Shion no Ou

Defying the odds, middle school student Shion Yasuoka is becoming a rising star of the professional shogi world. Despite losing her family at a young age and being unable to speak due to the trauma, in her loving adoptive family and at the shogi association, she has found the necessary emotional support to move on with her life and very demanding career.

Her talent attracts the attention of Satoru Hani, a successful businessman and brother of the current "Meijin"—the title given to the defending champion of Japan's most prestigious shogi tournament. He decides to organize a tournament open to both men and women, including professional and amateur players, and urges Shion to participate in the competition. However, Satoru seems to know a lot about Shion's troubled past, and his actions bring suspicion from Shion's friend Ayumi Saitou and the police—who are still investigating the death of Shion's loved ones.

As the end of Satoru's tournament approaches, Shion starts remembering events related to the night when she lost everything and will have to show her mental fortitude to defeat her opponents and foil the plans of the culprits who ruined her life.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yasuoka, Shion Main

Kawasumi, Ayako Japanese

Saitou, Ayumi Main

Park, Romi Japanese

Nikaidou, Saori Main

Mizuno, Risa Japanese

Hani, Makoto Supporting

Gouda, Hozumi Japanese

Hani, Satoru Supporting

Matsukaze, Masaya Japanese

Kamizono, Osamu Supporting

Nakao, Ryusei Japanese

Saitou, Fumiko Supporting

Shimamura, Yuu Japanese

Watanabe Supporting

Densaka, Tsutomu Japanese

Kyoudo Supporting

Maruyama, Eiji Japanese

Seto, Kazumi Supporting

Kawaragi, Shiho Japanese

Yamamoto, Kouji Producer

Matsuda, Keiichi Producer

Takahata, Yuuichirou Producer

Ikeda, Shinichi Producer

Reviews

Mar 10, 2022

Godslayer27

Recommended

Well in few words an really worthy anime to actually spend your time watching it, i gonna to deepen into it a little more to present you what i consider their charms and also the ones that werent really good.

What i gonna let you in clear before to beging with, its the even the following negatives points that i gonna to metion below, i should aclare that its an really good anime that we actually dont use to get anymore in more recents days, so you are informed of it even throught at the end of the review i gonna metion it again, ... i wanted to say it.

First and foremost the anime its about an murder to the paretns of our protagonist that take place when she was a around 4 years old, after a time and being raised by his adopted parents (which she considers his real ones after of how much love and care gave to her), althought an big part of the series revolves around the shogi which its an japanese game and gradually we are going discovering who its the culprit of the murders of the parents of yasuoka shion(our protagonist) and another person more, we can enjoy the anime even if you dont have an knowledge of the game itselft (althought it might a improve the experiecen even more if you have some idea of the rules and how to play it).
The fact that its able to catch us wanting to know what happen in the next episode even trought as i mentioned the anime in a big part is about shogi and could not be really interesting to people like me who deosnt know anything about it, its actually shows how good its and the mystery its handled pretty well with interesting characters i wasnt expecting to like the protagonist (for being what it looked to me an stereotypical one, that could end up being really plane without any kind of development or motivation) but to my surprise its was an well rounded one,interesting and well developed and should say that i like it, also some other ones where pretty interesting and had an good development , althought i must say that at the end of the course i felt that they were left aside and i felt a little of dissapoinment.
It could be nice to actually add an couple more of episodes to give the secondary characters more time screen and give them an more decent ending , the ost its just perfect, each soundtrack its freaking amaizing and fits so well each situtation i even have the ost dowloaded of how much i like it, it overpass so many anime with so much high production values in this aspect, the music its perfect.

The things that were more remarkable for being really bad and other ones a little underwelming in comparision with how well the story, characters, ost and overall development, was the animation and the actual reason of the murderer, i must say the animation has many flaws and more than just a couple of times we can notice it , althoguht i have to say that to certain extend leaving aside the fact that wasnt an good or even an decent animation i like it the style of the drawings many times from the beggining (it has this vibes of early 2000 , and i utterly love it to death).
I have to say that the animation even trought its pretty bad most of the times, has his beaty on it at least to me ( it might be just bias in this case hehe), the other one its the actually motivation for the killings it was one of the most weak ones and really didnt hold to the values that this series deliver in others aspects, i mean i dont gonna spoil it but i have to say that most likely you are gonna end really dissapointed i mean that doesnt ruin the series but just fail to stay on pair to the rest. The last thing that i want to delve a little more that i mentioned above its that i just wished that the secondary characters were given more screen time there were two or three that in the beggining were properly presented giving them important rols in the series and his respective dilemas and past together with an good development , but in the second half of the series most of them were just dropped out without really an solid ending or deserved closing.

RESUME

In few words this anime i completly reccomend it has an BEAUTIFUL OST , and an really interesting and catchy story with well rounded characters and to my surprise the protagonist actually surpassed my expectations and actually show me to not judge an book by his cover, in this case, the only downsides could be the animation itselft wasnt really good, in the climax of the series where its revealed the murderer and his reasons were really poor ones and the last one could be the fact that didnt gave an proper closing and screen-time to some secondary characters in the last chapters in the series that were really interestings. Overall i give this series an 8 , i just wish we could get more series like this one, also could be pretty nice to get an second season i think i could work given how it ended.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 13, 2020

johnbradshaw

Recommended

It is often assumed that there are genres dont go too well with each other. A sport series opening with a murder is definitely one of those prime examples. Shion no Ou is once again proving this tedious fact.

So why do I give this anime such a high score? While it did failed as a sport series, what Shion no Ou managed to achieve is a compelling and intense story about obsessive love, overcoming the odds and most important of all, growing up.

To me, Shogi is such a boring game. It's not something I want to play even with my friends let alone someone who ... would murder my family. But that's the case for our little Shion, traumatized by the horrible event, she lost her voices. Seven years later, being quite masterful at shogi, she eventually emerges in the pro scene. There she met her rivals and then slowly the murder that haunt her is slowly unfold.

Now I will explain why the "sport" part is bad imo. I'm sure to most of you, Shogi is quite a boring game. But what really hold this anime down is that the mystery plays such a big part in the overall tone of the show. Frankly, it darkens Shion no Ou so much that it kills any exciment you can have while watching the game. Even though I find the matches between players is quite captivating and intense. But when you consider "sport" as an element of the anime, it actually adds up to the depth of the show, raising it to be truly one of the best mystery I have ever watched.

The characters is another strong aspect of Shion no Ou. Every characters, especially the main ones. have clear motives for their actions and being developed very well through out the show. I especially enjoy seeing the antagonist, the reasons for his wrongdoing is interesting and quite ideal. Personally, I give the cast for this show a 9/10.

I have been a fan of mystery for very long. And even amongst those that I watched, Shion no Ou is quite a unique show. And I will give it a high recommendation for anyone who enjoy a good mystery as I do.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 4, 2012

ggultra2764

Mixed Feelings

*SPOILER WARNING*

One has to wonder what the makers of Shion no Ou were thinking in mixing aspects of mystery and board game developments into a title that quite often goes overboard with its plot and characters. The series covers Shion's rise in the game of shogi and slowly unveiling facts that reveal the killer of her parents from years earlier. The series does do fairly good at setting up reasonable character depth with a number of its major characters and they have enough personality where they don't feel tacked on with a random character archetype, with Ayumi's character having the best development of the characters ... in this series with his personal issues and the conflicts he has for his reasons of playing shogi. On a basic level, it also does well at setting up suspense with its mystery as the series drops hints to keep one guessing over who may be threatening Shion and had killed her parents. Also expect a good number of cliffhangers at the end of many episodes of the series that make for effective hooks to suck you into seeing the next episode.

However beyond all this, a good amount of Shion no Ou got quite a bit ridiculous with its developments thanks to its board game/ mystery mix. While Shion makes for somewhat of a likeable character with her strong determination and resolve to avoid intimidation in heated shogi matches, the levels in which she is committed, despite issues affecting her like harassment and health problems, gets quite ridiculous in attempts of forced drama. Elements to the plot also get their absurd moments with the amateur/ pros tournament organized later in the series with the heavy amount of media coverage and how the games are promoted, as well as the reasons for why its lead sponsor even organized it considering the likelihood of how the whole thing would go. The mystery element also runs into its flaws thanks to the depictions of Shion's killer. When they are in cognito during early episodes to threaten Shion, the killer's attire sticks out so much that it makes them look more silly than threatening. Then when you come to learn who it is and why they pulled off the murders, their personality takes a sudden change that wasn't consistent with their personality in earlier episodes and their reason for killing makes no sense at all.

This series also might alienate Western viewers not familiar with shogi as Shion no Ou is made in mind for Eastern viewers familiar with the game as characters frequently toss out different terms and scenarios of the game. Unless you are either familiar with the game or are watching a fansub with notes on the various terms discussed, you could get lost following what is being discussed or understanding what is going on in current competitions. Also with the series being a game based one focused on Shion's efforts, the outcomes to games can get quite predictable at many points which kills much of the suspense one has from anticipating who they think could win them.

On the visual end, Shion no Ou does get a bit inconsistent with its animation quality. The first few episodes and scenes throughout the show at points feature character designs and scenery with clean details and lush color that make the series look like an above-average work. However, later episodes have a number of scenes where the quality of design details take a hit either looking rough or being simplified and the color applied within scenes look washed up.

I wouldn't recommend watching this series if you are looking for a worthwhile game-focused title. While Shion no Ou is fairly engaging with its character developments and having some surprises with seemingly hostile characters, the blurring of its mystery and gaming genres creates enough of a mess with creating believable situations and developments facing its major characters and plot. You'd be better off checking out Hikaru no Go as the series retains believable developments with its exploration of Go without attempting a mish-mash of different genres.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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