateristics to make it seemingly jubilant - it's all about dire circumstances given to a character which causes a certain specific impact to them, no matter the way you write them. Now, this is possibly one of the most crucial parts. The thing is, you don't really need a flashy character with complexity issues to create a great storytelling; what you do is the opposite, but be careful with the tropes. I have been noticing a lot of shows with which I could get sickened out of it, not only these characters were collecting traits as if those where Pokemons, they also complicate the situation themselves by adding their own characteristics to a certain circumstance, which is a bad apple on its own. Sherlock Holmes once said, "You don't suit facts to a theory." instead, you suit your theory to support facts. This implies the way these authors dismissed a crucial storytelling aspect when it comes to characters themselves; not only that they overlooked odds of those circumstances by carrying out heavy characteristics would eventually turn it into a recipe of disaster, they appear to be not so much aware about the laws of causality, given the aspect that is needed when an impact is being imposed onto someone's personality, which to me looks like a cake that is too sweet, too sour, bland or simply the mix of these with so many unnecessary spices, such as a spicy sauce, for instance. In other words, if I were to analogize, utilize deduction when it is necessary to apply a theory into facts. Or else, use induction when special circumstances are required to infer these certain specific facts based on the existing theory.

Third, and possibly the last but not the least: Plot twist, when it's too overwhelming and perplexing, is akin to a sweet cake with too much sugar as a sweetener for the sake of it - simple and smooth one makes it perfect. Hence then, here is yet another crucial aspect to notice when crafting mastery, which is time to consider whether such a cake happens to be too sweet to your liking, hence then it doesn't suit you at best. Not only adding too many 'sweets' may cause diabetes, but also the odds that you may throw up as you are no longer able to digest it properly - Ingredients are important to create a great storytelling recipe, and these are what SHOUSHIMIN offers to you. Therefore, enjoy the dessert while you are at it.

That's all, and thank you for reading this review. I really appreciate it.

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Actually... No, if you think this review was done, then consider yourself to have been tricked - to be fair, I have yet done any of these usual formats, so here is yet another proper segment of 'normal' reviews that I usually wrote with ease, especially back then.

Hence thus, to begin with, such a storytelling then, as I said previously, it gives an incredible perspective when it comes to the narrative, plot along with its twists, characters, environmental background, and premise being taken to have livened up the show, and all of these require a flawless recipe to captivate the audience about this show. Simply said, it has what it takes to outlive the expectation given by its predecessor though I would rather not to give any per usual as a thumb rule I adhere to when watching a show. The transition is smooth and accurate, the way scenes switch from one to another is a beauty to anyone's eyes - these are one of the best, thus coupled with a soothing and relaxing but still consistent pacing, the plot blends itself akin to a creamy sauce melts inside your mouth when you eat a cake. The premise that is thematically slice of life albeit with major mystery and minor suspense and action themes gives a well-proportionate ingredients to slice the living out of a show to put it roughly.

The external aspects also are fine, and as we begin from the music first, the Opening really is suitable. I honestly could never have imagined Eve to put such a decent work considering the skepticism I have had, but it somehow exceeds the expectation - Sweet Memory is a well-balanced taste and flavour. The Ending also was as much as fitting, albeit I hardly remember the title, it still has a nice ring to it. Thus, coupled with numerous OSTs as the scene background, these dynamics create a lot of smoothies out of the already structured premise, not to mention this cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio scaling gives such nostalgic feelings while these visual scenes are heavenly, including the background settings as such.

Another thing to mention is the audio, from voice to sound effect. While there are some issues when it comes to the volume of sorts, these all are somewhat covered by these talented voice actors. For instance, Anzai Chika who were being loud about the scene, thus calling out Kengo as his older sister for being a lazy bum, or Osana's VA, who definitely nailed the tone of a cold and calculative voice of her character correctly during the scene, especially the one when she trailed Kobato from behind to surprise him. Speaking of the scene, the details are perfectly crafted to make out any scene to be meaningful, thus these seemingly unnecessary details complete the missing pieces in a puzzle of scenes, while the character design, animation, and the art style are quite compelling, giving such an adventurous enjoyment when it comes to pleasuring the audience with an absolute cinematic experience.

As for characters along with their personality, these all are fine and, in-fact, this should be a proper model for anyone who wants to begin their career as a writer: As I suggested previously, you don't need to create a character with intricate complexity issues to make a series be any fulfilling. In-fact, the satisfaction lies within to create the simplicity from th beginning then later to add the complexity throughout certain specific circumstances as they adapt themselves throughout such scenes, which is akin to a cake before added any of ingredients - its original taste is bland and looks really simple after backed out of the oven, but once you added ingredients such as creamy sauce, fruit topping, sugar, and stuffing etc. it will become a perfectly balanced recipe if you have done it properly; to be fair, not just cake, even most of foods you eat come out of these basic ingredients.
Kobato appeared to steal the show with his cutthroat and cunning tendencies yet without being too overwhelming, as he gave the shed of lights to others such as Kengo and Osanai, as these characters also have flavours on their own, leading to an intriguing storyline that is mostly dictated by a certain flow of dynamics with which you may be able to enjoy the show without any hassle of waiting for the time it ends: It simply flows lightly throughout your vein, as by the time you finished an episode unknowingly, you never really saw it coming.

For the enjoyment, it was peak. By the time you drown yourself into the show, as the wall between audience and characters is disappear, it is as if you soak yourself into a cake that balances the taste of between sour and sweet, giving the entanglement of relaxation, to satiate your own appetite, especially given that the plot alone is revolved around foods, beverage, and culinary recipe, much fitting for those whom may have an inclination to savour any of these digestive ingredients without eating them with pleasure, including the fact that this show alone, despite calming and relaxing, also is serious and somewhat tense, of which gives you an ideal state to ease your boredom.

Right, I probably have done with all if not most of components but the do or don't here. Ergo, by the virtue of fact that this show is relaxing with a serious tone at best, it is better not to expect anything out of it, especially action with a lot of plot twists, complicated plots, or some exaggerated drama with a lot of conflicts - you aren't watching shounen nor shoujo, but a show that resembles reality. Sure, you may call it 'boring' or 'average'. However, this most likely determines your attitude towards life experience - if you consider this show as boring, this then rather implies this whole experience you've been living: You see your own life as one. And no, this is hardly an iyashikei as the show on itself still has a suspense here and there, despite not as much. One more thing: Never, ever, compare it to Honobu Yonezawa's previous work, Ice Cream (Yes, not going to say the original title). And if you ask me why, its premise alone already carries out a clearly distinctive theme akin to its predecessor, and Yonezawa-san really wrote something that is unlike his usual works, coming off with a brave and delicate theme that he probably has had never experienced it before. Not to mention that Lapin clearly punched above its weight with this show, especially by adapting this work into something that is overwhelming to most of us, emotional-wise. So, I would applaud them for this.

Another thing to notice here is do not watch this show if you wish for a story that simply rests your mind without giving a further notice towards intricated details given that most of these scenes require the audience to think thoroughly about any possible scenario that might happen throughout the series. Ergo, again, it is better not to expect any iyashikei form of relaxation here.

As for the conclusion, SHOUSHIMIN is by-far the most realistic show I have ever watched, just like the life on itself, if you have a lemon, squeeze it, turn the lemon into a lemonade, add some ice, and done. This is simple. However, it is more difficult to pull out a masterpiece out of simplicity. And as much as it is impressive to do difficult things, it is more tricky to make something difficult looks simple. And SHOUSHIMIN simply delivers - it has a lot of flavours that may seem against each other, but eventually end up as a synthesis of balanced ones as each of these neutralizes each other, creates a perfect recipe to work on a masterpiece.

Also, these are the list of critics, pros and cons, I have regarding the show, which is for the better improvement of it:

• The characters were a bit too bland in the beginning, despite getting flavoured in the end. While I agree it's better to start with a plain ingredient as a premise, this may leave distaste for those whom may have expected something that persuades them to watch the show

• Some of these scenes contain cliches such as Chekov's gun or McGuffin elements. While it's true that these scenes are compelling enough to help the audience directing their mind into the character's thought process by slowly inviting them after making the fourth wall disappear, it may be unpleasant to some.

• The CGI movement was apparent when given, especially if you noticed it carefully. While some others may be fine with this, the rest of people who already enjoyed the full-rotoscope drawing, including me, might find it a bit odd unless when it's done rather delicately to fit the frames.

• We didn't get to see the thought process for each character, including Jougorou as the main character but it's understandable because the show meant to, well, show, not to tell with a compelling monologue-style of storytelling. However, this was covered by gesticulations and the fleshed out dialogues between characters that helped the audience to understand it correctly.

Alright, that's all and I really appreciate that you read this review until the end. Thank you and I solemnly hope that you enjoyed every single paragraph written by myself with love and deep gratitude towards SHOUSHIMIN as I poured everything here. Because this show deserves your attention.

Once again, thank you very much.

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