*I'm covering both seasons in this review. I think they're too linked to each other to speak about separately. Also, spoiler warnings for Shoshimin's basic story.

Shoshimin's a show fundamentally about coming of age - it's about two teenagers growing to understand that what they try to do, however well-intentioned, isn't devoid of consequence, with the fundamental message being that attempting to even bother worrying about what is or isn't normal is ultimately pointless, but being unaware of other people's feelings to satiate said curiosity is flawed and incorrect.

The series spends two entire seasons through its semi-episodic mysteries exploring its two main leads masquerade as normal people while clearly establishing the ways they aren't conventional to other people. For Osanai, it's her delinquency and sadism when provoked - and for Kobato, it's his endless curiosity to get to the truth behind a mystery, irrespective of other people's feelings. Both of these characters start of the series aware of these flaws, operating under the assumption that they can temper each other's worst habits; instead, they feed into each other, with both characters relapsing into the character flaws they tried to prevent in each other. Rather than fully solve their problems, they opt to put distance between each other, meet new people and simply not interact with each other, which sets the stage for where the series goes thematically.

Distance is handled distinctly between Shoshimin's story arcs; the first season has the most we ever see of the main duo interacting with each other, yet until the last arc they hardly ever speak to each other about their personal problems and instead enjoy each other's company, masks fully intact both towards each other and the viewers. The final arc of S1 is where said mask slips entirely, where we gain an understanding of what had already been clear for the earlier part of the show; these two characters are not normal and Osanai in particular - who I think the series does an especially good job mystifying - shows what her true colors are capable of. In the flawed resolution to S1 is the unspoken implication that these are two wounded characters who desperately seek to move past their wounds but don't know how, and as a result hurt themselves and each other in the process.

The second season is where this distance is agonizingly emphasized in its first story arc. As opposed to awkward silence, conversations about sweets and basic attempts by the two to read each other out, there's them awkwardly pretending to ignore that the other even exists for a whole arc. New characters - Urino, who foils the worst of Kobato's curiosity, and Nakamaru, who foils the worst of Osanai's emotional immaturity and rashness - are introduced, and there's a carefully crafted mystery chasing an arson case as Osanai's character presence looms large over the narrative as everyone except Kobato is initially unassuming over the magnitude of events happening. What this arc ends with, however, is moving past immaturity for the two main leads onto acceptance after a period of self-reflection - we are, in a way, back where we started, but the characters have learned more about themselves and each other in the process of separation, bringing them closer than they were.

The final arc of the second season is where this is all brought together. The idea of past actions chasing the characters was already established in the final arc of the first season with Osanai, but the second season emphasizes it better by telling two mysteries (one past, one present) next to each other, with Osanai and especially Kobato's failure contrasted with the current approach they are taking with the present mystery, and their growth is especially focused on. Here, it's the duo's lack of ability to communicate and rashness in assuming that are put front and center, both towards each other and especially towards the victims of the past case - karma, disproportionate and unfair, has caught up with them, and their lack of normalcy compared to their surroundings are emphasized once more again. This time, it's portrayed positively, as in spite of flawed past actions, said actions are what brought them together, and there'll be time for the two to bond and mend them together instead of running away like they did before.

Shoshimin brings together its entire thematic weight by having absolutely masterful character chemistry between its two main leads. Kobato's curiosity is both at times clever and others legitimately infectious and the audience is under no mystery for why Osanai likes his presence - he has a way of making the mundane or, well, ordinary (see what I did there?) interesting, and most of the first season is buildup highlighting not only his character flaws but also his virtues. While initially I didn't click with Kobato as much as I did Oreki from Hyouka (relevant to mention as that's the author's other major work), with time I honestly grew to like him quite a bit. His growth by the final mystery in the second season was especially remarkable in reevaluating my view of him as a character and honestly left him as an outstanding character in his own right.

Osanai is bar none the star of the series. She's a sadistic, teasing former delinquent that in spite of being much more successful than Kobato ever was in passing for ordinary, nonetheless shines through in her more rash and direct approach to problems, confronting them head on in spite of her unassuming quiet facade. The finale of the first season works as well as it does specifically because of how well the series does with lowering your guard around her, only for the mask to slip as it does, setting the stage for her dominating presence in the second season, where you're left constantly wondering what she'll do in response to any given situation. She's both incredibly likeable and the driving force behind most of the story, and I'd be lying if I didn't say her increasingly more openly protective, even occasionally affectionate attitude towards Kobato by the final case in the second season wasn't incredibly endearing.

The side cast are honestly the weakest link of the series - Dojima works well enough as Kobato's friend giving him sane advice and had some solid character presence, and I think Urino and Nakamaru are fine for the roles they fit into in the second season's first arc, but they're a far cry from Hyouka's more dynamic side cast that both were more memorable and had stronger character interactions with the main quartet in that series. This isn't a major flaw considering the focus of the story on distance and emphasis on the increased authenticity of the main duo's bond with each other, but it made considerable portions of the first season especially when focusing outside the main duo comparatively much less interesting. The second season's first arc is an exception to this, and I'd say it's all the better for it, while the second arc told a personable story that while did develop its side cast well, was centered more strongly (for the better, mind you) on the main duo's past. I don't doubt that were more novels of the series released in an orderly manner and eventually adapted this gripe would fade, especially as this series was never aiming for a larger side cast receiving more focus as Hyouka did to an extent. Truthfully, I can see myself caring about this less on a rewatch.

The art direction and animation quality are to be praised to high heavens. Yonezawa's struck gold twice with both adaptations of his works to date, as the show's beautiful, character designs are stunning and the direction is especially worth praising; shots emphasizing distance in abundance here, with Kobato's imagination being brought to life through use of clever perspective shots where he'd imagine himself as the victim or speaking to whichever character he's speaking to, from whichever place or point of view he's imagining. It helps highlights the dissonance between Kobato's perspective and others extremely well and this shares a place with Hyouka as one of very few anime where exposition is legitimately engaging to listen to. Full credit to both the director and animation staff for their work bringing this to life.

Also, second season opening is one of my favorite OPs ever. Just putting it out there.

I watched Shoshimin only wanting to try out another one of Yonezawa's works as a Hyouka fan, with the burden of expectation that the late Takemoto's adaptation of Hyouka is one of my favorite pieces of media of all time. Now, I have two series I've loved from him. All of this is to say that Shoshimin's a great show that I'll one day revisit.

Thank you for reading my review, any and all feedback would be appreciated.