©米澤穂信・東京創元社/小市民シリーズ製作委員会
The cracks are starting to show. We had a good idea last week—and even in the first episode, if you look hard enough—that Kobato’s dedication to being “normal” was based on how annoying everyone found him in middle school. This week, he confirms that he’s basically an unpopular Encyclopedia Brown with a side of asshole, and the implication is that he wants to be normal so he doesn’t find himself in that position anymore. His friend Kengo has some feelings about this decision, but it makes sense, even if Kobato finds it harder to let go of the mystery than he anticipated.
But what about Osanai? Before this week, we knew she liked sweets and wanted to be “normal,” but that was about it. She seemed upset about her bike being stolen in episode one and about being called to the Guidance Office at school because it was discovered at a crime scene, but she didn’t seem to react that strongly; mild annoyance seemed to be her default emotion. This week, however, things changed. Not only did we learn that she not only likes sweets, she eats cake when she’s upset, but she was also much more “mildly” upset about her bike being stolen and its attendant summoning her to the office. Her facial expression when she saw the thief riding past on his bike was subtle, but still very angry, especially given how little emotion she’s shown so far. Not only does she want her bike back, but she seems obsessed with the idea. Yes, she bought a new one, but she still felt hurt over losing the first one, and when she was called into the office again after her abandoned bike was run over, she was furious. Even Kobato seemed shocked by Osanai's reaction, and the image of her standing on the bridge in the blood-red sunset, smiling happily, while basically vowing to make the thief pay made me reconsider what made Osanai abnormal in the first place.
We know that she can be hard on herself at times – look at her reaction to missing a question on her biology test. We know that she wants what she wants – her determination to win two strawberry shortcakes and her attachment to Kobato make that clear. So what does this moment of revenge tell us? Does Osanai have a vicious temper? Is she secretly a serial killer? Is she fundamentally selfish and not good at sharing? She apparently ate Kobato’s mont blanc when he left to get his phone from school and seemed upset when he didn’t respond to her texts. I’m not sure at this point, but I’m definitely starting to worry. Kobato also seems to be in the process of discovering who Osanai really is, and there are moments in this episode that make me think he’s a little scared of what he’ll find out.
It seems almost certain, however, that he will find out. The mysteries he solves this week are all small ones, but the clues require a bit of searching. The most interesting is the reason why a vase in the locker breaks during the exam in Osanai's class. That guy is pretty smart. The defrosting trick is a classic worldwide (Soji Shimada's Murder in the Crooked House, published in English by Pushkin Vertigo, is a good Japanese example), and the way it gets around the classroom directive not to take your eyes off your test makes sense. The driving school question is a little less interesting, although it does insist that all the text on the screen be paid attention to.
I'm not completely done with this series yet, but it's drawing me in more with each episode. Whatever Osanai is hiding probably won't benefit from being brought to light, but at this point I'm so curious that even if I weren't writing about it, I'd want to watch episode four.
Evaluate:
SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary is now streaming on Crunchyroll.