Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Many believe that if they’re rich all their troubles will go away. I can assure you, that’s not the case. The rich also have problems such as living a sheltered life where they have no social skills and feel isolated from the world around them. Sounds like the perfect set up for a comedy series, Shomin Sample. Written by Takafumi Nanatsuki, Shomin Sample got started as a light novel in 2011 but would gain popularity thanks to the manga which ran from 2012-2017. While it wasn’t making waves it had fans who found the series funny and charming. And since school animes were popular in the mid-2010s it got an anime produced by Silver Link (The Ones Within) who were starting to rise in popularity with their comedy anime. Let’s get ready for some school hijinks. This is Shomin Sample.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Ichizu Recipe” by Idol College. It’s a catchy and cute song. I like it. It matches up perfectly with the anime with how random, silly, but at sincere with it’s story.
Our ending is “Twilight ni Kienaide” by Yumi Hara. I thought this song was meh. Didn’t leave much of an impression on me.
Episodes 1-4
We begin the anime in a normal school with our main character is Kimito voiced by Atsushi Tamaru when out of nowhere he gets kidnapped by this army of muscular men who enjoy flexing and doing the pelvic thrust (scene here: https://youtu.be/6gN7mKp8cPI?si=Jo-Qt60PSctV2DPu, well I know what positions they like to do it). He gets taken to a secret school designed to educate high society girls where he’s greeted by a maid named Miyuki voiced by Saori Ōnishi (Fianna from Bladedance of Elementalers) who takes him to the principal to explain the situation he’s in (you’ve been abducted and if you don’t do what they say they’ll have you killed). The principal explains to Kimito that the school he’s at is designed to teach young ladies of high class how to live in the real world (you want to teach them how to live in the normal world, make them go to a normal school. Stop being so secretive). However, over the last few years the graduating students have not adapted to the real world very well and have instead become shut-ins who spend all time on the internet (hey that’s part of the real world. In some ways). So the school has decided to fix this by having a male student of commoner descent enroll in the all-girls school to teach the girls about the real world and help them interact better with boys (so one adolescent boy is gonna be in a school filled with innocent girls who don’t know anything about the outside world and are gullible? What’s the catch?). Kimito was chosen from a long list of applicants because of one major factor that separated him from the others (here it comes). The school believes that Kimito is gay and has a muscle fetish thus believing that he won’t give into primal teen instincts and attack the girls (https://youtu.be/_n5E7feJHw0). At first, Kimito tries to deny these claims but when they threaten to chop off his manhood he shamefully plays along with their ideas (oh man, this is like going to Disney World and not being able to ride the rides). After their talk, Miyuki is assigned to Kimito as his personal maid where we see Miyuki is not too fond of him and takes him to his homeroom where he’s greeted by the class rep Reiko voiced by newcomer Rika Tachibana and the other girls in class who are fascinated by him (you would think these girls have never seen a male in their life). Right away we see how little these girls know about the real world. For example, they don’t know what a cellphone is (in this day and age how do you not know what a cellphone is? What is this school teaching you?). After realizing they’re touching personal property without permission Reiko proceeds to hand it back to Kimito, but since she’s not sure how she writes him a letter, makes him a bag of cookies, sticks all of it in a gift box and bag, and gives it to him (wow that actually makes me feel kind of special). When they touch hands Reiko falls but Kimito catches her (smooth~) and then he gets taken away by a girl with orange hair. We see that the girl is Aika voiced by Yū Serizawa another girl who is a part of the class but doesn’t get along with the other classmates not because she has a bad attitude but because she has a hard time talking to others. She’s determined to be popular among her peers so once she gets Kimito to a private place she tries to kiss him believing that kissing a commoner will make her wish to become popular come true (I tried that strategy on a rich girl once. It didn’t work out so well and let’s just say I wound up stranded on Alcatraz Island with no food, cellphone, or boat for a good 3 days until help came). Kimito stops her saying that’s just a superstition (a very good one. Scene here: https://youtu.be/r_-yuNFwjNg?si=npPRYBJFYb1ctsBP) and the other girls catch up to them where Aika runs away. After class he gets taken to his room which was designed to look like his room back home (man these guys are dedicated to their work) and Aika shows up where the two talk a little bit (surprisingly Kimito doesn’t try to take advantage of her), he shows her his PSP (because the Vita was a bust), and she decides that she’s going to start the Commoner Club believing that the more she learns about commoners and stuff the popular she’ll become.
So in episode 2 we see that Reiko is the alpha girl of the school (that makes Kimito the beta/alpha male). She’s smart, pretty, athletic, and all the girls desire to be like her (I’m sure some want to be inside of her as well but so far they’re all still innocent). On the other hand, Aika is the beta girl who keeps to herself and comes across as an anti-social girl. At lunch, Kimito introduces the girls to instant ramen where they are so amazed by it that they bring out the good silverware to eat it (*facepalm* these girls have a lot to learn). After school, Reiko throws a welcoming party for Kimito in the form of a ball where he and Reiko dance (scene here: https://youtu.be/SACp8_NI9sQ?si=Z8m1CBnDPsDR8ikt, ah~ the Tasmanian devil dance. A classic for us commoners. Haven’t done that dance in years). After his party, he goes back to his room where Aika is waiting for him (hi. Hello. Come right in) to teach her more commoner stuff. She takes an interest in his manga which tells the story of a girl with amazing powers to stop time (I don’t know. Sounds like a C-listed manga to me). She of course believes the story is true so Kimito plays around with her and makes her believe she stopped time (how cute and gullible can this girl get?). Later on, Kimito goes to take a bath where he accidently walks in on Reiko (and her amazing thighs). The next day Reiko begins to act strange as it seems like she’s fallen for Kimito and now wants to marry him (I’m getting an Anna from Shimoneta vibe from her).
In episode 3 we meet the last 2 heroines for the series thus far. First up is Hakua voiced by Yūki Kuwahara a soft-spoken girl who despite having the body of a loli is actually 14 years old (it all comes down to genes). She is a genius in mathematics and science and has a habit of writing new equations on walls which causes her to go into a daze where she unconsciously strips herself (she’s an exhibitionist). When Kimito is relaxing on a bench he sees Hakua writing on the school statue and stripping. When he hears other girls coming he grabs Hakua and brings her back to his room (and I’m calling the cops). Once there he helps get her dressed and feeds her some instant ramen (scene here: https://youtu.be/DeEaRRMzSWg?si=GkrfojaS1v1thwdg). After that, he takes her back home where the maids are in shock because Hakua never interacts with anyone, doesn’t eat food outside her scheduled food time, and clings to Kimito (our little lady is growing up). Kimito leaves but he invites Hakua to come and hangout again whenever she has time (then get used to seeing her a lot big boy). In the second half, we meet Karen voiced by Chitose Morinaga a girl from a samurai family who carries a katana on her at all times and has developed her own sword style (not bad for a rich lady). While walking she sees an insect come flying by her which scares her so she takes out her katana and begins slashing at it right in front of Kimito. In order to save face she pretends that Kimito was the person she was trying to slash and a fight begins between them where he inadvertently defeats her (the power of D cannot be matched). Humiliated by her defeat, Karen becomes Kimito’s student vowing to one day kill him when the opportunity presents itself (scene here: https://youtu.be/564KJ-O-z4w?si=o9WoP4AlVOri5WlY). As the episode draws to an end Aika has a plan to help make herself popular, using cellphones to communicate with everybody. The only problem is nobody in this school has a cellphone (again, in this day and age how is that possible?). Luckily, Hakua has plenty of cellphones and gives them to Kimito where she and Karen join the club with Karen jealous that Hakua sticks to Kimito all the time instead of her.
At the start of episode 4 Reiko tries to invite Kimito to a tea party in her room with a bunch of other girls (sure, and Kimito can teach you what a commoner boy and girl in puberty do alone in a room without adult supervision). At first, Kimito says yes but when Aika reminds him of their commoner party he has to decline the offer. While Reiko understands this in truth she’s absolutely jealous that Kimito spends so much time with her and vice versa but does her best to hide it (so the princess actually has a mean streak in her after all). At the tea party a few of the girls continue to talk about Aika’s relationship with Kimito where Reiko can finally stand no more and yells at one of them (https://youtu.be/h97kbv4mbsc). Feeling bad about what she did Reiko locks herself in her room until Kimito comes to talk to her but even then, she refuses to talk about the issue (especially since the issue is about Kimito). Kimito wants to help her and Aika not liking how depressed the class is decides to use her commoner party idea to help Reiko with her classmates. Kimito has Reiko dress like a gyaru and they hide cellphones in all the desks giving each girl a cellphone (of course the internet has been blocked on it). With the cellphones, Reiko apologizes to everyone and takes selfies with them (#richgyaru). With this, everything is back to normal in the class and when Reiko goes to thank Kimito she finds out this was all Aika’s idea which pisses her off. Reiko goes to Kimito’s room where Aika openly says she hates her and the two begin to fight each other on Kimito’s bed (what are you waiting for man? Take a picture or record this). The fight stops when they knock Kimito out with a pillow (scene here: https://youtu.be/dXcJPmYSOk0?si=Rs-XICZV5LjDIDUV) and the next day Reiko, Hakua, and Karen officially join the Commoner’s club. Hakua because she wants to be with Kimito, Karen because she wants to be close to Hakua (and unbeknownst to her be with Kimito), and Reiko because she wants to beat Aika all while maintaining her face in school.
Episodes 5-8
In the first part of episode 5 Kimito wakes up to Hakua sleeping in his bed entirely naked and not being shocked by it (good. But, I got to place you under citizen’s arrest). It turns out Hakua has come to play and she’s hungry so they decide to make potato cakes and then Kimito discovers that Hakua doesn’t know what a riddle is so Kimito gives her a few riddles to solve and despite being a smart girl she can’t solve any of them (scene here: https://youtu.be/14VQFShY8_U?si=X6yWQaKbVFCIFnxQ, that was cute). In the second part, the girls are tired of Hakua clinging to Kimito (jealous of the loli) so they decide to have a talk with her at the meeting. Hakua arrives where Kimito is nowhere to be seen and just hangs out with the girls where she doesn’t eat anything, talk to them and ignores all of Karen’s advances when she pretends to be Kimito (Haha! The loli is not amused by immatures). But despite all of this when it’s time for her to go she calls everyone her friend meaning that she sees them as friends but as for Kimito to her he’s something different. In the final part of the episode Aika and Reiko hangout in Kimito’s room while he goes to run an errand. They just sit around and talk with each other while reading Yuru Yuri (oh wow the series actually acknowledges other mangas. Usually artists will create parodies to make fun of other mangas or just make stuff up). When it’s snack time they both decide to try the anime version of Dr. Pepper which they don’t like and spit it on each other. with their clothes drenched in pop they have no choice but to take their clothes off and Aika gets jealous over Reiko’s big breasts and calls them disgusting (only in your eyes). This causes a fight to break out between the two on top of Kimito’s bed (man that bed gets more action than a majority of harem MCs). Kimito comes in and sees all of this and just leaves not saying a word (scene here: https://youtu.be/uNLL9bkKqck?si=psoD4BJYHjq8xb2r).
In episode 6 the academy has created an amusement park known as Commoner’s Land (this honestly sounds a little racist) a theme park that Kimito and his class will be going to and Kimito will be guiding them. Kimito sees this as the perfect opportunity for Aika to use everything she’s learned from the club and finally help her become popular. So after a few days of preparations, the group goes to Commoner’s Land where as we would expect it looks like everyday life for a commoner. We have a train station, streets, fast-food restaurants, and an arcade (the only thing missing is people walking the streets and cars). Their first stop is McDonald’s where the young ladies are both shocked and amazed by the concept of fast food (okay I know the author has a deep hatred for rich people but can you not make them come across as stupid? Scene here: https://youtu.be/l-nbD3KOEMw?si=a9IUU8043qBwPxJb. Three cashiers at a McDonald’s. Now I know you’re making shit up). Reiko decides to be the brave girl and tries to order but she buckles under the pressure of ordering (it can be overwhelming for a few people). Kimito tells Aika that this is her chance to shine but she gets stage fright thus Kimito has to step in and save her (you disappoint me Aika). After eating they check out the arcade where the girls are interested in the crane game instead of DDR (is that still a thing?) which is Aika’s specialty. After helping a few girls at the crane (and actually giving one of them an orgasm. Scene here: https://youtu.be/i5hWTc9XL_4?si=31-0_4jrKNCIhDdm) Kimito leads the girls to DDR where they’re off at first but then Aika steps in and shows her how it’s done earning some popularity among the girls (scene here: https://youtu.be/EaGdPlejpzU?si=N7Pap8K1HiFrgDUU, she’s in). After that things begin going smoothly for Aika as she teaches the girls how to order coffee at Starbucks (hey that is impressive. Seriously, I have a better chance building a bomb) and even getting their numbers so she can text them later on.
The trip to Commoner Land continues in episode 7 with Kimito helping Karen pick out some clothes she likes but is too embarrassed to try them on. After trolling her a little bit and forcing her to put them on we see that she has amazing thighs (good enough to eat). After that we see Aika continue to gain popularity with the other girls making Reiko a little sad because now the two can’t really spend much time together (I’m sorry but weren’t you the girl who said she hated Aika a few episodes ago). We also see that when Kimito talks about shutting down the Commoner’s Club now that Aika is popular now it actually gets her a little sad (why? It’s not like you like the guy or anything). As Kimito is enjoying the hotsprings Aika comes in along with her new friends and he is forced to hide where he passes out underwater and Aika has to give him mouth to mouth (I’m honestly surprised she knows this). A few of the girls see this and now think Aika and Kimito are dating (not yet at least). Once Aika tells the others in the club what really happened Reiko says she’ll send a text out to everyone telling the truth but Aika says no and to let the lie go on a while longer (aww~ she doesn’t want to give up her friends and club). After the credits we focus on Miyuki who we find out comes from a prestigious family like the other ladies in school but for some reason is a maid at the academy (family falling on hard times. Didn’t have the money to pay for her tuition). We get quite a shock when we see that the way she wakes Kimito up in the morning is by kissing him directly on the lips each time (scene here: https://youtu.be/-gVN6fgH8G4?si=eMOJ4qPU8nYxaxI3).
Episode 8 is the fortunetelling episode. It starts off with Kimito trolling Aika again (her naivety is both her charm and downfall in this anime). After that, the whole club goes back to Kimito’s room where they get their fortunes told by a Sailor Moon app (wouldn’t it make more sense to use Sailor Mars instead of Sailor Moon. I mean she is a shrine priestess and- you know what never mind, I’m being too critical about this). Kimito soon discovers that the app has a compatibility test so all the girls decide to test their compatibility with Kimito. Aika scores 80 points, Reiko scores 90, Hakua scores 50 (even though it’s clear that Hakua likes Kimito it’s hard to grasp their relationship because Hakua doesn’t open up to Kimito that much and I hesitate to call their relationship romantic as the two kind of have a big brother little sister relationship going on between them), and Karen scores 100 (I am happy with this result. Scene here: https://youtu.be/jnXJ05pM9IE?si=xNZHWKto5eLgzwtF). The next day Karen, taking the advice of the app (no offense but I don’t think Sailor Moon is your best choice for romantic advice) decides to aggressively go after Kimito by showing off all of her good skills (just let him rub your thighs and he’ll be all yours). She shows off her sword skills where she accidently cuts his jacket and shirt so she takes him back to her room to sew it for him. At first her room looks plain and simple but we see that she has hidden all her cute stuff (i.e rabbit house and dolls) in the closet. She changes into the clothes Kimito got for her at Commoner Land (yeah show off those thighs Karen. Not gonna lie I’m starting to see the charm of thighs) and they even talk a little bit where Kimito admits that he respects and admires Karen’s path she’s chosen for herself. Aika and the others come in where Karen not wanting a misunderstanding to occur throws herself and Kimito into the closet where they get discovered (https://youtu.be/W8QRExBfQhs, in the manga it was Karen’s sister Miyabi who has a yandere affection for Karen and will kill anyone who gets close to her. Also, they never got discovered).
Episodes 9-12
Episode 9 is all about the maids. The maids of Hakua have noticed how much she’s taken an interest in Kimito so they decide to invite him over to the lab and see how Hakua works. The only problem is they need an excuse to get him to come (just tell him you have free food. That’ll get any man to come). But before that, the girls want to know what a maid café is (a fetish shop) so they have Kimito teach them the ways of a maid café and setup one up for him. We get some funny and cute moments such as Aika too embarrassed to perform a moe-moe spell, Hakua playing rock-paper-scissors with Kimito until she wins, Karen serving an omelet where she gets a nosebleed, and Reiko literally destroys the cafeteria with her singing (so this is Japan’s newest weapon. Clever). Maids come in and clean the place up where one of the maids invites Kimito to come and see them work at Hakua’s place (hook, line, and sinker). So the next day Kimito goes to Hakua’s place where he plays with her in her sandbox (oh that’s cute) and the maids try desperately to set the two up with each other by having them eat off the same plate, use the same spoon, and drink out of the same drink (just girls trying to live out their fantasies). In the end their plan is a success as Kimito saw a new side of Hakua which let him get closer to her (the job of a maid is to make their master’s life easier and to make them happy no matter the cost).
In the first half of episode 10 Kimito once again trolls Aika by making her dress up as a gagman and perform “Gets” in front of people. He goes all out this time buying her a yellow suit (which is hideous) and everything. Just before Kimito can tell Aika it was a joke she rushes off to spread the word of “Gets” and it catches on like a wildfire (a wildfire of easily tricked girls in yellow suits). In the second half, Reiko overhears Kimito talk to one of his guy friends on the phone where through a misunderstanding (and use of words that make him sound gay) she gets the idea that Kimito is going to leave the school (trust me he’s not gonna leave, he doesn’t even know where he is and even if he did I doubt the school would let him leave). The girls decide to act more like dudes (this would be funny if they knew anything about guys) but it doesn’t seem to work on Kimito and once he finds out why everyone did this he assures them he’s not leaving.
Nothing much to say about episode 11. Reiko’s mom and older brother who has a complex for his sister (and people call Kimito a pervert) have come to pick up Reiko because she’s being married off to someone. Reiko goes along with what her mother says and leaves the school making everyone feel depressed. Aika finally calls her and tells her that she’s against the marriage (I’m opposed to it. Damn opposed to it) as is everyone else. Reiko says she too doesn’t want to leave the school and get married (should have said something sooner). Reiko’s brother is also against the marriage (of course his reasons are impure) and wants Kimito and the others to break up the marriage. He picks them up the next day and they drive to her home where they hope to stop the marriage.
In the final episode Kimito and the others arrive outside Reiko’s family mansion where the place is being protected by armed guards (this might seem a little overkill for a marriage interview). Karen seeing this as a good opportunity to fight strong commoners takes them on herself where she completely owns them (okay so in the real world Karen is pretty much the female equivalent of Kenshin. Good to know). Once inside the mansion, they fight their way through trap doors, drones, and a gundam (yes, somehow they managed to work a gundam into this series) to the marriage interview where they all openly protest it saying how much Reiko means to them to the point that it actually moves her to tears. Despite hearing how much Reiko means to them Reiko’s mom orders them to be removed from the premises (cold-blooded bitch). But Reiko finally speaks up against her mother and says that she objects to the marriage and will now leave the household in order to escape her mother’s grasp. Not a bad idea except the academy only accepts girls from prestigious families which means Reiko can’t return to the academy due to her status. Just when all seems lost for Reiko, Kimito says that he’ll take care of her and invites her to come and live with him in his common household with his family (no offence dude but this sounds like a marriage proposal). Reiko accepts Kimito’s offer and the marriage candidate decides to leave after witnessing Reiko’s resolve (oh yeah I forgot you were there) dropping the marriage interview all together. Reiko’s mom finally gives in and allows Reiko to keep going to the academy and marry whoever she wants which she says will be Kimito so that she can make his life a living hell. Yep, you heard me, Reiko’s mom openly admits that she hates Kimito and after hearing Kimito’s speech about taking care of Reiko she mistakes it for a proposal and now wants Kimito as a son-in-law so she can torture him (that is so messed up. And the scary thing is she still keeps that calm smile on her face which is hiding her sadistic side of wanting to kill him). So they all return to the academy where Kimito straightens things out with Reiko (if this was any normal woman she would have been pissed) and things pretty much return to normal (or as normal as things get in this school full of easily gullible rich girls).
Final Thoughts
Shomin Sample is a good and funny anime. Each of the characters are funny and get a good laugh out of me. If I had to name the funniest character it’d probably be Hakua. While the character herself has little dialogue she gets the best reactions out of everyone around her leading to the biggest laughs in the anime and she has a lot of cute moments. If I had to pick my favorite character it would be Karen. She obviously has feelings for Kimito but doesn’t know it and tsundere personality is cute. If I had to name the one major issue with this series is that it really doesn’t go anywhere with its story. The formula is pretty cut and dry. No major develops or surprises. It keeps things simple and makes you laugh. For the time, the animation was good and matches the art style of the manga so way to stick to the source material.
Final Score
The final score for Shomin Sample is a 6/10. If you’re looking for something simple and a good laugh definitely check this anime out. A second season was teased many years ago but it never came to be, but the manga is completed so definitely give it a read if you can track it down. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.