3-gatsu No Lion

Time to adapt another popular Japanese sport and put in all the human drama that comes with it. Because the focus of such is always the human factor and not really the sport. That just feels like a stepping stone. So after we have got karuta in Chihayafuru, we now have shogi. Okay, so this isn’t really the first shogi themed anime as there was Shion No Ou ages ago. I suppose it happened so long ago now is the time to remind us new generation about the sport. Plus, I didn’t see that anime. And thus we have 3-gatsu No Lion. I’m sure you can pretty much tell about the formula. Young kid who is a genius in the sport. Has his own personal issues. Trying to overcome obstacles on and off the game board. Lots of drama included. Yeah, we know the drill.

Episode 1
Rei Kiriyama makes his way to the shogi hall on a hot summer day. Rei has this looks like as though he has some sort of trauma while his opponent, a gentle and kind elderly man is being considerate about his past. Something to do with a children’s shogi championship a few years ago. Rei won but he didn’t look really happy. Rei eventually wins and then bums around town till he gets a message from Hinata Kawamoto inviting to dinner. The other Kawamoto sisters, eldest Akari and youngest Momo are happy to see him. I can’t help this house feels like a house of women because they have an altar for their dearly departed mother and grandma and both pet cats are females. Sure, there’s grandpa Someji around but he is usually at his sweets shop. It makes Rei like the guy of the house? Anyway on TV reports a son hammered his father to death. It has something to do with Rei’s trauma because he vaguely tells us he hit somebody and can still feel it today. After dinner, he just falls asleep right where he sleeps. The girls leave him be and when Hinata covers a blanket over him, she takes off his glasses to see tears in his eyes. Rei attends school the next day like normal. Because he has no friends, his teacher, Takashi Hayashida takes pity and eats with him. But when he realizes Rei’s earnings from shogi wins are more than his, he doesn’t want to be his friend anymore! WTF?! After school, Rei goes to help the sisters at the sweets store. When he goes home, the shogi match notification he is expecting for hasn’t arrived in his post. But it seems it did but was ‘hijacked’ by chubby Harunobu Nikaidou.

Episode 2
I know it is morally wrong but is it legal to open somebody else’s letter and read it? Harunobu did that and he is quite happy because eternal rival Rei is his opponent in the same block. Too bad Rei can’t stop this fatty from bragging. He even comes into his room to have some pizza party and asking the kind of strategies he’ll be using. WTF?! This guy even eat the cakes the sisters wrapped especially for Rei without asking. WTF. Rei goes to the shrine to pray for his next match. The NHK cup will be broadcast live and his supposed next opponent, Issa Matsumoto is already praying for Rei’s defeat. He didn’t want to meet him but Issa is already all over him like a leech. Rei easily beats him in shogi. Issa goes into ‘depression’ so his other friend, Tatsuyuki “Smith” Misumi cheers him up by saying Rei will treat them. Did he? Most probably why Issa is looking forward to it is because he has a crush on the hostess who is no other than Akari. Because Issa doesn’t want to lose face, eventually he twisted his own words that has him ended up treating them all instead. Rei remembers he never liked such outing because his friends made him drink till he passed out. Akari found him and brought him home where he met the sisters for the first time. Rei goes shopping for food when he bumps into the sisters. The sly sisters tease he loves cup noodles more than their cooking. I guess this means he has to join them for dinner. He also helps them prepare for the Obon festival. When done, Akari put leftovers in containers for his future meals. He heard her mumble something about having company over would be a good distraction.

Episode 3
Rei narrates his past rivalry with Harunobu. Talented shogi kids before joining the federation usually play at events. They were regulars. There was one time at a shopping centre roof, it was hot like hell and Rei could tell Harunobu was suffering from the heat. However he persevered and making it hotter was that Rei was much better than him. Each move was a desperate move to fend Rei off. At the end of the long battle, Rei won. Now in the shogi hall, Harunobu is quite delighted to face Rei. As the match progresses, Rei can feel this match is like the reminiscent of that time on the roof because the hall’s air-cond is broken. Harunobu might be uncomfortable but at least it wasn’t as bad as that time. Rei is taken by surprise when Harunobu makes a move he never expected. But Rei keeps calm and carries on playing till he wins. That losing face that Harunobu makes is still the same as always. His butler, Hanaoka brings him back. I believe Harunobu is really reeling in pain not because of the loss but from some illness. Or was it stress? As promised, Rei visits the sisters for the Obon festival after his match. A sombre event as they pray for their departed. Hinata wants to go to the convenience store so Rei is asked to follow her. He realizes she isn’t going in the right direction but keeps following. Then at the port, he shockingly sees her crying her heart out calling out to her mom. He stood there and couldn’t do anything. He had to approach her when a couple of guys approached her. Then he just stands next to her and let her continue crying to her heart’s content as he contemplates about his own family lost.

Episode 4
Rei is peeling chestnuts and has to witness the ‘drama’ between Akari and Hinata. There is a boy, Yuusuke Takahashi whom Hinata has a crush on since young. He is playing in a baseball match and wants to make a handmade lunch for him. So when Hinata hands in a list of things to buy, well, is she trying to feed an army?! No wonder Akari is freaked out! Even odder, Hinata is perplexed she is willing to spend money on food expenses for other kids (that’s you, Rei) instead. Anyway on that fateful day, it is Hell’s Kitchen for Hinata. You can see how chaotic and busy she is. It’s like time really flies. Worse, she spends more time trying to figure out what to wear! Rei watches Takahashi in action. He is good looking. A good player. He is every girl’s dream. See that awed face of Hinata? Yeah, makes you feel like a loser, Rei? Oh, there’s this trauma of his regarding ‘love’ too. At the end of the game, Hinata is unable to give it to him because all the girls and boys crowd around him. She is about to throw it away but Rei stops her. Don’t waste. Hinata is afraid Akari would scold her for going through all that trouble for nothing. But big sister is understanding. Hinata isn’t the only one who had her first homemade lunch rejected. She lets her cry as much as she wants. Harunobu is blabbing about some legendary move. Rei would have wanted to give him a piece of his mind had not his stomach growled loudly. As they go out to eat, Rei spots Momo alone. Lost? Momo is happy to see Harunobu and hugs him. This fatty is cute because he looks like Bodoro. You know that knockoff of that famous Totoro, right? When Akari sees him, she too likes him?! So she likes round and cute stuffs… She invites him for dinner and Harunobu couldn’t be happier. It’s going to be the start of an odd relationship… Akari is in a dilemma to make the right meal with the right nutrition for him. Hanaoka is here to pick him up and Rei can tell Harunobu is clearly being tracked 24/7 when he mentions something about the GPS…

Episode 5
Rei remembers he used to play shogi with his father’s friend and shogi rival, Masachika Kouda. He even beat him. Then Rei didn’t like shogi but played it as it was a time to spend with father. Because Rei is often bullied in school, he always looked up to Kouda who talked to him like an adult. Akari calls Rei to pick up Momo. Along the way home, she got chased by the dog and all the ‘excitement’ died out when she tripped and hurt herself. Rei brings her home and as he treats the wounds, this reminds him of his trauma. It is revealed when he was younger, after returning from a school trip, his parents and little sister were dead. Killed in an accident. The sister of Rei’s dad wasn’t shedding tears since she was more interested for grandpa to let her husband inherit his hospital business rather than her brother whom grandpa had wanted. This means she wasn’t interested in taking in Rei either and would send him to the orphanage. But that is when Kouda came up to Rei and asks if he liked shogi. Rei lied and said yes. That is how he became a child of a shogi family. Kouda had a daughter, Kyouko who 4 years older than Rei and a son, Ayumu who is the same as Rei. When Rei beat her at shogi, she beat him up! Kouda administered harsh punishment but this girl was so tough that she even continued beating up Rei while being reprimanded! As the family centres around shogi, they had to become stronger for Kouda’s sake. The first to break was Ayumu. After Rei surpassed him, he became depressed, locked himself in his room playing video games. He quitted shogi. Kouda didn’t do a thing as he believes one has to be strong enough to progress on his own. Next was Kyouko. Kouda had her quit the federation as it was pointless if she cannot best Rei. And thus Rei became Kouda’s prodigy. The media had a field day reporting how he upstaged his own kids to raise his rival’s kid. After Rei watches a documentary on how a cuckoo bird lives, he realizes he is one. That is when he decides to quite school and focus on shogi so that he could win tournaments, make money, become independent before he devours that family.

Episode 6
When asked where Rei would like to go to, he couldn’t answer. There isn’t a place where he wants to go. Rei manages to escape going to a study camp since he has a ranking tournament to play and Hayashida can pick up his relieved face. Rei narrates shogi players are like sportsmen too. So what do they do on their day offs? They train and hone their skills just like any other athlete. Rei’s depression seems to stem from 2 consecutive losses this year for the first time. This mean he lost his chance to advance to the next rank. So he got this mentality that as long as he stops thinking and accepts stagnation, he could reach his goal. Souya Touji is a shogi master whom the nation calls as a child of God. Hayashida is excited as he shows Rei his shogi problem being posted in the magazine. However Rei easily solves it. Then they talk about Souya who is on the front cover of the magazine. Despite being a successful champion with many titles, Rei has never faced him. He also hasn’t met him in person though he has seen him around. This has Rei remember how people pinned expectations on him to become the next master. Then Rei loses his next match. Although he has no reason to win, he still feels pain when he loses. He bumps into Hinata in the streets. He treats her to milkshake since she can’t take her eyes off the advertisement. When she invites him to come over for dinner, Rei realizes that Hinata is having it tough too. From taking care of her family and helping out with their work and house chores. And here he is concerned of his own problems. Suddenly Hinata’s face starts contorting like a cartoon. Takahashi is here. Rei wanted to leave but Hinata somehow wouldn’t let him and she ended up running away instead. It leaves Rei in an awkward company with this big guy. Those serious stares are killing him…

Episode 7
Takahashi is inspired by Rei who is already a pro shogi player at his age. In fact he wants to ask Rei for advice. Because Takahashi is not sure which high school to go to become a professional baseball player, Rei’s name was referred to by his dad as source of inspiration. Rei gives his sincere answer that he is only a pro in shogi but not socially. He liked studying but didn’t fit in school and didn’t regret the decision he made. Rei realizes his words are embarrassing but Takahashi understands them and this makes Rei happy. Rei and Hinata leave having a great impression on Takahashi. At home, Hinata’s face is as red as a red light. Because Takahashi is here for dinner! Akari had to work so she had Rei come over instead to accompany. Takahashi then brings out a tape to show a recent shogi game Rei was in. Hinata and Momo are in shock that he is on TV. Apparently Rei has been keeping this a secret. Oops. This was the match he lost and Harunobu is one of the commentators. He furiously mocks Rei’s bad moves so much so he ‘attacks’ the camera and admonishes him to play better than this. In turn Rei blows his top and becomes angry. However everyone especially Hinata is all smiles because it is the first time they see him get mad. Yeah, he sounds funny, right? Hinata expresses she wants to learn shogi from him. So here Rei is at the shop gathering materials to teach her. Then here comes Harunobu. He wants to help… Oh no… Hinata and Momo are glad Harunobu is here. He makes a disclaimer if they don’t understand, blame the teacher! Over to you, Rei. Too bad his explanations are stiff and so textbook. Hard to digest, Hinata? Rei is relegated to one side as Harunobu takes over. His explanation of shogi for beginners using a children’s picture book makes it so much easier and exciting to learn.

Episode 8
Harunobu continues his colourful explanation of the pieces’ movements. Jealous Rei finds the book easy to learn and wonders who the publisher is. Harunobu himself?! Yes, that guy can actually draw and he wanted to contribute something to the game he loves so he made a book about it. He even had the printing company print it out like a real book. Just short of selling it on shelves. You girls falling in love with chubby now? Rei walks home and he wonders why Harunobu is following him. Then he sees those mover guys at his place. No, Harunobu isn’t moving in. The bed and other furniture are his house warming gift. At least he can sleep decently. When Rei hangs out with Issa and Smith, they can’t stop teasing him when they saw that video of Harunobu’s passionate commenting. They hope his message reaches his heart. Rei narrates how consecutive losses gets you demoted. And if you get demoted twice, you drop a class. Trying to overcome a loss is more exhausting than to battle to move forward. Rei thinks about his father’s pose when he played shogi and noting his habits. It made him realize he is already standing in the shogi stage that dad longed for. When Rei returns home, Kyouko is waiting outside his door. She hints of wanting to come in but he won’t let her. It gets to a stand offish point till she had to spell it out she needs to use the toilet. Then she bums around and touches his things like as though it’s hers. He tells her to go home since it is late but she asks if he would like to return to that house. Father would be most happy. She seems to caress his face but it is to find scars. None. Something about how her boyfriend, Masamune Gotou beat him up. Thankfully he never touched Kyouko because she would kill him in his sleep. Because that is how she loves him. Yandere?! She stays at his place and next morning, she reminds him of his next opponent. An old guy, Shouichi Matsunaga who has been a pro shogi player for 40 years. However he has always been mediocre like as though he is holding on for dear life. She heard he will retire if he gets demoted. She mocks that is why they let Rei play him. Nobody wants to do it. Maybe Rei is such a nice guy to throw away his match.

Episode 9
Rei thinks about how Matsunaga would be. Then he sees this feeble old guy praying for his luck at the shrine and fumbles! Oh sh*t! Better get out now. Then he turns up late at the shogi hall and when they begin to play, Rei cannot understand his strategy. Is he defending or attacking. Seeing his panicking face during certain moves, could it be this guy has no plan at all? In the end Rei wins and Matsunaga behaves poorly as a loser. So Rei thought of avoiding him by leaving later and taking the stairs. Apparently he had the same idea! Matsunaga tries to ‘escape’ but slips. Don’t worry. Just light injuries. While the old man berates him to go away, his stomach grumbles and now he wants Rei to treat him. Make up your mind! And so Rei has to experience what it is like to be with a drunk. Uh huh. Matsunaga is telling tales about how scary women are, his wife, wine, history (feudal history, that is) and then back to his grandson. After they leave, Matsunaga explains he knew he would lose today and thought how to bow out respectably. Rei was like the grim reaper. He felt jealous facing Rei because he had accolades while he himself had none to boot for 40 years. He felt disgusted feeling like that. But when he saw Rei sitting nicely in the hall, he felt glad to be taken out by a beautiful grim reaper. As he played, he realizes he didn’t want to lose and struggled with that feeling. Rei asks if he likes shogi. He doesn’t know. Kyouko calls to check up on Rei and he tells her Matsunaga is not retiring. Rei is willing to go with him to convince his wife and daughter he will still play shogi. It seems Matsunaga’s reason for doing it is because he doesn’t want to do chores! All the while he gave excuses to focus on his shogi and if he resigns, they’ll dump the chores on him! He’ll never do that! Will never lift a finger! NEVER!!!

Episode 10
Rei gets a call from Kyouko to meet. He isn’t appreciative claiming he has lots of matches coming up. However she notes he has only a match on Christmas Eve with Manabu Yasui. She goes on ranting about Yasui’s wife finally getting a divorce thanks to his violent sore loser behaviour, his gambling habits and how his poor lonely daughter would be affected. Rei doesn’t like this talk because her words are always like poison. Rei also hates this time of the year because Kouda gave him a pretty shogi set for Christmas and his own children normal presents. That speaks volumes. Rei plays his match with Yasui and eventually wins. He narrates how he noticed Yasui giving up halfway after he realized making a mistake. He could see him losing motivation and prayed so hard for him not to give up so easily. After Yasui leaves, Rei notices he forgot his Christmas present. He chases him down to hand it but he is very unappreciative. He snatches it from his hand with that scornful look. Could it be he left it there intentional? Rei is left in shock so he runs to some park and starts screaming his heart out in tears all he wanted to have said to that guy. Is everything his own fault? It’s your fault for being weak. He only has shogi and puts everything on the line. If he can’t even practice then just quit. He has no use for weak players. So dramatic his contempt that he collapses flat on his face? Rei only knows inside himself is a beast that would devour anything in its way to survive.

Episode 11
Thanks to that, Rei has been sick till the end of the year. He has been falling in and out of sleep in his bed, dreaming about riding an endless escalator. He wakes up when somebody is constantly ringing his doorbell. Turns out to be the sisters. They know he is sick and ‘kidnap’ him back to their place where they take good care of him. Rei thought he has been doing a decent job taking care of himself but Akari disagrees. His handphone has been dead and after charging it, he finds many missed calls from Kouda. Rei calls him and hears the relief in his voice. It makes Rei realize he has been selfish. As Rei starts to get better, he feels indebted for Akari to take care of him even though he isn’t family. However Akari is the one who wants him here as she is grateful he saved her. Otherwise it would be another lonely New Year where she would be cleaning up and crying herself. Strangely this makes Rei cry. The sisters get lots of New Year cards. Hinata is excited to go to Rei’s place to get his. When she returns, she is devastated there are only 2. Rei is happy as he expected none! One of them is from Harunobu and the other from Takanori Jinguuji who is the chairman of Japan’s shogi association. Aunt Misaki comes by to visit. She gives everyone New Year’s money. Including Rei. Including the departed. Someji is still against Misaki having Akari work at her bar and thinks it is a dangerous place. Misaki argues Akari sometimes need to go out as she is beautiful. Is grandpa going to keep her at home doing chores? Before you know it, she’ll be past marriageable age. Don’t worry. Misaki will not let guys touch her and is just using her to milk money out of guys! After they have traditional New Year food, Misaki leaves. It is time for the girls to take their baths so Akari has Rei go upstairs. Because the bath is right next to the living room. Originally the place had not bath so their parents re-renovate it and used part of the yard. It has no changing room so you can see why. Rei goes upstairs to sleep and finds it funny this place is peaceful. Then he remembers he had spent time here with everybody else had that warm embrace. He has never had such a peaceful deep sleep for a long time.

Episode 12
After New Year, Rei feels much better. However something more than the cold breeze is making him irritated. Something to do with shogi. His next shogi tournament is the Lion King Tournament. It is the biggest tournament sponsored by the biggest media in Japan. This means bigger prize money and bigger media coverage. Smith is also participating in this one. Rei faces off with Takeshi Tsujii who has a penchant of making lame puns. No wonder it’s so cold! You better not lose to him! Eventually Rei wins but he still continues to make lame puns. Oh well, Rei lost this one. However before the semi-final match begins, Rei’s blood boils because he comes face to face with Gotou. He is Smith’s next opponent. Gotou is arrogant and badmouths Kyouko as a stalker. Rei loses it and wants to punch him but is restrained by Smith. It took him a while to calm down. Maybe all that dispersed when Jinguuji waltzes in to give Rei a huge catch of his fish. His many thanks for Akari. So Rei has to carry bags load of fish so much so it stinks all around and people literally smelling something fishy. But Akari couldn’t be happier because this means more dishes to cook and saving up on food expenses. Rei would love to join and stay overnight at the sisters’ place but he can’t. Because the semi-final match is tomorrow. I am guessing who will be facing off in the final. Or not.

Episode 13
We see Smith’s daily morning life as a sexy jazz piece is played in the background! So when it gets serious, Smith thinks Rei is ignoring him since he is concentrating on records of his opponent and Gotou. As though he would lose to him. Smith plays his match with Gotou. This is his second time playing him. The first time ended in a crushing defeat. He thought he has learnt from his heavy defence and single strike move but before he knows it, he fell into the same tactic again and lost. Gotou even advises Smith at the end to not hesitate. Rei knows Gotou was trying to provoke him when he badmouthed Kyouko. However he has to concentrate on his opponent, Kai Shimada. He can’t find any distinctive playing styles on him. So as he begins his match, Rei was supposed to go on an all-out attack but he soon realizes he has been playing defence. Did he make any mistakes? Did he go wrong somewhere? It took a move from Shimada to break him out of his despair thinking. It seems Shimada and Harunobu know each other and the latter calling him as big brother. Harunobu earlier had a favour of him and wants him to split Rei’s head in half. He means in shogi, right?

Episode 14
By the time Rei is back to reality, he realizes he is in deep sh*t. He laments about his personal grudge on Gotou while treating his opponent like a side character. So while we hear his monologue to recover from his disadvantageous position, I’m not sure if this is really allowed in tournaments because Shimada suggests replaying a bit from certain positions. But whatever moves Rei makes, he is cornered. There is no way out. In the end, Rei loses. So what does a kid like him do? He runs all the way home! Poor kid. The loss must be devastating. All because he misjudged his opponents level and now like as though he’s lost everything. Now he is like in depression. Bumming in his room. Heck, he is even vomiting like as though he has morning sickness! Is he pregnant?! Loss in shogi = pregnant symptoms… Rei also tries to ponder about his future. Looking through the classifieds? Well, there is a chance he might not be playing shogi forever. He thought of having a change in pace but playing basketball? Clearly he is not the physical type. Owned. So depressing that Hayashida is even at a loss to make rebukes. So he tries to comfort and advice Rei of joining a workshop that Shimada organizes for younger players. Rei doesn’t think so but Hayashida thinks it would be good to give a try since Harunobu is a member. Rei is so negative that he gets scolded for making excuses.

Episode 15
Rei tells us Kyouko is like a glass with cracks. No matter how much water is poured, she is never filled up. Flashback to a time she wanted to pack her bags and leave home for Gotou. Rei told her not to because that guy is married. Kyouko doesn’t care since his wife is always in hospital. But dad won’t forgive her. Too hell with him. She won’t forgive him. Rei suggests he will move out because nobody would care. Kyouko is different even if she thinks otherwise. In the finals of Lion King Tournament, it is best out of 3. Hayashida even gives him permission to go there and watch despite he has been absent too much and risk repeating a year. The first match ended with Gotou winning. The next day, the second match continues and you can just feel the tension between them. Rei can’t go watch because Hayashida miscalculated his absentee days… He can’t even get sick! Plus, he needs to do well in his exams otherwise it is see you again next year. The second match went on for 8 hours?! To a point where they even move their kings to the battlefield! After another 3 hours, Shimada wins. Hard fought victory. Was it worth it? Shimada asks Harunobu about his obsession with Rei. He was the one who broke his head in half and pulled him from the mud. As he was sick all the time, he envied other children playing outside. When he got better at shogi, the weaker ones become cowards who didn’t bother to make the effort. It was frustrating. Till he met Rei. Somebody who is stronger than him. Someone who works harder than him. It made him realize he wasn’t alone. Shimada sees Kyouko chasing after Gotou. He doesn’t give a damn and leaves her stranded. Shimada is shocked at the sight of this younger woman. He can’t help have a sense of defeat. Meanwhile Rei continues to be piled up with work while Hayashida could only lament his miscalculation…

Episode 16
Hayashida is frantically trying to get him to do some lab experiments as required by the curriculum. Desperate, he seeks the help from a bunch of crazy weirdoes of the burner’s club. Seeing Rei’s fine interaction with them, he suggests he should join the club. Hayashida gives him an advice that opens up his eyes. He should rely on others when needed. Otherwise no one will rely on him. This truth hits him and the first thing Rei could think of is the sisters. He relied on their kindness but they never once relied on him. Rei then makes haste to the shogi hall for the final match. By the time he reaches, it is over. At first you might think Gotou had won since he is being interviewed with a confident smile while Shimada is slumped at the board. Rei has seen such scenes before and knows Shimada had won. The defeated would often think about his final words and sort out his feelings during the match while the winner is exhausted from the strain. He manages to be interviewed although he looks more like a zombie. Once over, Rei asks Shimada if he could join his workshop. And so this is first time Rei attends his shogi workshop in his house. Along with Harunobu, there is also Morio Shigeta. Why does he look angry like as though he wants to fight? The quartet play shogi for an hour and after that they will analyse and discuss their play. Harunobu and Morio are already at each other’s throat thinking their own tactic is manlier. And when Rei gives his own opinion, they snarl at him. Yeah, it is so intense between the trio that Shimada can’t even cut any slack between them. Yeah, an all-out war almost broke out over shogi tactics. Even after the workshop, Rei and Harunobu continue to argue what moves are appropriate. They are distracted when they see a duck dive into the river but never resurface. They become worried the fish might have eaten it (?!) so they run to a nearby bookstore to find out more about the duck and return to try and save it. I think by that time they took the duck would already be dead.

Episode 17
As the winner of the Lion King’s Tournament, Shimada earns the right to face off with the reigning shogi champion, Souya. Harunobu invites Rei to the hotel where they are having a fan meet event before the match. They are there to support Shimada who will be overwhelmed with the interviews so a familiar face would calm him down. Rei also meets Kouda there who notes he still deposits money into his account as thanks for taking care of him. He agrees to hold on to the money till he comes of age. While Rei ponders about it, he is shocked to see Souya standing next to him. He never noticed since his presence is ‘soundless’. When Souya is found by a guy to be taken to main event, Rei sees how everyone becomes silent and paves a path for him. Rei narrates his achievements since young and the records he has broken ever since his reign. Yet his appearance never changed. He would have been compared to God but as they said, a devil’s face never changes. Later Rei is confronted by Kyouko who thinks he ratted on her since father has stopped her credit card and bombarding her with questions. Rei asserts he didn’t say anything and if anything happened it was because she brought it upon herself. The quarrel could have escalated had not the Kawamoto sisters pass by. Momo is scared of this ‘witch’! Akari takes her sisters to go home but Hinata won’t end it like this. She hands over the bento they make for him and a short starring showdown with Kyouko. Kyouko bums in Rei’s place. She has the guts to eat the bento and then complain. Yeah, she ate it all! Then she changes into his clothes and sleeps. Yeah, treating it like her own home. That night she calls her father just out of courtesy and you know it won’t go well. Anyway it is too late for her to go back now so she sleeps over. Kyouko asks Rei about which of the sister he likes despite she doesn’t care. What bothers her is Momo calling her a witch because if she was one, she wouldn’t be in this deep sh*t. She remembers her dad told her if she has a boyfriend, bring him home so he can meet him. How can she bring a married man who was once his disciple to see him? She doesn’t even know why she picked him. She is scared and asks Rei on what to do. Like hell he knows.

Episode 18
Shimada’s workshop continues. Harunobu and Morio are still at each other’s throat over their different strategy so much so we have to see some cat version of Star Wars spoof to visualize the intense rivalry they have! They are shut up when Rei presents his winning strategy. As Rei previously studied alone, he is trying his best to articulate his thoughts about his strategy. Shimada requests Rei to come back tomorrow for additional lessons. He talks about his matches with Souya. He already lost both matches straight. This third one would be the decisive one. As all matches are played in different towns, he needs to win matches so that a match can be played in his hometown. As they start playing, Rei felt overwhelmed by his play. For the first time he was subjected to a Rank A player’s thoughts for several hours that it is exhausting. By the time he wanted to ask more questions, he has already left for his next match. Rei passed his exams. Barely. Now he is able to move up a grade. Though, Rei feels he didn’t do anything. However Hayashida chastises him for such thinking. Don’t say he didn’t do anything. He is trying his best to come to school while working and paying off rents, etc. At his age, Hayashida was just dreaming big and didn’t have to worry about paying rent or housework. So don’t ever say you didn’t do anything. Rei is brought to tears. Later he is surprised Hinata and Momo visit to take back the empty bento boxes. Of course they eventually have to ask about Kyouko. Because they see him arguing and are worried if he is alright. You could have guessed from their nervous and twitchy behaviour from the start. Rei explains Kyouko is his sister so sibling arguing is quite normal. So the duo return happy and relieved about this but not Akari. She thought it is worse off. Because when the sisters saw them together, they didn’t look like siblings. She starts to understand this is why Rei left home. By evening, Rei receives word that Shimada has conceded defeat.

Episode 19
Shimada narrates how he got into shogi. From a snowy side of the country, a bunch of old men taught him how to play till he became real good. They continued supporting him and when he joined a Tokyo association, Shimada started working jobs to fund his transport to the capital. Therefore he always has this problem of stomach pains from the burden he is shouldering and the long bus ride. Now he is sick with that as Rei visits and helps him do some chores. Of course they also practice shogi while Rei ponders if he should get more rest before the next match at Kyoto. Shimada notices how similar Rei is to Souya because they said the same words. They might be the all-rounder type who can switch between offense and defence. As Shimada is still weak, Rei accompanies and helps him around in Kyoto. Heh, even Shimada can ‘joke’ that he sounds like his mother. But he is more thankful for his help than anything. The best ‘joke’ comes from tactless Jinguuji who thinks Shimada should get a stomach transplant or else he can’t win titles! Then there is the ceremony for the pre-match the night before. Rei’s heart aches each time he sees the camera flashes, knowing Shimada is in pain inside. Souya was kind enough to let all the cameras focus on him so as to let Shimada quietly leave and turn in for the night early. And Jinguuji had to quip Shimada didn’t really stand out much to begin with since the press is really here for Souya. Right in the heart… And his guts too. Rei has to bunk with Smith as he is here as a substitute observer. But Rei has to hear him on the phone distraught over his cheating partner. It’s his cat… Morning comes as the 4th match begins. Rei is still in a dilemma whether he should have refused practice and let him rest.

Episode 20
Shimada dreams he is back in his hometown doing farming and married his girlfriend who left him. This is what he might be doing had he not get past a certain rank in the league. The old guys also told him to find happiness wherever he is and shogi wasn’t just everything. Shimada wakes up still having those stomach pains. He knows if he loses this fourth match, he will not be able to play in the next match which is his hometown. Because a judge came down with a flu (he hid it because he wanted to be on TV!), Jinguuji forcefully removed him and promotes Smith to take his place. He then also has Rei go up on stage for the board commentary with an experienced shogi player, Fujimoto. Since Rei is quite meek, Fujimoto then explodes in his tirade on his manliness of how he became a master. Either you are awed or respect him like veterans or in shock or fear for first timers. Which means Rei is totally scared of this dude! The match begins and Shimada’s stomach pain is still bugging him. But he fights on knowing it is good to be alive. Fujimoto can tell Shimada will lose and that the gap between them is too great. Rei tries to voice otherwise but is quickly told to shut up or else he would ruin Shimada’s reputation as his disciple. With everyone in the hall thinking Shimada is already lost, Rei continues to hang on to that thin belief that Shimada’s pieces are still alive despite in a pinch. By the time he wants to say something, Shimada has already conceded defeat. That night Shimada and Rei leave Kyoto for home.

Episode 21
Rei accompanies Shimada back to his hometown. Shimada feels ashamed thinking what to say to his people. He knows they are too kind to scold him but wishes they would. Well, he got his wish because they’re blaming him for the rain! You see, the town is having a human shogi festival. Although it is held indoors, I guess the heavy rain spoils the mood. Harunobu is one of the players. He beats his opponent when the latter made a mistake. Then there is another shogi programme in which a few shogi masters like Shimada will play with many other people simultaneously. Jinguuji is also one of the masters but he tries to weasel his way out of not participating. He is afraid of those old folks who are just as dangerous in shogi. Rei talks to a reporter who is doing an article on Shimada and learns more about him and his hometown. Rei could see Shimada smiling and happy. Next day, the old guys give Shimada some gifts before he leaves. They tell him not to rush and this makes Shimada realize he was lost while rushing. He is confident now to start over again and work hard. We take a detour as Akari and Hinata help Someji think of a new filling for his Japanese sweet. To draw inspiration, they visit a sweets shop. However they end up order a mix of everything. Then they are filled with regret of getting fat and spending more than they should! Time to look to Momo for answers… What will it be? Gum?! Back to the drawing board. They think harder and harder but the girls find that with all the delicious choices, they can’t narrow it down. Hinata then gets an idea to do some daruma pattern mix with a few flavours. Hinata gets this idea to call Rei over for dinner. Guess what? He is just right outside their doorstep! He accepts her invitation. Happy Hinata wishes she could make Japanese sweets forever.

Episode 22
A new school term. A new class. This means Hayashida is no longer Rei’s homeroom teacher and with a new set of classmates, Rei is going to find himself the same loner again. However Hayashida is kind enough to still eat lunch with him. Poor guys, right? Hayashida has an idea. He wants Rei to form a shogi club and he’ll be the advisor. Easier said than done. If Rei had the guts to ask others it would have been done. Plus, you need 5 members to form a club. Rei realizes that he blended easily with the shogi members so maybe. Just maybe. Hayashida is happy Rei agrees to his idea. Because now he can get free shogi lessons and beat this jerk he dislikes! But still, nobody wants to join the club! Back to square one? Another idea strikes Hayashida. Those burner’s club guys! Because many of their seniors have graduated leaving 4 of them left, what a brilliant idea for them to combine and be a club. And so it becomes known as the shogi science club. Time for Rei’s flashback. His sad and lonely past during a school field trip has him narrate how nobody wants to sit next to him. He eats alone and ponders about his shogi puzzle. On the way back, he starts thinking if nobody ever wants to sit next to him. Thus he holds this magic ticket (the ticket to the shogi world) as an important one he will never let go. It means he belongs somewhere. Despite nobody might want to sit next to him, as long as he is fighting, there are people who will sit across him and he is glad to have met different kinds of people. Rei returns to his shogi gang and realizes that there are others too on the same train heading towards that same shining light. And today, someone seems to be sitting across him. Is it his dream that it is Souya? Oh, cue for all other shogi masters to make their mug cameo too.

Toothless Lion
Oh… Guess what? Another season… I suppose with ‘unfinished business’ and more room to grow for everyone, I believe this series needs to have another season. And maybe because not enough people are taking interests in shogi. Not even simple online shogi games… Yeah, there are better entertainments out there. Anyway, personally I felt that this entire series is just one draggy drama about a kid having some problems in real life and only having shogi as his guide to navigate through. I know I shouldn’t be complaining about this since I already anticipated about this way before I started watching and when I was reading the synopsis of the show when it first came out and deciding if I should watch it. But I just need to point out that it fell within that expectation. So if you aren’t into this kind of genre, you’re not likely going to enjoy the series and find all the monologues and thought provoking figure of speeches to be entertaining.

Something makes me feel that this anime was somewhat related or it could even be a spiritual successor to Shigatsu Wa Kimi No Uso. First, the titles are curiously almost similar and both the main protagonist is a young prodigy who has a tragic past and struggling to cope with their current depression. Heck, don’t they even look similar? But as I ‘extensively’ try to find out, it could be just very much coincidence. Both are written by different authors and both series have nothing to do with each other. I guess it is one of those things in life about coincidences.

I had also come to expect that this series isn’t meant to teach you about shogi. Thanks to Harunobu’s colourful and children friendly illustrations, the basics are mentioned. But that is very much about it. If you plan to learn about advanced strategies, you would be better off taking real shogi lessons instead of learning it from anime. Therefore I am guessing that unless you are decently well versed in shogi, there are some moves, tactics and strategies mentioned during the matches here will feel like they are very alien. You will not know what they are talking, what they mean or what the implication of this strategy is. Because I was like so blur and confused when they were talking about the piece movements itself. I was already lost by then. I don’t see who is winning or the advantage received from suggesting those moves. Just, “Oh. Well. Whatever”.

One thing I noticed is that the shogi players are mostly predominantly males. Are there no females taking up the sport? Because shogi like karuta is one of the few sports in which the classes and categories aren’t separated by gender. Well, as I found out, there is a separate association for women but the main one also takes in both genders. As I also discovered, maybe it is also because no females have attained such high rankings before. A separate league may be to attract more females to the sport but that’s a different story. Unless of course there are clear rules that really segregate the genders in tournaments. Having not noticing any females playing here, therefore it really made me wonder if shogi is only a male dominated sport and usually played by old men. Because all the great masters are so. Duh.

For a drama heavy show like this, it relies on the characters to drive the story as well as the development of the characters. However, although it is not that bad, I still find it a bit boring and draggy. Because what else could there be if it is not playing shogi? Sure, they do insert spontaneous jokes (some are smart and some are just plain silly) in between to break the ice but there is still this big cloud of depression hanging over the series. It could have been like Evangelion but without all the mechas and aliens.

When the series begins, Rei is seen and expected to be a kid with some sort of problem. Perhaps he had some sort of tragic life and a price to pay for being a young genius shogi prodigy. Of course it is tragic when his family is wiped out in an unfortunate accident and being the favourite child of a shogi family despite being an outsider might look like big traumatic and life changing/regretting events in a kid’s life. But as you can see that Rei isn’t the only one who has problems of his own. So when you get to learn the problems faced by other characters, Rei’s personal problem pales in comparison. A bit tame if I should say. Over the series, he is just one confused and lost kid trying to straighten out his empty life. Trying to find meaning of his existence via shogi. Yeah, you can hear a lot of his monologues and thoughts about it once he realized or opened his eyes. And yeah, Rei isn’t such a top shogi player seeing how many players are still better than him. Shogi might be a big part of his life and the only thing he is competent but that does not define his life in its entirety.

Like the Kawamoto sisters who look so out of place in this series. They do not have anything to do with shogi but can be said as Rei’s lifeline and saviour. Sometimes it feels that without them being a distraction, the entire series could have been one big bore. Because nothing but shogi would be just a drab. Rei and others alike would have been just another shogi piece in the board called life. Therefore with Akari’s helpfulness and resourcefulness as the big sister, Hinata’s cheerfulness and Momo’s cuteness, oh don’t forget about their cute cats too, it brings about the variety and colour that the series needs instead of the doom and gloom in Rei’s pathetic outlook in life. Despite the sisters’ cheerful outlook, they seem to be hiding and holding it well their whatever tragic past. A bit can be said about Hayashida because oddly this teacher seems to be Rei’s only ‘friend’ at school. Never seen a teacher being so dedicated and supportive of a student, right? I’m sure he is there not because of Rei’s status as a shogi prodigy. Imagine Hayashida’s reputation if a student under him fails… Ah… Hope this isn’t viewed as favouritism because he seems to go out of his way to look out for Rei.

Then there is Harunobu who is the self-proclaimed rival and best friend. At least when it comes to shogi. Chubby kid too has his own problems and something hints about his health condition. Although, it is not fleshed out very much in this season but at least he seems more amusing than Rei since he is able to channel his thoughts and feelings out honestly unlike Rei who keeps it all in. No doubt it makes Harunobu looking like a passionate fat kid but better than being all gloom and doom, right? As the final arc shifts its focus from Rei to Shimada, it is also a reason why Shimada seems more interesting, his life and climb in the shogi world compared to our protagonist. With Rei’s gloom and doom being dragged out the entire season, Shimada’s past seems to be a more refreshing take and diversion. Maybe Rei could learn something here?

Souya is presented as a very enigmatic character. Because of his character shrouded in mystery and his very odd looking exterior (creepy too if I should say), it is also a reason why he seems more interesting than Rei. Because as you know by now, he is just such a depressed kid. Despite Souya looking like the calm god of shogi, my guts tell me that he too hides a very sad and tragic past that only time (and hopefully the next season) would reveal. So if you’re saying shogi players are all a bunch of boring nerds, cast away that stereotype (at least in anime world) since you have Gotou who acts cocky like a bad guy, the manly Fujimoto, the aloofness of Smith and the expressive Issa. It goes without saying when you have a crazy person but sporting like Jinguuji at the top of the association, how not to have oddballs at the other levels below? Despite their eccentric behaviour, I can safely say that they all have one thing in common: Their love for shogi. No doubts about that.

Lastly I want to mention about Kyouko being the yin to the Kawamoto sisters’ yang. While the latter provides all the happiness and cheerfulness of a great warm family (despite not being perfect), we have the former who comes from a broken family. There are a lot of contrasting and clashing ironies between both sides and unfortunately Rei is caught in between like a tug of war. Kyouko seems like she is acting like a bad girl and delinquent to spite her father over his ‘choice’ and undergoing that rebellious phase of a teenager having raging hormones. Despite all that, she is just as confused and lost as Rei and all she ever wanted was just her father’s love and attention. And I mean that kind of love and attention a father should give. It’s hard to see any kind of romance brewing but I won’t be surprised if it does. But then again I would be since Rei and Kyouko are so different like night and day but you know what they say about opposites attract. And since they seem to hang out from time to time (and Kyouko looking like she is ‘relying’ on him), that crazy little thing called love may just spark the unreasonable. Because so far there aren’t any hot shogi girls Rei has come across yet… Can you imagine Rei x Akari? Nah! Rei x Hinata? She’s got Takahashi. Don’t even think about Rei x Momo! Ever!

One of the surprising things I discovered was that this anime was animated by SHAFT. Yes, the studio that has its trademark animations in all its animated series like that neck tilt and eye pupil zoom-ins. Because this series has very simple and sometimes sketchy art style, it never really occurred to me that SHAFT Was behind it because after seeing their works in the Monogatari series, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei series, the ef series, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, Maria+Holic, Mekaku City Actors, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (still remember this one?) and even Nisekoi, it never really crossed my mind it was them. There are a few SHAFT trademarks scattered but I never thought so until it happened a handful more times. Then it hit me and then I found out it was them. Because of all the drama, there are those special effects when the drawing gets really messy with all the explosion of lines and sketches like as though it is incomplete or just abstract. Is this an art show?

Although the characters look simple and plain, there is one thing that bugs me about their design. You see, the edges of their mouth have this little gap like as though it can’t really close properly. So it feels odd looking at them like that. Looks a bit unreal… I believe this series takes place in a real town and thus there is some importance given to the background and sceneries. Not to say they are breath taking or a masterpiece but at least they are decent to look at. Even more so in the next episode preview, a few live action clips of the sceneries of the local places featured in the anime. Not sure why it is blurry and has a bit mosaic effect. Also an added bonus, different illustrations from different people at the end of each episode.

A few recognizable seiyuus such as Shinichiro Miki as Shimada, Tomokazu Sugita as Smith, Marina Inoue as Kyouko, Yuichi Nakamura as Tsujii, Kenjiro Tsuda as Morio, Takahiro Sakurai as Hayashida and Kana Hanazawa as Hinata being the best because there is this sort of sparkle of liveliness and innocence as the young lass instead of being a retard character that I once stereotyped her as. Harunobu sounded familiar at first but it took me a while to realize it was Nobuhiko Okamoto behind it. I didn’t realize it was Akira Ishida behind Souya’s voice because of his limited dialogue and very soft spoken ways. The rest of the casts are Kengo Kwanishi as Rei (Akira in Monster Strike), Ai Kayano as Akari (Kanade in Chihayafuru), Misaki Kuno as Momo (Hawk in Nanatsu No Taizai), Hirouki Touchi as Gotou (Lily in Fairy Tail), Toru Ookawa as Kouda (Roy in Fullmetal Alchemist), Tesshou Genda as Jinguuji (Kaido in One Piece) and Subaru Kimura as Issa (Gian in Doraemon series).

The first opening theme is Answer by Bump Of Chicken and it feels quite similar to their music style as heard in other animes that they have been featured in such as the opening themes of Kekkai Sensen and Tales Of The Abyss. This means you can expect more or less the same for the first ending theme, Fighter as they too sing this one. For the second opening theme, Sayonara Bystander, I thought Nano Ripe sang it but she sounded somewhat a little different. It was sung by Yuki. Now that I remember, that’s the same person who sang the opening theme for Honey And Clover. A change of pace for the second ending theme because Orion by Kenshi Yonezu feels a bit like R&B funk style and groovy. The insert song Nyaa Shogi Ondo sung by the Kawamoto sisters is cute as well as entertaining and educative in introducing the basics of shogi.

Overall, this series is a make or break depending on your tastes on dramas dealing with depression and stress. Either you find the problems relatable (who doesn’t have problems) or this is just one big snooze fest. Even a more turn off if you are not into shogi and it might be unappealing if you are not used to the shogi pieces that might seem confusing for those who are not familiar with the game. I mean, you identify the pieces with the fancy writing on it instead of different shapes and there is no colour to differentiate between the opposing sides, just the direction you are facing. Therefore the board can be one big messy monotonous battlefield if you really want to enjoy the shogi aspects. Just like life itself, right? Thus this series isn’t being checkmated yet and even if it is looking like it is heading for a stalemate, perhaps a miracle move that could turn the board around for the better? Get it? Turn the board around? Literally. Okay, okay. Only shogi fans can understand that joke.