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When I started reading this manga, I expected a nice, light story of the events following the creation of the phonewave told from Kurisu's perspective, but I was utterly wrong. After the first few chapters, this manga evolves into an almost entirely new story, adding a lot more depth to Kurisu's character and her past. We also see more of her relationships with characters in ways never explored in the original Steins;Gate and an unexpected side to someone close to Kurisu, giving us a whole new perspective. And the best part? It's all canon. If you're a Steins;Gate enjoyer, this is a must-read. It may ... surprise you, as it did me.

I'm one of those rare people who watched the Shoushimin Series without having watched Hyouka. So, I came into the Shoushimin Series not knowing what to expect, and I'm happy with how it turned out. In short, Shoushimin Series is a show about "ordinary people" spending their days trying to do ordinary things while solving the small mysteries in everyday life. While it may not be a thrill ride from start to finish, it offers something gentle and charming in its own way.

The Shoushimin Series excels in balancing light detective elements with slice-of-life moments. I personally found this perfect to watch when winding down after ... a long day or right before going to sleep. The mysteries may be small, but they add a nice layer of intrigue without being too intense. Heck, they had a full 10-minute breakdown of how a guy makes his hot chocolate. And they somehow managed to keep it engaging the whole way through.

The art style and animation are visually beautiful, and the character designs and settings are perfect. As I previously stated, I haven't watched Hyouka, but I've heard that the art in Hyouka was also one of its strong points, and the Shoushimin Series follows this. One thing that stood out to me was the random changes of settings mid-conversation, which seemed to happen often. While I don't know if there was any deeper meaning behind it, it made the scenes more dynamic and fun to watch.

Another highlight is the opening and ending themes. The stunning music and visuals complement the show's overall tone. I especially love how they blended anime characters with real-life scenes and backgrounds in the ending theme.

The series' final episodes shift from lighthearted mystery-solving to a more dramatic twist. This moment adds an unexpected layer of emotional complexity to the story, transforming it from a simple slice-of-life mystery to something with more weight.

The final episode of the Shoushimin Series left me with mixed feelings. Introducing two specific new characters left me a bit conflicted, although it was probably necessary for the main characters to develop. Although I am not entirely sold on this shift in tone, it definitely has me looking forward to season two, where I hope to see how these new dynamics unfold.

Overall, Shoushimin Series is a solid show that knows what it wants to do and does it well. While nothing blew me away or had me super hooked throughout the show, excluding the final episodes, it's an enjoyable watch that offers a nice mix of mystery, slice-of-life, and light drama. I can't justify giving it more than a 7/10 for these reasons, but I recommend it if you're looking for something relaxing yet engaging with a bit of unexpected drama.

The skating isn't realistic at all. It feels like the studio didn't research skateboarding and the culture and created a story about what they thought skateboarders were like. The plot was lacklustre. The anime did nothing terrible, but it did nothing great either. The only decent things were the art and animation.

Nothing was interesting about the characters. The MC is the generic, overly energetic protagonist. The deuteragonist is the stereotypical emotionless and "cooler" character and probably the most interesting character in the show, which says a lot about the rest. And the villain is basically just Hisoka from Walmart. Also, this one's more of ... a personal preference, but as a Christian, I was not fond of the Adam and Eve comparisons in the later episodes. Even objectively, the Adam and Eve metaphors were pointless, didn't make much sense and failed to add extra substance to the characters and the overarching story.

If you were like me and wanted to watch this anime because you are into skateboarding, you should save your time and not watch it. If you wish to watch it for the story and don't care about how realistic the skateboarding is, it would probably be more bearable... but you should also save your time and find something with a more intriguing plot.