SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary

Episode 6

It feels like an indisputable truth: never go up against Osani if sweets are on the line. Her dedication to pastry is very nearly legendary—and it almost beggars belief that Kobato thought that he could trick her into believing that he had only brought two grapefruit charlottes in the first place. But it also shows his age in a way we haven't seen before, reminding us that whatever else he is, he's still a teenage boy—and that means that he's prone to making mistakes just like anybody else. And who among us hasn't made a poor choice regarding something we enjoy?

This episode deserves credit for mixing up the show's formula a bit. Up to this point, all of the “cases” have featured Kobato and Osanai investigating a mystery, or in last week's case, at least being a part of it. This time things are flipped on their head a bit as the story poses the question, “What if a great detective tried to pull off a crime instead of solving one?” Certainly, it's a valid theme in the mystery genre; just look at the gentlemen thieves like Raffles and Lupin, or more locally, Saint Tail. Most of them pull off their heists by dint of combining the duties of the detective and the thief—and that's what Kobato attempts to do as well, all in service of getting that sweet, sweet (but not too sweet) cake.

Essentially, this episode is like watching a mystery in reverse. As soon as Kobato realizes that he desperately wants the one extra grapefruit charlotte, he begins planning how to disguise its existence. He doesn't know how long Osanai will be out of the room on her phone call, so that means he has to work quickly, something we can see him worrying about. He takes stock of what's in front of him and works backward: what can he count on Osanai being aware of? What does she have no way of knowing? How can he use those things to his advantage? He realizes that taking out the cake holders in the box may be more time-consuming than is ideal, and although he doesn't mention it aloud, there's also a strong implication that the fact that they're held down with scotch tape may also pose a problem. If you've ever tried to pick that off of cardboard, you know that it doesn't always come away cleanly and that risks Osanai seeing torn paper in the bottom of the box. So then he has to think about how to use the existing cake holders just as they are, without attempting to remove them. It's a bit of a shell game.

The final piece of his puzzle is the one that feels the most entertaining. Once he sorts out the cake holders, napkins, and cooling packs, he realizes that he's left with his used spoon, covered in Bavarian cream from eating his first cake. In an almost ridiculously simple move, he just sticks it into one of the remaining charlottes, which has a two-fold purpose: it disguises the fact that he's used the spoon, but he's also claimed the cake. His spoon is in it, and if Osanai objects, he can come clean about it being his used spoon, thus still ensuring that he gets the cake. (Although given what we've seen of Osanai's vengeful nature, this may not have been a brilliant plan.) It's one of the clearest markers of Kobato's age we've seen: it's such a silly, childlike way to lay claim to something edible. That sums up his maturity at the moment, and he would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for that meddling girl and her observation skills.

It's all very low-stakes, and I'm not entirely sold on that yet. I alternately find this series an interesting take on the detective story and indescribably dull—although there's always at least one point that makes up for the glacial pacing of the rest of it. I enjoyed seeing Kobato's attempt at a life of crime for the variety it offers, but I don't think he ought to be trading in his detective hat for a gentleman thief's swordstick any time soon.

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SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.