SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary
SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary
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SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary

7.5
Yr 2024
Rt 23m
Status Ended
Animation Mystery
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Series Brief

Overview

Kobato decides to become an honest, humble citizen after enduring a bitter experience known as “wisdom work.” He forms a pact with Osanai, his classmate with the same goal, and they plan to enter high school leading quiet lives. But for some reason, inexplicable events and disasters keep happening around them. Will Kobato and Osanai ever manage to live ordinary, peaceful lives?

Critical Reception

What critics are saying

Score 62 /100

Critical reception for SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary is mixed, with reviewers praising the anime's striking visual presentation while expressing divided opinions on its deliberate pacing and low-stakes mysteries. Several critics highlighted the show's subdued aesthetic and engaging deduction scenes, comparing the lead character's mystery-solving skills to those of Sherlock Holmes.

However, the series faced criticism for leaning too heavily into its ordinary premise. Multiple reviewers noted that the plot progression can feel slow and flat, with some pointing out that the subpar cases and lack of character depth made it difficult to stay fully invested across the season. Ultimately, while viewers looking for a quiet, visually beautiful anime found it compelling, others felt its slow-burn nature held it back.

“thoroughly engaging and suspenseful”

“subdued and mundane, though no less beautiful”

“Ordinary to a fault!”

“While the anime dazzles visually, the plot progression is slow & flat”

Transmission Paths

Where to Watch

Crunchyroll
US • UK • CA
Crunchyroll Amazon Channel
CA • US • UK
Why fans love it

This 2024 anime series, adapted from a light novel, takes the usual Japanese high school setup and grounds it in a surprisingly specific goal: becoming entirely unremarkable. Following a troublesome past tied to "wisdom work," Kobato—voiced by Shuichiro Umeda—and his classmate Osanai form a pact to keep their heads down, avoid drama, and live as humble, ordinary citizens.

The appeal comes from the cosmic irony of their situation. No matter how hard the pair tries to blend into the background, bizarre disasters and inexplicable events continuously crop up around them. Combining slice-of-life school routines with a steady stream of local mysteries, the show thrives on the persistent clash between two teenagers desperately craving quiet lives and the strange circumstances that refuse to leave them alone.

Featured Players

Cast

Credited 67
Regulars 8
Longest run 7 eps
Shuichiro Umeda
Shuichiro Umeda
as Jogoro Kobato (voice)
Hina Youmiya
Hina Youmiya
as Yuki Osanai (voice)
Makoto Furukawa
Makoto Furukawa
as Kengo Dojima (voice)
Miyuri Shimabukuro
Miyuri Shimabukuro
as Yoshiguchi (voice)
3 episodes
Katsuyuki Miura
Katsuyuki Miura
as Takada (voice)
1 episode
Tomohiro Ono
Tomohiro Ono
as Shimomura (voice)
1 episode
Taishi Murata
Taishi Murata
as Sakagami (voice)
1 episode
Haruki Ishiya
Haruki Ishiya
as Ozaki (voice)
1 episode
Show 59 more
Chika Anzai as Chisato Dojima (voice) 1 episode Haruka Jinya as Teacher (voice) 1 episode Yuuki Shin as Joji Monchi (voice) 3 episodes Asami Seto as Midori Makishima (voice) 3 episodes Kouki Osuzu as Kimiya Itsukaichi (voice) 7 episodes Gakuto Kajiwara as Home Economics Club Member (voice) 1 episode Ruriko Noguchi as Female Clerk (voice) 1 episode Natsumi Fujiwara as Kasumi Kawamata (voice) 2 episodes Saori Hayami as Osanai's Mother (voice) 2 episodes Yuu Maeda as Waiter (voice) 1 episode Maki Kawase as Hasemi Isawa (voice) 1 episode Rumi Okubo as Tomoko Hojo (voice) 1 episode Natsumi Takamori as Ueno (voice) 1 episode Saeko Oki as Soda (voice) 1 episode Chiyuki Miura as Hayashi (voice) 1 episode Yukina Shuto as Employee (voice) 2 episodes Natsue Sasamoto as Female Investigator (voice) 1 episode Reo Osanai as Sanae Kawamata (voice) 1 episode Teppei Uenishi as Takahiko Urino (voice) 7 episodes Yume Miyamoto as Tokiko Nakamaru (voice) 5 episodes Seiichiro Yamashita as Yuto Hiya (voice) 6 episodes Souhei Horikane as Male (voice) 1 episode Arata Nagamine as Male (voice) 1 episode Miyuki Wakayama as Female (voice) 2 episodes Daishi Kajita as Male (voice) 1 episode Akira Sekine as Asoya (voice) 3 episodes Anna Nagase as Satomura (voice) 2 episodes Genta Nakamura as Nitta (voice) 1 episode Nana Hasumi as Female Student (voice) 1 episode Yuga Sato as Haraguchi (voice) 3 episodes Yudai Mino as Male Student (voice) 2 episodes Eiji Mikami as Ichibatake (voice) 3 episodes Mikoto Aoyama as Tanada (voice) 1 episode Toshinari Fukamachi as Shotaro Hisaka (voice) 5 episodes Ryuho Nagaoka as Eto (voice) 4 episodes Takahide Ishii as Makoto Fujidera (voice) 4 episodes Aoi Ichikawa as Ushio (voice) 3 episodes Ikuto Kanemasa as Miyamuro (voice) 3 episodes Riki Kagami as Wakura (voice) 1 episode Kentaro Tone as Katsuki (voice) 1 episode Fu Hirohara as Girl (voice) 1 episode Misaki Yamada as Girl (voice) 1 episode Takara Inoue as Boy (voice) 1 episode Kouki Nakamura as Boy (voice) 1 episode Kyohei Zenyoji as Boy (voice) 1 episode Shou Komura as Boy (voice) 1 episode Reina Aoyama as Nurse (voice) 5 episodes Kenji Nomura as Mabuchi (voice) 1 episode Shouto Kashii as Yamasato (voice) 1 episode Kakeru Hatano as Clerk (voice) 1 episode Mitsuru Miyamoto as Kazutora Hisaka (voice) 2 episodes Saori Onishi as Ouyou High School Student (voice) 1 episode Mikoto Nakai as Ouyou High School Student (voice) 2 episodes Hayato Kimura as Waiter (voice) 1 episode Naoko Nokubi as Elevator Audio Guide (voice) 2 episodes Yohei Sasamori as Classmate (voice) 1 episode Koyo Numagami as Classmate (voice) 1 episode Suzuka Hara as Classmate (voice) 1 episode Saki Naruse as Classmate (voice) 1 episode
Signal Match

Similarity

Where SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary overlaps with other shows, and exactly what they have in common.

Keyword Cloud

Keywords

high school slice of life school school life anime japanese high school mysterious events based on light novel
Technical Sheet

Details

First Aired
July 07, 2024
Status
Ended
Episode Runtime
23 minutes
Origin
JP
TMDB Votes
35