Shion no Ou

[tlynnec]

thanks kiseki_girl and guido. especially glad to hear that the end notes went over well ^^

[Kaoru Chujo]

Well, Guido and kiseki_gurl, I took a quick look at bits of both #1 and #2 and I guess I now see what you are talking about when you say the animation quality changed. I also guess it shows that animation consistency is nowhere near as important to me as other aspects of an anime -- and maybe that I don't see it that well.

In any case, I looked at the end credits and it appears that the animation supervisor, the entire genga (original drawing) staff, and the entire animation staff are different in the two episodes. Ep 1 was supervised by the chief animation director, Numata Seiya, who also supervised eps of Code-E, Busou Renkin, and Strawberry Panic, among other things. This appears to be the first time he has been a show's main animation director. Ep2 was done by Ujie Akio, who supervised a couple of eps of Haibane Renmei, and a couple of Wind -A Breath of Heart-, among other things.

For ep1, 18 people were in the genga team, whereas in ep2 there were 15. There was also a small second genga team for ep1, and two named people did corrections, whereas for ep2 a company was named as doing corrections.

But I think all this is planned from the start, since it takes several weeks to do genga and animation for each episode, judging by the leaked schedule spreadsheet for Bamboo Blade.

The director of ep1 was Yoshida Junji, who appears to be one of Studio Deen's mainstays, having directed numerous episodes of everything from Yumeria through Marimite to Amenaideyo, Jigoku Shoujo 2, and Touka Gettan, and even a couple of eps of Simoun. Ep2 was directed by Andou Masataka (?: 安藤正臣). This is the only anime episode listed for him on the Japanese staff-listing site No Anime, No Life.

[4Tran]

In case you were wondering, shougi is probably the most complex of all the chess-type games out there. Its one major difference from the other games is that you can play captured pieces as your own by dropping them onto the board instead of moving one of your other pieces. As a result, the relative strength of a position is much harder to grasp intuitively, and the game itself is harder to explain (it really doesn't help that the pieces aren't separated by color either).

Unfortunately, this makes Shion no Ou suffer in comparison to Hikaru no Go, since they use similar mechanics to use their games to further the story. The differences are that Go seems to be much easier to grasp intuitively (even though it's even more complex strategically), and that it had far more episodes to play out the story. So far, the murder-mystery aspect of Shion no Ou interests me far less than the character aspect, and the character aspect is tied into shougi, so a comparison of the two shows is inescapable.

[Morph]

Originally Posted by tlynnec

I'm just curious what everyone's opinions are on the two groups subbing Shion no Ou. What are everyone's preferences on Shoku-dan vs. Live-evil?

I just watched ep 2 from Shoku-dan and Live-evil. Though Shoku-dan made mistakes in their translation, most weren't EARTH SHATTERING.

With that said, I'd be grabbing Shoku-dans first but hold out for LE's releases for viewing & archiving. After all ~ LE isn't known for finishing series...

[bayoab]

Originally Posted by Morph

I just watched ep 2 from Shoku-dan and Live-evil. Though Shoku-dan made mistakes in their translation, most weren't EARTH SHATTERING.

With that said, I'd be grabbing Shoku-dans first but hold out for LE's releases for viewing & archiving. After all ~ LE isn't known for finishing series...

In episode 1, Shoku-dan's mistakes varied from just turning it into nonsense to completely changing what was going on. (See the whole speech of the background of tournaments and what the guy says just before she loses her match)

[Secca]

I'm a big fan of him already.

There is something about a cool bishounen who crossdress as a girl, makes me goes overheat!!!! *kyaaaa* >_<

[SeijiSensei]

Well, this was certainly an unexpected surprise. I had just about written off the fall season, but I think I'll be staying with Shion and, maybe, Moyashimon.

This is probably the most disturbing anime I've watched in some time. The whole stalker subplot reminds me of creepy psychological stories like John Fowles's The Collector (about a young man who goes from collecting butterflies to collecting young women). I just cringe every time we see that guy following Shion and taking those photographs.

Saori's character is a bit oppressive, especially her tendency to engulf Shion at every opportunity. Our little heroine doesn't seem to mind that much, but I'd wonder if every eleven-year-old would be so nonplussed when attacked by an older woman like that.

I really do wish anime characters would spend a bit of time in a thrift store or something and expand their wardrobes. Saori must have an entire closet full of sailor fuku. I laugh every time I watch the scene toward the end of the OP where the three main characters are standing on a shougi board. Shion's dressed like a boy and Ayumi, of course, is wearing that rather frilly dress.

Since it's unlikely that Kawasumi-sama will remain speechless throughout the twelve shows, I'm assuming Shion will be getting her voice back soon. Manga readers, does Shion grow up in the course of the story, or will she remain in the 12-14 age bracket throughout?

[kiseki_gurl]

Episode 3 Summary & Impressions:
http://anime2manga.com/20071029/in-p...-daijoubu.html

Sorry I'm late guys. I've been partying too much . It's a good episode nevertheless.

[Ashlotte]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

In case you were wondering, shougi is probably the most complex of all the chess-type games out there. Its one major difference from the other games is that you can play captured pieces as your own by dropping them onto the board instead of moving one of your other pieces. As a result, the relative strength of a position is much harder to grasp intuitively, and the game itself is harder to explain (it really doesn't help that the pieces aren't separated by color either).

Unfortunately, this makes Shion no Ou suffer in comparison to Hikaru no Go, since they use similar mechanics to use their games to further the story. The differences are that Go seems to be much easier to grasp intuitively (even though it's even more complex strategically), and that it had far more episodes to play out the story. So far, the murder-mystery aspect of Shion no Ou interests me far less than the character aspect, and the character aspect is tied into shougi, so a comparison of the two shows is inescapable.

Yea honestly after two episodes I still don't have a bleeping clue what the games about whatsoever...BUT it still does hold true for episode 2 that this slight snag doesnt really hamper my enjoyment of the show too terribly much.

I guess ill credit that to interesting characters that are enjoyable to watch.

[The Chaos]

Ep 3 is good but there is no action .....
witting Ep 4

[S_K]

at least now we caught the stalker dude
im looking forward to the match with Shion and Saito, i hope they don't time skip it

[way2slow]

Spoiler for Ep3:

I think Saito made it clear to Shion when the Shougi piece hit the board that Saito is no female. Or it just brought bad memories.

[kiseki_gurl]

Episode 4 Summary/Impressions:
http://anime2manga.com/20071105/shio...ere-it-is.html

-The whole episode was the Ayumi VS Shion match.
-Animation took a noticeable dip in quality. It was funny at one point when everyone's hair started blowing for no reason whatsoever.
-Good episode, nevertheless.

[Guido]

I feel refreshed, since after a long wait I see my dear Shion back to shougi action. Very thanks to Live-Evil for releasing the subbed third episode.

The plotline is becoming complex and somewhat ambiguous.

Spoiler:

The two facets discussed in this episode:
1. The guys who are arranging and setting up the marketing and hype for the shougi tournaments were responsible to leak the information of the murders to the mass media and associate with Shion's professional career as a shougi player.
I am speculating that they did so in order to have the public garner sympathy for Shion, thus generating mass hype and expectations. This will in turn gather audiences and public attention toward the Shougi Association.
It's like a marketing strategy to sell the story of Shion's tragic tale onto the masses; the public harbors and gathers sympathy for her, adding already to the unexpected attention she received for being the youngest pro playing at the Shougi Association in official matches; people root for Shion and start picking attention on her matches, as they go to the Association to watch her play; profit is generated from the publicity and advertise that is made; those guys make their money.

Although is inevitable and the purpose is for their business is to make money, still I find highly disgusting that those bastards are using the media to advertise the murder of Shion's parents to produce the sympathy on the public, so as they will root for her and attend to her matches in order for the sponsoring corporation to make their profit.

2. They know how to play with people's perceptions. I was highly convinced that the stalker who attacked Shion at the park on episode two was the murderer from eight years ago.
It would have felt like a cop out, and actually at first I felt robbed, that the police successfully managed to apprehend the psycho but felt relieved at the end that it was just another stalker not related in anyway to the actual culprit.

The guy who the police arrested was another stalker. From the video that the police picked up from the convenience store the guy shown is the murderer and is more than likely that he sent the death threats.

For Shion crying right after Saito made his move I think she got a shock due that the move that he played relived on her the same memory of the culprit picking the king's piece and slammed it onto the board with the same strength and on the same position that Saito did.

[GoldAlchemist]

Unable to fully appreciate episode 4 because of a lack of knowledge of the chess.

Anyway the plot seems to be interesting enough to keep me watching. Shion no Ou came as a surprise to me this season where i fully expect myself to stop after the first episode (i've the habit of sampling every first episode of anime), but nevertheless i'm still watching.

Originally Posted by kiseki_gurl

It was funny at one point when everyone's hair started blowing for no reason whatsoever.

I see that as a figurative expression in anime, it symbolizes intense mental activity and pressure going on. Unless you also have a problem with the clouds surrounding the chess piece after an important move, it's ok i guess, especially in an otherwise very static episode.

Last not least, Shion has very beautiful eyes, approaching the standard of those drawn by the gods of KyoAni. Shion no Ou uses a rather similar filter to create reflection in the pupils as the one used by Suzumiya Haruhi, my all time favorite. But no one can beat KyoAni at this point when it comes to consistency in animation, be they eyes or others.

[tlynnec]

Originally Posted by Morph

After all ~ LE isn't known for finishing series...

Unless it get's licensed, we WILL be finishing this one.

In addition to ep 3 being out via L-E fansub (as Guido noted ^_^), eps 1 & 2 have also been released in HD (1280x720) x264. We plan to release all episodes in both formats. Ep 3 HD will also have a "bonus" subtitle track, for your amusement.

Oh, and some interesting shougi links for those who want more info:
- http://www.shogi.net/shogivocab/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shougi (Yeah, I know its wikipedia, but there's some good info)

[Shiroth]

I've been planning to check out Shion no Ou for sometime now, and i must say it's thanks to Live-Evil that i went ahead and did that this morning --- thanks a lot for the three episode release! I also agree that the notes at the end of the first episode helped a lot --- i was planning to check them out myself, though knowing the game's another version of Chess helps my understanding a lot more. I could say it helped my enjoyment of episode's two and three even more.

Anyway, time to say what i actually planned to say --- Romi Paku voicing a male that's pretending to be a female. If you ask me that's always the perfect role for her, my favourite voice. <3

[Vola^]

I like this anime I have the feeling the storyline is going to turn really dark real soon :S

Anyone know if/when the ED is out?

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Vola^

Anyone know if/when the ED is out?

Amazon.jp tells me that the single release is December 5th.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by S_K

at least now we caught the stalker dude

Next time you might want to put comments like that in spoiler tags.

Spoiler for stalker dude after ep 3:

It's just feels way too unlikely that he'll turn out to be some random stalker. Why is he stalking Shion? If the answer is that he's just some random predator and Shion happens to be his prey, anonymous stalking doesn't happen very often in real life as far as I know. Also I'd find it a cheap shot on the part of the script writers to introduce this malevolent character purely for suspense and then throw him away. I'll feel cheated if he's no longer part of the story.

And, why were his fingerprints on the evidence? Is he really that stupid?

This show has possibilities if the writers can keep the story complex. I'm a bit concerned that cramming everything into twelve episodes may force a lot of short cuts in the storytelling.

In ep. 3 Kawasumi Ayako spoke for perhaps a minute or two and still left more of an impression with me than most of other seiyuu who had much longer roles. I do like the voice actor for the senior policeman as well; he has a nice gravely sound and a solid air of authority.