Shion no Ou

11 05 2008

shion.jpgJapanese title: しおんの王
Number of episodes: 22

Some info
1) ANN
2) Wiki
3) Official Site (Japanese)

What attracted me to this show is probably the integration (not that integration hor!!!) of Shogi in its story. Although the wiki article for this show claims that Shogi is a Japanese strategy game that is similar to Chess, I would want to think it’s virtually a different type of game since Shogi isn’t as “fixed” as Chess. The fact captured pieces can be re-used makes thinking a lot less “trivial” since the possibilities are now so much more, and this makes it more difficult even for the AI to compute the moves effectively (as compared to Chess).

Haha, I did try looking at the rules and gameplay for a better understanding of the show, but I realise it’s not such a simple game that I can digest that easily, especially I want to learn it quick without trying the actual game, and hoping to understand some of the tactics used in the show. Lol, missing out on this probably lowers the level of enjoyment, but while Shogi is the main theme of the show, there’s also a mystery revolving around the main character, about her past and the incident in which both her parents were killed.

Well, the mystery only unveils bit by bit in the earlier eps, as people try to find clues to the murderer. It’s only rather obvious in the ending few eps (like duh). Seriously, the final showdown probably requires some decent knowledge of Shogi to be able to appreciate the art behind the moves which the characters seem to exclaim about so much. Haha.

Overall, I think knowledge of Shogi is somewhat important to enjoy this fully, though I think it’s not all that critical. Haha. Do give it a try if you’re interested.