Shion no Ou

[Sinestra]

I marathoned the series and caught up last night. I must say it was pleasent surprise and im enjoying Shion no Ou much more than i did Hikaru no Go i guess its just prefrence. Shion as a character i enjoy very much since she wont spoke she has gotten creative with how she intereacts with people in her life, its the little things that get my attention on a character. Like when Shion told Nikaido her hair smelled nice. Her positive aura effects everyone around her not to mention she is just Damn cute with those big eyes and short hair.

Hisatani' managed to get Nikaido to blush and take notice of him all at the same time. Could there be something there? Shougi players need love and it would help Nikaido get over her Nii-san complex and hopefully she will take that long awaited and needed trip to the department store for some new clothes. I like her character but her clothes are ghastly

Spoiler for Who is the murderer:

Now as for the murder I dont think Satoru is the killer. He has a plan but im sure it involved messing with or embreassing his brother in the tournament. So far all the clues point to him so therefore he is now the least likely in my opinion. Hes an ass but i dont think hes the killer. Whoever the killer is he is for sure at the Shouji tournment and is probably waiting for another chance to strike since he says Shion broke her promise.

[Likely]

i think the merits of this show is that it has good character relationships and character interaction, perfect for a slice of life or romance. but why they would want to throw these qualities into a murder/psycopath genre is beyond me. thus, this show comes off as mostly strange. also, what middle-aged man would hold a grudge or otherwise enjoy tormenting a 10 year old orphaned girl? its so unbelievable that it's almost corny.

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by Likely

i think the merits of this show is that it has good character relationships and character interaction, perfect for a slice of life or romance. but why they would want to throw these qualities into a murder/psycopath genre is beyond me. thus, this show comes off as mostly strange. also, what middle-aged man would hold a grudge or otherwise enjoy tormenting a 10 year old orphaned girl? its so unbelievable that it's almost corny.

you put to much faith in your fellow man. To the murderer this is nothing more than a game just like Shougi. He is playing a game of strategy and cat and mouse. There are people in the world who derive pleasure from someone elses misery. The show is not that far fetched i would like to classify him a serial killer but that term doesnt exactly fit since we only know of 2 victims. The character interation especially with Shion is a direct result of her traumatic past. Her past is what allows you to sympthaize with her. You wouldnt feel as strongly if she had had a happy go lucky life with no type of struggle.

[Likely]

if the psycopath were playing cat and mouse with the police or the one detective then sure. but why with shion? in this case his game of life is a match between an accomplished player and a beginner. there's no thrill in that. i just feel that theres not enough reason behind the plot.

i absolutely loved hng and stumbled upon this series with hopes of something like that. but not even close.

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by Likely

if the psycopath were playing cat and mouse with the police or the one detective then sure. but why with shion? in this case his game of life is a match between an accomplished player and a beginner. there's no thrill in that. i just feel that theres not enough reason behind the plot.

i absolutely loved hng and stumbled upon this series with hopes of something like that. but not even close.

To me the reason why he left Shion alive is for this purpose. Whoever the culprit is he is obviously smart. If we assume he had some type of vendetta aganist Shion's parents, to him making her suffer more is still like tourturing her parents. Granted this is just a theory and we dont know the history between the Shion's parents and the murderer. This was not a random crime nothing was stolen he killed them in cold blood it was premeditated.

He is playing cat and mouse with Shion and the police. Shion is the tool he is using think about the theme that reoccures over and over in the series. The players are constantly wanting to test their skills. If the killer is Shogi player maybe he testing his skills in this way as well. Its also obvious that he is happy Shion is still playing to the put the king on her forehead to me was like a calling card marking her.

[Shiroth]

Episode 11: Jesus, i wasn't expecting to see such an impressive line up of matches for the two girls and Ayumi --- it just screams out 'last episode', though i still have my hopes about that little announcement we heard a while ago.

It's true all fingers point at Satoru being the killer, though maybe they're making us believe that for a reason. I'm not sure, we'll just have to see how his match will play out with Shion --- the perfect time for something HUGE to happen.

[Seditary]

All the people saying it can't be Satoru because of all the clues pointing to him makes me think of that evil girl in SZS who looks evil, so she can't possibly be doing all the bad things that she so obviously does.

[Shiroth]

Throw all the evidence we have that Satoru is the murderer from back then, and i'll just say he was thanks to that GOD DAMN EVIL SMILE at the end of episode 11. That was Light Yagami worthy.

[NoSanninWa]

Wait! He's too obvious! He can't possibly be as evil as he looks, right? The fact that he's so obvious should mean that we're all wrong to believe it. Oh heck, maybe he did it. It isn't as though we have any better suspects... Unless its the nice old guy who runs the desk...

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

Unless its the nice old guy who runs the desk...

If this is true, then Shion no Ou will be the best series ever created.

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

If this is true, then Shion no Ou will be the best series ever created.

Agreed that would be the WTF of the month for me but in a good way.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Sinestra

Agreed that would be the WTF of the month for me but in a good way.

Don't you mean OF THE CENTURY?

[Saleh]

Beneficiaries (Both direct & indirect) of a calculated murder case should never be underestimated especially if they are strategist. Murderer may turn out to be a pawn even if it was Satoru. Satoru is most likely to have vital information on the murderer since he has capitalist/criminal background and more sources.

All opponents should start their matches like with a evil smile like Satoru . He does a very good job at intimidating Shion in episode 12 to win a strategical advantage.

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

If this is true, then Shion no Ou will be the best series ever created.

Well, if you think about it. The cellphone was left on his desk. He's the person who had easiest access to it, right? You're supposed to ignore him since he seems like such a nice guy, but he's in the center of everything that happens.

[Saleh]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

Well, if you think about it. The cellphone was left on his desk. He's the person who had easiest access to it, right? You're supposed to ignore him since he seems like such a nice guy, but he's in the center of everything that happens.

According to what we are shown in episode 10, he was upstairs with Hisatani and the police when that happened. Also, the perpetrator was wearing gloves. Amusing fact is that the prestigious shogi association doesn't have a security cam in the lobby.

[Risaa]

Originally Posted by Saleh

Spoiler for o_x:

All opponents should start their matches like with a evil smile like Satoru . He does a very good job at intimidating Shion in episode 12 to win a strategical advantage.

Aiyaiyai *attempts to un-read that*

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

You're supposed to ignore him since he seems like such a nice guy, but he's in the center of everything that happens.

I also had the thought that it may be him but then threw that idea away... and now I realize how ironic it is that I did. "It can't be Satoru because he's so obvious, but what about the old nice guy? ...Naaah, he can't be because he's too UN-obvious".

Truth be told, I have no idea who the culprit is. I'm just trying to make the wait more bearable by imagining each character as the mastermind.... (even Shion herself!).

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by Saleh

According to what we are shown in episode 10, he was upstairs with Hisatani and the police when that happened. Also, the perpetrator was wearing gloves. Amusing fact is that the prestigious shogi association doesn't have a security cam in the lobby.

Actually, we can't be sure of the timing. We see him upstairs before we see the phone taken, but we cannot be sure that he was still upstairs while the phone was taken because he might have come downstairs. As for the gloves, he could have put those gloves on just to avoid leaving fingerprints. Whomever the culprit was, I'm sure he put on the gloves just to avoid fingerprints.

Originally Posted by Risaa

I also had the thought that it may be him but then threw that idea away... and now I realize how ironic it is that I did. "It can't be Satoru because he's so obvious, but what about the old nice guy? ...Naaah, he can't be because he's too UN-obvious".

That's what makes it such a "Myself; Yourself"-level twist. I can be certain people would be overjoyed simply to be surprised, while others would be cursing the lack of foreshadowing.

[Shiroth]

I just don't think i can prepare myself to see an evil laugh come from that old man..

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

I can be certain people would be overjoyed simply to be surprised, while others would be cursing the lack of foreshadowing.

What bothers me most about the murder-mystery aspect of the story is the lack of discussion of motive. Without any clue about why her parents were killed, we left with random speculation about almost any character in the show. Or even people we've never seen. Maybe Nikaido's father killed them in hopes of derailing the career of a potential competitor. (Obviously I don't believe this; I give this example to demonstrate how little evidence we have to rule out even highly implausible scenarios.)

[takodori]

Reference photos : Here are the links to the photoes of professional shogi players who wear Kimono like Kamizono. The linked pages are ones in 57th Osho-title match reporting blog.

http://shogi.weblogs.jp/ohsho/2008/01/post-769a.html - The player is Habu Yoshiharu(Osho holder). They say he is the model of Hani Meijin, although their looks don't resemble very much.

http://shogi.weblogs.jp/ohsho/2008/01/post-18d5.html

Most of them usually play shogi in a suit, but tend to wear a Kimono on the special occasions such as title matches, final match before retirement etc..., The reason why Kamizono always wears a Kimono is just his preference, I think.